Thus, following what I mentioned about Paul in the previous ‘Link’, we must note that Jesus chose not to tell Paul directly what He planned for him! It added more power to his call, to hear it from the mouth of Ananias, who was forever a witness of Paul’s special calling. Wherever He went, whether it be in Asia-minor or Europe, he was in constant danger of losing his life. Jews who hated him, stirred up troubles and persecution wherever he went! On many occasions he escaped by the intervention of the Lord or by the help of believers. Having escaped from the Jews in Jerusalem, soon after his conversion Paul went back to Tarsus, the place of his birth, where he spent ten years! He must have been given that time to go through every detail of the Gospel which Jesus Christ revealed to him and appointed him to preach! One cannot read his writings and not feel that he knew Christ and His will for his generation and those to come. 

It is obvious that any man, preaching the Gospel in this century, must be persuaded that the Word he preaches is, in its entirety, the original Gospel, which Jesus confirmed to be given to Him by God, His father, and shared it with Paul in every detail. All the writers of the New Testament, were disciples of Christ, unlike Paul, had a personal knowledge of Him, and recorded His words in the four Gospels and all of them preached Christ wherever they were sent! As far as the apostle Paul is concerned, he was not a disciple of Jesus Christ like them, they walked, heard Jesus and saw mighty miracles during three years of His life, he was in fact, a violent persecutor of His disciples, but after his amazing conversion, as related in the book of Acts chapter 9, he became this powerful apostle to the gentiles. All, Jewish or non-Jewish Christians owe to him the clearest account of what is the true Gospel, which he received directly from the lips of Jesus Christ, who appeared to him on three occasions!

These appearances confirm His right to be called an apostle, as one born out of due time, as he says! It is to that Gospel alone, as we have it written in the New Testament, that the Holy Spirit will give His approval! He will do all kinds of miracles, if and when they are necessary, to confirm the Word and convert a sinner! Hence, no man can be born again, unless He has been touched by the power of the Holy Spirit through this Gospel; He acts according to the will of God and bears witness to the faithful proclamation of the words, which He inspired, the Gospel! Lastly, I must say the following; although there is so much more to state about this subject, I just want to say that any man that uses a pulpit, must be convinced that he received from Jesus the right to preach, he has to make sure that he, in this, what could be the last century of history, is solidly anchored on, and in the truth, which is Christ the Lord! Therefore, the following verses confirm my statement! 

‘But if, it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead. But if He did not raise Him, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost! If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more then all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also though a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn, Christ, the firstfruits; then when He comes, those that belong to Him!’ (1 Corinthians 15: 12-23) 

In this confused age, it is obvious that the greatest struggle for all true Christians, is to keep to the written words and believe and maintain that Jesus Christ is unique, God incarnate and the future king of the earth. Some of His claims have been fulfilled to the letter, now we look forward to His return! ‘Even so come Lord Jesus!’