07/09/2026
THE LIFE OF APOSTLE PAUL.
(PART FIVE)
BY:
REV. PROF. WALTER GOODWILL (C.inst.T)
CONCLUSION.
Conclusively, the life of Apostle Paul is a clear example of a true disciple - a disciplined follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, one who has forsaken all to follow Christ, a spiritual man, and one who creates condition for life and not death. He was one who forsook all to follow Christ, a decision that launched him into the rich spiritual dimensions he so far attained in life. This explains why the working power of God was so evident in his life; both in his preaching, miracles, as well as in the many troubles he faced as a Christian. God prospered him in his preaching, performed many miracles through his hand, and gave him absolute victory in all his trouble. Not because He (God) called him to do His work, but because he accepted the call and left everything behind to follow Him. As Christians, we can not achieve any meaningful thing through our human efforts except we leave the comfort zone of life, face the reality of the christian faith, and say God, "here am I".
In Matthew chapter 10 verse 38, Jesus says: "and he that taketh not his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me". The Gospel's benefits are solely anchored on the basic polarity of personal choice and of meeting certain conditions. Absolute self - denial is one of the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 9:23).
Yet, many believers today have ignored the command. Instead, they are looking for God's blessings outside the obedience to this command. They want God to just bless them but shouldn't command them to deny themselves, to pick up their daily cross and follow Him. When are we going to "know Him and the power of His resurrection"?
The life of Apostle Paul in its entirety is a great challenge to Christians who always want to play safe and live in the comfort zone of life. Many Christians today are fighting to live in comfort instead of striving to preach the gospel in the face of trials, sufferings, and persecution, thereby extinguishing the flame of the fire of the Spirit in their lives, whereas the proof of the reality of Christianity is suffering (Acts 9:16).
Paul did not suffer the things he suffered because of how he suffered and persecuted Christians in the first part of his life as some have concluded, NO! His call to suffer for the sake of the Gospel has been ordained even before the foundations of the world (Cf. Ephesians. 1:4). God is a God of plans and of purposes (Eccl.3:1). So, He couldn't have just decided one day to say let me use Paul to do this or to do that, if it was not a part of His original plan and purpose for his life. The devil knew that God would use Paul in such a great dimension, and in a very dynamic and wonderful way, both in the spreading of the Gospel. So, he may have planned thwarting the purpose of God for his life by using him to fight against the Christians, instead of going the way of God's purpose for his life. But thank God for God Who stands by His self-imposed commitments, and carries through His self-initiated agreement; and in His relentless resolve towards the actualization of this great task He says, "And as I have purposed, so shall it stand; ...."For the Lord of Host hath purposed, and who shall disannul it..." (Isaiah 14:24,27).
Instead of seeing the sufferings of Paul as the price he paid for persecuting the Christians as first conceived by the people of the Island of Malta (Acts 28:4), we should see him as been sn**ched from the hand of the devil by God, Who transformed and restored him for his original purpose of creation.
This ought to be the earnest prayer of every believer today, that God should sn**ch them from the hand of the enemy, "who have called and commissioned them to make MONEY , and to seek the comfort of life instead of their original calling in God; which is the call to be to the praise of His name, a call to worship Him, a call to bless His name, a call to honour Him, a call to seek His face. You must understand that your purpose is more than making money, working over-time and under-time and just driving yourself crazy is not the calling of God for your life.
In Matthew 6:25, God says : "take no thought for your life". Don't worry about the things of life because God has already promised to bless you. He knows what you ever stand in need of. His eyes are on the sparrow, He clothes the lilies of the valley. How can we have so much sense about physical things, and become so idiotic about the spiritual things of life?
The blessing is not in your human struggle, but rather, it's in your obedience to the divine call and mandate, which is the greatest of all commissions (Matt. 28:19). This was the commission that Paul obeyed, which made him the most outstanding prominent character in the New Testament. Make Paul's example your compass today, and you would be glad you did. God bless you.
I pray that the prevailing preeminence of God's word, and the overwhelming power of His glory will manifest in your life today, that you will be able to walk in the calling wherein He hath called you. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
