Apostles are Survivors by John Polis

Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:11-13 NKJV

I once heard Evangelist Mike Murdock make a profound statement that enhanced my perception of victory in the life of a believer. He said, “Success comes after survival”.

Paul Was A Survivor

As I began to meditate on this concept, I realized how much it related to Apostle Paul and his entire testimony of a life of hardship and danger in following Christ. In 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, Paul lists the many sufferings he endured walking in the will of God for his life as an apostle of Christ, fulfilling the prophecy of Jesus in Acts 9 where Paul was told that he would “suffer many things for His Name”.

Paul’s life as an overcomer in Christ meant that he could survive the worst satan could hurl at him, not that his faith would keep him from ever experiencing any of the bad stuff.

Real faith is what we do in a fiery furnace situation or facing the fire and flood that life brings our way. It would be nice if we only had the devil to deal with because he can be controlled by the authority we have in Christ, but we also have people to deal with who are not so easy to control and are the primary instruments of pain in our lives. Paul said that “evil men and seducers wax worse and worse” (2 Timothy 3:13) and that “perilous times shall come” (2 Timothy 3:1) because “men are lovers of themselves rather than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:2).

Demonically inspired people are part of the cause of pain and suffering in our world. Examples of this would be a Hitler or a Saddam.

In Paul’s life it was the religious people who continually tried to have him killed or imprisoned, or people who wouldn’t listen to his advice that resulted in his own hardship such as the captain of the vessel in Acts 27 who didn’t heed Paul’s warning not to sail at that time into a dangerous storm.

Paul was victorious because he could survive the worst of situations, and that knack for survival was a result of his faith in God’s ability to keep him no matter what. If we could hear the testimonies of the successful people in our day, we would find that they endured hardship on their way to success and that life was no easy road to travel. Teaching that leads people to believe they may never have to fight for their life is not the “whole counsel of God.” Jesus warned that the enemy comes to “steal, kill and destroy” our lives.

Being an overcomer means that we have overcome many things to gain the title.

Sometimes it appears that God’s people are too soft and can’t really “endure hardness” as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, they believe that “Jesus is my shock absorber in life” as the bumper sticker reads and are ready to have a nervous breakdown when trouble comes knocking. Our apostolic teaching should result in the forming of Christians who can withstand in the day of evil and when the dust settles they are still on their feet.

Moses Was A Survivor

I believe that Moses was an apostle who went through much rigorous training to develop the endurance necessary to fulfill his assignment. Hebrews 11:26 tells us that “Moses endured seeing him who was invisible”. One day, as I was reading about Moses and Pharaoh, I asked the Lord why he was so hard on the Egyptian leader, hardening his heart repeatedly and finally drowning him in the Red Sea. God said, “It wasn’t about Pharaoh at all, I was training Moses to have endurance by making him face an increasingly difficult problem ten times over. I just used Pharaoh to prepare my leader for duty”. I realized that Moses was too soft for the trouble ahead and that God knows how to prepare us to survive difficulty.

Any apostle that has been successful in building an apostolic family that has produced sons and daughters who are also successful in ministry can write books about the survival skills they have learned, or they wouldn’t be around any longer. Truly, “Success follows Survival”.

© 2024 Dr. John Polis