212 - BOLD JOURNEYJanuary 31, 1960
Pastor Henry F. Kulp
Ephesians 3 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, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
In Ephesians, Paul is speaking of the Gentiles here. He said under the Abrahamic Covenant which God made with Abraham, He made a difference between Jew and Gentile. He erected a middle wall of partition between them, and while that middle wall of partition was standing,, God was erecting an earthly kingdom, and the nation Israel was to be the leading nation in that kingdom. But then He says with the breaking down of the middle wall of partition, God has a brand new program—one that the Old Testament knows nothing about. The Old Testament prophets never saw it, they never prophesied it. This new program was hid in God until it was revealed by the Apostle Paul, and this truth was revealed to Paul in a divine way—by direct revelation form God.
1/ The heart of this program is that when God had the middle wall of partition standing He was to bless the Gentiles through the nation Israel. They were to be the channel of blessing, but the new message is that the Gentiles would receive a direct blessing from God, apart from Israel. Israel was to be set aside, and God was to deal directly with the Gentiles.
2/ Let us see this in the Word of God.
Acts 13: 46 - 47 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
Here we read that Paul and Barnabas went to Antioch, and they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day and after the reading of the law and prophets, the rulers of the synagogue said unto them, ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people say on. Paul stood up and he spoke to them. And then the following Sabbath day almost the whole city came to hear the Word of God, but when the Jews saw the multitude they were filled with envy and spoke against the things which were spoken by Paul contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas, waxing bold, told them something that is very important for us to see.
3/ It was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you. Why was this necessary? The answer is found in Peter’s words to the multitudes at Jerusalem.
Acts 3: 25 - 26 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
Notice the words of Peter, they are in accord with the great Abrahamic covenant guaranteeing the blessing of the Gentiles through Israel, notice—ye are the children of the prophets and of the Covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed—in other words, the Gentiles would be blessed through the nation Israel. Then he tells us, therefore Israel first must be saved and blessed. The whole program is founded on this great covenant.
4/ That is why our Lord said to the Syrophencian woman, let the children first be filled.
Mark 7: 27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.
That is why, He said to the Samaritan woman—Salvation if of the Jews, that is why He commits Israel to begin their ministry at the holy city, and notice, Acts 3: 25 - 26 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
God sent Jesus Christ to bless Israel first, because of the covenant made with Abraham.
5/ But now let us go back.
Acts 13: 46 - 47 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
Notice the important word, but. It was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you, but—does not this “but” indicate there was to be a departure form this prophesied program? Notice, that it was not the unfaithfulness on God’s part, but their own unwillingness to accept the Christ that caused this change in program, for it says, Seing you put it from you, and judged yourself unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
6/ And so we must answer a question. The question is—is salvation here being sent to the Gentile because of Israel’s acceptance of Christ, or because of her rejection of Christ? Is it going to the Gentiles on the basis of the Abrahamic Covenant, or by the Mystery? Of course, according to the mystery—not according to the prophesied program, not according to the covenant made with Abraham.
7/ Now we come to the important thing for us to see since Israel refused to be the channel of blessing to the nations, God is now ready to bless the nations directly through Christ, apart from Israel, and Paul had been commanded to proclaim this fact.
8/ But now let us go back to Ephesians 3: 1 to get the rest of the picture. For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
Paul tells us because of this mystery, this new truth of going to the Gentiles apart from the Old Testament covenant made with Abraham, he is a prisoner for the Gentiles. He is a prisoner of Jesus Christ for the Gentiles.
9/ 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. We must notice, he was a prisoner because of this new message—his countrymen hated him because he said the Gentiles had equal privileges with the Jew in Christ, and this middle wall had been broken down, and now God is dealing directly with the Gentile apart from the covenant made with Abraham. They hated him for this message.
10/ 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.
Now Acts 22: makes sense to us. We read how Paul’s brethren according to the flesh cried out in response to his teaching—they gave audience unto that word—what word? The word, Gentiles, and 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 clothes and threw dust into the air, and he from that time was a man who was a prisoner for this message. This message stirred up the people and they hated him for ti and they wanted to kill him. It was because of this message that he was now in prison.
11/ This same truth is brought out to us in Colossians 4: 3 Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:
He said he wanted an open door to speak the mystery of Christ for which I also am in bonds. Yes, Paul was in prison for this mystery, this new message.
12/ It is well at this point that we recognize that Paul’s imprisonment was used by him as Joseph viewed his imprisonment.
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.
Joseph here says, I am your brother whom ye sold into Egypt. Now, therefore do not grieve or be 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 in prison, he should be sold, because their was a purpose behind it all to protect this family. Paul says, I don’t mind being in prison. It is God’s purpose that I am here. I know this message is needed, and I am willing to be in prison so that this message might get out.
13/ Then notice, he does not say, I am a prisoner of Nero, a prisoner of the Roman Empire, but rather, I am a prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. The prisons in that day were far different from the prisons we have today. There were no comforts in that dungeon—little light, no heat, and a scrimpy bill of fare. Very, very little to eat. He was chained to a Roman soldier twenty-four hour a day. The prisons of our day are actually palaces along side of what Paul was in, and Paul went through all this because he had a message to proclaim to us Gentiles.
14/ But when Paul said he was a prisoner of Jesus Christ, he was conscious of the fact that all the earthly kings could have no power over him, were it not that God permitted them to have power over him. You remember the story of Job, that God had a hedge about him, and Satan was not able to even tough one of his possessions, let alone him, if God did nto give him permission.
15/ 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 all that he has on every side?
The Puritans used to say that this hedge was so high that a big demon could not get over it, and so thick that the little demons could not get through it. It was not until God gave permission that Satan could touch one of the possessions fo Job or tough Job himself. So Paul is saying the same thing here—I am not a prisoner of Nero, I am not a prisoner of the Roman governor, I am a prisoner of Jesus Christ. He has seen fit to have me here for His own purpose.
16/ Perhaps you are going through some trying time. Perhaps God has permitted the hedge to break down about you, as He did with Job and Paul. I’ll guarantee you that the Lord Jesus Christ will sustain you just as He did Job, jut as He did Paul in their hour of trial and testing.
EVERY GENTILE SHOULD PAUSE AND GIVE THANKS TO GOD FOR THIS FEARLESS MISSIONARY OF GOD. TRULY HE WENT OUT ON A BOLD JOURNEY TO PROCLAIM THIS TRUTH. HE WANTED AN OPEN DOOR, AND WE TODAY SHOULD RECOGNIZE IT AND APPRECIATE IT.
17/ Ephesians 3: 9 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:
Then Paul tells us this is the great commission to us, today. We are to make al men see this truth, and to make all men see this truth, we must make them learn to rightly divide the Word of Truth. If all men would see the fellowship of the mystery today, there would not be the sects of the hour trying to keep the Sabbath, trying not to eat pork or certain foods. They wouldn’t be around trying to teach us this thing and that thing in order to be saved. They would see the wonderful grace program as it is in Jesus Christ for us today.
18/ Many children of God, many who are saved, because they have never been taught this truth are led off into error. This truth is the answer to all error. If you will see this truth, you will be able to know what God is doing today, and what God expects of you.
19/ You will notice this commission is to all the world—to every creature. The church here certainly has a commission for missions. There certainly is a necessity here to get this Gospel out to all the world, not just teach people that salvation is in Jesus Christ, but to go beyond that and show God’s program for this day.
20/ I want you to please notice that this message is absolutely more than just preaching Jesus Christ as Saviour. It is preaching Jesus Christ as Saviour, and then God’s program. We should see the two parts of this condition.
21/ This goes right along with Romans 16: 25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
The preaching of Jesus Christ according to the mystery. You are not actually doing God’s will unless you do that, and this mystifies me, how so many people have missed this truth.
22/ Some folks say, not this Gospel was hid, and it just wasn’t fully revealed. It was in the Old Testament, but not fully revealed until Paul came. Absolutely not. This is a brand new message. I want you to see how much it was hid in God.
Ephesians 3: 10 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 it tells us that even the angelic creation, fallen or unfallen had no knowledge of this mystery until it was given by God to Paul, and it is now being revealed to the angelic hosts by the church. They might know it, not by the church, but through the church.
23/ So we have a bold venture into the world to proclaim this truth. Paul is a prisoner for it, but we are now free, and we have the right to go and make men and angels see this glorious truth by our preaching and by our lives.
24/ Verse 12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
This verse naturally follows that which has gone ahead. If we are members of the household of God, we are part of the mystical body of Christ, we can therefore exercise boldness as we draw near to Him. Because of our position we can approach the Throne of God fearlessly, giving thanks and making known the desires of our hearts. And here he tells us that we may have boldness—and the word, boldness means freedom of speech. In other words, because of this I can take all my trials and all my problems unto Him, knowing that He will hear me. I have freedom of speech, I can talk to Him about anything that troubles me.
25/ How much better it is that I have boldness, that I have access to Him, than to take my trials and tribulations to someone else. Someone who may betray me, but not so with the Lord Jesus Christ, He will keep all the confidences, I place in Him.
26/ How does all this come about? Because we have confidence—confidence because of the faith of Jesus Christ. Once again we come across this all important doctrine—the faith of Jesus Christ. Were it not for the faith of Jesus Christ, everything I have would crumble and fall, I would have nothing to depend upon. I know this is the subjective side of faith. I have objective faith in Him, and He is subjectively faithful, so that I know when I put my trust in Him, and He will do exactly what He has said He will do, and so because of all these truths, I can have access to Him, and I can come with confidence because He is faithful.
27/ Then starting with Verse 14 of the third chapter we come to Paul’s second prayer for he saints. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
We have two prayers, and both of them are important. Paul says, For this cause. What cases does he have in mind? The cause of being the minister to the Gentiles—this glorious truth that he bows his knee unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
28/ Have you ever noticed that if you are just quietly engaged in meditation and prayer, you may sit, perhaps as I often do, in a big chair—in my office chair which has utmost in the way of comfort, and I will have my Bible before me, and a thought comes to me, and you say praise the Lord for it, and so you just close your eyes and meditate with God upon that truth. When you are intensely in earnest, when something has gripped you that stirs you to your deepest thought, you almost always find yourself forced to your knees. Being on your knees doesn’t mean that there is no other prayer other than that, but this thought here is that he is so gripped with this truth that he falls down before the Lord Jesus Christ.
29/ Also it would be well for us to notice, Verse 13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
Paul does not want the saints to become discouraged because of his trial. He would rather have them remember that whatsoever trial he was passing through was for their behalf and their glory.
Oh, that you might have the same attitude, the same frame of mind about suffering that Paul did. If God calls upon you to suffer because of the truth that you are taking forth, you should be willing to suffer. Paul was glad to suffer for the cause of this mystery. Paul was glad to know the intense hatred of the world to be able to spread this truth.
They that suffer with Christ, shall also reign with Christ.
AMEN
Ref: 01/31/1960 / 212 - BOLD JOURNEY / 02/27/202
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