result of what is represented by the rest of the verse.  Paul was unmoved in

the face of bonds and afflictions because he did not count his soul dear to

himself.  He already knew that all he had and all he was, belonged to his

Redeemer.  He was not his own; he had been bought with a price.  A self -

centred man is easily moved, but a man who holds self as but a means of

serving the Lord will not easily be disturbed at the thought of trials and

afflictions.  Also the apostle had a goal in front of him.  He desired to

finish his course, to fulfil his calling; and in its pursuit he endured and

overcame odds that to a lesser soul would have been overwhelming.  The words:

'But none of these things move me' are a free rendering of the original all

oudenos logon poioumai, which literally means that Paul did not 'make account

of even one thing'.  The Vatican manuscript reads: 'Of no account make I life

precious to myself', which crystallizes the thought already expressed above.

Another suggestive passage is 1 Thessalonians 3:3 where Timothy is sent

to the Thessalonians: 'That no man should be moved by these afflictions'.  It

is very probable that the preposition en translated in this verse 'by' should

carry its primitive meaning 'in'.  The verb 'move' here means 'to fawn upon',

'to flatter', 'to deceive through flattery'; and the idea seems to be that

when one is enduring affliction, one is open to 'fawning' and 'flattering'

suggestions from seeming well -wishers, and that such must be resisted by

We come in conclusion to the great and triumphant exhortation of the

apostle in 1 Corinthians 15:58.  With resurrection as a glorious fact, with

Christ as the mighty Victor over death and the grave, with a glorious hope

before the believer, this chapter ends with the words:

'Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always

abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your

labour is not in vain in the Lord' (1 Cor. 15:58).

These three passages from the New Testament should be continually in

mind.  Nothing helps us in our service so much as the possession of the

unselfish spirit manifested by the apostle in Acts 20.  The believer who

feels hurt so often, is thinking too much of self.  To realize the Lordship

of the Risen Christ is to be free from the intimidation and the flattery of

man, and with the Lord at our right hand we too can say, 'I shall not be

The first title given to the apostle Paul in Scripture provides us with

another subject for study, 'He is a chosen vessel unto Me' (Acts 9:15).  To

any one acquainted with the Scriptures and with the worship of the God of

Israel, the word 'vessel' would be associated with the Tabernacle and the

Temple.  The altar had its specially designed vessels of brass, such as pans

to receive ashes, shovels, basins, fleshhooks and firepans (Exod. 27:3).  The

table also had its appropriate vessels, and the candlestick, or lampstand

(Exod. 30:27 and 35:13).  When the Lord called Saul of Tarsus to His service,

He separated him as a vessel unto Himself.  The Lord Jesus Christ fulfils the

typical teaching of the altar, the table and the candlestick, and we may

regard Paul as a chosen vessel, serving Him in all these offices.

The apostle was chosen by the Lord as a vessel 'to bear His name'.  In

Acts 9 Ananias speaks of Paul as having 'authority from the chief priests to