UNITED, YET DIVIDED
20
received a fresh revelation, or he kept back some of the truth committed to him. If we deny the former and accept
the latter, Paul is discredited as a faithful witness, and we need waste no time in considering his words.
In the passage last referred to, viz., Acts 20, there is an allusion to a future ministry of the apostle.
Chapter 16
THE PRISON MINISTRY OF PAUL
A twofold ministry
A mark of time is introduced by the apostle in Acts 20:22 - `And NOW'. He uses a somewhat similar expression
in Romans 3:21, and in Acts 17:30 and in Ephesians 2:13. A contrast is instituted between two periods. In Acts
20:18-21 the apostle gives a summary of his witness `from the first day that I came into Asia ... testifying both to the
Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ'. `And NOW' (here is
the beginning of a contrasted change), `behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that
shall befall me there: save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
But I make of no account, nor hold I my soul valuable to myself, so that I may finish my course, even the ministry
that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear full testimony to the gospel of the grace of God' (Acts 20:22-24).
Notice in this passage that before the literal fetters of Roman imprisonment are fastened upon the apostle he is
already `bound in the spirit'. His resolution to go to Rome in face of all the warnings in every city, of which Acts
21:10-14 is recorded as an example, is connected with an intense desire to finish the ministry that he had received of
the Lord Jesus. We infer from this passage that he was looking forward to a future ministry. But the reader may
well object to inferences. Let us, therefore, turn to another passage.
In Acts 26, Paul before Agrippa makes public what had hitherto been unproclaimed, viz., that at his conversion
the Lord had spoken of a two-fold ministry. We can quite understand the inexpediency of speaking of this second
ministry until the first was finished; but in Acts 20, Paul is already bound in spirit, in Acts 26 he is bound in fact,
and he is soon to embark for Rome. He can now speak. He says that when the voice came saying, `Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou Me?' he said, `Who art Thou, Lord?' and the reply was, `I am Jesus Whom thou persecutest'. (So
far there is nothing new revealed). `But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose,
to make thee a minister and a witness BOTH of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I
will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee' (Acts
26:14-17). `These things' and `those things' indicate a difference, `both' speaks of two; `I will appear' speaks of a
future revelation. Reference is made to this `prison ministry' in no uncertain manner in some of the epistles written
after Israel was set aside. Let us look at Ephesians.
For you Gentiles
`For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ FOR YOU GENTILES' (Eph. 3:1). The last recorded statement of
Paul on the question of his imprisonment was to the effect that he was bound with a chain for the HOPE OF ISRAEL.
The same prisoner, but the same chain in the same prison now binds him for the `hope of glory among the Gentiles'.
Continuing in Ephesians 3, the apostle says: `If ("since", the "if" of argument) ye have heard of the dispensation of
the grace of God which is given me to YOU-WARD'. Acts 20:24 spoke of his second ministry as `the gospel of the
GRACE of God'. It is fitting that such should be the gospel of the dispensation so named. The apostle, however, has
not reached his point. He is a prisoner FOR YOU; his stewardship is TO YOU, and now he adds, `How that by
revelation He made known unto me the MYSTERY'.
We have not exhausted the unique claims of the apostle yet, but can we find any passages that speak so definitely
and so clearly of the special character of any other ministry in the New Testament? In Ephesians 4:1 the apostle
again calls himself `the prisoner of (or in) the Lord', and in chapter 6:19,20 he asks for prayer for himself, that
utterance may be given unto him, that `I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, FOR
WHICH I am an ambassador in BONDS'. Philippians speaks more than once of the apostle's imprisonment; `my
bonds' (1:7,13); `Caesar's household' (4:22). Colossians 1:23 speaks of `the hope of the gospel ... whereof I Paul