L E S S O N L E V E L. The Life of Paul, Part 1

Transcription

1 9 3 3 V 9 he ife of aul, art 1

2 he ife of aul, art 1 God can work in your life in unexpected ways. God used a young, enslaved sraelite to save gypt from a famine. e used a ebrew, raised as an gyptian prince, to free God s people from slavery. e chose a shepherd boy to become the king of srael. e gave the responsibilities of the rophet lijah to a farmer. e chose Galilean fishermen to become disciples to the on of God. Whatever your current situation is, God wants to use you. nd e can use you in powerful ways! ver the next few lessons, you will study how God selected a man no one would have expected and used him in a dramatic way. is name was aul. aul was born to a wealthy Jewish family around a.d. 2. hey lived in the town of arsus, in the southern portion of modern urkey. ecause his father was a citizen of the oman mpire, aul was also a oman (cts 22:27-28). aul s parents recognized that he had an unusual intelligence and ability to learn. e was a bright young student, who studied at excellent educational institutions. e learned four languages ramaic, ebrew, Greek and atin studied the Greek philosophers and poets, and received a well-rounded education. ut the subject that interested him most was the ible. s a teenager, aul went to Jerusalem to study the law of oses. e began training to become a harisee. he harisees were the largest group of Jewish religious leaders. s aul continued to show zeal and drive in his religious education, a respected teacher of religious law named Gamaliel noticed him and began to tutor him in more advanced aspects of the Jewish religion (cts 22:3). y the time aul was a young man, he was a prominent religious leader. When he was in his late 20s, news began to swirl through the Jewish nation. new religious group had arisen among them: t was based on the teachings of a man named Jesus from the town of azareth. ts followers believed this man was also the essiah, the avior, the hrist who had been prophesied in the scriptures of the ld estament. ut the harisees, adducees and scribes had opposed im so violently that they had recently caused im to be crucified and killed. hree days later, is body disappeared from the tomb. he Jews claimed that the oman guards at the tomb had all fallen asleep and Jesus s disciples had taken is body. ut Jesus s disciples said that e had been resurrected by God. early two months after Jesus was killed, the Jews kept the holy day of entecost in the year a.d. 31. his group of Jesus s followers (the Jews called them azarenes ) also kept entecost in the capital city of Jerusalem. ews spread through Jerusalem that rained as a harisee, aul was well versed in the orah, but he lacked understanding of the spirit of the law. istock.com/coquinho 2 D

3 the azarenes were miraculously speaking different known languages that each of them did not even personally know (cts 2). (ctually, the miracle was not in their speaking but in the hearing of those listening to Jesus s disciples.) Jews from arthia, edia, lam, esopotamia, gypt, ibya, rabia and many other places were stunned by this miracle and amazed by the preaching of Jesus s chief follower, a man known as imon eter. n that day, 3,000 new members joined the followers of Jesus of azareth! n the following days, they were joined by thousands more. his group of Jesus s followers was called the hurch of God, and it was growing rapidly. aul and other Jewish religious leaders wanted to put a stop to this. hey viewed the azarenes as a dangerous group of heretics. s with his education and his religious leadership, aul took zealous action. e tried to stamp out these heretics before their religion strengthened and spread further (cts 8:3). e powerfully preached against their teachings and used his authority to criticize Jesus and is followers. e personally participated in arresting people who believed Jesus was the on of God. e even involved himself in situations where God s people were being stoned to death. ne specific persecution of a azarene is recorded in cts 7. he victim was a man named tephen. n response to his attackers, tephen defended his beliefs by recounting ible history. e said that Jesus of azareth, whom the Jews had executed, was the Just ne who had fulfilled the prophecies of the ible. t the end of his narrative, he exclaimed that he was seeing a vision of hrist standing in heaven beside God. nraged, the Jews grabbed tephen, hauled him out of the city, and stoned him to death. he man in charge of the stoning was aul (verse 58). Despite intense, severe persecution by the Jews, the followers of Jesus continued to cling to their beliefs. n fact, the group grew even stronger. heir teachings continued to impact the people, and more and more Jews began to believe that Jesus of azareth is the hrist. aul continued to zealously fight this religion. e continued raiding the homes of these people, who the Jews viewed as heretics. e hauled them out and locked them in prison. e caused chaos in their group, and they fled in every direction. et even as they fled their homes, they continued to spread their beliefs. aul was decimating the azarenes in Jerusalem, but he was not content. e wanted to capture those who were fleeing to other cities and even other countries. aul boldly approached the leader of the Jewish people, the high priest. aul said that though he was a harisee and the high priest was a adducee, both of them could agree that the azarene heretics had to be stopped and killed if necessary (cts 9:1-2). e convinced the high priest to authorize him to locate, restrain and extradite any men or women who followed the teachings of Jesus. aul was allowed to arrest these people and bring them out of yria into Judea, and all the way to Jerusalem. aul and his men traveled north, winding their way up the road through the rough hills. t was about noon, and they were nearing the end of their five-day journey from Jerusalem. Damascus, the capital city of yria, would soon be in view. uddenly a brilliant flash like lightning glared on him from above. aul fell to the ground, shielding his eyes with his arm. is men cringed and turned away in fear (cts 22:9). aul, aul,? (cts 9:4.) t was God imself, speaking directly to aul! fter a moment, aul responded: Who are you, ord? he answer shocked him and rocked his work, his religion and his entire belief of what was true. nd the ord said, (verse 5). Jesus? he God speaking to aul was Jesus. his meant Jesus is the hrist! is followers truly were followers of God! nd aul had been opposing, denouncing, persecuting, disrupting, arresting and even killing them! aul meekly asked God Jesus the hrist what he should do. e instructed him to complete his journey and enter Damascus, where God would give him further instruction (verse 6). God had suddenly, overpoweringly intervened and called the greatest enemy of is hurch into is hurch. aul and his men stood up. he others had heard a voice, but they did not understand what God had said to aul. o them, it was indistinguishable. V 9 3 3

4 nanias obeyed God and went to aul, laying his hands on him and praying that God would remove his blindness. God miraculously gave aul his sight again, and he received the oly pirit and was baptized (verses 17-18). God had looked on aul s heart, and even though he was guilty of persecuting Jesus hrist s followers, e knew that he was a zealous, hardworking man. e also saw that aul had come to know he was wrong in his crusade, that he was sinning against God. fter he was miraculously stopped, corrected and converted into a member of God s hurch, aul became known as aul. istock.com/nicolasmccomber God wants us to forget offenses and love the brethren, despite individual sins and shortcomings. When aul opened his eyes, he discovered he was blind. onfused by what had happened, his men led him into Damascus. For three days, aul ate no food or water. e was still blind (verse 9). nce a rising star in the Jewish nation, he was now humbled; he could not even make his way around a room without help. fter three days, the ord appeared to one of the members of the hurch in Damascus. n a vision, e told a man named nanias to go to aul and to put his hand on him so that he would regain his sight (verses 11-12). nanias was shocked. e knew aul had been persecuting God s people in Jerusalem. t was frightening to learn that he was in Damascus. et God was not telling nanias to flee this hostile enemy of God s hurch, but to go to aul and help him! God knew nanias was afraid. e told him: unto me, to : for he is a my name before the, and, and the of (verse 15). G F When aul became a member of God s hurch, the other true hristians were confused and afraid. ome were worried that he was deceiving them and trying to destroy the hurch from the inside. ut God had given him is oly pirit, and he zealously began to bear the fruits of the pirit. ven though aul had spent years studying the ible and receiving religious training, even though he was hardworking and zealous, and even though he had forsaken everything he had and truly committed to the true hurch, he was not immediately ordained a minister. ater in life, he would instruct that newly converted members should not be ordained as ministers (1 imothy 3:6). ikewise, aul needed to gain experience and training before he could fulfill the commission God had for him. erbert W. rmstrong taught that the ible is like a jigsaw puzzle thousands of pieces that need putting together (ystery of the ges). uch of the ible is not written in chronological order; therefore, you have to piece together the history from different scattered verses (saiah 28:9-10, 13). his principle applies to understanding the life of aul. For instance, there was an interval of several years between cts 9:22 and verse 23. aul later described some of the events from those years in a letter to hurch members in Galatia. aul wrote that after he was healed and received the oly pirit in Damascus, he immediately conferred not with flesh and blood but went into the region of rabia for many days (Galatians 1:16-17; cts 9:23). Whom did he confer with? 4 D

5 se 1 orinthians 9:1 and 15:8 to find out who aul met in rabia: ut certify you, brethren, that the which was preached of me is not after man. For neither received it of man, neither was taught it, but by the revelation of (Galatians 1:11-12). utting the scriptures together shows that the one who personally taught aul in rabia was Jesus hrist imself. aul s letter to the Galatians indicates that he was trained by hrist for three years (verse 18). s a student of the Jewish religion, aul had received a strong understanding of the ld estament. e was well versed in the law, but he did not understand the spirit of the law. e also did not learn the hope of the gospel that Jesus taught, the good news of the coming Kingdom of God. rior to his training with Jesus hrist, aul did not believe that the man his fellow religious leaders had caused to be crucified was the hrist. ut Jesus taught aul all of these things and much more in a deeply powerful way. fter years of dedicated and zealous study of the ible, aul was learning the real meaning of the Word of God. eligious people can study the ible from cover to cover, but they cannot understand it fully without God s revealed knowledge. hrist instructed aul in such a personal and intimate way because e had a special commission for him. From rabia, aul returned to Damascus. he Jews there had discovered that he had forsaken the Jewish religion and become a azarene a hristian. he Jews had once considered him as a champion of their religion. ow they looked on him as a traitor. hey waited outside the place where he was staying day and night, waiting for him to leave the security of the house. Describe how aul escaped their trap (cts 9:25): fter escaping from Damascus, aul journeyed to Jerusalem. e stayed there for 15 days. embers of God s hurch remembered how terribly he had persecuted them and had difficulty believing that he was now a disciple of God (verse 26). istock.com/b-c-designs We study aul s life throught the different accounts in the ible. V 9 3 5

6 disciple named arnabas came to aul s aid. arnabas means son of comfort or encouragement. e was known for encouraging others. arnabas took aul to meet some of hrist s apostles. e met James, who was Jesus s brother. James began to believe that Jesus was the hrist only after e died and was resurrected. James became the pastor to the headquarters congregation in Jerusalem. aul also met the postle eter. aul explained to the apostles the process of his conversion and intimate training under Jesus hrist. For a couple weeks, aul traveled with the apostles to congregations surrounding Jerusalem. During this time, his training continued. e began speaking at abbath services and boldly delivered the gospel message in the Jewish synagogues. ut the stronger his message became, the stronger the Jews persecuted him. Jews and even Gentiles worked to discredit him; they even tried to kill him (verse 29). aul needed deliverance from this precarious situation and God knew it was even more dangerous than aul realized. n a vision, God instructed aul to make haste to get out of Jerusalem (cts 22:17-18). he hristians were fearful that the Jews would kill aul, and they urged him to return to his hometown of arsus (cts 9:30). n arsus, aul continued his training. fter his departure, God s Word thrived throughout Judea, Galilee and amaria (verse 31). ore and more members were added to God s hurch every day. God commissioned aul to be the apostle who preached directly to the Gentiles. hrough aul, God would spread the true gospel message and call out thousands to become part of is hurch. he others would be called after hrist s return. aul was the apostle to the Gentiles, but God began this work to the Gentiles through is chief apostle, eter. n a vision, God revealed to eter that it was time for the Gentiles to begin learning the good news of the coming Kingdom of God. ead cts 10 where God revealed to eter that e was going to begin calling Gentiles. God used a vision of unclean meats to show the chief apostle that e had opened up the truth to the Gentiles. (his vision does not mean that is people could begin eating unclean meats.) God was showing eter that the Jewish-born hristians should not regard Gentile-born people as unclean and deny them entrance into is hurch (verse 28). God created the races and wants to see all people come to im and be a part of is hurch and is Family. God teaches that all men are equal and one family in hrist Jesus (Galatians 3:28-29). God is not excluding certain ethnic groups from is hurch; e has called people from many nations. fter hrist returns, e will call everyone into is hurch (evelation 7:9). With the new revelation that God gave the postle eter, it was now time for aul to fulfill his commission and go to the Gentiles. G D n that same vision instructing aul to leave Jerusalem in haste, God gave aul his specific commission: Depart; for will send you far away to the Gentiles (cts 22:21; evised tandard Version). (he word Gentiles means the nations, and refers to everyone who is not descended from Jacob.) he ew estament hurch, which was then five years old, consisted mostly of people who were ethnically Jewish. ome people who were ethnically Gentile had converted to Judaism and had then been called by God into is hurch. he Jews called these Gentile hurch members proselytes. God never intended to limit access to is hurch to only the Jews. e planned for all people, from every race and background, to have the opportunity to enter is hurch. GG F WK even or eight years after aul was converted, his ministry began around a.d. 40. s with many other endeavors of God s hurch over the centuries, this effort in the first-century phesus era of the hurch began very small. enturies later, God s hurch would begin very small in the aodicean era. he hiladelphia remnant of God s hurch began with 12 members, $80 and one pickup truck. erbert W. rmstrong ollege began in 2001, with only eight full-time students. ow the hurch has grown to have congregations around the world, won a six-year battle for copyrights to books and booklets by erbert W. rmstrong, built a magnificent 823-seat auditorium, opened a second campus in ngland, engages in archaeological excavations in Jerusalem, and purchased a corporate 6 D

7 istock.com/icoccia hrist set the example of cooperation and teamwork among God s people to finish God s Work. jet. ut this work is small compared to what God will do for the whole world through is hurch in the near future. God starts things small to remind is servants that they must have faith and rely on im to accomplish anything of value. n the first-century phesus era, God s hurch was growing rapidly. ut taking God s message to the Gentiles started very small. aul stayed in his hometown of arsus for four years. eanwhile, the hurch sent arnabas, the same son of encouragement who had taken aul to the apostles in Jerusalem, to ntioch to minister to a congregation of new converts. he work in ntioch was so productive that arnabas needed help. arnabas traveled to arsus to recruit aul s help in his ministry (cts 11:25). t this point, aul entered the full-time ministry. aul and arnabas stayed in ntioch for one year. nterestingly, this congregation is where the name hristians was first used to describe followers of hrist, the true hurch of God (verse 26). his is the same name that has been used by God s people for almost 2,000 years. While aul and arnabas were in ntioch, a prophet came from Jerusalem to deliver a warning. he office of a prophet is one that God used before is ew estament hurch was established and still uses in is hurch (phesians 4:11-13). God uses prophets to deliver warnings and messages directly from imself. n ntioch, the rophet gabus warned that there would be a famine throughout the whole world (cts 11:27-28). his famine occurred on and off for around 30 years, affecting certain parts of the world more than others. he famine was especially damaging in Jerusalem. embers of God s hurch rallied together and sent food there to feed their fellow hristians. aul and arnabas delivered the food to Jerusalem, and while they were there, they arranged to take a young ministerial trainee, John ark, back to ntioch with them. John ark was arnabas s nephew. e would later write the book of ark, one of the four Gospel accounts of Jesus hrist s life. ast lesson we learned the role of an apostle and the commission God had for each of the 12 original apostles: to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God to the tribes of srael. oth arnabas and aul were called to the office of apostle. ut aul was unique because he was the leading apostle sent to the Gentiles. he beginning of cts 13 shows us how these two men were anointed to that high office. fter delivering the food to the hurch members at Jerusalem, aul and arnabas returned to ntioch and V 9 3 7

8 istock.com/ferar ommissioned to reach the Gentiles, aul served his hometown of arsus for four years before he went to assist arnabas in ntioch. resumed attending to the needs of the congregation, along with other ministers and teachers in the hurch. s they ministered to the ord, and fasted, the oly [pirit] said, eparate me arnabas and aul for the work whereunto have called them. nd when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away (cts 13:2-3). hese verses show us that aul and arnabas were set apart for a special work. hey were sent forth (verse 4), meaning that they were given a special purpose: to go to the Gentiles. During his ministry to the Gentiles, aul took three journeys to various Gentile regions. ver the next few lessons, we will cover these journeys in detail. F J aul began his first journey in a.d. 44. From ntioch, aul, arnabas and John ark traveled to eleucia, where they boarded a ship to the island of yprus in the editerranean ea. When they arrived on yprus, they first stopped at the eastern port city of alamis. here they preached in synagogues and then traveled on foot to the western side of the island, stopping in aphos. fter arriving in aphos, the details of what these foreign men were teaching quickly spread throughout the city. he oman governor of the island requested that the apostles come to him and personally deliver their message. sorcerer and false prophet named arjesus, however, tried to interfere. e did not want the governor to believe their message (cts 13:6-8). riefly describe how aul dealt with this false prophet (verse 11): he governor was amazed at what he had just witnessed. ecause of this miracle, he believed what aul and arnabas were teaching (verse 12). From aphos, the three men boarded a ship and sailed up to the city of erga in southern sia inor (modern-day urkey). hortly after arriving, John ark made a decision that teaches us a lesson. For unknown reasons perhaps homesickness, lack of motivation, lack of health, or feelings of inadequacy ark decided to leave the group. aul was unhappy with his decision. When God gives you an opportunity, especially as a young person, even if it is something you are not comfortable with or something you feel you are unable to handle, take the opportunity and let God do the rest. John ark had been traveling with God s apostles, receiving firsthand training: his was an opportunity God expected him to take advantage of. God s ministers are human; they make mistakes, just like everyone else. ark made a mistake, but he learned from it. 8 D

9 he situation caused disagreement between aul and arnabas. For aul s second journey, arnabas recommended bringing John ark along. owever, because John ark failed to complete the first journey, aul did not want to work with him. he dispute caused sharp contention, leading aul and arnabas to go their separate ways (cts 15:36-40). ventually, aul did work with John ark again (2 imothy 4:11). ecognizing the error of his youth, ark repented and eventually became an evangelist in God s hurch. aul even said that ark was profitable to him in the ministry. e forgave and forgot ark s earlier mistake. hat is something we all must be willing to do: When there is strife or conflict, we have to be willing to forgive and go forward, working together. fter John ark s departure during the first journey, aul and arnabas made the 100-mile trip from erga to ntioch in isidia. (his was a different city from ntioch in yria, where aul had begun his journey.) hey entered the local synagogue and sat down among the men. he leaders in the synagogue acknowledged the strangers and asked aul to speak (cts 13:15). aul delivered a powerful message to the Jews and Gentiles who were gathered together (read verses 16-41). aul s message upset many of the Jews in the audience. ut the Gentiles were stirred by his message. fter the Jews left the synagogue, the Gentile audience asked aul to speak again the next abbath (verse 42). rowds followed aul and arnabas, listening to them preach the gospel. When the next abbath arrived, the synagogue was filled with people because almost the whole city [came] together to hear the word of God (verse 44). Jews observed as more and more people entered the synagogue. hey watched the expressions on people s faces; they could tell they were moved by what the apostles were saying. ut they themselves rejected the message. fter aul finished speaking, the Jews walked among the crowds, listening as the people fellowshipped about the message they had just heard. Gradually, the Jews grew jealous and bitter. hey began to discredit aul and arnabas, contradicting their message. he Jews were God s chosen people. God had been working with them in a special way since the time of Judah, one of the 12 sons of Jacob. Jesus had been a Jew, and the gospel message was first delivered to the Jews, both during is ministry and after is death and resurrection. ut the Jews were also the first to reject that message, as aul was quickly learning. n response to the Jews disbelief and slander against the gospel, aul boldly said, t was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles (verse 46). God was calling the Gentiles in that city, and many were baptized and made members of God s true hurch. aul s proclamation against the Jews only added to their anger. hey banished the two apostles from the city and the region (verse 50). owever, aul and arnabas were encouraged and determined because of the success God had given them with the Gentiles at ntioch in isidia. hey shook off the dust of their feet and continued moving forward toward conium in the east (verse 51). conium was one of three cities that aul and arnabas would visit in the oman province of Galatia. he others were ystra and Derbe. nce again, the apostles spoke in a synagogue. any of the Jews and Gentiles in the audience believed. ut those who didn t believe worked to influence those who were turning toward the truth of God. trend was emerging: Wherever aul and arnabas traveled, they faced persecution not from the Gentiles, but from the Jews. aul and arnabas stayed in conium for a long while and continued to boldly preach (cts 14:3). long with delivering the gospel message through aul, God also performed miracles through him, confirming that he was an apostle and that his message was true. ver time, the city became divided: some believed the Jewish leaders who rejected aul and arnabas, and others believed their message. s the envy of the Jews grew, so did their desire to do away with God s apostles. hey developed a plan to stone aul and arnabas (verse 5). ut aul and arnabas discovered the threat and fled to ystra. s with all their other visits, after arriving in ystra, aul and arnabas (verse 7). he gospel message was the foundation of everything that the first-century apostles taught. t was the same message that Jesus hrist had proclaimed (ark 1:14). For that same reason, God s V 9 3 9

10 hurch today continues to proclaim the good news of the coming Kingdom of God. From the beginning of human history, through aul s lifetime and up to today, human beings have caused and suffered from selfishness, deceit, family breakdown, chaos, violence and war. uman beings are an amazing creation with unique qualities and abilities. hey should be able to live happy lives, yet they don t. his quandary has existed throughout 6,000 years of human history. oday, it is often referred to as the human condition. et there is hope. ot in human beings, but in the intervention of God. God s people, including the first-century apostles, know that soon Jesus hrist will return. is people will meet im in the air and will rule with im from Jerusalem for 1,000 years (Daniel 7:14, 18, 27; evelation 5:10; 20:4). eople will finally have the missing pieces to human happiness: God s law and government. he gospel message is the good news of that coming Kingdom. hat same commission of proclaiming the gospel of the good news to the world was given to Jesus hrist, to eter, to aul, and later to erbert W. rmstrong and to Gerald Flurry today. n ystra, aul came upon a man who had been crippled since birth. he man listened intently while aul spoke to the crowds. aul perceived that the man had enough faith to be healed, and God worked a miracle through him and healed the man in front of everyone who was watching (cts 14:8-10). Did the ystrians give the credit for this miracle to God? From cts 14:11-13, describe the people s response to this miracle: hese people had just heard the gospel preached; they were taught about the coming Kingdom of God. nd yet their immediate response to this miracle of healing was to conclude that aul and arnabas were pagan gods in human form. (he Gentile areas aul visited, particularly Galatia, were heavily influenced by oman and Greek mythology.) aul and arnabas istock.com/cinoby God commissioned the hurch to proclaim the good news of the coming Kingdom of God, which will end all suffering, sickness and poverty. 10 D

11 were distressed that God s inspiring miracle was misunderstood to be an act of false pagan gods. any people in the crowd wanted to sacrifice to aul and arnabas. he apostles tore their clothes in distress. ventually, Jews from ntioch and conium arrived on the scene. hey worked to turn the people against the apostles. oon, the same people who had been worshiping aul and arnabas turned violently against them as they believed what the visiting Jews told them. he Jews from conium and ntioch actually persuaded the people of ystra to stone aul (verse 19). fter stoning aul, the people dragged his body outside of the city, leaving it there. ut then another miracle occurred. aul began to stir, and then he stood up (verse 20). he day after aul was stoned, he and arnabas moved to Derbe, the next city in Galatia. What did they do when they entered the city? nd when they had to that city (verse 21). Just as with all his visits, aul taught the people about Jesus hrist and the Kingdom of God, filling them with hope. ot much information is recorded about aul s visit to Derbe. t appears to have been less eventful than his time in ystra. ater, aul wrote a letter to imothy and mentioned the locations where he suffered severe persecution (2 imothy 3:11): Derbe is not on that list. erhaps God gave aul a more pleasant visit with less persecution, especially since he had just suffered a stoning and was left for dead. fter aul and arnabas had taught many disciples in Derbe, they traveled back through the cities they had just visited. his was obviously dangerous. t most or all of these cities, the two apostles had suffered strong persecution and even life-threatening violence. Why did they risk facing danger again? ecause they cared about the members of the hurch. here were newly converted members in these cities who needed encouragement and strength, especially because they were probably being somewhat persecuted themselves. aul wanted to serve these members and encourage them to be strong in the faith and to withstand deception and persecution. e and arnabas risked their safety and probably their lives, traveling back through these locations, giving God s people a longterm vision and teaching them we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God (cts 14:22). ater, aul would write to the Galatians and encourage them to not grow weary in well doing (Galatians 6:9). ou might face persecution for your beliefs: erhaps your friends in school ignore you because you won t go out with them on Friday nights, your coach benches you a lot because you won t play on aturdays, you can t participate in clubs and activities because you keep the abbath. ut like the Galatians, you can be encouraged that these tribulations are for a purpose: ou are persevering through tribulation to enter the Kingdom of God! aul and arnabas ordained ministers in each congregation as they journeyed back through the cities toward ntioch in yria. aul knew that the people in these congregations needed proper government structure to be taught, corrected and encouraged and to survive and grow spiritually. he two apostles arrived on the southern coast of sia inor in a town called ttalia, where they boarded a ship and sailed back to ntioch. aul s first journey had lasted a little more than two years. n that time, God had laid the foundation of proclaiming the gospel to the Gentiles. fter three years in ntioch, aul and arnabas would embark on a second journey. n the next lesson, we will cover aul s second journey, which, for the first time, takes him to the continent of urope. V

12 ublished by the hiladelphia hurch of God and produced in cooperation with mperial cademy. editor in chief Gerald Flurry cover itock.com/standret 2018 ll rights reserved. aul Word earch omans 8:38-39 Galatians 2:20 G K J Z F F J J D D W J K Z G D W F V K G G D G J D F G G G J J K JD Z GG