TRP Bandits Are the Worst! – Part 3
But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ [Philippians 3:7-8].
The Apostle Paul’s words in Philippians 3 are quite special, just as the Apostle himself is. If ever there was a man, our Lord Jesus excepted, who was worth emulating, it was Paul. It would be to our hurt to move on from verses 7-8 without further rumination.
Before he was born again, Paul was a young man with a most promising future in Judaism. His own words in the New Testament incline us to believe he was already a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council of that day. He was taught by one of the foremost Jewish teachers of the time, Rabbi Gamaliel. To contemporize it, Paul was already a Harvard educated Senator from New York, on a fast track to the White House.
Such a one owned the world. He was the man! He boasted of his pedigree. All doors flew open when he approached. He excelled at his job of persecuting the Christians. He was the desire of the ladies and the envy of gentlemen. His future was bright indeed.
But a strange thing happened to Paul (aka Saul) on his way to the city of the Damascenes one day. The Jewish authorities entrusted him with official paperwork to the authorities there, authorizing Paul to seize Christians and drag them back to Jerusalem to stand trial for heresy.
Can you guess what happened? As they drew near the city, suddenly a blinding light from heaven shone on Paul and his underlings. Paul heard a voice speak to him from heaven, but the underlings only heard indistinguishable noise. The voice queried Paul, “Why are you persecuting me?”
“Uh, who might you be, sir?” Paul responded.
“I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting,” was the retort. “Now get up and go into Damascus. A man named Ananias will tell you what you must suffer for My name’s sake.”
Paul arose, but he couldn’t see the end of his nose! No way he was going to Damascus. Lucky for him his underlings could see, which is interesting since the light blinded Paul but not them. Not only could they not recognize a voice speaking from heaven, but they apparently were unable to see a blinding light from heaven too. I think it had something to do with faith or lack thereof. Paul had it, they didn’t. Ergo, they didn’t recognize the Lord’s presence or receive His impending blessing.
Anyway, they led Paul to Damascus and, sure enough, a man named Ananias paid Paul a visit. The long and the short of it is that Paul was born again, his eyesight returned, and his life of advancement in Judaism was replaced with a life of deprivation in Christianity.
Paul was persecuted relentlessly by his erstwhile associates, and it never ceased until his death. He suffered shipwreck, was whipped the maximum forty lashes minus one for his faith on more than one occasion, faced plots to assassinate him by the Jewish authorities—in fine, he plunged from the top of the food chain in Judaism the to bottom of the rubbish heap in their eyes.
Not to fear. Paul couldn’t have been more content because he was walking in obedience to the Word of God and enjoying fellowship with the Lord Jesus daily. He gladly renounced all the perks he once had in Judaism, in favor of adoption into the family of God known as the Church.
Read Paul’s words one more time before closing this study. Understand them in the context of today’s review. Are you pumped or what? I want to experience the “surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”, which Paul valued so highly. How about you?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
The Apostle Paul’s words in Philippians 3 are quite special, just as the Apostle himself is. If ever there was a man, our Lord Jesus excepted, who was worth emulating, it was Paul. It would be to our hurt to move on from verses 7-8 without further rumination.
Before he was born again, Paul was a young man with a most promising future in Judaism. His own words in the New Testament incline us to believe he was already a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council of that day. He was taught by one of the foremost Jewish teachers of the time, Rabbi Gamaliel. To contemporize it, Paul was already a Harvard educated Senator from New York, on a fast track to the White House.
Such a one owned the world. He was the man! He boasted of his pedigree. All doors flew open when he approached. He excelled at his job of persecuting the Christians. He was the desire of the ladies and the envy of gentlemen. His future was bright indeed.
But a strange thing happened to Paul (aka Saul) on his way to the city of the Damascenes one day. The Jewish authorities entrusted him with official paperwork to the authorities there, authorizing Paul to seize Christians and drag them back to Jerusalem to stand trial for heresy.
Can you guess what happened? As they drew near the city, suddenly a blinding light from heaven shone on Paul and his underlings. Paul heard a voice speak to him from heaven, but the underlings only heard indistinguishable noise. The voice queried Paul, “Why are you persecuting me?”
“Uh, who might you be, sir?” Paul responded.
“I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting,” was the retort. “Now get up and go into Damascus. A man named Ananias will tell you what you must suffer for My name’s sake.”
Paul arose, but he couldn’t see the end of his nose! No way he was going to Damascus. Lucky for him his underlings could see, which is interesting since the light blinded Paul but not them. Not only could they not recognize a voice speaking from heaven, but they apparently were unable to see a blinding light from heaven too. I think it had something to do with faith or lack thereof. Paul had it, they didn’t. Ergo, they didn’t recognize the Lord’s presence or receive His impending blessing.
Anyway, they led Paul to Damascus and, sure enough, a man named Ananias paid Paul a visit. The long and the short of it is that Paul was born again, his eyesight returned, and his life of advancement in Judaism was replaced with a life of deprivation in Christianity.
Paul was persecuted relentlessly by his erstwhile associates, and it never ceased until his death. He suffered shipwreck, was whipped the maximum forty lashes minus one for his faith on more than one occasion, faced plots to assassinate him by the Jewish authorities—in fine, he plunged from the top of the food chain in Judaism the to bottom of the rubbish heap in their eyes.
Not to fear. Paul couldn’t have been more content because he was walking in obedience to the Word of God and enjoying fellowship with the Lord Jesus daily. He gladly renounced all the perks he once had in Judaism, in favor of adoption into the family of God known as the Church.
Read Paul’s words one more time before closing this study. Understand them in the context of today’s review. Are you pumped or what? I want to experience the “surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”, which Paul valued so highly. How about you?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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