Following Paul

"BRETHREN, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk

so as ye have us for an ensample." (Phil. 3:17.)

"Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me." (1 Cor. 4:16.)

"Be ye followers of me. even as I also am of Christ." (1 Cor. 11:1.)

The above citations from the writings of Paul teach us that we should

follow him. It is right to follow any man so long as he follows Christ. Thus

would Paul have his brethren do.

Paul was living close to Christ when he penned these words. He had not

always been a follower of Christ. He hated the church with a vengeance. He

thought it should be put down. ''I verily thought with myself, that I ought to

do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also

did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having

received authority from the chief priests: and when they were put to death, I

gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and

compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I

persecuted them even unto strange cities." (Acts 26:9-11.)

But when he saw and learned that he was wrong, he changed immediately.

He did not confer with flesh and blood. If we are going to follow Paul, we

must abandon error just as soon as we see it. And if we know the truth, we

must obey it at all hazards. If we have loved ones who are opposed to the

truth, that will not deter us in our determination to obey God. It is hard to get

away from our early religious training, even if that training has been

erroneous. But Paul dropped the religion of his fathers and took upon himself

the obligation of Christianity. This marked him as a sincere man. He was

sincere even when he waspersecuting the church and wasting it. He never violated his conscience. He

lived in all good conscience before God. Our consciences can lead us far

afield. We must be educated in the Scriptures.

In following Paul we will not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Too

many in our day are ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Even some members of

the church offer apologies for part of the gospel of Christ. Error must be

condemned in no uncertain terms. This is part of the gospel that Paul

preached. He made no compromises with sin and error. The gospel should be

preached in no uncertain terms. It is the power of God unto salvation to every

one that believeth. (Rom. 1:16.)

If we are following Paul, we are striving to please God. We are not striving

to please men. The real Christian has but one thought uppermost in his mind.

He is trying to so think, speak, and act that his every thought, word, and act

will be well pleasing to God. "For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I

seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of

Christ." (Gal. 1:10.) This does not mean that we are trying above everything

else to please God. This is the real test of greatness in the sight of God.

If we are following Paul, we will be kindhearted. "And be ye kind one to

another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake

hath forgiven you." (Eph. 4:32.) Many dear souls perish for lack of kindness.

Kindness costs so little and is worth so much. Hearts are broken by

unkindness. Homes have been broken by lack of kindness. Congregations have

been retarded in their work because of a lack of kindness. Best of friends have

been alienated because someone lacked kindness. We should be firm, but kind

to all, even our enemies.

To follow Paul will entail much sacrificing on our part. Very few of us

know the real meaning of sacrifice. We make very little sacrifice for the cause

of Christ. We make but little sacrifice of time for the cause of the Master. We

plead a lack of time when we refuse or neglect to do the things that are incumbent upon all Christians. We sacrifice but little money so that the gospel

may be preached to every creature under heaven. We spend our money for

things that profit us little, and then neglect the really big things. Folks will go

to worship without making any real preparation to give in proportion to their

prosperity. We contract other bills and pay them, and then allow the cause of

our dear Redeemer to go begging.

We should read and reread of the great sacrifices that Paul made, recorded

in 2 Cor. 11. Here he speaks of his abundant labors in the vineyard of the

Master. Do we really labor for Christ? Do we become physically and mentally

tired because of our abundant labors for Christ? He was in stripes above

measure. Oftentimes he was in prison because of his following Christ. Of the

Jews five times received he forty stripes save one. Think of it! It is no wonder

that he bore in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus. These marks had been

received in the line of duty. Three times he was beaten with rods. What

punishment was inflicted upon this great man of God! One time he was stoned

until his enemies thought he was dead. He was shipwrecked upon more than

one occasion. A night and a day he had been in the deep. Oftentimes was he

wearied by journeyings. He was in perils among robbers, by his own

countrymen, among the heathen, in the city, in the wilderness, in the sea, and,

perhaps the worst of all, in perils among false brethren. Time after time was

he in weariness and painfulness. The world's greatest preacher knew hunger

and thirst. He knew what it meant to be cold and naked. He knew what the

care of all the churches meant.

Brethren. I am talking about sacrificing for Jesus. When we stand by the

side of this veteran of the cross, our sacrifices look small indeed. Did God

require more of Paul than of us? Are we following Paul as he followed Christ?

Many of the trifling-things that trouble us today would disappear if we were

more interested in following the great apostle to the Gentiles.Yes, there are great sacrifices to be made; but these endure but for a little

while. After about thirty years of gospel preaching. Paul comes to the end of

his earthly journey. You and I are coming to it as fast as the unlocked wheels

of time can bear us on. Soon our journey will be over. When we stand on the

brink of eternity, it will be a great consolation to us if we can look back upon

lives that have been devoted to truth and righteousness. Then we can look

forward to that crown of life which the Lord has in store for his faithful ones.

Paul summed up his Christian experience in three short, terse sentences:

"I have fought a good fight." That is the kind of fight we would expect a good

soldier to fight. The battle was about over for him. He had been in the thick

of it. ''I have finished my course." He had been running a hard race. He had

had no time to stop until he came to the end of the race. There is no stopping

for the Christian in this life. "I have kept the faith." He had not kept a faith,

but the faith. There is but one true faith. Paul had kept it. The world is full of

people who are willing to keep a faith, but who rebel at the faith. If we are

going to follow Paul, we will keep the faith.

"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the

Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but

unto all them also that love his appearing." (2 Tim. 4:8.)