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What is this surprise in the nature of Paul that he can go from “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of Christ” one day and be a submissive disciple of Christ the next? Of course, he had this stupendous vision on the road to Damascus, but is there something more we can learn about the life of Paul, itself, that can give us cues to his energy and passion?

You can also find it on any of these platforms by searching for Meridian Magazine-Come Follow Me.

Maurine and Scot Proctor have spent extensive time in the Holy Land, researching the life of Christ. They have taught the New Testament in the Institute program for many years and have written books and numerous articles on the life of the Savior.

Join our study group and let’s delve into the scriptures in a way that is inspiring, expanding and joyful.

Scot

What is this surprise in the nature of Paul that he can go from “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of Christ” one day and be a submissive disciple of Christ the next? Of course, he had this stupendous vision on the road to Damascus, but is there something more we can learn about the life of Paul, itself, that can give us cues to his energy and passion?

Maurine

Hello, we’re Scot and Maurine Proctor and this is Meridian Magazine’s Come Follow Me podcast. Today’s lesson is “What Wilt Thou Have Me Do?” which is Acts, chapters 6-9. Thanks to Paul Cardall for the music that begins and ends this podcast. The transcripts for the podcasts can be found at latterdaysaintmag.com/podcast. We hope you’re reading Meridian Magazine at latterdaysaintmag.com. Every day we bring you insights and updates that keep you in the know on the stories that are shaping the current history of the Church and the world.  Please tell your friends about this podcast that can be found on most podcast platforms under Meridian Magazine—Come Follow Me.

Scot

In the first years after the resurrection, the robust growth of the Church caught the attention of the Jewish elite of Jerusalem who must have been sadly disappointed that their crucifixion of Jesus did not stop the gospel from bursting forth. It reminds us of those who murdered the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Patriarch Hyrum Smith and thought this would kill the growth of the early Church. Such was not the case.

Already in Acts 6 we see that Church members are living the law of consecration, that missionary work is vibrant and that, in addition to the Twelve apostles, seven new officers of the Church are called to see among other things to the temporal welfare of the members, as well as administering the work and teaching. The need is clear. The apostles just can’t do it all and the Lord uses the principle of delegation to do His work.

This is not just because great works require many hands. In reality, the Lord could carry off His Church in any dispensation without us. But the Lord is growing people and their potential. His Church is a leadership school, a classroom of expansion for each human being who is willing to learn. That is why the Lord lets us play a role. When you really think about it, giving us each a role in building His kingdom is the ultimate compliment suggesting He trusts us to take it seriously and do our part.

Maurine

In Exodus 17, the Children of Israel are in a battle with Amalek, and Moses learns that if he holds up both his arms, the battle favors Israel, but if they drop, the battle swings toward Amalek.  He cannot keep that up alone.

12 But Moses’ hands awere heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur bstayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

It is in the very next chapter that Jethro, seeing his son-in-law so weighed down with responsibility advised Moses:

What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?

Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is atoo heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone (Exodus 18: 14,18).

Scot

The Greek term used to describe these seven new officers in the church is diakonos, where we get our English word deacon. This is not the same as our deacons in the Church today. Among that group was a man named Stephen.

We learn in Acts 6 about Stephen and the work:

 7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the apriests were obedient to the faith.

8 And Stephen, full of faith and apower, did great wonders and bmiracles among the people.

Maurine

Now, those of a particular synagogue, where Stephen preached called Libertine, began to rise up against his teaching. Latter-day Saint scholar Thomas Wayment in his book From Persecutor to Apostle, notes “Luke was unaware of, or left unstated, Stephen’s relationship with the synagogue of the Libertines. The term Libertines denotes a social status and is not an ethnic term. A Libertine was a freedman or a former slave who had won or purchased his freedom; therefore, the synagogue of the Libertines was the location where Greek-speaking former slaves met to hear the law of Moses taught to them in their own language. They were devout believers, but many of them, like Paul, had been raised in cities outside of Judea and were therefore less familiar with Aramaic or Hebrew—the common languages of the Judean synagogues. Stephen, who may have been a member or visiting member of the synagogue of the Libertines, taught something among them that they found deeply unsettling and distasteful.

Scot

Wayment continues:  “Noted among the members of the synagogue were the “Cilicians,” the regional designation of Paul’s homeland. Luke may have included this story because of its direct connection with the apostle Paul. If indeed Paul was a citizen of Tarsus and had received Roman citizenship through his father, he might have felt right at home in this synagogue where freedmen and Greek-speaking Jews met to discuss the Law of Moses. His first direct encounter with the church may have come when Stephen taught those of that synagogue the gospel. Stephen’s speech raised a new concern among the opponents of Christianity—whether or not the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth contradicted the teachings of the Law of Moses. For a young devout Jew such as Paul, teaching against the Law and that Jesus had become Deity could be viewed as nothing less than blasphemous. Luke introduces for the first time the issue of the Law of Moses as a point of friction between Jews and Christians. Up to that point the tension had come over the claims of Christ’s divinity.

“If we assume that Paul was present the day of Stephen’s speech, or that he had heard of it through contacts who attended the synagogue of the Libertines, we have an important causal link that would explain how Paul was enticed into the battle with these new followers of Jesus of Nazareth. A devout monotheist and follower of the Law of Moses, Paul would have been offended by Stephen’s teachings and would have felt duty bound to impede this new religious movement.” This is perhaps what brought Paul to be standing by while Stephen was stoned.

Maurine

Threatened that Stephen was subverting the Law of Moses with his preaching, the people in that synagogue were furious. Nothing can disturb someone more than feeling that another is speaking against their religion or undercutting their accepted and long-held view of things. What’s on the line seems to be your precious world-view, perhaps even your salvation. They must have thought that Stephen was a disturber who would corrupt their religion. The issue was Moses.

They said:

Acts 6

11 We have heard him speak ablasphemous words against Moses, and against God.

12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council.

Scot

Before the council, Stephen was bold and recounted the divine history of the Children of Israel which all pointed to the mission of the Savior. His face began to glow, reminding us of Moses on Mt. Sinai, and the description many observers gave of Joseph Smith when he was receiving revelation.

Then Stephen said without shrinking:

Acts 7

51 ¶ Ye astiffnecked and buncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always cresist the dHoly Ghost: as your efathers did, so do ye.

52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers apersecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers.

Maurine

Cut to the heart, the accusers gnashed Stephen with their teeth:

55 But he, being full of the aHoly Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the bglory of cGod, and dJesus estanding on the fright hand of God,

56 And said, Behold, I asee the heavens bopened, and the cSon of man standing on the right dhand of eGod.

That fired the people’s indignation even more and they stopped their ears and fell upon him

58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their aclothes at a byoung man’s feet, whose name was Saul.

59 And they astoned bStephen, ccalling upon dGod, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my espirit.

60 And he kneeled down, and acried with a loud voice, bLord, lay not this sin to their ccharge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Scot

Let’s talk for a moment about what it meant to be stoned. In these times, a person who was stoned was first pushed or thrown off of a ledge, at least twice his height, with rocks below. The accuser was to push the accused by the hips so that he would land headlong or face first on the rocks. If this did not kill the victim, then another witness would throw a large stone upon his chest. If the accused was still not dead, he or she would be pelted by rocks from above.

Stephen’s accusation, “Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost,” can be turned into a question that we ask ourselves. “Do I resist the Holy Ghost?” What would resisting the Holy Ghost look like?

This could mean many things. Assuming that all the ideas that I have are my own and that I earned them. Thinking that I am protected because I am lucky. Refusing to pray or study the scriptures because I think the Lord won’t answer me or that I like my way better. Thinking I am too unimportant for the Lord to send revelation to me. Believing I am too smart and important to be obedient. Withdrawing from the Church because it doesn’t seem popular.

Maurine

Backing away from the prophets because I think I know better. Receiving a message from the Holy Ghost, but not following through on it. So many things! The Spirit would speak truth to us in all things in all times if would not resist.

Stephen did not resist the Holy Ghost even at the peril of His life and became a martyr for his testimony. Yet many in scripture have done the same—giving up their life rather than their integrity or their witness. By tradition, all of the apostles, except John, would be martyrs. Many of the early Christians were martyred, some in the coliseum in Rome. John the Baptist was a martyr; James, the brother of John, was killed by Herod; Abinadi was a martyr, all the believers of Ammonihah. Joseph Smith was a martyr. If we ever have to make that dreadful choice, our lives are worth giving up instead of our allegiance to God.

Scot

Up until the martyrdom of Stephen, it appears, that the missionary work was in Jerusalem and that commandment to take the gospel to all the world had not yet been fulfilled. Now in chapter 8, the persecution in Jerusalem becomes so intense, we see that the field of missionary work expand to other areas.

Simon

Philip, another of the officers of the Church chosen with Stephen, went to Samaria to preach the name of Jesus Christ, and saw much success and his healing, brought “great joy to the city” (Acts 8:8). Samaria is the land in between Jerusalem and Galilee, where during Christ’s time the people hated to go.

Philip was successful, baptizing many, but, with only the Aaronic priesthood, he could not confer upon them the Holy Ghost. When Peter and John learned of this, they came to Samaria “laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost” (Acts 8:17). We see the pattern is the same now as it was then. Hands are laid upon the head by those in authority.

Joseph Smith taught, “You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half—that is the baptism of the Holy Ghost’ (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 314). 

Maurine

There was among Philip’s converts a man named Simon, who was a sorcerer and considered himself a “great one.” When he saw the apostles laying hands upon peoples’ heads and giving them the gift of the Holy Ghost, he wanted to do the same and asked them how much it would cost.

“Saying, Give me also this apower, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost” (Acts 8:19).

Peter told Simon, however, “Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the agift of God may be bpurchased with money.

“Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not aright in the sight of God (Acts 8: 20:21).

What jumps out here is, though Simon had thought of himself as a “great one” that he is willing to repent, saying “pray ye to the Lord for me” (Acts 8:24).

Repenting is, so often, about coming to see things differently, and to change our minds. It means we cannot just hold on to doing things and thinking about things the way we always have. In this case he had to abandon the idea that he was a great one. That may be what many of us have to do to be sufficiently humble to come to Christ. We have to say, “I want to do things differently.” “I want to be new.”

Scot

The Eunuch

We learn something vital about missionary work from another of Philip’s experiences. After preaching in Samaria, he goes south of Jerusalem into the desert near Gaza, where a eunuch of great authority in the Ethiopian court, was returning from Jerusalem in a chariot. Clearly he was a believer and had been to Jerusalem for the feast.  There this important man sat reading Isaiah 53.

“Then the aSpirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot” (Acts 8:29). It would have been so easy at this point for Philip to ignore the Spirit, telling himself that he could not bother a man of such prominence.

So often missionaries do that. The mission president in Rome recently told us that his missionaries worked very hard, but the biggest difference in results was between those who knew how to receive revelation and follow it and those who did not. Imagine how much more effective our lives would be if we understood how to seek for and receive revelation in everything we do. What a difference that power makes in our lives.

In Philip’s case, he asked the eunuch if he understood what he read. He answered, “How can I, except some man should teach me?” He was unsure who this suffering servant was described in Isaiah. Philip answered that it was Jesus, taught him the gospel, and before the discussion finished, the eunuch was ready to be baptized.

Maurine

36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

37 And Philip said, If thou abelievest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Acts 8: 36,37).

We often hear of experiences where a missionary feels to engage someone in a discussion on the street whom he or she would think the most unlikely person to receive the gospel—but they are hungry and ready. The Lord knows His children perfectly. He knows their hearts. How much more effective we would be if we were seeking revelation in not only our missionary efforts, but in our entire lives.

Scot

Saul/Paul

Now we come to learn of Saul, who would become Paul, the giant missionary, whose testimony impacted, according to the scripture, all of Asia. He was a tireless, intelligent and fearless witness of Jesus Christ. Though his presence and personality were enormous, Joseph Smith described him this way, “He is about five feet high; very dark hair; dark complexion; dark skin; large Roman nose; sharp face; small black eyes, penetrating as eternity; round shoulders; a whining voice, except when elevated, and then it almost resembled the roaring of a lion” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 180). Elder Jeffrey R. Holland described him this way, “…the Apostle Paul, the greatest missionary the world has ever known.”

Paul’s life demonstrates how the Lord shapes a person’s path for the mission that he is to fulfill. Each of us have our own preparatory experiences for the tasks we are to perform, and they are not identical. It is a demonstration of how carefully the Lord orchestrates the flow of events.

Maurine

Paul’s preparation began in a Jewish home, in Tarsus, a beautiful city in Cilicia, a short distance from the Mediterranean. It was a place hospitable to Jews, but there was not a major Jewish sub-culture there. As early as the 8th century BC, some Jews had been carried away captive to other lands when Israel and Judah were conquered. We think of the strong armies of Assyria, and then in the 6th century, Babylon, each of which conquered the land and carried off the people, forcefully relocating them. Through the centuries leading up to the time of Christ, Jerusalem was crushed again and again, the Jewish population spread into other countries far from home. Later, under Roman rule, some Jews left looking for better economic conditions. This is called the diaspora. It is a dispersion of the Jews beyond Israel.

Obviously, at some point in the past, Paul’s family was relocated to Tarsus. Jerome, a church father, writing in the 4th century, says that Paul and his parents were forcibly removed from Galilee to Tarsus during a first century BC uprising of the Jews against the Romans. The time frame suggests this would be a grandfather, but if this were the case, they were taken as slaves to the Romans. That couldn’t have seemed like any advantage.

Scot

Yet the Romans had some more liberal tendencies toward some slaves. The children of slaves were freed of slavery and given Roman citizenship. They learned a skill, often at the work of their masters. If Paul’s grandparents had been slaves to Rome, this would explain why he was a Roman citizen and lived in Tarsus, which was a very cosmopolitan city where the intellectual life flourished. He lived in a city where Jews were treated hospitably and would have had frequent interaction with Gentiles. This was perfectly orchestrated for the part he would play in the Lord’s unfolding drama.

We know he was a tentmaker, that he was obviously taught as Jewish boy, which would have involved much memorization of the Torah and other scriptures. He spoke Greek and Hebrew. At some point, perhaps owing to his brilliance as a student or his dedication to the scriptures he went to Jerusalem where he was the student of the gifted Pharisee Gamaliel.

Maurine

We saw in our last readings that Gamaliel, as a member of the Sanhedrin before which Peter stood, recommended leniency, when others sought to destroy this apostle. He said essentially if this Christian movement is false, it will come to nothing, but if it is true, we will find ourselves fighting against God.”

In our first glimpses of Saul, also a Pharisee, we see no such leniency. He enters the pages of Acts like a fury, creating so much persecution of Christians, that they flee. We are told that he wreaks “havoc of the church, entering into every house and haling men and women committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3)

He “breathing out athreatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord” went to the High Priest asking for letters to do the same to church members in Damascus. This “breathing out threatenings” description makes him sound like a dragon. He is also in these words going way beyond the mark. He is more zealous than the high priest who had Christ crucified to persecute the Lord’s followers. This is called self-initiated persecution. He certainly is a self-starter.

Scot

Where did all this passion come from? It is certainly true that not all of the Jews in Jerusalem hated the Christians, and only a minority sought to persecute them. At least, we can understand part of this because of his zealousness to obey the Lord, as he understands Him, to be absolutely true to the religious tradition he embraces. He saw Christianity as a threat to everything he held dear, to the covenant, to the law, to all that was sacred and cohesive to life. It had to be destroyed and driven out so as not to divide and corrupt the Church.

So on the road to Damascus, Paul has this dramatic experience. It is so fundamental that the event is retold entirely twice again in Acts—both in Acts 22 and Acts 26, and Paul, himself refers to it a few more times in his letters. That all this remains in scripture, reveals just how central this vision was to the early day Saints he taught and how important it was to him.

Maurine

These accounts are not all entirely identical. Paul, for instance doesn’t tell us that he saw the Lord in Acts 9, but, said, Thomas Wayment, “When Paul referred to the event personally, he spoke of it as a vision of the Lord in glory, who was revealed to him (Galatians 1:16) and who was seen by him (1 Corinthians 15:8).”

In Galatians he said, “I conferred not with flesh and blood,” and in 1 Corinthians adds, “And last of all he was seen of me also.”

Scot

The way Paul told his story depended on the audience to whom he was talking. He told it differently to Gentiles than to Jews, emphasizing just what part was important to his audience. That every detail is not told in the same way, tells us that this isn’t a memorized story, but an actual one pulsing with its own life.

Some people are upset when they learn that Joseph Smith has four firsthand accounts of his First Vision, but this is completely consistent with what I have just said about Joseph Smith. Every detail is not shared. Some parts are shared with some audiences and some with another. It is not a memorized account, but someone speaking with authenticity of an important event.

Maurine

Arthur Henry King wrote of Joseph Smith’s telling of his First Vision, “When I was first brought to read Joseph Smith’s story, I was deeply impressed. I wasn’t inclined to be impressed. As a stylistician, I have spent my life being disinclined to be impressed. So when I read his story, I thought to myself, this is an extraordinary thing. This is an astonishingly matter-of-fact and cool account. This man is not trying to persuade me of anything. He doesn’t feel the need to. He is stating what happened to him, and he is stating it, not enthusiastically, but in quite a matter-of-fact way. He is not trying to make me cry or feel ecstatic. That struck me, and that began to build my testimony, for I could see that this man was telling the truth.

Scot

Now, let’s go back  to Paul on the Road to Damascus.

Acts 9—The Vision of Paul

As he traveled,

3 Suddenly there shined round about him a alight from heaven:

4 And he afell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, bSaul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am aJesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to bkick against the pricks.

6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, awhat wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Maurine

Let’s look at pieces of this experience. First of all, a light shone around Paul, and, as he later told us, he saw the Lord. One might think, how does this nasty Saul deserve to have this kind of experience? Wouldn’t we all like that?

It is a reminder that the Lord knows us perfectly and we have been with Him in the premortal realm for more time than we can possibly envision. This is expressed well in Alma.

Alma 13

3 And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being acalled and bprepared from the cfoundation of the world according to the dforeknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; in the first place being left to echoose good or evil; therefore they having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great ffaith, are gcalled with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such.

Scot

Saul, who was persecuting Christians, was in disguise, even to himself. Like so many of us on this earth where we are blinded, he was dressed up in the costume of a persecutor, which was not his eternal soul. From before time was, he had been a loyal, passionate disciple of Jesus Christ. God knew him inside and out, knew his heart and mind, knew what he would do.

1 Corinthians 15

9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not ameet to be called an apostle, because I bpersecuted the church of God.

10 But by the agrace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I blaboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

He was aware that this experience was a calling, a heavy one, and he would devote every energy to it.

Maurine

Now what about some of us who wish we, too, could have such attention or callings from the heaven?

Elder Dieter F. Uchdorf said:

“There are some who feel that unless they have an experience similar to Saul’s or Joseph Smith’s, they cannot believe. They stand at the waters of baptism but do not enter. They wait at the threshold of testimony but cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the truth. Instead of taking small steps of faith on the path of discipleship, they want some dramatic event to compel them to believe…

“There are many…who, for different reasons, find themselves waiting on the road to Damascus. They delay becoming fully engaged as disciples. They hope to receive the priesthood but hesitate to live worthy of that privilege. They desire to enter the temple but delay the final act of faith to qualify. They remain waiting for the Christ to be given to them like a magnificent Carl Bloch painting—to remove once and for all their doubts and fears.

“The truth is, those who diligently seek to learn of Christ eventually will come to know Him. They will personally receive a divine portrait of the Master, although it most often comes in the form of a puzzle—one piece at a time. Each individual piece may not be easily recognizable by itself; it may not be clear how it relates to the whole. Each piece helps us to see the big picture a little more clearly. Eventually, after enough pieces have been put together, we recognize the grand beauty of it all. Then, looking back on our experience, we see that the Savior had indeed come to be with us—not all at once but quietly, gently, almost unnoticed.” Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf “Waiting on the Road to Damascus.” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/1-cor/15?lang=eng

Scot

Now back to Paul’s experience.  It is interesting, that Paul asks, “Who art thou Lord?” He has obviously heard the gospel message, at least in part, but it did not take. At this point he is blinded in his mind as he will be in his eyes for the next three days. When Paul truly understands that it is this glorious Being Jesus whom he has been persecuting, he answers humbly, “What wilt thou have me do?”

We will see him go from being the powerful and feared Pharisee to the meek and humble Christian, stripped of his arrogance, fuming and anger. The Lord said, “it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks,” which is an image from agriculture. A prick was a goad used to keep an animal steered the right direction, and if the ox rebelled against it, the goad would go further into its flesh. The meaning here is that the more you rebel, the more you suffer.

Scot

Paul is instructed to continue to Damascus, and there, “a certain disciple, named Ananias” was having his own experience. He heard the Lord call his name in vision. Ananias said, “Behold, I am here, Lord.”

Behold “I am here,” is like “Here am I,” and is a covenant code phrase. It means I am ready to do thy bidding Lord. Because I am in a covenant with thee, I trust what thou wilt ask of me.

The next request from the Lord will demand much trust, because the Lord tells him to go to a street called Straight, and inquire for one called Saul, of Tarsus, who was praying. Saul had seen in vision Ananias healing him that he might receive his sight.

Maurine

But think what the Lord is requesting, something that will require the complete trust of Ananias.

Acts 9

“Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much aevil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:

14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.

Ananias may have very well been one of those on Saul’s list for arrest.

Scot

15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a achosen vessel unto me, to bbear my cname before the dGentiles, and ekings, and the children of Israel:

16 For I will shew him how great things he must asuffer for my name’s sake.

Ananias was obedient, went to Saul, telling him that is was Jesus who had sent him, he was blessed so that the scales fell from his eyes.

Maurine

After Saul was strengthened, and had stayed with the disciples for many days, he began preaching Christ in the synagogues.

21 But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that adestroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bbound unto the chief priests?

Now the tables are turned. The Jews in Damascus took counsel to kill Saul, and the disciples took him by night and let him down the wall in a basket. You could almost see that moment in a movie on the big screen.

When he returned to Jerusalem, the disciples there were afraid of him as well. Wouldn’t you be with his vicious reputation? But Barnabus took him to the apostles and told them that Saul had been visited by the Lord.

Scot

So many things arise from this story for me. The Lord knows who we are and we are very much more than we suppose. Saul the fire-breathing persecutor was declared by the Lord to be his “chosen vessel.” At great cost to himself and under the suspicions of the disciples of Christ, Saul instantly turned around. Once he knew the truth, he would become its most valiant defender. He did not live in the shallows of testimony but like Joseph Smith said, “Deep water is what I am wont to swim in.”

Maurine

Thanks for being with us this week.  The transcript can be found at latterdaysaintmag.com/podcast—and remember you can read the magazine every day at latterdaysaintmag.com

Next week we will be studying Acts 10-15—“The Word of God Grew and Multiplied.”

See you then.