[AI translation] Someone once advised me a long time ago that when I read a scene or a story in the Bible, I should try to imagine it as if I were a witness, and if I happened to be writing a report about it for a newspaper, what title would I give to the report? Well, in this way, the title of the scene I have just read from the end of the Apostle Paul's life might be. In fact, we might even hold up these two little verses from the Bible as a mirror to ourselves. So this is how not only the Apostle Paul, but also every believer in Christ at all times, lives! So let us take a closer look at how they live!The apostle Paul's last life on earth is described here by his faithful companion, the evangelist Luke. This is the last authentic record we have of the great apostle's life. After a long, adventurous, vomit-ridden life, many journeys, he arrived in Rome, where he lived as a prisoner under house arrest. His trial is still before him, but the shadow of a probable death sentence is already looming. A rather hopeless life - and why all this? Or rather: for whom? For whom? For Jesus Christ, for Jesus Christ! And yet there is not a trace of despondency, of gloom on the apostle's face, as if he regretted having given himself to Christ's service, as if he were sorry for himself, for his career - No! - on the contrary, as if all things were going on as they should, receiving those who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God, teaching the things of Christ with all boldness. Perhaps that is how I could describe this wonderful life: a life at Christ's disposal to the last breath. He even made his death available to Christ.
The first answer, then, to the question of how a believer in Christ lives is to make himself available to Jesus Christ in every circumstance, in every situation. Let me elaborate a little on this, because it is not as obvious as it seems. The most significant event in a person's life is when they truly turn to Jesus Christ in faith. He wants to receive something from Jesus and he accepts what He has to give. Only He can give forgiveness of sins, renewed life, assurance of eternal life. It is the greatest thing when a man knows that his past is covered, covered by the redeeming blood of Christ, his present is filled with the presence of Christ, his future is assured by divine promise. Oh, what joy to live in faith, in peace with God, in fellowship with Christ! Have you ever come this far, do you believe in the Saviour and salvation, do you accept Jesus? If so, you have the greatest gift of all, that through the blood of Christ you have been freed from the power of sin and death and are now a child of God. But that is not the end of the life you have received in Christ. Now comes the real big question: why do you think, what finally has God redeemed you through Christ? Surely He didn't forgive your sins for the merit of Jesus' death so that you could continue to live your life according to your own will, in your own strength, with your own personal life goals in mind! The reason I want to emphasize this very strongly is because this is where a person's life of faith tends to come to a standstill. This is where our faith tends to derail. You see, we accept Christ and all that He has to give us with the decisive intention that we have now entered into a covenant with someone who will help us to go through the paths of life on earth as easily and happily as possible, and to have as much success as possible in our own affairs. Often, almost unconsciously, this is the spirit behind our faith: I believe in Jesus, so I have a right to a happy marriage, to successful children, to freedom from major shocks, to a relatively comfortable life without any hitches. Just the other day, an elderly man, whose wife, also elderly, has been through a lot of physical suffering in recent weeks and is still in danger of death, was complaining how this was possible, when she had trusted God so much all her life! There are many believers who believe that Jesus really came into this world just so that those who believe in him could do well. They want to use Christ for their own benefit, just as the pagans use their fetish as a warding off of sickness, a means of material damage, a means of blessing. This is the basis of many people's faith: freed from the difficulties of life with the help of Jesus, to finally enjoy something of life in peace!
We read in one place in the New Testament that "a great multitude went with Jesus." Obviously, this crowd expected the same things from Jesus: healing, bread, riches, an easy life. But Jesus was bound to disappoint them. He told them that He had not come for that. He wanted something quite different. He wants to make you into people who will acknowledge Him as Lord, who will follow Him, who will serve Him, who will give their whole life and death to Him! The apostle Paul was never concerned about his circumstances. Whether he was in captivity or at liberty, before kings or among slaves, his basic attitude to life was always the same: Making himself available to Christ. He never complained, but took advantage of every situation, found the opportunity in every situation, the particular opportunity in that situation, to do through Christ what he wanted to do there and then! How does a believer live? What is decisive in this question, then, is not what is happening to him and around him, whether his standard of living is rising or falling, whether he is sick or healthy, whether he has money or not - but that he is available to his Lord, where he is, and as he is!
And then the life of such a man will always be a fruitful life! As Paul's was always. Even in prison! You have just heard Jesus' parable of the vine and the branch. God has planted His vineyard in the wild garden of the world, in the midst of all the weeds that grow. He has buried its roots deep into the ground, as deep as the beam of the cross-tree goes down. Has this heavenly capital taken hold in this earthly soil? For a time, indeed, it seemed to be overwhelmed by the other weeds. But it was of good quality, and yet it prevailed, and now lives and nourishes the branches with its vigour and sap. Paul was such a rod on the vine! And the farmer has been looking for fruit on it every day ever since. The more the fruit, the greater the joy of the farmer. For it was for those fruits that all things were done, the whole planting of that heavenly vine on the earth! Yes: God's purpose in Jesus' suffering and resurrection was for you to bear fruit! That is why he gave Jesus Christ into the world! Do you believe in Christ? Where will the fruits of your life be then? For it is impossible for anyone who has been grafted into Christ by true faith not to bear the fruits of gratitude! How does a believer live? By bearing much fruit, and good fruit at that!
What are these fruits? The fruit, the fruit of a tree or a plant, is that in which the life of that plant continues, multiplies. This is the fruit of our faith, that is, it continues to spread to others and multiplies in the hearts of people. Such was the fruitful life of Paul! He spread the kingdom of God, the kingship of God, around him, teaching the things of Jesus Christ. For it is not enough that we ourselves live by faith: we must help others to do likewise! Nothing is truly ours until we can pass it on to others. Someone once defined a believer as someone who makes it easy for others to believe in God! That's what Jesus did: he didn't prove God, he brought Him, he showed Him! Do you know that in Korea, a new convert is not baptized until someone else is brought to Christ! They will know he is a Christian when he makes others Christians! Yes: that is how a believer lives: evangelizing, missionizing his environment at all times and in all places.
Usually, believers think that they do not have the means, the opportunity or the possibility to do this. Well, look, we can hardly be in a more inopportune situation than the Apostle Paul. He lived in rented lodgings on the property, but he was always chained to his guard. It must have been a very uncomfortable situation! He could never be alone for a moment, whether he was sleeping, eating or praying: he was literally chained to another man, a stranger. And in this situation he writes, for example, to the Philippians: "But I would have you know, brethren, that my works are rather for the advancement of the gospel; So much so, that in Christ my imprisonment has become famous in all the household of the guard, and before all others;" (Phil 1,12-13) He could have written that, unfortunately, I am not in a position to serve as I used to, to write, to spread the gospel of Christ. He could have complained that here I can do nothing for Christ! But he didn't complain, and instead of being hindered by the soldier chained to him, he thought like this: Here is an immortal soul beside me, what a good opportunity to tell him about the Saviour! "Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, with all boldness, without any restraint." (Lk 8,1) And so, through the alternating guards, the gospel of Christ reached all the way to the imperial court.
In the life of every human being there are such emergencies, unavoidable things, compulsive association with people with whom we are bound, chained by daily work, or by the need to live, or by family ties: well, this is also an opportunity to convey God's message in the daily necessities of life. Let us fill these inevitable things and situations with the presence of Christ. Then the day will not be ordinary, because our contact with people, our being together, will be for salvation. The small, drab things of life will become magnified, they will become fateful. The human relationships of our lives will transform lives. There is nothing greater under heaven! Brothers and sisters, people need Christ, need Him more than anything else in the world! Let us never seek to win a religious or ideological debate, but to win people to Christ! To win a debate, you only need to be clever or a skilful debater, but to win a man: you need to be a Christian! All our dealings with people have only one purpose: to show people Jesus Christ! We are Christians when we show Christ to people, Christ as the only solution to human life, as the life-changing and life-transforming force. It goes even further than that. Jesus, when he spoke to the Samaritan woman and led her to the realization of her own divine person, this woman was so filled with the vision of Christ that she forgot her bucket, ran away, and told others what had happened to her. Jesus made this woman an evangelist. This is the purpose of all evangelism and mission, not only to lead another person to Christ, but to make the other person an evangelist of Christ, a missionary of Christ. We must seek not only to evangelize the other person, but also to evangelize the other person. Then indeed something has begun that has no end. Yes, that is how the believer lives: evangelizing others.
There is a great description in Matthew's Gospel: on Easter morning, when the amazed women are coming back from the open tomb, we read, "And as they were going to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them! This is always the case: it is through witnessing for Christ that one meets Jesus. He is always on that road. When you are on your way to share the Good News with others, you will experience His warm, living presence.
How does a believer live? As we read of the apostle Paul: "He welcomed all who came to him. Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without any restraint."
Interesting that this is how the whole book of Acts ends. What a strange way to end a book. It is as if it has been interrupted, as if the thread of events has been cut with scissors, where it starts to get most interesting. Well, it is so that we may understand from it that the works of the apostles of Christ do not end with Paul and Peter. Is not the story of the apostles' actions a direct continuation of the story of the church and mission? Each child of God continues in his own place and circumstances the works of the apostles! You too, if you truly live like a believer!
Amen
Date: 15 July 1956.
Lesson
Jn 15,1-5