May 22, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Monday, May 22.
Yesterday, in my broadcast Sunday School lesson, we studied the famous passage in Ephesians 6, where the Apostle Paul encourages us to "put on the full armor of God". Paul wrote those inspiring words to the church in Ephesus from Rome. He had always dreamed of going to Rome, as a missionary, as a church-planter, as a preacher. But when he finally arrived in that great city, he came as a prisoner.
The charges against Paul were relatively minor, so, instead of being placed in the dungeon of the notorious Mamertine Prison, he was put under house arrest. For two years he was guarded by, and perhaps chained to Roman soldiers. As he wrote about the "helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith", he was inches away from a living metaphor.
The New Testament includes four letters that Paul wrote during his time of incarceration - Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. They have been dubbed "the Prison Epistles", and we would not have them had not Paul been imprisoned. During this time, the great apostle was visited by his protégés Timothy and Mark, and had the time to mentor them, to prepare them to carry on his work.
The book of Romans was written as Paul was still dreaming of visiting Rome. In the eighth chapter he proclaims this powerful truth - "God works all things for good, to those who love Him and are called to His purpose". Paul could have grown bitter and disillusioned during his time of house arrest. Instead, he trusted God to do a good work, even during a bad time.
A lesson for us today.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
