Participants:
Series Code: PJU
Program Code: PJU190002A
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00:03 Were the people in the Bible any different to us today?
00:10 Or ordinary people like you and me? 00:22 What can we find out from their lives 00:24 that will help us? 00:29 Find out with Pastor Geoff Youlden 00:31 and Rosemary Malkiewycz, 00:32 here on "People Just Like Us." 00:38 We're glad you've joined us today, 00:40 as we explore another Bible character 00:42 and the lessons that we can learn 00:44 from their life. 00:46 Who are we looking at today, Geoff? 00:48 The great Apostle Paul. 00:49 Oh, he's one of my favorite. Yes. 00:51 Well, I mean, he stands out, 00:53 particularly in the New Testament, a giant. 00:57 The New Testament is mainly Paul. 00:58 It is. 01:00 It's Jesus and Paul more than anyone else. 01:01 Correct. 01:03 And when you think about all that he went through 01:06 and the story that, you know, that's associated, 01:09 I am always reminded of that verse 01:11 that I think a lot of people know. 01:14 And that's the verse in Philippians 4:13, 01:17 where Paul said, 01:18 "I can do all things through Christ 01:22 who strengthens me." 01:24 Yes. 01:25 And yet, have we ever considered 01:26 that when Paul wrote that 01:28 the chains were hanging from his wrists, 01:30 he was in jail. 01:32 No. No, don't... 01:33 And most people would have been discouraged 01:35 under the same circumstances, but not the Apostle Paul, 01:38 like they chained his hands, but not his spirit. 01:40 Yeah. 01:41 And he, as I said, he stands out. 01:44 In fact, I've often thought if you asked an artist 01:47 to draw that picture, you know, 01:49 I could imagine that person would draw a man 01:52 standing on the top of a mountain, 01:55 a sword in his hand gleaming in the sunlight. 01:58 I can do all things through Christ 02:00 who strengthens me, 02:01 but it's so far away from reality 02:03 when he's writing this in dungeon. 02:06 And, you know, I used to think it would be a good thing 02:08 to get a prison for Christ. 02:09 I don't think that any longer when I've read and studied 02:12 about those prisons back in those days, 02:13 no sanitation, no water, no windows, 02:17 I mean, the thing would it just been 02:18 so, so discouraging and... 02:21 No sunlight. 02:22 No sunlight. 02:25 And yet Paul could write there, I can do all things 02:28 through Christ who strengthens me. 02:30 And Paul had the conviction 02:33 that the message must go to the entire world. 02:35 It's a similar conviction to what he has given to us, 02:39 that we must preach the message to every nation, 02:41 kindred, tongue, and people. 02:43 Paul had that conviction too as you read there in 2 Timothy. 02:47 And yet, Saul of Tarsus, as he was originally known 02:53 brought fear in the heart of every Christian. 02:56 To mention the name Saul of Tarsus 03:00 would be like mentioning Adolf Hitler to the Jews... 03:03 I was thinking that exact person. 03:05 In the Second World War. 03:07 It was just, he was, he hated Jesus Christ. 03:11 He hated Christians with a passion 03:13 that it's probably very hard to express. 03:17 And, you know, we pick up his story there. 03:22 And it was the face of Jesus on that Damascus Road 03:28 that really changed the Apostle Paul... 03:33 So Saul to Paul. 03:34 Yes. 03:36 Changed Saul to Paul, yes, and his conversion. 03:39 I mean, you remember his story, 03:41 you pick it up in the eight or the ninth chapter 03:43 of the Book of Acts. 03:44 And he's there breathing out threatening 03:48 against God's people down in Damascus particularly. 03:52 And if you walk that road down, you can still see Damascus, 03:55 it's like an, a little oasis in the desert. 03:58 It's one of the, perhaps the oldest 03:59 continually inhabited city in the world, 04:03 been through a lot of trouble of course more recently. 04:05 But he had this lit in 04:09 burning vengeance in his heart 04:12 against the Christians down there in Damascus. 04:15 And over there in Philippians, I just want to read this verse. 04:21 In fact if you have 3:8, he was so changed. 04:28 And he said it was the light 04:29 that shone in the face of Jesus 04:32 that changed his life. 04:34 And I believe, Rosemary, 04:35 that if we were to spend time 04:38 in contemplating the life of Jesus, 04:40 particularly those events 04:42 regarding the closing scenes of his life, 04:45 it would change us too. 04:46 And I think sometimes 04:48 if our love for Christ is waning, 04:49 and we feel it, we're not what we ought to be. 04:52 Spend some time thinking about those closing scenes. 04:56 What He went through for us. 04:58 Yes, it changed the Apostle Paul or Saul. 05:04 In fact, in verse 8 of Philippians 3, he says this, 05:10 "Yet Indeed I also count all things loss 05:15 for the excellence of the knowledge 05:17 of Christ Jesus, my Lord, 05:19 for whom I have suffered the loss of all things 05:25 and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ." 05:29 Now, that's no play on words 05:31 when Paul here says that he lost everything. 05:36 That's exactly what happened in his life. 05:39 He lost his people. 05:40 They all turned their back on him. 05:42 He lost his friends. 05:44 He lost his parents. 05:46 He lost his money, because you see... 05:48 He would have lost all his family. 05:50 Absolutely. 05:52 The Jews hated the Christians. 05:55 And, you know, let's not be overly hard on the Jews, 06:00 but that's the situation. 06:03 And today, if a Jew converts to Christianity, 06:07 their family will hold awake. 06:08 They're dead. 06:10 That, that person is dead to them. 06:11 Yes. 06:13 So that back in Paul's time, 06:15 it would have been worse 06:16 because Christians were a new sect. 06:18 A very small one of the sects. 06:19 They were the followers of Jesus, 06:21 who was hated by the rulers. 06:23 Correct. 06:25 And they would have encouraged the people that way. 06:28 And so he would have been ostracized 06:31 by all the people he knew before. 06:33 Well, when he left and was put out of the family, 06:36 he went penniless. 06:38 Because back in those days, 06:39 there were no banks like we have today. 06:42 And all the money all the family money, 06:43 no matter who you were in the family, 06:45 you would pile it into the common pool. 06:47 You know, often they would bury it 06:48 in the ground like there's a story 06:50 in the New Testament about that. 06:51 And so when Paul left, 06:56 he would have left absolutely penniless 06:59 when he became a Christian. 07:01 And he lost his job. 07:04 I mean, he was a member of the Sanhedrin, 07:07 which was like the political party of the day, 07:09 the parliament, he was a member of parliament. 07:13 And he lost that when he became a Christian. 07:18 Thankfully he had a trade. Yes. 07:20 He was a tent maker. 07:21 So he ended up having to turn his hand to that. 07:24 Correct. But he lost his big job. 07:26 I mean, tent making compared to... 07:29 Being a politician. 07:30 Being a politician, as we know today 07:34 it is no mean, no wage, 07:36 you know, so wage often for the rest of your life. 07:38 So he turned his back on that. 07:40 Yes. 07:41 And then he lost his wife, 07:44 because no person could be a member 07:46 of the Sanhedrin and be unmarried. 07:49 So we believe on that basis 07:52 that probably Mrs. Paul said, 07:55 "Well, if you want to go back and follow that crazy religion, 07:59 I'm going back to mother and father." 08:01 And so she walked out on the family. 08:04 Which makes sense that Paul could have written 08:06 so much about marriage, and husbands and wives. 08:08 Yes, yes. 08:10 He knows by experience. 08:11 In fact, not only did he lose all that, 08:15 as he said in Philippians there, 08:17 but also the Bible says that, 08:20 well, God says to him in Acts 9, 08:21 I think it is Acts 9. 08:23 Let me just turn that up. 08:24 Acts 9:16, 08:31 where it says, this is God speaking 08:34 because Jesus speaking, he says, 08:36 "For I, Christ, I will show him, Paul, 08:41 how many things he must suffer for My name's sake." 08:45 In other words, 08:46 not only did you lose everything Paul. 08:48 but now I'm telling you ahead of you 08:51 lies a whole lot of suffering. 08:55 That's a really nice message. 08:56 Well, you'd hardly call that what you think 08:59 as an encouraging message, will you? 09:01 Not at all. 09:02 As you're going to go through a whole lot of suffering. 09:04 And, but he says, 09:05 I want to be baptized right away, 09:07 even before he ate. 09:09 Because he had a conviction to take the message 09:12 that he had seen on that Damascus Road 09:14 and what he had learned to, through the world. 09:18 In fact, as you read on here in Acts 23:9, it says, 09:23 "Now after many days were past, the Jews plotted to kill him." 09:27 Because he can appreciate, it's like, 09:29 when we hear about wonderful, 09:31 the wonderful message of Christ, 09:34 the most natural thing for us 09:37 is that we want to go and tell our family, 09:41 and often it's like hitting against, you know, 09:43 a brick wall, bang, 09:45 because and that was what Paul did. 09:48 He took it to the Jews that were his family, 09:50 and they, it says, plotted to kill him. 09:53 Then if you come down to verse 26, it says, 09:56 "And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, 09:58 he tried to join the disciples," 10:00 in other words, the Christians, 10:02 "but they were all afraid of him 10:03 and did not believe that he was a disciple." 10:05 And once again, you can understand them. 10:07 I totally understand where they're coming from, 10:09 because this man was killing Christians. 10:13 Yes. 10:14 He even confesses that he was getting them 10:17 to blaspheme Christ and to deny their faith. 10:20 Yes. 10:22 And so when he comes back down to Jerusalem after a while, 10:25 and starts to try and join himself 10:27 to the disciples in the church in Jerusalem. 10:29 Well, they didn't trust him. 10:31 They're gonna say, "Hey, this guy's a bad guy." 10:33 Yes. 10:34 But through his works, he had to show his allegiance. 10:37 Well, I can imagine, Rosemary, when he gets to church, 10:40 that he got a wide berth. 10:41 No one sat next to him, because they didn't trust him. 10:44 They thought he was MI5 or someone. 10:48 Well, they wouldn't necessarily want him to know who they were. 10:50 Exactly. 10:52 So they are the Christians, the Jews wanted to kill him. 10:54 The Christians wouldn't trust him. 10:55 And then in verse 26, it says, 10:57 "And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, 10:58 he tried to join the disciples." 11:00 Right? 11:01 Then verse 29, "And he spoke boldly 11:02 in the name of the Lord Jesus 11:04 and disputed against the Hellenists, 11:06 but they attempted to kill him." 11:08 So he went to the Greeks next. 11:10 And they tried to kill him as well. 11:13 And then he goes over to Asia Minor to preach, 11:16 and the police run him out of town. 11:19 Then he goes to Iconium, the record says as you read on, 11:23 "And they tried all have stoned him." 11:26 I mean, you imagine having these stones thrown at you, 11:28 it's the most cruel way of another city. 11:32 Then he was regarded as a God because he healed someone 11:36 and so they regarded him as a God. 11:38 And you know, popular opinion as our politicians find 11:42 is not always a, an easy thing 11:44 one day, you're risen. 11:46 Think of the mountain? 11:48 Next day you are a feather duster. 11:50 And so it is here that Paul finds that, 11:55 in fact in Chapter 14, 11:58 if you just come over further, Acts 14:9, it says, 12:03 "This man heard Paul speaking, Paul observing him intently, 12:08 and seeing that he had faith to be healed 12:09 and said with a loud voice, 12:11 'Stand up straight on your feet,' 12:12 and he leaped and walked. 12:14 And when he, the people saw what Paul had done, 12:16 they raised their voices saying, 12:19 in the Lycaonian language, 12:21 'The gods have come down to us in the likeness of man.'" 12:23 So you see, he was treated as a god. 12:26 But then as you read on just a few more verses down... 12:29 Verse 19. 12:30 They, yes, verse 19, 12:32 "Then the Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, 12:34 and having persuaded the multitudes, 12:36 they stoned Paul 12:38 and dragged him out of the city, 12:40 supposing him to be dead." 12:41 After just treating him like a God. 12:44 Public opinion. 12:45 Some people come with a bad report... 12:47 Don't trust public opinion. 12:48 And stoned him, leave him for dead. 12:50 And so poor old Paul here is, and we believe that 12:55 while he was lying on the rubbish tent 12:58 because they just dragged him out. 12:59 As far as I'm concerned, he was dead, 13:01 they dragged him out, threw him on the rubbish tip. 13:03 And we believe if you trace back 13:05 through the chronology of the New Testament 13:07 that was probably at this stage that he had that vision 13:10 when he was caught up to heaven. 13:12 He said, it was so real, 13:13 I don't know, actually, whether I was there, 13:15 or whether I had received a vision, 13:17 we're on Corinthians 12 there. 13:18 He also talks about it in the third person. 13:20 And so someone else, 13:21 you know, from further on that it must have been him. 13:24 Then over in 16:9, it says, 13:30 "And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. 13:32 A man of Macedonia stood in pleaded with him, saying, 13:35 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.'" 13:39 Now once again, 13:40 imagine if you received a call from a place and they say, 13:44 "Look, please come over and take some meetings 13:47 and help the people understand about Jesus." 13:50 You would expect, I would expect anyway, 13:53 I think most of us would expect 13:54 when we got there, that there would be 13:56 a welcoming party there for you, 14:00 to look after your needs and so forth, 14:02 but that is not the case with the Apostle Paul. 14:06 There was nobody. 14:09 And there was no expectation. 14:10 In fact, if you go down to verse 22. 14:12 Well, he only saw a vision, didn't he? 14:14 God was saying come over. Yes. 14:16 But he would think 14:18 that if God was calling him over there 14:20 that there would be people there to meet him, 14:21 but there was no one. 14:23 And then in verse 22, 14:24 as it go, says, tells the story, 14:26 "Then the multitude rose up together against them, 14:29 and the magistrates tore off their clothes," 14:31 they just didn't take off their clothes, 14:33 they tore them off, 14:34 "commanded them to be beaten with rods. 14:37 And when they had laid many stripes on them, 14:39 they threw them into prison, 14:41 commanding the jailer to keep them securely. 14:44 Having received such a charge, 14:45 he put them into the inner prison 14:47 and fastened their feet in the stocks." 14:51 Now back in those days, Rosemary, 14:53 when they flogged a man, 14:55 it was not just a little gentle flog, 14:58 floggy, floggy, this, they would have a whip 15:02 in which they would tie wild bones, 15:06 which would, it means that when it came down, 15:07 it would cut. 15:09 And then they would have lead wires 15:10 which would bruise. 15:12 So the whip would come down 15:13 and cut and bruise at the same time. 15:16 And if Paul was to take off his coat and his shirt 15:18 and you saw his back today, 15:20 it would look like he'd slept on fine wire netting. 15:24 Because he had received so many welts 15:27 as a result of his beating, and... 15:31 And they did 39 usually not 40, isn't it? 15:34 Yes, that's right. 15:36 We'll come to that a little bit later 15:37 in further over 15:39 when he talks about his credentials, 15:42 but it's interesting that also then 15:44 not only would they open up his back like sliced liver, 15:48 but then they would get handfuls of salt, 15:51 and they would rub it up and down 15:53 into those open wounds. 15:54 So you can just imagine... 15:55 You're just making this sound really lovely. 15:57 Well, you, you're catching your hand 15:59 with your knife in the kitchen 16:01 and put a bit of salt in it, how it stings? 16:03 Would you imagine your back opened up like sliced liver, 16:06 and then handfuls of salt rubbed 16:09 up and down into your back? 16:11 And we know that that was the case, 16:14 because when the jailer was converted, 16:17 the very first thing that he did 16:19 was to wash their stripes 16:21 because he was washing the salt out of it, the stinging, 16:25 so that they could at least have some comfort, 16:28 a little more comfort than they had before. 16:31 But after they did that, though, 16:33 after they did the stripes, 16:34 and as you're saying the salt, 16:36 they threw them into prison now, 16:37 that wouldn't have been anything gentle. 16:39 No. 16:40 And then they put them in stocks 16:42 to make sure they don't get away. 16:43 Yes, indeed. 16:44 Now, that's some of the opposition 16:46 that Paul met when he became a Christian. 16:49 Let me just talk to you about some of the obstacles 16:53 that Paul faced. 16:57 People often say to me, 16:58 "Well, why was Paul's name change from Saul to Paul? 17:01 There must be some reason that, that happened." 17:04 There is, because the name Paul means the little man. 17:09 Because tradition tells us that Paul was only 4'6" 17:13 or a meter and a half high, 17:16 which means that he was a very, very small in stature. 17:21 Now, today that makes a big difference. 17:26 If, you know, if you're tall today 17:28 and you command a certain respect 17:31 by the fact of your height. 17:34 But if you're a small person, 17:36 and we all know about the small man syndrome. 17:39 If you're a small person, do have a major problem. 17:42 Now back in those days, it was even worse 17:44 because this was the day 17:45 when the Olympic Games were invented and so forth. 17:47 And they used to run nude of course in the Olympic Games 17:51 so that they could see their muscles. 17:53 So you can appreciate that Paul... 17:57 When he advertised the fact that he was coming to town, 17:59 the little man's coming to town. 18:02 And that would have been a great problem. 18:06 It would have been a great detriment to Paul 18:09 when he was preaching. 18:11 In fact, it's interesting to bear a testimony 18:14 to what I've just said 18:15 because sometimes people might find that 18:17 a bit hard to understand. 18:18 Let me just read you what his enemy said, 18:20 this is 2 Corinthians 10:10. 18:25 2 Corinthians 10:10, 18:31 where it says this. 18:35 This is his enemy speaking, Rosemary. 18:38 This is not his friends, but they say, 18:40 "For his letters, they say, 18:43 'are weighty and powerful...'" 18:45 Meaning that he was a great writer 18:48 and we know that. 18:49 Yes. 18:50 He could write very, very powerfully 18:52 but the text goes on to say, 18:55 "His bodily presence is weak..." 18:58 Which means that he didn't count much 19:01 when he's, in his body. 19:03 Even and his speech contemptible, 19:06 which means that he wasn't, 19:09 didn't have an easy flow with his language. 19:11 He wasn't an orator. No. 19:13 And there would be many, many, many people today, many of us 19:18 who would have far more natural abilities 19:21 than Paul ever had. 19:23 And they were some of the obstacles that he faced. 19:27 But a lot of people fortunately 19:29 would sit up all night to listen to him speak. 19:31 Yes. 19:32 Well, then in 2 Corinthians 11. 19:35 It outlines some of the difficulties 19:36 that he faced. 19:38 Just have a look at the next chapter. 19:41 And, of course, he was always been challenged 19:44 as to whether he was a real apostle. 19:47 Yes. 19:48 And he says here, in down in verse 23, 19:52 we start there it says, 19:53 "Are they ministers of Christ?" 19:55 He's now answering back, "Are they ministers of Christ? 19:58 I speak as a fool. 20:00 I am more: in labors more abundant, 20:04 in stripes above measure, 20:06 in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. 20:11 From the Jews five times 20:13 I received forty stripes minus one." 20:17 Now... That's the 39. 20:18 Yeah, that's, I mean, 20:20 most people died under Roman whipping. 20:22 And this man survived five lots of 39. 20:27 I mean, it's incredible when you think about it, 20:29 the physical endurance of the man. 20:32 But there's the, like you said, 20:33 the scars that that would have left. 20:35 Well, the scars on both his mind and his body, 20:39 I would think. 20:40 Verse 25 says, "Three times I was beaten with rods." 20:45 Imagine how that would sting. 20:46 Oh, great fun. 20:48 "Once I was stoned," I can't imagine that... 20:52 Well, we read about that before. 20:54 Yes. 20:55 "Three times I was shipwrecked, 20:57 a night and a day I have been in the deep..." 21:00 Now, I can't imagine anything more frightening 21:02 than being out in the ocean, 21:05 in the Mediterranean Sea as he would have been, 21:07 out in the ocean. 21:09 And they're spending a whole day and a whole night. 21:12 I mean, it would be bad enough during the day, 21:14 but then through the night 21:16 where you... you couldn't see anything. 21:18 And he spent the whole day and the whole night 21:21 bobbing around in the ocean. 21:25 And then it says in verse 26, 21:26 "In journeys often, in perils of water, 21:30 in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, 21:34 in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, 21:38 in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, 21:41 in perils among false brethren, 21:43 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, 21:49 in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, 21:53 in cold and nakedness, 21:56 besides the other things which come upon me daily, 21:59 my deep concern for all the churches." 22:04 Just and any preacher will can identify with that 22:07 is the concern that you have for them, 22:10 the members of the church. 22:11 And he had so many. 22:12 He had so many, you're right. So many churches. 22:14 And he finally says, "If I must boast," 22:17 if I'm going to boast, he said, 22:19 "I will boast in the things which concern my infirmities." 22:24 And when you look through this, 22:28 you begin to see the conviction 22:30 that the man must have had, that this was right. 22:34 I find to me personally, 22:36 Paul is such an incredible character 22:38 because of what he was 22:39 before Christ met him on the road. 22:42 And what he was after 22:43 that his conversion was so thorough. 22:46 Yes. 22:47 Such a complete turnaround, 22:49 that he would suffer all of these things, 22:52 and go through this willingly for Christ. 22:54 Amazing. 22:55 And his conversion was so thorough 23:00 that I can't help but believe 23:04 that he is right and that Jesus is real. 23:07 Well, you wouldn't get through that 23:08 unless you believe, believed it. 23:09 Exactly, what he went through. 23:11 It had to be right. 23:12 Have a look at 12:7, 23:14 where Paul also tells us, he says, 23:18 "Lest I should be exalted above measure 23:20 by the abundance of the revelations." 23:22 Now you can appreciate the fact 23:24 that Paul received all these visions and so forth. 23:27 There would be a tendency to think 23:28 that he was just perhaps a little bit better 23:31 than everybody else. 23:33 And he said, in case I ever were tempted to think that, 23:38 "A thorn in the flesh was given to me, 23:40 a messenger of Satan to buffet me, 23:43 lest I be exalted above measure." 23:47 And he, "Concerning this thing," 23:49 he said, "I pleaded with the Lord three times 23:52 that it might depart from me." 23:54 Now this is a great encouragement to me 23:56 because often when we pray, 23:58 we ask God to help us or to heal us, 24:02 or to do things for us. 24:03 And God sometimes doesn't seem to answer our prayers, 24:07 at least the way we think He ought to answer. 24:10 I'd like to remind, folk, the Apostle Paul, 24:12 who was such a perfect, good man. 24:16 And because sometimes we're tempted to think 24:17 I must be very bad, God doesn't... 24:19 God's not listening to me. 24:21 No, He answers others prayers, 24:22 but He doesn't answer my prayer. 24:23 I'm a bad person. 24:25 Paul was a very, very good man, as we all understand. 24:27 And yet he asked God three times 24:30 to take this thorn on the flesh from him. 24:32 And God answered him by saying in verse 9, "he said to me, 24:35 'My grace is sufficient for you, 24:37 for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' 24:42 Therefore most gladly 24:43 I would rather boast in my infirmities, 24:45 that the power of Christ may rest upon me.'" 24:48 In other words, he was saying 24:50 that God would give him, 24:51 allowed him to keep his infirmity, 24:53 to keep him humble, 24:54 but also said that he would never be tempted 24:56 to boast in his own strength, 24:59 because the natural inclination of every human being. 25:03 When God does bless us, we take the... 25:05 We think there's something good about ourselves. 25:06 We begin to think that we're better and good. 25:09 That's maybe one reason 25:11 why God allowed him to be short. 25:13 Maybe. Maybe. 25:14 As it was to help keep him humble too, 25:17 because he knew what he wanted him to do in life. 25:19 Well, then we find that 25:21 poor old Paul is thrown into prison 25:22 and a friend comes to him one day, Rosemary. 25:25 And Paul was so happy to see a friend and he said, 25:28 "What good news of me, have you got for me?" 25:29 And Paul, and the friend says, "Paul, I'm sorry, 25:33 all your converts back there that you brought 25:36 into the church have all apostatized." 25:40 Now that's not enough to break the heart of a lion, 25:43 I don't know what is. 25:45 But Paul will not be discouraged, 25:46 what he did? 25:47 The only thing he could do, 25:49 he dipped his quill into ink, 25:51 and he began to write, 25:52 that's how we have the books of the New Testament. 25:54 If it hadn't been for that, 25:56 we wouldn't have the books of the New Testament 25:58 as he wrote, writes to the Galatians, 25:59 O foolish Galatians who's deceived you? 26:02 And... And to the Corinthians. 26:04 And to the Corinthians, and so forth. 26:06 And then one day a soldier comes to him 26:11 and says, "Paul, I want you to come with me." 26:14 And Paul says, "Where are you taking me?" 26:16 And he said, "Did you just come with me?" 26:19 And they walk outside the prison 26:21 down the old pan way, 26:23 which is still there, those cobblestones in Rome 26:25 are still there that Paul himself 26:28 would have walked down, 26:29 and as they walk down the road, 26:33 they got somewhat there 26:35 and the soldiers says, "Stay here." 26:39 And he put Paul's head on the block. 26:43 And Paul uttered those words 26:45 that are immortalized in our memory, and that is, 26:49 "I have fought a good fight. 26:52 I have finished my course. 26:55 I have kept the faith. 26:57 Henceforth there is laid up for me 26:59 a crown of righteousness, 27:00 which the Lord the righteous judge 27:02 shall give me and not to me only, 27:03 but to all those who love his appearing." 27:06 And Paul's head rolled in the dust, 27:07 but his name was inscribed in the Lamb's Book of Life. 27:10 Amen. 27:12 And, Rosemary, what gives me courage about Paul, 27:13 if God can use a man like that, 27:15 that doesn't have the natural abilities 27:16 that most of us have got. 27:18 If He can use Paul with those disabilities, 27:22 how much more he could use all of us if we consecrate, 27:25 because God doesn't need a person with talent. 27:29 What God needs is someone with complete surrender. 27:32 Someone who is willing. 27:34 Who's willing. Yes. 27:35 And as we contemplate the life of Paul, 27:39 I just want to suggest that if you are growing weary 27:42 in your walk with God, read the Book of Acts, 27:44 find out what Paul went through, 27:46 and the faith that he still had, 27:48 and may that encourage your faith 27:50 to stay close to God. 27:52 God bless you, and we'll see you next time. |
Revised 2019-10-14