Still, he was passionate about preaching the gospel and reaching those who were lost apart from Jesus Christ. For my part, I feared my grandfather for the former and loved him for the latter.
It was doubtless out of his genuine concern for lost people that his favorite Bible verse was from the Gospel of John (chapter 3, verse 16): “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
While this was his favorite Bible verse, his favorite Bible passage was different. It was the story of the Philippian jailer as found in chapter 16 of the New Testament Book of Acts, verses 23-33:
After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.
So it was quite natural when, this past Sunday morning, as the pastor at the church where my wife and I attend (who is currently preaching a series on the life of the Apostle Paul) came to Acts, chapter 16, that my ears quickly perked up.
In Acts 16, the Philippian jailer is but 1 of 3 individuals in rapid succession that we see confronted with the gospel and converted to Jesus Christ. It is worth noting that the Philippian jailer is a Gentile of great significance. It is also worth noting that the first convert, Lydia, is a Gentile who is also a woman of some significance. And lastly, it is also worth noting that the third individual is a slave girl of little significance.
The first convert, Lydia, was a Gentile woman who was a “Godfearer”, meaning that she respected the God of the Jews, but did not know Him personally. (As such, she was technically the very first European convert to Christianity.) The second convert, the slave girl, was just that - a Gentile slave girl, who feared the ones who were busily trafficking her as an oracle.
The third was the Philippian jailer. He too was a Gentile. But the only thing he feared was the might of Rome, and what would happen to him as a result if any of the prisoners he was in charge of escaped as a result of an earthquake.
Almost as an afterthought, the pastor closed his sermon out with a reference to the centuries-old Talmudic prayer of the second-century sage, Rabbi Judah bar Ilai, who once famously prayed: “I thank thee that thou didst not make me a woman a slave or a Gentile.” Such a prayer, as sincere as it may have been when initially uttered, nonetheless tells us several things about ancient Jewish men.
First of all, it tells us that they were very religious. Next, it tells us that they were sincere in their approach to the religion that they practiced. For these things, we must give them credit. However, it also tells us that, in many cases, the approach they had was self-serving; for it was as much intended to bolster and fortify their own position in society as it was to glorify the God they purported to serve.
And this is where the story gets interesting. For the apostle Paul was just such a man himself! After all, prior to his conversion, Saul of Tarsus was, by his own testimony, a “Hebrew of Hebrews”. He tells us this in his letter to the Philippians, verse 5-6, he was “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.”
As his story unfolds, he makes it his business, not only to look down upon others but also to use force to suppress anything and anyone that is a threat to his belief system. And yet, when we come to Acts, chapter 9, we find that the apostle Paul, who is on his way to Damascus to persecute these people who threatened his perspective, is gloriously converted to Jesus Christ.
Shortly thereafter, in Acts, chapter 16, he is on a mission trip to share the very message of Christ that he earlier attempted to squash. Do not miss the irony, then, of Acts, chapter 16...
The very first convert in all of Europe to Christianity is a woman. The second convert is a slave; and the third is a gentle! Those are the very people that the apostle Paul had earlier been taught to look down upon, to disdain, to devalue, and even to abhor, even to the point of taking their very lives.
Yet, these are the very people for whom the Paul was now willing to be beaten, to be arrested, and even to be imprisoned!
Why? Precisely because he knew what the Gospel had done for him in his own life! And therein, he knew what the Gospel could do for these people in their lives as well.
Do not miss this. The very same Apostle Paul who once boasted in his exalted position in religious society would later go on to say that he now viewed himself as the chief of sinners! So much so that if, he boasted in anything, it would not be in any of his own accomplishments, but only in the grace of God's Son, Jesus Christ!
Now it goes without saying that all of this raises questions for me - about how I view myself, how I view others, and above all, how I view (and am viewed by) my Heavenly Father. Surely it does the same for you, my friend.
After all, does this not make us ask questions about how we look upon ourselves? And about how we look upon others? Should we not, as a result, look upon ourselves only as Christ looks upon us? And should we not look upon others only as Christ looks upon them?
For only then will we see ourselves as we truly are; and only then will we realize what we truly need; and only then will we see others for who they truly are and only then we will realize what they too truly need - or rather who they need - which is God's One and Only Son Jesus Christ!
Let's be honest here. Should we ever truly view ourselves and others from such a perspective, would not our attitude toward sharing the gospel be changed as well? Would we, too, like the Apostle Paul, not be willing to be inconvenienced, not be willing to go out of our way, not be willing perhaps even to suffer in some form or fashion in order to see that the message of the gospel is proclaimed to those who are lost and dying without him?
I trust you now see the choice of a title for my blog post today. The Apostle Paul had a different perspective after he was converted than he had before. Lydia, the slave girl, and the Philippian jailer each had a different perspective after they met Christ. I myself also had a different perspective.
Can you say the same?
SCRIPTURES:
https://biblehub.com/john/3-16.htm;
https://biblehub.com/niv/acts/16.htm;
https://biblehub.com/niv/philippians/3.htm;
https://biblehub.com/niv/2_corinthians/11.htm.
SEE ALSO:
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/who-has-not-made-me-a-woman/.