brought up and reared in this holy city. I was trained at the feet of Gamaliel and educated by him in every detail of the Law of our forefathers. I was a zealot for God, as all of you are today." Gamaliel was held in great respect by the Jews, as he was the greatest mentor and scholar of the Law of Moses in our day. He was extremely well educated in all our Scriptures and holy writings. Daily I sat at his feet learning the customs and traditions of our forefathers.
I continued in my defense with all honesty, "I persecuted the followers of the Way of the Lord, even unto death. Arresting both men and woman and throwing them into prison. The high priest and the whole council of the Sanhedrin can also testify to this. Indeed, after receiving letters from them to their colleagues in Damascus, I was on my way there in order to arrest the ones in that city, with orders to bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment. But as I was on my journey and approaching Damascus, around noon, suddenly a brilliant light from heaven flashed all around me! I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul! Why do you keep persecuting me?' I answered, 'Sir, who are you?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene, Whom you are persecuting.' Those who were with me did see the light, but they didn't hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. I said, 'What should I do Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Get up, and go into Damascus, and there you shall be told about everything that has been laid out for you to do.' I had been blinded by the light, so my companions led me by the hand into Damascus."
The people remained still and composed while I spoke. They had heard of this story about my conversion from others, but they had never heard it directly from me, from my own mouth. I was tired of having the unbelieving Jews harass me, in that I was prepared to purify myself according to the purification of Moses. I put myself back under the Law in an attempt to satisfy their desires.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ has made me a free man with no master. Therefore I'm not bound by anyone's bidding. However I have made myself a slave to all people to bring them to Christ. When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who followed the legalistic perversion of the Jewish law, I too lived under that perverse law, even though I am not subject to the law. It was my intention to bring all those under the law to Christ. When I was with the Gentiles who do not follow Jewish law, who live apart from the law, I myself lived apart from the law to bring them to Christ. I do not ignore the Jewish law of God, however I obey the law of Christ above all else. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.
This made me speak to them with an even greater boldness, "So, a man named Ananias, an observant follower of the Law of Moses, well spoken by all the Jews who resided there, came to me, stood by me and said, 'Brother Saul, see again!' and in that very moment, I recovered my sight and looked up and saw him. He said, 'The God of our forefathers has determined in advance that you should know His will, and to see the Righteous One, Jesus Christ, to hear His voice from His own mouth and a message from His own lips. For you will be His witness unto all men of everything that you have seen and heard. So now, what are you waiting for? Rise and be baptized, and have your sins washed away as you call on His name.' After I had returned to Jerusalem then, it so happened that as I was praying in the Temple, I went into a trance, and I saw Him. He said to me, 'Hurry, get out of Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept what you have to say about me.' I said, 'Lord, they know themselves that in every synagogue I used to imprison and flog those who trusted and believed in you. Also that when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I was standing there too, in full agreement. I was even looking after the clothes of the ones who were killing him!' The Lord said to me, 'Go, for I will send you far away unto the Gentile nations!'"
They had been listening to me up till that point, but now they shouted at the top of their lungs, "Rid the earth of such a man! He's not fit to live!" They were screaming, waving their garments and throwing dust into the air. I refused to have demonic dust cling to me. I wanted nothing to do with what this dusty earth had to offer. My old earthly man of dust was crucified with Christ.
His name was Cassius Catullus. He once again hauled me up by my belt and dragged me off to safety, shielding me from that mob.
I am Paul, a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ for the Gentiles. I pray and ask God to give you a complete knowledge of His divine will.
Amen - so be it.
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[email protected] A Roman Citizen. #2
The Jews in Jerusalem were ready to kill me, so the Roman commander ordered that I be brought into the barracks for safekeeping. He directed that I be interrogated and whipped, in order to find out why the Jews were yelling at me like that. When they had stretched me out with the leather straps, I asked the centurion who was standing by and supervising, "Is it legal for you to whip a man who is a Roman citizen and without first having a trial?" When the centurion heard this, he went and reported it to the commander immediately. He said to him, "Do you realise what you are doing? This man is a Roman citizen!" The commander came and asked me, "Tell me the truth, are you a Roman citizen?" I replied, "Yes, I am."
I explained to them that I gained my citizenship at birth as my parents were citizens of Tarsus in Cilicia which was a Sovereign Roman State. The commander stated, "I purchased this Roman citizenship as a capital investment for a big price, a rather large sum of money." I answered, "I was born a Roman citizen! I am a Roman citizen by birthright, I didn't purchase it." Instantly those who were about to interrogate me drew back from me. The commander was afraid too, because he realized that he had put me, a Roman citizen in chains.
Cassius Catullus was assigned to me as my personal body guard for that night. He oozed strength and confidence and it rubbed off on me. At first he did not speak to me at all. Our relationship was strictly professional. He was a Praetorian Body Guard and I was a prisoner in chains. He stayed awake with me all that night. He moved very little, only to re-establish his feet on the floor and shift his balance. He didn't fidget and he definitely didn't turn his back on me, nor did he take his eyes off of me. He was the most disciplined Roman soldier I had ever seen.
The next day, since the commander wanted to know the real cause for which the Jews had accused me. Cassius unbound me and the commander ordered the chief priests and all the council of the Sanhedrin to meet. Then he had me brought down and placed before them.
I gazed earnestly at the Sanhedrin council, looking straight at them I said, "Brothers, I have lived before God, doing my duty as a citizen, a true and loyal Jew, with a perfectly good conscience until today." At this the high priest Ananias, the son of Nebedaius ordered those who stood near me to strike me on the mouth. Then I said to him, "God is about to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit as a judge to try me in accordance with the Law, and yet in defiance of the Law you order me to be struck?" Those who stood near me exclaimed, "Do you insult the high priest of God?" I quickly replied, most apologetically, "I didn't know brothers that he was the high priest." I knew that it says in the Scriptures that you are not to speak ill of a ruler of God's people.
I then perceived that one part of the Sanhedrin council were Sadducees and the other part Pharisees, so I cried out, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of a Pharisee. It is with regard to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am being tried!" When I said this an angry argument arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the whole assembly was divided into two factions. That's exactly what I wanted to happen. I wanted them to be divided. I knew that the Sadducees deny the resurrection from the dead and the existence of angels and spirits. Whereas the Pharisees acknowledge and believe in them b
oth.
If there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then our preaching is in vain, and therefore our faith is also in vain. Then we are found as false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ from the grave. For if the dead rise not, then is Christ not raised. And if Christ be not raised, our faith is in vain and our sins remain. However, if we have been planted together with Christ in the likeness of His death, we shall also be planted in the likeness of His resurrection. This is a true saying, "If you die with Him, you shall also be raised with Him." I wasn't going to allow this mob to get the better of me. If you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus, the Messiah from the dead you shall be saved.
I had won the Pharisees over onto my side as a great uproar ensued and some of the scribes of the Pharisees stood up for me. They thoroughly fought my case, contending fiercely and declaring, "We find nothing evil or wrong with this man. If a spirit or an angel spoke with this man, what of it? Let us not fight against God!" The