Tag: Paul

Beyond Acts 28

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After Acts 28

The Bible doesn’t tell us about Paul being released and what happened next, but from the writings of early Christian leaders it seems quite certain that Paul was released and was able to visit his “sons” in Colossae and his thousands of other children. But he was back in Rome again when Emperor Nero was inspired by Satan to try and kill off all the Christians there.

In 64 A.D. there was a long dry spell and a terrible fire burned a large section of the city of Rome. Accusations spread that Emperor Nero himself was responsible for the fire because it cleared the land for him to build himself a large, new palace. So Nero looked for someone else to blame and he decided to pick on the Christians.21  He publicly accused the Christians and had them arrested and killed. Thousands of them died terrible deaths at the hand of this ambassador of Satan.

It is reported that the Apostle Peter was sentenced to death by crucifixion, and that he complained that he was not worthy to die in the same way as his Glorious Lord, and that after some debate the soldiers agreed to crucify him upside down – feet up, head down.

It is reported that Paul was killed by having his head chopped off.

It is known that Nero killed thousands of Christians though public execution. He had some tied to poles at night and burned to death as lamps to provide light to his palace grounds. There was a stadium in Rome that could seat 250,000 people.22  Christians were brought there to be killed as sport. When one way of killing them became boring (gladiators, crucifixion), they found other ways to kill them – as a meal for lions, tigers and leopards. Then, when they realized these animals killed too quickly, they brought in other animals to give a better show, like bears, crocodiles and wolves who took their time at it. People had a sickening lust for violence.

Thousands of Christians were killed in this way. This would have been the end of Christianity if Christianity was just another man-made religion. But the Gospel is mighty; it is the force of the Kingdom of God. For every Christian shamed and killed, thousands of unbelievers witnessed their strength, joy, and “shalom” that could never be forgotten. These Christians in their intense pain were singing and praising their Saviour. The light of heaven shined on their faces and those who watched were convicted of their sin and separation from God. People turned to Christ, at the risk of their lives, faster than the emperor could kill them off. Nero was followed by other emperors who continued the attempt to wipe out Christianity. But they were powerless against the Kingdom of God and the Mighty, Mysterious Gospel. The spread of Christianity could not be stopped! It is still moving forward and will continue to do so until our King returns.

Gospel Dynamite in Rome

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Paul in Rome

Paul thought of Rome as merely a “Launch Out” place for evangelism further away. But instead, God wanted Paul to spend a couple of years concentrating on reaching this huge city with its population of 1,000,000 (one million) people from all over the world.

Paul had so much physical energy. He walked thousands of kilometres to bring the gospel to new places and to follow up on all the churches he helped establish. But God allowed him to be locked up in Jerusalem (and Caesarea) for two years, and then be locked up in Rome for two more. He was like a mighty lion locked up in a zoo. He mentions his imprisonment 5 times in his little letter to Philemon. He wanted to get out and get back to work. But again, God knows better than we do.

Rather than sit and complain about his circumstances, Paul made his house a powerhouse of prayer. He gathered likeminded men who had the same commitment and energy for the Gospel. Their door was always open, and our friend, Onesimus, was just one of an unknown number who were transformed at Gospel H.Q. (Acts 28:30-31). Paul came to see that his imprisonment was being used by God to do things beyond what anyone expected.

“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). There were even believers in the Palace of Caesar himself! “And all the rest of God’s people send you greetings, too, especially those in Caesar’s household.” (Philippians 4:22).

The Gospel in Rome Before Paul Arrived

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Setting: Rome

Rome was genuinely the centre of the ancient world. Many kingdoms have risen and fallen, but Rome dominated the then known world for longer than any other nation.

This is a brief history of the impact of the other-worldly message, the Mystery of the Gospel in the great city of Rome.

The Gospel in Rome before Paul arrived

There were an estimated 50,000 or more Jews living in the city of Rome during the time of Jesus and the book of Acts. There were Jewish schools and synagogues and they sought to follow the laws of the Old Testament. It is therefore very reasonable to believe that Jews from Rome were in Jerusalem attending Passover (their most cherished celebration) at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. Some of those would have stayed on longer and were there the following month for the big feast of Pentecost. Indeed, we know for a fact that a group from Rome were there and heard Peter’s sermon on Pentecost, there were “visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism)” Acts 2:10. This was the start of the Gospel activity in Rome. These visitors to Jerusalem brought the news, the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ back with them to the capital of the World.

Paul wrote a long letter to the Christians in Rome (Romans) about 4 years before he arrived there himself. There were already a fair number of Christians there, some Jews and some Gentiles. He was planning to visit them and have some time there before he went further west to Spain (Romans 15:20-24). He was looking forward to assisting them spiritually and being helped by them physically as a partnership in the “Gospel in Action”. Things didn’t go quite as Paul planned, though. He was arrested and imprisoned in Jerusalem for two long years and then taken as a prisoner to Rome (Romans 15:25-29, Acts 21:15-36; 24:7; 27-28).

At the end of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome he greets, by name, 27 Christians, and refers to many more as members of the church and family members of the ones he names (16:5, 10, 11, 14, 15).

Some of these men and women were gospel VIPs. There was a prominent married couple, Priscilla and Aquila, who were powerful leaders (Romans 16:3-5; Acts 18:1-3,18,26) and who catered for a church in their home. There was Epenetus, a very early believer in Christ (16:5), and another married couple, Andronicus and Junia, who knew the Lord before Paul did (16:7) and were highly respected by the Apostles. There was a woman, Mary, who worked hard for the Christians in Rome (16:6), and an elderly woman that Paul would have called “mama” (16:13).

This all shows that Paul had reason to believe that he wasn’t needed in Rome. He didn’t plan to spend much time there. But God’s plans were different. God knows far more than we do (Isaiah 55:8-9).

“No Worse Sinner than Me.”

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Conversation #3

Time: Onis’ 10th day at H.Q.

Setting:  Paul’s room for prayer and study.

Participants: Onis and Paul

P:  It is so good to have time to talk with you. You look like you are doing well.

O:  Sorry Sir, I am not well. My sore is better and I am almost healed, but I am in a big mess on the inside.

P:  (Patient silence)

O:  I have heard and seen so much these past 10 days. I think I understand about Jesus dying and I know he is alive and real because I see it in how all of you live and love and pray and give.

P:  Yes . . .

O:  But I am not like all of you. I am a criminal and a runaway slave. I don’t deserve your kindness and I don’t belong in your group. I think I will need to leave.

P:  Settle down, my son. You know, there is no one who ever entered the door of this house that is a worse sinner than me.

O:  No!

P:  I was a pious, self-righteous Pharisee and I proudly hunted down the first Christians and had them killed.

O:  (Gulp)

P:  I bear this grief and regret every day. But the number and severity of our sins is nothing compared to the infinite grace of God and the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus. You see, he chose to accept a most horrible, murderous death – crucifixion – so that we could be made clean. You only need to repent before him and all your sins will be forgiven.

Then the apostle and prodigal knelt together and prayed an earnest prayer.

Angels in heaven shouted and danced. Gospel H.Q. in Rome was lit up with Joy. Demas, Mark, Dr. Luke, Aristarchus, Epaphras . . . hug and call him “brother,” Paul hugs and calls him “son”.

In the days that follow, the members of Gospel H.Q. learn about Onis’ past. He informs them that his real name is Onesimus. He apologizes for leading them on, you see, his name means “useful” but in no way did he consider himself worthy of such a name. But everyone envelopes him with love and acceptance and he experiences peace and belonging like never before.

What kind of place is this?

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Setting:  A nondescript, but large, rented house: 4 bedrooms, a large sitting room. The back door leads to a courtyard bordered by a high brick wall, shade trees, stone benches for sitting and storytelling. It is a most pleasant environment.

The following four conversations took place at Gospel HQ (headquarters). Such conversations took place all the time (as in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week), but these four are most relevant to our story.

Conversation #1

Time:  Onis’ 2nd day at HQ.

Setting:  Private room, kindly given by Paul and the others to help Onis recover.

Participants:  Onis[1] and Demas.

D:  Are you resting well my friend? I hope all the noise doesn’t disturb you too much.

O:  I’m OK, but a little concerned about where I am. There are too many people coming and going. There were two soldiers at the door when I came. Are they still here?

D:  The soldiers, yes. They’re here all the time. I guess we didn’t explain. They are here to guard Paul. He is imprisoned here as a dangerous enemy of the state. (Demas chuckles).

O:  He . . . what do you mean? What has the honorable Paul done to deserve imprisonment?

D:  The Roman government is afraid of the Christian Gospel. Paul’s mission in life is to preach the gospel to every corner of the Empire. So they tried to stop him by putting him in prison.

O:  So who are all these people coming and going? What do they come here for?

D:  What else? They come to hear the gospel, repent, and become followers of Jesus. (Demas says with a wide grin).

O:  But! But! I don’t understand! Don’t the soldiers stop this criminal activity?

D:  My young friend, never, ever, ever underestimate the power of God.

“For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him, boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him.” Acts 28:30-31.

[1] We know him as Onesimus, but he didn’t want to give his full name to begin with.