Historic Witness - Apostle Paul Continued. In this episode, WG continues the Historic Witness series with a closer look at the Apostle Paul’s conversion, calling, and sufferings. The focus is on what Acts and Paul’s letters actually say - especially the Damascus Road encounter, Paul’s names Saul and Paul, and the hardships that marked his ministry. WG also corrects two points from the prior episode: the Damascus Road event was not merely a vision, and Jesus did not directly rename Saul to Paul. The episode closes by connecting Paul’s story to the encouragement in 2 Corinthians: Christ’s grace is sufficient in weakness.

Key topics

• In this episode: WG clarifies that Paul’s Damascus Road experience in Acts 9 was a real encounter with the risen Jesus Christ, not just a vision.
• WG reads and compares Acts 9:1-6, Acts 9:17-19, and Acts 22:6-10 to show how the conversion account is repeated and confirmed in Scripture.
• The episode explains that Saul and Paul were both names Paul already had - Saul as his Hebrew name and Paul as his Roman name.
• WG says the text does not show Jesus formally changing Saul’s name on the road to Damascus; the shift to Paul appears later in Acts 13:9.
• The episode examines Paul’s missionary sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11:23-27, including five whippings, three beatings with rods, imprisonment, hunger, thirst, sleeplessness, cold, and shipwrecks.
• WG highlights Acts 9:16 - “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake” - as a key statement about Paul’s calling.
• The episode connects Paul’s hardships to his perseverance, emphasizing that he continued preaching despite repeated persecution and physical danger.
• WG turns to 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 to discuss Paul being caught up to the third heaven and receiving the “thorn in the flesh.”
• The episode stresses Paul’s humility, noting that he did not want people to exalt him but to focus on Christ, the gospel, and the cross.
• WG closes by applying Paul’s example to listeners today, urging trust in the words of Jesus: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

Timestamps00:00 - Podcast update and the purpose of Historic Witness
01:14 - Why the release schedule is being reduced to three episodes per week
03:11 - Episode 4 is a micro look at Paul after the macro overview in episode 3
04:38 - Correcting the “vision” wording for Paul’s Damascus Road encounter
06:50 - Clarifying that Jesus did not directly rename Saul to Paul
07:52 - Saul and Paul as two names used in Roman and Jewish contexts
13:05 - Reading Acts 9:1-6 - Paul meets the risen Lord on the road to Damascus
14:22 - Reading Acts 9:17-19 - Ananias restores Paul’s sight and baptizes him
15:04 - Reading Acts 22:6-10 - Paul retells the Damascus Road account
16:34 - Paul’s physical sufferings begin the deeper dive
17:30 - Beaten with rods three times, including the Philippi account in Acts 16
20:53 - Acts 9:16 and the warning that Paul must suffer for Christ’s name
22:26 - Paul’s calling includes persecution, trials, and continued gospel work
24:45 - Summary of Paul’s whippings, stoning, shipwrecks, and imprisonment
26:06 - Ongoing threats, betrayal, sleeplessness, hunger, thirst, and cold
40:04 - Shifting to Paul’s later vision of being caught up to the third heaven
43:36 - The thorn in the flesh and Christ’s answer: “My grace is sufficient”
44:45 - Paul’s humility and refusal to glorify himself
47:17 - Applying Christ’s sufficiency to believers and nonbelievers today
48:43 - Encouragement to study Paul’s life in Acts and his epistles
50:32 - Final exhortation to meditate on Christ’s words about grace and weakness

Bibliography/Sources/Credit BibleHub, Bible App, Biblegateway, The Holy Bible, New International Version. (2011). Zondervan. (Original work published 1978).Historical/Cultural context on Roman-Jewish naming conventions: Harrill, J. A. (2012). Paul the Apostle: His life and legacy in their Roman context. Cambridge University Press.)