It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
This verse opens Paul's account of his visions and revelations from the Lord, and the visions described in verses 1-7 are visions of the glory of heaven. God brought him into close fellowship with Himself and gave him a glimpse of heaven's beauty and glory to prepare him for his extensive and important work. During his ministerial labors he received many and repeated visions and revelations from the Lord.
Those visions gave him special knowledge of God's will for the followers of Jesus and a deep understanding of gospel truth and of Christ's love. He was exalted above the other apostles by the revelation of Christ in his conversion, when as a persecutor he was arrested by a voice and a great light from heaven. What he afterward saw and heard included many things that no person is permitted to speak and that were not lawful to utter, about which he spoke little and did not dwell at all times. He told only a very small part, not a hundredth or a thousandth part, of what was revealed to him. He could not tell believers what he had seen because it was too much to tell, they would not have been able to comprehend it, and they would have misunderstood and misapplied the great truths presented.
Even so, all that was shown to him shaped and molded the messages he carried to the churches. The special revelation stayed with him, its impression never lost its force upon his mind, and it shaped his understanding and presentation of Christian life and character and of humanity's duty and obligation to God, enabling him to give a correct representation. Heaven is a grand place, and Paul saw the heavenly courts. The greatness of what is prepared in heaven should wake people up to seek a home there at the cost of everything on earth and to work for the conversion of souls. Even with that exaltation he labored with his hands as a tentmaker, proving that manual labor is not degrading and does not detract from true greatness, elevation of Christian character, or force in ministry. The light he received through his repeated visions informed his teaching that every person must work with mind and body in God's service.
This verse opens Paul's account of his visions and revelations from the Lord, and the visions described in verses 1-7 are visions of the glory of heaven. God brought him into close fellowship with Himself and gave him a glimpse of heaven's beauty and glory to prepare him for his extensive and important work. During his ministerial labors he received many and repeated visions and revelations from the Lord.
Those visions gave him special knowledge of God's will for the followers of Jesus and a deep understanding of gospel truth and of Christ's love. He was exalted above the other apostles by the revelation of Christ in his conversion, when as a persecutor he was arrested by a voice and a great light from heaven. What he afterward saw and heard included many things that no person is permitted to speak and that were not lawful to utter, about which he spoke little and did not dwell at all times. He told only a very small part, not a hundredth or a thousandth part, of what was revealed to him. He could not tell believers what he had seen because it was too much to tell, they would not have been able to comprehend it, and they would have misunderstood and misapplied the great truths presented.
Even so, all that was shown to him shaped and molded the messages he carried to the churches. The special revelation stayed with him, its impression never lost its force upon his mind, and it shaped his understanding and presentation of Christian life and character and of humanity's duty and obligation to God, enabling him to give a correct representation. Heaven is a grand place, and Paul saw the heavenly courts. The greatness of what is prepared in heaven should wake people up to seek a home there at the cost of everything on earth and to work for the conversion of souls. Even with that exaltation he labored with his hands as a tentmaker, proving that manual labor is not degrading and does not detract from true greatness, elevation of Christian character, or force in ministry. The light he received through his repeated visions informed his teaching that every person must work with mind and body in God's service.