Be
Ye Followers Of Me
In
Colossians chapter one Paul makes a reference to the gospel, which he
says ye have heard, and he says "whereof I am made a minister," and
then in the next verse:
Colossians
1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which
is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake,
which is the church:
Notice
in 2 Corinthians:
2
Corinthians 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our
consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
And in 2 Timothy:
2 Timothy 3:11 Persecutions, afflictions,
which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions
I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
There
was great opposition to the message of grace preached by the Apostle
Paul. In other words, Paul suffered for you Gentiles. Nobody could
suffer and die for your sins other than Jesus Christ. But in order that
you could even get the message and be saved by grace through faith, and
trust Jesus Christ as your Saviour, somebody had to suffer to get the
message to you. And the Lord chose Paul for that. In Acts chapter nine
the Lord had said, "I will shew him how great things he must
suffer for my name's sake." Notice some of the things Paul says:
2
Corinthians 11:24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save
one.
2 Corinthians 11:25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was
I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in
the deep;
2 Corinthians 11:26 In journeyings often, in perils of
waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in
perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the
wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
So
true to
what the Lord had said, Paul suffered great things in order to get the
message out. The opposition is evident in all of Paul's epistles, those
written during the time of the book of Acts as well as the later
"prison epistles." But the greatest and most serious
opposition was from religion. And what was true then is no less true
today, notice:
2
Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled
Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the
simplicity that is in Christ.
2
Corinthians 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we
have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not
received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well
bear with him.
The idea
is, don't give in to him. Paul said "I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. Paul preached Christ
and him crucified to the
Corinthians and they had accepted and had believed the gospel he
preached. Notice verse five:
2
Corinthians 11:5 For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very
chiefest apostles.
2
Corinthians 11:6 But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge;
but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things.
Paul writes in 1 Timothy that God would
have all men to be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth.
That's the knowledge he is speaking of in the verse there. But notice
what he says about these men:
2
Corinthians 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for
Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2 Corinthians 11:15 Therefore it is no
great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of
righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
And how were they transformed as the
ministers of righteousness? By just what he said. They came with the
name, Jesus, and they came with the word, gospel, and they ALSO came
with a spirit. Compare:
Ephesians
2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye
walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience:
In other
words there is a spirit at work. It works in unbelievers, and it
enables them to perform religious activities and religious works.
That's
what Paul said these men were, false apostles, preaching another Jesus,
another gospel, and coming with another spirit. They are very religious
and they present themselves as the ministers of righteousness. Paul
says that their end will be according to their works. Compare in
Philippians:
Philippians
3:18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you
even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
Philippians 3:19 Whose end is destruction,
whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind
earthly things.)
But what
was true then evidently has been true down through the centuries and it
is no less true today. Notice:
1
Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no
divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the
same mind and in the same judgment.
The only way to be perfectly joined
together in the same mind and in the same judgment is to be on the same
page....doctrinally. Notice again in 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 3:10 According to the grace
of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the
foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed
how he buildeth thereupon.
When
Paul speaks of "laying the foundation" he is referring to the gospel he
preached.
1
Corinthians 4:14 I write not these things to shame you, but as my
beloved sons I warn you.
1
Corinthians 4:15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ,
yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you
through the gospel.
1
Corinthians 4:16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.
Paul first went to Corinth at the time of
Acts chapter 18 and he preached there for over a year and a half. The
bible says that many of the Corinthians believed the message that Paul
preached. Now he reminds them of the gospel he
preached, the gospel by which he says "I have begotten you through the
gospel."
1
Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I
also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures;
1
Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the
third day according to the scriptures:
The point being that there had been
another gospel preached prior to Paul and it was not the gospel that
Paul preached. Back there, a message of repentance had been preached to
Israel. A message of remission of sins which looked forward to a future
day of atonement for Israel. The gospel Paul preached was a mystery
until the Lord
revealed it to him. Paul doesn't preach remission of sins for a future
day of atonement. Instead he preaches that Christ died for our sins. He
says that we have now received that atonement. Notice:
Galatians
1:10 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.
It pleases men to preach and teach the
things of religion, the things that appeal to men, but Paul was not a
man pleaser.
Galatians
1:11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of
me is not after man.
Galatians
1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by
the revelation of Jesus Christ.
And that
is why Paul says "be ye followers of me." Notice again:
1 Corinthians 11:1 Be ye followers of me,
even as I also am of Christ.
People
today say "I believe in following Jesus" and most of the time they say
that because of ignorance of the rightly divided word of truth. The
only way anyone today can follow Jesus is by following the doctrine
that was committed to Paul.
It was
Paul who was sent with the message of salvation to the Gentiles, but
the bible is plain that the message Jesus preached on earth, in
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, was not to Gentiles. Notice:
Romans 15:8 Now I say that Jesus Christ
was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the
promises made unto the fathers:
So Jesus
on earth was a minister of the circumcision, he was a minister to
Israel. Notice what he said to a Gentile woman:
Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I
am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
But after the Lord was crucified, buried
and raised from the dead and after the message called the gospel of the
Kingdom was preached to the men of Israel by Peter in the book of Acts,
after that, the Lord from Heaven appeared to Saul of Tarsus who became
Paul the Apostle and gave him a different message. Paul's gospel is not
the same message preached by Jesus in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. So
the only way to follow Jesus today is to follow the risen ascended Lord
Jesus Christ through the doctrine committed to Paul.
John 13:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth
me receiveth him that sent me.
In other
words, you cannot receive God the Father apart from receiving the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord said "I am the way, the truth and the life, no
man cometh unto the Father, but by me." But notice what he also said:
He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me." So to come to God
the Father you must receive the Lord Jesus Christ and to receive the
Lord Jesus Christ you must receive the ONE that the Lord sent to you.
The Lord sent Paul, and Paul alone, to be the apostle of the Gentiles.
Notice what he said to Paul. This is an account of what happened on the
road to Damascus in Acts chapter nine when the Lord appeared to Saul
who became Paul.
Acts
26:15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou
persecutest.
Acts
26:16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee
for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these
things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will
appear unto thee;
Acts
26:17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom
now I send thee,
So the
Lord sent Paul to be the apostle of the Gentiles:
Romans 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles,
inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
Paul is not magnifying himself. He says "I
magnify mine OFFICE." The office Paul has is the office of Apostle of
the Gentiles. So to follow the Lord today is to follow the Apostle Paul:
Ephesians 3:1 For this cause I Paul, the
prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
Ephesians 3:2 If ye have heard of the
dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
Nobody else anywhere in the bible claims
to be the apostle of the Gentiles. Only Paul does. Now notice here:
Philippians 3:15 Let us therefore, as many
as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise
minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Philippians 3:16 Nevertheless, whereto we
have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the
same thing.
Philippians
3:17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so
as ye have us for an ensample.
The word
literally means "a stamp, or style or resemblance." In other words a
sample or a pattern. Notice:
1
Timothy 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am
chief.
1
Timothy 1:16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first
Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them
which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
So Paul was the first man to be saved by
the gospel he preached. He said that he delivered that which he also
received. And he says that his salvation is a pattern for those who
would hereafter believe on Jesus Christ to life everlasting.
To try to follow other doctrine, like
Peter's doctrine to Israel, or to try to follow Jesus in the red
letters, is not to follow Christ according to what God is doing today,
in the age in which we live. The only way anyone can possibly follow
Jesus today is to follow Christ as Paul followed Christ, through the
doctrine committed to Paul.
1
Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus;
1
Timothy 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due
time.
1
Timothy 2:7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I
speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in
faith and verity.
Now the
Lord sent Peter to the home of only one Gentile in the bible. But when
Peter preached to the man he preached the same message he was taught in
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Notice what Peter says to the man:
Acts 10:36 The word which God sent unto
the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of
all:)
Acts
10:37 That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all
Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;
Now John the Baptist had come to Israel
preaching the baptism of repentance. Jesus Christ was baptized by John
in the river Jordan. John said, "I knew him not but that he should be
manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water." So Jesus
was baptized and immediately he began to preach:
Matthew 4:23 And Jesus went about all
Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the
kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease
among the people.
So the
point is that the word which God
sent to the children of Israel, the gospel of the Kingdom, is what this
Gentile heard Peter preach. That is not the same word the risen Lord
gave to Paul. The gospel of your salvation is a different message than
the one Peter preached. The message to the circumcision that Jesus
Christ was confirming was a message about the restoring of the kingdom
again to Israel. It was the prophetic message that had been spoken by
all of the old testament prophets to Israel. But Israel, instead of
RISING, instead of receiving their King and their Kingdom, they
rejected the message and it was through their FALL that salvation came
to the Gentiles.
Romans
11:11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid:
but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for
to provoke them to jealousy.
So
Peter's message, the same as the message of Jesus in the red letters,
was about the RISE of Israel while Paul's message is about Gentile
salvation which came about because of their fall. Notice again in
Ephesians three.
Ephesians
3:1 For this cause I Paul, the
prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
Ephesians
3:2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is
given me to you-ward:
Ephesians
3:3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I
wrote afore in few words,
The
message Paul preached to the Ephesians was a mystery until it was made
known by the Lord himself to the apostle Paul. Compare what Peter said:
Acts 3:24 Yea, and all the prophets from
Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have
likewise foretold of these days.
So Peter
says that all the prophets spoke about it and they foretold of the
message Peter preached. But now compare Paul:
Colossians 1:24 Who now rejoice in my
sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions
of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:
Colossians 1:25 Whereof I am made a
minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for
you, to fulfil the word of God;
Colossians
1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from
generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Colossians 1:27 To whom God would make
known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
So Paul was given a different message for
a different group of people than the other message of the gospel of the
Kingdom to Israel.
2
Timothy 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel:
2 Timothy 1:11 Whereunto I am appointed a
preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
There is no mistake about it. Paul is the
apostle of the Gentiles. Paul was given the gospel of the grace of God
in the dispensation of the grace of God for you Gentiles.
Ephesians 3:8 Unto me, who am less than
the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what
is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world
hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Ephesians 3:10 To the intent that now unto
the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the
church the manifold wisdom of God,
So the
message is different, the doctrine is different and the man chosen to
deliver the message is different. The only way to follow the Lord today
is through the doctrine committed to Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles.