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! Introduction
*Play clip of Last Action Hero*
Most of us enjoy a story that involves a hero; a person who in the midst of an adverse or evil situation rallies with courage, determination to save the day perhaps it is for the cause of justice, or to save an individual.
This hero often acts regardless of the dangerous risks.
Those types of movies stir our hearts, most of us admire these individuals and aspire to be able to make those same type of decisions if ever faced with the same circumstance.
This is true whether we are watching a fictional action figure or hearing of how a civilian or Soldier has performed heroically.
I love to watch movies or read stories about real life heroes.
I want my kids to emulate the same characteristics: determination, courage, mental fortitude, perseverance and most importantly faith.
Yes faith, it is the faith of heroes that really catches my attention because it is their faith that enables them to be so bold, strong, courageous, etc.
To do incredible things that are contrary to what our finite minds can comprehend.
The publisher YWAM has a series titled Christian Heroes: Then and Now, in addition other publishers and movie producers have focused on Christian Heroes of the Faith.
In these stories of Heroic Christians, ordinary believers rise up enabled by their faith and give testimony through their actions that God is still alive and at work here on earth.
This morning we are going to talk about a hero of the faith.
One of my heroes that I try to emulate.
His life and words are powerful and he is the Apostle Paul.
Paul is one of my heroes and over time you will find out why.
The main reason though is because it was Paul ambition to imitate Christ.
In everything Paul did, he did to imitate Christ Jesus; and this is why we can imitate him. 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul even exhorts us to do just this, Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
(1 Corinthians 11:1).
My message this morning and the next few times that I am able to preach is based on the following proposition: *Imitate Christ By Imitating Paul.
*
Before we take time to look at the Apostle Paul’s life, we first have to ask and you each have to answer the following questions?
!
I. Why - Imitate Christ
Why imitate Christ?
And do you care to imitate Christ.
A) Reasons to imitate Christ
1) Directed
2) Wise
3) Fruit: love, joy, peace, kindness, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
4) Fulfillment – Purpose in life
Read Purpose Driven Life, p 27, P 171
B) Do you desire to imitate Christ
Many of you work hard to be a Soldier.
How serious are you in becoming like Christ.
Talk about the Gospel.
! II.
How - By emulating the Apostle Paul
*A) Paul was a worthy servant of Christ*
Philippians 4:9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
1 Corinthians 11:1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
*B) Don’t be intimidated by Paul*
It is all by God’s grace
Last message, *Be Strong Soldiers by God’s grace in Jesus Christ*
The source of this grace is Christ Jesus; it is available to those who are ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, “in Christ Jesus” (cf.
1:9b, 13; discussed in 1 Tim 1:14).
As such, this *same empowerment* is available for all Christians, not only for some select group whose members think they are empowered by some special grace.
This is similar to Paul’s ongoing point that Timothy is to be enabled by the Holy Spirit (1:7, 9b, 14).
*This call to divine empowerment* will be enlarged in the call to perseverance in vv 3–7 and theologized in vv 11–13.
The repeated article (τῇ) before the phrase ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, “in Christ Jesus,” shows that the phrase modifies χάριτι, “grace.”
*IS 40, but they that wait for the Lord… be an eagle not crow.
Eagles fly effortlessly, while crows and other birds flap continuously.*
!
III.
What – Paul was a Bond S.L.A.V.E
“In the Epistles that he wrote, the apostle Paul often referred to himself as a "bond slave of Jesus Christ".
The bond slave was one who chose to serve, usually out of love for the Master.
In the Old Testament, this type of servant—when he made it known that he would rather serve than be set free—would, as a visible token of his loving servitude, have a hole punched in his ear!
The Law of Moses stipulated that the servant would be taken to a door, or door-post, and "his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever" (Exodus 21:6[b], KJV).
The outward sign of the hole in the ear made it clear to all that this individual was a loving and willing servant of his master.
There was no legal stipulation which would allow anyone to reverse this decision—once the hole was made in the ear, it was binding for life.
Not only could the servant not back out, the master couldn’t either!
(Which is just another of many illustrations of the eternal security of the believer).”
An executive friend and I were going on a business trip to Italy.
He was a rock climber, very macho and profane.
I said to myself, /This is going to be bad.
He’s not a believer.
He’s going to chase every skirt he can see./
But by the end of the trip, he had never looked at a woman or made a single suggestive comment.
As we were seeing the sights, he kept saying, “I wish my wife could see this.”
Every day he wrote her.
I realized he was totally in love with his wife, and it protected him from any other woman.
He wasn’t even tempted.
By being a slave, totally committed to one person, he was totally free.
I realized that only in total slavery do we have total freedom.
I believe Paul experienced this as a “bond slave of Christ.”[1]
Paul a Bond S.L.A.V.E for God
*S*ervant to others
*L*aser focused on Christ (imitate and followed to the T)
*A*mbassador ~/ representative of God
*V*alient proponent of the Gospel (defending and promoting to non-believer and beleivers)
*E*mptied of self (sacrificed himself for the glory of God)
! Conclusion
!
Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh was not always an artist.
In fact, he wanted to be a church pastor and was even sent to the Belgian mining community of Borinage in 1879.
He discovered that the miners there endured deplorable working conditions and poverty-level wages.
Their families were malnourished and struggled simply to survive.
He felt concerned that the small stipend he received from the church allowed him a moderate life-style, which, in contrast to the poor, seemed unfair.
One cold February evening, while he watched the miners trudging home, he spotted an old man staggering toward him across the fields, wrapped in a burlap sack for warmth.
Van Gogh immediately laid his own clothing out on the bed, set aside enough for one change, and determined to give the rest away.
He gave the old man a suit of clothes and he gave his overcoat to a pregnant woman whose husband had been killed in a mining accident.
He lived on starvation rations and spent his stipend on food for the miners.
When children in one family contracted typhoid fever, though feverish himself, he packed up his bed and took it to them.
A prosperous family in the community offered him free room and board.
But Van Gogh declined the offer, stating that it was the final temptation he must reject if he was to faithfully serve his community of poor miners.
He believed that if he wanted them to trust him, he must become one of them.
And if they were to learn of the love of God through him, he must love them enough to share with them.
The Son of God did the same when he became a human being.
He laid aside the glory of heaven and the status of divinity in order that we might learn of God’s love through him.
* *
* *
!
Notes
*Paul Quick Facts*
*14 of the 27 books were written by the Apostle Paul*
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