The Prison of Freedom

by Don Hatfield

then said to me, “How is it that I feel closer to you than to many I have known a lifetime? He then answered his own question, “Tychicus, we who are believers all were strangers, foreigners, we have been living in a world created by God without the right of being citizens but now we have all been made members of His household. We are blood relatives. We became related because of His blood. There is the bond Tychicus, the shed blood of our Savior, thus we are being molded into a building.” Paul then said wait just a second let me write this down also, “In whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto a holy temple in the Lord. In whom ye also are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit. Do you see what I have written here Tychicus? God the Father has sent His Son to unite His children into one building. This temple not only consists of you and me but it also consists of the apostles, prophets, all the men and women who have come to know their creator and redeemer through the ages. Tychicus, Jesus is the cornerstone of the holy temple that God is building. What is the glue that holds the temple together Tychicus? I said, “I am not sure” and then as I was looking down at the words that Paul had written I saw it and with another loud, “Amen”, I said, “It is His Spirit that is the glue. God the Father is the builder, Jesus is the cornerstone and the Spirit is the glue. Amen, Amen” at this Paul also had to join in with his “Amen.” Then we promptly heard, “I said quiet down.” We both looked at each and other and just quietly smiled. It was almost dark in the cell anyway so we both went to our straw mats and laid down. I fell asleep and dreamed of a large building where there was plenty of food, plenty of water, and plenty of Amen’s”

  Day Four

  We awoke to a gloomy, rainy day. It was pouring the rain down outside and our only window let little light in even when the sun was shining. We both went to our prayer corners to commune with our Savior. I must admit that I was a little depressed because it looked as if we would not be able to see well enough to do any writing. I did pray and ask God if He could stop the rain and let the sun shine so that I could continue with my learning and Paul and could continue with his writing. I know what you are thinking. Did I really expect God to stop the rain just so I could continue what I had come to believe were my lessons. I did not know, I only knew that I wanted to continue to learn. After we were done praying it began to rain even harder and became even darker and gloomier. We both set there in our silence until we heard the guard approaching with our food for the day. This was a new guard one that we had never seen before. He handed us our food and water and then said stay here and I will be right back. Glory to God! He came back holding a lit candle in his hand and he had several more in his other hand. He told us his name was Lucius and that he had been there on the day of Pentecost when Peter preached to the people. He said that on that day he had accepted Christ as his Savior. We rejoiced with him for a few minutes and he told us that the only reason he was here today was that both of the other guards had gotten sick with the flu. After he left we both sat down at the table with the candle lighting our way. I began to think how amazing our Father was. He knew it was going to rain, He knew that the other guards would not give us candles. He knew that Paul wanted to finish his letter, He knew that I wanted to continue learning. He knew that I would pray for the rain to stop. Did I feel foolish? Actually, no, I did not for I learned that even when we pray and miss the mark that God looks at the heart. He is interested in our praying and coming to Him. He is able to correct our mistakes but we must do our part and come to Him. Paul interrupted me and said, “Tychicus let us get started”, he then began to write.” For this cause I Paul the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. If we have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given to me to you-ward.” Paul said to me, “I am a prisoner Tychicus, not a prisoner in this cell but a prisoner of Jesus for you and all the Gentiles. I am in bonds; I have been called by God to explain to you the Gentiles the mystery of God.” Paul then wrote these words while speaking to me, “How that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery (as I wrote afore in a few words whereby when we read ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.) Tychicus, I wrote those words on this page as a sort of introduction as to what I am going to say. I want my Gentile brothers in Ephesus to know that what I am writing to them was given to me by God. I give to you and to them this assurance so that you may not waiver when confronted with those Jews who tell you that you are not heirs with us in his Kingdom.” I did know that most of the time when I was around Jewish people that they usually would only speak in their tongue unless we were doing some kind of business together. I also knew that I, a Gentile, was not allowed to enter their synagogues so I was anxious to see what Paul was going to write next.

  Next discussion, our first candle was burning a little low so we lit another one and Paul leaned over to begin writing again. With the light so dim Paul had to lean very close to the paper. I know that his eyes were straining with every word. His next words were words of beauty for me, a Gentile, as I watched him write them, “Which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakes of His promise in Christ by the gospel.” As I read these words my heart rejoiced in them. I had heard of a few Gentiles that had embraced the Jewish religion but not many. I had come to realize through the teachings of Paul that the Jews had failed to follow God and in failing to follow Him had failed to lead us to Him. I also had come to understand that we still did not have any excuse for not coming to know Him because as Paul had told me creation speaks every day of His existence. Paul had told me just before we went to sleep last night that if a man or woman would respond to God’s creation then God would do His part in revealing Himself to that person. My mind then came back to the words Paul was writing and the glorious truth of them. “Now in Christ Jesus we who were apart from the covenant of God had been made partakers of the glad tidings of salvation of through Him.” We were heirs, we were of the same body as those who were to receive the blessings of God. Yes, my heart rejoiced as I read these words. What Paul wrote next touched me even more for it revealed a little more of what God had put in Paul’s heart. He wrote the following, “Whereof I was made a minister according to the gift of grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power. Unto me who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” I stopped Paul after he wrote these words and asked him about them and what they meant to him. Paul replied with these words, “My young brother when I met Jesus on that road to Damascus he not only saved me but He gave me a charge as the servant of the King. As this gift was given to me, this gift of grace, and this gift of His merciful kindness. He charged me and said as it was given to me that I should give it to you the Gentiles. Tychicus, He gave this charge to me the lowest of the saints, the one who wanted to persecute all who would believe in Jesus. He granted to me the privilege of bringing these good tidings to the Gentiles.” Paul then began to tear up and said, “Tychicus, He granted me the privilege to preach the unsearchable riches in Christ. He granted to me the privilege to preach of the wealth in Jesus that can never be completely comprehended or searched out. I will never understand it and I will never comprehend why He chose me.” Paul stopped and got up and walked over to the window where the rain was pouring down. He stuck his hands out through the bars and let the rain fall on them. “Living water, Tychicus, Jesus is the living water. This rain will stop but His grace will remain forever, ever flowing to Jews and Gentiles alike. I need to write something down that just came to me.” Paul then sat back down and began to write these words, “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery. This is why I write to the Ephesians Tychicus so that they may know and share what has been there all the time. What from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God who created all things in Christ Jesus?” Paul began to write again, “To the intent that
now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God. It was hidden but now is revealed to us that all things were created through Jesus Christ. Tychicus, all His children must know that everything is summed up in Christ Jesus. He is the end of the law, He is the end of the sacrifices, He is the beginning and the end and we are in Him.” Paul looked down and wrote very rapidly, “According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord”, and then he said, “Do you see it Tychicus? Christ is the purpose, Christ is the Alpha, and He is the Omega. This was planned for us through the Father, performed by the Son, sealed by His indwelling Spirit. All we did to inherit all of this was come to know the one who always was. It is glorious is it not?” We both stopped at this and sat down to let these words sink in. I think that we both began to realize that the words that Paul was writing would have a lot more meaning than just being a letter to