Tag Archives: In chains

PAUL’S HAPPY LETTER…GODLY OPTIMISM – 4

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“And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Where was Paul when he dictated these words? He wasn’t in a comfortable house, or an inn or hotel room…with the prospect of a hot meal and a warm bed.  He was in a cold, dark dungeon, chained night and day to a Roman soldier, as if he were some dangerous criminal. 

Why was he there? He was on trial for his life because he proclaimed, in an empire controlled by a cruel and capricious dictator,  that there was another king…not Caesar…who is to be worshipped and honoured as Lord. He was at the mercy of someone who took revenge on anyone who dared to question his authority…a tyrant who had people killed in the most cruel way for daring to say that he was not God!

Paul had a mission, a mandate from Jesus, to tell the world that He, Jesus alone, is king. This commission consumed Paul’s life…occupied his thoughts…drove his ambitions and plans…and kept him steadfast despite the opposition he faced… but now he was restrained and muzzled. How could he continue to fulfil his mission when he was locked up in prison? 

There was only one way… out there, in the public space, there were many who could continue the witness of the one when the one was restricted and shut up in jail. 

Paul was only one, but he never kept quiet about Jesus. If he could not tell the world outside, he could tell the soldiers in the prison! Imagine the poor Roman guard…chained for hours to the man who never stopped talking about Jesus! 

Paul’s fellow believers caught the fire. If Paul was muzzled and restricted, they were not. If one man was imprisoned, they were free. Little did the Roman government understand that they could not put the fire out by adding fuel to the flames. 

“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” (Tertullian…197 AD)

“This famous phrase means that the persecution and execution of Christians often leads to the growth of the faith. Coined by the early church father Tertullian in ~197 AD, it suggests that the sacrifice of martyrs inspires others and helps the church multiply.” (Source:  Google AI)

What captures my attention most is that Paul’s optimism, born of a faith in God that could not be dampened or diluted by circumstances, gave him a resilience that no dark prison or threat of death could extinguish. 

Paul lived, even in the realities of his own life…including incarceration in a Roman dungeon…where he counselled others to live…in the realm outside the earth…the command centre of the universe. 

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Not even his body shut up in the darkest hole in the city of Rome could put out the fire in Paul’s heart for Jesus, nor destroy his confidence in the sovereign purposes of God. If he was there for Jesus’ sake, he was content, knowing that Jesus was in charge. 

If, in the sovereignty of God, Paul was locked up in prison, God, in His sovereignty, had also already set in motion another plan. Nothing ever took Him by surprise and…Paul knew that. God had kick-started the evangelism of Asia Minor and Europe through his chosen apostle, Paul, but His strategy didn’t end there. Lock that one person up…and release many more like him to carry the mission forward. That’s God’s strategy. Multiply!

Jesus put it into words about His own mission and, by implication, the strategy of multiplication that works in His kingdom. 

“Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” …Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬, ‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The principle is general but also specific. 

 “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

‭‭John‬ ‭12‬:‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus died, one seed, but that one seed was producing a harvest everywhere. 

To the world, Paul was already dead but…there was a harvest of new “plants” beyond the prison walls that could continue to proclaim the good news, scattering the seed of God’s word into all kinds of soil. 

The harvest was guaranteed. No earthly Ceasar, however powerful, could stop the process. So, no prison walls could dampen Paul’s joy or optimism…that the kingdom of God would spread and grow on earth. Not even Rome…not even his own imprisonment or impending death could halt God’s power at work.  Even if another seed died, the ingathering of God’s harvest was guaranteed and would never stop. 

To be continued

PARTNERS IN CIRCUMSTANCES

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Philippians 1:12-14 NIV
[12] “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. [13] As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. [14] And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.”

Paul was indomitable! How could he view his imprisonment as a good thing when being locked up in prison was close to the worst that could happen to him? How could he fulfil his ministry to the Gentiles across the whole Roman empire when he was incarcerated in jail?

Paul saw his circumstances differently. They could restrict his body but they could not shut his mouth. No matter where he was or who came in contact with him, he used the opportunity to share the message of Jesus with them and to testify to the reason for his imprisonment.

Paul’s whole life was about Jesus. He did everything in, through, and for Jesus. A prison cell was as good a place as a palace, as far as he was concerned, in which to live his life and to share his faith in Jesus.

Now, imagine the impact he would have on the Roman soldiers who were in and out of the jail every day as well as on his fellow prisoners who were near enough to hear him. Did Paul complain about the unfairness of his imprisonment? Was he angry and bitter about his circumstances? Not if we go back to the story of his imprisonment, together with Silas, recorded in Acts 16. After being treated like dangerous criminals, lockrd up and in the stocks, these two faithful ministers of Jesus sang and prayed their way through their pain.

Acts 16:23-25 NIV
[23] “After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. [24] When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. [25] About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.”

…and the outcome was miraculous!

Acts of the Apostles 16:26 NLT
[26]” Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!”

Paul’s unconquerable spirit led him to view his cell as a pulpit from which to preach the gospel of Jesus….and it worked! His story and his message spread like wildfire throughout the prison among prisoners and guards alike. And Paul was elated!

Not only was Paul’s own ministry effective where he was but other believers also, emboldened and spurred on by his example, began to share Jesus as well.

With this attitude, Paul became a partner, not an enemy, of his own circumstances. He would never allow where he was to hinder his work for the Lord. In actual fact, how would he ever have penetrated the palace itself, through the guard, with the gospel, had he not been a prisoner?

Paul embraced his circumstances with the confidence that Jesus was the Master of his life. Nothing could ever happen to him that did not pass the test of Christ’s love and His will.

In his letter to the Roman church, he penned the words that were a part of his life philosophy…

Romans 8:28 NLT
[28] “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

What an outlook to adopt in the worst of circumstances! Paul’s attitude powerfully enhanced his message. His joyful spirit was a witness to a life unfazed by hardship and difficulty because Christ was in him, providing grace and peace beyond explanation.

Paul, then, valued the parnership of his fellow believers at Philippi, both in their care and prayers for him, and the partnerdhip of the Holy Spirit through their prayers for him, but he also recognised the opportunity to partner with his circumstances. His imprisonment was enhancing, not hindering the spread of the gospel in a place he didn’t imagine possible, a jail cell in the emperor’s palace!

What if we, too, would adopt Paul’s way of viewing life? What if we used every circumstance, good or bad, as an opportunity to trust God, to advance His calling on our lives,
and to glorify Him by our faithfulness no matter what?

No only would we have a positive impact on those around us but we would also encourage others to do the same.

GLIMPSES OF PAUL – 2

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SAUL, THE ROOKIE…

Saul, proud Jew, dedicated Pharisee, committed to preserving the purity of his religious faith, on a mission to cleanse the outside world of this pernicious belief in a man who was executed on a Roman torture stake to appease the Jewish leaders.

This man, Jesus, had offended Jews by claiming to be God and Gentiles by declaring Himself to be a king. It was fitting to rid the earth of such blasphemy and treason, so they thought.

Neither group, Jew or Gentile, reckoned on what would happen next. Jesus said that He would rise again…and He did! Try as they might, the opposition could not disprove His resurrection, silence His followers, or put a lid on their testimony. The next best thing was to exterminate them!

Saul set about his task with gusto. Believing that he was helping God, he ranged far and wide, even beyond Israel, to flush out these indomitable believers and return them to Jerusalem for trial.

Then something unimaginable happened! He came face-to-face with the risen Jesus he was trying to obliterate. The proud Saul was dashed to the ground….face down in the dust before the one he was trying so hard to destroy. Jesus was not only real, He was alive…and He was in charge!

Acts of the Apostles 9:1-5 NLT
[1] “Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. [2] He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains. [3] As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. [4] He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” [5] “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!”

Saul had to bend before Him, his blind prejudice and bitter hatred smashed before this majesty. The old Saul was done for, and a new Saul, reeling from the blows to his ego, rose from the dust.

Those with him were confused. Oblivious of this exchange in the spirit realm, they could not figure out why this anti-Jesus, fire-breathing antagonist of believers, was suddenly deflated, meekly entering the city of Damascus to seek out one of the hated followers of the Way.

For three days, this intense encounter continued. No light in his eyes, no food in his belly, Saul thought…and thought…and prayed. Then enter Ananias, sent by Jesus to gather Saul into the fold.

Acts 9:17-19 NIV
[17] “Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” [18] Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, [19] and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.”

Saul’s enthusiasm for Jesus knew no boundaries. The light in his soul shone so brightly that he could not keep quiet. He set Damascus alight with the truths of the Tanach that has burst upon him.

So fierce was his onslaught on the dominion of darkness in Damascus that he became a threat to the very people he was now representing. Saul, the rookie, had some hard lessons to learn.

Acts 9:20, 22-23, 25 NIV
[20] “At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God…
[22] Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah. [23] After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him…
[25] But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.”

Next stop, Jerusalem. The gentle Barnabas was the only believer in Jerusalem who gave credit to Saul’s testimony. The other leaders of the church thought that Saul was setting up an ambush. However, Barnabas introduced Saul to the apostles, reassuring them of his credibility.

Acts 9:28-29 NIV
[28] “So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. [29] He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him.”

Once again, Saul’s new-found passion for Jesus sent him into a flurry of preaching in Jerusalem, taking on the Greek-infused Jews in the hopes of persuading them to believe in Jesus as he did.

At this point, Saul was driven by passion and enthusiasm, making him a dangerous ally to the Jerusalem church. He had yet to learn the lessons of wisdom and experience. Once again, the church had to cool him down by sending him home to Tarsus to spend time processing his new-found faith.

Acts 9:30-31 NIV
[30] “When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. [31] Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.”

With Saul out of the way, the church in Jerusalem could enjoy a season of peace and growth without interference.

How often new believers become would-be evangelists without a calling, or without the equipping that would prepare them for fruitful service. Saul’s experience as a young believer should caution us to follow God’s pattern, call… equip… send…which is a far wiser pattern for ministry than our way….call…and, very often, burn out!