This post: 2 Corinthians 1 – Paul, was supposed to be a Bible study into the particular chapter. However, the Lord seemed to have other plans with it. This isn’t the first time that I thought I had a good idea and the Lord changed all plans. No problem with me, I’m happy to oblige!

Please read along and watch where it went. All that said, I believe that the Lord will have me to continue to carry on with this first chapter of 2 Corinthians in posts to come, but as far as this one goes, we didn’t make it past the first half of the first verse!

This post in particular will be about the Apostle Paul. And I believe that the point that is to be driven home here, is that there are people being lead to the Lord all over the planet, particularly in the middle east, in a similar fashion to what happened to the Saul on the road to Damascus. The thing is we just don’t hear about it too often.

Paul the Apostle

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:

Let’s stop right here. Right off the bat the Apostle Paul teaches us a few things. First thing would be that he gives us clarity into exactly who he is serving and who it was who ordained him to do so. He was an apostle by the will of God, not by a lengthy ordination process, nor by something that he worked toward.

That said, he indeed was a type of scholar when it came to the Torah and the Prophets, as he did say that he was a Pharisee. But did that qualify Paul (before being saved he was called Saul) to call himself an apostle of Christ once he was Saved? The answer to that is clearly no. Paul gives us an account about his thoughts concerning his pre-salvation credentials in the book of Philippians.

Philippians 3 King James Bible

4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: 5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ…

So his credentials didn’t qualify him to become an apostle. Just the contrary. The credentials he held and the zeal he had for the Lord through the law is what drove him to persecute the early Christian Church.

Acts 7: King James Bible

58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.

Acts 8: King James Bible

1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

Saul (Paul) continued on in his quest to stifle this new thing going on about Jesus, as the scripture says making ‘havoc’ of the church that was gaining traction. But why was Saul doing these things? Was it because of hatred toward the early Christians? I’d say no.

If that were so, I believe that his future would have wound up completely different. Looking back through the Old Testament as well as the new, the Lord doesn’t seem to use anyone whose heart is full of bitterness or hatred. I would be willing to bet, that his heart for the Lord was right, though he was doing wrong.

A Matter of Heart

1 Samuel 16: King James Bible

7 But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

If a man has a heart right in the Lord’s sight, that doesn’t mean that the person is doing what’s right in the Lord’s sight. In the case of Saul, it would seem that he was doing all of the wrong things with all of the right intentions. I believe that’s the difference right there, that the Lord knows that he has some good material to work with, just needs a push in the right direction. And boy oh boy did Saul get that push from the Lord!

Acts 9: King James Bible

3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”

5 And he said, “Who art thou, Lord?”

And the Lord said, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”

6 And he trembling and astonished said, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”

And the Lord said unto him, “Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”

7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. 8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.

Modern Day Sauls

In this fallen world that we’re traversing in right now, it’s no stretch to see the number one religion that is persecuting the Church these days. The Muslim religion. Though the view is pushed to encourage us to believe that these two large bodies of believers are closely related, perhaps even serving the same God, the evidence given us between the Bible and the Koran reads like apples and oranges.

There are many in the Muslim community that feel as though that they are doing God a service by killing Christians, Just as the Jews did to the early church. Although they are doing things that are against the will of the Lord, and don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus, the Lord can see through the indoctrination and the goings on, and get right to the heart of the matter, just as he did with Saul.

And for some, he can see a true heart toward him, though they are not otherwise right with him. And just as the Lord did with Saul, these Muslims with a true heart for the Lord, though they don’t know him, are vessels that the Lord sees fit for his use, and comes to them in diverse ways. It’s going on more and more, but we rarely hear about it, because society is attempting to mold our consciousness into what they want for us to believe and think. In other words, how could Chrislam be a thing, if Muslims are getting Saved and cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, the Son of God? Allah has no son, right? They don’t mix, but society as well as the Pope will tell us differently.

Please take your time to check out these videos. While you do, please keep the Apostle Paul’s conversion which is above in Acts chapter 9, in mind as you watch and listen to these testimonies to what the Lord is doing in places where one may least expect.

===>Update 02/05/2017<===

Guess what folks, if you have heard that Christian content is being shut down in places such as YouTube, Facebook, &Twitter, and thought it was some conspiracy theory, think again! Both videos below have been pulled down since the creation of this page.

This is what someone brought to my attention:

 

I replaced the older videos with these below. If you are here, and they don’t work, please leave me a comment and I’ll have to replace them again.

Ex-Hezbollah Iranian Muslim Saw Jesus and Jesus Said Who He Was – Afshin Javid. Brought to us by HeavenVisitNet

THOUSANDS OF MUSLIMS SEE JESUS IN DREAMS AND VISIONS. Brought to you by Nelson Tjiunardi

Visions of Jesus Stir Muslim Hearts. Brought to you by HeavenVisitNet

Conclusion

I hope that you took the time to check out the videos posted up above. Because they will bless you and help you to understand that even those who rage and fight against the Body of Christ, are not our real enemy. The real enemy is the spiritual wickedness behind those who think it’s doing God a service to wipe out those who are called by his name.

Moreover, there are dreams and visions being given by the Lord to those who have a heart for God, and need that extra nudge in the right direction to be introduced to the Lord Jesus the Christ. Think on this for a moment… How much different do most believers in Christ, see Muslims or other persecutors of the Church, than the early Church saw Saul? To most Christians of the day, I’m confident that believers must have seen him as the Devil himself.

But the Lord stepped in, and the rest is history. Perhaps we aught to be praying for the salvation and removing scales from the eyes of our enemies, and that they are personally introduced to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Christ Jesus. Are we God, knowing who will and won’t be saved? Certainly not, nor should we behave as such.

Thanks for reading this to the end and checking out the testimonies above. I pray that it’s blessed you. If it has, please help out and share it with your peers via any of the social media options included in the add to any button below, or the plus sign to the right of the screen. Leave a comment if you’d like as well.

UPDATE 11-18-2016

Click the link to head to the next post in this study: Grace to You – 2 Corinthians 1 P.2

Coming up will be the continuation of 2 Corinthians 1 in an up and coming post (didn’t make it too far in the chapter in this one), but we’ll keep on keeping on! God bless all of you and thanks again for reading and watching 2 Corinthians 1 – Paul!

Similar Posts:

• Troubled on Every Side – 2 Corinthians 4 Part 5
• In the Person of Christ – 2 Corinthians 2 Part 3
• Different Gospels II
• Snake Handling Christians
• Daily Inspiration from Proverbs 8 P.82 – Holy Spirit of God