Lesson One:
The apostle Paul wrote, "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,"
(1 Timothy 1:12) He wrote that Christ Himself put him into the ministry because He had counted him faithful. What ministry did Christ put Paul into? When Christ appeared to him in his conversion, He said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from
the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me."
(Acts 26:15-18) The ministry that Christ put Paul into was the ministry of the apostleship for the Gentiles.
Lesson Two:
The ministry that Christ put Paul into was the apostleship for the Gentiles. Paul was specifically commisioned to go to the Gentiles, to preach the gospel to them (unlike Peter who was specifically commissioned to go to the Jews, to preach the gospel to them) He wrote, "But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles)," (Galatians 2:7-8)
Lesson Three:
When did Christ put Paul (known as Saul before his conversion) into the apostleship for the Gentiles? It was not in Damascus right after he got converted although he immediately preached the Christ there (Acts 9:20-22). Neither was in Jerusalem when he went there and was with the apostles, coming in and going out, and speaking boldy in the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 9:26-29). But, it was in Antioch after Barnabas took him there from Tarsus and for more than a year he assembled with the church and taught a great many people (Acts 11:25-26). It happened when he, Barnabas and three other brothers ministered to the Lord and fasted. Luke the physician wrote, "Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 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.” (Acts 13:1-2)
Lesson Four:
When the Holy Spirit said to the church in Antioch to separate Saul and Barnabas for the work to which He had called them, Christ put Paul into the ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles, according to the calling that he had received from Him in his conversion many years earlier. Before this, Paul had done some ministries together with Barnabas, teaching the church in Antioch (Acts 12:26) and going to Jerusalem to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea (Acts 11:29-30). Actually, he had preached Christ since the beginning of his conversion (Acts 9:20) So, he had served the Lord for many years and had done some ministries before Christ put him into the apostleship for the Gentiles. He was a preacher, then a teacher before he became an apostle. He himself wrote, "to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles." (2 Timothy 1:11)
Lesson Five:
Paul's ultimate ministry was the apostleship for the Gentiles. He preached that Jesus was the Christ to the Jews in the beginning, but that was not his ultimate ministry. He came to stay in Antioch and taught the church there for the whole year, but that was not his ultimate ministry. To be an apostle to the Gentiles, he could not just go the Jews, he could not just preach Christ to make the people believe in Him, he could not just stay in one place and teach the people there. To be an apostle to the Gentiles, he had to go to the Jews first and be rejected, he had to preach Christ in the way that the Gentiles could accept, not relying so much on the law of Moses, he had to go to various places to start and build churches, teaching them the whole counsels of God. So, God had to prepare Paul thoroughly, bringing him from one stage to another, before He could put him into the ministry of apostleship for the Gentiles.
Lesson Six:
How did God prepare Saul for the ministry of apostleship for the Gentiles? Immediately after his conversion, Saul boldly preached to the Jews in Damascus, proving that Jesus is Christ, and they plotted to kill him, but the disciples helped him escape (Acts 9:20-25). Apparently, he then went to Arabia to be away from men, and probably, he received the gospel by revelation from Jesus Christ there. After two to three years, he returned again to Damascus. He wrote, "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus." (Galatians 1:15-17) and "But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ." (Galatians 1:11-12) Thus, the first stage of his preparation was he did not confer with men for a certain period of time, but he spend much time with God to receive the gospel which came through the revelations of Jesus Christ.
Lesson Seven:
After two or three years in Arabia, Saul returned to Damasus and then went to Jerusalem to see Peter and the other apostles. He was with them, coming in and going out. (Galatians 1:18-19) He spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed with the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him (Acts 9:29) When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus (Acts 9:30). The second stage of his preparation was he came to see the apostles and was with them, hearing and learning from them. He probably ministered together with them, too.
Lesson Eight:
Saul spent some years in Tarsus, his birth place. He probably lived in his parents' home and worked as a tent maker. During that time, undoubtedly he grew in his wisdom and spiritual experiences. He likely used Tarsus as his home base, preaching Christ and teaching the Scriptures in the synagogues and visiting churches, even went to the region of Syria and Cilicia (Galatians 1:21). He was unknown, but he continued to do this faithfully. The third stage of his preparation was he started to do his own ministry and grew in it.
Lesson Nine:
After going through the three stages of God's preparation for a number of years, Saul was finally ready to be put into his ultimate ministry, which was the apostleship to the Gentiles. But, he had to be in the Gentiles church first, not in the Jewish church. The church in Antioch was full of the Greek believers. In the churches of the Jews in Jerusalem and other places the believers were called as followers of the way, but in Antioch they were called as Christians, the term that is still used today to call the Gentiles believers. Therefore, God sent Barnabas to bring Saul to Antioch to assemble with the church and taught a great many people there. Luke the physician wrote, "Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch." (Acts 11:25-26)
Lesson Ten:
God only put Paul into his ultimate ministry at the right time and in the right place. The right time means after his preparation as a minister was completed (his spirit was strong, he was full of revelation and wisdom, he had some ministry experiences). The right place means he was with the right church. The Antioch church were full of the Gentiles, to whom he would be sent. The leaders of the Antioch church were teachers (they understood the Holy Scripture) and prophets (they spoke by the Holy Spirit), so he would undoubtedly be sent by God, not by man. The apostle Paul himself wrote, "Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead)," (Galatians 1:1)
Lesson Eleven:
God has an ultimate ministry for every one of us as a believer. This ultimate ministry is the specific good work which God prepared beforehand that a believer should walk in it. The apostle Paul wrote, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
(Ephesians 2:10) However, before God put us into our ultimate ministry, He will prepare us like He prepared Paul. Our preparation may not be exactly the same as the preparation of Paul, but we will go through different stages to become strong in spirit, to receive revelations from God, to learn from men of God, to gain some ministry experiences. The final stage of our preparation is to be in the right church because that is the only place where God will put us into our ultimate ministry.
