In this enlightening episode, join Pastor Skip Heitzig as he delves into the complexities of Paul’s life and mission. Discover how the Apostle Paul’s journey from a persecutor of Christians to a pivotal figure in spreading the Gospel unveils the profound mystery granted to him by God, specifically the inclusion of Gentiles as equal heirs. Explore how Paul’s unwavering faith in divine providence and his role as a prisoner for Christ offers hope and understanding even in the most challenging circumstances.
00:00:01 Introduction to Connect with Skip Heitzig
Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We’re so glad you’ve tuned in today. At Connect with Skip, we’re passionate about helping you grow in your relationship with Jesus. That’s why we make solid verse-by-verse Bible teaching that’s both clear and practical available to you and others. Every message you hear is designed to strengthen your faith and help you live out God’s truth wherever He’s placed you. And you can stay connected beyond the broadcast when you sign up for Pastor Skip’s free weekly devotional. You’ll receive biblical encouragement, exclusive content and free resources to help you go deeper in God’s Word. It’s all delivered straight to your inbox. Signing up is quick, easy and completely free. And it’s a great way to stay rooted in truth every week. Sign up today at connectwithskip.com. That’s connectwithskip.com. Now, here’s today’s message from Pastor Skip Heitzig.
SPEAKER 01 :
The Roman soldiers in the Antonia Fortress, that large garrison that overlooked the temple, saw what was happening and they rushed down to give Paul protective custody. So they got a hold of Paul and protected him from the Jewish crowd that was going to tear him apart. And Paul said to the captain of the Roman guard, hey, Let me talk to these people. And he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, the Jewish leader. So he is protected by the Romans and by the Roman garrison. He goes up a few steps at the Antonia Fortress and speaks down in that temple area to the crowd that wanted to kill him. And he started telling his testimony. You know, I was on the road to Damascus, and you guys know my background, that I was a Jew, a Pharisee, you all know me. But this is what happened to me on the Damascus road. And God got a hold of my life, and I saw the heavens open, and the Lord spoke to me, and it was Jesus. And he told me to go share the truth of this message, this gospel, this good news, to the Gentiles. Well, they were tracking with Paul through his testimony up until that word, Gentiles. As soon as he mentioned that God had commissioned him, which he had, to go to the Gentiles, you remember what happened? They threw dust in the air. They put it in their hair. They tore their clothes. And they said, away with this man. He’s not fit to live on the earth. They wanted to kill him. I mean, it’s like pouring gas or putting a match into a puddle of gasoline. Just the riot got worse. So they brought him in to the Antonia Fortress, and they were going to beat him to find out what he said that angered the crowd. And Paul said, you’re going to beat a Roman citizen? So he got out of that, but a conspiracy developed to assassinate Paul. Find the right time. A whole bunch of men signed an oath. We’re going to kill the Apostle Paul. Well, Paul found out about this oath that they had taken by his nephew. And so Paul is taken from Jerusalem, based on that information, under heavy security to Caesarea by the sea. where he spends the next two years going through three separate trials before Festus, before Felix, and before King Agrippa. Finally, he knows he’s just getting the runaround. He’s not getting a fair trial, and he, as a Roman citizen, pulls out the citizen card, and he could do this. If you felt like you weren’t getting a fair trial, you could personally appeal to Caesar himself, and you could stand before Caesar and adjudicate your own case. So he finally said, you know what, I’ve had enough of this stuff. These people are lying about me. I appeal to Caesar. So King Herod Agrippa said, you know, this man probably would have gone free, but he appealed to Caesar, to Caesar he will go. So he went on that boat ride in Acts 27, made it all the way to Rome. Now he is in Rome. Why is he in prison? Because he has been commissioned to go to the Gentiles. And as a consequence of obedience to Jesus Christ, he’s in jail. That’s why he says, I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ. Can I encourage you? If you feel you are incarcerated by some circumstance, some person, been married to this gal for 40 years, she’s a ball and chain person. Or I’ve been stuck with this gal my whole life. Man, I feel like I’m just shut up in prison with her. Why not say, I, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, why not see your life as under the sovereign control of God? Nobody’s more powerful than God, than Christ. Or some disease has befallen you. All sorts of things happen to all of us. The best way to view life, good or bad, is this way. It’s the most freeing. That’s why one time Paul, when he’s writing from prison, he goes, I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, although he said the Word of God is not bound, and the Word of God wasn’t bound. He was able to teach people who came to him, preach those who came to speak to him and see him, and write letters. The word of God was inbound. So for this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for you Gentiles, that’s why he is there in prison. If indeed, boy, I’m going slow. If indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which was given to me for you. Now, I know the translation says dispensation. That’s just sort of a big fancy word. You read that, a lot of us go, what is he talking about? It’s a translation of the Greek word oikonomia. We get the word economy from it. And it means stewardship or responsibility or calling. I realize that I have been given a special responsibility, a special stewardship, a special responsibility. dispensation. He’s called me to be an ambassador to non-Jewish people, to tell them that they can be saved. Now remember, Peter, back in Galatians, when Paul wrote that, he said, the church recognized that Peter was especially gifted to bring the gospel to Jewish people. God has given me to be the apostle to the Gentiles. So, if indeed you have heard of this dispensation, this stewardship of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation he made known to me the mystery as I have written briefly. Now, he mentions that mystery back in chapter 2, but I just want to take you to chapter 1, because that’s where he first mentions it. That’s what he’s referring to in the verse I just read. Chapter 1, verse 9. Now he gets back around to that, and he says… how that by revelation he made known to me the mystery as I have briefly, or I’ve already written to you briefly. In other words, I mentioned it back in chapter 1, verse 9. By which, when you read, or when you read, may understand my knowledge. There it is again, mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. Here it is. Here’s the mystery. Here’s the musterion. That the Gentiles… should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister, a servant, according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of his power. Now, in the Old Testament, the prophets didn’t see this. There was no vision that God’s plan included taking non-Jewish people together with Jewish people and making no distinction between them in terms of salvation, bringing them together in one body called the church, a new society. That was kept hidden. That was a mystery he didn’t disclose. Now it’s disclosed. Now it’s unveiled. Now, this shouldn’t surprise you because when you read the book of Daniel, for example, the book of Daniel closes out as Daniel’s trying to figure out all that he has seen in his visions and the revelation of the future. The messenger says to Daniel in chapter 12, seal this book, seal the words up until the time of the end. For many will go to and fro, and knowledge will increase. Now we read the book of Daniel, we have a broader view of understanding because we have more that has been disclosed. But there was so much that was undisclosed about the end times and, according to Paul, especially about the church. So what do we know? In the Old Testament, God ordained the nation of Israel. to be his chosen people. Deuteronomy chapter 7, I have chosen you above all the peoples on the face of the earth. And later on, he commissioned the Jewish people to be a light to the Gentile nations. They would be the witness of God on the earth. But as time went on, they failed to do that. They became very inward people. They didn’t want to include Gentiles. They separated from them. They didn’t want to get Gentile cooties. They didn’t want to get too close to them. They didn’t want to walk on the same street. They didn’t want to eat food with them. So, when Jesus is born and brought into the temple, there’s an old man that takes Jesus, the baby. Do you remember what his name was? Simeon. And Simeon looks at Jesus, and he looks up to heaven, and he says, I can die in peace, Lord, for my eyes have seen your salvation. Listen, a light to the Gentiles. What Israel, my people, my servant, failed to do, the Messiah will do. So more revelation came that God wanted the people of Israel to be the light of to the Gentile world. They failed to do that. The Messiah will do that, has done that. In fact, when Jesus says, I am the good shepherd in John chapter 10, my sheep know my voice, hear my voice, will come to me, etc. He then says, other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them I must also bring that there may be one flock and one shepherd.
SPEAKER 02 :
This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Your support helps reach people every day with biblical truth that speaks into real life, bringing clarity, purpose, and hope. And this month, we’d love to thank you with two resources designed to help you grow in your faith and understand God’s plan for your life and relationships. When you give today, you’ll receive the Expound Ephesians 9 CD series with digital download, along with Pastor Skip’s book, Beyond the Summer of Love. These resources will help you discover your identity in Christ and experience the lasting hope found in God’s design for life and relationships. Your gift helps extend the reach of Connect with Skip Heitzig, connecting more people to God’s Word. Request your resources when you give $50 or more at connectwithskip.com slash offer or by calling 800-922-1888. Now, here’s more from Pastor Skip.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now he starts revealing the church, slowly but surely. And by the time of Paul the Apostle, Paul was given a revelation directly by God after the Damascus Road. Where did he go for three years? Anybody know? Spit it out if you know it. Arabia. Arabia for three years and was tutored directly by the Holy Spirit. Now he’s writing a letter and says, you know, God revealed this to me, this mystery that has been hidden. is now known that God’s plan was to make a new society called the church, not Jewish versus Gentile, but just believer, follower, made righteous by faith, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ through the gospel. of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of his power to me, he says, to me. Now watch what he says about himself. Who am less than the least of all the saints? This grace was given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” When we read a statement like that, we’re a bit flummoxed, taken back. Because we don’t regard Paul the Apostle as the least of the Apostles. Many of us would regard him as the greatest of the Apostles. I am amazed at the Apostle Paul. I can’t wait to meet him. It would be a great honor. He’s such an example. And so when I read this statement, I’m taken aback because it sounds, it sort of smacks like false humility. Oh, you know, I’m nothing. You know, some people like to do that. Paul meant this sincerely. And he explains what he meant. to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 15, he says, I who am the least of the apostles, I don’t even deserve to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. Paul always felt an embarrassment. He carried it with him, his past, his background, that he hunted Christians down, that he incarcerated them, and he watched as they were being stoned to death. That haunted him because that chief antagonist eventually became the chief protagonist for the gospel, but he always remembered that time. And so he said to me, who am less than the least of of all the saints. What humility. And it’s genuine. And I’ll be careful how I say this. It’s a humility I’d like to see more of in the ministry. Sometimes I watch people on TV or on YouTube and they seem to strut like a peacock and just seem so full of themselves. I wonder where is the humility? of a man like Paul the Apostle, I don’t even deserve to be here. I’m less than the least of all the saints. And then he realized that I should proclaim, preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. And to make all see Christ. What is the fellowship of the mystery from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Christ Jesus to the intent that now the manifold, means many-colored, variegated, manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the church, excuse me, might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in heavenly places. Now I want to ask you a question, just to consider this. Here Paul says, God has kept this hidden all through the Old Testament. Now it is revealed, this idea of this new society, the church. We might ask the question, why? Why would God wait so long to reveal this plan? Let me suggest two reasons. Number one, to give Israel the opportunity to step up to the plate. To give Israel as a nation the opportunity to fulfill its God-ordained destiny of bringing light to the Gentiles. Number one. Number two, he waited this long to instruct the angels. You following me here? To instruct the angels. What do I mean by that? Well, look at verse 10. To the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to whom? Principalities, powers in the heavenly places. You know what that’s speaking about? Principalities and powers, we told you, are rankings of angelic beings, good or evil. It’s an organized system, ranking system, often mentioned in the New Testament that refer to angelic beings. There is a passage of Scripture in 1 Peter. Let me read it to you. 1 Peter chapter 1. He says, Of this salvation, Peter writes, of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully who prophesied of the grace that would come to you Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ was in them was indicating when he testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that not to themselves, but to us, they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things which angels… desire to look into. The church, this new society, the salvation offered to anybody by faith in Jesus Christ is a graduate course in salvation for angelic beings. Angels don’t know about the grace of God. There was a whole group of angels who sinned and they were cast out of heaven and will never be given a second chance. So they were there for that. They saw that. But the idea that God would grant salvation, would grant fellowship, would grant intimacy, would grant relationship with human beings, and God continually pours out his grace to us, the angels sit back and go, wow. And one of the things they go wow about is they probably look at some of you and go, I don’t get these people. Here God has given so much to them, done so much for them, made so much available on their behalf, and they don’t use it. God says, pray and I’ll answer you. They don’t even pray. They worry and they kvetch and they call their friends and they look up on social media what to do, but they never talk to God. And yet God loves them still and forgives them still and is patient with them still. And it’s a graduate course on salvation by grace to the angelic beings. He’s showing, in the classroom of the universe, God is the teacher, the angels are the audience, the illustration is the church. The subject is salvation by grace. So he mentions that in Ephesians. to the principalities and powers in heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom, that is in him, in Christ, we have boldness with confidence through faith in him. Do you remember what the writer of Hebrews says about how we should come before God? Seeing then that we have a great high priest, Hebrews chapter 4, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, come boldly. to the throne of grace, that we may be able to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Then also in Hebrews chapter 10, Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Why do we come so timidly into his presence? Why don’t we come boldly? Well, what right do we have to come boldly? Because he said, come. He said, ask. And we’re told how? By the blood of Jesus Christ. If Jesus on the cross said, it’s finished, and God said, that’s enough, why do we think it’s not enough? We should be able to come boldly. Well, I don’t deserve it. That’s irrelevant. It’s irrelevant. He made you worthy. He justified you, so we should come boldly. So in whom, verse 12, we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him. Therefore, I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. Remember I said that it would seem that some of these Ephesians were a let down, if not just feeling sorry for Paul that he had to go through imprisonment. And Paul says, don’t feel bad for me, man. He tells the Philippians, this is by the will of God. This is for the furtherance of the gospel. Therefore, I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. There’s something else before we finish out this letter, and by God’s grace, we will finish chapter 3 tonight. I say by God’s grace. But notice something in verse 11. It says, according to the, what are the two words? Eternal purpose, which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. Do you realize that God’s purpose will never be thwarted? It’ll never be thwarted. It will never be pushed aside. God will do what he said he would do. The question is, like Paul, will you allow yourself to be an instrument through which God moves? God’s going to fulfill his purpose with you or without you because he can do it and he will do it. But the glorious assignment we have is to say, here am I. Send me.
SPEAKER 02 :
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