The questions I want to raise for you for this situation is "was this good?" Was it fair or good that Paul would see Jesus Christ through the revelation he experience on the road to Damascus? Was it fair that he experienced all of this heartache and pain along through his journey of taking the truth, gospel, and teaching to the churches in Asia Minor? Was it fair that he would be called to Jerusalem where is life would be threatened and in danger? Was it good that he was imprisoned and tried with committing no crimes? I think to these questions I would say no. I don't think that any of these things are fair or good. I think that it is terrible that Paul experienced such tragedy and heartache throughout his life after meeting Christ. With all of that said, I think the questions "was it good" or "was it fair" is the wrong question. I think the right question is "will God be glorified"? We see that Paul in his trial and imprisonments shares of his testimony of his conversion to the rulers that are both Greek and Hebrew. He displays that he saw Christ, his life was changed, and that these are not the rantings of a lunatic. He shared Gospel with these people. So the question "will God be glorified" is answered. He was glorified to use all of the hard, terrible, and unfair things that Paul went through for his glory and that was victory for Paul. Would this be victory for us? Would we see victory for Christ glory in our suffering and heartache? Acts 25-26
- Date Thursday, November 20, 2014
- Labels: accusations , pain , Paul , Suffering , trial
Imagine that you are about to stand before a council and leadership who truly believe that you are a criminal who is a part of a large movement happening throughout the entirety of a specific region. These people are so convinced that you are of no good, that they believe that you are deserving of death and pose potential threat to the current powers of those regions. To add to this discomfort, even your very own people group who had celebrated your high achievements were calling for you death. All of this because you are professing that you have seen, experienced, and proclaim that Jesus has risen from the dead and that he is God. Not only that, that you have completely turned away from your once promising and lucrative life that was completely against what you are proclaiming to have experienced in meeting Christ. All of these accusations being put upon you after you had been beaten, shipwrecked, and imprisoned since you have began to proclaim these truths. Well this is what was happening to Paul. If you read the passages that are recorded by Luke in Acts 25-26, Paul had literally been arrested and had been placed in this very situation.
The questions I want to raise for you for this situation is "was this good?" Was it fair or good that Paul would see Jesus Christ through the revelation he experience on the road to Damascus? Was it fair that he experienced all of this heartache and pain along through his journey of taking the truth, gospel, and teaching to the churches in Asia Minor? Was it fair that he would be called to Jerusalem where is life would be threatened and in danger? Was it good that he was imprisoned and tried with committing no crimes? I think to these questions I would say no. I don't think that any of these things are fair or good. I think that it is terrible that Paul experienced such tragedy and heartache throughout his life after meeting Christ. With all of that said, I think the questions "was it good" or "was it fair" is the wrong question. I think the right question is "will God be glorified"? We see that Paul in his trial and imprisonments shares of his testimony of his conversion to the rulers that are both Greek and Hebrew. He displays that he saw Christ, his life was changed, and that these are not the rantings of a lunatic. He shared Gospel with these people. So the question "will God be glorified" is answered. He was glorified to use all of the hard, terrible, and unfair things that Paul went through for his glory and that was victory for Paul. Would this be victory for us? Would we see victory for Christ glory in our suffering and heartache?
The questions I want to raise for you for this situation is "was this good?" Was it fair or good that Paul would see Jesus Christ through the revelation he experience on the road to Damascus? Was it fair that he experienced all of this heartache and pain along through his journey of taking the truth, gospel, and teaching to the churches in Asia Minor? Was it fair that he would be called to Jerusalem where is life would be threatened and in danger? Was it good that he was imprisoned and tried with committing no crimes? I think to these questions I would say no. I don't think that any of these things are fair or good. I think that it is terrible that Paul experienced such tragedy and heartache throughout his life after meeting Christ. With all of that said, I think the questions "was it good" or "was it fair" is the wrong question. I think the right question is "will God be glorified"? We see that Paul in his trial and imprisonments shares of his testimony of his conversion to the rulers that are both Greek and Hebrew. He displays that he saw Christ, his life was changed, and that these are not the rantings of a lunatic. He shared Gospel with these people. So the question "will God be glorified" is answered. He was glorified to use all of the hard, terrible, and unfair things that Paul went through for his glory and that was victory for Paul. Would this be victory for us? Would we see victory for Christ glory in our suffering and heartache?
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