Days of Preparation
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to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the
world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of
the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and
things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh
should glory in His presence.”
1 Corinthians 1:26-29
. And so, viewing
the wisdom of the world in the light of the cross, Paul “determined
not to know anything, ... save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
1
[128]
Corinthians 2:2
.
Throughout his later ministry, Paul never lost sight of the Source
of his wisdom and strength. Hear him, years afterward, still declaring,
“For to me to live is Christ.”
Philippians 1:21
. And again: “I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, ... that I may
win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the
righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know Him, and
the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings.”
Philippians 3:8-10
.
From Arabia Paul “returned again unto Damascus” (
Galatians
1:17
), and “preached boldly ... in the name of Jesus.” Unable to
withstand the wisdom of his arguments, “the Jews took counsel to kill
him.” The gates of the city were diligently guarded day and night to
cut off his escape. This crisis led the disciples to seek God earnestly,
and finally they “took him by night, and let him down through the wall,
lowering him in a basket.”
Acts 9:25
, R.V.
After his escape from Damascus, Paul went to Jerusalem, about
three years having passed since his conversion. His chief object in
making this visit, as he himself declared afterward, was “to see Peter.”
Galatians 1:18
. Upon arriving in the city where he had once been
well known as “Saul the persecutor,” “he assayed to join himself to
the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he
[129]
was a disciple.” It was difficult for them to believe that so bigoted a
Pharisee, and one who had done so much to destroy the church, could
become a sincere follower of Jesus. “But Barnabas took him, and
brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen
the Lord in the way, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had
preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.”