Paul Declares his own Personal Eyewitness to the
Resurrected Christ
1
Corinthians 15:8-11 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out
of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called
an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I
am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain;
but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God
which was with me. Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach,
and so ye believed. KJV
Paul now speaks of himself being an eyewitness to
our Resurrected Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and as he so commonly does in all
of his epistles or letters Paul counts himself as lowly and unworthy to have
even had such a high, lofty, and wonderful privilege. In the Last study, we
included 1 Corinthians 15:8 and this
was a mistake because we will include it here to expound Paul’s words declaring
his personal witness to our Resurrected Lord Jesus. Paul was so humbled,
shocked, and in awe that our Lord Jesus Christ would save such a sinner as
himself, he wrote this English phrase “one born out of due time” describing his
birth into the family of God as an aberration or deviance from the norm and
this English phrase is translated by the Greek word ektroma which means or speaks of an untimely birth or an abortive
birth or abortion altogether or miscarriage. Paul felt so strongly about the
unworthiness of his redemption that he referred so disparagingly or belittling
or with such a negative opinion of his own new birth and Apostleship.
This is the one and only time this Greek word ektroma is ever used in the New
Testament, but the Hebrew equivalent to this word nephel is used on four different occasions and the one most akin or
similar to the strong point being made here by Paul is the Old Testament man of
God Job as he bemoans or laments his condition to the point of cursing the day
of his birth and he said, “Or as an
hidden untimely birth (nephel same as
ektroma) I had not been; as infants which
never saw light” (Job 3:16). Here is what brother Marvin R. Vincent
(1834-1922) had to say about Paul’s choice of words in this verse, “Paul means
that when Christ appeared to him and called him, he was - as compared with the
disciples who had known and followed Him from the first, and whom he had been
persecuting - no better than an unperfected fetus among living men.” This is
exactly what the Apostle Paul wanted to convey to these Corinthian believers
and to us his utter disgust of what he did to the beloved children of God
before his conversion and I gather from these words that Paul never allowed
himself to forget what horrible things he did to many Christians and it always
kept him humbled, even here declaring that he too was an eyewitness to our
Resurrected Lord Jesus.
Paul was visited by our Lord Jesus on several occasions
that he documented for us in the Scripture, the first being at the time of his
salvation on the Damascus Road (Acts
9:3-5), but also when he first came to Corinth and was rejected by the Jews
there in the synagogue our Lord Jesus appeared to Paul in a vision and said
these words, “Do
not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I
am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many
people in this city” (Acts 18:9-10). Our Lord Jesus even took Paul
up into the Throne Room of Heaven after he was stoned to death at Lystra and
then resurrected Paul from death and sent him on back into the mission field.
Paul spent three (3) years in Arabia being taught personally by our Lord Jesus
Christ all of the many revelations even the first eleven (11) Apostles were not
privy to (Galatians 1:15-18) as even
the Apostle Peter acknowledges of Paul in (2
Peter 3:15-16). Paul although he had these personal revelations of our Lord
Jesus Christ refers to himself as the least of the Apostles and this English
word least is translated by the Greek word elachistos
which means smallest or lowest in importance, rank, or excellence and he so
declared himself to be so here and in his letter to the Galatians because of
his persecution of the saints (Galatians
1:13-14).
Paul now with this new life so vibrantly within him
wanting to make amends for his days, weeks, months, and years in Jewish
Pharisee ignorance toiled and travailed more than all the other first Apostles
that walked with our Lord Jesus Christ from the beginning of His earthly
ministry, but he and they all taught and preached the same gospel as declared
by him in (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). It
was always apparent by the works he performed as he was empowered by the grace
of God. Paul when writing to brother Timothy probably summed it all up in great
fashion with these words, “I thank
Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful,
putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a
persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted
ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with
the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy
statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I
found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His
perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal
life” (1 Timothy 12:16).
“Paul resembled such a birth, in the suddenness of
his new birth, in that he was not matured for the apostolic function, as the
others were, who had personal converse with our Lord. He was called to the
office when such conversation was not to be had, he was out of time for it. He
had not known nor followed the Lord, nor been formed in His family, as the
others were, for this high and honourable function. This was in Paul’s account
a very humbling circumstance.” Matthew Henry
“It is evident, however, that deeply as Paul might
feel his unworthiness, and his unfitness to be called an apostle, yet that this
did not render him an incompetent witness of what he had seen. He was unworthy;
but he had no doubt that he had seen the Lord Jesus; and amidst all the
expressions of his deep sense of his unfitness for his office, he never once
intimates the slightest doubt that he had seen the Saviour. He felt himself
fully qualified to testify to that; and with unwavering firmness he did testify
to it to the end of life.” Albert Barnes
“Paul was so shaken by the revelation of our Lord Jesus
Christ to him on the Damascus road because he was devout in his Jewish Pharisee
heritage and was certain that he was worshipping the One True God in truth, and
after he encountered ‘The Truth Jesus Christ’ he was so overwhelmed with the
magnitude of his sin, that he never allowed himself ever any since of privilege
as an Apostle over the other believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Clifford D.
Tate, Sr.
If you do not
know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your
heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus,
I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You
shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead
proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my
sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my
life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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