Paul's credentials? "delivered up to councils and scourged.."

[marie glen]

I put this here, because I believe Paul, being of the truth, was a UR believer.. and boy what work the Holy Spirit worked through him.. he was definitely on fire for the truth.. and if he didn't have all truth, hard to be SO on fire? I'm just thinking it's hard to really, really, w/o a doubt "believe" if you believe in a God capable of ET.. :dontknow: jes sayin'


"Ananias ..said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Acts 9:17

Acts 13:2-4
"As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit..."

I was reading today (Matthew chapter 10) Jesus' sending out of the 12.. and was impressed with how much His words came true within the life and work of Paul.

16 "I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

..When they persecute you in this city, flee to another..  .And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet..

17 beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. 18 You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.

....But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you."

Paul's speeches/preaching before councils and kings -
Acts 13:17-41
Acts 17:22-31
Acts 22:1-21
Acts 23:1-9
Acts 24:14-21
Acts 26:2-29
Acts 28:17-20

"then the proconsul believed.." Acts 13:12 ... "they have beaten us openly..and thrown us into prison"

"..and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.
             However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. (  :laugh2: ) And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.

And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples... So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord..  And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. ..when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia and sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed...Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles... So they stayed there a long time with the disciples." Acts 14:19

Acts 16:37 ..."Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them (into the synagogue) and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures" 17:2

" Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there." 17:17

"Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus (Mar's Hill of Athens) and said.." 17:22

"And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks." 18:4

"But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments.. 18:6

"Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians" 18:8

"When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat" 18:12

"Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, reasoning and arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God." 19:8

"Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" 29 So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul's travel companions." 19:28-29

"And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?" 22:25

"Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said.."23:1

"he said, "I will hear you when your accusers also have come." And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's Praetorium." 23:35

"For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes." 24:5

"Then Paul, after the governor had nodded to him to speak, answered: .." 24:10

"And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ." 24:24

"having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come—" 26:22

"And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.
    ...Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves. And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in to him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him." from Acts 28:23-31

("..Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Acts 9:17 )

[marie glen]

..also from matthew 10 - "a man's enemies will be the members of his own household" ("those in asia have turned away from me") ..Paul's battles with that wily spirit of gnosticism/eminence..  :Chinscratch: maybe that's why asia got those seven letters.. though the church of philadelphia seems to have been holding true.. :smile:

[marie glen]

..had to add one more.. Paul wrote:

2 Corinthians 12:7 - [ A Thorn in the Flesh ]

Amplified Bible
Because of the surpassing greatness and extraordinary nature of the revelations [which I received from God], for this reason, to keep me from thinking of myself as important, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, to torment and harass me—to keep me from exalting myself!
         :Peace2:

[marie glen]

..also from matthew 10 - "a man's enemies will be the members of his own household" ("those in asia have turned away from me") ..Paul's battles with that wily spirit of gnosticism/eminence..  :Chinscratch: maybe that's why asia got those seven letters.. though the church of philadelphia seems to have been holding true.. :smile:

   ...don't worry.. yes, i do often talk to myself :laughing7:

     ...Some of the very earliest and most ancient of artifacts archaeologists have come across, are small statuettes of a large size female torso, the "Venus of Hohle Fels" for example, being the first one discovered. Since then many have been unearthed all over the planet (with or without heads) and are believed to be the first conceptions of the famous, world wide "Mother Goddess". (Faint 'memories of Eve' the "mother of us all"? As Adam called her? Perhaps Eve, before her days were up, had become a 'plus size' lady! Or, the hefty figure may represent fertility.)

The earliest forms of religion involved a mother goddess, and magic. The most important 'magic' involved the all important harvest. Fertility rites were considered magic acts encouraging the 'god' or 'gods' to mimic and grant a good and fertile harvest.

Later mother and fertility goddesses were slimmer versions, often pictured with grain as a symbol of fertility. (Was the most ancient form, Cain's religion? Who brought his grain offering?)

When the languages of mankind were confused at Babel Tower, mankind spread over the face of the Earth, taking the Sumerian (Shinar) mythology with them, now in their own unique languages (and names of the gods/goddesses) and likely taking on unique features as time passed and they were handed down over the generations.

Many, actually most if not all, mythologies include a flood legend. And also include a goddess with a son legend, or a god and consort with son legend, which son dies and recovers. Are these passed down, and added to, faint memories of Yahweh's talk with Adam and Eve in the garden (Genesis 3:15) when He first promised a redeemer? A "seed of the woman" who would crush the enemy?

Out of all these arose the many mythological stories of 'gods and goddess' exploits. To ancient minds the meaning of the story was what was important, the purpose of a myth was to provide the listener with a truth which they recognized for themselves, each one making their own interpretation of the myth. A myth or legend was not valued as fact or history, but as having hidden meaning for the initiated (enlightened).

The esoteric elements of these myths and religions became known as "mystery religions" and were loosely gathered under the heading of "gnosis" or "knowledge". The miracles of the first christians attracted gnostic seekers, who mixed some elements of the new christian faith into their belief system. Their heathen belief was that the world had fallen into matter; spirit was good, and matter was evil. Therefor it could not be true that Jesus had actually come and lived and died. The view was that His spirit had entered the man Jesus at his baptism and left before the crucifixion. He could not have died on the cross to save mankind. They believed Jesus told a select few elite, secret "knowledge" and meanings/interpretations of accounts they saw as myth, and these secrets were what revealed the way of salvation.

The gnostics were the second strong opposition to the new faith. (The first being the legalists who insisted gentile believers must be circumcised and follow the laws of Judaism, which matter was resolved in Acts chapter 15).

The city of Ephesus, where the "great temple and statue of Diana"/Artemis was, had been a stronghold of the old and ancient faith of magic and ritual. After Paul's preaching many Ephesians brought out books and other magic arts paraphernalia and burned them in the square. But by time the apostle John wrote down Jesus' letters to the churches, Ephesus had "lost its first love" of the Lord. The letter to the church of Ephesus was the first letter. Had Ephesus become the leading center for gnosticism? It is also rumored that Ephesus was the first to teach the belief in an 'afterlife' and a 'hell' (for all those not enlightened with, saved by, the hidden and secret mysteries of gnosis?) Afterlife and a place of torment were not in the Old Testament. But they were in the Sumerian (Shinar) and Babylonian mythologies, and in Egypt had evolved into "levels" of a torturous "place" or "abode of the dead".

i guess i'm thinking the gnostic, the esoteric, and the atheistic trends in the world will be blending.. last great opposition..?