Tag Apostle Paul

A Hero of Faith: Aristarchus

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-A companion of Paul  

Aristarchus may not be the most familiar name to us, but his name shows up a handful of times (Acts 19:29; 20:4; 27:2; Col 4:10; Phm 1:24), and those mentions paint a picture of a solid, steady guy who stuck with Paul through some of the toughest stretches of the early church. He was from Thessalonica, a Macedonian city where the gospel took root under heavy pressure right from the start (Acts 17:1-10). That background may help to explain a lot about how he kept going when things got rough.

The church in Thessalonica was born in the middle of a riot. Paul preached Jesus as the Messiah for a few weeks, people believed, and jealous opponents stirred up a mob (that sounds familiar). They dragged believers before the authorities and forced Paul to leave town by night. The new Christians there faced ongoing affliction from their own people, yet they held on with joy and faith that Paul later praised (1Thess 1-2). Aristarchus came out of that environment. He knew from the beginning that following Christ comes with a cost, yet he followed anyway.

“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2Timothy 3:12)

He was with Paul in Ephesus as a furious crowd grabbed him and Gaius and hauled them into the theater during a riot over the gospel threatening the idol trade. He was publicly tied to Paul and the message (Acts 19:29). Later he traveled long distances with Paul, perhaps helping to carry the collection to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4-7). Later, he boarded the ship with Paul (and Luke) as the apostle headed under guard toward Rome. That voyage turned into a shipwreck (Acts 27:2-44). And by the time Paul wrote from prison in Rome, Aristarchus was right there with him, called a fellow prisoner and a fellow worker.

“Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you…” (Colossians 4:10)

How does a person keep showing up for all that? It starts with a faith that took root in Thessalonica. When we have a big enough why, we can endure any how. He is the opposite of the stony ground Jesus spoke about in Mark 4:16-17, the ground where those with a shallow faith shrivel and die when persecution comes. Aristarchus had seen it. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is worth it. When the Ephesian mob seized him, his faith saw him through. When the Euroclydon crashed upon that ship, faith has hope that goes beyond the fear of death (2Tim 1:7; 1Cor 15:55-57). When the shackles of imprisonment confined him, it didn’t confine his faith, nor stop him from caring about the brethren (Col 4:10).

“Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.” (2Timothy 2:9)

Aristarchus was the steady companion who kept walking beside Paul year after year. From Macedonia to Asia, from the theater in Ephesus to the storms at sea, from free travel to prison walls, he remained. The lesson for us is that the same faith that held him through these trials can hold us through ours. That hope carries a person farther than comfort ever could. For the sake of Christ and the gospel, Aristarchus accepted risk, inconvenience, and suffering. His recognition and reward come from the Lord.

“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2Timothy 4:8).

In a world that still throws riots, storms, and hard seasons at followers of Jesus, his quiet endurance speaks loudly. Faith that keeps going when the pressure rises. That’s the kind of hero the early church needed, and the kind we still need today.

Agape

spencer

Why Did Jesus Appear to Saul

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Why did Jesus appear personally to Saul (later called Paul) on the way to Damascus?

  • To tell him what to do to be SAVED? No
  • To PARDON him?

After His ascension, Jesus never appeared to anyone to pardon sins. Why? Because God has ordained a law of pardon [Mat 28:19-20; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38].

Jesus saves no one except through obedience to the gospel plan of salvation [Heb 5:8-9]. There is no scriptural evidence that He ever appeared and saved someone outside of gospel obedience. He did providentially bring sinners into contact with a gospel preacher who would tell them what to do to be saved.

Why did Jesus appear in person to Saul? The answer is to make him an Apostle [Acts 26:16-18].

The criteria to be an Apostle, a man must have seen the Lord Jesus Christ after He arose from the dead [Acts 1:22; 2Pet 1:16; 1John 1:1, 4:14]. Paul had not been a witness of the resurrection of Christ until the Lord appeared to him on the highway [1Cor 15:8].

  • Saul was a chosen vessel [Acts 9:15].
  • He was one ‘born out of due time’ [1Cor 15:8].

 

All of the Apostles were witnesses of the resurrection of Christ [John 20:19-31]. It was necessary for Paul to be made a witness also by this appearance of Christ to him on the Damascus highway. The purpose of the highway appearance was not to save him, but to make him a witness.

Ananias was instructed to go to Saul. He told him to “arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” [Acts 22:14-16]. Note what he DIDN’T tell Paul…

  • To pray and ask Jesus into his heart.
  • To get religion.
  • To speak in tongues as a sign that Jesus accepted him.
  • That he was already saved.

 

He told him to “arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Just as Christ had commanded [Mat 28:18-20; Mark 16:16]

What did Saul do to be saved? FIRST, we note that he believed. Jesus had appeared to him on the road to Damascus. Saul was on a mission of persecuting the church of Christ. Then the Lord appeared to him and told him that it was Jesus he was persecuting. Saul saw Him and heard His voice. Saul believed in the risen Jesus on that Damascus highway. [Acts 22:10; 26:14-18]

NEXT, he repented. Upon arriving to Damascus, he was blind and his attitude was changed [Acts 26:19]. He was ready and willing to do whatever the Lord would command despite his past [Acts 22:10]. He went to the house of Judas at the Lord’s command. He waited for 3 days in a penitent state [Acts 9:9].

THEN he was baptized. He was a penitent believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. There was but one thing left for him to do. He was already a believer, and had already repented. He needed to be BAPTIZED FOR THE REMISSION OF SIN [Acts 2:38; 22;16].

In his letter to the Romans, he tells us how & why he was baptized. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” [Rom 6:3-4]

Notice the pronouns ‘us’ and ‘we’ by which Paul is including himself along with these gentile brethren among those buried with Christ by baptism. When he took that step into baptism, he himself was putting on Christ. [Gal 3:27]

From Pharisee of Pharisees and Persecutor of the church of Christ to ALL IN PAUL for the spreading of the gospel. What a shining example of faith and duty.

 

—Spencer