Focus: Captured By Christ

Text: Phil.3:12

"But I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I AM APPREHENDED OF CHRIST JESUS."

Paul says, "I am apprehended of Christ." The word 'apprehended' is 'katalambano' in the Greek. It literally means 'to hold down or to completely lay hold on.' It is used in John 1:5, of light overpowering darkness. Paul is conquered by Christ, overpowered and de-powered by the power of Christ. Christ makes him His captive; His own choice possession. He is under arrest for a divine mission. On the Damascus Road Christ arrested him, disarmed, de-powered, dispossessed and possessed him at the same time. He has suffered defeat in the hands of Christ for his own good and for God's glory. He is now captured, seized and captivated by Christ. Christ has the mastery of Paul. Christ has a grip on him. He is captured, captivated, called, chosen, cleansed, commissioned, consecrated, consumed with thoughts of Christ, concentrated on Christ, Christ-centered in everything, committed to the cause of Christ, and controlled by Christ.

Let's go through some Scriptures and see the dimensions of Paul's separated-ness and belongingness to Christ. When Christ captured Paul, he tells Ananias, "Go thy way: for he is a CHOSEN VESSEL unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel" (Act.9:15). He is Christ's CHOSEN vessel - called and chosen by God.

Christ says to Paul, "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, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee" (Act.26:16). Paul is Christ's MINISTER and WITNESS, and the word 'minister' is huperetes in the Greek, meaning 'an under rower.'

Paul says of himself, "That I should be the MINISTER of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, MINISTERING the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost" (Rom.15:16). The word 'minister' is used severally for Paul, and with different Greek words. Here in Romans, they are the words, 'leitourgos' and 'hierourgeo'. In Eph.3:7 and Col.1:23,25, it is the word, 'diakonos'. In Rom.1:1, it is the word, 'doulos' for a bondslave. It is more than a servant. In fact, Paul introduces himself in Rom.1:1 as "Paul, a SERVANT of Jesus Christ, CALLED to be an APOSTLE, SEPARATED unto the gospel of God." The word 'separated' is 'aphorizo' in the Greek. Literally, it means 'off-horizoned.' That means that by reason of God's call upon his life, he now belongs to a new horizon or to the sacred space of God. He is in the world, but not of the world. He stands on God's holy ground. God has apprehended him to be His bondslave, and he has accepted it with all joy. In 1Cor.9:19, he says, "For though I be free from all men, YET HAVE I MADE MYSELF SERVANT UNTO ALL, that I might gain the more." God made him His own slave, and he makes himself the slave of all, and he has nothing to lose for that. Rather, he gains the more. In Tit.1:1 and 2Cor.4:5, he introduces himself again, "Paul, a SERVANT of God, and an APOSTLE of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness." He is a slave of God before he is the slave of men. In other words, he is only the a slave of men for Christ's sake. He is willing to pay any price for Christ's sake. He makes sacrifices in the interest of Christ and His grand purpose. His capture is connected to purpose. His arrest is due to a holy assignment.

In 1Tim.2:7 and 2Tim.1:11 he says, "Whereunto I am ordained a PREACHER, and an APOSTLE, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a TEACHER of the Gentiles in faith and verity." This man Paul is totally captured by Christ. He is Christ's called, chosen, minister, servant, preacher, teacher, and apostle. His calling is multifaceted, and by reason of his spiritual flexibility and availability he is made a versatile minister.

In 1Cor.3:10, he says, "According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a WISE MASTERBUILDER, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon." Paul is also Christ's architect and construction engineer. He has the divine blueprint on Christ's church. Just like God gave Moses the pattern for the tabernacle, and David, a pattern for the temple, even so did God give Paul a pattern for the church. Paul is a man so versatile and deep in spiritual matters - a man of deep revelations of the Spirit. He understands the heartbeat of God and the mission of the church on earth.

God did not just call him, but also set him apart for a divine assignment. He says, "But when it pleased God, who SEPARATED me from my mother's womb, and CALLED me by his grace" (Gal.1:15). He is called and qualified by grace. Before he entered the world from the mother's womb, God had already marked him out and encircled him. Everywhere he goes with the gospel of Jesus Christ, he feels fully led by the Spirit to do so, for he says, "…assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them" (Act.16:10).

He is so certain of God's call and mandate upon his life. He says, "Paul, a SERVANT of Jesus Christ, CALLED to be an APOSTLE, SEPARATED unto the gospel of God… Paul, CALLED to be an APOSTLE of Jesus Christ through the WILL OF GOD…" (Rom.1:1; 1Cor.1:1). Paul is called by God, not by man, and as John Piper would say, "The call of God does what the call of man cannot. It raises the dead."

Paul does nothing for Christ out of necessity or because he has to. He is passionate about what God is passionate about. He burns with zeal for the Lord, and all he does is informed by the will of God. He is constantly propelled by the will of God. His passion is fueled by the will of God, and he is never disobedient to the heavenly vision. He says, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the WILL of God" (2Cor.1:1; Eph.1:1; Col.1:1; 2Tim.1:1).

From the inception of his call into the ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ said, "For I will shew him how great things he must SUFFER for my name's sake" (Act.9:16). Suffering is built into his calling, and it goes to show that ministry is not bread and butter and the kingdom of God is neither meat nor drink. He suffers for Christ, not for being stupid or unprincipled, but for being sold out for Christ. He says, "For this cause I Paul, the PRISONER of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles… I therefore, the PRISONER of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called" (Eph.3:1; 4:1).

His job description includes: "To OPEN their eyes, and to TURN them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me" (Act.26:18). His vision is clear. His path is cut out for him. His assignment is well defined.

You can be another Paul today. I am crying out; let all the 'Pauls' arise. A man of vision and passion. A man of power and purity. A man of perspective and perspicacity. A man of persistence and perseverance. A man of purpose and pursuit. A man whose ministry is people-oriented and Christ-centered. A man totally captured and captivated by Christ Jesus, and a man wholly sold out to God in all things.

Paul took God personal. He says, "My God," "My gospel," "My ministry," "My manner of life," "My life," "My course," "My journey," "My fathers," "My nation," "My prayers," "My ways in Christ," "My service," "My preaching," "My work in the Lord," and the list goes on. I never forget Martin Luther saying that "Christianity is a word of personal pronoun," and that is exactly what it was for Paul, and that is exactly what it should be for all of us. He is 'my God' before He is 'our God.' Be another Paul today - captured by Christ!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter