| Home | Up |

| Historical Background of Christ's time on earth | The Lord's Fellowship with Abraham and Jacob | Jehovah, God of the Single Mother | The Son of God and Mary's Heart | The Power of a Quiet Heart Submitted to the LORD | Our Gracious Lord as a Child | God's calls all Men to Serve Him | The Temptation of Christ | Jesus,  our Compassionate High Priest | Jesus, Friend of Sinners | Jesus meets Nicodemus | Jesus Meets a Blind Man | Paul, an Imperfect Man, Used by God | Power of Gospel and Friendships | Jesus Affirms Faith | What to Expect When Jesus Touches a Life

Men of God of the Apostolic Church
(God uses and empowers Paul, an imperfect man.)

The purpose of this lesson is to look Paul's life and to note that God does not look for wise for charismatic in terms of this world's view but for men of varied personalities and weaknesses to empower with His Holy Spirit to convey the Gospel.

Saul, the educated, the murderer, the physically weak.

Little is known of Saul before his conversion. His father was a pharisee^[1] and so he followed his father. It was customary for all Jewish boys to learn a trade - Paul was a tentmaker.^[2] His family was an influential one. His father was a Roman citizen and so he also enjoyed that status.^[3] At the age of 13 he went to Jerusalem where he studied at the foot of Gamaliel a distinguished teacher of the law. It seemed that the course of Saul's life was set - that of being a influential teacher of the law. Gamaliel was the grandson of Hillel, a pharisee and respected doctor of the law. It was Hillel who made several important contributions to the interpretation of the law as found later in the Talmud. All this to say that Saul had a great future in his Jewish nation.

Saul's course dramatically changed by the power of the Gospel.

This happened to Saul. Saul was converted by the power of the Gospel. Some suggest that Saul was sovereignly saved by the Lord Jesus so that he could be the apostle to the gentiles. We do not know what went on in the heart of Saul before his conversion - we do know that in this case the Gospel was preached to Saul by none other than Jesus, Himself. History is filled with accounts of men who were diametrically opposed to the Gospel right up to the moment of conversion - why should we change the mode of conversion with Saul?

It was during Saul's personal ascent to influence that he came in contact with a group of Jews who had recently become involved with the newly established church. His first real contact was during the killing of Stephen, a prominent member of this church.^[4] Our passage in Romans gives powerful testimony of the ability of the Gospel of Christ to completely change a life from sin to a life of glorifying the Lord.

He met the Lord on the way to Damascus where he was determined to root out these believers in Jesus Christ - even to the point of having them executed. But he was stopped in his intent to harm the church by the Lord Himself. Read Acts 9:1-22. Saul was saved and was to become a very powerful messenger of the Lord by carrying the Gospel to the gentiles. Class read the following:

Saul's (Paul, his Roman name) weakness.

Some might say that one of Paul's weaknesses was that he was a very stubborn and strong-minded man (see Acts 16:36 - 41). It may just be that Paul was such a man but God took this energy and determination and used it for His glory in the widespread dissemination of the Gospel. Once Paul set his mind to do a thing only the direct intervention of the Holy Spirit could stop him ( see Acts 16:16).

One of Paul's weaknesses was a physical ailment. Class read 2 Cor. 12:7 - 10.

This medical problem was apparently debilitating - some Bible students point out that this may have seemed distracting in Paul's preaching of the Gospel, except for his reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit. Please note again 2 Cor. 12:10 - 11.

Why was Paul such a powerful instrument in the hands of God? Of course, he was chosen by the Lord to bring the Gospel to the gentiles:

It seems that every time he tried to preach to the Jews, he was frustrated. But when he turned to the gentiles the results were mostly predictable:

Can we list the factors that made Paul such a powerful instrument in the hands of God?

Paul's weakness was an opportunity for him to rely on the grace of God in empowering him for effective service.

In Paul's case he had the talent - he had the training for rational debate. He could have relied on his innate talents and skills that he had developed at Gamaliel's school (college). But he utterly rejected that. Listen to his commitment to the power of the preaching of the Cross and the Holy Spirit. Class read around 1 Cor. 2:1 - 10. Listen to his attitude towards his formal training at Gamaliel's school. Class read Phil 3:4 - 10. This became the "benchmark" for effective Christian service in the early church - it remains that same standard today. The benchmark for effective Christian Service in my view is three-fold.

• No member of the body of Christ should consider himself sidelined because he does not have the power of the preaching of the Cross

• No member of the body of Christ should consider himself non-gifted and therefore exempt from effective service in both communication of the Gospel and effective discipling others toward maturity in Christ

• No church should consider herself exempt from the discovery and exploitation of every spiritual gift that God has, Himself, placed in the church for effective service unto Himself. 1 Cor 12:18 - 20.

Some final thoughts.

• We need to recognize the principle that effectiveness in preaching the Gospel and the discipling of others rests not in our own innate abilities but rather in our giftedness from God and the Power that God has invested in the preaching of the Gospel.^[5]

• We need to adopt the policy of looking for giftedness among the members of the church. It was not the policy of the early church to seek men who were gifted from universities or para-church organizations such as special schools that taught skills related to church leadership including pastoral skills. That practice came along after the local church ceased to fulfil her obligation to make disciples.    That would include the training of gifted men to pastoral service.^[6]

• We need to commit ourselves as a church to discipling church members into leadership roles including the preaching of the Gospel and the exhortation of the brethren both in one-on-one relationships and in the teaching and preaching roles.

• We need to commit ourselves as a church to a willingness to confront actively the discovery and exploitation of spiritual gifts among the body before seeking utilization of gifts on a professional basis.^[7]

• We should prayerfully consider putting in place the means to train men in our church for Christian service - I urge the local church to take back from the para-church organizations our responsibility to train young men (and women) to serve our Lord effectively.^[8]

• Effective discipleship involves some confrontation (make that accountability) and, certainly, some personal involvement with promising men of giftedness - the body of Christ needs to face up to that responsibility even though it means that there might be some uncomfortable moments in the discipleship experience. It may be that someone might think that he has a spiritual give, but does not - discipleship includes a "coming alongside" (gk = parakaleo) that person in an encouragement role in a mutual search for his gift.  Other men or women might think they have been excluded from effective ministry because they don't know their spiritual gift - they should not be left in the "cracks" of the floor of Christian ministry.

• Finally, if we cannot exploit our gifted men within our church then we should commend them to service elsewhere in His service - let's call it networking God's gifted men for effective service.

1. Acts 23:6.

2. Acts 18:3.

3. Acts 22:25-28.

4. Acts 7:58, 59.

5. 1 Cor. 1:17 - 19:  For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel__not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. [18] For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. [19] For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."

6. Matthew 28:19_20: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

7. I have to be careful here. In today's litigious society professional training is necessary to avoid lawsuits for certain counseling efforts by the pastoral staff and thus could reduce the effectiveness of the local church. There is nothing to prohibit the "farming out" of a promising man to the right educational institution for this training if it does not exist within the local church. The church is still accountable as noted in the next bullet.

8. 2 Tim. 2:2: And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.