Paul's Final Days
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Did you know that the lives of the Apostle Paul and the Emperor Nero overlapped for a short time in the city of Rome? In the seventh decade these two famous men lived in the same city.
While Nero’s name was making headlines, Paul’s wasn’t. Oprah would have wanted to interview Nero. Larry King would want Nero on his show. Nero would have been invited to state dinners hosted by the President. Nero was hero - Paul was zero.
Paul was a stoop-shouldered, balding, crooked nose, cloudy-eyed old man. Paul kept talking about Jesus as if he were God. So, Paul got locked up in prison in Rome. If you asked anyone in Rome in the seventh decade, “Who will make the greatest impact on the world, Nero or Paul?” everyone would pick Nero. Nero was married to Poppaea Sabina, a blonde, head-turning beauty who bathed in donkey milk. Four hundred donkeys were kept on hand for just that. She would be dried by swan feathers and massaged with crocodile mucous. Nero liked soft skin, and what Nero wanted, Nero got.
At age 25, Nero deified himself by erecting a 120 foot tall statue of himself. People looked up to Nero, but looked down on Paul. Paul was common, described as bald-headed, bow legged, small man with a big nose and scruffy, thick eyebrows that met in the middle, and a body covered with scars.
Throughout the New Testament you will find record of the dynamic life and deep struggles of Paul. Paul tells of his tumultuous life in 2 Corinthians 11:24-27
24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;
26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—
We know that Paul walked in the major cities of the known Roman world. He was a tent-maker in the mornings and spoke about Jesus Christ and the Gospel from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day except the Sabbath.
Paul wrote books as he traveled and as he sat in prison, and we treasure his words to this day. As we talked about last week, 13 of the letters he wrote we know as the Pauline Epistles in our bibles today.
Paul was both a prophet and a pastor, who never got over that the living Jesus met him, changed him and commissioned him as an apostle.
He was a spokesman for God’s grace; in fact, reading through his letters, Paul’s favorite word was “grace.”
It seems that everywhere he went Paul caused an uproar. Acts 21:30-31
30 And all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut.
31 Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.
Paul lived an extraordinary life. One of immense joy and sorrow. He experienced acceptance by a few and rejection by most. He was a light in the midst of a dark culture and revealed the secret of his ability, in the face of opposition, to endure to the end.
We all have storms of some kind—relational, financial, personal - and can learn from the teachings and example given by Paul.
One key characteristic of Paul, who ministered to thousands, is his intentional investment into individuals.
We know of a few special relationships Paul developed but one stands out, and we read of Paul’s instructions to this young man in two letters - 1 & 2 Timothy.
In 1 Timothy conduct as a congregation is emphasized, while in 2 Timothy individual responsibility and behavior are prominent.
You find the theme of 2 timothy expressed in 2 Timothy 2:15
15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
To Paul, our approval comes from God and there was no room for shame as we handle God’s word properly.
In that second letter to Timothy, Paul reveals the secret of his endurance. Read 2 Timothy 1:3-12
3 I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day,
4 greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy,
5 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.
6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Paul says to Timothy, never forget the upbringing you had, nor the equipping and confirming you experienced for ministry.
God hasn’t given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and of a sound mind.
He goes on to say that because God doesn’t give us the spirit of fear:
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,
9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
11 to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
12 For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
Two apparent truths from this passage:
1. Paul anchored his life to a hope outside of this world.
2. Paul entrusted his life into the hands of God.
1. Emboldened Instruction (v. 8)
A. Don’t Be Ashamed
1.) Of the Gospel
Romans 1:16
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
2.) Of those who suffer for the Gospel
2 Timothy 1:16
16 The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain;
B. Share in Suffering
Timothy was not to try to avoid any disgrace that might be connected with the Gospel. but rather join with Paul in enduring such disgrace.
Paul gave later instruction in
2 Timothy 3:12
12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
Jesus reminded those who would follow HIm:
John 15:18-20
18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
C. Depend on God’s Power
2. Essential Information (vv. 9-10)
A. God’s Redemptive Plan in the Past (v. 9)
Romans 16:25
25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began
Ephesians 1:4-6
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
B. God’s Revealed Plan in the Present (v. 10)
Ephesians 1:9-10
9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
3. Experienced Intuition (vv. 11-12)
A. Paul’s Assignment (v. 11)
Ephesians 3:7-8
7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power.
8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
B. God’s Assurance (v. 12)
Peter wrote about persecution in the same view as Paul
1 Peter 4:16, 19
16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.
19 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.
We know through biblical passages and historical documents that Paul ended his life very well, while Nero did not. 2 Timothy 4:6-8
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
1. Paul’s new life began on the Damascus road and ended on a chopping block in a prison cell in Rome.
2. Nero at the age of 29 was lonely and paranoid; his second wife killed his first wife and Nero kicked his pregnant second wife and she died; and four years after Paul’s death, Nero committed suicide.
Nero was no hero. Paul still impacts us to this day.