The Gospel Paul Preached
Henry Edward Hayhoe
Table of Contents
THE GOSPEL PAUL PREACHED
SIX PRECIOUS REVELATIONS WHICH HE RECEIVED FROM CHRIST IN GLORY
Preface
The writer feels the exceeding importance of these precious revelations which, though given for the whole Church of God, are little known to many of the household of faith. May this brief outline lead many of the beloved saints of God to meditate upon these things, and seek grace and faithfulness to walk in the blessedness of the truth.
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable” (2 Tim. 3:16) at all times, for the moral ways of God do not alter with dispensations. But the voice of a glorified Savior is so important, revealing all the precious fruit of redemption, and with it the hidden mystery of, “Christ and the Church, which is His body”, for it is only by the apprehension of these things that the believer can walk aright, while waiting for God’s Son from heaven.
May the reader search the Scriptures, like the Bereans of old, to see if these things are so (Acts 17:11). H. E. Hayhoe
Paul’s Doctrine, Which He Received by Revelation from Christ in Glory
1St. We learn in Paul’s gospel that the believer is, “justified from all things” (Acts 13:38-39). The New Trans. shows the correct reading to be, “in Him” not “by Him” (verse 39). Paul alone teaches that the believer is, “in Christ” (See New Trans. of Rom. 6:23, also Rom. 8:1).
2nd. We learn from Paul’s ministry the truth of the, “One Body.” Christ and His Church are one. This is seen in Eph. 3:1-6 and 1 Cor. 12:12,13.
3rd. We also learn an added truth as to the Lord’s supper. Previous to Paul’s revelation, they were breaking bread, thus commemorating the Lord’s death (Acts 2:42). Now Paul gives the added blessedness of the truth that the one loaf is a symbol of our oneness with Christ. He received it, “of the Lord,” that is, by revelation (1 Cor. 10:15-17; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).
4th. We learn from Paul’s ministry the truth of, “the rapture”, that is: the coming of the Lord to receive us to Himself before the day of tribulation (See 1 Thess. 4:13-18). This is the first revelation of the Lord’s coming for us before the day of glory for Israel.
5th. We also learn from Paul’s gospel that the believer who passes through death is, “absent from the body and... present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). There was positively no revelation of this truth until Paul gave it. No Old Testament Scripture reveals this precious truth. The dying thief was the first of which we have any record, and he had it for himself only. Paul received it for the Church, that is, for all saints.
6th. Paul alone tells us that in resurrection believers will have incorruptible and immortal bodies. Added to this he also tells that our bodies will be like Christ (See 1 Cor. 15:35-54; Phil. 3:21).
It is very important to see that Paul alone gives us all the above teaching, which he received, not by reading the Old Testament, but by revelation. It was not the fulfilling of Old Testament promises, (of which Peter speaks) but NEW REVELATIONS from Christ in glory. It is all connected with our heavenly calling. Peter links the chain in 1 Peter 1, by contrasting our heavenly hope with that of Israel’s hope, but goes no further. Peter never gives the ministry committed to Paul, though he commends the teaching of Paul, and there is no doubt Peter learned it from Paul (Eph. 3:5, and 2 Peter 3:15-16).
Introductory—Paul’s Doctrine
Before entering upon the first point to be considered in Paul’s doctrine, we would call the attention of the reader to the fact that Paul is led of the Spirit to tell us in Galatians 1:11-12, the source of his gospel. “But I certify [or make known to] you, brethren, that gospel which was preached of me is not after man, for I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). But there are certain revelations peculiar to Paul’s ministry, which could not have been given until God had been glorified as to the whole question of sin, and Christ as Man glorified at His right hand.
It is important that the reader meditate upon these things, keeping in mind what Paul has said in Galatians 1:11-12. Thus we find that Paul speaks of it in Galatians 2:2 as, “that gospel which I preach,” and in Romans 2:16 he speaks of it as, “my gospel.”
In the Old Testament, God took knowledge of the sins of His people, but the root of sin which produced the evil fruit was not under judgment. Now Paul says that, “God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel” (Rom. 2:16). For this reason, Paul gives us the precious truth, revealed from heaven, that the guilt of the believer’s sin is gone, and that the believer has died in the death of Christ, so that both are gone as before God, and we are now, “in Christ.” The believer now stands before God in a life that never sinned at all. This is the meaning of “justification of life” in Romans 5:18.
Every Christian blessing is a gift. It is not attaining anything by our own efforts, but receiving all by faith. All Christian exhortation is based on what we possess. The heart of God and the grace of God is the source of every blessing.
The reader is referred to the following Scriptures in which Paul especially refers to that gospel which was committed to his trust: 1 Cor. 15:1; Col. 1:23-25; 2 Tim. 2:8. These precious revelations Paul especially committed to Timothy, as one who was faithful, and Timothy was charged to commit them to faithful men who would teach others also (2 Tim. 1:13-14, also 2 Tim. 2:2).
It is Paul’s ministry which gives to the Church that which is her special blessing as “The bride of Christ”, and it is so necessary that we apprehend this if we are to walk intelligently and faithfully in a day of ruin. Thus we wait for the coming of Christ to receive us unto Himself, before judgment falls upon this world, which has rejected the Son of God’s love.
The following three very important truths, which are characteristic of the present day of grace, should be known by all the children of God.
First: The truth of the Church as the body of Christ.
Second: Her heavenly calling, waiting for God’s Son from heaven.
Third: The presence of the Holy Spirit as a divine Person indwelling the believer (1 Cor. 6:19), and also His presence to lead the saints, when gathered in worship and in ministry (1 Cor. 14).
Since Christ and we are one,
What room for doubt or fear?
He sits upon the Father’s throne,
And we are in Him there.
The Spirit doth unite
Our souls to Him our Head,
And forms us to His image bright
While in His steps we tread.
And grace it is—free grace—
Which keeps us on the road,
Till we behold the Savior’s face,
And city of our God.
First: The Believer “Justified From All Things”
The first time we hear the inspired voice of Paul preaching is in Acts 13. In verse 39 Paul reached beyond that which had heretofore been preached, and communicated the precious truth that: “in Him [New Trans.] all that believe are justified from all things.” Paul alone teaches that the believer is “in Christ” (Rom. 8:1). Peter tells us of forgiveness of sins and coming glory, but Paul tells us that Christ is our life (Col. 3:4), that Christ is our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30), that we are “risen with Christ” (Col. 3:1), and that even now we are made to “sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6). In a future day, we shall also be “glorified together” with Him (Rom. 8:17).
Oh, what a rich revelation of present blessing and future glory! Oh, beloved reader let us rejoice in it, and walk in it. Let the truth of it illuminate our souls, and let us “hold fast,” with rejoicing of spirit, to all this marvelous unfolding of grace and abounding love, which the heart of God has revealed as His counsels toward us in Christ.
Second: The Truth of the One Body
There was no revelation of the Church as the body of Christ in the Old Testament. Israel were to be, “a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Ex. 19:6). This was God’s purpose for them. They have completely failed, and at the present moment are set aside nationally, but this purpose of God will be fulfilled, when in grace they will be brought into blessing in the Millennial day.
The Church as the body of Christ was formed at Pentecost, when by one Spirit all believers were baptized into one body (See 1 Cor. 12:12-13). The word “Church” simply means, “called out ones,” and in that sense all believers in every dispensation were “called out ones” (Acts 7:38), but when the Church is viewed as the body of Christ we must ever remember that the Church as such was formed at Pentecost. Paul received this wondrous revelation from Christ in glory (See Eph. 3:1-6). The other apostles doubtless learned it from Paul, by the Spirit.
The Spirit of God now unites every true believer to Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-13), so that any other joining of a religious party or sect has no Scriptural warrant or authority. Christ and His Church (which includes all believers) are one. “For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones” (Eph. 5:30). Oh, what a revelation of grace and love! May our hearts speak forth His praise!
Third: The Special Significance of the Lord’s Supper
Previous to Paul’s revelation, they were breaking bread, thus commemorating the Lord’s death (Acts 2:42). Now Paul gives them the added blessedness of the truth that the one loaf is a precious symbol of our oneness with Christ. He received it “of the Lord,” that is, by revelation (See 1 Cor. 10:15-17, and 1 Cor. 11:23-26). We do not remember the Lord on Saturday (the Sabbath day), for the Sabbath, which was given to Israel, is God’s pledge of rest to the Adam creation. The first day of the week (the Lord’s day) is the Christian’s day, for it is the sign of new creation and we are part of that new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). The early disciples broke bread on the first day of the week, as we learn from Acts 20:7. We might say, however, that the moment the Church is caught up to glory, then Saturday (The Sabbath) will be the day which God owns, and His people will rest on that day (See Ezek. 46:1-12).
Now, in Christianity, the middle wall of partition has been broken down, and Jew and Gentile are one in Christ (Eph. 2:13-22). All believers are now members of the body of Christ, and before the loaf is broken it symbolizes this precious glorious truth, so that we (if intelligent) do not break bread just as forgiven sinners, or even as saints, but as members of the body of Christ. After the loaf is broken it speaks to our hearts of His death. Oh, how it touches our hearts as we think of the Lord of glory in death for us!
The death of Christ is the end of our whole Adam history. Thus we break bread as new creatures in Christ Jesus, and think of the depths of divine love told out in His sufferings and death. We are now, “before Him in love.” Sweet and precious truth! Love that no tongue can tell. Love that no thought can reach. We’ll praise Him better when at home in the glory!
Fourth: The Coming of Christ for His Bride
The coming of Christ for His bride, in its proper Christian character, is only given us in Paul’s revelation. Every time the Lord’s coming is spoken of in the Old Testament it is His coming in judgment, and for the setting up of the kingdom on earth.
The first intimation of His coming in its proper Christian character (the rapture) is in John 14:1-3. Now note there is nothing said there about war, pestilence, or famine, for these things precede the Lord’s coming to earth to set up the kingdom, but they are not mentioned as preceding His coming for His heavenly saints.
Now Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 that he had received this precious truth from the Lord. These verses give us the Christian’s present hope. We wait for God’s Son from heaven, and seek, by spreading the gospel, to save sinners from the judgment that will follow His coming for His heavenly saints, and from the everlasting punishment that awaits all who have not believed the gospel.
“Christ [risen, and ascended is] the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor. 15:23). Our home is “eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1). Israel will be blessed on earth (See Isa. 62:7 and Zeph. 3:20).
May our hearts respond with true, earnest desire, “Even so, come Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).
Fifth: “Absent From the Body....Present With the Lord”
Previous to this precious revelation given by Paul, there was no Scriptural light as to the interval between death and the resurrection of the body (See 2 Tim. 1:9-10). Here Paul tells us that life and incorruptibility (New Trans.) have come to light by the gospel. These are the things Timothy was to hold fast, as having learned them of Paul (see verse 13).
The dying thief was the first believer to have the revelation of this precious truth, that to depart from this life is to be “with Christ.” This was an individual revelation for himself alone, but now Paul has given us this glorious truth in Philippians 1:23 and 2 Corinthians 5:8, for all saints. In Luke 16 the curtain is—brushed aside a little, but “Abraham’s bosom” is the figure used, and we are not told where Abraham was.
Dear Christian reader, let not any teaching rob your soul of this precious truth, now come to light by Paul’s gospel.
The resurrection of the Lord Jesus is the precious witness that all the power of Satan, through death, is gone for the believer (See Col. 2:15 and Heb. 2:14-15). Our precious Savior “tasted” death. In those awful three hours of darkness, when bearing the judgment of God. Now, blessed be His Name, we never “taste” death. Death for the Christian is being, “put to sleep by Jesus” (1 Thess. 4:14, Trans. W.K.), and while the body sleeps, the spirit is “absent from the body, and... present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). Oh, let us praise Him for such abounding grace!
Sixth: The Resurrection Body of Glory
Paul alone gives us the precious revelation that in resurrection we shall have bodies of glory like Christ (See Phil. 3:21, and 1 Cor. 15:51-54.) Those departed to be with Christ wait, in a brighter waiting room than we here on earth, the glorious resurrection morning, when “the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:16-17). Then we shall be escorted by the Lord Himself to the Father’s house, and introduced there with these words: “Behold I and the children which God hath given Me” (Heb. 2:13).
Praise shall employ these tongues of ours,
Till we with all the saints above,
Extol His Name with nobler powers,
And see the ocean of His love;
Then, while we look and wondering gaze,
We’ll fill the heavens with endless praise.