(2) Paul was totally content and was filled with peace about his personal life. When he wrote his epistle to the Philippians, Paul was in prison (Philippians 1:13). 
This encouraged many christians in that town to preach the word of God (Philippians 1:14). But, there were others in that town who preached the gospel due to envy and to create more trouble for Paul (Philippians 1:15,16). How so? Paul was already imprisoned for preaching the gospel and hence whenever somebody preached the gospel in that town, the authorities would have whipped Paul as they saw him as the leader of the gospel-preachers. Those envious few, preached the gospel to make Paul get these whippings. But Paul says that it did not matter to him, if it were due to false or true motives, so long as the gospel was preached, he was happy (Philippians 1:18). If Paul had been concerned about his personal welfare, he would have strived to stop the preaching of gospel in that town. Instead, he encouraged it. This applies to us as well. If we are worried about our life, it will most certainly obstruct the growth of our spiritual life. Christ says that only such a person who loves him more than anything else in this world can truly follow him (Matthew 10:37). This includes our own lives.
(3) Paul, who was content with his personal life was never content with his spiritual ministry. He was always concerned about taking the gospel to many more people and new places. And he was extremely anxious and restless about the spiritual condition of the members of the churches. Even his anxiousness of three years was due to the severe tribulations that were to come upon the Ephesian church (Acts 20:29,30). This coming trial on the brethren in Ephesus disturbed him a lot. So much so that inspite of constantly cautioning them for three years, he called together the elders again and warned them one last time before he left. He was not content that he had warned them enough already. We too must never become satisfied that we have done sufficient work for the spiritual benefit of our brethren. Meanwhile, that Paul considered his own life worthless becomes clear from what he says to the Ephesian elders at the same juncture: “I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me” (Acts 20:22-24). The contrast cannot be more clear. Paul never lost even a night’s sleep worrying about the adversities that he knew he would have to endure in his life, but the tribulations that were to come upon the church of Ephesus, made him sleepless for over three years, warning them day and night of the impending danger. We read from the Bible that Paul was equally concerned about the tribulations that unfolded in the churches at Corinth and Galatia. In the same way, eventhough he had preached the gospel extensively, that did not make Paul feel satisfied. He aspired and strived towards reaching new people and new lands that had never heard the gospel before (Romans 15:19-21, 2 Corinthians 10:16). We too must not stay content with having preached the truth to just our neighbours or friends or relatives. Also, we must never think that we have preached the truth for a long time and feel satisfied. Just before his death, Paul tells Timothy that he had fought a good fight, and had kept the faith, but instead of stopping there he continues on with great concern about things concerning the gospel and church (2 Timothy 4:7-22). Infact only because he had strived until his death for the growth of the church and for the preaching of the gospel; Paul was able to say confidently that he had kept the faith. Infact Paul advises Timothy to do the same as truly that is the good fight we need to fight (2 Timothy 4:5,6). This same concern and anxiety for the godly works must be present in us too. If we become content in our works for God then we would grow lazy. And this is dangerous. Only if we strive until our death, can we get the crown of life. Our resting period is only after our resurrection. This is the time to work.
(4) The next quality we need to learn from Apostle Paul is his wiseness. When Jesus sent out his disciples to preach, he counselled them to be as innocent as the dove but also to be as wise as the serpent (Matthew 10:16). Such kind of astuteness was present in large measure in Paul. The city of Athens was famous for its idolatry during the period of Paul. Several temples stacked the city’s landscape. For this reason only, India’s temple city Madurai is often referred as the ‘Athens of the East’. When Paul entered this idolatrous city, he did not begin his preaching by rebuking their idolatrous practices. Instead, he wisely praises them for being very religious and tells them that he was going to proclaim to them about that unknown God for whom they had an altar in their city (Acts 17:22,23). This was a masterly and tactful beginning. If he had begun his teaching with sharp rebukes, many would not have been receptive to him. We too need to expertly use such wiseness and tact while preaching the truth. If we were to start our preaching by rebuking the shortcomings of our listeners regarding the truth, many will refuse to heed to our words. We will scare many away. We will be effective only if we are tactful and wise like Paul. Infact, his wiseness was one of the important reasons why Paul was able to extensively preach the gospel and establish so many churches successfully in diverse places. We must also be smart enough to preach the gospel appropriately to the period we live in, making use of all the available avenues. Today, there is a variety of medium available for us, be it the internet, the television or the radio. We must plan and tactfully use these in the advancement of the truth to the fullest extent.
(5) Reflecting further on Paul’s wisdom, at one point of time in his ministry, to escape from the Jews, he exploited the animosity that existed between the Pharisees and the Sadducees by revealing that he was a Pharisee (Acts 23:1-10). Even Christ used such tact. He escapes one time by exploiting the confusion that existed about John’s baptism between the Jewish people and their priests (Matthew 21:25). The reason why both Christ and Paul attempted to escape was not for their own sakes, but because the time for the end of their spiritual journey had not yet come. Paul, who considered that to die was to gain, lived so that he could carry the gospel to many more places. What we need to understand is that, once we accept the truth, we should not stop paying attention to what is happening in the world, thinking it is not needed. We will be able to preach the truth with wisdom only when we carefully follow the societal happenings and the political changes around us. If we plan to preach the gospel at a particular place, we need to inform ourselves about the culture of the place and equip ourselves even with the knowledge of the law of the land. For example, once Paul revealed that he was a Roman citizen, and thus escaped punishment from the hands of the Roman authorities (Acts 22:25). Only because Paul was aware of his rights as a Roman citizen, he was able to escape that severe punishment. If we were to read the book of Acts, we see that Paul escaped many times from authorities and kings using his intelligence. Therefore, none was able to hinder his gospel work. Even from prison, he preached the gospel. Thus, a major reason for the super success of Paul’s gospel work was his ‘wise as serpent’ nature. To be successful in our works of faith, we too need to be in possession of such wiseness.
(6) We meditated about three desirable attributes of Apostle Paul. Next, we are going to deliberate on how Paul dealt with three things that hinder us from involving fully in the gospel work. Firstly, Paul’s past sinful life did not slow the intensity of his gospel work. Even after baptism, many still carry the burden of their past sins which prevents them from giving themselves wholly to the works of God. But, so that none should be anxious about this, Paul says that God chose him and made his life an example: “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life” ( 1 Timothy 1:15,16). Through Paul’s life, what a wonderful example God has shown us. In Paul, the worst of sinners became the best of the Apostles. Paul’s sinful life includes even the murder of Stephen. Not only was Paul forgiven but he was also used by God as a chief Apostle. Hence, the feeling of guilt about our past sins should not hinder the pace and the intensity of our present gospel work. We need to constantly remember that we are new creations in Christ (2 Cor 5:17). Even after baptism, we will still have faults in us since we live with a sinful, fallen flesh. Again, even those faults should not discourage our gospel life. Apostle John was nearly 80 years old when he wrote that the truth is not in us if we claim to be without sin (1 John 1:8). So, we need to understand that we are going to have to live with our weaknesses. Instead of allowing our weaknesses to dishearten us, we need to confess our sins, and let the grace of God cleanse us completely from all unrighteousness. This is the advise of John (1John 1:9). It is indeed important for us to struggle against our weaknesses. The fact that we can never become perfect in the flesh should not make us complacent in our struggle against sin. Even Paul advises us to keep our flesh in check (1 Cor 9:23-27). It is our duty to struggle against sinful tendencies in us. But, this struggle must not dishearten us from doing the works of faith. Because, as we saw in the previous issue, it is such works for the sake of the gospel and the church that prevents our faith from becoming dead (See Grace – Blossom 24:Jan 2010, paras 5,6).
(7) The next aspect that could have hindered the intensity and the range of the gospel work of Paul was his comfort zone. Each of us has a comfort zone. That might be our city, our family, or our career. Generally, most people who have come into Christ continue to serve God from within their comfort zone. They give higher priority to their career and tend to give the time that is left after their job for the gospel work. Or they preach only in the city they live in and nearby areas. Or they give time to ministry after taking care of their family and personal issues. Even in the church, instead of being friendly with every brother, many prefer being friendly only with a few with whom they share a comfort level. And some avoid certain churches completely, due to their comfort zone. Indeed, long and wide is our comfort zone. But, Paul was able to run his race faster only because he broke free from his comfort zone. Though a Jew, he did not confine his ministry to Jerusalem or Judah, but went to new places and gentile lands. He did not keep away from any church. Infact, Paul had many comforts. He was a student of the famous Gamaliel and was educated at Tarsus. He was a good tent maker and thus had a good name, a good education, and a decent job. If he had desired he could have moulded his gospel work to fit according to his comfort zone. Many today do this and plan their spiritual life to fit according to their worldly comfort zone, be it family or work. But, Paul did the reverse. He moulded his worldly life to suit the needs of his spiritual life. That is what we need to do. Instead of doing God’s work in the spare time after work, we must choose to find a job that fits into the time after God’s work. In his epistle to Timothy, Paul says that a soldier does not get himself involved in civilian affairs but instead works hard to please his commander (2 Tim 2:3,4). Truly, we are in a spiritual warfield. If we concern ourselves with distracting zones of comfort like family/career etc., then it is a given that we will fall.
(8) Finally, Paul’s speedy gospel work was not delayed by his deep and precise knowledge of the truth. One might wonder how a deep and precise knowledge of the truth could hamper the progress of God’s work. We know that the people of the world will be given another opportunity in the coming thousand years to learn and accept the truth and this knowledge sometimes dampens our swiftness in propagating the truth. Many denominations attempt to spread the good news fast because they believe in the concept of hell. But, since we know that they have another chance to know the truth, we are prone to become casual and even careless. An attidue of ‘why so much effort… they have another chance anyway’ creeps in. This is wrong. Even Paul knew that there was no burning hell awaiting. He was also aware of the another chance to be given to the people of the world. Why then did Paul devote himself so fully and vehemently to spread the gospel? Carefully consider what he says: “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel” (1 Corinthians 1:17). Many times, we think that the only goal of our propagation of the truth is to baptise. This is wrong. Giving baptism and bringing people into the church is important but propagation of the gospel truth in itself is an important goal. The reason why most denominations believe that baptism is the ultimate goal is because of their lack in truth. They believe that anyone who is not baptised now is lost forever and therefore their ultimate goal is to baptise now. But, since we know that everyone would be given another opportunity in God’s kingdom, baptism is not our only goal. Why so? Even if people do not take baptism now after we have told them the truth, our efforts have not gone waste. They will once again be resurrected in the kingdom of God. They will remember the truth we preached to them now. So then, won’t it be easier then to guide someone who knows something about the truth already than someone who does not know anything about the truth? The more we tell the gospel now, the easier will our work be in the kingdom. Actually, we begin our work of leading the people of the world to God now itself. The seed of truth which we sow now, may not always give benefits now, but will certainly give benefits in the kingdom. So, even if someone does not take baptism after listening to the truth for many years, we should not be disheartened. None of the time or effort we spent on that person was wasted. It will certainly be hugely helpful in the next world. It is necessary for us to have such long-sightedness that is enabled by our knowledge of the truth. This is what is said by Apostle Peter as well (1 Peter 2:12). Infact, a person taking baptism is not in our hands but in the hands of God (John 6: 37,44, Romans 8:28-30). Our duty however is to preach the truth far and wide. Not even a penny or a minute we spend on such efforts is wasted. Many would be profited in the next world because of our present efforts. That is why Paul took great efforts to reach as many people as possible. Let us also follow his example and the examples of other apostles and take efforts to spread the truth as far and wide as possible.
(9) We reflected about the various qualities of Apostle Paul. We considered his works and his attributes. Having seen them, we need to remember that Yahweh is a fair God. And hence, if we did not put in as much effort as Paul did, would we be able to sit on the throne with Christ? It will be unfair. Therefore, let us try and work like Paul. Truly, it is not easy to become one among the elect 144000 who become joint heirs with Christ. If we look at church history, lakhs and lakhs of people have been killed in the name of christ in the last 2000 years. What this means is that many who have been killed in the name of christ itself will not become a part of the elect 144000. How hardly then we must seek God and do his work! Only if we remain in the righteousness of Christ like Paul and do works of faith that spread the truth and benefit the church, and suffer for such works, will we confirm our faith and be counted as worthy to be joint heirs with Christ. Let each one of us look inward and reflect whether we are marching properly towards our goal!