SeaClearly

Jesus and Saul (To the Churches)

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him,

“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
“Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

So he, trembling and astonished, said
“Lord, what do You want me to do?”
“Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

Then Saul arose from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.  For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

“And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; And saw him saying unto me,”

“Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.”

And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said,

“Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of Me in Jerusalem,
so must thou bear witness also at Rome.”

“But I make known to you, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not according to man.  For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.  For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.”
“But when it pleased God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood.”  “(Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)”

“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, And that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.  After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.  After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.  Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.  For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle. . . .”