A Prisoner of Christ Jesus

Good morning, welcome to New Horizon. Please open your Bibles to Ephesians 3.

Welcome back to Ephesians.

The Apostle Paul, writing to Christians at Ephesians, but likely also to other Christians in surrounding areas.

Read Ephesians 3:1- “For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—”

Pray.

Paul ties us back to what he has said in chapter 2.

First 10 verses, God has saved us from sin and death into eternal life.

V. 11-22- These gentiles were not only saved into eternal life, but also brought into the family and of God, having previously been alienated and separated from the promises and people of God.

Here is where Paul is going to go:

For this reason…

Paul is ready to break into prayer out of thankfulness for what God has done for these Gentiles, but he gets distracted.

Dr. Kurka teaching theology- “Which reminds me…”

This is what happens to Paul, he will take off in a completely different direction when his mind takes him there.

1. Paul’s predicament.

Ephesians 3:1- “For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—”

We read in explicit terms of Paul’s imprisonment, but how did he land in prison?

Throughout Paul’s third missionary journey, Paul visits churches that he and others have planted in various other journeys.

Toward the end of this particular trek, Paul finds himself in Miletus and asks the elders of the church at Ephesus to come to him.

In a tearful goodbye, Paul gives some detail to his plans of what is coming next for him.

Acts 20:22–24- “And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

In Acts 21, he journeys to Jerusalem and visits with other Christians there.

Acts 21:10–14- “While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ” When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, ‘Let the will of the Lord be done.’”

Why was Paul so desperately wanting to go to the temple in Jerusalem? Throughout his journeys, he had been gathering a collection from the Gentiles for the poor Christians in Jerusalem. Here, Paul, led by the Spirit, will deliver the collection.

But there is more at work here. This effort to give this collection shows Paul’s desire for unity.

John Polhill- “A major concern of the epistle is the unity of the church, specifically the union of Jew and Gentile in Christ. Paul wrote from Roman custody. The very reason for his imprisonment was his concern for the unity of the Christian movement. He brought the collection to Jerusalem as a tangible expression of the concern of his Gentile churches for their Jewish Christian brothers and sisters. He brought it at great personal risk, because it expressed the passion of his entire ministry- the oneness of Jew and Gentile in Christ. That concern ultimately led to his confinement.”

As Paul enters the temple, he triggers a great riot of Jews who cannot stand the sight of him.

He is ultimately arrested, taken to Caesarea, held for two years as a prisoner, before being transferred to Rome.

He would be released from this imprisonment, but would once again find himself a prisoner in Rome which would lead to his execution.

This is Paul’s predicament. Limited in his missionary abilities because of his arrest. So how would Paul react to such circumstances?

2. Paul’s perspective.

Thus far, it makes sense. We have heard enough stories of Christians enduring extreme hardships because of their faith.

We believe that perhaps, if given the opportunity, we could endure suffering on behalf of our belief in Christ.

We see more than this in Paul.

Ephesians 3:1- “For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—”

Paul is imprisoned by Rome because of the plotting of the Jewish leaders. And yet, he does not refer to himself this way.

Though Paul is imprisoned, though he suffers, he sees it all through the perspective of what God is able to accomplish through Him.

What does it mean to be a prisoner of Christ Jesus?

Genitive tense in the Greek language denotes possession.

Prisoner of Jesus Christ can have at least two meanings, both of which I find to be true.

First, Paul is a prisoner of Jesus in the sense that he will do all that Jesus demands of Him.

In this sense, Jesus is his master and Paul will obey Jesus entirely.

Acts 26, Paul recounting his own conversion to King Herod Agrippa

Acts 26:19- “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision…”

At the very beginning of Paul’s ministry, he purposes in his heart that he will obey Jesus.

Second, Paul is a prisoner of Jesus in the sense that he is in prison as a part of Jesus’ purposes.

This means that Jesus has a desire for Paul to be in prison in order to further God’s Kingdom.

Philippians 1 tells us that Paul has had the opportunity to share the gospel throughout the Roman guard and that the gospel would even reach Caesar’s household.

Paul, as a prisoner of Christ, always saw opportunity for sharing Jesus no matter how bad the circumstances were.

Throughout all of this, Paul remains steadfast in His love for Jesus and his obedience to the command of Jesus.

In fact, he gives this title of prisoner as a badge of honor.

John Calvin- “Imprisonment alone has no claim to this honor, being usually the mark of wickedness and crime. But the crowns and scepters of kings, to say nothing of the imposing splendor of an ambassador, are less honorable than the chains of a prisoner of Jesus Christ. So highly ought the name of Christ be revered by us, that what men consider to be the greatest reproach, ought to be viewed by us as the greatest honor.”

For Paul, there was a certain delight taken in doing the will of God, wherever it took him. The further down it drove him, the more he seemed to relish his obedience to Jesus.

3. Paul’s purpose.

Why is Paul prepared to go through all of this for Jesus? What is his end goal that he sees as worthy of his suffering?

Ephesians 3:1- “For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—”

For Paul, his desire is for the nations, the gentiles to know Jesus Christ. And he is willing to pay any price to make this possible.

Consider what all we have been through.

In ch. 2, Paul says that the gentiles were enemies of the Jews, there was hostility and even mockery between the groups.

But now, Paul has a different heart toward the gentiles.

Chrysostom- “This is a very emphatic statement. Not only do we not hate you; we are even imprisoned on your account.”

The greatest possible desire of Paul was to make Jesus known to these Gentiles.

4. Paul’s prodding.

Where do the words of Paul encourage faithful Christians today? How do they prod us onward?

Paul prods along our devotion to Jesus.

A prisoner of Christ Jesus.

For many of us, we shrug away at such language.

We value our freedom far too much.

Bryan Chapell- “True devotion is always willing to dispense with privilege if God’s glory requires it.”

Are we willing to serve a Savior and Lord who commands obedience in every aspect of life?

Not merely a Savior, one who saves us from sin and into eternal life, but a Lord who is Creator of heaven and earth.

A Lord who commands and sustains all of Creation.

Repentance as a starting point for eternal life in Christ.

Repentance is all of life. Repenting of ourselves to follow after Jesus. Abandoning our plans for His.

Paul prods along our consideration of our circumstances.

How can God use you for His Kingdom in the situation in which you find yourself?

Where does your suffering open new doors for the spreading of the gospel?

Getting stuck in an elevator with dad. Frustrating, and yet a time for our family to be together.

We think of sickness and suffering as a means of slowing us down from the things we want to get done.

What if they instead are a means to the speeding up of the things we should be getting done for Christ and His Kingdom?

Paul sees his imprisonment as meaningful to Jesus’ mission on earth. So he doesn’t put down his weapons of the gospel, he sharpens them and gets back to work sharing the gospel with any who can hear it.

Paul prods along our evangelistic efforts.

Nothing comes between Paul and his desire to preach the gospel to those who need it.

Kids wanting to come down the stairs at bedtime.

It takes very little to get us off the path of obedience.

What if- make believe situations.

Pray that God would put within us a holy desire to make Him known where He isn’t.

Jesus is worth it all. He was to Paul, he ought to be to us.

Everything in our text reveals this to be true for Paul.

Willing to be imprisoned, willing to suffer, willing to devote himself entirely to obedience and devotion to Jesus, willing to take the gospel where it is not known, willing to love and share with former enemies.

Christ is worth it.

Philippians 3:8–9- “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—”