#16 – Summary & Why Paul?

 

The apostles are both unique and essential for the existence and growth of the church today! Ephesians 2:20 states that the apostles are part of the foundation of the church, and when we dismiss their lessons, we weaken ourselves in growing spiritually and in evangelism. We certainly would lose strength and guidance in evangelism, in fact, it would directly hamper our growth. Not only are they part of our foundation, but Jesus called them “fishers of men” and “friends” in following Him. What better example can we have for Christians? Jesus never asks people to do what he is not prepared to do, in fact, Jesus is called an apostle by the Hebrew writer, why, because His Father SENT him, and that is the literal meaning of the word, Heb. 3:1.  Being sent is actually a part of the Christian life, as individual Christians we are ‘sent’ by the gospel, we can see this true for the first disciples, Acts 8:3-4. We may not all be ‘evangelists’, but we all do have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, and His job is to testify of Jesus, Jn. 15:26-27. His job is to convict the world of righteousness, judgment and sin, Jn. 16:8, throughout the world. How can this be done, if He doesn’t ‘go’ from within our hearts?  Indeed by our love for one another, when it is SHOWN, others will know whose disciples we are, Jn. 13:35. Truly, when we show our faith boldly, people know that we have been influenced by Jesus, Acts 4:13. Do people get the impression that we are like Jesus or that we have His Spirit? If not, then maybe we are not applying the lessons we can learn from the apostles. Actions always speak louder than words, and the early church continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, which we still have to this day, Acts 2:42. They like we, have common ordinary men to follow by the gospel they wrote, and the word which the Spirit uses. God uses very few mighty, noble and intellectual people to spread his word, 1st. Cor. 1:26-29.  It is common people whom God hails as unworthy of this world by the blood of the Lamb.

One of the farthest “sent” apostles was Paul. We need to understand his special role as an apostle, to help strengthen our resolve to spread the word, and give us more wisdom in sharing our faith.  Paul was unique in several ways.

1. He was a Roman citizen, Ac. 22:28.

2. He was very well educated.

3. He had committed more crimes against Christ than Judas Iscariot.

4. Some scholars suggest that Paul replaced the martyred James, maintaining the permanent principle of delegated divine power in the number 12 amongst the Jewish Christians.

5. He was especially sent to the “Gentiles”. The ‘twelve’ were sent into the world, (Mt. 28:19 but how does that differ with Acts 26:17, Gal. 2:8? Grammatically, there is no difference, but remember culturally, the Jews had already been dispersed throughout ‘the nations’ and as the apostles mission took shape, Peter led them to branch out from amoungst synagogues throughout the world, Ac. 1:8. After a few years of this strategy, God moved from Peter through Cornelius and onto Paul. Why? Because the Macedonian call was heard and Paul obeyed. Paul used synagogues, but he wasn’t a common Jew. God wanted a Jew which had access to the Roman courts. He used ‘status’ in the most peculiar way, via imprisonment. This was God’s way of helping pagans distinguish Jews from Christians. Once he had the Roman’s attention in the courts, even the Praetorium guard could give weighty evidence to the gospel’s power, Ac. 23:33-35 & Php. 1:13.

There is not a more well recorded 1st. century evangelist than the apostle Paul, so let us consider inputting his theme into our message;

1. The Resurrection of Jesus, 1Cr. 15.

2.  True religion is not a matter of rules and regulations. God accepts us freely when we respond to His love and law through baptism. He implants the Spirit of Christ in our hearts so we may extend His love to others, Rm. 6-8.

3.  People matter more than things. Personal liberty itself is abused if it is exercised against the personal well-being of others, Rm. 14.

4. Discrimination on the ground of race, class, or sex is an offence against God and humanity alike, Gal. 3.

 

Can we put these themes into our message for 21st. century people? If so, we have an effective gospel ministry.