Bible Thoughts

September 10, 2000


"..for to this end have I appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister and a witness both of the things wherein thou has seen in me, and of the things where I will appear to thee"(Acts 26:16).

When God told Saul of Tarsus that he would become the servant of God, a minister and a witness, his one mission was to go into all the world and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord had appeared to him; he could now be a mwitness. The Lord would inspire him to preach the truth wherever the opportunity presented itself.

Paul had been a persecutor; now he was a supporter of Christians. Paul had been a leader among the Jews; now he was a Christian. Paul had been teaching the Law of Moses; now he would preach the gospel of Christ. Paul the persecutor became Paul the preacher.

What do you think it would have been like to hear the apostle Paul speak? To tell of his experiences on the road to Damascus? Or the beatings and imprisonments that he suffered? Would you have been happy to have Paul preach in the congregation?

Paul was an educated man, but, concluding from what he wrote, was not a powerful speaker(I Corinthians 2:4). In fact, some had concluded his "bodily presence is weak:" and his "speech of no account"(II Corinthians 10:10). Paul was apparently not as polished and fluent as some of his fellow preachers. Would you have been happy to listen to Paul preach?

Paul would not meet the standards that are often put forth by brethren who are seeking a preacher. The standards of men are not necessarily the standards of God. When a congregation looks for a preacher, what criteria do they use? Are the standards from the word of God or from what humans think they want in an evangelist?

In a recent perusal of the Christian Chronicle, a news type paper that focuses on the work of those churches who have left the New Testament pattern because of the acceptance of human organizations to do the work of the individual and/or church, it becomes apparent that they would not accept the apostle Paul as the local "minister." There might even be some "sound" churches that would not be happy with having Paul the evangelist as the regular preacher.

The qualifications that many churches searched for in a preacher are listed in the samples below. The criteria would eliminate Paul from those who could apply.

"Skillful communicator...Be married man and has or is bringing up a family...family man with maturity and experience...counseling experience preferred...five year experience in church and small group ministry...must be married...must possess associate's degree with three years of pulpit experience...BS degree in Bible preferred...be familiar with purpose driven church model...candidate should have degree from Christian university or school of preaching...must be married...must have youth ministry degree from Christian College or University and/or Bible minor...must have a Bible degree..."(The Christian Chronicle, September 2000). As the beloved Byron Conley would have said, "Whoosh!"

The poor old bachelor Paul could never have qualified for any of the above positions. In reality, the inspired apostle still does not have their respect or those churches would not be aping the denominational world as they march(run?) toward becoming a denomination among denominations(if not already there).

By the way, brethren, WHAT do you look for in a preacher? Would Paul suit you?


"If you love Me do My commandments"(John 14:15).

Very often in society we hear people say "I love Jesus" or "I love God.” What does loving God and loving Jesus entail? Is it a feeling that we only have in our hearts or can it be seen in our actions?

Jesus linked loving Him with obedience when He said, “Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me”(John 14:21). This statement was not made as a means of extracting servitude from unwilling lower beings. Instead it was meant for the same purpose as when a father creates rules to guide his young son or daughter. The law of God is a protective barrier and a guiding demonstration of His love that He constructed for His children.

This is why truly loving God begins with humility in our obedience to His word. We need to recognize that we are not complete within ourselvesand that we need help to do so. This help can only come through God and His word(Matthew 5:3; Proverbs 1:7; 2 Timothy 3:16).

Jesus’ commands come from God(John 14:10ff). All authority has been given to Him to do the work of the Father(Matthew 28:18). Truly loving Jesus means obeying the guidance of the Father. Likewise, loving God means heeding the words of His Son.

Jesus said that ultimately it is through loving Him and obeying His commands that we will realize and experience the perfect love of God(John 14:21). In this we are to understand that these rules are placed for our own good. God’s laws are meant to protect us and not to hurt us. His laws can and will succeed in this task if we but only choose to trust and obey. His laws are perfect and able, the conditional portion is whether or not we love Him enough to comply.-Joe Cook


Out of the past: Show me the man you honor, and I will know what kind of a man you are; for it shows me what your ideal of manhood is, and what kind of a man you long to be.-Carlyle
Think about it...."It is a matter of record that the person going to serve a sentence in the penitentiary is anxious to shorten it if he can. It would be very popular to shorten the punishment of hell to a few days. Several have tried to do it; but they have only wrested the scriptures. "These shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life." One fellow cut the word "eternal" down to mean "age-lasting." But look what his twist of the scriptures did. It took most of the joy out of heaven--age lasting. The same word "eternal" in the Greek original, and in the English, that describes the length of punishment describes the length of life. Same word and same form in both places. Man: let it alone! It means "forever" in both places. Since you can't change it, just make sure to go to the right place."(Batsell Baxter, Gospel Advocate, 8/8/51).

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