Paul’s twofold ministry:

A mark of time is introduced by the apostle in Acts 20:22 by the term ‘And NOW’. He uses a somewhat similar expression in Romans 3:21, and in Acts 17:30 and seen as ‘But Now’ in Ephesians 2:13.

‘And NOW’ and ‘But Now’ mark points in time in which a notable contrast is being instituted between two time periods. We must then take note of what ‘was’ comparing it to ‘what now is.’

In Acts 20:18-21 we have such a point in time. It is where the apostle Paul 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 [or by] 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 [await] me. But I make of no account, nor hold I my soul valuable to myself, so that I may finish my course, even [that is] 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 Paul’s Roman imprisonment are fastened upon the apostle Paul 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, relates to 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. So, let us, therefore, turn to another passage.

In Acts 26, Paul before Agrippa makes public what had hitherto been unproclaimed, namely, that at his conversion, the Lord had spoken of THE PRISON MINISTRY OF PAUL, and his two-fold ministry. We can quite understand the untimeliness of directly speaking of this second ministry until the first was finished; but in Acts 20, Paul is already bound in spirit. Later in Acts 26 he is literally bound in fact, and he is soon to embark for Rome. Then when he could speak in Rome, He recounts how when on the Damascus Road 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). Then came ‘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 [til now], and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people [Israel], and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee’ (Acts 26:14-17). The words ‘these things’ and ‘those things’ indicate a difference, ‘both’ speaks of two; ‘I will appear’ speaks of a future revelation. Reference is made to Paul’s ‘prison ministry’ in no uncertain terms in his epistles that are written after Israel was set aside in Acts 28:28. Let’s now look at Ephesians, Paul’s important first Post-Acts epistle.

“For you Gentiles”

“For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:” Ephesians 3:1-2 (KJV)

“Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; ²⁶  Even the mystery [secret] which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: ²⁷  To whom 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 [heavenly, 3:1, 4] glory:” Colossians 1:25-27 (KJV)

The last recorded statement of Paul in Acts on the question of his imprisonment was to the effect that he was bound with a chain for the HOPE OF ISRAEL (Acts 28:20) – before the fall of Israel was sealed in Acts 28:28. Now note that the same prisoner (Paul), bound by the same chain in the same prison now binds him for the “hope of the GENTILES”.

Continuing in Ephesians 3:2, 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”. Note that Acts 20:24 spoke of Paul’s second ministry as “the gospel of the GRACE of God”. It is fitting that such should be the gospel of the dispensation so named as ‘Grace’. The apostle, however, has not reached his point. Paul is a “prisoner FOR YOU GENTILES” (3:1); his stewardship is TO YOU GENTILES, and now he adds, “How that by revelation He [Jesus] made known unto me” MY PRISON MINISTRY.

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’.

Then 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 am made a minister’. Notice the personal emphasis, not merely ‘I’, but “I Paul …” ‘not ‘we’, including Timothy, as in verse 1. Notice also Colossians 1:24-27:

‘Who now rejoice in my sufferings FOR YOU, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His BODY’S sake, which is THE CHURCH: whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for YOU, to fulfil (complete) the word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in (among) you, the hope of [eternal] glory’.

“The mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds” (Col. 4:3).

One other epistle is written from prison, namely, 2 Timothy:

“Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner’. ‘Onesiphorus ... oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain”( 2 Tim. 1:8,16).
“... my gospel: wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds” (2 Tim. 2:8,9).
“At my first answer (defence) no man stood with me ... (notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me); that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the GENTILES might hear” (2 Tim. 4:16-17).

This chapter contains the answer to the wish expressed when, bound in the spirit, when Paul was finishing his first ministry during the Acts period (Acts 20:24) and approaching his second ministry. There, of the first he said, ‘that I may finish my course’ (cf. Acts 20:24); but here in 2Tim. 4:7 he says, I HAVE finished my course’.