by Tim Green
revelation from before the Throne of Grace.
The more I made tents the more I discovered that the God of the universe was looking for a place to dwell. Here I was making dwellings for people to rest in while God Himself was looking for a dwelling place of His own to rest in. He had dwelt in a tent on a mountain in the past but now He was desirous of dwelling in the tent of a human heart. And He wanted me to be his messenger. It was His will to establish a tent, a tabernacle, a dwelling place in the Earth. It was His plan and purpose to rebuild the Tabernacle of King David once again. So that all men from every tribe and nation could approach Him. Do you not know that your body is the temple of God in which He dwells by His Holy Spirit.
He wanted me to spread the good news of the Gospel and proclaim that the dwelling of God is now with men. He wanted all men to know that He desires to live and dwell in their hearts. To the Jew first and then the Gentiles. He wanted to be intimate with them. He wanted to walk with them face to face, like He did with Adam in the Garden of Eden during the cool of the day. He wanted to be their God and their heavenly Father. He wanted them to be His children, His sons and His daughters.
Suddenly one day Barnabas appeared. He had come to fetch me. He had overwhelming news about a particular "Church of the Way." Barnabas remembered how I had debated in fluent Greek with the Grecians in Jerusalem. I was needed for my language skills, as many Greek speaking people had been converted to Christ, the Messiah. I was fluent in all three languages, Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. So my journey began into the world of preaching Christ's Gospel message, the Good News. It was my destiny, the reason I was born, to preach this gospel to the entire world. This gospel was Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.
I am Paul, I speak in tongues more than anybody else. When we speak in tongues we are speaking mysteries unto God. May the God of Shalom - peace Himself sanctify you and make you pure in every way. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen - so be it.
The Journey Begins. #4
Jerusalem had changed over a short period of time and I was the one responsible for that change. The believers had dispersed after the death of Stephen, the first martyr. They had fled from Jerusalem when I began to arrest the "Disciples of the Way" and have them flogged and imprisoned. The believers spread all over the world and spread the Good News, the Gospel of the Kingdom as they went.
I had changed my name from Saul to Paul, which means dwarfish or little one. In order for God to use you as His servant, He must first make you small. You must first decrease that Christ may increase in your life. There are no big shots in God's Kingdom as the proud are rejected and access to His Throne is denied to them. Grace is only given to the humble, to those who are penitent, those who show genuine remorse for sin.
I did not want to be remembered as the one who breathed out threats of slaughter against the disciples of the Lord Jesus. I did not want the horror to linger in my mind of how I persecuted the "Saints of the Way" even unto death. I had to make myself forget those things that were behind in my past and I had to press on to obtain the prize of the high calling that is in Christ Jesus my Lord. I was ashamed that I had bound both men and woman and led them back to Jerusalem to await trial. I had persecuted the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ beyond measure and wasted it away. My hands were bloodied and soiled by the innocent blood of God's saints.
So by faith, I laid my old carnal man Saul to rest. I crucified him with the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross of Calvary. I buried that old man Saul in the tomb with the lifeless body of the Lord Jesus Christ. I considered every old earthly passion dead and presented my body now as a living sacrifice unto God. As far as I was concerned, Saul was dead and buried and my new self was raised back to life again. When Christ died, I died. When Christ was raised, I was raised with Him to newness of life and the life that I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave His life for me.
God showed me his unfailing mercy. Before I was a blasphemer, a persecutor. I injured the Church of Jesus Christ. Yet I obtained mercy, because I did all these things out of ignorance and in unbelief. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief leader of all sinners. If you think that God cannot forgive people their sins then you are mistaken. I'm living proof that God is a God of mercy and forgives sinners of their sin. That's why I changed my name from Saul to Paul. I was arrogant and full of pride. Now I'm a humble servant of the Messiah.
The converted Jews, the "Believers of the Way" that had fled Jerusalem preached Christ and His Kingdom in the city of Antioch. It was the third largest city in the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria. It was the capital city of the Roman Province of Syria, located on the Orontes River. It was famous for it perfumes and the Olympic Games were held there. The god's Zeus, Apollo and Tyche were worshipped there. Many people in Antioch of Syria believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and were converted. Then tidings of these miraculous conversions reached the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem. The apostles in Jerusalem sent Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch of Syria and be a witness of this Jesus movement there. When Barnabas had arrived at Antioch of Syria he saw how the grace of God rested heavily upon the saints of God there. He was exceedingly glad, and exhorted them all. He encouraged them that with purpose of heart, they should cleave unto the Lord Jesus Christ, not loosing their faith and trust in Him.
Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and full of faith. Many more people were added unto the Lord Jesus Christ while Barnabas stayed in Antioch of Syria. "I must go and find him," thought Barnabas in his heart. That's when Barnabas left Antioch and headed for Tarsus, my city in the Province of Cilicia. He was in search of me as he knew my ability to speak and interpret many languages. Antioch of Syria was prominently Greek speaking and I was fluent in Greek. My time for preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ had suddenly come upon me. It was my time. My time for purpose and destiny had arrived.
When he had found me, he brought me back with him to Antioch of Syria. As it came to pass, we spent a whole year there assembled together with the church, and taught multitudes of people there. Those who believed and became disciples were called little Christ's or Christians first in Antioch of Syria. The believers there had become an exact replica of Jesus Christ in the earth. They had become partakers of the divine nature and had become an expression of God on the earth. God had duplicated Himself upon the earth, as it is in heaven. That's when prophets came from the church in Jerusalem to Antioch of Syria to see these miniature Christ's or little Christ's that we now call Christians.
During this time some prophets travelled down from Jerusalem to Antioch of Syria. One of them named Agabus stood up in the meeting and prophesied, predicting by the Holy Spirit that a severe famine would come upon the entire Roman world. This prophesy was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius, the Roman Emperor. So the "Disciples of the Way" in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea. Everyone gave as much as they could afford, according to their own prosperity. They entrusted their gifts to Barnabas and me, to take them to the church elders in Jerusalem.
As Barnabas and I, along with the prophets and teachers from Jerusalem, began to minister to the Lord with fasting and prayer. The Holy Spirit said to them, "Separate both Barnabas and Paul unto me for the work that I have called them to do in my name." After they had finished fasting and praying they laid their hands upon us and then sent us away, on a journey. So Barnabas and I had been sent out by the Holy Spirit to do God's work. Just as God the Father had anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. We too had been anointed and sent out by the Holy Spirit to do God's work.
We had been sent out as apostles. We were set apart as delegates and ambassadors of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We were messengers and representatives of Jesus Christ Himself to His holy Church. So my first missionary jour
ney began with a loyal spiritual soldier by my side, my good friend Barnabas. He was indeed a friend who stuck closer than a brother. It was God's ordained order to be sent out two by two. So we departed together and went down to the port city of Seleucia just as the Holy Spirit had instructed us. From there we sailed from that port to the Island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean.
When we arrived at Salamis, a town on the Island of Cyprus, we preached the Word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. We had John Mark, a cousin of Barnabas as an attendant to assist us. After we had passed through the entire Island of Cyprus as far as Paphos, the capital city of Cyprus. Paphos housed sacred shrines to the goddess of love known as Venus to the Romans and Aphrodite to the Greeks. We came face to face with a sorcerer, a false Jewish prophet, whose name was Bar-Jesus. The sorcerer withstood us, but I was full of the Holy Ghost. I spoke boldly against him and commissioned that he be blind for a season, just as I once was on the Damascus road. Darkness fell upon him and he went about