“NONE OF THESE THINGS MOVE ME”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22422, 17 November 1934, Page 23

“NONE OF THESE THINGS MOVE ME”

Written for the Otago Daily Times. By the Rev. D. Gardner Miller. The verse from which my title is taken is one of the finest in the Bible. Here it is in full: “ But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the Grace of God.” (Acts 20, verse 24.) I am thrilled every time I read it and mentally vow that these glowing words shall tell the story of my own life and ministry. But only a big man like Paul could face up to their implication. Lesser men walk more comfortable ways. Yet the same spirit, the same courage, the same glorious boasting can be yours and mine according to our capacity and willingness to suffer for Him Who has laid His hand upon us. “ None of these things move me ” are the words of an enthusiast and the great enthusiasts of the world are the driving forces in ail great movements. Nowhere is this more true than in religion. If there is no enthusiasm in the heart of a man or woman who professes religion then their religion may be very correct, but it will never be infectious. It is for ever true that religion is caught, not taught. Paul could not help being a flaming missionary. What had happened to him on the Damascus road had so changed his life that his proudest moments were those when he suffered for his convictions. This mighty man of small physical stature was so big of soul, yet withal so humble, that he did not care what happened to him as long as it furthered the cause he had at heart. His journeys in the ancient world, by land and sea, have a greater significance than those of the world’s great explorers put together. What he said and wrote is of more importance, next to Christ, to the thought of the modern world than that of all the thinkers whose names adorn the scroll of fame. Paul was a man who was very sure of scertain things, hence his proud boast that “ None of these things move me.” * * .t Yes, and what were the things that Paul said could not move himf Well, how often have you read his letters? Have you ever taken the trouble to follow his adventures, recorded by his friend the young doctor in the Acts of the Apostles? If these are familiar to you, then scene after scene will leap upon the screen pf your memory. You will see him m that breathless scene when the mob in the women’s court in the temple at Jerusalem tried to tear him limb from limb. Look at him, after the soldiers have rushed through the underground passage and rescued him, calmly, though torn and bleeding, talking to the mob from the staircase and telling them why he follows Christ. See him standing before Festus, the representative of Csesar! See him standing there, chained but undaunted! Listen to him as, with the deadly precision of logic lit by the fire of a passionate devotion, he speaks about Christ until his hearers tremble!. Read that shipwreck scene—one of the most dramatic sea stories ever written—where, amidst the fury of the storm and the craven fears of men, he speaks words of comfort, assures them of their safety, and quietly yet fearlessly says that God told him these things, and he adds, "I believe God”! And if these scenes are not enough, turn up the eleventh chapter of second Corinthians and read from vqrse 24 to the end of the chapter. Read the verses quickly, then slowly, then shut your eyes and let the scenes which the written words have conjured up pass before you in that private picture house of yours, your mind. Candidly, I knew of no greater adventurer than this man Paul. Paul the dauntless he has been called, and he has been well named. What he went through seems incredible. And none of these things moved him away from the centre of his faith. He counted his life as nothing; for him to live was Christ, and if he died in His glorious service then even death would not disturb his faith; it would be a distinct gain. What would we not give to know jiow he died? His second term of prison in Rome must have been very exacting, for he was treated not as a State prisoner, but as a common malefactor. Most of his friends, through fear, deserted him. Luke, his doctor and very dear friend, was with him _when he penned the last letter that has come down to us, the second epistle to Timothy. Turn it up and read it again. Notice the pathetic appeal for his cloke and his books! Notice these two closing verses (17 and 18), just prior to the postscript; read carefully what he says: “The Lord stood with me . . . The Lord shall deliver me ... to whom be glory for ever and ever,” And remember you are reading the last letter of the dauntless apostle. After that comes a blank, there being no authentic record of how he died. An uncertain tradition has it that he suffered martyrdom in the year 67 or 68 outside the gate of Rome on the Ossian Way, during the great persecutions of the Christians by Nero, being beheaded as became u Roman citizen. * 5S * None of these things moved Paul, because, as I have said, he was very sure about certain things. He was sure that nothing that happened to him was outside the will of God for him. Whatever happened was to be used for witnessing, not for wailing. The victory over circumstances lay not in his own strength, for he was often prostrated with illness, but through the strength given him by the indwelling Christ. “ Christ liveth in me,” was his humble and profound claim. He was sure of immortality. To stand with Paul at the graveside is to know that death has ceased to conquer. Again, and again he exclaims, and proclaims and exults, in his unshadowed belief that there is a Henceforth, a city, a crown, a heaven and a glorified Christ. Nothing was permitted to move him because he was sure of God. “ I know in whom I have believed.” Why should he fear what the world—of friends as well as enemies—and hell can do to him! Nothing can separate him from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, The surrendered life is always unafraid.