Life of Paul {Part 2}

Romans 8:18 "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us"

I mentioned yesterday that I have seen a side to the life of Paul that I had never really seen before. What is it that could change a man, from one who persecuted christians, to one who loved the people of God, who was willing literally to risk life and limb to preach a message of hope to the gentiles. What was it that drove him? How did he withstand imprisonment, shipwreck, being bitten by a deadly snake and surviving, being abandoned by those who were with him, and on top of all that.. even knowing that it was time for his departure?

This man of God knew without a doubt that he was about to die, and he may have questioned the timing in it, I'm not sure, but he had surrendered his life to God's perfect will. He knew that the Romans could not lay a hand on him without God's permission. God's glory was the issue in every situation that Paul encountered. His thought in every thing he did was "to live is Christ".
Each night in the dark dungeon in Rome, Paul knew he was one day closer to certain execution. The only reason he had been spared so long was the problem of his Roman citizenship. Many Christians had been fed to the lions in the amphitheater, packed with spectators. Emperor Nero could not legally sentence Paul to this type of death..hence, Paul's expression in 2 Timothy 4:17 "I was delivered from the lion's mouth"..not by Nero but by God.

Paul's words in 2 Timothy 4:6-8 were "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but to all them also that love His appearing". Paul wasn't just pulling a word picture out of a hat. Anyone in the Roman empire would have known exactly what he was referring to. In fact, it wouldn't be surprising to me, if these very words spoken by the apostle ultimately hastened his death. In the year A.D. 67, the year of Paul's death, Nero had the audacity to enter himself in the Olympic games. The olympic atheletes had literally spent their lives training for the event..but the 30 year old overweight emperor used medications to induce vomiting rather than to exercise to get into shape. He was literally in a pitiful physical condition and very ill-prepared, but who would be the one to tell him so? No one at that time would have had the nerve to approach him and tell him that he could not compete. So, he cast himself on a chariot at the Olympic games and drove a ten horse team. He fell from this chariot and had to at some point, be helped back into it..and though he failed to stay the course, and he ended up quitting before the race was finished, the judges nevertheless awarded him the prize. A wreath was placed on his head and he was hailed victorious.

Needless to say, word of this humiliating victory spread quickly and soon after Nero returned to Rome, the apostle Paul wrote his stirring final testimony..."I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the RIGHTEOUS Judge, will award to me". Amazing. As I write this, I tear up. I had never put all of this together before. Paul's life has become such an inspiration to me.
Traditional teaching down through the years teaches us that two soldiers brought Paul word of his death. They approached him and asked for his prayers that they might also believe in Christ. Then they led Paul out of the city to his death.

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us"...the RIGHTEOUS Judge now raised a wreath of righteousness and placed it on the head of his faithful servant. He had finished the race. He had kept the faith.

The knowledge of Christ that Paul had acquired in his lifetime was worth every loss, every trial. Dear brothers and sisters..if that partial knowledge of our precious Lord and Savior is worth everything, and we know it is, then what will full knowledge be like when we one day see HIM face to face? "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God" One day, we all will "grasp how wide, and how long and how high and how deep is the love of God"
Until then, may be we faithful, unstoppable servants of the One who saved us.