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That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother who is one of you. So he's one of the Colossians living with Paul and Rome. They will make known to you the things which are happening here. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner greets you with Mark the cousin of Barnabas about whom you received instructions.
If he comes to you, welcome him. And Jesus, who is called Justice. These are my only fellow workers for the Kingdom of God who are of this circumcision. That is, they are Jewish.
They have proved to be of comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, also greets you, etc. So there are leaders of the Christian church. There are leaders from the synagogues in Rome who are coming to Paul. When I say synagogues, history tells us there were between seven and twelve Jewish synagogues at the time Paul was imprisoned in Rome.
So imagine leaders from all of those synagogues coming to hear Paul. Now, it says, morning until evening. This is an incredibly exciting Bible study, but it's not an hour.
It's not an hour with coffee in Solomon's porch and food trucks afterwards. It's all day long, according to the Jewish tradition, about a ten to twelve hour learning day. Where Paul could expound, they could pepper him with questions. He could answer the questions.
They could ask, and it was this back and forth dialogue, and you present arguments and conclusions. So Paul did that. Incredible Bible study.
Don't you wish you were a fly on that wall? As Paul explained to them and persuaded them about this Jesus, finally gets his wish. He's in Rome. Man, he's talking to the Jewish leaders in Rome.
What was the result? And some were persuaded, hallelujah, by the things which were spoken and some disbelieved. First off, I want you to consider something. You have a home. You're not chained to it, although some of you might feel you are. You're chained to that mortgage, man.
You're chained to raising those kids in that home. But have you ever thought that your home could become a base of operations to spread the kingdom of God? Your home could be. Your connect group in your home could be.
In your neighborhood could be. James Stocker, who wrote comments on the book of Acts, said, Paul's prison became the fulcrum from which he moved the world. He couldn't move freely, so he moved freely in the hearts of the men and women who heard his dialogue and his explanation. And some believed and some did not.
Some were persuaded by the things which were spoken and some disbelieved. Now, don't expect much more than that. In fact, expect that. Some will reject. Some will respond. Your attitude is to rejoice. Rejoice in those who respond.
Because not all respond to you. This is Paul the Apostle, man. Eight to ten to twelve hours with Paul, you think everybody's going to believe. No, they won't. Some will. Some won't.
In fact, most won't. Jesus gave a parable that you could even see as a model for evangelism. He talked about a sower who went out to sow seed.
He said 25% of the people who hear the word of God in that little parable, 25%, a full one-fourth, reject it out of hand immediately. I'm not going to listen to that. That's stupid. That's nonsense. That's religion.
You can't ever know that stuff for certain. They just reject it immediately. They fall on the hard soil. Birds of the air snatch it up. 50% respond, but only temporarily. They respond because they feel good.
It's an emotional high, but they don't last very long. Others respond, but the trials and cares of this life kind of move all that away. According to Jesus, only 25% really hear and believe and are converted.
Of that 25%, they don't all bear fruit incredibly, some 30%, some 60%, some 100-fold. Given that and given what Paul experienced, some will just reject immediately. Others will respond eventually, make sure that you rejoice certainly for all that God has done. Don't worry about those who reject.
Just rejoice in those who receive and respond. That was Paul's experience in Rome, as it was everywhere else. So, when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word, and you'll understand why they left after this.
This was the close. He said, The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, the Jewish fathers, saying, Go to this people. And he meant the people of Israel. Go to this people and say, Hearing, you will hear and not understand. Seeing, you will see and not perceive. For the hearts of this people have grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing. And their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that eyes should heal them. Therefore, let it be known to you that salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it.
And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves. Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house and received all who came to him. Paul was chained to a guard, as I said, but that's really not the best way to look at it. The guards were chained to Paul. Yeah, see, just imagine you can't escape, man.
This is my duty. I've got six hours with this dude, and he won't shut up. And he keeps talking about this Christ dude all the time. So they're stuck next to him.
Now the guards that guarded him were the Praetorian guards, the palace guards, the elite bodyguards of the emperor himself. Because when he writes to the church at Philippi, this is Philippians chapter 1, he says this, I want you to know, brethren, he's writing from Rome to the church at Philippi. I want you to know, brethren, that the things which have happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. You see, they're in Philippi going, oh, man, our best player on the field, Paul, is in the dugout. He's incarcerated. He's in jail. The guy who saw the most fruit is bound.
What a bummer. He goes, well, I want you to know something. Things that have happened to me have actually furthered the gospel, not hindered the gospel. So that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, the Praetorian guard is the translation, and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ.
Hmm, what could he mean by that? Well, when we get to the last chapter of Philippians, Philippians chapter 4, and I'm flipping to Philippians chapter 4, he closes the book by saying, now to our God and Father, be glory forever and ever, amen. Greet every saint in Christ, Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you, and the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar's household.
Did you get that? The saints greet you, but especially those, those who? Those saints, those believers who are of Caesar's household, which means they're listening to Paul the apostle chained to him, and many of those guards were praying to receive Christ. That's why Paul said, the word of God is not chained, it's not bound, he said to the Colossians when he wrote from Rome. I might be bound, but the word of God isn't bound.
You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, God desires to work in and through your life as a believer, and he does this through the Holy Spirit who lives in everyone who places their trust in Jesus. We want to help you better understand the Holy Spirit by sending you The Holy Spirit Then and Now, a resource featuring two books by Chuck Smith. The book of Acts commentary, Empower, a biblical balance on the person and work of the Holy Spirit, with an introduction by Skip Heitzig. This resource is our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give at least $50 today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. And I want you to know the things that have happened to me, Philippians, have furthered the gospel.
How? Well, these guys that are chained next to me are praying to receive Christ. So I'm imagining a guard who gets really interested in the things of Paul and and what he's preaching about. And now his six hour shift is over. So the next guy comes in, he says, Hey, do you mind? Can I take your shift for you?
He's just getting into something really cool. And I don't want to miss what he's going to say next. So I'll take your shift. No problem.
I just love to do go home with your family. F.B. Meyer, somebody I've greatly admired for many years, and I have a number of his books, says this. At times, the hired room where Paul was would be thronged with people to whom the apostles spoke the words of life. But after they withdrew, the sentry, the guard, would sit beside him filled with many questions as to the meaning of the words which this strange prisoner spoke. At other times, especially at night, soldiers and the apostle would be left to talk. And in those dark, lonely hours, the apostle would tell soldier after soldier of his own proud career and early life, of his opposition to Christ and of his ultimate conversion. And would make it clear that he was there as a prisoner, not for any crime, not because he raised a rebellion or revolt, but because he believed that he, whom the Roman soldiers had crucified under Pilate, was the son of God and was the savior of men.
So the result? Caesar's household. Those guys, those fellows chained to Paul were coming to know Christ.
So Paul, verse 30, almost done with the book, verse 30, Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house and received all those who came to him. So Paul is in prison in Rome for two years. He had been in Caesarea in prison for two years. The last four years of his life, it's all jail time.
But here's what I want you to go away with. The longest period of Paul's incarceration, listen, was the greatest period of Paul's impact. The longest period of Paul's incarceration was the greatest period of Paul's impact. God's assignment was his confinement. That's what God assigned for Paul. Paul, my will is for you to go to jail. You say, well, how could that be God's will?
I'll answer that by four words. Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon. Those four books of the Bible are given to us while he was in prison. Roman guards came to know Christ. Strengthening of leaders came because Paul was there. The prison became the pulpit from which he shared the truth that transformed the world.
Two years in his own rented house. Now, the last letter that Paul ever wrote before his death was 2 Timothy. I'm just going to read a verse. I have one verse to read in Acts.
We're almost done. But he said in 2 Timothy, something that I just mentioned to you. This is chapter 2 of 2 Timothy, verse 9. He speaks of the gospel for which I suffer trouble as an evil doer, even to the point of chains. There he mentions it again. He likes to talk about those chains. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore, I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
Here's what I want you to see. Paul saw everything in his life as an opportunity, even jail. I mentioned some of you feel like you're incarcerated, jailed to your own home. You go, man, I got all these kids at home and I'm a housewife and I have to raise kids and pick up kids and take them to soccer. I'm chained to this.
You feel chained to your job, chained to a career. Do you think Susanna Wesley, a woman who had 19 children, felt incarcerated, jailed? I'm sure she felt that way. But because of her imprisonment raising 19 children, two of them she raised were John Wesley and Charles Wesley. And they rocked the British Isles with the gospel. Great incarceration, great impact. Martin Luther sort of incarcerated.
He was kept sequestered for about a year or so in the Wartburg Castle, from which he translated the New Testament into German. Great impact. John Bunyan incarcerated in the Bedford jail. He wrote Pilgrim's Progress.
Great impact. So don't think that the Word of God is chained no matter how confined you feel. Now we close the book.
Verse 31, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding Him. Now that's weird. The book ends weird. It's not a normal, it's an abrupt ending. It's so abrupt that some scholars think the last paragraph may be missing.
I don't believe so. Others have thought, maybe there's another chapter somewhere, because that's just a weird way to end it. And here's why. It's the book that has no ending. God is still acting. The book of Acts is not ended. There's chapter 29 and 30, and 31 and 32, and we're part of the acts of the Holy Spirit in this generation. It's a book that has no ending, and you're part of the story.
And I love, I think it's by design of the Holy Spirit that we end and we go, well, that's it? Well, that's it for now. You know what happened after the two years? It doesn't say. The book ends.
What happens? Two scholars, Clement, who wrote in the 80s, not the 1980s, I mean the 80s, and Eusebius from Caesarea, both church fathers, both historians, both said that Paul was released after two years of imprisonment in Rome by Caesar Nero. He was released for a year. We don't know what happened to him, but I'm going to give you quickly a sketch of what I think happened to Paul. I think, first of all, he went to Colossae, and he met with Philemon to just reconcile he and the slave Onesimus that had run away, he wrote about in his book, to Philemon. Because when he writes Philemon from the prison in Rome, he says, prepare a guest room for me when I come.
I think he went there. And then after Colossae, he went down to Crete, where he had told Titus, make sure that you raise up elders in every city, church leadership, probably to shore that up. Then he probably headed to Ephesus to meet with Timothy one final time. Because from there, he would have scooted up the coast, not far, to the area of Troas. Troas was the place where he got the vision of the man from Macedonia, saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. And it's in Troas, history tells us, that he was re-arrested and taken back to Rome, to stand a second trial before Caesar Nero. And the last words we have of the Apostle Paul are these.
They're familiar. Let me just read a portion to you. I know it's overtime by five minutes. I'm sorry, but I'm almost done. He said this, I'm already being poured out as a drink offering. The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight.
I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, not only to me, but all those who have loved his appearing. Those are among the last words penned by the Apostle Paul.
What happened to him? He was taken, history records, from the Mamertine prison. And when you go to Rome, make sure you go to the Mamertine prison. It's funny, the Mamertine prison is where Paul spent his final days. His second incarceration, it's a hole in the ground from which he was fed food. He saw no light.
It's a cold, dark place. What's funny is there are lines of people that want to see the Vatican, and almost nobody goes to the Mamertine. For me, the Mamertine is far more exciting than the Vatican, because Paul spent his last days there. He was taken from the Mamertine, taken just a few yards away in the forum to the Basilica Julia, built by Julius Caesar. Standing before Nero, he heard the death sentence read. Then he was taken out on the Appian Way, and they severed his head from his body.
He went in that instant from the imperial city to the eternal city. And a crown that was laid up for him, a crown of righteousness, was given to the Apostle Paul. So Paul had quite a life, didn't he?
Never a dull moment. Chased at Jerusalem, chased out of Damascus, stoned at Lystra, scoffed at in Athens, mocked in Caesarea and Jerusalem, and then taken to Rome. Paul spoke about his chains. Paul spoke about his trials. He spoke about his scars. Now let me leave you with this. Amy Carmichael was a missionary from Ireland to India, saw a lot of suffering, and she suffered a lot herself.
And she wrote a poem. I want you just to consider this. It's called, Hast Thou No Scar? Hast thou no scar, no hidden scar on foot or side or hand? I hear thee sung as mighty in the land.
I hear them hail thy bright, ascendant star. Hast thou no scar? Hast thou no wound? Yet I was wounded by the archers spent.
Lean me against a tree to die and rent. By ravenous wolves, encompass me, I swooned. Hast thou no wound, no wound, no scar? Yet as the master shall the servant be, and pierced are the feet that follow me, but thine are whole.
Can he have followed far who has no wound or scar? You see, the longer you walk with Jesus, you go through trials, scars, pain, suffering, all to shape you and mold you and prove that you belong to the scarred one, the one who himself went through trials and buffeting and sorrows. So none of this weird theology, if you're a child of the king, you'll never suffer. If you're a child of the king, you will suffer, like you're a king suffered. In fact, Paul said, I fill up the sufferings of Christ in my own body. And I look back on some of my scars and some of my trials, and I have to tell you, I hated it then, but I look back and go, thank you, Jesus. Man, I learned a lot from that one.
I chalk that up to yes. Finally, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, our righteous judge, will give to me on that day. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resource that will help you understand the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
Our two-book bundle, The Holy Spirit Then and Now, with two books by Chuck Smith, is our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copy when you give $50 or more. Call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know that you can find full message series and libraries of content from Skip Heitzig on YouTube? Simply visit the Connect with Skip Heitzig channel on YouTube and be sure to subscribe to the channel so you never miss any new content. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection Make a connection At the foot of the crossing Cast all burdens on His word Make a connection Connection Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
