The Prisoner of Christ

Q: What does the Bible say about Paul's imprisonment?

Paul called himself the prisoner of the Lord, reflecting his understanding of God's sovereignty even in suffering. In Ephesians 3:1, Paul identifies himself as the prisoner of Jesus Christ, indicating that he sees his imprisonment not as an unfortunate circumstance imposed by humans, but as part of God's sovereign plan. Paul's perspective emphasizes that he is God's child and servant, content in every situation because he believes that he is exactly where God intended him to be. This understanding allowed Paul to remain steadfast and even joyful in the face of physical confinement, showcasing his deep faith in God's control over his life.

Q: How do we know God has a purpose in our suffering?

Romans 8:28 teaches that God works all things for the good of those who love Him, including suffering. Suffering is a significant theme in Paul's writings, as he often speaks of enduring hardships for the sake of others. Paul emphasizes that his own trials are purposeful, meant to further the Gospel and for the edification of the church, as seen in Ephesians 3:13. God's purpose in suffering is a central tenet of reformed theology, derived from the belief that nothing in the life of a believer occurs outside of God's will. This reflects the understanding that even trials serve a divine purpose, whether it is to strengthen faith, develop character, or result in the spread of grace to others through shared experiences of suffering.

Q: Why is understanding the mystery of the Gospel important for Christians?

The mystery of the Gospel reveals Christ's grace and our inclusion in God's plans, enriching our faith. In Ephesians 3:3-6, Paul discusses the mystery of the Gospel, which was not widely known before his revelation. This 'mystery' includes the profound truth that Gentiles are fellow heirs with the Jews through Christ. Understanding this mystery is crucial for Christians as it deepens our comprehension of God's salvific plan and the unsearchable riches of Christ. It highlights that all believers, regardless of background, are invited into a relationship with God. Through the revelation of this mystery, believers gain insight into the breadth and depth of God's love, which can transform lives and unify the body of Christ.

Q: How does divine revelation help us understand the Gospel?

Divine revelation is essential for grasping the depths of the Gospel, as it requires spiritual discernment. As illustrated in Galatians 1:15-16 and 1 Corinthians 2, it is by revelation that God reveals the depth of Christ to us. This divine revelation is necessary because the natural mind cannot comprehend spiritual truths; they are discerned through the Spirit. Believers are reliant on God's initiative in revealing the Gospel's truths, as shown in Paul's own transformation from a legalist to a proclaimer of God's grace. This reliance highlights the necessity of God’s Holy Spirit in providing understanding and insight, enabling us to appreciate the grace and the mystery of Christ deeply and relationally.

Q: What is the significance of being a prisoner of Christ?

Being a prisoner of Christ signifies profound commitment and submission to God's will, rendering earthly circumstances secondary. Paul's self-identification as a prisoner of Christ in Ephesians 3:1 is significant for several reasons. It emphasizes his total commitment to the mission God has given him, even in the face of imprisonment and suffering. It expresses a profound understanding that his life, including his circumstances, is centered around Christ's purpose. This notion encourages believers to view their own trials through the lens of divine sovereignty, recognizing that where they are, and what they endure, is part of God’s ultimate plan. Thus, Paul exemplifies how true freedom exists not in physical circumstances but in submission to Christ's Lordship.

preached there for two years,
two full years. He preached in Ephesus. Now when
he wrote this epistle, Paul was a prisoner in Rome. He preached to these people.
He had many friends, brothers and sisters in the church at
Ephesus, and he loved them. And now he writes to them under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit from prison. And in verse 1 of
chapter 3, he says, For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of
Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. He calls himself the prisoner
of Jesus Christ. Look across the page at chapter
4, verse 1. Again he says, I therefore the
prisoner of the Lord. Here Paul sits in jail for preaching
the gospel. The Jews had risen up against
him and they had talked the Romans into putting him in prison and
yet he doesn't call himself the prisoner of the Jews. nor the
prisoner of the Romans, nor the prisoner of Nero, the emperor. He calls himself the prisoner
of the Lord. And when he wrote to Timothy
in 2 Timothy 1, he says, don't be ashamed, Timothy, don't be
ashamed of the gospel, the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner. Now, isn't that unusual? Never,
never calling himself the prisoner of the Romans, though they had
imprisoned him. Never calling himself the prisoner
of the high priests and the Pharisees, though their influence had him
put in prison, but he calls himself the prisoner of the Lord. Now,
Paul had learned something which all of us need to learn. I wish
I could learn it. He learned something that made
him content wherever he was, that had made him content with
whatever he had. Paul was, I'm sure those prisons back then
were not like this one out here, the blue collar or the white
collar prison. He was in a dungeon, and yet
he was content. He said, I know how to be abased,
and I know how to abound. Nevertheless, I have learned
in whatsoever state I am, whether in prison or in a palace, whether
in poverty or in plenty, I have learned to be content. And he
calls himself, here in prison, the Lord's prisoner, the Lord's
prisoner. understood something about this
when he wrote, content, I'm content with beholding his face. My awe
to his pleasure resigned, his pleasure. No changes of season
or place would make any change in my mind. While I'm blessed
with a sense of his love, a palace a toy would appear, and prison
would palace his proof if Jesus would dwell with me there. What
had Paul learned? He's out of his pulpit, he's
away from his friends, he's in prison, and yet he doesn't say,
they put me here wrongfully. He doesn't say, the Romans have
put me here, Jews have put me here. He said, my Lord put me
here. I'm his prisoner. Well, here's
what he had learned. He had learned this, that he
was God's child and he was God's servant. So wherever he was,
that's where the Lord wanted him and intended him to be. Isn't
that something? Even present. Well, I'm his child. and I'm his servant, so where
I am must be where he wants me, even in prison. And where I am
must be where he intends me to be. So, he writes to this church
and he says, the Lord has me down here in prison. Not the
Romans that put me in prison, the Lord's put me down here in
prison. Another thing I think he learned is Whatever he had
was what God was pleased to give him. Years ago, Brother Bill Clark
was over here traveling around preaching, and Bill and Evelyn,
as well as Walter and Betty, and some of our other missionaries
have known some hard, hard times. I know when the Groovers first
went to Mexico They lived quite poorly. They didn't have enough
support. In fact, Betty lost so much weight
she nearly died. She weighed about 90 pounds at
one time. They sat on boxes and slept in
hammocks. And Brother Clark knew something
about those slim, sacrificial times. And he was over here and
some young preacher had told someone in Bill's presence that
he was going to get out of the ministry and go do something
else because he wasn't making enough money. And I saw the look
on Bill's face, and he looked at the young man and said, you
can't live on what God supplies you with? And this is what Paul is saying
here. Where I am, he put me there. And what I have, that's what
he sent my way. And that's what I'll use to make
do. And I think another thing he
learned is this. That no one could touch him.
No one could touch him. He's God's child and God's servant.
And no one could touch him. And this applies to you and me
also. We're God's children. No one
could touch him. No one could imprison him. And
no one could harm him unless the Lord ordained it. And he
was content. So he was in prison by the Lord's
will. Therefore, he said, I'm the prisoner
of the Lord. But he adds something to that.
For this cause, I appall the prisoner of Jesus Christ for
you Gentiles. He says, it's for your sake that
I'm in prison, being the apostle to the Gentiles. He was the apostle
to the Gentiles. He was the one the Lord designated
to take the gospel to the Gentiles. So Paul just took for granted
that if he was in prison, that's where the Lord wanted the apostle
to the Gentiles to be, and that it would work out for their good.
Whatever happened to him was for their sake. So that's the
reason he said, I'm here for your sake. Verse 2, he said,
Now if you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of
God which was given me to you, to you, or for your sake. I'm a prisoner of Jesus Christ
for the sake of you Gentiles, for you have heard of the dispensation."
The word dispensation simply means administration, or ministry,
or assignment. You have heard, he said, of the
ministry God gave me. You have heard of the assignment. God has assigned me and God has
given me a ministry and a work to perform. And it's for you
Gentiles. Take a moment and turn to Acts
9, verse 15. Here's what they had heard, what
everybody else had heard. When the Lord met Paul on the
road to Damascus, revealing Seth to him, and sent him down there
to a street called Straight to wait for his messenger. Then
the Lord appeared in Acts 9 verse 12 to a man called Ananias. You
see Acts 9, 12? And he had seen in a vision a
man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that
he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord,
I've heard by many of this man's solitarsis, how much evil he
hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem, and here he hath authority from
the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the
Lord said to Ananias, Now you go your way. He told Ananias
to go down here and preach to this Saul of Tarsus. You go your
way, for he, Saul, is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name
before the Gentiles, and kings and the children of Israel. And
this is what Paul is saying here in Ephesians 3, verse 2. You've
heard about this. I'm sure that the churches everywhere
have heard about this. Saul of Tarsus was a famous,
famous man. And they knew about him. They
knew of his hatred for Christ and the gospel and the church.
And they'd heard about him, so they knew that his assignment
and his stewardship and his administration and ministry was to the Gentiles. Now then, God's given us, 13th
Street Baptist Church, God's given us a dispensation. It may
have some more years, it may be soon over, I don't know. But
He's given us a dispensation also. He's given us an assignment.
He's given us a task. He's given us a ministry. Let's
be faithful to it. We have responsibilities. that
God's assigned to us. That's what Paul said, He gave
me this assignment. And you've heard about it. Now
in verse 3 through 5, and there are two words here I want you
to, they'll stand out when you read them. Verse 3 through 5,
Habit by Revelation. That is the first one, Revelation.
He made known unto me the mystery. There's the other word, mystery.
as I wrote afore in few words, whereby when you read, you may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ. The mystery
of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons
of men, as it is now revealed." In other words, Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob and Joseph and David, and bless these great men still. They didn't have the revelation
that the apostles and even that we have by the Spirit of God.
So he said this mystery, let's take those two words, revelation
and mystery, let's take mystery first. He uses, look at verse
9, Ephesians 3, 9. And to make all men see what
is the fellowship of the mystery. Now I know that preachers today
talk about the simple gospel. And I'll tell you, there's a
sense in which it is simple once you know it. But the way they're referring
to it, it's not simple. It's a mystery. When a person
knows something and understands it, it's simple. It's like some
of you here. I know Becca May and two or three
others, and Sonya Lewis and the others are experts on computers. They teach computers and they
just, to them it's simple, to me it's total mystery. I don't know, and so you don't
know the first thing about computers, not the first thing. It's a total
mystery to me. So when they're working on a
computer and getting all this data and typing things in and
it comes out, I stand there and look at it and they say it's
simple. To you it is, to me it's not. You understand? And that's the way the gospel
is. Christ our mercy seat, Christ
the God-man, Christ born of the virgin, Christ living for our
righteousness, dying for our sins, bearing rose again, Christ
enabling God to be just and justified. There was a time when I didn't
know any of that. And it was a total mystery. But now, yes,
yes, it's a simply look to Christ. But you know, I was out in Oregon.
There was a couple came through here from Oregon several years
ago. They came through Ashland, stopped at our home and had dinner
with us. And he asked me, he said, would you come to Oregon
and preach? I said, well, yes. I said, where?
He said, well, there's no church there. Where I live, Medford,
Central Point, that area, Ashland, around that area in Oregon. He
said, what I had in mind was renting a hall, a public hall
and having you preach and advertising you'd be there and telling what
you preach and who you are. I said, some people around there
have heard your tape. Well, I said, yes, I'd be glad to come. Well,
I went out there and he had advertised that meeting
and he had notified people in California and all over Oregon
and other places. They came together and there
was about 60 to 75 people every night for me to preach to them. And there were six or seven preachers
came. There were three preachers from California. One preacher
came up and rented a motel room and stayed the whole time. And
then there were two local preachers who came to the services. And
God blessed in that meeting. asked me to meet with them and
talk about this gospel. And one of those preachers, Brother
Gene Harmon from down in California, said, go for a ride with me,
I want to talk to you. So we went for a ride and he
said, if I had a Sovereign Grace Bible Conference, would you come
out and preach in it? I said, I'd be glad to. And we've
been going out there for five years now, California. And so
the people were saying, And they asked one pastor there if we
could use his baptistry. So I baptized two or three people
down the local church right down the street. And then they asked
me if I wanted to preach in another church over here in Central City.
So Sunday morning I went over there and preached. Both these
pastors, the one pastor of the church where I baptized, came
to me and he said, I've been a preacher for a good while. But I'm just now learning the
gospel." He said, I've heard the gospel this week for the
first time. The Lord saved me. He's revealed the gospel to me.
The pastor up at Central Point, Norman Wells, told me the same
thing. He got up and announced to his church the next Sunday,
he said, you've had a lost preacher in this pulpit ever since I've
been here. He said, I didn't know the gospel.
The Lord saved me. I know the gospel now. They fired
him. Both of them, they fired both
of them. They didn't know how to handle a saint preacher. You say, what on earth? Well,
this young, this man, Brother Wells told me, he said, I remember
back when I was in Bible school, he said, I knew something was
wrong, I knew that I had a head knowledge of Bible facts, and
I was a Baptist preacher, but he said, I went to two or three
of the professors there and told them something was wrong in here,
and they said, now you just get busy for Jesus. And he said,
I got busy. I got busier and busier and busier.
And the more I spun my wheels, the more I realized something
was empty. And you came along and told me about Christ. And
he said, that's what I missed. So, mystery. Let me show you
that. Turn to Ephesians 6.19. It says
this in Ephesians 6.19, Paul says, And for me, pray for me. pray for me that utterance may
be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make
known," what? The mystery of the gospel. The mystery. Look, if you will,
at 1 Timothy chapter 3, here it is again. You never notice
this, it's all the way through the word in 1 Timothy 3.16, and
without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God
was manifest in the flesh. justified in the spirit, seen
of the angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the
world, received up in the glory. This is a mystery. I'll just
quote these others. He said, I speak to you concerning
the mystery of Christ and the church. He said in 1 Corinthians
15, I'll show you a mystery. We're not all asleep, but we'll
all be changed. All the way through this word,
it talks about the mystery. Well, how does a fellow learn
this mystery? Verse 3, how that by revelation
he made known unto me the mystery. That's how a fellow learns it.
Holy Spirit revelation, divine revelation. Let me show you that. Turn back to Galatians 1. Here's
Paul said this in Galatians 1 verse 15. Galatians 1 verse 15, But
when it pleased God, But when it pleased God, who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace to reveal
His Son in me, it pleased God to reveal His Son in me. Paul
was over 40 years old when God revealed His Son in him. Paul was chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world. That's what I showed you this
morning. He was redeemed by Christ. Well, he didn't know the gospel.
He was an ardent religionist. He was a devout moralist. He
was a strong legalist. He was a student of the scriptures.
He was a defender of the Jewish faith. But God had to reveal
Christ to him. Some of you have had that experience.
You were in churches for years and you had the mechanics of
religion Probably the theology of whatever denomination you
were associated with, but didn't know Christ. Tom here was raised
in Mormonism, deacon, priest in the Mormon church, sincere. You read the books of Mormon
and sang, but one day God revealed Christ to you. Richard here was
a Baptist and then a Methodist, God revealed Christ. Fifty years
old, God revealed Christ to you. Jim, you gave that same testimony. One day you met the Lord. But
you pastored a church for a long time. And I could go through
this congregation and point out people who were Gerald, you,
Ed, in religion all your lives. But one day, the mystery became
an experience then. You saw him, a person. That's
what I'm talking about. Look at 1 Corinthians 2. See
if this doesn't help us a little bit. 1 Corinthians chapter 2.
You see, Paul wrote to young Timothy and he said, from a child
thou hast known the holy scriptures that are able to make thee wise
unto salvation. You can get all the facts. But God has to apply those facts
to the heart. He has to reveal it. Give us
eyes to see and ears to hear, hearts to understand, and wills,
like Charlie prayed while ago, the will to walk in his revealed
Word. 1 Corinthians 2, listen, verse
9. It is written, and this is not
talking about heaven, this is talking about salvation, it's
talking about redemption. It is written, I have not seen,
nor heard, nor have it neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God has prepared for them that love him."
What has God prepared for them that love him? Access to the
throne of grace, acceptance in the beloved, redemption by his
blood, forgiveness of sin, sanctified by his life. But, verse 10, God
hath revealed them unto us, revelation, by his Spirit. For the Spirit
searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God, the mysteries
of God. For what man knoweth the things
of a man, save the spirit of man, which is in him? You don't
know what's going on in the heart of the fellow sitting next to
you. There's no way for you to know. He knows, but you don't
know. Well, how can you know? He can reveal it to you. He can
tell you. That's right. Even so, the things
of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God knows. Now, we
have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit
which is of God, that we may know the things that are freely
given to us through Christ our God, which things also we speak. This is what we are preaching.
Not in words which man's wisdom teaches. The carnal man is not
going to understand this. but words which the Holy Ghost
teacheth, and comparing spiritual things with spiritual things.
But the natural man, he doesn't receive the things of the Lord,
the Spirit of God. They're foolishness to him. Neither
can he know them. They're spiritually discerned,
spiritually understood. But he that's spiritual, he that
has eyes to see and ears to hear, and that spiritual life I was
telling you about this morning, the man that's spiritual, he
understands all things. That's what the word judges means.
He discerneth and understandeth all these things, yet he himself
is understood of nobody. People don't understand him.
But he understands the things of God. And that's what Paul
is saying there. He said, God by revelation made
known to me the mystery of his grace. The mystery of his grace. Now verse 6. And here is one
of those mysteries. See this seraphim, the mystery
of the gospel. mystery of Christ in the church,
the mystery of the resurrection, several of the mysteries he talks
about, and here's another one. You know, it's a mystery that
God should become a man. What an awesome mystery. It's
a mystery that the God-man should die. It's a mystery that Christ
and men can be one, like husband and wife, one flesh, one It's
a mystery that Christ should dwell in us. It's a mystery that
our bodies should rise. But he said, do you want to hear
a mystery? Look at verse 6. The mystery that you Gentiles
should be fellow heirs of Christ and of the same body and partakers
of his promise in Christ for the gospel. Now that is a mystery.
That an old warthog like you and me that an old dunghill dweller
like you and me should be a fellow heir and a joint heir with Jesus
Christ. Now that's a mystery. You figure
that one out. I read one time where John Newton,
some of you fellows read these fellows, John Newton, William
J. I like to read something about those old timers. But John Newton was sitting at
his desk one day and William J. came into his into his church,
into his study. And William J. was one of the
well-known preachers too, but he was real excited. And he said,
Brother Newton, he said, have you heard that the Lord has saved
Mr. so-and-so, I forget the man's
name, of Bath County. He was a real renegade. And William
J. was so excited that the Lord
had been pleased to reveal himself to that fellow. And he didn't
stop there. He said, Brother Newton, he said,
I'll just tell you, since the Lord saved that man, I'll never
despair of anybody else. And John Newton, he's one of
my favorite writers, he looked at his friend William Jay and
he said, Brother Jay, and he meant this. He said, since the
Lord saved me, I never have despaired of anyone else. He felt he was the world's greatest
sinner. And this is what Paul is saying
here. It's a mystery. You talk about simple gospel.
It's a mystery that God should become a man. That's a mystery. 100% God, 100% man. And that he should
die. And that we should be, we, us
Gentiles, should be a part of his kingdom. What a mystery.
And partakers of his promise in Christ. How? By the gospel. Now then, I wouldn't pick on
anybody that I'll tell you all the way through this thing, Paul
is sounding this note, a man's not going to be saved without
hearing the gospel. That's perfectly clear, what
we've talked about today, Bob. A man's got to hear the gospel.
He's got to believe the gospel. Paul keeps saying that. I'm an
apostle to your Gentiles. And he said, it's a mystery.
God has made known to me by revelation that you're going to be a partaker
of God's promise by the gospel. You're going to hear the gospel.
You're going to believe that gospel. Verse 7, God made me
a minister of the gospel for you Gentiles. He said on another
occasion, I'm in prison, but the word of God is not bound.
But he said what I'm enduring, I'm enduring for the sake of
God's elect, that they may hear the gospel. In whom you trusted
after you heard the gospel. How shall they call on him in
whom they've not believed? How are they going to believe
in him of whom they've not heard? How are they going to hear without
a preacher? And God made me a minister, listen,
He made me a minister according to the gift of the grace of God
given me by the effectual working of His power. I read in the paper
yesterday about somebody that's going to be an interim pastor
of a church here in our area. And he's told where he got his
B.A., and where he got his M.A., and where he got his Ph.D., and
where he got this, and how many places he had taught, and all
these things. That doesn't make a man a minister. God makes a man a minister, and
God may use a man's natural personality. He may use a man's natural ability. He may use a man's acquired education. But if he's going to preach the
gospel and handle the things of God, he's going to have to
have divine gifts. Divine gifts. He made me a minister according
to the gift of the grace of God given unto me. Now watch. But
he says, I tell you who he did this for. He did this for the
fellow unto me who am less than the least of all the saints.
You talk about unworthy to be an apostle. Paul said, I'm unworthy
to be a preacher. I'm less. You pick out the least
saint, and I'm less. And that's the one to whom this
grace is given to preach the gospel. that I should preach among the
Gentiles the unsearchable, unexplainable riches of Christ, mystery. And verse 9, and through my ministry
to make all men, not every human being, but all of his elect,
see, to help them see through the preaching of the gospel what
is the fellowship of the which from the beginning of the world
hath been hid. If it's so simple and so obvious,
what's it mean by hid? If our gospel be hid, hid, hid,
hid to them that are lost, where is it hid? I'll show you over
here in Colossians, if I can find it. Colossians chapter 2. I'll show you where it's hid.
Right here in Colossians 2. chapter 2 of Colossians, verse
2, that their hearts, you with me, might be comforted, being
knit together in love, unto all riches of the full assurance
of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of
the Father, and of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge." in Christ. That's the reason we
preach Christ. That's the reason these fellows
I talked about in the study, no matter who stands up here,
Todd last Sunday, Tom last Wednesday, John, Bob, and all the rest of
them that preach here, they'll always bless you. You know why?
Because they preach Christ. Always. If you preach Christ,
you're going to preach the mystery of the gospel. Look at verse
9. For in Him, in Christ, dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. You're complete in Him. Oh, that's where it is. And to
make, back in our text, Ephesians 3 and verse 9, to make, this
is what God sent me to do. to make 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." Now, watch
this verse. Boy, this is something. "...to
the intent, or for the purpose, that now, unto the principalities
and powers in heavenly places, might be made, might be known
by the church, the manifold wisdom of God." What in the world is
he saying? Well, I think I know. The angels desire to look into
these things. The angels up there have never
fallen. The cherubims and seraphims have never fallen. They don't
know anything about sin. And God makes known to those
principalities and powers and angels and heavenly hosts His
many-sided wisdom and grace and love to sinners through the church. In other words, those heavenly
hosts look at the church of the Lord Jesus Christ and see how
God has chosen us and sought us and found us and bought us
and redeemed us and made it so that he's just and justifier.
And that's the only way they can understand redemption, is
looking at us. They can't understand looking
at themselves, they can understand looking at the church, and that's
what he's saying. The eternal purpose of God, which
he purposed in Christ, is by the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ, made manifest to the angels. Verse 11, according to
the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our
Lord. And look at verse 12, in Christ we have boldness. Gentiles,
aliens, strangers, we have boldness and access with confidence. Access to what? With boldness
come to the throne of grace. Access into this grace and into
his presence with confidence by the faith of him. Not by your
faith, by his faith. by the faith of Christ. Wherefore,
I desire," now listen to this, here you are sitting down in
jail and all of them up there at Ephesus feeling sorry for
him and he says, now, don't you, don't you faint, I desire that
you faint not at my tribulations, my trials, don't, you know, don't
be discouraged because of my trials or yours either, because
they are ordained of God. for your good and his glory.
That's right. I desire that you don't not be
discouraged and faint not at my tribulations. God put me here
and I'm here for a purpose and I'm suffering what I suffer for
the good of those to whom I preach. You had a young man standing
in this pulpit last Sunday whom I love very much and a young
man who has suffered I guess the last three years, as much
as anybody I've known has suffered. He really, Todd, has suffered.
And I can't, I don't understand the good providence of God. But
this I know. He's God. God has his hand on
that young man. And God, this is what Paul is
saying. Paul's sitting down in prison. He says, I've been beaten
with rods. I have been scourged. I have
been shipwrecked. I have been stoned. I've been
put in prison. But now don't you be discouraged
at my trials, and my troubles, and don't faint, and don't murmur
against God, and don't find fault with His providence, because
all of this, some way, is for the good of those to whom I preach,
and for the glory of God. I don't know why, I don't know
how, but I do know that, he said, so don't you be discouraged.
And this young man stood here, what he has gone through, is for the sake of those to whom
he will preach the gospel. That's right. God is honing and
developing his instrument and his vessel. Isn't that right,
Tom? That's what Paul is saying right here in that verse. I desire
that you faint not at my tribulation. Because, like I said, I'm his
prisoner. I'm where I am because he put
me there. Not a germ can enter my body
without the permission of my Father. Now, nobody can touch
me without His permission. So where I am, He put me, what
He made me, what He gave me, where He sent me. And don't you
faint at it. I know that's hard, but that's
so. That's what it says. I don't always understand it,
but I do believe it. He put me where I am. And it's for your
glory, which is your glory, And for
this cause, look at verse 14, for this cause, what's the cause? The grace of God to us? The grace
of God in us? For this cause, look at chapter
3, verse 1. How do you start this chapter?
For this cause. And down here in verse 14, for
this cause. What is this cause? His grace
to us in Christ, the awesome responsibility of preaching the
gospel, the privilege of access to the throne, the salvation
of his elect. 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. And I pray, here's some things
he prayed, that he would grant you, according to the riches
of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
inner man. I wish we'd quit praying so much
for our flesh and go to praying for our spirits. Notice how Paul
prays for the church, how he prays for people. About all the
prayer meetings we have for something fleshly. But now listen to the
things he has. He wants us to be strengthened
with might by his Spirit in the inner man, verse 17. He says,
secondly, I want Christ to dwell in your heart by faith. Thirdly, that you being rooted
and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and length and depth and height of the love
of Christ. Well, that's a prayer for a fellow,
isn't it? I want you to be strengthened
inside so you can stand and having done all to stand. I want Christ
to be formed in you and to dwell in you by faith. And I want you
to have some understanding of the breadth and the height and
the depth and the length of his love. Because it's a love of
which passes knowledge. And I want you to be filled with
the fullness of God. I want you to be filled with the
fullness of God. And then he launches out into
this great benediction. Having said all that, under him
that's able. And that's the basis of Abraham's
faith. He believed God was able to do
all that he promised. That's the basis of Paul's faith.
He said, I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded he's able.
He's able. I'm not able, but he's able.
And so under him that's able, what's this? To do exceeding,
abundantly, above everything you can ask. And not only that, but everything
you can even think, that you can even imagine about
glory, and heaven, and joy, and peace, and rest, and happiness. He's able to do abundantly above,
exceeding abundantly above, everything you can even ask, you can't ask
God. You can't even, it won't even
ever enter your mind, the things According to the power, he's
able to do that according to the power that worketh in us.
So unto him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout all
ages, world without end. And that merits a hearty amen. All right. Mike, come lead us
in a song.

The Prisoner of Christ

What does the Bible say about Paul's imprisonment?

How do we know God has a purpose in our suffering?

Why is understanding the mystery of the Gospel important for Christians?

How does divine revelation help us understand the Gospel?

What is the significance of being a prisoner of Christ?

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The Prisoner of Christ

What does the Bible say about Paul's imprisonment?

How do we know God has a purpose in our suffering?

Why is understanding the mystery of the Gospel important for Christians?

How does divine revelation help us understand the Gospel?

What is the significance of being a prisoner of Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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