The Apostle Paul had to be the world's greatest missionary. His journeys were courageous, productive, and often perilous. Yet Paul's distinction as a premier ambassador for Christ wasn't celebrated by everyone. His bold proclamation of the gospel earned him a spot in a cold, dark Roman dungeon. Today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl takes us into that stone cell where Paul spent his final hours.
There, in complete solitude, the renowned apostle penned his last letter, words that have echoed through the centuries as inspiration to every Christ follower. Chuck titled today's message, Shackled, Deserted, But Still Undaunted. It was the prophet Isaiah who said, As the rains come down and the snow from heaven, And return not, but water the earth and make it bring forth in bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater.
So shall my word be, which goes forth out of my mouth. It shall never. Never return void. That is empty of purpose. but it shall accomplish that for which I have sent it.
It's a great promise every time we open the Word of God to know that it will never return empty. It will accomplish the purpose for which it was given. Please turn, if you will, to several sections of Second Timothy. Second Timothy. As we conclude our study in the life and times of Paul, which has been quite a searching study, say the least.
We come to the very moving Final words that he wrote. And we'll learn about where he wrote them in a few moments and something of what he said to his friend Timothy. Let me read several sections of 2 Timothy, beginning in chapter 1, verse 1. Yeah. But Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus.
To Timothy. My beloved son, Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father. And Christ Jesus our Lord, I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience. The way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day. longing to see you even as I recalled your tears, so that I may be filled with joy.
Uh verse 15. Same chapter, you are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me. among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onisiferus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chains. But when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me.
And found me. The Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day, and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus. You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses. And trust these to faithful men.
Who will be able to teach others also? Suffer hardship with me. As a good soldier of Christ Jesus, No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one. Who enlisted him? as a soldier.
Chapter three, verse one, but realize this: that in the last days. Difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money. Boastful, arrogant revilers. Disobedient to parents, ungrateful.
Unholy Unloving Irreconcilable. Malicious gossips. without self-control. Brutal. Haters of good.
Treacherous. Reckless. conceited Lovers of pleasure Rather than Lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power, avoid. Such men as these. And finally, the first five verses of chapter four.
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom. Mm-hmm. Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled. They will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires. and will turn away their ears from the truth. And we'll turn aside. to myths.
But you be sober in all things. Endure hardship. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfilled. Your ministry.
You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into the life of the Apostle Paul on your own, be sure to purchase our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook. By going to insight.org/slash workbooks. Chuck titled today's message: Shackled, Deserted, But Still Undaunted. Most who traveled to Rome missed the most important site.
Okay. Certainly, those who are Christians who don't know where to find it. Will be disappointed when they have left and hadn't visited it. But you have to understand the place is not in any of the tourist brochures. There are no original works of art that hang in a gallery in the place.
Sculptured statues that are there to make it beautiful. In fact, it isn't beautiful at all. It's not only unattractive. There's a stench down there. It smells of thyme and Sweat and blood.
The stones are black with age. And not many can get in there. It's too small. But it's there, nevertheless. That rock-walled dungeon.
Where Paul spent his last hours. And in which he wrote the letter that today we know as 2 Timothy. Hans Finsel in his In his fine book, Empowered Leaders, writes of the dungeon in the Mamertine prison in these words. Any visitor to Rome learns immediately that Saint Peter's Church is at the center of the city's attraction. Like magnets, the Vatican.
St. Peter's Basilica and the beautiful museums that surround it draw millions to the ancient city each year. Fensel says, I visited Vatican Square, toured St. Peter's Cathedral, and spent half a day in the Vatican Museum. I was especially impressed with the works of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel.
However, What inspired me most about my visit to Rome. happened After I left those great buildings and that rich history. As impressive. As they are, there was something more special in store. Um On an obscure side street.
A few kilometers from the Vatican, there is a small building. Thought to house the prison cell where Paul spent his final days. Whether it is actually his prison cell or not is, of course, debatable. We climbed down into this cramped hole beneath the ground and spent about uh half an hour in the dark cell. It was cold.
Damp. and musty. A small grate in the ceiling. allowed a little daylight to shine through. Historians agree that Paul probably lost his life around AD 67.
When Nero ruled. As I sat on that cold stone floor, I imagined. What it must have been like for Paul in those last days. If this wasn't the exact room, it had to be just one just like it. What a way to spend your final weeks.
As we stood in the cell and talked, drinking in the story that the stones could tell if they spoke. We noticed that only a few visitors climbed down into the cell with us. This was in stark contrast to the thousands who wanted, who waited in line to enter the Vatican Museum not far away. The streets above were filled with tourists. who were flocking to Saint Peter's Cathedral.
But only occasionally did someone stop long enough. even to peer through the grate. down into the cell. I thought to myself, Here is where the man who wrote the greatest portion of the New Testament spent his last days. Greatest missionary and church planter of the first century, died here.
Wouldn't more people want to feel what it was like for him? Obviously. The answer is no. Most people visiting Rome today do not list Paul's Cell as one of their top ten tourist sites, but for me it ranked as the number one spot. in Rome.
To give the tourists the benefit of the doubt, they probably don't even know it's there. There are no big signs. No concession stands. No neon flashing notices that let you know with arrows pointing where you would find the dungeon. of the old Mamertine prison.
But it's there. Nevertheless. Paul could have set for a portrait of Isaac Watts' words penned not quite seventeen centuries later. Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease while others fought? to win the prize.
And sailed through bloody seas. Sure I must fight if I would reign. Increase my courage, Lord. I'll bear the toil, endure the pain, supported. By thy word.
It was in that stone dungeon Paul spent his final days. It was there. We're not sure whether he was put there after the trial before Nero or during the trial before Nero, but we do know this, that as a result of the trial, In one of the Roman barracks, if you listen closely, you could hear the grinding on an axe. that would be carried by the executioner Who would, in a swift moment, only hours after the decision made by the emperor. Would be swung and remove his head from his shoulders.
Paul, the greatest missionary who ever lived. That would be how he would die. Every time I open the letter we know today as Second Timothy, I often think to myself, Much of this is dungeon talk. This is dungeon talk. And when I remembered that, It helps me understand why there is such passion.
And at the same time, Such tenderness. The dungeon is dark, and it is damp, and it is cold, and he is shackled, and he has been deserted. But remember from our last study, Paul lived above his circumstances. There is not one hint of self-pity, no blame. No bitterness.
No, if I had it all to do over again, I wouldn't have. There's none of the regret. He writes straightforwardly to a man who will carry the torch beyond. His years on this earth. And he writes with a kind of wisdom and discernment that Your father may have used with you before he died.
or your mentor. or a close friend. I like it too that the apostle is not living in denial. I took the time last night, as recently as last night, to read the letter again, and I found no less than five specific references to. His suffering in the prison.
He's not denying that the suffering was going on. He's simply living above it. Charles Erdmann, in a little volume on the pastorals, Writes, possibly no other of the New Testament letters makes so tender and so pathetic an appeal. Every paragraph is suffused with emotion. Every sentence throbs with the pulse beats.
of a human heart. Paul, the dauntless missionary hero, the founder of the church in Asia Minor and in Europe. is now an aged prisoner in Rome. suffering, deserted, despised, condemned. and soon to be led forth.
to a cruel death. Since you will probably never visit the Mamertine prison, just imagine in your mind an old man. crippled from the tortures of the past. Scarred. From the beatings and the stonings and the shipwrecks.
Hair and beard white as bone. Sitting sort of curled up. Under the light from the great. working over One final piece. That he would later fold quickly and press into the hands of Dr.
Luke. Who would see that it would find its way. to Ephesus. If Timothy never made it to Paul's side, as he had hoped he would. Relive in your mind what life must have been like those final hours, and the letter will mean more to you.
For sure, according to chapter four and verse six, to which I'd like to have you turn. The end has come. There is no dodging or escaping it. Chapter 4 of 2 Timothy, verse 6 states. I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure.
has come. Charles Rowry writes in the notes of his Bible: Paul knew that this time he would not be freed. And that is true. There will be no trip to Spain. There will not be another voyage across the Mediterranean.
There would not be another visit to a church that's been founded or to a place where they've never heard the gospel, not by Paul. His life is being poured out as a drink offering at the time of his departure. Mm. has come. Imagine that.
Imagine what it would have been like knowing that you will be beheaded. By an uncaring Roman soldier. who will do the same to another prisoner to morrow. as he did yesterday. Imagine what it is like knowing that the tick of the clock just brings you one moment closer to your last breath on this earth.
And then try to imagine what you would write. Especially if your conditions where you will be. are as miserable as where he was. He's lonely. Look at verse 9 of this fourth chapter.
Make every effort to come to me soon. If you've spent your life over 60 years of it, and if you have built a relationship with someone else that has been close and endearing, when you come to your last hours, you long for that person. In fact, so longing was he for Timothy, he says in verse 21. Not only make every effort, but make every effort to come before winter. Isn't there emotion in those words?
The leaves of fall are blowing across the streets of Rome. The trees are becoming bare. The icy winds of the north are blowing down across Italy. and before long snow will cover the flat carts on the street. And over the cobblestones I will hear the horses.
as they slip a bit on the ice, come before winter. Timothy. Come before winter. We don't know if Timothy made it before winter. We know that Paul was virtually alone, except for Luke, who was with him.
Verse 10 tells us that Demas had forsaken him. Having loved this present world, he deserted Paul. The details of that are left for preachers' imaginations. We'll not go there. The point is he doesn't have demons whom he once had.
Crescens has gone to Galatia and Titus has left for Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, Timothy. When you come, bring along John Mark. Anticus, verse twelve, I have sent to Ephesus.
Oh. When you come Bring the cloak I left. at Troaz. Probably he was captured in Troas. for this last arrest.
And he was taken so quickly, he didn't even have time to reach back and get his cloak. The one that bore the smell of the brine from the Mediterranean. The one that still had the bloodstains from the stoning at Lystra. The cloak.
Something to keep warm. Bring the cloak. Oh, and while you're bringing things, bring the books.
Sounds like in our family, when someone gets up to get something at a meal, we always say, Oh, while you're up, while you're up. Holden, would you bring... While I'm making the list here, Timothy, would you not only bring the cloak, would you also bring the books? This guy's getting ready to die, and he still wants to study. That's what I call a faithful student.
He still wants to read. I think he's a little bored, if you will. There are still things to learn. Years later, Tyndall made a similar request when he was dying in a cell. Perhaps took his words from Paul's words to Timothy as he requested a cloak and books to study, especially the Hebrew and the Greek texts, asked Timothy ask Tyndale.
when he was in that cell. Oh, but he said especially bring the parchments. These would be Paul's own scrolls of the Old Testament. Don't miss that. I need to spend time in the Word of God.
Especially since I know that the end is coming. You know, I take the time here in this fourth chapter, not only because we all need the reminder, but I think it helps set the stage for the whole letter. He's deserted. He's shackled. But he is undaunted.
Here is a man who was strong to the very end. But he doesn't write without feelings. Deep Deep feelings. Allow me to do just a little survey, sort of a safari through the letter, if I may do that beginning in chapter one. Let me unfold for you how this scroll must have originally unrolled.
As Timothy read it, And through it. Paul writes him as his beloved son, verse two. That's how close they were. Remember, Timothy came during that second journey where they met, and Timothy had. Had a heart for God, and Paul noticed it and asked if he would travel with him.
And Timothy, though a very young man at the time, probably in his late teenage years, certainly not more than early 20s, joined the band and went with Luke along with Paul and traveled and became for Paul a soul brother. one whose heart was so like his own, a kindred spirit. Was Timothy to Paul.
So he calls him my beloved son, and he offers the same greeting that is commonly offered in first-century writing among Christians: mercy and grace, and mercy, and peace from God the Father in Christ Jesus our Lord. Why am I here? No, he doesn't start like that. He says, I thank God. Whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day.
Isn't that great? There is none of the bitterness that you might expect from a man who's getting what he doesn't deserve. He says, I'm thanking God that our relationship is so close that you come to mind day and night, and I pray for you, longing to see you as I recall your tears so that I may be filled with joy. Paul adds, I am mindful of the sincere faith within you. Timothy.
Which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. and I am sure that it is in you as well. The benefits of godly roots. The older I get, the more I appreciate them. Paul looks back over time and remembers not only Timothy as a younger man, but he remembered his mother.
and he remembered his grandmother. The truth of scripture was coursing through his veins long before he met Paul. And it was that. that attracted Paul to him and said, You travel with me. Here's a kindred spirit.
It's amazing to see how Paul, while detained by Roman guards, reflected on his godly heritage. It's just one of many observations from our Bible teacher Chuck Swindahl. You're listening to Insight for Living, and we're in the final stretch of our biographical study on Paul, a man of grace and grit. This twenty-two-part series concludes on Wednesday. While it's fresh on your mind, we encourage you to request the Bible study tools that complement this series.
First, Chuck wrote a full-length biography on Paul. This book, more than 300 pages long, is available from Insight for Living. You'll enjoy Chuck's insightful observations about the Apostle, and by reading this biography, you'll discover how the Lord helped Paul endure rejection, distress, harm, solitude, and suffering. all because of the overwhelming sufficiency of God's grace. We've also created a Bible study for Paul.
It's part of our Searching the Scriptures series. This is a spiral-bound Bible study workbook that lays flat so you can easily jot down your notes and observations. And it uses the same method that Chuck uses to prepare his sermons. To purchase the book on Paul called A Man of Grace and Grit or the Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook, go online to insight.org slash offer or you can call us at 800-772-8888. We've had many requests for the collection of 22 audio CDs for this series.
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Post Office Box 5000. Frisco, Texas 75034. You can also call us at 800-772-8888 or give online at insight.org/slash donate. I'm Bill Meyer, encouraging you to listen when Chuck Swindahl presents his final message in this in-depth biographical series on Paul, Tuesday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, shackled, deserted, but still undaunted, was copyrighted in 2001, 2003, and 2024, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R.
Swindahl, Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
