211 - WHY WAS PAUL IN PRISON?January 24,1960
Henry F. Kulp
Ephesians 3: 1 - 10 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Here in Ephesians, Paul is talking about the new building God is erecting—the tabernacle He is erecting by the work of the Holy Spirit as the builder. He has told us that in days gone by God had a pet nation by the name of Israel, and God erected a middle wall of partition between the nation Israel and all the Gentiles nations. The Gentile nations were atheistic—they were without God, and God dealt with this one nation. Then he also told them that God broke down this middle wall of partition through Jesus Christ, and now instead of dealing with a nation, or nations, He is dealing with anyone who will come to him by Jesus Christ, and he becomes a living stone in this new temple, this new habitation of God.
1/ Now in the 3rd chapter Paul says, I want you to know how I came to know this message—how I came to know this truth, and he says it was given to him by revelation.
Verse 3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
Last week we took a great deal of time to show you that this message was given to him by direct revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ—he received it not of Peter, James or anyone else—he did not receive it from the twelve, nor did he receive it from Old Testament studies—this was something brand new that Paul was to reveal to mankind.
2/ It is important we see this message is different from any other message in the Bible.
3/ What was the message?
Ephesians 3: 6 That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
That Jew and Gentile should be in the same body, neither group having pre-eminence. That is a brand a new thought it is called the Gospel for the uncircumcision. Was it the same message that was preached by the Twelve? Absolutely not—it is a new message. Let us get proof of this fact.
4/ First of all, it is necessary to see that this is not the message that Jesus Christ preached.
Romans 15: 8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:
Where Paul says that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision, a minister to the Jew, and Jesus was a minister to confirm the promise made unto the father. The promises made unto the Father happen to be an earthly Kingdom, and Paul is not preaching an earthly kingdom. He is preaching that Jew and Gentile are on the same level and have to come to God through Jesus Christ to become part of this one new body, this new building, this habitation of God, made up of living stones.
5/ Let us notice the messages that Jesus Christ had.
Matthew 10: 5, 6 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Here He sent the Twelve, not to go into the way of the Gentiles, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Here Jesus Christ did not reveal to the Twelve that they were part of a body to be made up of Jews and Gentiles. He told them, you go just to the nation Israel.
6/ Now let us go to Acts 1: 1 - 3, 6 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
Let’s go back before the day of Pentecost, and Luke opens the book of Acts by saying that Jesus Christ was with them for forty days, teaching of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. In these forty days He was seen by the Twelve, when He taught the Twelve, did He teach them that they were part of the body made up of Jews and Gentiles? Did He tell them now that this new message would be that the nation of Israel was not to have a Kingdom? The Kingdom was to be set aside? Or was He teaching the same message that He did back in Matthew 10?
7/ Notice, after being with them for forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God, Verse 6 the folks there asked a question and it proves that after forty days of teaching He had not revealed to them the mystery, for it was all about Israel—will you at that time restore the kingdom to Israel?
If the Kingdom had been set aside and Jesus Christ had taught them that the Kingdom was to be set aside, they certainly didn’t comprehend it, did they? They did not realize that God was now to erect a body, a house of God made of Jew and Gentile on the same plain.
8/ Then secondly, they seemed to know nothing about Romans 11:11, 12, 15 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
Here it states that the casting away of the nation was to be the riches of grace to the Gentiles, but they didn’t know it at this time, or they would have asked this question. They would have known Israel was cast aside.
9/ Then you can go ten days later, and Peter preached on the day of Pentecost,
Acts 2: 22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
He said, Ye men of Israel, hear the Word. So he evidently knew nothing about Israel being cast aside or of the Jew and Gentile on the same plain, which was a mystery that was given to Paul by revelation.
10/ Let me ask you where would he have learned it? If he didn’t know it after forty days of teaching by Jesus Christ, where would he have learned it in those ten days? He wouldn’t have. He did not know it, and so the message of the Gospel of the circumcision, is different from the message of the Gospel of the uncircumcision.
11/ At this point let us go back to Acts 1: 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
What was the answer of Jesus Christ, and this is important to our study? Did the Lord say, No, you cannot have a Kingdom—there is not going to be a Kingdom. No, He didn’t say that. Did He say, No, you’ve lost your chance—that the Old Testament prophecies are now cancelled and God is going to deal with Jew and Gentile alike? Of course, He didn’t. He hadn’t taught them Romans 11.
12/ Our Lord did not say that they were thinking along wrong lines, when they spoke of the Kingdom. He just told them they were wrong to question the time. Here they are actually asking, when are you coming back, and this Kingdom will be set up? It goes right along with…
Matthew 24: 36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
No man knoweth the time, nor the hour when the Lord is coming back. And they were asking this, and He said, You can’t know this. You can know about the Kingdom, but not the time of His return. This is not the message Paul had.
13/ Then ponder this—why did they talk about the Kingdom? Why did they ask a question pertaining to the Kingdom? They evidently asked many questions, and why did the Lord have only this one question recorded here? There is a reason for it. After forty days of being taught by the Lord Jesus Christ they ask Him about the Kingdom. Why? Because, obviously, He was teaching them about the Kingdom. If He had talked about the mystery for forty days, I am sure they would have asked Him a question about the mystery. You sit around for two days and listen to a person talk about one subject, you are going to ask a question about that subject, because your mind will be filled with that subject. Their minds were filled with the subject of the Kingdom because that was what He was teaching them.
14/ Let’s go to Peter. Jesus Christ evidently did not reveal the mystery. Paul did, it was a new message with Paul. But what did Peter preach on the day of Pentecost?
Acts 2: 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Here as Peter preaches, he says, for the promise is to you and your children—that it is you, the Jews, and the Jewish children, and to all that are afar off. He does not mean those in distant lands, but his meaning very definitely is clear to us as we turn to Ephesians 2 for we learn who those folks are who are afar off.
In Ephesians 2 Paul tells us that the Gentiles in days gone by were afar off while the middle wall of partition was standing. Now Peter knew about this middle wall of partition, and when he was preaching, as far as he was concerned, it was still standing, and remember he was Spirit-filled when he taught this message
15/ He knew nothing about it being broken down.
16/ When you read Acts 2: 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
You will notice that Peter uses the present tense. Those that are afar off—when he spoke they were still afar off, but when you compare this with Paul’s message—
Ephesians 2: 17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Paul uses the past tense, for he tells them that in times past they were afar off, but now they have been made nigh— Peter did not know that or he would have taught it on the day of Pentecost. So he does not have the same message that Paul did.
Acts 10: 28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
Here we have Cornelius, a Gentile sent for Peter, and if Peter were obeying the commission, going out into all the world, it would not have been necessary for Cornelius to send for Peter, but Cornelius sent for Peter, and notice the words of Peter when he says, You know how it is unlawful for a man who is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation.
At this time, Peter by his own admission is still a Jew – he knew nothing about Romans 10: 12 that Jew and Gentile were alike. He was still a Jew as far as he was concerned. So he did not know the mystery at this time. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
An important thing to see was that even after Peter had received the vision, he still considered himself a Jew. That is an important thing to recognize.
Acts 10: 28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
19/ Now let us go back to Ephesians 3: 1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
Paul tells us, because of this new mystery, because of this new message he is presenting, he is a prisoner for the Gentiles. He is a prisoner of Jesus Christ for the Gentiles.
20/ Paul says here, he is not in prison because of any fault of his own. He is in prison because he has been faithful to this new message, this new revelation that God has given to him. Men hate this message. Men hated it then, and Paul was in prison because he was faithful to this message.
21/ Think of it—Paul was actually in a dungeon in Rome because of his desire that we should know the mystery of God’s great purpose in this dispensation. It should thrill your heart.
22/ Nothing stirred the ire of the Jews, the religious people of the day like the message which fell from the lips of the Apostle Paul to the effect that God was not dwelling in temples made with hands, He was not dealing with Israel as a nation. He was turning to the Gentiles and offering salvation to all who would believe. Let’s get proof of this.
Acts 22: 22 - 24 And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.
Here we read how Paul’s brethren according to the flesh, cried out in response to his preaching, for they gave him audience unto that word—the word, Gentiles, and then they lifted up their voices and said, away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live, and they cried out and cast off their cloths, and threw dust into the air, and he was put in prison—brought into a castle. It was because of this message—the message that stirred up the religious people as he stood on the temple steps and gave his testimony. This testimony that put him in prison.
23/ This is why Paul had to constantly try to prove his Apostleship, that is the reason it was necessary for him over and over again to stress that he was an apostle of Jesus Christ, not by man, but by Jesus Christ. Some say he had to do that because Matthias was chosen to take the place of Judas, and Paul should have had the place of Judas, the Scripture does not warrant such an assumption—it is absolutely foreign to the Scriptures—no, Paul had to prove his apostleship because he was preaching a new message, a different message, a message received by direct revelation from God.
24/ Notice, Paul views his imprisonment as Joseph viewed his.
Genesis 45: 4, 5 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
There Joseph says, I am your brother whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
In other words, it was God’s will that he should be there in prison, that he should be sold, that there was a purpose behind it all—to protect the family, Paul says, I don’t mind being in prison—it is God’s purpose that I be here. I know this message is needed, and I am here for this message that God has seen fit to put me in prison because of this message.
25/ Then notice, he does not say I am a prisoner of Nero – a prisoner of the Roman Empire, but rather, he is a prisoner of Jesus Christ.
26/ The prisons in that day were far different from the prisons we have today. There where no comforts in that dungeon—little light, no heat, and a skimpy bill-of-fare—very little to eat. He was chained to a Roman soldier twenty-four hours a day. The prisons of today are actually palaces along side of what Paul went through—and Paul went through all this because he had this message to proclaim.
27/ But when Paul said he was a prisoner of Jesus Christ, he was conscious of the fact that all the earthly kingdoms could have no power over him were it not the permissive will of God. You remember the story of Job, that God had a hedge about him, and Satan could not even touch one of his possessions, let alone him, if God did not give him permission.
Job 1: 8 -10 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
Here Satan said to God about Job—hast thou not made a hedge about him, about his house, and about all that he has on every side. You know the Puritans used to say that the hedge was so high that the big demons could not get over it, and so thick that the little demons could not get through it. That is, not until God gave permission could Satan touch one possession of Job’s let alone touch Job himself. So Paul saying the same thing—I am not a prisoner of Nero—I am not a prisoner of the Roman government. I am a prisoner of Jesus Christ. He has seen fit to permit me to be here.
28/ Perhaps you are going through some trying time. Perhaps God has permitted the hedge to break down around you as He did with Job and Paul. I’ll guarantee you that the Lord will sustain you just as He did Job, just as he did Paul when they had their hour of trial and testing.
29/ Paul made reference to the mystery in other epistles, but the difference between those references and the context of Ephesians is that in Ephesians there is a complete unfolding of the truth, whereas such references elsewhere are general. You would not know the mystery in its completeness were it not for the book of Ephesians.
30/ In Job 1: 5 - 7 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
Paul makes it plain that the sons of men in other ages did not have the mystery revealed to them. The substance of the teaching of the Old Testament prophets concerning the crucifixion of Christ, and the glory that was to follow—that is the glorious reign of Christ. A careful study of the Old Testament Scripture reveals that the millennial reign of Christ followed the description of the crucifixion.
31/ Let us continue our study of the unfolding of the mystery. The Apostle mentions the place which Gentiles are to have in this new economy.
Ephesians 3: 6 That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. We must bear in mind that this is something entirely distinct from the blessing portrayed in the Old Testament Scriptures which were to come upon the Gentiles during the Millennial Reign of Christ. During the Millennial Reign there will be multitudes of Gentiles saved, and they will be blessed with earthly blessings, but there is no mystery and throughout the Old Testament, glowing prophecies concerning these glories are the portion of the saved Gentiles, but it has nothing to do with the one new body of Ephesians. Let us just take a few Old Testament references and prove this point.
32/ Isaiah 62: 2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.
33/ Isaiah 11: 10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign for the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and His rest shall be glorious.
Isaiah 66: 12 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.
Malachi 1: 11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.
You will notice in each one of these verses, the context makes it clear that the blessings are to be earthly in character. The blessings which we read about in Ephesians 3: 6 are entirely different, they are heavenly in character. That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
Then in Ephesians 3: 9 gives us the commission for today. What a glorious thought is presented here. Here we have it brought out that we are to make all men see this mystery.
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
AMEN
Ref: 01/24/1960/ 211 WHY WAS PAUL IN PRISION? / 09/16/20
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