Paul's message was his personal testimony of conversion and the Lord's commission to carry the gospel to the Gentiles.
Les shows Paul rehearsing the Lord's command, 'Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.' This commission was the heart of Paul's message and the same gospel of grace he carried wherever he went.
Acts 22:21 — This verse records the Lord's explicit command that Paul take the gospel to the Gentiles — the central point of Paul's message to the Jewish crowd.
Acts 22:18 — This verse shows why Paul had to leave Jerusalem: Israel would not receive his testimony concerning Christ.
In Acts 22, Paul stood before a Jewish crowd in Jerusalem and gave his personal testimony. He described how he had persecuted believers and how the Lord spoke to him while he prayed in the temple. The Lord said, 'Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.' Paul then quoted the Lord's commission: 'Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.' At that word, the crowd listened until that word, then lifted up their voices and said, 'Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.'
Les teaches that Paul's message to the Jewish audience was a repeated testimony of his conversion and the Lord's divine commission. He emphasizes that Paul did not invent a new message; he was rehearsing what the Lord Himself had said in the temple. The Lord told Paul to leave Jerusalem because Israel would not receive his testimony, and to go far hence to the Gentiles. Les points out that this one word — 'Gentile' — threw the Jewish crowd into an uproar because of their deep-seated attitude toward Gentiles. In Les's view, this revealed that God had set Israel aside and was sending the gospel to the nations through Paul. Even Paul's later house arrest in Rome did not halt that message; the Roman guards who rotated through his house carried the gospel to the far reaches of the empire.
Les shows that the Jewish crowd listened to Paul's entire testimony without interruption. The reaction came only when Paul quoted the Lord's command, 'Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.' At that one word, 'Gentile,' the crowd went into an uproar. Les explains that this reflected the Jewish view of Gentiles as unclean and outside the promises of God. The idea that God would now send a Jewish apostle to the Gentiles was intolerable to them.
Paul's message was not an accusation against Israel. It was his testimony of what the Lord had said to him: Israel would not receive his testimony about Christ, and he was being sent to the Gentiles. Les emphasizes that this was the message Paul carried consistently — a gospel of grace for all nations, based on the fact that God had set Israel aside for the present time.
Les notes that Paul was under house arrest in Rome, chained to Roman soldiers. As those soldiers rotated out and were assigned to other parts of the empire, they took with them the gospel they had heard from Paul. Les is confident that anyone who spent time in Paul's house left a believer, and in this way the whole known world heard the plan of salvation.
Paul's Gospel of Grace: From Acts to Romans Explained
In fact, I was reading here a while back that even during those 70 years between the crucifixion and the destruction of the temple, huge sums of money would come from far ends of the Roman Empire to the temple, the tithes and offerings of the Jewish people. Rome never intercepted a dime of it. If anything, they gave it safe protection.
Why Paul's Gospel Is Different From Peter's — Acts 9 & Galatians 1
Many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death, they actually killed those Jewish believers as being heretics, they were off scouring of Judaism, and they put them to death, and Paul takes responsibility for it.
The 'Gentile' Word That Caused an Uproar
Les shows that Paul's message hit its flashpoint when he quoted the Lord saying, 'Depart, for I will send you far hence to the Gentiles' — that one word enraged the Jewish crowd.
Paul's Commission to the Gentiles
Les reads Paul's testimony of the Lord's command to leave Jerusalem and go to the Gentiles, and points out that the crowd listened until that word 'Gentile.'
God Turned From Israel to the Nations
Les explains that after Israel was set aside, Paul was sent with the gospel to bring obedience to the faith among all nations, not just Israel.
The Gospel Spread From Paul's Roman Prison
Les teaches that Paul's house arrest in Rome became a channel for the gospel, as his guards carried the message to the far reaches of the empire.
Paul Rehearses the Temple Vision
Les repeats Paul's account of the temple vision, emphasizing that the Lord told Paul to get out of Jerusalem because Israel would not receive his testimony and to go to the Gentiles.
What Is Paul's Gospel? 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Explained Verse by Verse
I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth, that is, during His earthly ministry, of course, which thing I also did in Jerusalem. And many of the saints did I shut up in prison. Now, the saints he's talking about, of course, were just simply Jewish believers who had followed Christ in His earthly ministry.
Acts 22:18: And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.
This verse records the Lord's warning to Paul that Israel would not receive his testimony, the foundation of his message to the Jews.
Acts 22:21: And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.
This is the central commission Paul repeated to the Jewish crowd — the message that God was sending him to the Gentiles.
Acts 22:22: And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.
This verse shows the reaction of the Jewish crowd when Paul mentioned the Gentiles, a key part of Les's teaching.
The core of Paul's message was his testimony that the Lord Jesus had commissioned him to leave Jerusalem and carry the gospel far hence unto the Gentiles. He rehearsed this before the Jewish crowd, and Les uses this to show that Paul's gospel was the gospel of grace for all nations.
Paul mentioned the Gentiles because that was the Lord's explicit commission to him. In the temple, the Lord said, 'Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.' This commission defined Paul's apostleship and became the foundation of his message.
Les says no. While under house arrest in Rome, Paul ministered to his Roman guards, who then carried the gospel to other parts of the empire. In this way the whole then-known world heard the plan of salvation.
Watch the Teaching: Paul's Gospel of Grace: From Acts to Romans Explained