The Book of Acts, Part 6

I'm very happy to see all of you today. We've got most of our ones here. Karen was here, but she needed to leave. So, I hope you'll feel better. But again, very happy to see all of you, and thankful to be able to continue to study the Word of God. I want to cover some additional things out of the book of Acts today, and that I hope will, in essence, help us all. At least it's helping me. Whether it's helping anyone else, I don't know, but it's helping me in being able to have some context and background for what the Apostle Paul was doing. During what appears to be about 30 years of his lifetime as a Christian, ultimately to give his life in martyrdom for Christianity. And yet, far more important, what we're going to cover today is in Acts 27 and 28, at least initially here. And we have gotten, last time, up to the conclusion. Not only of Paul's three trips that he very clearly made here in the book of Acts, how it was he established churches, he went back, he, in a sense, nurtured them, he worked with them. Later, he would come back to Jerusalem, and this is what we went over last time. He was allowed to speak before kings, before rulers, different levels of Roman rulers. And what I want to point out, here in chapters 27 and 28, it describes his voyage, his boat trip from Jerusalem, or Sesurio, on the coast by Jerusalem, up through the Mediterranean, and eventually to get to Rome. That appears to have taken no longer than it should have, had a great deal of bad weather, and it took God's intervention just to get through the hurricane, or the typhoon, or whatever it was that he was facing there in that trip. Thankfully, obviously, God was with him. He was, and again, I think we have to think about it in light of the fact that as the people of God today, we like things to build smooth, we like things to be calm, we want things to be relatively easy, and yet many times are not. Where's God? Well, he's with us, just like it was with Paul. When faith and care were in the hospital the other day. Where's God? He's here. He's with us. He's helping us. It's a pressure at the time when we go through some type of trial or some type of an emergency, but nonetheless, that's what Paul thinks all the time. I want to point out just a few verses. This trip that Paul took, and I'm not going to really even read most of this, because you can read it in if you want to keep up with this. I hope you do. It's interesting to see exactly what he went through, but all of the details of it, I think there's probably a lot of historical information that you can look up or even find.

But what I want to point out today is a little bit about how clearly God's oversight and even rescue was available to Paul during this trip, because God's intent was that Paul would appear before the imperial palace. And whether he exactly was talking to Caesar at one point, I don't know. Maybe that can be verified, maybe not. But at least we know that there were some of Caesar's household that were rare, that had come to believe in Jesus Christ. And so he had an impact today in a sense that was very close to the rulers of the world, the leaders of the world, much like certainly Daniel had. He had quite an impressive contact with Nebuchadnezzar. I'm sure he would say impressive if you were Nebuchadnezzar, because God performed the miraculous miracles for him. But here in chapter 27, I want to point out just a few verses. Verse 29, it says, Since much time had been lost and Satan was now dangerous, Paul advised, saying, Sirs, I can see that the voyage is going to be with danger and heavy loss, not only to cargo, but also to lives. If Paul advised him, I think it's a bad time to go. Why? Well, because it was getting closer to winter. Verse 9 points out it was after the Day of Atonement for that year. It says the fast was now past. And so that normally would have been sometime in October, September, October.

And so, you know, what a good time for this ship to be carrying on. And so Paul told him that. They ignored him. So he went ahead and would do it. I think it's also impressive to see because Paul has to interact with the crew.

He has to interact with the other prisoners. There were 275 people on board. And I think this statement that you read in verse 22, Paul talked to the men in verse 21. And he said, you should have listened to me. I don't know. Well, that's a good reference to, you know, I told you so. Practice stuff. Maybe that's not what we're to learn from that. But nonetheless, he says, I told you we shouldn't have gone.

And have not set sail for Crete and thereby avoided this damage. But I urge you now to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you but only the ship. Now, how could he be so confident? How could he be so sure? Well, he says, last night an angel of God appeared to me, or an angel of God to whom I belong. That's a good phrase to remember. An angel of God to whom I belong and whom I worship or serve. He said to me, don't be afraid, Paul.

You must stand before the Emperor and indeed God is granted safety to all those who are sailing with you. That's an impressive testimony that Paul was able to give to those people and of course written here for us. And yet the verse, verse 23, that I was focused on was that Paul realized that he was a bondservant to Jesus Christ. That was his calling, that was his mission, but that's every Christian's mission in a sense. We've all been bought and paid for.

We've all been covered with the blood of Jesus Christ. And so obviously we then should serve God in that way. In chapter 28, interestingly, as Paul had earlier written to the church in Rome, he said, I really want to come see you. I really want to come see you. I really like to see you.

But he had never seen them. But as soon as he got into Italy, as soon as he got on shore of the Turanian Sea on the western coast of Italy, they land there and some bread would show up. Chapter 28, verse 14 there, they found believers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And he goes on, and so we came to Rome in verse 15. The believers from there, when they heard of us, came as far as the Forum of Apias and three taverns to meet us.

And on seeing this, Paul thanked God and took courage. Now how uplifted was Paul to see the brethren from Rome that he had never seen. And yet they were immediately close to him. He had written to them earlier. They were aware of his activity. And you'll later see that he had a lot of interaction with the brethren there, but more so with many of the other coworkers that he will now mention. He's going to mention, Paul has gotten to Rome, essentially, what you find in verse 16 here. When they came to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, the soldier who was gardening.

That was, in essence, what kind of captivity was that? What kind of imprisonment was that? Well, it was kind of being under house arrest, maybe having a monitor on or something, but he could do what he wished. He met with the Jews who really didn't believe him, maybe they didn't respond very much. And if we had dropped down to verse 28, the last two verses of chapter 28, the last verses of the book of Acts, you see something amazing. He said, let it be known to you in verse 28 that salvation, the salvation of God, has been sent to the Gentiles and they will listen.

And in verse 30, he lived there for two whole years. At his own expense, or in his own hard house, he welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming what? Proclaiming the kingdom of God. Proclaiming the fact that Jesus needed return with the kingdom of God.

Proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

Now again, that is an amazing synopsis of what Paul was able to do during these couple of years. It obviously had to be at least two years, maybe it was even longer. From the beginning or ending, at least it gives a two-year time frame where he was, in essence, allowed to do a great deal of work for the church of God. And during his first imprisonment, it certainly shows that Paul had a great deal of freedom to continue to do the work.

He was allowed to interact with many different people. He had several different co-workers. You see Timothy coming and going quite a bit of the time. You see some of the others that I'm going to mention here as I get into some of his writings. Several different ministers, or at least messengers or co-workers who were coming and going from Paul in Rome. And then connecting to the congregations of the churches that often he was going to be writing to.

What we find, Timothy actually is mentioned as, in a sense, kind of a co-author of several of the books. The book of Philemon, the book to the Philippians and to the Colossians. It says Paul and Timothy. Sometimes he even mentions Silas. But most often he mentions Paul and Timothy are writing to you, grace be to you from God. And so, Timothy had a lot of interaction with Paul, even while he was, in a sense, imprisoned in Rome.

And so I want to go through, as I said, Paul was busy during this time when he was first imprisoned in Rome. We're going to find that he was released and that he endured a second imprisonment. That actually was quite different. This was very close to the end of his life. Very close to the time, and certainly the description you see of his second imprisonment appears to be much more severe. He says, I'm suffering. I'm chained like a criminal. And there was a reason for that as well, because he was, at that point, which again was later down in a few years, later he was going to be accused of a lot of stuff, and Christianity was being blamed for a lot of things that would eventually lead to his death.

Several books that Paul would be writing while he was here in this actually easy captivity. We're here at the first captivity. I want to go to the Book of Philemon. The Book of Philemon, actually I'm going to cover seven books today, so this is going to be rather quick. You're going to have to pay attention to where we are, because I may even be confused. But Paul wrote the books of Philemon.

He was later wrote 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus, but he wrote the book of Colossians and Ephesians and Colithians. These are major sections of the New Testament. These were inspired words of God that God would direct that Paul, the Holy Spirit, would direct Paul and write him down and ultimately collect him. And yet, we need to have, in a sense, somewhat of the context of how it was that he was presenting this information. I want to look at the Book of Philemon. It's actually a one-page book, 25 verses. You can read that pretty quickly.

If I want to read a whole book of the Bible, I can read Philemon. Or you can read some of the other very short books. Some of them are even shorter than that. If you get into John, I believe it might be a little shorter, 1 John anyway. Not first, but 2 John. Probably a little shorter. But here, in Philemon, it says, "'Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy, our brother.' Philemon, our dear friend and co-worker, "'Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.'" See, now here he is writing a letter. This is a personal letter that he's sending to this man, whose name is Philemon, who appears, in my trying to figure it out, it appears he may live in Egypt.

He may live in Turkey, possibly in the area of Colossae, which again was a city where the Colossian church would be and where Paul would write to them a little bit later. But here in this book, you find Paul. What do you find him doing? What is this book about? Well, this book is about Paul's love, his concern, his wisdom, his tact in dealing with Philemon, because he's going to write to Philemon about a runaway servant named Onesimus, a runaway servant from Philemon. Onesimus had been a servant to Philemon. He had run away.

What Paul is going to tell Philemon is, he's become a part of the church, and I'm sending him back to you with this letter and with an appeal. He says, verse 9, I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love, and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Jesus Christ, I'm appealing to you in verse 10 for my child, Onesimus, whose father I had become during my imprisonment formerly.

He was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. In Onesimus, apparently, he was able to travel, he was able to come and go. He was going to carry this letter from Paul to Philemon, and Paul was appealing to him, and accept him. Don't feel. And again, you can see when you read through it, and if you study it from the context of, well, that's going to... he's going to show us how it is to tactfully, and yet, in a sense, very wisely present something to Philemon in hopes of Philemon.

He says, verse 14, let's see, I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your good deed might be voluntary, and not something that's forced. And Paul said, I could command you or direct you to do that, and would hope you'd sure do it, because you know the authority that I have.

But he says, I'd rather you just voluntarily understand. Onesimus needs to be forgiven. If he owes you something, you know, if he stole a bunch of stuff when he left, well, I'll make it up. Just put it on my account. I'll pay you. He says, I more than anything want you to receive this new Christian. Perhaps, in verse 15, this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever, no longer a slave, but more than a slave or a servant, a beloved brother, especially to me.

And how much more do you owe to the flesh than the Lord? Now, that's an amazing book, and it's relatively simple, and yet, you know, whenever you think about the tact and wisdom that Paul was applying, he was certainly appealing by a businessman. But here he is. It's obvious. He was in prison. He was sending this, and he says, I'm sending Onesimus back to you, but I hope you'll just let him go and have him come back so that I can be assisted in health.

So that was one of the books. You know, even in verse 22, Paul appears to write one thing more, to pare a guest room for me. I hope I get out. I hope to be able to come to you for your prayers to be restored to you. So that's the context for this particular book. Let's go over to the book of Colossians. The book of Colossians was also written by Paul while he was in prison his first time in Rome.

It's a letter to a church in Palace, which is near the area of Galatia, a little further over. And again, what we would think of as Turkey today. It was written against a heresy, a Colossian heresy, that was spreading among the people that, well, they didn't really need to obey God. They didn't really need to honor the law. They didn't really need to observe the Holy Days.

This is what was being promoted in Paul's work against that. You told them you need to focus on Jesus Christ. You need to focus on the one who really is important. Here in Colossians chapter 1, you see several of Paul's companions. Again, remember, he is in captivity in Rome, but he's able to do a great deal of work for the church. He's doing a great deal of work in promoting the gospel. Here in Colossians 1, verse 3, he says, In our prayers for you, we always thank God. He's writing this to the people of Colossae.

In our prayers, we thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have heard of your faith in Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

Because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, you have heard this hope before in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you, just as it is very food and growing in the whole world. See, that was Paul's perspective. The gospel was spreading over the whole world. It was spreading over the entire empire, the Roman Empire, of course, at that time. So it has become bearing food among yourselves from the day you heard him, truly comprehend the grace of God.

He says this, this information that is so glorious and so wonderful, this truth from God, this message of the gospel, this understanding of the purpose of human life. In verse 7, you learn from Epiphyts. Epiphyts, our beloved brother, or a fellow servant, he is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, and he is made known to me, or us, your love in the Spirit, the Epiphyts from the Sprung Colossae. He had come to Paul. He was talking to Paul. He was telling him what's happening. He was telling him how the church was, how they were being affected, how they were stable in their commitment to God, and how they needed to continue to be encouraged.

And so what is it that happens? Well, Paul eventually will sin. He will sin a little back to the Colossians to help them. It appears in verse chapter 4, verse 14, mentions a number of different people here. Chapter 4, verse 14, he says, Luke, the beloved physician, was with me. Now, he had people that would come and go all the time, and Luke, it seems, was with Paul quite a bit, and of course it was why he could do the writing he did in the book of Acts.

It was why he could give such detail and information, but you also see Luke mentioned in a number of places. I'm going to jump up to verse 7 here, because this again just gives the context for Paul sending this from prison, or from captivity, I guess you could say. In verse 7, Tychicus, this was a man again that was going to take Paul's letter to the Colossians.

Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a beloved brother, a faithful minister, a faithful or fellow servant in the Lord, and I have sent him to you. See, I'm sending you back to you with this letter in hand. I am sending him to you so that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts. He is coming with Onesimus.

He's coming with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother who is one of you. Onesimus also goes from Colossae, and they will tell you about everything here. Tychicus and Onesimus were involved in carrying this letter of the Colossians to the church at Colossae. I know I'm trying to go into any depth on these books, but to give you an idea of what they reveal about Paul sending these letters to the churches.

Evisions. Back up to a few pages. You find that again, Tychicus, who is from Asia, probably from the city of Ephesus, he's the one that Paul is going to send. Actually, what you find in this book of Ephesians is one we actually refer to quite often. It's a beautiful book. I think you could say it's very uplifting, very meaningful, very encouraging words.

You see Paul writing in the book of Ephesians to the Ephesian church, where we recall our studies in the last few weeks. Paul spent several years on his third tour in Ephesus. That was kind of the headquarters of where he was. He would always come back there. Of course, he had suffered the riot of Diana's temple in Ephesus. He had done that earlier. And yet, he deeply loved those brethren in Ephesus.

He's writing this letter to them, and he's going to send it. Well, I was going to mention, we see our calling mentioned there. You think of the book of Ephesians. You see our calling mentioned. You see all of us having been delivered from the prince of the power of the air. You see the need to have unity in the body. He explains about our new life in Christ. He also talks about a Christian marriage husband and wife and responsibilities that we have. And of course, he concludes in chapter 6 of Ephesians about putting on the whole armor of God.

There's quite a lot of in-depth information that we often study and that we go over. Paul's writing that all at once. And he's sending this letter to the Ephesians. Let me see in verse 20. Chapter 6, verse 20. It says in verse 19, Pray for me, so that when I speak a message may be given to me to make known the boldness of the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador, he chains.

Pray that I may declare boldly as I must. See, he was, in a sense, in captivity. He was limited in this case. He was not able to be up and out, but he could send letters, and he could send them by these faithful brethren and maybe fellow ministers or co-workers.

He was going to send this particular letter back to the Ephesians through Tychicus. Good Tychicus is taking a number of these letters. We back up to verse, or I guess drop down to verse 21. So that you may know how I am and what I'm doing. Tychicus will tell you everything. See, not only was he sending this letter from Paul, who is restricted in Rome, to Ephesus, he says Tychicus will give you news of the work.

He will give you. We try to do that, of course, ourselves. We try to keep up on kind of what's going on, where, and prayers we need to pray for different groups or different people or different problems. And this is exactly what Paul was doing with the congregations. He says, Tychicus will tell you everything. He's a dear brother. He's a faithful minister of the Lord. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, to let you know how we are and to encourage in your heart, to the purpose of Paul communicating with them and having them know what's going on in his life.

Having them know what is happening regarding Christianity that he wants to spread to the entire world. That is his desire. That's his intent. Whenever we look at our mission, preach the gospel of the kingdom of God to the world as a witness.

That's what we're supposed to be doing. That was the concept that Paul had in mind. He didn't know exactly how he would be able to do it. And certainly here, he's restricted, but he's able to write some impressive information. Let's drop down to the book of Philippians. It's probably on the next page for you. It is for me. Again, Philippians is a book that Paul wrote while he was there and wrong. He mentions that several times in this letter. He's going to send this letter of Philippians. Philippi is up into Macedonia. It's up into Greece. So he's sending this. He's going to send it by way of Epiphoditis.

Again, another somewhat familiar name, at least when you read it. You wonder how to pronounce it. And I still do. I can say what it is. Maybe it's right. Maybe it's not. But it's through this man that he's going to be sending this letter of the Philippians. And I think you have to say, if you want to go to a really uplifting letter, go to Philippians. There are some unbelievably positive statements that Paul makes.

Again, where is he? Well, he's in captivity. He's restricted. He's able to write in a very soring way. And yet he's writing to the Philippian church that is very solid, seems to be very stable, very mature, but you'll also see generalists. They were concerned about sending stuff to others who were in need. And actually, when we read about it in Acts, Lydia and the jailer and his household that witnessed Paul being miraculously released out of his jail, they made up the core. They made up the foundation of the congregation there. Initial members. But here in Philippians, in chapter 4, it says in verse 15, Philippians and Deans know that in the early days of the Gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except New Orleans.

He was obviously explaining how wonderful their generosity toward others had been. And for even when I was in Vesal and Ika, you sent me help from my needs more than once. And in verse 17, not that I seek that gift, but I seek the prophet that accumulates to you, to your account. He says it's not that I wanted your stuff, that I would need it.

You may have needed the help. He said, and that's really not the important thing. The important thing is God blessing you for that kind of attitude. That kind of appreciation. Here in verse 18, I have been paid in full, and I have more than enough. I am fully satisfied. Now that I've received from Epaphroditus the gifts that you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice, acceptable of the blessed pleasing to God. See, Epaphroditus had come to Paul in Rome.

He had needed some things, surely. They were sending them. It's going to go on in verse 19, and my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Jesus Christ. We back up to chapter 1 here. Philippians chapter 1. Philippians chapter 1, verse 7. He's mentioned how God has begun a wonderful work in you, and he's going to complete it. He will finish the job. Verse 6. And verse 7, it's right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart.

For all of you, sharing God's grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in his defense and confirmation of the Gospel. Again, verifying that Paul was sending this letter to the church in Philippi through Epaphroditus. He was in prison. And we could drop down to verse 12. I want you to know, brethren, that what has happened to me, being here in captivity in a section in Rome, has actually helped to spread the Gospel so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard.

And to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ, and most of the brethren have been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment. They dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear. He says, my being restricted and having been in captivity and having even come here on the ship in captivity, that is further the work of God. In chapter 2, we have some glowing words in verse 19 for his dear, dear friend and coworker and minister, Timothy.

I hope in the Lord, verse 19, to send Jesus, excuse me, I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be re-cheared by news of you. Did he want to know what was going on? Mary and Philippi will sure he did. I'm going to send Timothy and have him get a report and find out what's going on. I have no one like him who is genuinely concerned for your welfare. All of them are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

But Timothy, it's worth you to know how, like his son with a father, he has served with me in the work of the gospel. He tentatively stood out in an extraordinary way with a heart that was truly devoted to God and convicted of the need to serve the brethren. The need, in a sense, to follow the example that Paul had given. Verse 25. Verse 25, he says that Ephrath-Phrodites is going to bring this letter to you.

Again, the same name I mentioned earlier. It says still in verse 25, I think, the necessary to send you Ephrath-Phrodites. So he was going to send Ephrath-Phrodites. He had brought a gift, says in chapter 4, that Paul was going to send him back, back to Philippi with this letter. And he says, this is about Epiphodites. He is my brother and co-worker and fellow soldier. He is your messenger and minister to my need.

He has been longing for all of you. He's been distressed because you heard he was sick. Ephrath-Phrodites was pretty close to death, what we're going to find. Verse 27, he was indeed so ill he almost died. God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but also on me, so that I would not have one sorrow upon another.

I'm the more eager to send him. Therefore, in order that you may rejoice, said, seeing him again, that I may be less anxious, welcome him in the Lord, with all joy and honor such people, because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for those services that you could not provide him. It's fascinating to see when you read these books, often we read it and are not fully aware of the background of it, or we know it was from Paul, but who brought it, how was it coming about.

Then you've got some very encouraging and positive and uplifting things that are written that we often read, that we're often using for our setting today as Christians. So those were books by Lehman, Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, quite a good part of the epistles of Paul. Paul was released, and he traveled more. You see this reference in 1 Timothy and in Titus and in 2 Timothy.

Obviously these are the pastoral letters, letters that he was writing to Timothy and to Titus about how to be a minister, how to conduct yourself in the Church of God. He realized that my life is going to be declining. You're going to continue to serve the congregations. But what you find, I want to go through several verses here that just point out how it is that Paul would be released and it would appear that he's traveling in different parts of the empire.

He's able to go to different places. He talks about being with Timothy here and being with Titus there. He talks about leaving stuff in different places. And he later talks about, I know, and we get to 2 Timothy. I know I have now been in prison again, and I'm not going to be alive much longer. That's what we're going to see in these. 1 Timothy chapter 1. 1 Timothy chapter 1.

Verse 1, Paul, an apostle, by the command of God our Savior and Jesus Christ our hope. Timothy, my beloved child in the faith. In verse 3, I urge you, Timothy, as I did when I was on my way to Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach any different doctors and not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies and promote speculation rather than the divine.

Training that is known by faith. He was telling Timothy, don't get mixed up in all the confusing stuff that has no answer and is totally irrelevant. Focus on the trunk of the tree. Focus on the plan of God. Focus on what I have taught you and what you are to be doing.

But I'm mentioning these. He says, I'm on my way to Macedonia. I'm going to send you to Ephesus. I want you to stay there.

In chapter 3, verse 14, he says to Timothy, I hope you come to me soon, and I'm writing these instructions to you so that if I get delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar, the work of the truth. See, this was Paul's instruction to Timothy as he was traveling in Macedonia, or it doesn't show exactly where he is, but it shows that, well, he was going to meet up with Timothy. He's going to mention that later. We've turned over a page or two to Titus. Titus chapter 1, verse 1, Paul, the servant of God and the apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect. Verse 4 to Titus, my loyal child in the faith we share. He was writing to Titus again as a younger minister. In verse 5, he says to Titus, I left you in Crete, and for this reason, so that you should put in order what remains to be done and should appoint elders in every city or town as I directed you. And so again, he had been with Titus in Crete. He says, I left you there. And now I'm writing you more so, more instruction. I want you, it doesn't show exactly where he is, but it just shows that he had been there. And if we back up, it's probably maybe on the same page, if you back up into 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy gives a little more definition to this in chapter 4. 2 Timothy 4, starting in verse 12. Verse 11, he says, Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you. He is useful in my ministry. Again, this was Mark who had kind of ran off on him, Barnabas. And Paul didn't like that, but he later sued that over. He has numerous comments about Mark that are very positive, very uplifting as far as his service. In verse 12, Paul says, I have sent tickets to Ephesus. And we actually sent him there to bring a letter. And to bring a letter from Paul, one of the books that we would later find in our Bible. In verse 13, when you come, Timothy, when you come, I want you to bring the quote that I left with Carthus at Troas. And so again, whether he had recently or earlier left that, we don't know, but it would appear it could have been through Troas. Also, I want you to bring the books. And above all, bring the parchments. These were writings that he had put together and compiled and surely maybe realized, you know, these are especially needing to be preserved. I think we would refer at least to what would later become part of what we're reading here. In verse 16, he says earlier in my first defense, so this would have been when he was in captivity under relative ease.

And my first defense, no one came to my support. Everybody deserved it. May it not be counted against them, but the Lord stood by and he gave me strength. So he threw me the message, might be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles might hear it. I would rescue from the mouth of the lion, and the Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom and to him be gloried forever and ever.

He says in verse 19, I want you to greet Priscilla Aquila May had been with Paul, first of all, in Corinth, later in Ephesus. Greet them in the household of Anasophars. Verse 20, Erastus remained in Corinth.

It sounded like he maybe had been in Corinth, and Erastus had been with him. Erastus remained there whenever I went ahead and left. Trophimus, I left ill in Miletus. Not only was Epipoditis ill, almost to death, but Trophimus was another one of his...

Sometimes we wonder, why are we concerned so much about or hear so much about people who have ailments, illnesses? Well, Paul dealt with the same thing. He also dealt with some recovery, I'm sure, or some of the things that he went through. But he's dealing with co-workers who are new to death and revive, or here in this case, Trophimus, I left ill in Miletus.

Do your best to come before winter. Paul was writing this from some location, telling Timothy, I want you to come as soon as you can. Earlier he said, I want you to bring the parchments, bring the books. So if we jump over to Titus chapter 3, you also see in the concluding statements there a little more information.

Verse 12, when I send Artemis to you, or when I send Tychicus, do your best to come to me, Titus, at Nycopolis. Nycopolis is only mentioned very briefly. It's a coastal town. It's not something that appears to be a location where he would have been in a lot of his other travels.

But here he says, do your best to come to me at Nycopolis, for I decided to spend a winter there. He points out how he planned to stay there for several months in Nycopolis, and at least one of the commentaries in the coming there mentions that it appears that perhaps Paul was arrested there and sent back to Rome. I don't know whether I can follow that up more than that, but it appears that Paul then would be taken to Rome a last time. Many believe that Nero sought to implicate the Christians in the burning of Rome, and the arrest of the key leaders, Peter and Paul, would end up being the result of that. He was wanting to blame somebody for that. I want to look finally here in 2 Timothy, because this appears to be the last book that we have as a part of the Bible. Paul would be writing, he had written 1 Timothy, and said, please bring things with you. I guess that's here in 2 Timothy. But he had given him instruction, he had given Titus instruction when he was with them in different places. Here in 2 Timothy, you find that he's describing an imprisonment that wasn't like the first one. An imprisonment that is far more severe, one that is more or less seemingly a punishment, and where he says that he is suffering. Here in 2 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 8, he says, I want you to remember Jesus Christ. Remember Jesus Christ raised from the dead, a descendant of David. That is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. This doesn't sound like his first imprisonment. It sounds like a more severe, more difficult imprisonment. But the Word of God, he says, is not chained. Therefore I do everything but the sake of the Elaxal, that they may also attain the salvation that is in Jesus Christ, the eternal glory. See, he's telling Timothy, as you see in this book, that he has come to see I may not live much longer. And I prepare to die. I've been prepared to die for a long time. He mentioned that earlier. But here in 2 Timothy 1, he told Timothy how to carry on. He says in verse 8, Don't be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or don't be ashamed of me, his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel. And he's lying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. And he's telling Timothy, I want you to appreciate the calling that you've been given, the mission that you have, the love that God has extended.

We jump over to chapter 2, verse 1. My child, Timothy, be strong in the grace that is in Jesus Christ. And what you have heard from me, from many witnesses and trusted, faithful people who will be able to teach others as well, share in suffering like a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

No one serving an army can entangle himself, and every day affairs his soldiers, and he needs to please the enlisting officer. So he was pleading with Timothy, you know, you're going to run into some hard times. I know I am, I know I have, I know I'm under duress right now. And I want you to not be ashamed of the gospel. I want you to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ. I want you, what's he say in chapter 1 here, verse 6. I remind you to stir up the gift of God that is in you. To rekindle the gift of God that is in you, to lay on my hands, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love, and of the sound of mine.

Did we read that verse? We can often read it, and obviously it's applicable to us. But what was Paul thinking when he was telling Timothy? He says, you're not going to have me to rely on. You're not going to have, I'm not going to be around. I'm going to need, I'm going to need to be able to know that you are convicted of the truth.

And you are able to carry on. And that's, I think, a fascinating thing when you read through this book of 2 Timothy. It's very clear that Paul realized, I'm in prison now, you're great duress, and I'm probably going to die if we go over to chapter 4.

He says in verse 6, as for me, I've already been poured out as a libation, the time of my departure has come. But I fought the good fight, I finished the race, I've kept the faith, and from now on there is reserved for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge had given me on that day, not only to me, but also to all who long for his appearance.

Again, familiar verse, but what was he thinking? What was he going through? Well, he was writing to Timothy, in a sense, this last letter that he would write, or at least be a part of the New Testament. He wanted you to be picked up by that. He wanted you to be encouraged by that. And of course, in essence, he was an extreme example for not only Timothy and Titus and others of the messengers, but he sent these letters through, but he's an example for us.

He's an example, and I want to close with what we see here in 1 Timothy chapter 1. Because here, Paul, in a sense, summarizes what his understanding of his calling was, and what his mission was, and what his desire was to represent Jesus Christ in the very best way he possibly could. Here in 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 12, he says, I am grateful to Jesus Christ.

And actually, in this testimony, in a sense, he is making statements that are really remarkable. Because in spite of his training, in spite of his education, in spite of his intellect, in spite of his linguistic ability, in spite of the gifts from God, which undoubtedly may have had many, he always remembered where it came from, and he always thanked God for God's grace and for God's mercy. He says, I am the servant of God, but only at his direction.

Verse 12, I am grateful to Jesus Christ our Lord, who has strengthened me because he judged me faithful and appointed me in his service. Even though I was formerly a blasphemer, I was a persecutor, a man of violence, and I received mercy, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief. I mentioned that to you last week, I think. How could he feel like he had a clear conscience before God? Well, he looked at being unaware of the truth as being a category that he could put in the past. But here he said, I received mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief.

And verse 14, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that is in Jesus Christ. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance that Jesus Christ came in the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason, I received mercy so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.

He says, I understand what God has done in my life. He's performed a transformational miracle that I so deeply appreciate that I'm certainly willing to give my life in his service. And of course, he says in verse 17, that the king of the ages, immortal and visible, the only God, the honor and glory forever and ever. In the sense of, this sounds like almost a benedictory type of statement, but it's right here in the middle of 1 Timothy. And yet, as I mentioned, Paul was an example of service, of devotion.

We've gone through most of his letters, at least in part, as far as how they were. The book of Hebrews, I'm not sure exactly where that fits in. It may have been much earlier than some of these. But we've mentioned all of the other books that he wrote, and they make up a significant part of the New Testament, and certainly a significant part of the doctrine of the Church of God.

And God used Paul as an example in that way, but he did that because Paul's attitude was one of thankfulness and service to the congregation. So, he set us an example that we can follow, and I hope that it's helpful to go through all of these quickly, at least, to be able to get a little better handle on what was happening when Paul was writing these letters to the Church.