There are days I marvel at the small mindedness of
Christians. Sometimes, Christians are the biggest hindrance to people receiving
Jesus as Lord. Now that I have sufficiently offended everyone, I’ll explain.
The first century church behaved and acted the same way we do today, except
today with social media we are on hyper drive. Everyone has an opinion or a
comment. I think people only stir controversies to make a name for themselves
on the backs of others. Twice the Book of Revelation tells us that Jesus will
wipe away every tear. That tells us there will be regret in heaven. Paul tells
us “to avoid petty controversy over words, which does no good but upsets and
undermines the faith of the hearers”, and that is good advice. Jesus is not
surprised that there are differences in opinions, or denominations, or
religious practices in the world; and Paul wanted people to address the bigger
issues. Take note of those who would shipwreck the faith of people, and deal
with those issues, not the petty ones. The first century church was full of
controversies and contentions, and that is where we find ourselves today, and
too many of us are willing to jump on a bandwagon without seriously considering
what God might think of our actions. Vain babblings spread like cancer.
Just before the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. the
Apostle Paul was beheaded by Nero, probably in the year 67 A.D. or thereabouts.
The events leading up to this time are quite disturbing. While the Jews were
actively persecuting Christianity, the Romans were also persecuting
Christianity. But what we see during the latter years of Paul’s apostolic
ministry, is the church itself fragmented. Christians persecuting Christians,
Christians trying to negate the things Paul taught, Christians more interested
in riches than Christ, and Christians compromising out of fear. Not only were
the Jews out to kill Paul, the Christians also turned their backs on Paul,
attempting to do away with him as he caused so much controversy. While the
Christians closed their eyes to the Jews accusing Paul, Paul was laying down
his life for them. Paul was more than happy to lay down his life as he saw
death as being freed. Through all the trials that Paul endured he stayed
faithful until the end. After Paul’s first imprisonment, he journeyed to Spain
and the British Isles bringing the message of Jesus as Lord. He did not rest in
his elderly years but instead kept moving for Christ.
There were people who traveled with Paul wherever he went
and Paul mentions them by name. Some people left Paul during a journey, and
some tried to cause divisions with false doctrines, and Paul names names. These
people have been in our Bibles for almost 2,000 years. This is not the way most
people want to be remembered for all future generations. There were those who
supported Paul and he gladly names them as well. Onesiphorus and his household
refreshed Paul, and Onesiphorus even sought Paul out during Paul’s second
imprisonment in Rome. There were also those who tried to tell Paul not to go to
Jerusalem. They were correct in prophesying that Paul should not go to
Jerusalem because that is what the Lord was telling them to say to Paul. Paul
was being given an “out” by their warnings, but Paul had a different opinion,
death was not something he feared.
Acts 21:7-32 A short run from Tyre to Ptolemais completed
the voyage. We greeted our Christian friends there and stayed with them a day.
8 In the morning we went on to Caesarea and stayed with Philip the Evangelist,
one of "the Seven." 9 Philip had four virgin daughters who
prophesied. 10 After several days of visiting, a prophet from Judea by the name
of Agabus came down to see us. 11 He went right up to Paul, took Paul's belt,
and, in a dramatic gesture, tied himself up, hands and feet. He said,
"This is what the Holy Spirit says: The Jews in Jerusalem are going to tie
up the man who owns this belt just like this and hand him over to godless
unbelievers." 12 When we heard that, we and everyone there that day begged
Paul not to be stubborn and persist in going to Jerusalem. 13 But Paul wouldn't
budge: "Why all this hysteria? Why do you insist on making a scene and
making it even harder for me? You're looking at this backwards. The issue in
Jerusalem is not what they do to me, whether arrest or murder, but what the
Master Jesus does through my obedience. Can't you see that?" 14 We saw
that we weren't making even a dent in his resolve, and gave up. "It's in
God's hands now," we said. "Master, you handle it."
Look at Paul’s words here, everyone was telling him not
to go to Jerusalem, but Paul pointed out that it was not about Paul living or
dying at Jerusalem, but that God would do something because of Paul’s
obedience. And God did, the word went out everywhere.
Acts 21:15 It wasn't long before we had our luggage
together and were on our way to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from
Caesarea went with us and took us to the home of Mnason, who received us warmly
as his guests. A native of Cyprus, he had been among the earliest disciples. 17
In Jerusalem, our friends, glad to see us, received us with open arms. 18 The
first thing next morning, we took Paul to see James. All the church leaders
were there. 19 After a time of greeting and small talk, Paul told the story,
detail by detail, of what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 They listened with delight and gave God the glory. They had a story to tell,
too: "And just look at what's been happening here — thousands upon
thousands of God-fearing Jews have become believers in Jesus! But there's also
a problem because they are more zealous than ever in observing the laws of
Moses. 21 They've been told that you advise believing Jews who live surrounded
by Gentiles to go light on Moses, telling them that they don't need to
circumcise their children or keep up the old traditions. This isn't sitting at
all well with them.
While Paul talks of the Nations becoming believers of
Jesus as Messiah, the Christians in Jerusalem have a story about Jews believing
Jesus is the Messiah as well. Yet we remember from Acts 15, which was seven
years prior, the announcements that went out from Jerusalem by the Church, and
now those same leaders are saying that those Jews who now believe in Jesus as
Messiah are mad at Paul because Paul encourages them to ease up on the laws. It
seems the church leaders set Paul up. Maybe most have never thought of this,
but let’s look at this. The church leaders were appeasing people who wanted to
follow the law, and Paul was throwing a monkey wrench into their comfy religion
by pointing out they do not have to follow the law. What James (Jesus’ brother)
and the other leaders should have done was to sneak Paul out of the city at
night so that no one would see him, but instead they put him on display in the
temple.
Acts 21:22 "We're worried about what will happen
when they discover you're in town. There's bound to be trouble. So here is what
we want you to do: 23 There are four men from our company who have taken a vow
involving ritual purification, but have no money to pay the expenses. 24 Join
these men in their vows and pay their expenses. Then it will become obvious to
everyone that there is nothing to the rumors going around about you and that you
are in fact scrupulous in your reverence for the laws of Moses.
Paul had to pay for four other people to go through a
ritual purification? Why were people paying to follow the Mosaic law of
purification? Religion is a money making business, and we see that in all
religions. Selling indulgences, or selling rites for dead people to get out of
purgatory, it’s all the same. The Priests make good money selling the very
things they tell the people they need. Remember, Paul’s Epistles are letters of
freedom in Christ. The church leaders set Paul up to be found by the zealous
Jews. They encourage Paul to follow the laws of ritual purification. When he
does, the Jews go after Paul and the Christian leaders are nowhere to be found.
Just because someone is of the same earthly family as Jesus does not mean that
they will behave the same way as Jesus.
Acts 21:25 "In asking you to do this, we're not
going back on our agreement regarding Gentiles who have become believers. We continue
to hold fast to what we wrote in that letter, namely, to be careful not to get
involved in activities connected with idols; to avoid serving food offensive to
Jewish Christians; to guard the morality of sex and marriage." 26 So Paul
did it — took the men, joined them in their vows, and paid their way. The next
day he went to the Temple to make it official and stay there until the proper
sacrifices had been offered and completed for each of them.
Paul’s obedience to these leaders was what the other
people who told Paul not to go to Jerusalem were seeing, hence their warnings.
However, Paul’s opinion was that God would do something regarding this, and God
did. Today we see that the religious leaders sacrificed Paul, and we can be
forewarned that this can happen again and again. And we know that there are
many who have martyred the true Christian for their own personal or political
gain. I wonder if the leaders even cared that Paul’s ministry was really to
non-Jewish people and that his ministry could possibly be hindered by this turn
of events. Would James and the others be concerned if Paul was killed? Would
they even care if the Gentiles were not won for Christ?
Acts 21:27 When the seven days of their purification were
nearly up, some Jews from around Ephesus spotted him in the Temple. At once
they turned the place upside-down. They grabbed Paul 28 and started yelling at
the top of their lungs, "Help! You Israelites, help! This is the man who
is going all over the world telling lies against us and our religion and this
place. He's even brought Greeks in here and defiled this holy place." 29
(What had happened was that they had seen Paul and Trophimus, the Ephesian
Greek, walking together in the city and had just assumed that he had also taken
him to the Temple and shown him around.)
TROPHIMUS [TROF ih muss] (nourishing) - a Gentile
Christian who lived in Ephesus and who accompanied the apostle Paul to
Jerusalem at the end of Paul's third missionary journey (Acts 20:4). When
certain Jews from Asia saw Trophimus the Ephesian with Paul in Jerusalem, they
supposed that Paul had brought "Greeks" (uncircumcised Gentiles) into
the Court of Israel (an inner court beyond the Court of the Gentiles), defiling
the Temple (Acts 21:28-29).
The people seized Paul, dragged him out of the Temple,
and tried to kill him. But Paul was rescued by the commander of the Roman
garrison and sent to Rome for trial. Apparently Trophimus accompanied Paul on
the trip toward Rome. In his Second Epistle to Timothy, Paul revealed, "Trophimus
I have left in Miletus sick" (2 Tim 4:20). (from Nelson's Illustrated
Bible Dictionary, Copyright © 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
Where were the Christians? Shouldn’t someone have come to
Paul’s defense? Shouldn’t James at least have been there to say that he was the
one who suggested Paul go through the ritual purification and that Paul paid
for the other people as well?
Acts 21:30 Soon the whole city was in an uproar, people
running from everywhere to the Temple to get in on the action. They grabbed
Paul, dragged him outside, and locked the Temple gates so he couldn't get back
in and gain sanctuary. 31 As they were trying to kill him, word came to the
captain of the guard, "A riot! The whole city's boiling over!" 32 He
acted swiftly. His soldiers and centurions ran to the scene at once. As soon as
the mob saw the captain and his soldiers, they quit beating Paul. (from THE
MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All
rights reserved.)
The Jews were beating a Roman citizen, that was probably
punishable by death, and the Church leaders could have been pointing that out
to people had they been there. Instead the heathens had to rescue Paul. Paul
gave his testimony regarding Jesus appearing to him, and that again caused an
uproar.
Acts 22:22-29 The people in the crowd had listened
attentively up to this point, but now they broke loose, shouting out,
"Kill him! He's an insect! Stomp on him!" 23 They shook their fists.
They filled the air with curses. 24 That's when the captain intervened and
ordered Paul taken into the barracks. By now the captain was thoroughly
exasperated. He decided to interrogate Paul under torture in order to get to
the bottom of this, to find out what he had done that provoked this outraged violence.
25 As they spread-eagled him with thongs, getting him ready for the whip, Paul
said to the centurion standing there, "Is this legal: torturing a Roman citizen
without a fair trial?" 26 When the centurion heard that, he went directly
to the captain. "Do you realize what you've done? This man is a Roman
citizen!" 27 The captain came back and took charge. "Is what I hear
right? You're a Roman citizen?" Paul said, "I certainly am." 28
The captain was impressed. "I paid a huge sum for my citizenship. How much
did it cost you?" "Nothing," said Paul. "It cost me
nothing. I was free from the day of my birth." 29 That put a stop to the
interrogation. And it put the fear of God into the captain. He had put a Roman
citizen in chains and come within a whisker of putting him under torture! (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary
Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
Easton’s Bible Dictionary gives us some insight. It may
be, as suggested by Easton’s, this was a planned rest for Paul by Jesus. Yet it
may also have been the first prison ministry, as Paul would have had a captive
audience with the guards and other inmates. Caesarea by the sea was a nice
location for a prison. It was located on a rocky outcropping overlooking the
Mediterranean. It was probably a
peaceful place unless there was a storm and since this was not a labor camp it
probably was a relaxing place.
PAUL-While at Jerusalem, at the feast of Pentecost, he
was almost murdered by a Jewish mob in the temple. (See TEMPLE, HEROD'S.)
Rescued from their violence by the Roman commandant, he was conveyed as a
prisoner to Caesarea, where, from various causes, he was detained a prisoner
for two years in Herod's praetorium (Acts 23:35). "Paul was not kept in
close confinement; he had at least the range of the barracks in which he was
detained. There we can imagine him pacing the ramparts on the edge of the
Mediterranean, and gazing wistfully across the blue waters in the direction of
Macedonia, Achaia, and Ephesus, where his spiritual children were pining for
him, or perhaps encountering dangers in which they sorely needed his presence.
It was a mysterious providence which thus arrested his energies and condemned
the ardent worker to inactivity; yet we can now see the reason for it. Paul was
needing rest. After twenty years of incessant evangelization, he required
leisure to garner the harvest of experience...During these two years he wrote
nothing; it was a time of internal mental activity and silent progress" (Stalker's
Life of St. Paul). (from Easton's Bible Dictionary, PC Study Bible formatted
electronic database Copyright © 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. All rights
reserved.)
Even while Paul was in prison, the Christians in
Jerusalem did not seem to argue for his release. They did not try to argue on
his behalf before the Jews, and they did not even visit him in prison. Remember
it was their idea for Paul to take the vow and the ritual cleansing, yet they
didn’t support him after the Jews found a way to entrap him. However, Paul made
friends wherever he went, and even while in prison Paul made enough Roman
friends to keep him safe and keep the message of Jesus the Messiah alive. Paul
made one friend, Seneca, who was part of Nero’s household, and Seneca witnessed
to those around him. During the last years of Paul’s life we find Paul writing
to Timothy and pointing out a few people who were causing trouble in the body
of Christ.
1 Tim 1:19-20 Holding fast to faith (that leaning of the
entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence) and having a
good (clear) conscience. By rejecting and thrusting from them [their
conscience], some individuals have made shipwreck of their faith. 20 Among them
are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan in order that they
may be disciplined [by punishment and learn] not to blaspheme. AMP
HYMENAEUS [high muh NEE uhs] (meaning unknown) - an early
Christian who denied the faith (1 Tim 1:19-20; 2 Tim 2:16-17). His message was
heretical because he claimed the resurrection of the dead was already past. His
"profane and vain babblings...spread like cancer" and destroyed the
faith of believers. (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright ©
1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
ALEXANDER 5. One of two heretical teachers at Ephesus
mentioned by the apostle Paul. With Hymenaeus, he is said to have
"suffered shipwreck" of the faith. He was "delivered to
Satan" (1 Tim 1:19-20) by Paul. Perhaps this was some form of
excommunication from the church.(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary,
Copyright © 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
All of the trouble that Paul got into was for telling others
about Jesus, who was prophesied to rescue humanity from as far back as Genesis
3:15. However, Paul’s first imprisonment did not deter him from teaching about
Jesus. An interesting study is the missing chapter of the book of Acts. Acts 29
tells us Paul went to Spain and to the British Isles to witness. While some may
think that odd, we know from history that most of the tribe of Dan left Egypt
during the Exodus and went to Greece, then on to Spain and the British Isles
becoming the Druids, and the Anglo’s and Saxons. See Raymond Capt’s book Missing Links Discovered in Assyrian Tablets.
http://www.britishisrael.co.uk/pdf/Long%20Lost%20Chapter%20of%20the%20Acts%20of%20the%20Apostles.pdf
This link gives a great history lesson of the Apostle
Paul and his time between his first and second imprisonment. http://israelect.com/ChildrenOfYahweh/Campbell/lost_chapter.htm
Clement records this for us:
The
First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians 3:13 For the same
cause did Paul in like manner receive the reward of his patience. Seven times
he was in bonds; he was whipped, was stoned; he preached both in the East and
in the West; leaving behind him the glorious report of his faith: 14 And so
having taught the whole world righteousness, and for that end travelled even to
the utmost bounds of the West; he at last suffered martyrdom by the command of
the governors,15 And departed out of the world, and went unto his holy place;
being become a most eminent pattern of patience unto all ages.
While Paul set out on a journey preaching the message of
Jesus as Christ and Messiah, he looked at suffering as just part of the
journey. I’m sure it was not comfortable to travel in those days, especially
after all Paul had survived, but he didn’t retire to Florida and live a
comfortable existence in his later years. He poured himself out for the gospel
message. Upon Paul’s release from his first imprisonment, he gathered a
traveling group and set out to more tribes and nations. Paul was already in
Rome, Italy; this time he headed west instead of east to bring the Message of
Jesus to Spain and the outer Isles. When Paul went back to Rome he was
imprisoned again. Paul wrote to Timothy in his second letter, telling Timothy
that all of Asia Minor had deserted him. Paul then mentions two more people who
left him, and then mentions Onesiphorus who came to Rome to look for him. Onesiphorus
and his family took care of Paul on many occasions. Onesiphorus wasn’t
concerned with what the neighbors might think having Paul staying with him.
2 Tim 1:8-18 So don't be embarrassed to speak up for our
Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message
along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power
of God, 9 who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing
to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before
we knew anything about it. 10 But we know it now. Since the appearance of our
Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady
blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus. 11 This is the Message I've been
set apart to proclaim as preacher, emissary, and teacher. 12 It's also the
cause of all this trouble I'm in. But I have no regrets. I couldn't be more
sure of my ground — the One I've trusted in can take care of what he's trusted
me to do right to the end. 13 So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted
in Christ, exactly as I set it out for you. It's as sound as the day you first
heard it from me. 14 Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the
Holy Spirit who works in us. 15 I'm sure you know by now that everyone in the
province of Asia deserted me, even Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 But God bless
Onesiphorus and his family! Many's the time I've been refreshed in that house.
And he wasn't embarrassed a bit that I was in jail. 17 The first thing he did
when he got to Rome was look me up. 18 May God on the Last Day treat him as
well as he treated me. And then there was all the help he provided in Ephesus —
but you know that better than I. (from
THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson.
All rights reserved.)
PHYGELLUS [FIGH juh luhs] (fugitive) - a Christian who
deserted the apostle Paul in his hour of need (2 Tim 1:15). He was probably
afraid of being condemned by the Roman authorities. (from Nelson's Illustrated
Bible Dictionary, Copyright © 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
HERMOGENES — Mercury-born, at one time Paul's
fellow-labourer in Asia Minor, who, however, afterwards abandoned him, along with
one Phygellus, probably on account of the perils by which they were beset (2
Tim 1:15). (from Easton's Bible Dictionary, PC Study Bible formatted electronic
database Copyright © 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
ONESIPHORUS-[on ee SIF oh rus] (profitable) - a Christian
from Ephesus who befriended the apostle Paul (2 Tim 1:16-18; 4:18). Not only
did Onesiphorus minister to Paul while the apostle was in Ephesus; he also
ministered to Paul during his imprisonment in Rome (2 Tim 1:17). Onesiphorus
overcame any fears he had for his own safety to visit and minister to Paul in
prison. Unable to repay Onesiphorus for his "mercy," Paul prayed that
he might "find mercy from the Lord in that Day" (2 Tim 1:18),
referring to the Judgment Day. (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary,
Copyright © 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
The times were very tumultuous as Rome was a heavy handed
oppressor. Many times Rome beat down the Jews, and now Nero added Christians to
his list to persecute. Paul returned to
Rome and was beheaded by Nero.
NERO— occurs only in the superscription (which is
probably spurious, and is altogether omitted in the R.V.) to the Second Epistle
to Timothy. He became emperor of Rome when he was about seventeen years of age
(A.D. 54 A.D.), and soon began to exhibit the character of a cruel tyrant and
heathen debauchee. In May A.D. 64 A.D., a terrible conflagration broke out in
Rome, which raged for six days and seven nights, and totally destroyed a great
part of the city. The guilt of this fire was attached to him at the time, and
the general verdict of history accuses him of the crime. "Hence, to
suppress the rumour," says Tacitus (Annals, xv. 44), "he falsely
charged with the guilt, and punished with the most exquisite tortures, the persons
commonly called Christians, who are hated for their enormities. Christus, the
founder of that name, was put to death as a criminal by Pontius Pilate,
procurator of Judea, in the reign of Tiberius; but the pernicious superstition,
repressed for a time, broke out again, not only throughout Judea, where the
mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also, whither all things
horrible and disgraceful flow, from all quarters, as to a common receptacle,
and where they are encouraged. Accordingly, first three were seized, who
confessed they were Christians. Next, on their information, a vast multitude
were convicted, not so much on the charge of burning the city as of hating the
human race. And in their deaths they were also made the subjects of sport; for
they were covered with the hides of wild beasts and worried to death by dogs,
or nailed to crosses, or set fire to, and, when day declined, burned to serve
for nocturnal lights. Nero offered his own gardens for that spectacle, and
exhibited a Circensian game, indiscriminately mingling with the common people
in the habit of a charioteer, or else standing in his chariot; whence a feeling
of compassion arose toward the sufferers, though guilty and deserving to be
made examples of by capital punishment, because they seemed not to be cut off
for the public good, but victims to the ferocity of one man." Another
Roman historian, Suetonius (Nero, xvi.), says of him: "He likewise
inflicted punishments on the Christians, a sort of people who hold a new and
impious superstition" (Forbes's Footsteps of St. Paul, p. 60).
Nero was the emperor before whom Paul was brought on his
first imprisonment at Rome, and the apostle is supposed to have suffered
martyrdom during this persecution. He is repeatedly alluded to in Scripture
(Acts 25:11; Phil 1:12,13; 4:22). He died A.D. 68 A.D.. (from Easton's Bible
Dictionary, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003, 2006
Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Something to note is that a few years later, when
Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D., the Christians moved out, away from that
area. Where did they go? Asia Minor. Even though people had turned away from
Paul, several years later, by the pen of John, Jesus writes to the seven
churches of Asia. The churches were either reestablished twenty years later, or
they never actually turned their backs on Jesus, just Paul. It is possible that
people still were true to Paul, and Paul did not know how many had deserted
him. It is also possible that Paul’s message of freedom in Christ was still
preached after the temple was destroyed and Asia became a safe haven for the
first century Christians. It is also possible that Jesus isn’t concerned with
differences in opinions or denominations or religious practices, as long as
people believe He is Lord and Savior. Paul continues:
2 Tim 2:14-19 Remind [the people] of these facts and
[solemnly] charge them in the presence of the Lord to avoid petty controversy
over words, which does no good but upsets and undermines the faith of the
hearers. 15 Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God
approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly
analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching]
the Word of Truth. 16 But avoid all empty (vain, useless, idle) talk, for it
will lead people into more and more ungodliness. 17 And their teaching [will
devour; it] will eat its way like cancer or spread like gangrene. So it is with
Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 Who have missed the mark and swerved from the truth
by arguing that the resurrection has already taken place. They are undermining
the faith of some. 19 But the firm foundation of (laid by) God stands, sure and
unshaken, bearing this seal (inscription): The Lord knows those who are His,
and, Let everyone who names [himself by] the name of the Lord give up all
iniquity and stand aloof from it. [Num 16:5; Isa 26:13.] AMP
HYMENAEUS [high muh NEE uhs] (meaning unknown) - an early
Christian who denied the faith (1 Tim 1:19-20; 2 Tim 2:16-17). His message was
heretical because he claimed the resurrection of the dead was already past. His
"profane and vain babblings...spread like cancer" and destroyed the
faith of believers.(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright ©
1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
PHILETUS (beloved) was possibly a disciple of Hymenaeus,
with whom he is associated in 2 Tim 2:17, and who is named without him in an
earlier epistle. 1 Tim 1:20. ( A.D. 63-64) They appear to have been persons who
believed the Scripture of the Old Testament, but misinterpreted them,
allegorizing away the doctrine of the resurrection and resolving it all into
figure and metaphor. The delivering over unto Satan, seems to have been a form
of excommunication declaring the person reduced to the state of a heathen; and
in the apostolic age it was accompanied with supernatural or miraculous effects
upon the bodies of the persons so delivered.(from Smith's Bible Dictionary, PC
Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft,
Inc. All rights reserved.)
If I am going to be mentioned by someone, and remembered
for 2,000 years, I would prefer it be a positive mention. For Paul to call out
certain people means that as his letters went out, the church would be aware of
the people who were teaching the resurrection had happened. Petty controversies
upset and undermine the faith of some people, but Hymenaeus and Philetus were
making a huge doctrinal shift and causing people all kinds of confusion. This
is not a small argument as to personal opinion, such as we see today in
religious denominations, instead this is an out and out heresy being used
intentionally to gain a following, taking people away from following Paul. Hymenaeus
and Philetus may say they are believers in Christ, but by preaching the
resurrection had passed made some people turn away from Paul to follow them. It
also caused some people to give up on following Jesus as they thought there was
no hope of resurrection. Remember, Paul said that all of Asia had turned away
from him.
Paul sees these hardships as a way to spread the gospel
regarding Jesus. Paul had a great testimony and he got to tell people over and
over about it. The hardships were for a purpose, no matter where Paul was,
people were hearing about Jesus, and Paul had the opportunity to speak to the
Roman guards as much as he wanted. Seneca, one of Nero’s advisers, seems to
have been preaching about Jesus as well. In letters between Paul and Seneca we
see Paul encouraging Seneca to be eternity minded, and not to worry if Nero
does not believe on Jesus. Seneca was beheaded before Paul returned to Rome. We
see Paul’s influence went much further than Jerusalem; it went into the
backbone of Rome. Paul points out to Timothy that it is time for him to be
poured out as a drink offering. He says it is the time of his spirit’s release
from his body, and that he would soon go free. Think that through, Paul
recognized his spirit would leave his body and he would be free. Imprisonment
is not keeping Paul bound, his body is.
2 Tim 4:5-22 As for you, be calm and cool and steady,
accept and suffer unflinchingly every hardship, do the work of an evangelist,
fully perform all the duties of your ministry. 6 For I am already about to be
sacrificed [my life is about to be poured out as a drink offering]; the time of
my [spirit's] release [from the body] is at hand and I will soon go free. 7 I
have fought the good (worthy, honorable, and noble) fight, I have finished the
race, I have kept (firmly held) the faith. 8 [As to what remains] henceforth
there is laid up for me the [victor's] crown of righteousness [for being right
with God and doing right], which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to
me and recompense me on that [great] day — and not to me only, but also to all
those who have loved and yearned for and welcomed His appearing (His return). 9
Make every effort to come to me soon. 10 For Demas has deserted me for love of
this present world and has gone to Thessalonica; Crescens [has gone] to
Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him
with you, for he is very helpful to me for the ministry. 12 Tychicus I have
sent to Ephesus. 13 [When] you come, bring the cloak that I left at Troas with
Carpus, also the books, especially the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith
did me great wrongs. The Lord will pay him back for his actions. 15 Beware of
him yourself, for he opposed and resisted our message very strongly and
exceedingly.
DEMAS (governor of the people), most probably a
contraction from Demetrius or perhaps from Demarchus, a companion of St. Paul,
Philem 24; Col 4:14, during his first imprisonment at Rome. ( A.D. 57.) At a
later period, 2 Tim 4:10, we find him mentioned as having deserted the apostle
through love of this present world, and gone to Thessalonica. (from Smith's
Bible Dictionary, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright ©
2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
ALEXANDER (the Coppersmith) 6. The coppersmith who did
Paul "much harm" (2 Tim 4:14). Some scholars identify him with
Alexander No. 4 and suggest that he may have been a silversmith engaged in
activity that was unlawful for a Jew. Other scholars suggest he might be
Alexander No. 5-one who was associated with Christianity and then became
hostile to Paul and the church after being "delivered to Satan." (from
Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright © 1986, Thomas Nelson
Publishers)
As Paul is nearing the end of his life, he continues to
point out how he is standing strong. He’s ready to be free from his body. Paul
figured, as we saw from people prophesying over his decision to go to
Jerusalem, that whatever fate awaited him, Jesus would be made known by Paul.
Therefore Paul says with confidence that he finished his race and kept the
faith. This is a great point to ponder. Paul kept the faith, he did not
compromise with those who were zealous for the law. Paul did not try to smooth
things over regarding following the law, instead he testified Jesus. Paul was
so bold, his thinking was that he was a sacrifice for those who opposed Jesus.
Paul was not murdered by Nero, but instead Paul laid down his life for all of
us.
Look what Paul says next, he again mentions that at his
first trial, the Christians forsook him. This is interesting and Paul might be
attempting to get those Christians to repent for setting him up and abandoning
him. Maybe the Christians in Jerusalem thought Paul was causing trouble and
should keep quiet. And maybe they were perfectly happy to compromise and keep
the law Paul was speaking against. Yet Paul was a sacrifice for them, and they
should have recognized that they were to be sacrifices for others. Instead they
were preserving their lives. Jesus told us that whoever tries to save his life
will lose it.
2 Tim 4:16 At my first trial no one acted in my defense
[as my advocate] or took my part or [even] stood with me, but all forsook me.
May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and
strengthened me, so that through me the [Gospel] message might be fully
proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was delivered out of the
jaws of the lion. 18 [And indeed] the Lord will certainly deliver and draw me to
Himself from every assault of evil. He will preserve and bring me safe unto His
heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen (so be it). 19
Give my greetings to Prisca and Aquila and to the household of Onesiphorus. 20
Erastus stayed on at Corinth, but Trophimus I left ill at Miletus. 21 Do hasten
and try your best to come to me before winter. Eubulus wishes to be remembered
to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren. 22 The Lord
Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace (God's favor and blessing) be with you.
Amen (so be it). AMP
Paul prays that those who did not stand with him before
his first imprisonment are not held accountable for their inaction. Jesus stood
by Paul, Jesus who was crucified for all of us stood by Paul, the murderer of
Christians, because Paul laid down his life for the brethren. Paul was probably
wondering when his freedom from his body would come, and at this time Paul
probably realized there would be no more missionary journey’s. Easton’s says
this:
PAUL-This first imprisonment came at length to a close,
Paul having been acquitted, probably because no witnesses appeared against him.
Once more he set out on his missionary labors, probably visiting western and Eastern
Europe and Asia Minor. During this period of freedom he wrote his First Epistle
to Timothy and his Epistle to Titus. The year of his release was signalized by
the burning of Rome, which Nero saw fit to attribute to the Christians. A
fierce persecution now broke out against the Christians. Paul was seized, and
once more conveyed to Rome a prisoner. During this imprisonment he probably
wrote the Second Epistle to Timothy, the last he ever wrote. "There can be
little doubt that he appeared again at Nero's bar, and this time the charge did
not break down. In all history there is not a more startling illustration of
the irony of human life than this scene of Paul at the bar of Nero. On the judgment-seat,
clad in the imperial purple, sat a man who, in a bad world, had attained the
eminence of being the very worst and meanest being in it, a man stained with
every crime, a man whose whole being was so steeped in every nameable and unnamable
vice, that body and soul of him were, as someone said at the time, nothing but
a compound of mud and blood; and in the prisoner's dock stood the best man the
world possessed, his hair whitened with labors for the good of men and the
glory of God. The trial ended: Paul was condemned, and delivered over to the
executioner. He was led out of the city, with a crowd of the lowest rabble at
his heels. The fatal spot was reached; he knelt beside the block; the
headsman's axe gleamed in the sun and fell; and the head of the apostle of the
world rolled down in the dust" (probably A.D. 66 A.D.), four years before
the fall of Jerusalem. (from Easton's Bible Dictionary, PC Study Bible
formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. All rights
reserved.)
The imagery is strong. Paul, now an old man, tired and
waiting for freedom from his earthly body, laid down his life as Nero attempted
to thwart Christianity. While we usually think in black and white terms, or by
dividing people up into “the good guys” and “the bad guys”, what we see is so
much gray area that we cannot clearly discern anyone. There were the Romans who
were oppressing the Jews, but somehow many Romans believed on Jesus as Messiah
at the time of Paul. As we know in later years, Rome took a partial gospel
message, mixed it with paganism and made a world religion. We have the Jews who
were contentious toward Jesus and Paul, and, at the same time, other Jews who
were from the northern areas of Israel and Assyria. The Jews hated the Romans
for oppressing them, instead of coming back to the Lord who delivered them out
of Egypt. Many Jews became followers of Jesus as Messiah, but were torn over
keeping the Mosaic laws. The Christians were a mixed group from all over the
region. Some clearly were out for themselves, like Simon the sorcerer, or
Demas, Hymenaeous, or Philetus. Some early Christians tried to be friends with
the Jews and sold Paul out. Others did stand with Paul but after several years
of prison, they may have aligned with other teachers of that time. There is no
clear dividing line among people groups, only between those who lived for Jesus
and those who did not. Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary says this:
PAUL-Paul's Legacy. Paul was a controversial figure in
his lifetime, even within the Christian movement. He had many opponents who
disagreed with his interpretation of the message of Jesus. In the closing years
of his life, when imprisonment prevented him from moving about freely, Paul's
opponents were able to make headway with their rival interpretations. Even
though Asia had been Paul's most fruitful mission field, at the end of his life
he wrote, "All those in Asia have turned away from me" (2 Tim 1:15).
In the following generation, however, there was a
resurgence of feeling in Paul's favor. His opponents were largely discredited
and disabled by the dispersal of the church of that city shortly before the
destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
Throughout most of the church Paul became a venerated figure. His letters,
together with the gospels, became the foundation of the Christian movement.
Paul's liberating message has proved its vitality
throughout the centuries. Repeatedly, when the Christian faith has been in
danger of being shackled by legalism or tradition, Paul's message has allowed
the gospel to set man free. (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary,
Copyright © 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
One thing that we can see from Paul’s last decade is that
there were fragments of Christianity all over the place. Some people left
traveling with Paul for the pleasures of the world. Some intentionally taught
false ideas to confuse people. Other people had left because of the trials
Christians faced. Paul stayed faithful until the end. He laid his life down as
an offering for the church. While he probably thought those he evangelized were
lost, today we see Paul’s messages of the mystery and freedom in Christ as
foundational to the church. We should endeavor to be more like Onesiphorus who
ministered to Paul on many occasions and refreshed him. While it seems from
church history in the first century that there were divisions and infightings,
and church groups did not last very long, the central message made it to our
day and time. It is unfortunate that we still have divisions and infightings,
and that many churches still do not last very long, yet maybe we can get the
message out that Paul preached. Rather than picking at every word or idea
spoken by other preachers, maybe we can actually walk in love. Maybe we should
hold our tongue regarding our opinions and preach the very thing that has
lasted two thousand years, freedom in Christ. Maybe we should use social media
to our advantage with a clearly positive message of Jesus as Lord. This is the
message that has endured to our day. Without technology that would be very
hard, but with technology we can announce the message Paul preached to the
entire world.
