“From Paul, called by God’s will to be an emissary of the Messiah Yeshua.” (1 Corinthians 1:1)
“From Paul, by God’s will an emissary of the Messiah Yeshua.” (2 Corinthians 1:1)
Paul, a minister of the Gospel, became a servant.
1) Paul’s Calling was by Divine Appointment
Because of the appointment, the fulfillment of the task is of such importance that all encumbrance is surrendered and deemed as nothing of value in the light of the One who called.
As was written about Yeshua in John 1:12-13:
“But to as many as did receive him [Yeshua], to those who put their trust in his person and power, he gave the right to become children of God, not because of bloodline, physical impulse or human intention, but because of God.”
Paul’s “Damascus Road” experience was the one in which he absolutely surrendered his life to Yeshua, the Living Messiah when he said:
“Here I am, Lord!”
2) Paul’s Denial of Self
Because of the appointment, a change of attitude is created, consequent upon that surrender, toward all things of the former life.
Paul wrote in Philippians 3:7-8:
“But the things that used to be advantages for me, I have, because of the Messiah, come to consider a disadvantage. Not only that, but I consider everything a disadvantage in comparison with the supreme value of knowing the Messiah Yeshua as my Lord. It was because of him that I gave up everything and regard it all as garbage, in order to gain the Messiah.”
3) Paul’s Purpose
Paul’s purpose is accounted for by the resulting experience which he crystallized into one brief sentence in Philippians 1:21:
“For to me, life is the Messiah, and death is gain.”
The deepest thing in human personality is not mind, but spirit. The spiritual life of Paul commenced when he said:
“Here I am, Lord!”
It was continued when he said:
“The things that used to be advantages for me, I have, because of the Messiah, come to consider a disadvantage.”
It was nothing short of perfection as Messiah Yeshua was formed in him and shone throughout his life.
So committed was this servant to his master’s ideal that he made such a declaration as:
“I know what it is to be in want, and I know what it is to have more than enough – in everything and in every way I have learned the secret of being full and being hungry, of having abundance and being in need.” (Philippians 4:12)
That is a sense of detachment from circumstances. This is not the detachment of absence, it is the apostolic ideal, which is the ability to stay in the midst of circumstances of abasement and to dwell amid abundance. It is the detachment of mastery and of use.
“I know what it is to be in want”, I will not avoid it. I do not imagine that in the hour when my Lord gives me abundance there is something wrong in my inner life.
“I know what it is to have more than enough.”
I know how to suffer hunger (2 Corinthians 11:23-33). I know how to suffer need. Abasement without dejection. Abundance without tyranny. It is the picture of a man so absolutely detached from all the circumstances of his life that he was able to take hold of them and press them into the making of his own character, and, what is more, into the service which his master’s will had appointed.
Where was the secret? How was it that this man could say such a thing?
It is because of the Messiah-centered life. That is the spiritual fact.
Every circumstance that affected Paul’s life was made to be conformed to his apostolic ideal.
We refer to it only that we may find the secret of this mental attitude which is so difficult, nay, impossible, to cultivate, which can come only as Messiah Yeshua within becomes in every deed the master of the whole life. Whenever Messiah does become the master of the life you will find a servant who says: I cannot hurry from abasement. “I know what it is to be in want… I know what it is to have more than enough.”
You cannot turn my feet out of the way of His commandments. By hunger, I know how to suffer hunger. You cannot quench my zeal for His service by giving me fulness. I know how to be filled.
I will not be careless with abundance. “I know what it is to have more than enough.” All the “I know”s in his statements are declarations of his acquaintance with his life in Messiah and his commitment thereto.
I am debtor, I am ready, to this deposit which I hold in trust, I am ready to discharge my debt by the Gospel.
All service that is not based on devotion sooner or later will be seen for what motivated it in the first place.
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