Day: June 13, 2024

Thursday, June 13, 2024

“Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him” (Acts 13:9 KJV).

How is the Apostle Paul connected to the pause of prophecy?

Someone will surely inquire, “Where is Jesus? Is He coming back or not? When? Does not God care about justice? Why are crime and evil still unpunished?” The Bible already answered these questions centuries ago—but gross ignorance prevails because people spend more time studying theology, denominational commentaries, and other distractions than actually reading pages of rightly divided Scripture. It is not God’s fault!

The pause in prophecy and the commencement of mystery allowed the resurrected, ascended, and glorified Lord Jesus Christ to come back to save His chief enemy in the Earth. This is the salvation of Saul of Tarsus and the commissioning of the Apostle Paul (Acts chapter 9), whose ministry has lasted 2,000 years. Never should we confuse “prophecy” (“[that] which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began;” Acts 3:21) with “mystery” (“[that] which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest;” Romans 16:25,26). To believe prophecy is still in effect now is to fail to “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

If God could and did save wicked Saul of Tarsus (His chief enemy!), and place him into the Church the Body of Christ, He can and still is saving sinners and putting them into the Body of Christ. This Christ-rejecting world has never deserved grace and will never deserve it—but, through Calvary, God has temporarily granted all people a chance to come by faith in Christ before His wrath does fall. Maybe, just maybe, like Saul so long ago, some of those self-righteous sinners will realize their lost estate and trust Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour too (see 1 Timothy 1:12-16). Surely, this “Gospel of the Grace of God” (Acts 20:24)—Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3,4)—is beyond human comprehension. Yet, as long as it is preached, as long as Paul’s apostleship continues, there is a pause of prophecy. In God’s own timing, He will stop mystery altogether and resume prophecy.