Paul's Temple Vision1

Paul's Temple Vision 1

In this study, we want to look at TWO groups of people. Those who were IN the covenants of promise associated with Abraham and his descendents, and those who were aliens and strangers from those covenants of promise. Now we know that the most important division in the bible, for a grace believer, is the division, or the difference between Prophecy pertaining to the Kingdom and Mystery pertaining to the Church, the body of Christ.

Paul was always separated from Prophecy. Paul was never, ever involved in God's prophetic program with Israel. Saul of Tarsus could have been, but he wasn't. Saul of Tarsus could have accepted the Messiah but he didn't. Saul of Tarsus could have been a Kingdom believer but he wasn't. Saul of Tarsus was a rebel. He was a renegade. He was a transgressor. He was a blasphemer. He persecuted the Church of God, and wasted it, the bible says.

Paul needed something different in order to be saved. And that difference appeared from Heaven in a blinding light, brighter than the noonday sun, when the risen, ascended, glorified Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him.

Galatians 1:11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

Galatians 1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

So Paul is called and given a separate, a different message than that message which was previously preached in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and by Peter in the book of Acts.

God called Paul and gave him a separate message from that of the twelve and Timothy, a half-Jew, his father is a Greek, lives in Derbe, in the regions of Galatia, where Paul preached in Acts 14. In Acts 16 Paul goes back to Derbe and Lystra and finds Timothy and Timothy goes forth with him, most likely, never hearing or reading anything that Peter ever said or wrote. He wasn't even circumcised until here.

All that Timothy knows is the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15 to RIGHTLY DIVIDE IT. What are we to rightly divide? Well, Paul makes a reference to Jesus Christ in Ephesians, and says:

Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

The word of God is already rightly divided. God put a difference between Prophecy and Mystery and he made it plain in his Word. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, prophecy about Israel. The book of Acts, about Israel. Romans through Philemon, Mystery. Hebrews through Revelation, Prophecy. The division is already in there. It is unmistakable. The book is laid out so that you can't miss it.

In your bible, the entire message to the body of Christ is inserted there, neatly united together in 13 books written by Paul, Romans through Philemon. Those books are there, BETWEEN two distinct segments of scripture which deal with the commonwealth of Israel. Anybody who can see the forest for the trees, can clearly see that Paul's 13 books are all there, in one place, DIVIDED from all the others. And it has been that way, consistently, since there was a completed bible.

But the word of truth, which is the gospel of your salvation is in Romans through Philemon and Paul says to rightly divide it. Why? Because in Romans Chapter 14 you have a weak brother who might be offended by something you eat or something you drink. But in Colossians Chapter Two it is nobody's business what you eat, or what you drink or when or where you worship God.

In 1 Corinthians 11:2 Paul praised the brethren for keeping the ordinances that he delivered to them from the Acts 15 meeting in Jerusalem, but in Collosians 2:14 all ordinances are blotted out.

In 1 Corinthians 10, all their fathers had been baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, but in Ephesians chapter two, no way. These people were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.

In Romans 1:16, the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to all Jews and Greeks who believe. In 1 Corinthians 1:24 Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God to all Jews and all Greeks who are called, but in Titus 2:11, the grace of God that bringeth salvation has appeared to all men. In 1 Timothy 2:4 God would have all men to be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth.

And it just goes on and on. Things that differ. Things that are not the same. Rightly dividing, not the bible, not the word of God, but rightly dividing the word of truth, which is, the gospel of your salvation.

The gospel of your salvation is not in the book of Acts. The book of Acts is about Israel. It is the record of God's dealing with people on the basis of the covenants of promise and the people he is dealing with during that time are the commonwealth of Israel.

The people who became members of the body of Christ by Paul's preaching during the book of Acts were a part of the commonwealth of Israel. You and I are not a part. You and I are like the Ephesians to whom Paul wrote the Ephesian letter and were aliens from, not allies with Israel.

Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

In other words, in your bible, there is a period of time, and AT THAT TIME people like the Ephesians to whom Paul wrote the Ephesian letter were aliens from Israel, they were not allied with Israel. They were not in the covenants of promise.The Galatians were in the covenants of promise. The Ephesians and the Collosians were not. Between Paul's writing of the book of Galatians and the writing of the book of Ephesians, Israel was cast away, loammi, not God's people.

In the book of Galatians, Paul talks about covenants. In the book of Ephesians Paul says that the Ephesians were ALIENS from those covenants. The Galatians, instead of being aliens, were IN the covenants Paul talks about.

Galatians 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

In other words, Hager, the bond woman, represents those who come to God through the Law, through circumcision.

Galatians 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

Galatians 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

These are the two covenants. Hager represents the circumcison. Sara, then, must represent the uncircumcision, and it has to do with the child of the promise, the singular SEED Paul reveals in Galations 3:16, which is Christ.

So, the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed to Paul:

Galatians 2:7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;

The "priest of Jupiter" in Acts 14 would not have had a clue. That's not the case with this man: In Acts 14, there was a certain man at Lystra. He was sitting, he was impotent in his feet, being crippled from his mother's womb and had never walked.

Acts 14:9 The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,

Acts 14:10 Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.

Paul perceived that the man had faith. What kind of faith did he have. Did he have a charismatic, Pentecostal, Oral Roberts, Benny Hinn, faith in faith faith? No. This man had faith in the God of Abraham. This man was a Gentile, who was a Greek, who feared the God of Abraham, and Paul healed him.

When the idol worshippers saw it they wanted to offer a sacrifice to Paul and Paul told them to stop the nonsense and that they should turn from these vanities unto the living God which made heaven and earth and the sea and all things and in so doing, scarcely talked them out of worshipping Paul and Barnabas. Nobody heard a salvation message in this passage in Acts 14.

Instead of these people hearing a salvation message and getting saved, the Jews show up and persuade the people and they stoned Paul , and we believe that Paul was caught up to the third heaven, and evidently saw the rapture of the church, which he later writes about. He also saw other things, which Paul said in 2 Corinthians that he would say the truth, but now I forbear. (2 Corinthians 12:6 written at the time of Acts 20)

Who, according to the passage is being called at the time of Acts 13 and Acts 14 and so on? Jews, Jewish proselytes, and Gentiles who are Greeks, who fear the God of Abraham, people who are in the covenants of promise.

In Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas go into the synagogue of the Jews in Antioch in Pisidia:

Acts 13:15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.

Acts 13:16 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.

The priest of Jupiter and his idol worshippers were not fearing God, they were told to turn to God. In order for them to do that they would have to turn to where the WORD of God was, and at that time it was in the synagogues of the Jews, because that's where Paul was and where he went. By Acts 13 at least five synagogues, and probably many more, have been identified, where Paul was and where he preached.

Then, in the synagogue of the Jews in Antioch of Pisidia, iwhere Paul is, where Paul is preaching, he gives his audience a history of the nation of Israel up to David, king of Israel, and then says:

Acts 13:23 Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:

Now please note who the message of salvation is sent to:

Acts 13:26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.

Now think about it. Paul has not been sent to idol worshippers like the Ephesians. Paul, at this time, is not sent to aliens of the commonwealth of Israel, but rather, he is sent TO the commonwealth of Israel. He is sent to people who fear God. Jews, Jewish proselytes and Gentiles, who are called Greeks, who fear the God of Abraham. Go back to Galatians, chapter three:

Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

By the way, please notice that these people have not been baptized in the NAME of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. They have been baptized INTO CHRIST:

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

The fact is, Paul did not get a "far hence" vision from the Lord in Acts Chapter Nine. Paul is saved in Acts Chapter Nine, he goes into Arabia, he comes back to Damascus, and then three years later he goes back to Jerusalem and sees Peter. He says in Galations that he didn't see any other Apostles but that he did see James, the Lord's brother.

Now think about it. If there had been any kind of Jewish holy day, or any feast day, or any particular reason for Paul to have been in the temple at that time, why wouldn't all of the Apostles have also been there? Or at least have been in town during that time. But Paul saw none of the apostles, he says, at the time of Acts Chapter Nine.

In Acts Chapter 21, Paul has come back to Jerusalem, has been told, by James, that there are many thousands of Jews that believe who are zealous of the law, and has agreed to be at charges with some men who have a vow, so he goes into the temple, and some of the Jews had seen him with Trophemus, a Greek, and they accuse him of bringing a Greek into the temple;

Acts 21:28 Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.

As the result of this uproar, Paul is nearly killed. The Roman soldiers save his life, carry him up some steps and he asks to speak to the people. He tells them about his conversion on the road to Damascus, about Annanias the devout man, about receiving his sight, and then he says:

Acts 22:17 And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;

When Paul says that "it came to pass," he has skipped over a period of time and has left out a big part of his life's history. That is consistent with the use of the phrase "it came to pass" anywhere in your bible.

In Genesis 4:3, in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering to the Lord. In Genesis 6:1 it came to pass that when men began to multiply, and so on. In Genesis 11 the whole earth was of one language and one speech and it came to pass. In Genesis 14 it came to pass in the days of a king.

Notice that Paul says that he was praying in the temple "When I was come again," not just come to Jerusalem but "come again" to Jerusalem. Notice Luke's account of Paul's Acts 9 trip:

Acts 9:26 And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.

Notice that Paul was come to Jerusalem, but when Paul is talking to the Jews in Acts 22 he says he was "come again to Jerusalem," and that he was in the temple, in a trance. Now Paul made a total of five trips to Jerusalem, according to your bible. The first in Acts nine, the second in Acts 12, the third at the time of Acts fifteen, the last one here in Acts 22, but the fourth trip was at the time of Acts Chapter Eighteen.

In Acts nine there are no apostles but Peter and no mention of the temple. In Acts 11:39 Paul and Barnabas go to Jerusalem to take a contribution to the saints. In Acts 12, possibly during the time Paul is in Jerusalem, James the Apostle is killed and Peter is arrested after the Passover and during the days of unleavened bread. (Making the King James Bible the preserved word of God because it correctly uses the word Easter which could only be correct to describe a pagan holiday which is not the Passover but is after the Jewish Passover.)

So in Acts chapter 12, Paul was in Jerusalem and possibly timed his trip to be there at the Passover. But there is no mention of a "far hence" vision, and if he did get a "far hence" vision at that time he certainly didn't obey it, because in Acts 13:5 on the island of Cypress he preached the word of God in the synagogues (plural) of the Jews. That's not far hence. In Acts 13:14, Paul is in the synagogue of the Jews in Antioch of Pisidia, sitting and listening to the reading of the law and the prophets. That's not far hence.

In Acts 14:1, Paul goes into the synagogue of the Jews in Iconium, and so speaks that a great multitude of the Jews, and the Greeks who were in there, believed. That's not far hence.

Now Paul tells King Agrippa, in Acts 26:16 that the Lord had told him that he appeared to him to make him a witness, Paul says "both of these things and of those things in the which I WILL APPEAR unto thee." And then Paul says:

Acts 26:19 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:

Now if Paul, in a trance, in a vision was sent "far hence" in Acts 9, he was disobedient. If he was sent in Acts 12 he was disobedient. In Acts 15 there is something very different going on than Paul going into the Temple to pray. But if Paul did go into the Temple to pray in Acts 15 and in a trance had a vision to depart and go far hence, he was disobedient to it, because he went right back to Antioch and then went back to the same places he and Barnabas had been to before.

Acts 15:40 And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God.

Acts 15:41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.

Acts 16:1 Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:

So near the end of the book of Acts, Paul comes back to Jerusalem, at the end of all his travels, all this trouble breaks out and instead of DEPARTING from Jerusalem, he winds up staying there, under arrest, and winds up IN JAIL in Jerusalem and in Caesera, for well over two years.

Now let's go back and read again, Paul's FAR HENCE VISION. Paul is telling about it, in his own words:

Acts 22:17 And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;

Acts 22:18 And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

Now believe me, Paul knows something about making haste and quick getaways. In Damascus, after Paul goes off into the desert for a period of time and comes back, the Jews try to kill him. Probably because of something he is saying when he gets back from the desert. He is let over a wall in a basket and hightails it for Jerusalem. He made haste and got out quickly.

In Acts 13:50 he is expelled out of Antioch in Pisidia. In Acts 14:8 he fled from Iconium and went to Lystra and Derbe. In Acts 14 he is stoned at Lystra, but as soon as he can walk he leaves and goes to Derbe. Paul knows how to make haste.

In Acts nine, hanging around with Peter and James for 15 days is not making haste and departing quickly. If Paul was going to go to the temple, it's reasonable that he would have gone there when he first got to Jerusalem, not 15 days later, after spending all that time "with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem," as in:

Acts 9:28 And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem.

In Acts 12 a period of time goes by and Paul is not in any particular hurry, certainly not to go far hence. Instead he goes right back to Antioch. In Acts 15, Paul has a private meeting with James, Cephas and John and then a public meeting with all the apostles and elders. But when he leaves he doesn't make haste and go far hence. As a matter of fact, two men from Jerusalem, Judas and Silas, go back to Antioch with Paul. That's not far hence or making haste. In Acts 22 and on, Paul doesn't go anywhere. He is in the prison, locked up, for well over two years:

Acts 24:27 But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix' room: and Felix, willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.

Why was Paul in jail anyway? The Jews in the church in Jerusalem knew full well that Jews lived among the Gentiles. They knew full well that Gentiles, who were Greeks, attended the synagogues of the Jews, that they feared the God of Abraham. Remember James' sentence at the Acts 15 meeting?

Acts 15:18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.

Acts 15:19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:

Now I realize that what James said is always interpreted as "those Gentiles from among the Gentiles who have turned to God." But, who else, from AMONG the Gentiles would turn to God? Jews. Even law abiding, pork abstaining Jews, who wanted to be saved, who were AMONG the Gentiles,had to TURN TO GOD. And that is exactly who Paul was preaching to in the book of Acts: Jews, Jewish proselytes, and Gentiles, who were Greeks, who feared the God of Abraham. Here is what Paul wrote to the Thessalonains, the ones he found in the synagogue of the Jews in Acts 17:

1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;

Now Paul said that in a trance in the temple in Jerusalem that the Lord had said "make haste" and "get out quickly" for they will not receive your testimony Paul, concerning me, especially this, now watch it:

Acts 22:21 And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.

Acts 22:22 And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.

Acts 22:23 And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air,

What word? The word, in the Hebrew tongue which Paul was speaking (Acts 22:2) is Goya. The word is Gentiles, not Greeks! The Jews knew all about the Greeks. They knew that Jews from among the Gentiles were turning to God and that Gentiles among the Gentiles, called Greeks, were turning to God, but not this. Not Goyim. Not Barbarians. Not Scythians. Not THESE Gentiles. And so ended Paul's ministry to the commonwealth of Israel.

In Romans Paul says he is not ashamed of the gospel:

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

In Romans there is no difference:

Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

In 1 Corinthians there are two groups called:

1 Corinthians 1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

1 Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

1 Corinthians 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

In Galatians, two groups have put on Christ:

Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

During the time period of the book of Acts, the Jew was in the forefront all the way. Why?

Romans 3:1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?

Romans 3:2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.

The oracles of God. It means utterances. The words of God. This ought to convince somebody that Luke was a Jew. Not a single word in your bible was written by anyone other than a Jew: Because the WORDS of God were committed unto them.

So the Corinthians were Jews and Greeks. The Galatians were Jews and Greeks. The Thessalonians were Jews, and devout Greeks, according to Acts 17, verse 4. The Galatians were baptized into Christ and have put on Christ and they were Jews and Greeks. Now go to 1 Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 12:12 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 Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:13 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.

Now the word for Jews in 1 Corinthians 12:13, in the Greek is JEWS. The word for Gentiles, in the Greek is GREEKS. These Gentiles in 1 Corinthians 12:13 ARE GREEKS. Look it up. Take your Strong's concordance and look up this word for Gentiles in the verse. It is Strong's word number 1672. The exact same word used in Galations 3:28, Galations 2:3, Romans 1:14, Romans 1:16, Romans 10:12, and 1 Corinthians 1:22, 23, and 24.

So the "remnant" and those who were not "aliens" from the commonwealth of Israel heard the Gospel of Christ during this period of time. And they are Jews, Jewish proselytes, and Gentiles, who are called Greeks in your bible, who feared the God of Abraham. There was a reason for Paul being in the synagogues of the Jews and it is in Romans chapter 11:

Romans 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

Paul says that God has not cast away his people, and he uses himself as an example. Now please look at verse 5

Romans 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

Paul wrote the book of Romans at the time of Acts chapter 20. It was written from Corinth while Paul was there in Acts 20:3 and AT THAT TIME he says there is a remnant. When he says remnant he can only be talking about Jews..So Paul is preaching grace to people who are being saved into the body of Christ. They are out there, in the synagogues, and they are called a "remnant." They are people whom God foreknew would believe Paul's message.

If Paul had been going, during all this time to GOYA, to the FAR HENCE Gentiles, to the aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, like those in the book of Ephesians, there is no way that he could have gotten the remnant, and God wanted His people whom he foreknew, to be saved.

So at this time, late in the book of Acts, there is a remnant. But at the same time, Paul says he is also a DEBTOR to someone else. For the very first time, in Romans, he mentions those that are "far hence"; and he calls them barbarians.

Romans 1:13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.

The word let carries the idea of a controlled movement. I let out the fishing line. I let the dog out the door. I let the tools down from the top of the roof.

Romans 1:14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.

Remember the Greeks seek wisdom? Then who is it that is unwise? A barbarian. He is a Gentile, he is a non-Greek, he is a foreigner, he is an alien from the commonwealth of Israel:

Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

Paul uses an allegory in Galatians chapter four to explain two covenants. In Galatians 2:7 we learn that the gospel of the uncircumcision is committed to Paul and the gospel of the circumcision is committed to Peter. The Galatians were in those covenants of promise. The Ephesians were not.

Between the Galatian letter and the Ephesian letter, Israel became Loammi, as in Hosea 1:9 not God's people. But at the time of Acts chapter 20, according to Paul in Romans, there was a remnant who were God's people, and Paul had been looking for them all through the book of Acts Some of them, were Gentiles. Gentiles, who were Greeks, who called themselves Jews and boasted in the law:

Romans 2:17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,

They were "graffed in," Paul says, into the Olive Tree in Romans 11 and Paul knew that unless they continued in the goodness of God they would be cut off. Paul had a spiritual gift for them, the gospel.

They had a faith spoken of in all the world, but they were not established in their faith. That's the reason for the Roman letter. Paul thanks God that they had obeyed that FORM of doctrine that WAS delivered to them, (Romans 6:17) but Paul knows that that is not enough to establish them. Paul wanted them to be established, by HIS gospel.They were "called to be saints" but Paul doesn't call them saints. They can only be saints if they are established. Paul says so in Romans 1:11 and in Romans 16:25:

Romans 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

Whatever the Olive tree represents, we know that everybody in the book of Acts, in Paul's ministry, was a partaker of Israel's spiritual things:

Romans 15:27 It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.

Paul is referring to the people of Corinth and the people of Macedonia, Greeks. You are not a partaker of Israel's spiritual things. Today there is no Israel (of God). You are a partaker of God's promise IN CHRIST, by the gospel:.

Ephesians 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

This is not the "mystery of Christ." That has already been revealed, in Romans 16:25. This is the MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL:

Ephesians 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Ephesians 6:19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

It will be of great benefit to each and every one of us to do a little independent bible study. Not a book and article study but a prayerful bible study. Be fully persuaded in your own mind, by what the bible says, as it says it, where it says it.

So when did Paul have the temple vision in which he was told to depart, make haste, get out quickly and that he would be sent far hence to the Gentiles? Well, we have eliminated four of the five trips Paul makes to Jerusalem in the book of Acts. The only one left is the one he made in Acts 18. Let's look at Acts chapter 18.

In Acts 18, Paul has just spent a year and a half teaching in Corinth. He had first reasoned in the synagogue, as usual, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. The Jews opposed themselves and blasphemed and Paul went to a house next door to the synagogue and preached. The first thing that happened was that Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue was saved and many Corinthians heard and believed. Finally the Jews make insurrection against Paul and Paul is brought before the deputy of the country. The deputy basically kicks the Jews out of court.

The Lord had told Paul, Acts 18:10 to not be afraid in Corinth that nobody would lay hand on him to hurt him, because He had much people in this city. So Paul preaches for a year and a half, leaves Corinth, sails toward Syria, that's where Antioch is, and stops in Ephesus and goes into the synagogue of the Jews and reasons with them:

Acts 18:20 When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not;

Acts 18:21 But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.

Notice that Paul says that he must by all means keep this feast, so we know that he is headed for the Temple in Jerusalem. That's where things are done pertaining to Jewish feast days, in the Temple in Jerusalem. But look at the attitude of the Jews in the synagogue. It doesn't say how long Paul stayed and reasoned with them but when he starts to leave they don't want him to go.

They want him to stay longer, to tarry longer. It seems that Paul was well received and that they were very receptive to the things that he was reasoning with them about. But Paul doesn't stay.

Now there are not a lot of details given here about what Paul did in Jerusalem and it looks as if Luke is not with him to witness anything because when Luke is with him he uses the phrase "we went," or "we sailed" and so on, but here Luke says he (Paul) sailed from Ephesus and he went up and saluted the church, and went down to Antioch. (Acts 18:22)

So there are no details at all about what Paul might have done in Jerusalem. So Paul leaves Antioch and goes back through Galatia, and Phrygia, strengthening the churches. Then he comes back to Ephesus. Now what I want you to see is the marked change in the attitude of the people in the synagogue. Before they had wanted him to stay and reason with them: They had been very receptive to Paul. But now look:

Acts 19:8 And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Acts 19:9 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.

It says that they were hardened and that they spake evil of THAT WAY. Now there can only be one of two answers to this. One, the entire population of the synagogue in Acts 18 is gone, the people who were reasoning with Paul and wanting him to stay with them longer, or two, Paul is saying something DIFFERENT in Acts 19 than he said in Acts 18, and I believe that that is the case. The bible evidence is overwhelming. We have eliminated all four of Paul's other trips to Jerusalem except this one. In none of the others did he make haste and depart quickly and get out of Jerusalem or go far hence. This trip is the only one that fits.

When Paul first tried to preach in Asia, he was forbidden by the Holy Ghost. (Acts 16:9) Evidently that was because of something going on in Peter's and John's ministry pertaining to the "seven churches of Asia" in the book of Revelation. On this trip to Asia, Paul spends quite a bit of time there preaching, and the bible says:

Acts 19:10 And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

After that there is an uproar by idol worshipping Gentiles, it dies down and Paul goes over into Europe, to Macedonia again, and then comes to Corinth and in Corinth he writes the Roman letter and he says in Romans that he has fully preached the gospel of Christ.

Romans 15:19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

Romans 15:29 And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

Who had Paul preached the gospel of Christ to? Romans 1:16: It's the power of God unto salvation to BOTH JEWS AND GREEKS, Who is being called? I Corinthians 1:24: To them which are called, both Jews and Greeks. Who has been baptized into Christ in Galations 3:28? Jews and Greeks. Who is baptized by one Spirit into the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:13? Jews and Gentiles, who are Greeks.

But later when Paul winds up in Rome, as a prisoner, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, (Ephesians 3:1) he tells the Jews there that the salvation of God IS SENT, to the Gentiles:

Acts 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

So the one, and the only, body of Christ had it's beginning in Acts Chapter nine. How did it start? Paul was saved in Acts chapter nine, becoming the FIRST member and the PATTERN for all other members. (1 Timothy 1:15-16)

Did Paul, when he first got saved just abandon the Jews and the god-fearing Gentiles who were Greeks and go far hence to the Goya Gentiles? No. Paul received an abundance of visions and revelations. Not just one, but he says, an abundance (2 Corinthians 12:1 and 7) Paul went where the Lord told him to go, did what the Lord told him to do, and said what the Lord told him to say, and didn't say things until the Lord told him that it was time to say it. In other words "I WILL say the truth but now I forbear." (2 Corinthians 12:6)

Did Paul preach anything different on the last day of his life than he did on the first day he preached a salvation message? No, he just knew more about the ONE SINGLE MESSAGE he preached all along. The message of salvation by grace thru faith.

When did a person get in to the body of Christ? The moment they heard the word of truth, and trusted in Christ alone for salvation. When did the Ephesians get in to the body of Christ? When they heard the gospel and believed it. When did they hear the gospel? When the Lord Jesus Christ sent Paul's message to them. That could not have been while Paul was in Ephesus in Acts 19, because when Paul writes the Ephesian letter he says that he had "heard of their faith," not that he knew them or had known them before..

In prison in Rome Paul wrote to Timothy and said that all that were in Asia were turned away from him. But on the other hand he writes to the Phillipians and says that the things that had happened to him had fallen out to the furtherance of the gospel. It seems a little contradictory doesn't it?

I think it has to do with the Phillipians' fellowship:

Philippians 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

Philippians 1:4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,

Philippians 1:5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;

Now the question here is, what does Paul mean by "first day?" We know that Paul first went to Macedonia in Acts 17. But notice:

Philippians 4:15 Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.

So Paul says that something, which he calls "the gospel," had it's beginning, not at a time when Paul CAME to Macedonia but at a time when Paul DEPARTED FROM Macedonia. Now that's what the verse says. The gospel of Christ, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, didn't begin at that time, because Paul refers to the gospel of Christ in the book of Galatians, the 1 Thessalonian letter and in Corinthians and in Romans. So obviously the gospel of CHRIST is not "the beginning of the gospel" Paul refers to in Philippians.

Let's think about it for a minute. If Paul went to Jerusalem and was in the Temple in a trance, and in a vision the Lord told him that now is the time Paul. Now is the time for you to go to the Goya, the far hence Gentiles. And if that happened during Paul's trip to Jerusalem in Acts 18, then this passage fits perfectly. Paul goes to Jerusalem after leaving Ephesus in Acts 18 and then Paul goes back to Ephesus and finishes what he had started to do in Acts 16, preach the word in Asia, and all that were in Asia heard the word, the bible says, BOTH Jews and Greeks. But the Ephesians to whom Paul wrote the Ephesian letter were not in that group. They were not believers at that time. How do we know that? Because in Ephesians 1:15 Paul says that he had "heard of their faith."

While he is at Ephesus, he writes the 1 Corinthian letter. In 1 Corinthians he says "Christ sent me not to baptize." Now Paul was never "commissioned" to baptize people but up to now he has been working among Jews and Gentiles, who are Greeks, and who are in the covenants of promise. He has preached justification without circumcision, In other words, the gospel of the uncircumcision. And water baptism is always associated with the Jews, and he has been water baptizing some. He was never sent to, but now, Christ sends him NOT TO. Don't you think it strange that Paul writes to people in 1 Corinthians and some of the people he writes to WERE baptized by Paul at the time of Acts 18? Yet, at the time of Acts 19 he says "Christ sent me NOT to baptize but to preach the gospel." The only conclusion you can make is that when Paul baptized people in Acts 18 it was because Christ had NOT YET SENT him "not to baptize."

If, as the bible says, "the gospel" began when Paul departed from, not came to Macedonia, then in Acts 20 when he makes a brief trip to Corinth and writes to the Romans that he has FULLY PREACHED the Gospel of Christ and that he is coming to Rome in the FULNESS of the blessing of the gospel of Christ, that also fits.

If "the gospel" began when Paul departed from Macedonia, then Acts 20:6 also fits:

Acts 20:6 And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days.

From there, Paul winds up at a coastal town called Miletus and sends for the elders of the church at Ephesus, the ones who later, Paul said, turned away from him. And here, for the very first time in your bible you find a new term. It is NEVER mentioned in Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, or 1 and 2 Thessalonians, all of the books Paul wrote during the time of the book of Acts:

Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Now the gospel of Christ did not begin, either when Paul came to, or left, Macedonia. Paul uses the term gospel of Christ in all of his books which were written during the period of time of the book of Acts. The term, "gospel of Christ" is in your bible 11 times. After Paul was arrested, the term "gospel of Christ" is not found in any of his letters, except the one to the Philippians:

Philippians 1:27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

Now does Paul mean that the Phillipians are striving so that they can have faith, or striving for faith, or for more faith? No! They already have faith. They are already saved by grace through faith. Paul is talking about the Phillipians being partakers of HIS grace:

Philippians 1:7 Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.

These Phillipians are partakers. They are the only ones supporting Paul. They are supporting him in giving and receiving, after the "beginning of the gospel" in Phillipians 4:15.

In Ephesians 3:1 Paul tells you the "cause" that he is in prison in Rome:

Ephesians 3:1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

Ephesians 3:2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:

These Gentiles, to whom Paul wrote the Ephesian letter are not the Greek Gentiles Paul found in all those synagogues of the Jews throughout the book of Acts. These Gentiles are the Goya, the far hence Gentiles.

Remember back in Jerusalem, that this is the very reason Paul got arrested, the very reason that he is now in Prison in Rome, as he says, "for this cause", "for you Gentiles"?

Acts 22:22 And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.

So then, the gospel of the GRACE of God in the dispensation of the grace of God had a beginning and the King James Bible clearly identifies that beginning at a time when Paul DEPARTED from Macedonia. The difference between the gospel of Christ and the gospel of the grace of God IS ONLY that it is expanded to include ALL MEN. It does not indicate that Paul preached a DIFFERENT message. It is simply the truth of Titus 2:11 and 1 Timothy 2:4 now being revealed in a way that is not evident in such passages as Acts 13:26: The grace of God to all men and God would have all men to be saved, as compared to:

Acts 13:26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.

Paul doesn't indicate when he learned of the scope of his ministry. It could have been in Acts 9, on the road to Damascus. It could have been when he went into Arabia. It could have been when he was stoned in Acts 14. I believe that he saw the rapture in Acts 14. But in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 Paul says "I will say the truth but now I forbear," and it is in reference to visions and revelations from the Lord. So he says that he is not saying, at the time, things that he will say, at some time. I believe he says those things in the prison epistles. He fulfills the word of God, as in Collosians 1:25. So when he knew the mystery you read about in the prison epistles is not necessarily the same time that he said it. Or wrote it down.

Paul's "far hence" vision then must have been during the trip in Acts 18. And that TOTALLY clears up ALL of the issues that most of us mid-Acts, Pauline, dispensational, 12 Apostles not in the body, Cornelious not in the body, Paul the first in Acts 9, right dividers seem to have. Water baptism, signs, wonders, miracles, tongues, angels, household salvation, earthquakes, earthly physical blessings, miracle healings, the Lord's Supper.

EVERTHING that is a problem is totally resolved here. The answer is very simple. Abraham is not your father and the heavenly Jerusalem is not your mother. Your relationship to Abraham is that you have the same righteousness that he had by the same faith that you have.

The mystery of Christ is one thing. The mystery of THE GOSPEL is something entirely different. It was hid in God, not in scripture.

Water baptism, signs, wonders, miracles, tongues, angels, blessings, healings all of that was always in association with Israel, with the commonwealth of Israel, which included Gentiles who feared the God of Abraham. The covenants of promise were for people IN the covenants of promise. God made promises to those people, but he never made any promises to people such as the Ephesians, or to you and me.

People like us were NEVER in line to receive "the promise of the Father," although there were people in Paul's ministry in the book of Acts who were. The promise the Lord refers to is the "power" baptism of Acts 2:4, the baptism WITH the Holy Ghost:

Acts 1:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

You and I nor anybody alive today were never in line for that anointing, that unction or that power. None of us were and nobody today has it. And you can get sorely disappointed and greatly disillusioned praying for daily bread or physical blessings or healings. Today, if you are saved, then you are saved by the gospel of the GRACE of God, in the dispensation of the grace of God. It's been that way since the "beginning of the gospel when Paul departed from Macedonia."

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.