THE POSSESSIVE ATTITUDE

ROMANS 16:2

A. "ACCORDING TO MY GOSPEL"
  1. Bible students are intrigued by Paul's possessive use of the word "my"
    1. "I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me, is not after man" - Gal. 1:11
    2. "For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" - Gal. 1:12
  2. Note, how possessive the plan of redemption was to Paul:
    1. "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." - Gal. 2:20
    2. "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" - Phil. 1:21 B. THE POSSESSIVE ATTITUDE OF PAUL
  3. To begin with the gospel of Jesus Christ was his:
    1. As a personal experience; his because he appropriated all of it to his own person
    2. "For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for of necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel" - I Cor. 9:16
  4. Now we know that what was true of Paul and his possessive attitude toward the gospel:
    1. Is and must be true in the experience of all the believers in Jesus Christ - Examples: Think of the experience of the Samaritans, first the Samaritan woman took the message personally, "Come, see a man which told me all things that I ever did"; "now we believe, not because of thy saying; for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." - John 4:29,42
    2. When the word of the gospel becomes a part of our personal experience, we have more witnessing power - "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you" I John 1:3
    3. Said Job, "For I know that my redeemer liveth...whom I shall see for myself;" - Job 19:25-27
  5. But further:
    1. The gospel of Christ was Paul's because of a personal conviction
    2. Note these powerful expressions by Paul, "I speak freely; for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from thee; for this thing was not done in a corner" - Acts 26:26; "For I am persuaded, that neither death nor life, not angels, nor principalities nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come...shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" - Rom. 8:38-39 C. FINALLY, THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST
  6. Was his personal concern:
    1. he writes about the danger of becoming a cast away - "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast away." - I Cor. 9:27
    2. Jeremiah writes about, "Reprobate silver" Jer. 6:30
    3. Said Jesus, "For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be a cast away" - Luke 9:25
  7. Here, dear fellow workers we have, in part, the one great secret of the outstanding success of Paul
    1. To him the gospel of Jesus Christ was possessive in the highest degree possible
    2. The gospel of Jesus was a personal experience and that experience became a dynamic power to persuade others to accept the gospel
    3. To him the gospel became a personal conviction so strong that he could think of no power in heaven or on earth to cause him to give it up
    4. And Paul felt a great personal responsibility to not only preach the gospel but also to live it day by day
    5. He could write to the believers and say, "follow me as I have followed Christ" - 2 Thess. 3:7
  8. This then is a real challenge to the workers of the Advent Movement:
    1. We speak because we believe that we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we accepted present truth
    2. We know from personal experience that this is God's message for our day which will save us if we allow it to control our lives


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