As a result of = revelation, Saul of Tarsus experienced a tremendous upheaval in his = personal life

After the Son = of God was=20 revealed in Paul, he "did not confer with flesh and blood." This means = that he=20 did not confer with man, who is made up of flesh and blood. This = confirms the=20 fact that Paul did not receive the gospel from = man.

Paul did not = go up to=20 Jerusalem to=20 those who were apostles before him. =20 We should follow Paul's pattern in not going up to Jerusalem to = confer with=20 others.

Paul went = away to Arabia=20 and it is difficult to trace where in Arabia he=20 went and how long he stayed there. =20 His purpose in saying this was to testify that he did not receive = the=20 gospel from man. In Arabia he must = have=20 received further revelation concerning the gospel directly from the = Lord. For sure Paul was a changed = person when=20 he returned to Damascus. =20 As with Paul, after we have a certain amount of experience = directly from=20 the Lord, we need to withdraw from every kind of influence to quietly = and=20 soberly check our experiences with the Word. =

Three years = after his=20 return to Damascus, Paul went up to = Jerusalem. Although Paul did not confer = with flesh=20 and blood, at a certain time he did go up to Jerusalem. To isolate ourselves from = other members=20 of the Body of Christ is also wrong. =20 After receiving revelation, at the proper time we need to contact = those=20 members of the Lord's Body who came to know the Lord ahead of us. There = is the=20 need for this kind of fellowship.

Arabia, = Syria, and Cilicia were all regions of the Gentile world. = By=20 mentioning his journeying to all these places, Paul testifies that the=20 revelation he received concerning the gospel was not from any men, any=20 Christians, most of whom at that time were in Judea.

What he wrote = down is not=20 a lie but the revelation that he received from God concerning His Son. =

The churches, = including=20 all the believers in Christ in Judea, = only=20 heard the news of Paul's conversion and glorified God in him. They had = nothing=20 to do with his receiving of the revelation concerning the=20 gospel.

The = revelation that Paul=20 received became in him his faith. =20 The faith in v.23 is objective (what we believe in) and equals = Christ=20 Himself in His person and accomplished work. In v.16 Paul =93announced=20 Him=94=20 as the gospel and in v.23 he announced=20 the faith as=20 the gospel.=20 The contents of what we believe in require spiritual sight, we just = can=92t learn=20 it but it requires a revelation. = Even to see somebody else=92s revelation requires revelation.=20