FOR I AM NOT ASHAMED OF

PAUL’S CHAIN - ARE YOU?

Part One

Baptisms were a rare event at the Strict and Particular Baptist Chapel of my upbringing. So, when they occurred it was a “solemn” occasion. So much so some candidates squirmed with mixed feelings as they approached the “tank”.

To encourage the reluctant to go through with this public spectacle the congregation loudly sang “Ashamed of Jesus, no, not I” as a wader-clad minister dipped them under the water, baptising them in “the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost”.

But that solemnity was decades ago. Today water baptism can be a casual, even jolly event, cheers and clapping allowed. And no one is challenged as to whether they are “ashamed” of Jesus or not.

Yet there is a message from someone Christians seem ashamed of. So much so, they rarely mention this person’s name or recognise his God-given ministry. What’s more nearly all churches and their ministers studiously ignore the world-changing message the Lord gave him to proclaim.

His name, if you haven’t guessed it by now, is PAUL. And, if you don’t believe there is widespread rejection of him and ignorance of the important new information from God he about wrote in his last seven epistles, then answer this simple question:

What is the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the MYSTERY, Paul wrote about in Romans 16:25, Ephesians 3:2-3 and Colossians 2:27?

The answer in short is Colossians 1:27:

To whom (his saints) God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this MYSTERY among the Gentiles; which is CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY.

Sadly, few Christians come to know this stunning truth which is part of a whole new dispensation (see Ephesians 3:1-7), bringing a huge change in God’s dealings with mankind, the ministry of which the Apostle Paul says is “given to him to fulfil the word of God” (Colossians 1:25).

Indeed, few church goers will have heard the MYSTERY proclaimed because almost all ministers ignore or misinterpret Paul’s “form of sound words” (2 Timothy 1:13), the exciting new teachings he expounds in his last seven epistles. These “words” spell out God’s urgent message for us today. So, sadly, the MYSTERY remains just that, a mystery to most Christians. And that’s a shame because the mystery contains the greatest blessing God has yet bestowed on those He has chosen and called.

So, talking of shame, I must bluntly ask: Are you ashamed of the Apostle Paul and his chain? Evidently many who name the name of Christ were ashamed after the close of the Book of Acts and the setting aside of the nation Israel. Thus in 2 Timothy1:15 Paul reminds Timothy:

This thou knowest, that ALL they which be in Asia be turned away from me, of whom are Phygellus and Hermogones.

It is highly significant that Phygellus means “he who flees from chains” and Hermogones means “begotten of Mercury”, Mercury being the pagan messenger of the gods who guided souls into Hades”. Or, in other words,“sent them to hell”. What a terrible pair. One despises Paul and his chain lest he also suffer bonds and the other lures saints to their destruction. Working together they persuade all in Asia to turn from Paul.

Yet there was one man who, like Margaret Thatcher refused to “turn”. Paul writes (2 Timothy 1:16-17):

The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus (“profitable”) for he oft refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain. But when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently and found me. The Lord grant unto him that he may find the mercy of the Lord in that day (i.e. the day of Christ: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Yes, Onesimus was “profitable” to Paulin that he supplied the apostle’s needs, but, more importantly, he was not ashamed of Paul’s chain. Now you might think such service to the despised and imprisoned Apostle would be more than enough to ensure Onesimus’s place in the world to come, the kingdom the Lord will bring into being at his appearing (Titus 2:13, 2 Timothy 4:1). But apparently not. Else why would Paul pray that he might receive mercy “in that day”?

When his ministers are under attack, God often sends the most unlikely, even unsaved men, to supply their needs. Yet it seems such helpers are rarely brought to faith themselves. And, without faith in God’s new programme of “all sufficient grace” and “holiness” through Christ dwelling within, there is no guarantee of entry into Christ’s kingdom and his much better world to come (Luke 18:30, 2 Timothy 4:8).

So, the call to Christians today as it was in Paul’s time is to “not be ashamed” of Paul’s chain. As Paul, instructs Timothy:

Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of God (2 Timothy 1:8).

A simple Bible study of the word ashamed shows that refusing to be ashamed of Christ’s gospel and his “apostle to the Gentiles”, Paul, runs like a theme through the apostle’s epistles. For example:

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

For the which cause (i.e. that of the gospel of grace “that brings life and immortality to light”) I also suffer these things, nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day (i.e. the Day of Christ and his appearing) ( 2 Timothy 1:12).

According to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death (Philippians 1:20).

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

What’s more the call to “not be ashamed” is echoed by the Apostle Peter. Writing to the called-to-believe-in-Jesus Jewish people scattered abroad in the Roman Empire away from Jerusalem he states:

Yet if any man (a Jew) suffers as a Christian let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf (1 Peter 44:16).

So, may I ask, are you ashamed of “testimony of our Lord” ,which is,

 that He has “ordained” Paul as “a preacher and an apostle (I speak the truth in Christ and lie not;)  a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity” (1 Timothy 2:7)?

John Dudley Aldworth

Email: johndaldworth42@gmail.com

Cell:027 1801 0277 027