373 - Les Feldick Bible Study Lesson 1 - Part 1 - Book 32 - Paul's Glimpse of Glory

https://lesfeldickbiblestudy.com Through the Bible with Les Feldick LESSON 1 * PART 1 * BOOK 32 PAUL'S GLIMPSE OF GLORY Remember, as we begin, Paul has to constantly remind not only the Corinthians, but you and I as well, that he was the God-ordained apostle of the Gentiles, the non-Jew and he has to constantly defend that. II Corinthians 13:3a "Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me,..." But Paul will show us that he also had direct contact with Christ. As we come into verse 22 of Chapter 11 he is again coming back to this same point. II Corinthians 11:22 Now verse 23: II Corinthians 11:23a "Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) How could the man say that? Because of the revelations that he had received, not from the pre-crucified Christ, but the Christ after His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. II Corinthians 12:11 All right now look what it says back in Chapter 11 verse 5: II Corinthians 11:5 Now coming back where we left off in Chapter 11. II Corinthians 11:23 "Are they ministers of Christ? Now let's stop for a moment. Certainly not during Christ's earthly ministry. Now we're going to see in Chapter 12 that he was dragged out of Lystra for dead, but evidently there were other times when, so far as the apostle was concerned, he was next to death whether it was through sickness or through the beatings or through imprisonment or whatever. Now verse 24: II Corinthians 11:24 "Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one." Stoning was even worse. I was reading the other night in a biography on the apostle Paul how, when the Jews stoned someone to death, the corpse was obscene. Remember for several years this man did the same things to his victims. "For I will shew him (Saul) how great things he must suffer for my name's sake." I'm bringing all this out to get you ready for Chapter 12, because we're going to have a tremendous experience in that chapter. So here he's been suffering at the hands of the Jews, at the hands of the Romans. II Corinthians 11:25 The Book of Acts only records one shipwreck so there must have been two other times he was dumped in the water. Three times he was beaten with rods and that's almost as bad. Now verse 26: II Corinthians 11:26,27 "In journeying often, (remember the man covered what is now Turkey and Greece on foot) in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen (the non-Jewish world) in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27. In Africa we have no idea of the amount of Christian people who have suffered for their faith. To be able to sit down without fear and study the Word of God. So let's never fail to thank God that we are in such a place of liberty and opportunity. Now verse 28, and remember on top of all these hardships he had other concerns. II Corinthians 11:28 (assemblies) Now verse 29. II Corinthians 11:29 II Corinthians 11:30-32a "If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. 32. In Damascus..." God was going to turn from the Jew only and let the Gentiles be the primary players. It was not the message that God wanted this man to preach. It was not enough to simply believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. God had further revelations to give this man. So there in Damascus God forced the issue. II Corinthians 11:32,33 Well it was all part and parcel, you see, of getting the man ready for the Gospel of Grace as we know it today. Paul is going to take this Gospel to the ends of the then-known world. And today, even with all of this in Paul's writings in the New Testament, that Gospel is so shunned. We just do not hear the uniqueness of Paul's apostleship. Now let's move into Chapter 12. Paul had that apologetic authority. II Corinthians 12:1 II Corinthians 12:2 "I knew (know) a man in Christ above (or about) fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven." Remember the ancients weren't that stupid. They had a good idea when life was still in the body, so I have to feel that for all practical purposes Paul died as a result of this stoning. Acts 14:20 Now if you will come back to II Corinthians. The reason I tie this with the stoning in Lystra is because, chronologically, it fits. It was at this time that he experienced this tremendous opportunity to see the glories of Heaven, Paradise. Now let's read on. II Corinthians 12:2b God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven." It the very abode of God. Genesis 7:23a #LesFeldick #BibleStudy #Bible