For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles... Sermons
I. HE WAS A MOST CELEBRATED PRISONER. Perhaps he was regarded as of no great account by his Roman jailors, who could have known nothing of the secret of his greatness; but viewed in the light of Christian history, Paul is the most distinguished of men. He did more than any other apostle to shape the theology of Western Christendom, which, in its turn, has left the deepest imprint on the civilization of the world. The world would not be today what it is if Paul of Tarsus had not lived. His influence has long survived the empire of Rome, which held him captive. We sympathize with the prison-sorrows of the great. Alas! that the best of men, "of whom the world was not worthy," have spent so many weary days and years in prison! II. HE WAS NOT A PRISONER FOR CRIME OR FOR THE BREACH OF THE ROMAN LAWS, BUT AS THE EFFECT OF THE UNSLEEPING HATRED OF THE JEWS. It was his ministry to the Gentiles which brought down upon him the vindictive anger of his countrymen, and led them to accuse him before the Roman magistrates. The suspicion that he had taken Trophimus, an Ephesian, into the temple at Jerusalem had, indeed, an immediate connection with his first arrest. "He was at once Christ's prisoner, the Jews' prisoner, the Romans' prisoner, the Gentiles' prisoner: Christ's prisoner, as suffering for his gospel; the Jews' prisoner, as suffering by their accusation; the Romans' prisoner, as suffering by their sentence; the Gentiles' prisoner, as suffering for his labor's unto their salvation." His imprisonment was thus a higher honor than his rapture into the third Heavens. III. HIS IMPRISONMENT HAD ITS PROVIDENTIAL ADVANTAGES. Just as John Huss had leisure during his imprisonment in the fortress on the Rhine to write words that fired the hearts of his countrymen ages after his martyrdom at Constance, and as Martin Luther's one year's imprisonment in the Wartburg enabled him to give the Scriptures to Germany in the tongue of the people, so the Apostle Paul was enabled in the leisure of his Roman imprisonment to throw off those beautiful Epistles of the captivity - to the Philippians, to the Ephesians, to the Colossians, to Philemon - which have s, largely contributed to the edification and comfort of the Church. He still held the threads of a hundred interests in his hands, and felt in his prison at Rome the throbbing of thousands of Christian hearts in all parts of Asia and Europe. IV. PRISON-LIFE IS ALMOST NECESSARILY SAD, BECAUSE OF ITS ISOLATION FROM HUMAN RELATIONS, ITS SOLITUDE, ITS SUSPENSION OF ACTIVE AND ACCUSTOMED LABOR, AND ITS USUALLY HARD CONDITIONS. It must have been a sore trial to the apostle to submit to an enforced inactivity, while the world was everywhere, in so sad a sense, "ripe for the harvest." It would seem as if, at a certain point, the sympathy of Asiatic Christians failed him (2 Timothy 1:15); and there was an unaccountable indifference to his wants marking the relations of the Roman Christians themselves, which argued that much was not to be expected from their affection. So his prison-experience must have had its dark moments. V. MARK THE SPIRIT IN WHICH THE APOSTLE LIVED THROUGH THIS PRISON-EXPERIENCE. The solitude of such a life often breeds a morbid spirit, which throws a darker coloring into the thoughts of the prisoner. Yet the Epistles of the captivity breathe a beautiful spirit of Christian courage and resignation, not to speak of absolute rejoicing. Compare the letters of the apostle with those of Cicero, Seneca, and Ovid in their exile, and we see at a glance the different effects of Christianity and paganism upon the happiness of man. As the prisoner of Jesus Christ, he abounded in the consolations of his Divine Master, while he must have been greatly encouraged by the visits of disciples like Epaphroditus, Epaphras, and others, who carried to him the prayers and benefactions of the Churches. VI. WE OUGHT TO REMEMBER PRISONERS IN OUR PRAYERS, AS "BOUND WITH THEM." Most prisoners in our day are in jail for crime, but we ought to remember that they are men, that they are our brothers, that they must feel their separation from wife and children and home as keenly as we should. Perhaps, but for restraining grace, we should have been in their position. But we are bound specially to remember in our prayers those suffering for the cause of Christ, and especially those occupied with great service for the Lord. - T.C.
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. If not wholly singular, there is something very characteristic, in this view which the Apostle of the Gentiles took of his vocation. So strong a hold had it taken of his imagination and feelings that he may be said positively to have revelled in it. It is alluded to again and again in his Epistles (Romans 1:5; Romans 11:13; 1 Corinthians 3:5, 10; Galatians 1:15, 16; Colossians 1:25; and Ephesians 4:7). How did it come about that this aspect of his work should have so impressed him?I. IT ORIGINATED IN THE REVELATION OF A DIVINE MYSTERY (vers. 3, 4). At Christ's appearance to him when he was on his way to Damascus, he had been told that he was to preach to the heathen (Acts 26:17, 18). As to how far "revelation" of the calling of the Gentiles was absolutely required we can never fully know. Prophets had foretold the universal enjoyment of the Messianic blessing and the universal sway of the Messiah. Christ Himself frequently enough disclosed the wider horizon that stretched before His vision (Matthew 8:11; Matthew 25:31-34; Matthew 28:20; John 12:32; John 4:21, 24). But we know that the Jewish prejudices of the apostles were but slowly overcome. Peter required a vision to remove his (Acts 10:28). And there can be no doubt that such a mind as Paul's, with its antecedents of exclusiveness and caste, could only have received an adequate sense of the pressing needs of the Gentile world and of his own obligation with respect to these in some such special way. Revelation as a proof of Divine condescension to human infirmity would in this ease remove the temptation natural illuminati in all ages have felt to consider themselves of a "finer clay" than others. II. HE FELT IT TO BE A GREAT PRIVILEGE TO BE ENGAGED IN IT (vers. 8, 9). His glowing language about "the unsearchable wealth of Christ" shows how exalted was his enthusiasm. He speaks of it as a dignified responsibility — a Divine "economy" or "dispensation." And he was ever conscious of the spiritual possibilities of his work among the millions of Europe and Asia through the ages that were to follow. A vocation such as this could not but awaken emotions at once exalting and humbling to a generous, high. strung nature. It was a grace to be the minister of such a grace. III. IT CALLED FORTH WITHIN HIM A LARGER SENSE OF SPIRITUAL LIFE AND POWER (ver. 7; cf. Colossians 1:29; Ephesians 1:19; Ephesians 3:20). God was consciously working through him, with a force, a directness, and a constancy never felt before. He could say, "I can do all things in Him that strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13). And in all his allusions to this experience he is careful to distinguish the Divine from the human. IV. HIS PREVIOUS CONDUCT HAD GIVEN HIM NO CLAIM TO SUCH AN HONOUR (ver. 8; cf. 1 Corinthians 15:9; 1 Timothy 1:12-16). His language has seemed exaggerated to many, but it is the honest and natural outcome of a profound sense of his past wrong-doing, against which the mercy of Christ stood out in such emphatic relief. The heart knows best its own depravity, and the depths from which it has been rescued. (A. F. Muir, M. A.) (J. Pulsford.) 1. The pains of ministers with and for the Lord's people are so far from being at an end when people are brought to Christ and built upon Him by faith, that even their being brought this length doth lay a new tie upon their ministers, both to deal with God on their behalf, and to labour with themselves so much the more earnestly, that, not only they do not lose those things which are already wrought (2 John 8), but also they may make progress answerable unto their fair beginnings; lest otherwise they mar their own comfort (Psalm 51:12), make the name of God to be evil spoken of (2 Samuel 12:14).2. Such powerful influence hath God upon hearts, that He can make those who for the time are cruel persecutors of truth, prove afterwards famous martyrs and sufferers for it; for Paul was once a bloody persecutor (Galatians 1:13), but is now a famous sufferer. 3. Sufferings for Christ and truth are so far from being cause of just reproach to those who suffer from others, or from being matter of shame and blushing to themselves, that they are rather a glory unto them, yea, and sometimes will be gloried in by them, as that wherein their chiefest honour standeth; for Paul, after the example of kings and nobles, who design themselves by their most honourable styles, doth in place of all take this one, of a prisoner for truth, unto himself; "I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ." 4. So far ought people to be from stumbling at truth, because of the oppressed and suffering lot of those who preach it, that even their sufferings for truth should make their pains the more acceptable, and add a weight unto the word of truth in their mouth; for Paul describeth himself from his present suffering lot, that both his person and pains might have the more weight and efficacy with them; "I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ." 5. The Lord doth sometimes give so far way to the rage of persecutors, as that the choicest instruments for carrying on His work may be, for a season, restrained in their liberty, and so laid aside as useless, even in a time when there is greatest need of their pains and diligence; far Paul, an eminent instrument (1 Corinthians 15:10), was at such a time cast in prison; "I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ." 6. No afflictions or sufferings do loose a pastor from his duty towards the Lord's people, over whom he is set; but when he is restrained in his liberty from preaching to them, he ought even then endeavour their edification by writing to them, and praying for them. (J. Fergusson.) 1. The effectual working of the gospel procures persecution to the ministers of it. The devil cannot endure with patience to see himself dispossessed and dislodged out of the hearts in which he has rested, and therefore spits his venom against them. This is the true reason, though other things are often pretended.2. God can make the persecutors of His gospel become martyrs for it (Galatians 1:13-23). (1) (2) 3. God's faithful servants are subject to persecution. (1) (2) (3) 4. We must not be ashamed of our sufferings for Christ, but rather rejoice in them. Soldiers will tell of the wounds, the shot, and all hard measure they have suffered from the hand of the enemy under their colours; so must we esteem it our chief honour, when God allows us to suffer anything for His sake. 5. The sufferings of faithful ministers benefit their people. As the captain's resolution rescues the whole army from discomfiture, so it sometimes happens that the ministers' casting themselves upon the pikes, is the security of the people depending on them. (1) (2) (3) (4) (Paul Bayne.) A certain amount of persecution rouses a man's defiance, stirs his blood for magnificent battle, and makes him fifty times more a man than he would have been without the persecution. So it was with the great reformer when he said, "I will not be put down; I will be heard." And so it was with Millard, the preacher, in the time of Louis XI. When Louis XI sent word to him that unless he stopped preaching in that style he would throw him into the river, he replied, "Tell the king that I will reach heaven sooner by water than he will reach it by fast horses."(Dr. Talmage.) I have somewhere read the following incident in the life of a distinguished botanist. Being exiled from his native land, he obtained employment as an under gardener in the service of a nobleman. While he was in this situation, his master received a valuable plant, the nature and habits of which were unknown to him. It was given to the gardener to be taken care of, and he, fancying it to be a tropical production, put it into the hothouse (for it was winter), and dealt with it as with the others under the glass. But it began to decay,...when the strange under gardener asked permission to examine it. As soon as he looked at it he said, "This is an arctic plant: you are killing it by the tropical heat into which you have introduced it." So he took it outside, and exposed it to the frost, and, to the dismay of the upper gardener, heaped pieces of ice around the flower pot; but the result vindicated his wisdom, for straightway it began to recover, and was soon as strong as ever. Now, such a plant is Christian character. It is not difficulty that is dangerous to it, but ease. Put it into a hothouse, separate it from the world, surround it with luxury, hedge it in from every opposition, and you take the surest means of killing it.(W. M. Taylor, D. D.) Guy de Brez, a French minister, was prisoner in the castle of Tournay. A lady who visited him said she wondered how he could eat, or drink, or sleep in quiet. "Madam," said he, "my chains do not terrify me or break my sleep; on the contrary, I glory and take delight therein, esteeming them at a higher rate than chains and rings of gold, or jewels at any price whatever. The rattling of my chains is like the effect of an instrument of music in my ears — not that such an effect comes merely from my chains, but it is because I am bound therewith for maintaining the truth of the gospel."People Ephesians, PaulPlaces EphesusTopics Behalf, Cause, Christ, Gentiles, Gentiles-, Nations, Paul, Prisoner, Reason, SakeOutline 1. The hidden mystery that the Gentiles should be saved was made known to Paul by revelation;8. and to him was that grace given, that he should preach it. 13. He desires them not to be discouraged over his tribulation; 14. and prays that they may perceive the great love of Christ toward them. Dictionary of Bible Themes Ephesians 3:1 5461 prisoners Library April 15. "Rooted and Grounded in Love" (Eph. Iii. 17). "Rooted and grounded in love" (Eph. iii. 17). There is a very singular shrub, which grows abundantly in the west, and is to be found in all parts of Texas. It is no less than the "mosquito tree." It is a very slim, and willowy looking shrub, and would seem to be of little use for any industrial purposes; but is has extraordinary roots growing like great timbers underground, and possessing such qualities of endurance in all situations that it is used and very highly valued for good pavements. The … Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth August 28. "According to the Power that Worketh in Us" (Eph. Iii. 20). Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity Paul's Care and Prayer for the Church. 'The Whole Family' Strengthened with Might The Indwelling Christ The Paradox of Love's Measure The Climax of all Prayer Love Unknowable and Known Measureless Power and Endless Glory The Christian Church a Family. The Measure of the Cross Past Knowledge. First Day for the Power of the Holy Spirit Strength and Indwelling. The Love of Christ. The Holy Spirit Forming Christ Within Us. "Love that Passeth Knowledge. " Another Archbishop His Dwelling-Place The Apology of Rufinus. 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