Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Your Wrath

Well, a quartet of men left Rome in the year 62 AD, bound for the province of Asia, which was located in what is currently called Turkey. And these men had on their persons four of the most sublime compositions of the Christian faith. These precious documents would be invaluable if the originals were in existence today. Rome did not comprehend the significance of the writings by an unknown prisoner. If she had, then these men would have been apprehended and the documents seized. When they bade farewell to the Apostle Paul, each of these four was given an epistle to bear to his particular constituency. These four letters are designated as the prison epistles of Paul, since he wrote them while imprisoned in Rome. He was awaiting a hearing before Nero, who was the Caesar at that time. Paul, as a Roman citizen, had appealed his case to the Emperor, and he was waiting to be heard. What I just quoted was from an article entitled, The Prison Epistles, which is found on the website, blueletterbible.org. The article goes on to name these four men, whom, though we can't say for sure, it appears that they were the ones who delivered Paul's four prison epistles to their recipients. These four men, along with the scriptural reference, were, number one, Epaphroditus, Epaphroditus from Philippi, who may have carried the epistle to the Philippians. A scripture reference for that is Philippians 4, verse 18. Letter number two was from Tychicus, from Ephesus, who could have brought the epistle to the Ephesians, Ephesians 6, verse 21.

Epiphras, Epiphras from Colossae, who could have delivered the epistle to the Colossians, Colossians chapter 1, verse 7, and chapter 4, verse 12. And in the fourth letter, Onesimus, Onesimus, who was Philemon's slave, from Colossae, who likely carried that epistle to Philemon, as it mentions in verses 10 through 12 of the book of Philemon. Now, brethren, as we're gathered together here on this Thanksgiving weekend, we can be thankful for so many things. And to me, a study into Paul's, the Apostle Paul's, epistle seems timely, because some of the most encouraging words in the Bible were written here by the Apostle Paul while he was imprisoned in Rome during this time.

They are full of love and concern and comfort, and they reflect a pastor's heart.

The attitude of Paul, as he wrote from prison, along with the attitude that he conveyed in those letters, you know, was something that we all can learn a lot from.

And so, the title of my message today is Paul's Prison Epistles for Them and Us.

Paul's Prison Epistles for Them and Us.

Now, going back a little bit, we'll go back to around A.D. 60. The Apostle Paul, at that time, was brought to Rome, and he was put in prison, where he would stay for a roughly two-year period from about A.D. 60 to A.D. 62. While he was incarcerated, Paul didn't just sit around doing nothing. He redeemed the time. Paul's Roman imprisonment produced three great letters to the churches of Ephesus, Colossae, and Philippi, as well as a personal letter to his friend Philemon. So, Paul stayed busy doing the work, preaching the gospel, while in prison, which, if you think about it, is pretty amazing to consider that he could do that.

Well, to really understand and to glean the true historical spiritual significance of any book that we read in the Bible, you have to put yourself in the author's mind and visualize yourself in his place and what he was going through as he was writing. Paul was literally bound by some kind of chain, either to or near a Roman soldier the entirety of the two years that he was there in prison in Rome. And so he had virtually no privacy day or night because it was a Roman soldier. If you were responsible for a prisoner and that prisoner were to escape from you, then that would mean your death. It was very, very serious, and so they were definitely not going to let a prisoner out of their sight. They were going to keep their prisoner in very close quarters.

And when Paul went into this prison, he had no idea whether he was going to get out dead or alive. You know, we know from the book of Acts and other letters of history that he was released eventually after that imprisonment. But during those two years, during that time when he was there, he didn't know. He didn't know what the outcome was going to be.

So let's begin this message by reading in Acts chapter 28.

The 28th chapter of Acts here gives us some brief historical background of Paul's Roman imprisonment. And we'll pick this up here in verse number 16, Acts 28 verse 16. This is Luke who is writing this and chronicling Paul's journey here. Acts 28 verse 16. Now when we came to Rome, the Centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard. But Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him. And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. And so when they had come together, he said to them, men and brethren, though I've done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. And so Paul says, I've done nothing to merit this kind of treatment. Paul wasn't there because he was a criminal. He was there because there was hate among the Jews. And God allowed Paul to go to prison there in Rome to further the preaching of the gospel. And I want us today to consider this in light of our lives today as well. You know, there are a number who have gone through very serious trials in life. And perhaps for many of us, the most serious trials could still be ahead of us. Consider that if a trial should come upon us, it may be not only ultimately for our own good, but the way our example is and the way that we react to that trial, it could be for other people's good as well, for their encouragement, for their edification. Because all things do work together for good, for those who love God and trust Him and put their faith in Him. It's going on here in Acts 28 verse 18, who, when they had examined me, wanted to let me go, but because there was no cause for putting me to death, talking about the Romans, but when the Jews spoke out against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar. Not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation. For this reason, therefore, I have called for you to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel, I am bound with this chain." So again, Paul was either chained directly to a Roman soldier, or he was, in the very least, was wearing chains. He was bound with a chain, and he had a soldier with him, guarding him all the time. Not exactly sure which. Verse 23 says, So here what we see and what we'll continue to see is the wonderful example of a man, a man whose fate was in the balance. He decided that he was going to continue to do the work, continue to preach the gospel, continue to minister to the people, even though he was in a very difficult circumstance. And so he preached the kingdom of God to those he was around, including the palace guard, as we'll read here in a few minutes. And some did believe. In verse 24, some believed the things that were spoken. And then there were others who didn't believe, but they heard what was being taught. If we drop down to verse 30, it says, And Paul dwelt two whole years in this house. We would probably call it house arrest today, but he did receive all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concerned the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

And Paul was certainly a zealous apostle, wasn't he? He was a passionate man of God, and it's something that is a lesson for us. You know, we too need to be this way. We need to need to be passionate for God's way of life. And we cannot let Satan decide, we cannot decide to allow Satan to hinder God, you know, working through us, no matter what circumstances we may be in, no matter how bad things may get someday. We need to have this attitude that the Apostle Paul had while in prison. And I know for myself, as I was reading this and studying this and preparing this, in my mind, you know, I think, you know, if I ever have to go through these types of trials and these types of situations someday, I hope that I can focus my mind on him, on Paul, and what he went through, what he experienced, and the way he reacted to it. You know, our human nature, it's very easy for us to get discouraged. It could be very easy for us to get down, especially if we're alone, especially if we feel like we're all alone. Not Paul, though. Paul zealously shared the truth during these two years of imprisonment. You know, again, Paul could have become very discouraged and down, but, you know, he didn't reflect that. At least his writings didn't reflect that. And so that's the background, historically. And so let's turn to the first prison epistle here that we'll survey, the book of Ephesians. And we'll begin in Ephesians chapter 3. And, of course, we can't go through all of these letters here verse by verse in this message, but we'll hit a few highlights of each of these three letters that were written again by Paul to these three churches. And I hope that we can appreciate what Paul is going to... what Paul wrote about as we read these things here during these two prison years of hardship and uncertainty. And so look here at Ephesians, the letter to the Ephesians. Unlike many of his letters, Paul's letter to Ephesus wasn't written to correct any wrong behavior or to address any specific problem in that church, but instead he wrote to encourage the Ephesian brethren and the Christians at large to encourage them to continue to walk in accordance with their calling as followers of Christ.

I picked out here just a few prevalent passages and themes of the book of Ephesians, and some of the things that Paul addressed here very quickly. I'll just list a few things off, and then we'll actually read some verses here. He talked about the armor of God. He talked about the importance of imitating Christ. He gave guidelines for a healthy, godly marriage.

He talked about being saved. He talked about the calling of apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers and the different various positions and offices and the callings of those people. He talked about not going to bed angry, making the most of every opportunity that we have. Of course, Paul was certainly doing that. He set that example well.

We'll start here in Ephesians chapter 3 and verse number 1. Ephesians 3, 1, For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, for you Gentiles. I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, Paul could have said, well, I'm a prisoner of Rome, pagan, deadly Rome, here in this Roman prison. You know what they do to people like me? But instead, his attitude was he was a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

And as we read, as we go through this, we think about various things that could happen in our lives, various trials and difficulties in our lives, other people's lives. We have various reactions to them. We can react in different ways, but it's really all about perspective. Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, that's quite a perspective here that he's telling the church at Ephesus. We are to serve Jesus Christ. Everything we do is to the glory of God our Father and Jesus Christ our elder brother. Everything we do, even the circumstances that we may have to go through, can be for their glory as well. There will be many ups and downs in life, and God can work through us at any stage of life, whatever stage of life that we're in.

In verse number 10, Ephesians 3 verse 10, to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God, you know, Paul's praising God and saying he's got much wisdom, might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. According to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him. Therefore, I ask you, I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. So Paul's saying that we can have boldness and we can have confidence through our faith in Jesus Christ. We should not lose heart, no matter what our circumstances, no matter what we're still going through. And Paul certainly didn't, and he didn't want the brethren he was riding to feeling sorry for him either. Verse 20, now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. You know, God can do more, so much more than what we can even think to ask him, what we can even think to pray to him. According to the power that works in us, to him be the glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. You know, Paul always gave God and Christ the glory and the praise for all the work that was being done. You're going on in chapter 4, you know, the first 14, 15, 16 verses. We often turn to talk about unity. You know, Paul wrote here about unity. You know, when you're when you're going through what we could call life-changing experiences, your perspective can change. You know, oftentimes things don't seem quite as important, some things that you thought were so important, not really really that important. You tend to get down to the basics, the basics of life. And you know, Paul is saying that, you know, we can keep in mind and we can remember here what is important. And here, Paul in this prison epistle is telling the people of God that in spite of his circumstances that unity is something that is very important. Unity is extremely important to God. Disunity and disharmony is not pleasing to God. Without unity, you're going to have problems. You know, this is Paul's mindset as he was writing to this church. He was concerned. He wanted them to be unified. That was what he was telling them. And God inspired this for his people at all times, you know, not just for the church at Ephesus. Now notice on down in Ephesians 4, verse number 24, you know, Paul is saying here in verse 24 to put on the new man, put on the new man, which was created after God and true righteousness and holiness. You know, this is what Paul wanted the brethren to be focused on working on, on changing themselves and growing and seeing the wonderful opportunities for growth, for putting on the new man. Paul says you can grow in Jesus Christ, you can develop, and God is there to strengthen us and to help us to do that.

If we go down to Ephesians chapter 6, Ephesians 6 and verse 11, this is a very interesting section here, Ephesians 6 verse 11. Paul says, Paul writes, he says, Paul had the perspective while he was in a Roman prison and being dealt with by people, by the Romans, he knew, though, that the battles of life are not physical, but they are spiritual, and there is a source for them. Now, if you picture Paul, again, as he's dictating this, you know, he's there, he's got this guard that he's right nearby with within earshot, probably could hear everything that Paul was saying and dictating to whoever it was that was writing it down. You know, this guard probably had no concept, really, of the true God. I'm sure this is probably the first he was hearing, things that he was hearing, he was hearing for the first time, and he had not heard those types of things before. But here you have Paul saying, I'm going to give you a spiritual analogy about your armor, the armor that you are wearing, and I can choose your armor, and I can use it to teach people various lessons. And so, as you have Paul dictating here about this armor that this guard was wearing in the various parts, you know, if we go on and we read a little bit of this, you can picture him looking at the guard for his inspiration. In verse 13, therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, having done all to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waste with truth. You know, Paul's probably, again, looking at this guard, and he's seeing the belt, you know, that was around his waist that he was girded with. Having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having shodged your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Verse 16, above all, taking the shield, the shield of faith, with which you'll be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. In verse 17, take that helmet of salvation, helmet of salvation, and you have the sword of the Spirit, the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

And so, again, you have Paul chained here by a Roman soldier or to a Roman soldier. He says, I'm going to look at your garments. I'm going to write about them. I'm going to draw spiritual analogies. I'm going to draw lessons from them. And so, I think that's pretty amazing for Paul, you know, to be able to look and evaluate the situation that he was in, and yet be able to draw lessons and analogies from that. And so, to me, that's a little bit of a different light, a different way of looking at that and something that we can take to heart as well.

Let's move on to our next prison epistle, Philippians. Now, upon learning that Paul had been imprisoned in Rome, the church in Philippi sent Epipherditis to Rome. It sent him to Rome to visit Paul to bring some financial aid for him. And Epipherditis is likely the one who later on returned to Philippi, bearing Paul's epistle in hand. Now, it's safe to conclude that Paul enjoyed a very warm relationship with the church in Philippi, as they were likely instrumental in caring for him spiritually and financially during his many missionary journeys. And for this reason, the book of Philippians is less structured and more personal to them than his other letters. Now, similar to Paul's letter to the Ephesians, the book of Philippians, his letter to the Philippians doesn't address any major behavioral concerns. It does, however, attempt to encourage the Philippian church, which was facing opposition from the outside, as well as a fair amount of strife in some division from within. And this is why Paul often writes about the need to find joy and peace in present circumstances.

As someone living under house arrest with an uncertain future, he was in a perfect position to address this topic to them. And, you know, you never know, maybe he was even trying to encourage himself a little bit as he was writing these words. I'm sure they had to have been an encouragement to him. So, interestingly, this letter was written with the help of Timothy, as it mentions in Philippians 1-1, indicating that Timothy was with Paul during some of his imprisonment. So, some prevalent passages and themes in the book of Philippians that Paul wrote about to them include God completing the work that he started, finding joy in present suffering.

One day, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. All is lost compared to knowing Jesus. Rejoice in the Lord always. Whatever is good, whatever is pure, whatever is noble, think on these things. And I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

To me, some of my favorite scriptures and encouraging passages are right here in the book of Philippians. There is so much encouragement given by one who you would think would be in need of encouragement himself. Your references to joy abound in this letter. I did a search and I found 14 mentions of the word joy or rejoice in the four short chapters of Philippians.

So, we'll pick this up here in Philippians 1 and verse number 3. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making requests for you with all joy. You know, Paul in his prayers was praying for them, was praying for the congregation, was praying for the brethren, always in every prayer with joy. And Paul told them in chapter 2 and verse 2, to fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, and of one mind. There's that unity theme there again.

You know, as we read these letters, if we're going through them, I again want to remind us that when we may be going through a severe trial or difficulty, this is so encouraging, and this is the attitude that hopefully we can attain, that we can get to.

Verse 16 of chapter 2, Philippians 2, 16, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Paul knew that his life was not in vain, and the race that he was running was not in vain. Yes, and if I'm being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, well, I'm glad it rejoiced with you all, and for this same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me. Again, Paul didn't want the brethren feeling sorry for him. He wanted them to rejoice with him in the circumstances that he found himself in and what he was able to do with that. Chapter 1, again, Philippians 1, verse 6, being confident this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ will not let us down. He will never let us down, Paul sang. If Paul never felt that Christ had forsaken him, he never felt that he was running his race in vain.

And so, no matter whether our circumstances are rosy or not so rosy, you and I can be confident that Christ will always be there if we allow him to be. He can always work through us if we allow him to. Verse 12, Philippians 1, but I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ. And most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

And so here you've got a veteran apostle who's gone through so much in his life, you know, shipwrecks, stonings, beatings, prison, all of that. And he's saying that in spite of this, in spite of these trials, that the gospel is being preached more powerfully than I could ever imagine that it would be preached. And it's because he has Christ working through him as he was doing this. And it had a great effect on the brethren that he was interacting with in the whole palace guard, and to those he was writing to as well, and to you and I today.

Paul's also writing here, he's dictating, I've had a chance to actually spread the kingdom of God to the whole palace guard. You know, it's not that he necessarily preached to them day and night in the sense that he was just throwing out the truth, you know, all the time and constantly, but when he was preaching and when he was doing things, they were there. They were listening. They could hear what was being said. And so he was, in a sense, preaching to them. And you wonder, I mean, it talks about the whole palace guard here. Obviously, you know, some of the ones that initially heard the preaching were impressed and wanted to go and tell their friends. And, you know, there was a bit of a crowd that eventually came to hear Paul preach. And so Paul was a powerful witness of Jesus Christ during this time. Verse 18, Philippians 1, 18, What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. And verse 19, For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Paul's telling the brethren that he's depending on them to pray, to pray for him. He wants them to pray, and he knows that he's going to be delivered, Paul is, one way or the other, either through freedom from prison or possibly through death. But he knew that his deliverance was sure. Chapter 2, verse 1, Therefore, if there's any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. You know, if you believe in Christ and and know that Christ can strengthen you, then you should have the same joy that I have in your circumstances. Be like-minded and having the same joy. You know, so far I haven't seen any complaints. I haven't seen Paul complain as we go through here and as we're reading, but he instead has a lot of praise, a lot of thanksgiving, a lot of joy that he has. Chapter 4, verse 1, Philippians 4, verse 1, Therefore, my beloved and longed for brethren, my joy, my crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved. Imagine getting a letter from Paul. Imagine you were in one of these churches and you got one of his letters and he says, you know, Paul says, I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ. And, you know, what if the letter said something like, you know, this is really tough. You know, I don't know if God's going to save me. And, you know, I'm in a very difficult situation here and I just don't know what to do.

Imagine the negative influence that that would have and how that would just be so- it wouldn't- it would be so discouraging. It could be so discouraging for the brethren to hear, but instead it was the opposite. He was the opposite. He said, fulfill my joy by being like-minded.

An incredible, incredible example that he had during this.

Verse 4, Philippians 4, verse 4, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice.

You know, sometimes this book has been called the book of joy, the book of praise, because Paul so often in Philippians writes about having joy and praise and thanksgiving.

And in your personal Bible study later on when you read these letters, you know, remember again where Paul was. Remember his circumstances, what he was going through.

Because it is pretty amazing that the power of the Holy Spirit can work through us, work through us strongly, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in. You know, as I read some of these verses, I can kind of picture Paul finding encouragement himself from the things that he was dictating and having written down. You know, verse 6, Philippians 4, be anxious for nothing, be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known to God. And then the result of that, verse 7, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus. That peace of God, that comfort that we heard about in the sermonette, it's there for us. It's there for the asking. All we have to do is ask and look to God, and He will provide that for us, no matter what we're going through.

You know, in verse 8, Paul talks about the positiveness of God's Spirit dwelling on those things that are true. And so he says, you know, think about the things that are true, the things that are honest and just and pure and lovely and of good report. These are the things we need to be focusing on. These are the things that we need to be meditating on. Think on these things.

Again, Paul could have been negative. It could have been discouraging, but it was just not his mindset. It just was not. Verse 11, not that I speak in regard to need. You know, Paul says, I'm not complaining here. You know, I'm just explaining to you, for I've learned that in whatever state I am to be content. You know, again, Paul didn't know whether he was going to make it through this alive or not, but he had that state of contentment, that state of peace, of comfort. In verse 12, I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound. You know, he knew what it was like to be full and to have, you know, great things, but he also knew what it was like to go through trials and to go through difficulties. He knew it all. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. But I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Again, what a perspective, a wonderful perspective and outlook Paul had on this, and it's something that's available to us as well. We can have that.

Let's drop down to verse 22. Here we'll see support for the view that these prison epistles were written from Rome, because sometimes there are some questions on some of that. Philippians 4 verse 22, all of the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar's household. That's kind of an interesting comment here, those who are of Caesar's household. You know, that they were people that were called from Caesar's household staff, maybe even his family himself. Not exactly sure which, but from his household, Caesar's own household, they had greetings. They extended their greetings to the people that Paul was writing to.

Again, a wonderful, terrific example there, and had to have been encouraging for, in this case, the Philippians to get that and to read that. That the very people in Caesar's household themselves had that conversion, that calling, that they were being affected by the preaching of the Gospel.

Verse 18, Philippians 4, indeed I have all and abound. I'm full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever, amen.

And so the book of Philippians, again, it's one of my favorite letters to read. It's encouraging, it's a comforting book, it's one that we can find peace in and find joy in in our circumstances. The third prison epistle, the book of Colossians. Let's go to Colossians chapter 4.

Colossians 4, and begin with. The city of Colossae was located 100 miles east of Ephesus. Interestingly, Paul himself had never visited Colossae. Instead, that church was founded by Epaphras, you know, one of Paul's many converts that he had in one of his journeys. So in this letter to the Colossians, Paul, unlike the first the other two that we read about in this letter, Paul did have to address doctrinal heresy and confusion to them. And again, remember doing this from prison, because false teaching and heresy had taken root in Colossae. The teachings which involved a combination of Greek speculation, Oriental mysticism, and Jewish legalism. You know, there was all sorts of stuff that was going on there, all of which devalued Jesus Christ as the ultimate authority in matters of faith. And so Paul had to address this as he wrote to them, and he wrote to the Colossians to refute these heresies and to encourage them, to encourage the believers to continue in their faith, their faith grounded in Jesus Christ alone. Timothy, as well, mentioned that Timothy was also with Paul as he wrote this letter to them.

Now, prevalent passages and themes from the book of Colossians include putting on love and a heart of forgiveness, doing everything in the name of Jesus. And Paul talked about family relations as well, relations with your parents, your children, with servants. He talked about family relations and working as if working for the Lord.

Not letting those outside of the church judge you in how you keep the Sabbath and the Holy Days. And so there were a number of things that Paul addressed and ways that Paul encouraged the people here in his letter to the Colossians. If we look here in chapter 3, Colossians 3 verse 1, If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on the things of the earth. Again, be looking above, looking to Jesus Christ, not on our present circumstances, not on what we may be going through, not on what's going on around us.

Going on in verse 12, we can see that it was so important to Paul for the brethren to be becoming like Jesus Christ in all ways. Colossians 3 verse 12, Therefore, as the elect of God, you are the elect, the very elect of God, you are holy, you are beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things, even more important, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you also were called into one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. And then chapter 4 and verse 2, continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it, again with thanksgiving. Meanwhile, praying also for us that God would open a door for us for the Word to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I'm also in chains, that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak. Paul is asking them to pray, to pray that God would continue to open doors, to open doors for the gospel to be preached, for the mystery of Christ to be spoken, of which he said, I'm also in bonds. It's our job today, too, brethren. We need to be praying for the gospel to be preached. Hopefully we're praying for more laborers, for the harvest, praying that God, if it is will, at his will, his right time, would call more people, open up more minds to the wonderful truth that you and I have been given. We need to be praying for that. We need to be praying for that often.

So it's our job today, too, to pray to God that God would show us what to do and how to do it, and for others to be called according to the Father's design and according to his will and his perfect time. And so that's some highlights from the book of Colossians. The other prison letter that Paul wrote was addressed to Philemon, a man who had a wrong done to him by Onesimus. And so this is a very short epistle, and in a very gentle way, Paul asks Philemon to receive a nemesis back, to forgive him for the wrong that he did to Philemon.

And by the way, Paul also mentions there, if there's anything that he still owes you, you know, put it on my account, I'll pay you back next time I see you. You know, even in prison, Paul was still concerned about the relationship between two brothers in Christ. He wanted their relationship to be reconciled. Again, this just gives us an example of the mindset that Paul had while he was in prison.

So, brethren, we've seen here today that while in prison, Paul didn't grumble, he didn't whine. He was thinking about the brethren. His mind was on God, his mind was on doing the work. He didn't want a pity party or anything. He didn't want to go there because he knew how dangerous that could be to have that mindset and how lonely it could be if he allowed himself to get to where he was thinking negatively and he was feeling sorry for himself because it's a very dangerous path to go down because you just continue going further and further and further down into that and Satan does feed that attitude as well.

So, we have to be careful of that. Well, brethren, as we said earlier in Acts 28 that Paul was in prison in Rome for two years. He was eventually tried and he was released. He was released for a short time to continue traveling, to go to different places, to continue preaching the gospel, and to do the work. And then later on, at some point, a couple, three years later, he was imprisoned again in Rome a second time.

This time things ended up a little differently for Paul as he was executed. Evidently beheaded. And though we don't have much information as to what happened to Paul during this time leading up to his death, we can be certain, though, I think we could have a great deal of certainty that, you know, while imprisoned again, Paul likely carried the same attitudes, the same confidence that he had before.

And if you'd like, later on, you can read through the book of 2 Timothy, which was quite possibly Paul's final epistle, likely the one that he wrote to Timothy while in prison in Rome during this second Roman imprisonment. So, brethren, we've seen very briefly today how these four prison epistles are remarkable, and they teach many truths to us today. They encourage us in so many ways. While the prison epistles reflect Paul's earthly position as a prisoner of Rome, he makes it clear that his captivity was first and foremost in Christ. To Christ. Paul's time in prison was for the purpose of spreading the gospel in the Gentile capital of Rome, and then beyond as well.

In Acts 23 verse 11, it says that the Lord told Paul to take courage as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome. And so Paul's time and captivity is just as profitable for us today as it was for the first century churches that he taught and that he loved so well. Because we, too, hopefully, have gleaned a lot out of it, and there's so much more that we can glean. So many more ways that we can be encouraged as we read these letters.

We can learn to be more thankful, full of greater praise to our God, in spite of our ups and downs in life, which are certain. And to see the big picture of a wonderful future beyond today.

So, brethren, hopefully this message today, along with future studies and DePaul's four prison epistles, will help to reinforce to us that no matter what circumstances we go through in life, with God's help, we can always go forward. We can always do the will of God, keeping the faith, and continuing our march towards God's kingdom.