Sailing With Paul by Harry A. Ironside

Author:Harry A. Ironside
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2012-01-02T12:43:53+00:00

SAILING WITH PAUL

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my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets [or, by prophetic writings; that is, his own], according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: to God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever.

Amen.” The nature of this mystery is unfolded in Ephesians 3:1-12. There he writes of the dispensation of the grace of God given him toward the Gentiles, and he adds: “How that by revelation [not through studying the Bible] He made known unto me the mystery … which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel … to make all 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: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.”

It is a passage of wondrous scope and blessedness, and I cannot attempt to expound it here, but what I would have the believer note is that the truth of Jew and Gentile being formed by the Spirit into one body, upon being born of God, and by that same Spirit linked up to Christ as Head in heaven, was a truth never before made known.

The Old Testament will be searched in vain for it. It is not there, because it was “hid in God.” It was the secret purpose of His heart only to be revealed after the rejection of His Son. It actually became a fact when the Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost. To this Paul refers when he writes:

“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is [the] Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:12,13).

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SAILING WITH PAUL

To this one body every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ belongs. The gift of the Holy Spirit, who indwells all saved people, makes us one with every other Christian on the face of the earth. This is the only true “Catholic and Apostolic Church.” At the beginning there was none other. “The Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47). There was no thought of any other membership, though until the special revelation given to Paul, it was not seen that this involved membership in the body of Christ.

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