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Is it possible to really make a difference in the world—for your life to really count for something? By the grace of God you can make a difference—and one man who demonstrated that is the Apostle Paul.

Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for 75 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery,

LONNIE: And I’m Lonnie Melashenko.

CONNIE: We’ve had the privilege of studying the life of the apostle Paul for the past three months here on our program, and it is amazing, when you look back through history, to realize how much of a difference this man made.

CONNIE: What do you think it was that made his life so significant? Was it just that he was the right man in the right place at the right time?

LONNIE: That’s one way of putting it I guess, but there’s a lot more than lucky coincidence involved here. The thing that made Paul the right man was his willingness to respond to God’s call, and to throw himself wholeheartedly into the task that God had given him. To tell everyone he met about Jesus.

CONNIE: That’s a good point—Paul’s life came to center around Jesus—without the gospel message, Paul would have gone down in history as just another Pharisee, he probably never would have been heard of by future generations.
LONNIE: You’re right Connie. Jesus and Paul were a team. Paul took Jesus’ teachings and spread them to the wider world, and just how that happened is the topic of our interview this morning.

CONNIE: Ken Wade spoke with Professor John Jones about the significance of Paul’s life, focusing particularly on how Paul helped assure that Jesus’ message spread to the whole world. Let’s listen in.

KEN: Professor John Jones, Welcome to our program today. Professor Jones is the dean of the School of Religion at La Sierra University.

JOHN: Thanks for having me.

KEN: Well, it’s good to talk to you John; we always have interesting things that we learn as we dig into the Bible with you. Today we are kind of summing up the life of Paul, a great man. We’ve spent the last 14 weeks on our broadcast talking about Paul and his spiritual journeys, and now as we look at the of his life, the effect of his life, he really did make a big impact on Christianity, didn’t he?

JOHN: It was astonishing, really, that someone as apparently physically un-pre-possessing as he was could turn out to be a person of tremendous stature for the centuries.
KEN: Well, God really seems to know the right people to pick for jobs, because if we had him on “American Idol” or something like that, we probably wouldn’t pick him as a preacher, would we?

JOHN: That’s right. And despite the fact that he was a rather ordinary looking character, nonetheless he played a key role in the development of Christian thought and life.

KEN: When Paul comes along, Christianity really hadn’t gotten its focus yet, and I suppose you could say that it was starting to spread, but it wouldn’t have spread that much if God hadn’t chosen this man.

JOHN: For sure. Jesus, like most religious leaders, did not leave behind any written letters or instructions or doctrines, and that meant that in each case of these great world religions, someone had to come along and kind of codify and standardize things, and Paul was that person for Jesus. The fact of the matter is, the church, if we can even we can speak of the church really that early, was struggling on certain things such as the varieties in which people understand in Jesus, some of which have fallen by the way side. By the end of Paul’s short life, things had really pulled together, and he had positioned the church well to speak not only for the Jews but also for the larger world.

KEN: Now that wasn’t easy, was it? There were some fights and struggles that went into that, right?

JOHN: There certainly were, because there was a great deal of uncertainty as to whether Christianity was simply one more sect of Judaism, or whether it would build into something bigger.

KEN: So what you saying, is that in the gospels we have the teachings of Jesus organized in a way that tells us what Jesus did, when and where, and that sort of thing, but as far as pulling it all together and saying what does it mean, Paul was very influential in that.

JOHN: Jesus left behind a vision and a sense of the meaning of the kingdom, a sense of God breaking into this world, but beyond that, people kind of had to pick up the pieces and Jesus promised it would be so in John 16, He said, after I am gone others will fill in the picture. Certainly Paul was one of those people.

KEN: So, God took a man who was apparently not all that strong looking or sounding, in fact the Corinthians thought that he wasn’t much of a preacher even.

JOHN: That’s true. Yet the incisiveness of his logic carried the day. The fact of the matter is that there is a bridge between Jesus and Paul, it’s not always evident, but the openness of the kingdom, and Jesus spoke about how it reached out to all people, God’s friends and God’s enemies. Basically it gave the foundation to Paul’s conviction of salvation by grace, which had to do with not only Judaism and the Abrahamic tradition, but in fact with the larger world as well.

KEN: So, Paul seemed to get this message and seemed to have an extreme urgency about him, to take it everywhere that he could possibly go.

JOHN: He did, and it focused finally on the life of Jesus, rather than His death. There had been a good deal of dissent in the church on just what to make of Jesus, and it was Paul who took the cross and put it right in the center of Christian theology in a way that said, ok, if that is the case, then Jesus died for everyone, not just some people. All of a sudden the whole world becomes the whole church’s mission.

KEN: So Paul is taking and making sense out of the death and resurrection of Jesus and seeing it, that here, something this big--God got Himself coming down to earth and dying for people--can’t just be for one race of people.

JOHN: That’s right. Indeed, you mentioned Corinthians a moment ago, and in that correspondence Paul actually mentions people who didn’t know what to make of the death of Jesus. They only wanted to make Him some kind of glorious, triumphant hero and healer. But it was Paul who said, wait a minute folks, there is another serious side to this that you need to pay attention to.

KEN: Well listen, I really appreciate your coming and helping us with this, and in the last little bit here, how could we sum up the life of Paul and what he accomplished for the whole world?

JOHN: He showed us all the meaning of God at work through Jesus and at work through all of us, through the Holy Spirit, through grace. The ultimate, ultimate, ultimate ticket into the kingdom of heaven.

KEN: He picked up on that part of Jesus’ life. That it was the grace of God that sent Him here, the grace of God that allowed Him to die on the cross for our sins.

JOHN: By grace, He says, you’re saved. That is not of our own doing, but is a gift from God.

KEN: Wow! That’s great! Listen, John, I’ve really appreciated your insights, and as we’ve looked at Paul we’ve looked at, and learned a lot about him and his life, and I thank you for you’re contribution.

JOHN: Thank you!

“I Can Tell the World”, La Sierra University Vocal Octet, from I Can Tell the World CD.

CONNIE: Amen! That was the La Sierra University Vocal Octet following up on our interview with Professor John Jones of the same school.

LONNIE: And with the same theme thought also—Paul took the gospel message, which Jesus had delivered to the people of Israel, and said “You know what—I can tell the whole world about this!”

CONNIE: And that’s what he spent the rest of his life doing, isn’t it?
He certainly did—traveling thousands of miles to accomplish his mission, and as we’ve noticed in our studies, he was always learning something new to make his ministry more effective.

CONNIE: What do you think was the most important thing he learned along the way?

LONNIE: I think I’d have to go back to his first letter to the Corinthians—there are a couple of passages there that reveal Paul’s steadfast focus. Near the beginning of the letter he reminds them that he determined to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ—to uplift Jesus and His sacrifice for the world. And then in chapter 13, he focuses on what’s really most important in the Christian life.

CONNIE: The love chapter, isn’t it?

LONNIE: in it he reminds his readers that no matter how great they may think they are, no matter how gifted as speakers or teachers, the most important thing they can have is love for each other. It’s a message we need to remind ourselves of daily.

CONNIE: whole series of programs on 1 Corinthians for our daily broadcast a couple years ago, didn’t we?

LONNIE: Yes, we did, and out of that we created a 300+ page book called Rock Solid Living in a Run Amok World. And we still have some copies of that book for any of our listeners who’d like to dig deeper into Paul’s teaching.

CONNIE: We’re making copies of Rock Solid Living available at a rock-bottom price today. If you’d like to continue your study of Paul and his ministry, this is a great resource, and we’ll send a copy to you for less than the cover price—just $10—if you call us at 1-800-872-0055 and request it.

LONNIE: We’ll be giving our mailing address later in the broadcast, so be ready to write it down

CONNIE: But right now, let’s listen to Lonnie’s message, “A Life That Changed the World.”

A Life That Changed the World

In the closing weeks of 1999, as the second millennium of the Christian era drew to a close (at least by some people’s reckoning—others held that the millennium wouldn’t end for another year), speculation ran rampant.

Who would appear on the cover of Time Magazine as the Person of the century? Polls were conducted, bets were laid, theories propounded, and suggestions made. And after all was said and done the magazine’s editors selected a peculiar-looking little Jewish man for the honor: Albert Einstein.

The odd genius with his wild silver mane gazed out like some sort of deity amidst a field of stars on the cover of the first issue of Time in 2000. “Person of the Century,” they called him. Because the things his mind figured out changed our world more than anyone else in that hundred years. More than Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Emperor Hirohito, Mussolini, or Mahatma Gandhi.

What an honor—to be labeled the Person of the Century!

At the same time, there was considerable discussion of who might be labeled the Person of the Millennium. Who would historians select as the person who had the most influence on the world in the years between 1000 AD and 2000? George Washington? Martin Luther? Queen Victoria? Louis XIV? The competition for the title would be steep, and many names could be defended.

But what about if we were to try to select a “Person of the Era?” In other words, the person for whoa whole era from the year zero to the present would be named?

That would be an easy choice, wouldn’t it? All of history itself is divided into B. C. and A. D. by the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The years since His birth are universally called the “Christian Era” in the Western world. There’s no doubt that Jesus would have to get top ranking among those who changed the world with His teachings.

Just as Albert Einstein’s teaching unleashed the power of the atom, Jesus Christ’s teaching unleashed the power of the Holy Spirit in our world.

But, as we discussed in our interview with Dr. Jones earlier in the program, there’s a second figure that we mustn’t forget when we consider how the teachings of Jesus became such a power in the world. The apostle Paul.

We’ve spent the past 14 weeks traveling with Paul—around the ancient Mediterranean world, and also in the world of the pirit, watching him grow spiritually as he followed God’s leading in his life.

And now it’s time to sum up. What was it that made this man who he was? What was it about him that made him God’s choice as the apostle to the “rest of the world?” What can we learn from his life that can make us more powerful Christian witnesses to carry on the work God has called all followers of Jesus to do?

Here’s a fascinating statistic: There were twelve apostles to take the gospel to the Hebrew nation, but only one for the whole rest of the world!

If Paul had been a member of a labor union, don’t you suppose he’d have been tempted to go on strike—complaining: Why do I have to evangelize all the rest of the world, when there are twelve apostles just for the Jews?

Well, if you’ve come to know Paul as I have in these weeks of study, I know that you know that such a thought never would have entered his mind. He was honored by the heavy responsibility God laid upon him. He never complained. No, he took to his task with a rare combination of enthusiasm, determination, and skill.

His attitude toward his task is best described in 1 Corinthians 9:16-19: “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel. For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more;” (NKJV).

Paul received the most precious gift in the world the day that he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Suddenly he knew that God was interested in him on a much more personal level than he had experienced before.

And God had a mission for him. Jesus had a mission for him. When the lights went on in Paul’s life—that is when the light shone from heaven all around him—it knocked him right off his feet. And when he was down in the dust, feeling around in his blindness for something familiar, he heard a voice.

A voice that changed his life, and through him would change the world.

“‘Get up and stand on your feet,’ ” the voice said. “‘For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles — to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me’ ” (Acts 26:16-18, NRSV).

Astonished, Paul wondered what all this meant—who was speaking to him? “‘I answered, “Who are you, Lord?” Then he said to me, “I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting” ’ ” (Acts 22:8, NRSV).

Talk about ways to shake up someone’s life! Here was Paul, a dedicated servant of God—at least that’s how he thought of himself—suddenly being confronted with the undeniable fact that the work he has been doing “for God” has actually been against God and His Son Jesus!

Suddenly confronted with truth totally different from what he had believed all his life.

What would you do, friend, if you were in Paul’s sandals?

How would you respond if Jesus came to you one day and announced that all the things you had done for Him were really against Him, and that He had a whole new mission for you—something that was totally foreign to everything you believed in your religion?

That sometimes happens when you’re walking with God.

It can happen to you even when you’re not making any special efforts to follow the Lord, if He chooses you for a special part in His work.

Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China, tells in his biography of how he sat down in the library of his home one day to read a little tract. “I was about fifteen years of age,” he wrote. “I had a holiday, and in the afternoon looked through my father’s library to find some book with which to while away the unoccupied hours. Nothing attracting me, I turned over a little basket of pamphlets, and selected from among them a Gospel tract which looked interesting, saying to myself, ‘There will be a story at the beginning, and a sermon or moral at the close: I will take the former and leave the latter for those who like it.’

“I sat down to read the book in an utterly unconcerned state of mind. . .” But what Hudson Taylor didn’t know was that at that very hour his mother had knelt to pray for his conversion.

Hudson was converted that day as he read that tract, and the rest is history. He went on to become one of the greatest witnesses for Jesus in history--opening the work of the gospel in China in ways that no one had been able to accomplish before. Because the Holy Spirit came in and took control of his life and made him a witness for Jesus.

Are you ready for that kind of movement to come into your life?

Remember that old saying we used when we played hide-and-seek? “Ready or not, here I come!”

Sometimes even when you’re playing hide-and-seek with God, He can come into your life in a special, undeniable way. And then it’s time to decide what to do with His special message and mission.

Looking back over Paul’s life, it seems like the decision must have been easy for him. He chose to answer God’s call to be the apostle to the Gentiles, and the rest is history.

But I doubt it was that that simple.

For the man we meet through his letters and the stories in Acts is not one who is easily turned aside from what he believes. He’s 100% committed to the gospel, and he doesn’t take opposition lightly. When he heard that someone had come to the churches in Galatia with a “different gospel” than he preached, he minced no words in his response: “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8, 9, NKJV).

Here was a man who was true to his convictions and wasn’t afraid to stand up for them.

No wonder he shook up the world wherever he went. In the city of Thessalonica, Paul made such an impression that the locals started a commotion, complaining that “‘these men who have upset the world have come here also!’ ” (Acts 17:6, NASB).

Paul was a man who wouldn’t be turned back by hardship, threats, persecution, and disaster. He was literally a man with a mission and the very powers of hell itself could not prevail against

Jesus had made that promise to Peter, you know: “upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’ ” (Matthew 16:18, KJV).

Some believe that Jesus was speaking of building the church on the rock Peter, but Peter was just a little rolling stone. The rock the church was to be founded on was Jesus Himself. And He used men like Peter and Paul and the other apostles to point people to the true foundation: “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified,” Paul reminded the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 2:2, NKJV).

His focus was on Jesus. And he pointed others to the One who was the center of his own life.

As we look back over the life of this man who changed the world, it’s clear. He was a man who had been changed himself. He had let the power of God move mightily on his own life, and through him that same power moved others.

His life was focused—focused on Jesus, and his mission was clear: pointing others to Jesus.

Paul wasn’t afraid of hard work. It was Thomas Edison who said “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. But Paul never passed over an opportunity to spread the gospel because it looked like hard work. or you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; he reminded the Thessalonians. or laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God (1 Thessalonians 2:9, NRSV).

He was also a dedicated student of the Scriptures who wasn afraid to reexamine the things he believed when God spoke to him.

All of these things came together in one man. And when that man answered the call of God ell, it changed the world.

It a challenge to me to consider the life of Paul. To consider what God did through him because he was willing. Because he was focused on Jesus. Because he wasn afraid of hard toils or persecutions or even prison.

How about you, friend? Have you been challenged anew by the vision of the power of God working in a dedicated life? I know that I will never fully live up to the example of Paul, but I also know that as I e opened the Bible to study his life again, I e been challenged. I e been moved. I want to present Jesus to the world, just as Paul did!

And that my prayer for you as well.

“Love Through Me”, Christian Edition, from Bound for the Kingdom CD.