After this the Lord appeared to the Twelve (I Cor. 15: 5). This is Paul's only

reference to the Twelve and it makes quite clear that he did not consider himself to be one

of them. Those who like to talk abut "apostolic mistakes", may try and place Paul

amongst the Twelve, but when they do this it is obvious that they have not gripped the

place the Apostle and his ministry have in the Divine programme.  Nor can the

consummation of his ministry, expressed in his prison letters, ever be understood if

Paul is linked with the Twelve and Israel, of whom they were representatives (cp.

Rev. 21: 10-14).

Next we have the witness of 500 brothers at once, the majority living at the time Paul

was writing (verse 6), which was some twenty years later than the resurrection

appearances. We can find no reference to this in the Gospels, nor should we expect it, for

they are a concentrated account of the earthly life and witness of our Lord and make no

pretence of being exhaustive. In exactly the same way the appearance to James is not

mentioned in the Gospels and it seems that by the phrase "All the apostles", Paul is going

wider than the Twelve, as it seems unlikely he would repeat what he has already said (5).

Last of all was the Apostle's own witness--the dramatic appearance of the Lord Jesus

to him on the road to Damascus, "as one born out of due time" (literally, an abortion).

This is a strange word to use. It sounds as though, from a natural standpoint, he was

hurried into the world to take his important place in the outworking of God's mighty

It may be that the thought behind the word had already been used by his enemies,

who not only ridiculed his ministry, but even his physical appearance (II Cor. 10: 10).

They dismissed him as a freak. But in spite of this, his apostleship was one of reality (cp.

Gal. 1:), although, whenever Paul thought about it, he marveled at the exceeding grace

and love of the Lord that should choose and call him to such a service and witness.

If we compare Eph. 3: 8 and I Tim. 1: 15, the Apostle expresses similar thoughts.

The contrast is of course between himself and the Lord, not himself and other apostles,

for in this case, he was in no way inferior to the superlative apostles (II Cor. 11: 5;

12: 11).  Concerning himself, Paul had no illusions, he was once "a blasphemer, and

persecutor and injurious" (I Tim. 1: 13), one who could have no claim on God. It was

nothing less than God's rich grace that saved and called him and he never forgot it. No

wonder then that he refers to grace more frequently than any other N.T. writer. He was

indeed the apostle of grace and this was manifest in his faithful and unremitting labours

for the Lord and His people after his conversion. This was indeed not "in vain". He

could say truthfully that he laboured more abundantly than all the other apostles (10).

II Cor. 11: 23-27 gives only an abbreviated summing up of all his faithful witness for the

Lord and at what tremendous cost! Yet the Apostle did not want to take the credit: