​Paul, formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, had to have been specially prepared for the work of one of the foremost Christians of his era.  Thought has it that he was probably born around the year 10 in the town of Tarsus which is now located on the southern coast of Turkey.  His parents were Jewish and probably strict Pharisees.  Paul's parents are also Roman citizens.  Most Jews did not hold Roman citizenship.  His parents must have had considerable influence to have been given such an honor.
     When he's 14, he is sent to Jerusalem to train under Gamaliel, a leading authority of the Sanhedrin, to become a Rabbi.  While training to be a Rabbi, he also learns a trade to support himself, a tent-maker.  Now, the stage is set.  He is a fiery young man by temperament. He's well educated and knows the Torah as well as and better than most.  He's devout and acts on his beliefs.  He defends Judaism with fervor.  
     Christianity is an abomination in the eyes  of Saul of Tarsus.  That is, until he meets Jesus on the road to Damascus.  "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" Jesus said. (Acts 9:4)  Jesus, this Jesus who was crucified and rose from the dead, has stopped Saul, changed his name to Paul, and turned his thinking completely around.  Up until that moment, Saul believed that Jesus had not been the Christ, the Messiah that the Jews had been waiting for.
     Paul who was steeped in the Old Testament of the Jews had to know the prophecies of the coming Messiah.  His parents had to know them, too.  So, too, with Gamaliel.  But his parents and Gamaliel hadn't experienced first-hand knowledge of a visit from Jesus Christ.  What a difference it made in Paul's life!
 Most everyone agrees that there's between 331 and 355 Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. Thanks to the modern age of laptops and tablets a quick Google search will list sites that give these prophecies.  It's an impressive list.  What it must have been like for Paul to sit and listen to Jesus and remember the training he received.  The very training that schooled him in what to look for.  What it must have been like to sit and marvel at Jesus and wonder how so many of his time got it wrong.  Now it was up to Paul to set as many people straight as he could.  And, so, begin the missionary trips spreading the gospel of Christ, the risen Savior. 
     It's not easy for Paul.  He endures hardships, fear and hatred.  Friends are few, the work is hard.  But remember, too, that this is a fiery man who is devout in his beliefs.  He has met the Master and knows the importance of his task.
     While in Macedonia, Paul and Silas are jailed as a result of upsetting some schemers.  They were making money off a girl who was a soothsayer and Paul called the spirit to come out of her in the name of Jesus Christ.  The story is in Acts 16.  Were they unjustly jailed?  Of course they were but that doesn't stop the cries against them.  The judge releases them but runs them out of town also.
     Chapter 17 of Acts and Paul and Silas are in Thessalonica.  Paul first goes to the synagogue to preach before going to the Gentiles.  Paul felt compelled to go to the chosen people first.  He stated in Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."  Many were converted while there; but, the Jews were angry and caused a riot in the area.  They set up such a fuss that the brethren smuggled  Paul and Silas out at night.  
     And so it goes.  Christianity has taken it on the chin for centuries.  The devil's handiwork is in it.  All know that deep in their heart of hearts God has left his mark as the Creator.  All have the same chance for redemption.  Some will listen and believe the Pauls of this world and find God through Jesus Christ his Son.  And some will be like the Jews, so intent on hardening themselves against a loving and caring God.  Prayers go up daily for unbelievers.  Churches and the ones who go to them wait anxiously for the lost to come and claim what is theirs to have--belief in Jesus Christ and eternity.  Won't you come?

​    "Suddenly" according to dictionary.com means unforeseen, unanticipated, unexpected, abrupt.  Suddenly there is no chance for preparation.  The event is here.  That's what happened in Acts 16:26, "And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed."  That's what happened when Paul and Silas were imprisoned.
     The story comprises all of Acts 16.  There were some local schemers who were making money off of a bedeviled girl who was a soothsayer.  Paul called the evil spirit out of her and there went the schemers source of income.  Of course, they were irate and went to the local magistrates and reported them as being unlawful and Romans to  boot.  They incited enough people that Paul and Silas were whipped and thrown into prison.
 Paul and Silas, being missionaries, did what missionaries do.  They began praying and singing praises to God.  It's midnight, everything is quiet except the  worshiping heard up and down the prison.  Then suddenly everything changes.  Everyone in the prison is no longer bound.  The doors fly open.  They can walk out if they so desire. The guard would rather kill himself than be tortured for not keeping them imprisoned.  But, lo and behold, Paul and Silas shout out to him that they have not gone.  The prison guard, so moved by the events, is saved.
     There are other "suddenlys" in the Bible.  One is in Daniel 5--the hand that suddenly appears and writes on the wall and dooms the king of Babylon.  He was slain that very night.  In Matthew 25 Jesus gives the example of five foolish virgins who didn't bring oil for their lamps.  When the bridegroom came, they weren't prepared and opportunity had passed them by.  Verse 13 of that chapter says to watch (be ready) because no one knows the hour or the day that the Son of man will come.  First Corinthians 15:52 it says, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye...".  That's pretty sudden.  Life is going to change that fast--probably faster than you can snap your fingers.  Only God can do something like that.  We must be ready for a suddenly.  Keep our lamps trimmed and full of oil.  Jesus will be here suddenly and ready to receive the ones who are prepared.

    Think of it.  Only eight people got on the Ark that day--Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives.  Noah lived a long time.  He was 600 when the flood came.  Six hundred years, that's plenty of time to have lots of family, lots of friends, and lots of acquaintances.  How is it that only eight got on the boat?  Hadn't Noah told them that a flood was coming?  People passed by  him.  They saw that he was building a boat.  They had to know.  They must have thought that they had "Plenty of Time."
     It's a song that has been repeated from one generation to the next.  It's a song that tells how a young person believes there is plenty of time to live right.  For now they want to get the best that life has to offer.  Before they know it their life on earth is over and they're before the judgment throne.  Now all they have is plenty of time.
     Jeremiah 8:20 sums it all up.  "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved."  Jeremiah was distraught over the fate of Israel.  God's people were worshiping idols and all the vanities that went with it.  They had turned a deaf ear to their creator.  Judgment was coming.
     The Twenty-First Century, the one that is in the here and now.  For all that has been achieved, what is there--really?  What does man have to brag about?  Lying is commonplace.  Crime is rampant.  Marriages are falling apart.  Families are disintegrating.  The list goes on.  Isaiah 5:20 says woe to those who call evil good and good evil.  But, yet, here we are over 2,700 years later and these words are just as  applicable today.
     Can it be turned around?  The woman that Jesus met at the well in John 4 was just a woman with no special training or pedigree.  After speaking with him, she ran into town and told everyone in hearing distance to come and see the Christ.  And the townspeople followed her to Jesus.  It says in verse 39 that many believed.  This is the same chapter that Jesus told the disciples that the fields were ready to harvest (verse 35).
    "Lift up your eyes, and look..."  Yes, look.  There are plenty of souls that need to hear the word of God.  They're everywhere.  Opportunities abound.  Just look for ways to make it happen.  Pray for your moment to help someone find their way to heaven.  We're all going to die.  Where we spend eternity matters.  And where others spend eternity matters, too.     ​