Paul
the apostle told the church members in Corinth how Jesus, “was
seen of Cephas, the twelve, over five hundred, James and himself
also” after
His resurrection, and in
chapter fifteen and verse nine of First Corinthians, Paul declared to
the church members in Corinth that he was,
“the least of the apostles”, where
we read:
For I
am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an
apostle,
because
I persecuted the church of God.
The
verse begins, “For
I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an
apostle, ...” Paul
began with the word, “for” or
“even as, indeed, no doubt, seeing then, verily and therefore” “I
am” which
means “Paul was in a state as” “the
least” or
“the smallest in amount of management of affairs, importance,
authority, estimation, rank and excellence”
“of the apostles”
which refers to “among the delegates, messengers or ones sent forth
with orders ”, “that am not meet”
or “was not sufficient, enough or fit” “to
be called”
which means “to bear, be given or saluted as” “an
apostle”
or “a delegate, messenger or one sent forth with orders ”. Paul
considered himself as the “lowest and least”
of the “apostles”
and did not even deserve to be called one.
The
verse continues, “...because
I persecuted the church of God.”
Paul added
the word, “because” or
“for and on this account” “I
persecuted”
which means “Paul made to run or flee, put to flight, drove away,
troubled, harassed, mistreated and sought eagerly and earnestly to
acquire” “the church”
or “the assembly of Christians gathered for worship in a religious
meeting” “of God”
which refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised
of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit. Paul's reason
for his self-deprecation was because he “tortured, troubled and
harassed” people within the church before He met Jesus and received
Him as his “Savior and Lord”.
When
we meditate upon these words from Paul, we understand his position as
an “authority” who did not believe he deserved it. Paul “breathed
out threatenings and slaughter” against the church, and though he
was forgiven for his sin, Paul continued to remember what he did.
Though Paul considered himself “the least among the apostles”,
there is no doubt he had an encounter with Jesus Christ. May we be as
those who consider themselves “the least”, and allow the
Lord to do a work in and through us that is like unto the level of
Paul.
Next
time Paul tells
the church members,
“by the
grace of God I am what I am”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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