Our greatest inconveniences, our greatest disappointments, even the injustices done against us are so designed by God so that we might be fruitful in His work.

And so it was with Paul.

I’m beginning a series on the final chapters of Acts — wonderful chapters. Chapters 25–28 are filled with adventures, everything from court cases to a shipwreck to a snake bite to arrival in the city of Rome in chains. Great drama filled with swashbuckling adventure.

But let’s get some of the context that led to the drama at the end of this book.

Paul, after his amazing adventures bringing the gospel to one gentile city after another, is now making his way to Jerusalem to support the hard-pressed Christian community there. When Paul arrives, he is met by Christians very concerned for him.  They know the city was a powder keg now that he had arrived.

And then, of course, a riot ensues.  Without foundation, Paul is accused of bringing a Gentile into the temple.  The Romans intervene, and Paul is held in prison.

Eventually Paul was charged and his case heard.  Though he knew Paul was innocent, the Roman governor Felix kept him in prison to appease the Jewish leaders. Eventually Felix gets removed — replaced by Porcius Festus — but Paul remains in prison for two years, unresolved.

That brings us to Acts 25, where Porcius Festus now begins to deal with Paul, which means more trials — but great adventure ensues!

By now Paul could have already been in Spain bringing the gospel to a part of the world that had never heard it before.  And after that, who knows?  The sky was the limit!  Yet here he was, rotting away in prison.

But here we see the providence of God.  By the end of Acts, Paul will end up in a prison in Rome, and from there, four of his letters were written — commonly called the prison epistles.  We have four of our New Testament books (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon) because Paul spent a considerable amount of time in prison!

A Prisoner of Christ

I’ve titled this new series “A Prisoner of Christ” because of something Paul writes in those prison epistles.

“For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—” (Ephesians 3:1, ESV)

What did you say Paul?  You seem to have it wrong.  You started by being a prisoner of that political animal Felix, and now you are a prisoner of Rome.  But you say you are a prisoner of Christ Jesus? How is that?  But he says so again in the next chapter.

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” (Ephesians 4:1)

Now that’s an amazing sentence!  He is a prisoner for the Lord.  And the calling of Paul to be a missionary to the Gentiles is now the calling of Paul to be a prisoner of Christ. And that willingness to grasp his calling as a prisoner is found in the other prison letters.

In Philippians, Paul gladly proclaims the advantages of his imprisonment.

“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,” (Philippians 1:12)

But how has his imprisonment advanced the gospel?  For one, he has been chained to the Roman imperial guard, so all of Caesar’s household are hearing the gospel and talking about it!  And seeing all of this, the Roman church is being transformed! They had been intimidated by the might of Roman power, but in sending a delegation to meet with Paul in Rome they are now seeing God’s power firsthand.

Colossians and Philemon have some of these themes as well, but the point I am making is that Paul thinks that now that he is in prison, this is the mission God has for him.  And so, he investigates the opportunities Christ has given to him in his new status as a prisoner.

Here’s the point: when we study the last several chapters in Acts, we should do more than imagine these incredible scenes (the prison, the shipwreck, the snake bite).  Yes, it is great to allow the drama to capture our attention, but the latter chapters of Acts are so much more than an adventure novel.  This is a tale that is meant to teach us how to live.

The job of the Spirit-filled Christian is not just to recognize that it was God’s hand that brought us here, but also to seek and inquire why God brought us here, and what God wanted us to do when the world suddenly changed and the unexpected happened.

So join me in this concluding study of the book of Acts, will you?  While it’s a gripping story to read, it clearly has much to teach us as well!