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The Apostle Paul, who was commissioned by the Holy Spirt as the Apostle of Jesus to the Gentiles, was born in about AD5, which would have made him somewhere close to 10 years younger than Jesus, give or take a year or so. Paul's parents were Jewish from the Tribe of Benjamin, but also citizens of the Roman Empire. Paul was born in the city of Tarsus, which is situated in the modern-day country of Turkey.
At perhaps 12 years old, Paul’s parents sent him to live in Jerusalem where he could study Jewish law under a very well-known teacher of the day. Paul joined an ultra-conservative and quite legalistic sect of religious Jews called the Pharisees. He evidently studied hard and progressed well in his education so as to win the notice and approval of those in high positions within the Jewish legal system.
There is no mention of Paul at the cross, but seeing he would have been in his early 20’s and quite interested in everything to do with Jewish law, certainly it could not have escaped his attention. We are first introduced to Paul, known in that day as Saul of Tarsus, a short while after the first Church in Jerusalem gets up and running. Paul not only attended the summary mob execution of a deacon of the Church named Stephen, but he even took care of the coats of those who actually did the stoning.
We know that Paul was soon given authority by the High Priest in Jerusalem to hunt down, imprison, testify against, and cause the execution of Jews who claimed faith in Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah. Paul spent a few years persecuting the Church and attempting to destroy its existence.
Paul was trained to be a lawyer in the Jewish court for about 14 years and then worked basically as an intern or extension of the High Priest’s office of investigation for perhaps another 2 years. At about the age of 30, while on the road to Damascus to hunt down more Jewish Believers in Jesus, Paul had an encounter with Jesus and as a result was gloriously saved, filled with the Holy Spirit, and confirmed into the ministry of the Gospel of Christ.
Paul began to exercise his new-found faith in Jesus by preaching the Gospel to the Jewish Believers he had come to arrest and imprison. They did not know whether to trust him or not and on top of this, he became a hunted man for teaching that Jesus is Messiah. Finally, just before Paul was to be arrested and tried, He removed himself into the Arabian desert where he spent perhaps three years learning and being taught by Jesus. Paul once spoke of himself as a man born out of time. However, as the years went along Paul became stronger in his convictions that he too had been called to be an Apostle of the Lamb.
Paul eventually got connected with the Church in Antioch through a friend named Barnabas. The Church recognized his calling and witnessed the anointing on his life, and, after some time, the Church leaders were moved by the Holy Spirit to commission Barnabas and Paul and to send them out to preach the Gospel on the mission field, wherever the Lord led them.
Paul’s missionary journeys are recorded in the Book of Acts and provide a continuing example of what the Church and Believers in every generation are challenged to follow. Now let’s fast forward a decade or so from Paul’s conversion on that Damascus Road.
The year is about AD51 or 52. The account is found recorded in Acts 16. Paul was on his second missionary journey when he received a vision from the Lord and was directed to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a new continent. With this clear commission, Paul and his companions boarded a ship in what is now the northwestern city of Troas in Turkey and they sailed on a relatively short distance and arrived on the second day on the shores of Europe. In that day it was the region of Macedonia in Greece.
A short walk along the Roman road from the port city of Neapolis brought Paul to the city of Philippi. I encourage you to read the whole account of Acts 16 to get the full picture. For tonight we will suffice it to say that Paul had a very fruitful mission trip even though he encountered some very difficult persecution. He ended up being stripped naked and beaten in the public square of Philippi before being thrown into a Philippian dungeon, chained, and left with his feet fastened securely in stocks.
These persecutions however did not water down Paul’s passionate concern for the lost souls of humanity sitting in the prison cells all around him. They became his congregation – the next crowd to hear about his faith in God. At midnight Paul and his companion Silas prayed aloud and sang praises to God while the prisoners were listening. Suddenly God answered with an earthquake that opened the prison doors. The chains fell off all of the prisoners and revival broke out in that Philippian jail. Should the Lord tarry and all things continue as expected some of you will visit that very site with me in just a few weeks from now. Philippi is an awesome place to visit … but I wouldn’t want to be in jail there.
The result of that night was the salvation of prisoners, jailers, and families alike. The first Church was birthed in Europe. Members ranged from a foreign businesswoman to jailbirds, from a formerly demon possessed slave girl to a Roman government employee, from older single people to children of the families. Sounds just like Church families today.
Paul was set free from jail the next day and left Philippi to continue spreading the Gospel in other major cities in Europe.
Let’s fast forward another decade or so and we find the Apostle Paul in his late 50’s, in prison again, this time in Rome under arrest during the reign of Emperor Nero. The year was about AD62, and Paul had already written 3 of the 4 Letters from Prison during this period of incarceration. We know them as the New Testament books of Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon.
Tonight we will begin taking a look at his fourth Prison Epistle, the letter to the Philippians. Paul wrote this letter to especially thank the Church in Philippi for sending financial support to him by the hands of one of the members of the Church, a man named Epaphroditus.
In
this letter to the Church in Philippi, we find Paul’s tone to be a little more
paternal than other letters he wrote during his lifetime. Herein Paul
emphasizes the true joy which comes from a relationship with Jesus alone. Paul
encourages the Believers to be humble, to self-sacrifice, to strive for unity,
and to live a real Christian life knowing that eternity awaits us and that
although being with God is much better for us than the life we know right
now, our lives are not all about us and our own comforts.
With these things in mind let’s turn our attention to Paul’s letter to the Philippian Believers. Tonight I want to share only a few verses from:
Philippians 1 NKJV
12 ¶ But I want you to know,
brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out
for the furtherance of the gospel,
13 so that it has become
evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in
Christ;
14 and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Conclusion
for this evening:
·
Life is a long game.
o We cannot afford to
judge our successes based on our last or our worsts days.
o God is bigger than our
past and Life is always filled with future.
·
God will work with anything we give Him.
o From the Damascus Road
to the Philippian Prison …
o From Antioch to
Ephesus … Take the next step towards God.
o There is always
something we can do to please God.
§ Philippians 1:19 For I know that this will turn out for my
deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
·
Philippians 1:21 To live is Christ, and to die is
gain.
o
Philippians 1:24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is
more needful for you.
o
You see life, with all its troubles, trials,
and decisions, is not always all about you.
o The next crowd is waiting to hear about your faith in Jesus.
Let’s get ourselves mentally and spiritually
ready to embrace the next adventure God already has planned for us!
