ONE BAD DUDE!If you were to pick out the worse sinner in all of the New Testament, who would it be? The Bible says that it would have been the Apostle Paul.
1 Timothy 1:12-17 (NIV)
There were others who were possibly his equal. Paul was simply sharing his heart. How many times do you think he told the account of his conversion on the Road to Damascus? Once? Twice? Three times? Paul realized the tremendous power that goes with having and sharing a Christian testimony.
We might not know all that there is to know about theology. We might not know that much about the deeper Christian doctrines. But all who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ ought to have something to say about the change that takes place when one receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We should be quick and able to share our testimony.
1 Peter 3:15 (The Living Bible) "Quietly trust yourself to Christ your Lord, and if anybody asks why you believe as you do, be ready to tell him...."
The first blessing was Strength or divine enablement. Paul is thankful that God had empowered him to live an overcoming Christian life for some thirty years. In fact, he was still going strong for the Lord.
I have no idea how many people that I have spoken to down through the years who have said that they would like to accept Christ as Saviour, however they wouldn't or couldn't because they knew that they could never live the Christian life.
I have heard people say over and over again: "I don't want to start something that I know I could never finish." "I know that I am not strong enough to follow though on any Christian commitment," "I don't want to start out for the Lord and end up being some kind of hypocrite."
Have you ever heard any of those lines? Or used them?
Listen though to what Paul says: "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength."
The Lord provided Paul with inner-strength. He gave sufficient strength for whatever he might have to face as a child of God. There is absolutely no excuse for backsliding. None. -- I do not mean that in a judgmental way. Paul serves as an excellent example here.
He literally faced everything that hell could throw at him: Persecution Threat Being beaten and left for dead. Financial hardships. Interpersonal conflicts with other members of the body of Christ. Health problems Unanswered prayer Old age Imprisonment. A past that he couldn't get away from in his mind.
Listen to Paul 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, 32-33: "I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 32 In Damascus the governor had the city guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands."
How did he manage to survive spiritually?
2 Corinthians 12:9 declares, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
There is evidence of a divine enablement; an inner-strengthening. The same power that God made available to Paul is ready and available to each and every one of us here today.
Jude 24 promises, (KJV) "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present [you] faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy."
We don't need to backslide because the Lord is able to keep that from happening. Regardless of the difficulties that we might have to face. Everyone here who has served the Lord for ten years or longer to please stand. These people are testimonies to God's keeping power. If you have never experienced a crisis of some sort during the time that you have served the Lord, then you can be seated. If you have never experienced some sort of disappointment or loss, you can be seated. If you have never faced a sickness or the death of a loved one, you can be seated.
Do you get the point? Everyone of us in Christ suffer through some sort of valley experience at one time or another. Nonetheless, we have found, as did Paul, God's grace is sufficient. God provides His Spirit to enable and strengthen us in the hard times.
If living the Christian life were dependent upon us, we would all utterly fail. It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to live for God and To serve Him. Paul's life is a testimony to that fact; the same thing could be said of you and me.
Paul noted that the Lord had enabled him to complete the task which he had been called to do. He knew that he had been called to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles and eventually on to Caesar in Rome.
Galatians 1:15 declares that this had been his call from the moment he was born. In spite of his violent past, he was destined to do the work of an apostle.
Look with me at a few of the hindrances to his call: He wasn't trusted by the church, He had to contend with the sins of his past, He had a falling out with another minister, He hadn't been raised as a Christian. He hated the church. He had a prison record that any criminal would be proud of.
2 Timothy 4:7 declares "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." Paul was facing death and was saying that he had made it to the finish line successfully! He had completed that which God had called him to do. Paul had learned that Christ never gives a person a task without also giving the necessary strength to finish that task.
His will always includes His divine ENABLEMENT.
This great apostle had been given the necessary strength to serve God and also been enabled to fulfill his calling.
NEXT PAUL TESTIFIES TO THE FACT THAT GOD HAD TRUSTED HIM
Before his conversion, Paul had strongly opposed the church. Now, not only had Christ forgiven him, but he also entrusted him with the very Gospel which he had once tried to stamp out!
Can you sense the awe in Paul's letter. "Wow! God trusted me, considered me faithful." It is an entirely different matter to be trusted by God. He trusts us with the most precious things on the face of this Earth!
Think about it:
He has entrusted His Gospel to you and me
He has allowed us to be a part, a real part of His church and His glorious
kingdom,
He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings,
He has forgiven us and given us His Holy Spirit.
Wow! See what I mean? No wonder Paul was in awe. Paul gives the lord thanks For appointing him to service. Paul wasn't whining, or upset over the fact that God had called him. He was literally overcome with praise and thankfulness. Paul recognized that the divine appointment was not to fame and honor but to service and sacrifice.
David likewise felt this same wonder. Psalm 84:10 "I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness."
Just to be of service to God, is so much better than anything the wicked have to offer. For this, Paul was driven to give thanks!
verse 13 "Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief."
Do you have some awful thing in your past that you just can't seem to forget? Does it haunt you? Rob you of your sleep? Torment you at times?
Three things that he brings up here: First, prior to coming to Jesus, he had been a blasphemer. It is almost as if people have forgotten what it means to fear God. They blaspheme Him and all that is holy. The Bible condemns those who do such evil. Be careful not to enjoy that which God would find offensive. The fear of God is still the beginning of wisdom.
Acts 26:11 "Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme."
Next, he stated that he had also been a persecutor. 1 Corinthians 15:9 "For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God."
Galatians 1:13 "For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it."
Acts 26:11 "In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them."
You may remember that it was Paul who looked on as Stephen was stoned to death in Acts 7. He had taken every avenue to annihilate the Christian church. He truly wanted to exterminate the church from the face of the earth.
This expresses Paul's deep contempt for Christians and his atrocious acts against them. This means to hurt and shame people. Before Paul found Jesus, he was a "bitter adversary," an "oppressor," a "man of violence."
He was One Bad Dude! On the road to Damascus Paul experienced God's transforming grace. It does not seem that he ever ceased to marvel at this experience.
He deserved nothing, yet received everything.
That is true for each of us!