Paul’s Desire to Spread the Good News about Jesus

Paul was an extraordinary man. His energy astonishes us. His determination to tell people the good news about Jesus Christ impresses us. His enemies wanted to hurt him. They wanted to stop him. But he still continued. Some passages in his letters show his strong desire to continue. We can study these and they will encourage our own *faith. We must believe and obey as Paul did. If we call ourselves Christians, we must care about the spread of the *gospel.

This desire to spread the *gospel should show up in many ways. What we pray should show it. What we do should show it also. The money that we give should show our love for Christ. Paul is an *apostle. God chose him to lead his church, with 12 other men. He shows us how to do this. He encourages us to be more eager as Christians. One passage that shows his feelings is in Romans 9

His worst enemies

The *Jews hated Paul. They had respected him as a leader and a teacher. Now they thought that he had changed his *faith. That is why they hated him. They *beat him five times or more, (2 Corinthians 11:24). Several times, they made plans to kill him. The *Gentiles often listened well to Paul, but the *Jews chased him from town to town. They encouraged angry crowds to attack him.
A good example of this is the account in Acts 13 and 14. Men chased Paul from Antioch to Iconium and to Lystra, where they hurt him with stones. Even after this, Paul continued to love them. Paul was following his *Lord. Jesus said that we must love our enemies. The Spirit was helping Paul to do this.
Matthew 5:43-48

Paul saw the great choice before them

Paul loved the good news about Jesus. It was the most important thing in his life, and gave him great joy. Let us remember some of the things that he said:
Romans 1:16
Philippians 1:21

Those people who do not trust in Christ have no future. Jesus spoke about the difference between those who trust and those who do not trust. He told a story about a rich man and a poor man (Luke 16:19-31). The rich man went to *hell after he died. The poor man, who had sat at the rich man’s gate, was in *paradise. In Matthew chapter 16 also, Jesus warned about the important choices that we all have to make.
Matthew 16:24-27

The *apostle Peter made a statement to the *Jewish *Council which explains this well:
Acts 4:12

Why we Might not Think and Act as Paul did
Fear of embarrassment & selfishness
Paul was happy to become a fool for Christ. He did not care about what men thought. He did not care what men said. He cared much more about what God thought. This means that he was like our *Lord.

We are afraid. We will not be able to speak the right words. We will not be able to answer difficult questions. We will not know how to explain important facts about our beliefs.
Joshua 1:9

Perhaps we want God’s love only for ourselves

We are ready to accept God’s love, if that is all. We do not want to do anything more. We like to have good times with other Christians. If we are leaders, we are important. We enjoy friendship. These are all things that we enjoy. If these are the most important things for us, then one day we shall discover our mistake. Then it will be too late. Jesus said this:
Luke 14:27

What we should do

After Peter’s first *sermon, the people asked him, ‘What shall we do?’ The command is very clear. Jesus gave it 2000 years ago.
Matthew 28:18-20

Jeremiah 1:5
John 4:34
Mathew 24:14