Sermon Transcript

0:00:14.0

Well, we are finishing up our study of the book of Colossians.  And we’ve come to chapter 4, and beginning in verse 2 the apostle Paul does something not unsurprising if you are familiar with Paul's writings.  He ends his letter with an encouragement to pray.  Look at it in verse 2 with me.  He says, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.  At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.”  Paul ends his letter in the same way he began his letter, with prayer.  If you go back to chapter 1, we hear him say in verse 3, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.” Prayer bookends the book of Colossians.  He starts with prayer, and he ends with prayer.

0:01:22.9

Now, his encouragement to pray is several fold.  It's worth diving into these verses 2, 3 and 4 just a little bit, because the first thing he does is encourages us to persistent prayer.  He basically says don't quit.  Don’t quit.  “Continue steadfastly in prayer.”  Don't be a quitter when it comes to prayer, but continue in it.

0:01:46.2

Elsewhere in his letter to the Thessalonians, he says, “Pray without ceasing.”  You say, “Well, how do you do that, pastor?  I‘ve got work.  I’ve got to raise a family.  I can’t be down on my knees in a quiet place of prayer 24 hours a day.”  No, but you can always be in the attitude of prayer.  You can always be in communion and in conversation with God, even as you walk into that business appointment or as you drive down the freeway or as you’re going about your business. Certainly there are times when you want to get alone with God in your quiet place, in your prayer closet.  But we’re to go throughout our day in constant communication with God.  “Continue steadfastly in prayer.” Don't quit.  “Don’t give up” is the encouragement here.

0:02:29.6

It reminds me of two of the parables that Jesus told specifically to encourage us to pray and not quit, not give up.  He told the parable of the persistent friend at midnight, the friend who needed some food.  And he goes over to his neighbor’s house at midnight and knocks on the door until his friend gets up out of bed and answers the door, a picture of persistence.  And then the parable of persistent widow who sought justice in the courtroom of an otherwise known as an unjust judge.  And she was persistent and persistent and persistent.  Jesus tells these stories to encourage us- don't give up in prayer.  Not because prayer is the way we bend God's will to ours.  We’re not trying to wear Him down in our prayer life.  But it's how we get more in line with the will of God.  Prayer is always to align our will to His and not the other way around such that things are happening on earth as it is in heaven, not in heaven as it is in our little corner of the world.  Paul just says continue steadfastly in prayer.

0:03:36.8

And then he tells us to stay alert.  “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful.” Being watchful.  In ancient times, cities had walls around them.  And those walls were quite wide, wide enough for chariot to circle around.  And there were watchmen on the wall 24 hours a day on their posts, scanning the horizon, looking, perhaps, for any approaching danger, any enemy that might be approaching the city.  The watchmen on the wall were important, especially in the later hours of the night.  And if a watchman fell asleep or if the watchmen didn't show up, the city was vulnerable and vulnerable to attack by the enemy.  When we pray, we are like watchmen who are watching for the enemy who “prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 

0:04:37.2

I think of Nehemiah 4:9 where Nehemiah says , “Nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our God and set a watch against the enemy day and night.” And this is what we do in prayer.  When we cease to pray, we cease to pray for ourselves, for our families, for the ministry that God has entrusted to us, we have made ourselves more vulnerable to the enemy's attack.  So continue steadfastly in prayer.

0:05:05.8

And then he says always do it with thanksgiving.  Any prayer that is not flowing from a heart that is grateful to God for all that He has given to us borders on the edge of hubris and pride and selfishness.  And so thanksgiving is never far from Paul's instructions to pray.

0:05:29.7

He goes on to request prayer  And it’s very interesting what he asks us to pray for, what he asks the Colossians to pray for, and what he doesn't ask for.  He says, “At the same time, pray also for us.”  This is a personal request.  He says, “That God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.”  Remember, Paul was writing from prison.  He underwent two imprisonments in Rome.  This was the easier of the two.  He was under house arrest.  That meant that he had some freedoms to receive guests.  He had some freedoms to walk around outside and throughout the city.  But when he did he was always chained to a Roman guard.  But it's interesting that he did not pray that the prison doors would be open for his release.  No, what he prayed for was for the advancement of the gospel, the open door of the gospel, so that he could continue to preach the very gospel that got him thrown in prison in the first place.  What an unselfish request for the apostle Paul.  It was all about the gospel.  It was all about the advancement of the gospel.  And his personal comfort was secondary, if even there.

0:06:53.8

And I would just ask you how committed to the gospel are you to where your request for prayer is, “God, give me some open door, some way to communicate the gospel to…,” and you fill in the blank with the person you're praying for.  That coworker, that neighbor, that friend, that family member, that extended family.  Or whoever it is.  Are you so filled up with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ that you’re less concerned about your own personal comforts as you are the larger thing of the gospel being advanced?  And when the opportunity comes, Paul says, “Pray that I may speak it clearly.” Oh please, let’s not muddy the gospel.  Don’t muddy it up.  Just speak it clearly.  Tell the story of how you came to faith in Jesus Christ and what He means to you.  You don't need to be a theologian.  You don’t have to go to seminary. Just testify to what Jesus did for you and how He changed your life.  And ask God to help you to make that clear in the moment the opportunity comes.  The proclamation of the gospel must always be empowered by prayer.  That’s the lesson here.  Let me say that again.  The proclamation of the gospel must always be empowered by prayer.  He begins with prayer at the beginning of the book; he ends with an encouragement to pray as well.

0:08:18.0

And then he transitions into matters relating to our conduct and our speech.  Let’s read on beginning in verse 5.  He says, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

0:08:42.0

First, he deals with our conduct.  The word “walk” there suggests how we conduct our lives.  He says walk in wisdom toward outsiders.  Now, who are the outsiders?  Well, those who are not in Christ.  And we've already established in Paul's letter to the Colossians and elsewhere in the New Testament in his letters the importance and the richness of that phrase being “in Christ.”  We had a message in this series titled “The Mystery Of Christ In You.” Are you in Christ and is Christ in you by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?  If you are, from a biblical point of view you’re considered an insider.  Anyone who is not in Christ by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is considered an outsider.  What Paul is acknowledging here is that we as believers in Christ, we are not of this world.  Our citizenship is now in heaven.  But we live in the world.  Remember, the Colossians were in Christ but in Colossae at the same time.  To put it in our times, we are in Christ as believers in Jesus Christ, but in Virginia Beach.  And Paul is assuming that as those who are in Christ, as those who are insiders, that we will have interaction with outsiders.  We will have interaction with people who don't even know Jesus Christ.  And he says walk in wisdom with them.  Walk in wisdom with them.  In other words, don't say or do anything that would make it difficult to share the gospel with them.  Beware of your conduct.  Don’t say anything, don't do anything that would make it difficult then to have a conversation about Jesus.  In other words, don't become their stumbling block.  And that's a convicting thought in and of itself, because none of us lives perfectly, right?  But the wise person is always mindful of the interactions that they might have with other believers and how their conduct, let alone their speech, might impact a potential opportunity to share the gospel with them.

0:10:51.9

He says, “Make the best use of the time.”  Another translation says, “Redeem the time.”  And there's a parallel to this in the book of Colossians where Paul says, “Redeem the time, because the days are evil.”  You are, as a believer in Christ who is in Christ and in Virginia Beach at the same time, you going to have interactions with outsiders, with unbelievers.  Redeem the time.  In other words, seize the opportunity to share the gospel with them.

0:11:20.0

The word redeem comes from the marketplace, and we can think of it as the business person who is always scanning the economy and scanning the marketplace for a business opportunity.  And when he or she sees that opportunity, springs into action and seizes the business opportunity.  Or maybe the shopper who is always looking for a bargain.  My wife is a bargain shopper.  She can get something on sale, oh my.  Always scanning, looking for the best deals.  And when she sees the deal, seizes that opportunity and saves us a lot of money on something we might need to purchase.  So for us in Jesus Christ.  And even more important is seizing the opportunities, those daily opportunities that come along to have a conversation with somebody, a meaningful conversation with even one person about the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Paul says, “Walk in wisdom, make the best use of time.”  And then he says, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

0:12:31.6

By the way, he's assuming that the gospel is best communicated verbally.  I know some people who say, “Well, I just let my life be an example.”  Okay.  He's already dealt with our conduct there, but he's also assuming you’ll have a conversation with them.  That when you have the opportunity to share and to testify of your faith in Jesus Christ, you’ll use words.  Don’t just rely upon your actions, and don't just rely upon the example, as important as that is.  But the gospel is always communicated with our words.  And he says let your speech be gracious; be gracious.  You’ll never argue anybody into the faith.  As much as Jesus sometimes put the Pharisees even in their place, His speech was always seasoned with grace.

0:13:26.5

Paul says, “Be gracious, seasoned with salt.”  Why does he put that phrase in there?  I think of the time that Jesus said to His disciples, “You are the salt of the earth.”  Back in ancient times, salt was the refrigeration system.  They didn't have the refrigeration system we have today, and so meat in the marketplace, or fish, those dead things that would decay faster without refrigeration, were packed in salt.  And salt was a valuable commodity unless it had lost its saltiness.  And they would pack the food in salt to preserve it and hold back the rapid decay of that dead animal meat there.  And Jesus used that comparison.  He says, “Disciples, you are the salt of the earth.”  In other words, this world in which we live in is fallen, and there are many who are not in Christ yet who are dead in their trespasses and sins.  And the presence—listen to me—the presence of the church of Jesus Christ in this world is like a preserving agent.

0:14:36.1

When the rapture takes place and the church is taken out of this world and all hell breaks loose during a seven-year period of time known as the Tribulation period, it’s because the salt is gone.  And decay rapidly happens.  But when the church, who is that preserving unit, loses its saltiness, maybe doesn't speak as graciously as we should, or walk in wisdom toward outsiders, or seize the opportunities to share the gospel, when we’ve lost our saltiness in some way, watch the culture just decay faster and faster and faster.  And is that happening in our culture today?  We wonder what's going on in our world, and even in our own backyard.  Maybe it points right back to us as believers in Jesus Christ who need to let our speech always be seasoned with salt.  Let’s not lose our saltiness.  Wiersbe says it this way.  “The Christian’s walk and talk must be in harmony with each other.”  And that's what the Paul is encouraging.

0:15:37.9

And then in verses 7 through the end of the chapter Paul does what is pretty common in ancient letter writing.  Epistles like this that were written not only by the apostle Paul but the everyday people who wrote letters back then would often end their letters with greetings to various people.  And Paul does the same.  Let me pick it up in verse 7.  Pay attention to all the names, the relationships that Paul had in his ministry.  He says, beginning in verse 7, “Tychicus will tell you all about my activities.  He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord.  I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you.  They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.  Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him), and Jesus who is called Justus.  These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.  Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers.”  Don’t you love Epaphras?  He’s the prayer warrior of the team.  He prays “that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.  For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.  Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas.  Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.”  God bless Nympha for opening up her house, for being hospitable to the body of Christ and opening up her house so that they can meet there.  Verse 16, “And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.  And say to Archippus, ‘See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.’”  I wonder what that’s all about.  Maybe Archippus was being lazy about his calling.  We don’t know.  Paul gives a little bit of instruction to this guy named Archippus at the end of the greeting there.

0:18:06.6

Long list of names and relationships.  Paul was as good at building friendships as he was sharing the gospel.  And it's a reminder to us that we’re in this thing called the Christian life not alone, but we do it in partnership with one another.  We need each other.  There are no lone rangers in the Christian life.  If you’re trying to live the Christian life by yourself or out on the fringes of community somewhere, just kind of checking in once in a while to a church but never really getting deeply involved and deeply committed in relationships, it doesn't work that way.  We were created for community.  We were created for relationships and friendships.  We see it in the Godhead between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  And we’re meant to be in community, in Christ, and in this world at the same time (0:19:00.0) so that we’re here to encourage each other.

0:19:03.2

I don’t have time to tell the stories of every one of the people that are mentioned here toward the end of Paul's letter to the Colossians, not to mention all the other names that are associated with Paul's ministry throughout the New Testament.  Somebody is counted up to 100 names throughout the book of Acts and all Paul's letters that are associated with Paul's ministry.  In Romans 16 alone, 26 names he drops into the conversation there of people that are affiliated with and associated with his ministry.  Here in Colossians 4, if my count is correct, I count 11.  And every one of these people have a story to tell.

0:19:41.9

One commentator categorized the 11 in Colossians 4 as “men who stayed, men who prayed, and, yes, those who strayed.”  And, again, there's a story behind each one.  I don’t have time to tell every story, but I do want to just highlight (0:20:00.1) a few of the stories and come back to our theme in our study of the book of Colossians that Jesus is greater than.  Because some of these stories reinforce that theme.  For example, Jesus is greater than ethnic tensions.  Let’s just start right there.  Among the 11 there are both Jews and Gentiles.  Now, racial tensions and racism rears its ugly head in every generation.  We have a history here in our United States of America that goes all the way back to the Civil War and the slavery of that time, and even the civil rights era.  But we’re even learning in our time, racism rears its ugly head in every generation.  Because racism is not a skin problem, it’s a sin problem.  And the answer to ethnic tensions and racism is always a gospel answer.  And so it shouldn’t surprise us that on Paul's ministry team he has both Jews and Gentiles.

0:21:05.7

Now, you’ve got to understand, back in the 1st century, this was the most palpable racial tension in that part of the world, between Jews who saw themselves as the chosen people of God and Gentiles who were not, between the circumcised and the uncircumcised.  And you toss in the Samaritans who were a half breed between Jews and Gentiles, I mean, I’m telling you, the racial tensions were thick.  But it was the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ that brought Jews and Gentiles together.

0:21:40.3

Peter had to learn a hard lesson about that.  Read his story in Acts 10.  But Peter got past his racial tensions.  And Paul's ministry was primarily the Gentiles.  Paul, who was a Hebrew of Hebrews and had lineage all the way back to you know that the tribes of Israel.  But Paul's ministry brought the racial tensions together.  Somebody once said that the most segregated hour of the week is 11 o'clock on Sunday morning.  And sometimes that’s still the case.  It shouldn’t be the case.  You know, heaven is an ethnically diverse place.  If that bothers you you’re not going to be very comfortable in heaven.  But we ought to model that in some way here on planet earth and in our experience in the body of Christ.  Jesus is greater than ethnic tensions.

0:22:42.2

Secondly, Jesus is greater than the failures of your past, there are two people on the list in Colossians 4 who have a little bit of a difficult past and some failure.  One of them was a guy named Onesimus.  Onesimus is kind of pared up with Tychicus as the two guys who were Paul's messengers.  He couldn't say everything that was happening in his ministry in a letter like this, and so it was common back then to even have people sent as your messengers to kind of tell the rest of what was going on.  And Tychicus and a guy names Onesimus were the two that Paul sent to Colossae to tell them more about his ministry.  And Onesimus here is described as “our faithful and beloved brother who is one of you.”  “Hey, Colossae.  Hey, church of Colossae, Onesimus is one of you.”

0:23:39.7

Now, if you were to ask the average person in Colossae who is Onesimus, they’d say, “No, he’s a runaway slave, and he stole from his master.”  How do we know that?  Because one of the other four prison epistles that Paul wrote was a letter to a guy named Philemon who lived in Colossae.  He was a wealthy businessman, and he had what we might call contract employees.  And one of them was a guy named Onesimus who was contractually obligated to perform certain services for this business owner named Philemon.  And he reneged on his contract, and he ran away.  And there is every indication that he might have stolen from Philemon.  And Onesimus ran away to the city of Rome and just lost himself in the sea of humanity there.  But somewhere along the way Onesimus came to faith in Jesus Christ.  And he came into the circle of Paul's awareness.  Remember, Paul was under house arrest, and he had some freedoms.  And people could come and go and talk to him, albeit he was chained to a Roman guard the whole time.  And somehow Paul developed a relationship with Onesimus.  He never let Onesimus’s past define him, his past failure.  He called him “our faithful and beloved brother.”  “He is one of you; he is one of us.”

0:25:03.0

I don’t know what kind of past you have.  I don’t know what kind of a circumstance the devil is reminding you and trying to use to define who you are, something that may be holding you back from being all that you can become in Jesus Christ.  But in Christ Onesimus became a faithful and beloved brother.  Somebody who was useful to Paul in the ministry.  And he writes the letter to Philemon to say, “Philemon, you need to find forgiveness in your heart for Onesimus and receive him back.”  Isn’t that a great story?  Jesus Christ is always greater than your past and then your failures.

0:25:40.7

There’s also a guy named Mark mentioned in this list in chapter 4.  Mark, who, yeah, ultimately wrote the Gospel According to Mark, a pretty significant contribution to the scriptures- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  But early on in Mark’s life he was a quitter.  Do you remember in Acts 13 Paul and Barnabas were being sent out on their first missionary journey by the church in Antioch?  And Barnabas brought along his cousin named John Mark.  And they all went out on their missionary journey.  But somewhere along the way—we don’t know exactly why—but John Mark said, “I’m done with this.”  He quit and went home.  Paul was furious.  He says, “I don’t need any quitters on my team.  I don’t need people who make a commitment to something, and then they’re outta here.  They quit.”  And in Acts 15 Paul and Barnabas were ready to be sent out on their second missionary journey.  And Barnabas reaches back, grabs his cousin Mark and wants to bring him along.  And the Bible says “a conflict arose between Paul and Barnabas.”  It was a heated conflict.  Barnabas says, “Let’s bring him along.”  Paul says, “No way, I don’t need any quitters.”  And the Bible says at that point Paul and Barnabas went their separate directions.  It’s a wonderful story to illustrate how God can even use a conflict between two godly men and use it to send the gospel out in different directions.

0:27:04.9

But eventually Mark became useful, not only to Barnabas, but useful to the Holy Spirit as well because he wrote the Gospel According to Mark.  To Mark’s credit, the man who started out failing and quitting put that aside and became faithful in his service to the Lord.  And to Paul’s credit, he recognized the change in Mark, and he found grace.  Grace enough to say to the Colossians, “Concerning [Mark] you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him.”  It’s that a great story?  It’s a wonderful story of redemption and a reminder that Jesus is greater than the failures of your past.

0:27:49.6

Thirdly, Jesus is greater than the pleasures of this world.  He is greater than the pleasures of this world.  Verse 14 says, “Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas.”  That’s all we get is just the name of a guy named Demas who had been part of Paul’s ministry team for some time.  The New Testament mentions Demas three times- once in Paul’s letter to Philemon where Demas is mentioned along with other faithful servants that were part of Paul’s ministry team.  Then he is mentioned here, just his name dropped in.  Luke and Demas say, “Tell the folks back in Colossae we said hello.”  And then in Paul’s second letter to Timothy we have the third time Demas is mentioned.  And this is where the sad commentary comes in.  Paul says, “Demas has forsaken me having loved this present world.”  And that’s the last time we hear of Demas.  Demas was once considered a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ and a faithful team member, a useful team member in Paul’s ministry.  But there came a point where Demas quit.  Mark quit at the beginning of his ministry and later came back to be faithful.  Demas appeared to be faithful all these years, but at the end, he quit.  One day he just packed his bags up and he left.  And Paul says, “Demas has forsaken me.”  You ever been in a situation where a team member just ups and leaves and forsakes you?  Your head is kind of left spinning, wondering, what’s this all about?  In Demas’s case, Paul says, “He loved this present world.”

0:29:45.5

It kind of reminds me of what 1 John 2 says where John talks about not being in love with the world, because if you’re in love with the world the love of the Father is not in you.  He’s talking about the world system.  You can’t be in love with the world system, which John defines as being characterized by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life.  He says you can’t love all of that and the love of the Father be in you at the same time.  It reminds me also of what Jesus said in Matthew 6.  You can’t serve God and money.  You can’t serve two masters.  John says you can’t love the world and the Father at the same time.  You’re going to have to make a choice.  And somewhere along the way the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, what he saw out there that was available…maybe he coveted too much.  He wanted too much of this world, the boastful pride of life.  We don’t know which one—maybe it was all three—that got a foothold in Demas’s heart.  And for all those years maybe leading up to the time of his departure there was the thin veneer of religiosity.  He was going through the motions.  Everybody would look in and say of Demas, “Oh, he loves Jesus.”  He would even say, “Oh, how I love Jesus.  Oh, how I love Jesus.”  But at the end of day, according to the scriptures, he loved this present world more than he loved God and move than he loved Jesus.

0:31:19.7

Here is the question for us today, and it’s from a negative example here.  Is Jesus to you greater than the pleasures of this world?  And I guarantee you the devil himself is dangling that in front of you, just like he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Do you remember the story there?  The two trees- the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  The Lord said, “Don’t eat from this one.”  The devil walks in and says, “Did God really say…”  He casts doubt upon the Word of God to Eve.  She began to think.  And then he said, “Look at that tree,” the lust of the eyes.  “It will be good to you when you eat it,” the lust of the flesh.  “And when you eat it, you will be like God,” the boastful pride of life.  This has been the devil’s strategy ever since the Garden of Eden.  And he works it every day.  He’s enticing you.  He’s enticing me.  He’s saying, “You know, following Jesus is hard, the sacrifices you make.  But look at the world.  The world is like an oyster for you.”  And if you’re not careful—if you don’t deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow Him—the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life may in fact get the best of you.  And like Demas, you say, “I’m checking out of here.  This ain’t worth it.”  Not that Demas lost his salvation.  Maybe he never had it in the first place.  He had the thin veneer of religiosity.  But when push comes to shove, he loved the world more than he loved Jesus.

0:33:02.1

The story of Colossians is that Jesus is greater than that.  Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, “The sufferings of this world are nothing compared to the glories that we receive in Jesus Christ.”  And that brings me to number four.  Jesus is greater than the sufferings you experience as a follower of Jesus.  Here Paul is our example.  And I want us to finish out in verse 18.  I love the way Paul ends his letter to the Colossians here.  He says, “I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand.”  Sometimes he had a secretary to whom he dictated his epistles.  This one he wrote with his own hand.  It was very personal.  Then he says this.  “Remember my chains.”  And then he finishes, “Grace be with you.”

0:33:52.2

I want to focus on that phrase “remember my chains” for a moment.  Remember, Paul was under house arrest.  He was literally chained to a Roman soldier.  That was his first imprisonment.  Later, he would go to the Mamertine Prison in Rome, which was right near the Roman forum and the Roman coliseum.  It was the place to which prisoners went who were agitators of Rome, and they were awaiting execution.  Tradition has it that Paul was there before he was beheaded, and possibly even Peter before he was crucified upside down.

0:34:30.4

Cathryn and I were in Italy the past couple of weeks, and we spent some time in Rome.  And my lovely wife called an audible one day.  We had a guide showing us around the city, and there were two places that she wanted to go that were not on our itinerary.  One was a place called Tre Fontane.  It was the place where the apostle Paul was executed.  And there is a beautiful abbey that is still working with priests and nuns that are there commemorating the time and the place where the apostle Paul was executed, his head chopped off by Nero himself…or under the direction of Nero.  And then St. Paul’s Basilica.  Now, I know if you know anything about Rome even remotely, you think of St. Peter’s Basilica- the Vatican.  That’s the most famous of the basilicas.  There are actually four basilicas in the Vatican system that are in Rome.  St. Peter’s is the most famous, but they say the most important is St. John’s because that’s the one to which the Pope is assigned.  You have St. Mary’s, and then you have St. Paul’s Basilica.  And we asked to go out to St. Paul’s Basilica, which is just outside the old city gates and the old walls of Rome because that’s where non-Roman citizens were buried in the necropolis, the cemetery out there, or agitators of Rome.  And both Paul and Peter were executed outside the Roman city gates.  And they were buried outside the Roman city gates.  Peter over here in St. Peter’s Basilica.  But St. Paul’s Basilica nobody really knows about.  I didn’t even know.  We didn’t even know about it.  It’s a beautiful, beautiful basilica.  Do we have a picture of it?  There it is.  These are massive, massive facilities.  There are 30,000 people a day that visit the Vatican, and St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Peter’s Square is just bustling with people.  We had the place virtually to ourselves.  We walked in.  It was quiet as a church mouse.  And you got a sense just with the massive volume of the ceilings and the almost football field-length approach to the altar there.  You just walked humbly into the presence of God.  These basilicas were built that way to inspire that kind of worship.

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If you walk all the way down the center aisle there, you’ll come to the tomb of the apostle Paul.  And there it is.  And if you look carefully, there is a little box, a little light box just above the tomb.  And if you zoom in a little bit closer, there it is.  Paul says, “Remember my chains.”  And whether those are an actual chain that was chained to Paul’s wrist and to a Roman soldier we don’t exactly know.  But it’s a good representation.

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Frequently throughout the New Testament Paul makes reference to his imprisonment.  He calls himself a bondservant of Jesus Christ.  Frequently he says, “Remember, remember my chains.  Remember that there was no sacrifice too great for the advancement of the gospel.”  Remember, Paul prayed not for the prison doors to be opened and for him to be released or for his personal freedom.  No, he prayed for the gospel door to be opened.  For him to have the opportunity to continue preaching the same gospel that put him in chains in the first place.   He says, “Remember my chains.”  And the remembrance of his chains is a remembrance of a guy who laid it all out there for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  What’s the most important thing to you today?  Come on.  It’s not your creature comforts.  For the limited time we have on this earth, it’s how God would use any one of us, let alone us collectively to advance the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, even if it puts us in chains.

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This is the life testimony of the apostle Paul.  He was under house arrest for a period of time, for about two years, awaiting an audience with Nero.  And then he was released.  But later he was…tradition tells us that he was sent to the Mamertine Prison.  Rome burned to the ground in 64 A.D.  And politically, people were blaming Nero.  He was a megalomaniac.  And he flipped the politics and blamed the Christians.  Nero was known for setting torches along the streets of Rome, torches made of Christians.  They would light them up at night and burn them like candelabras.  He blamed the Christians for the burning of Rome because “they did not follow our pagan gods, ” because guys like Paul and Peter and others talked about the one true God, this Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross for their sins, was buried and rose again from the dead.  And by 67 A.D. Nero had turned the politics.  And two of the greatest agitators of Rome were Peter and Paul.  And Nero ordered the execution of both of them.  You can visit the place where Paul was executed in Tre Fontane outside the city gates.  This Roman citizen was branded an agitator of Rome and was kicked outside the city gates.  There’s a pedestal there that they believe is where he laid his head as the blade came and severed his head from his body.  And then he was buried just outside in the necropolis.  And in time St. Paul’s Basilica was built to commemorate that.

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Jesus is greater than any suffering we may experience as a follower of Jesus Christ.  Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians, “The sufferings of this life are nothing,” nothing, “compared to the glory that we receive in Christ Jesus.”  These chains were nothing to Paul but a reminder of no sacrifice is too great, no sacrifice is too great for the cause of the gospel.  Do you have anything in your life to which you would give that kind of sacrifice, financially, your time, your talent, your treasure, whatever it is?  “Remember my chains,” Paul says.

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