We are going to take a small detour this morning, and we are going to speak on the ‘prison letters’ that were written by our apostle Paul.
The reason for this is because of the 4 letters that were written by Paul while he was imprisoned, 3 of those letters are the next 3 books in the Bible that we are going to study.
Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians.
Paul mentions that he is in prison in these verses:
Ephesians 3:1 ‘…That is why I pray for you. I, Paul, am in prison because I serve Christ Jesus. He has sent me to help you Gentiles…’ EASY (Easy English Bible)
Ephesians 4:1 ‘…Because I serve the Lord, I am here in prison. I really want you to live as God’s own people should live. God has called you to come to him. He has chosen you to be his own people…’ EASY
Philippians 1:13 ‘…I am in a prison because I am Christ’s servant. The soldiers in the king’s house and all the people here know that…’ EASY
Colossians 4:3 ‘…Also pray for us. Ask God to make it possible for us to tell people his message. We want people to understand the message about Christ that was a secret before. I am now in a prison because I taught people those things…’ EASY
Colossians 4:18 ‘…I, Paul, am writing these words at the end of this letter with my own hand. Remember to pray for me while I am in prison. I pray that God will continue to be very kind to you…’ EASY
Besides the times he spent in prison, Paul survived horrific physical, environmental, and emotional abuse for his missionary work. According to his own accounts, these hardships included:
Severe beatings, shipwrecks, environmental and travel perils, physical deprivation, hostility and betrayal, the ‘Thorn in the Flesh’ that caused him much personal stress.
Just ask yourself, could you today survive such hardships?
This is from the mouth of Jesus Christ.
Acts 9:16 ‘…I myself will tell him about the many troubles that he will have. He will have much pain on my behalf…’ EASY
Being locked up in prison is unthinkable to most human beings today, but can you just imagine what Paul went through to allow you and I to have the opportunity to HEAR what God wants for us to know, and there is a large population of people that call themselves christians that won’t even read the letters that Paul wrote for us.
There are many that do not believe the words I speak, but I repeat what God has given us through His Word … so in essence they are saying they don’t want to believe what God is telling them.
HOW DO YOU THINK THAT MAKES GOD FEEL?
I know that I am not perfect. I know that to, many people, my hair is way too long. I know that I upset many when they see me drink a beer or two.
God has created EVERYTHING in this world that we can see in front of us. God has forgiven me, and all of us, for ALL OF OUR SINS … ALL OF THEM.
It is a shame there are those human beings that feel they should be more judicious than God Himself.
The apostle Paul loved Jesus more than any of us will ever really be able to know.
The apostle Paul loved each one of us because he loved Jesus.
Paul suffered for us because he wanted us to know what each one of us have waiting for us, after we leave this body that we are living in.
Jesus Christ died on a cross to forgive us of our sins so that we could have the promise to live eternity in the presence of Him after we leave this life.
Jesus did that for us before we were perfect, while we were still sinners.
Here are several different English versions for you to read this verse in.
Romans 5:8
‘…But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us…’ AKJV (Authorized King James Version)
‘…But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us…’ AMP (Amplified Bible)
‘…But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful…’ CEV (Contemporary English Version)
‘…But God has shown us how much he loves us. Even when we still did not obey God, Christ died on our behalf…’ EASY
‘…But God has shown us how much he loves us—it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us…’ GNT (Good News Translation)
‘…But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
‘…But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us…’ NET (New English Translation)
What more proof do you need?
GOD LOVES YOU … NO MATTER WHAT YOU THINK YOU’VE DONE TO HARM HIM … GOD LOVES YOU!!!
I don’t quote from the teachings that Jesus taught the Jews very often, but here is a verse written by John to the Jewish believers.
John 3:16 ‘…For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life…’ AKJV
You might ask, why do I say that John wrote to the Jewish individual only.
John 1:19 ‘…And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou…’ AKJV
John NEVER speaks of Everlasting Life being offered to the Gentile individual.
John NEVER speaks of Jesus’ death, burial or resurrection and how it is our promise of Everlasting Life for the non-Jew (Gentile).
John didn’t understand what it meant to die and to be resurrected back to life … how could he preach it?
How do I know John didn’t understand … it is written in the synoptic gospels of Mark and Luke.
Mark 9
vs31 ‘…For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day…’
vs32 ‘…But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him…’ AKJV
Luke 18
vs31 ‘…Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished…’
vs32 ‘…For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on…’
vs33 ‘…and they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again…’
vs34 ‘…And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken…’ AKJV
John writes in his own gospel, on the day of Jesus’ resurrection when John was standing in the tomb of Jesus, that, as of yet, he didn’t understand the Scriptures.
John 20:9 ‘…For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead…’ AKJV
But we are shown in several verses that have been meant for us Gentiles to BELIEVE.
Acts 16:31 ‘…Paul and Silas said to him, Believe in the Lord Jesus and then God will save you. He will save you and the people who live in your house, if they believe too…’ EASY
Romans 10:9 ‘…The message is this: You must say clearly that Jesus is the Lord. Also, you must believe deep inside yourself that God raised him to life again after his death. Then God will save you…’ EASY
Ephesians 2:8 ‘…When you believed in Jesus, God saved you because he is very kind. You could not save yourselves, but that is God’s gift to you…’ EASY
How many people out there in this world do not READ the Word of God?
They instead listen to their pastor or priests in their man-made religions and think that the man-made sermons heard on Sunday mornings will save them, when actually, those Sunday morning sermons have done nothing but confuse the Truth of God.
The ONLY way to HEAR the words that God intends for you to HEAR is to OPEN up your Bible and READ His words for yourself.
Mankind, over the 2000 years since Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection have wandered some from the actual teachings that have been meant for us to abide by, that is written in the Word of God.
I want to invite you to follow me in my pursuit to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and continue in His Word.
Join me … I love ALL of y’all.
Here is a reading plan I’d like to suggest for the one searching to find God in the 21st century:
Day 1 – Galatians 1-6, 1Thessalonians 1-5
Day 2 – 2Thessalonians 1-3, 1Corinthians 1-8
Day 3 – 1Corinthians 9-16
Day 4 – 2Corinthians 1-13
Day 5 – Romans 1-10
Day 6 – Romans 11-16, Philippians 1-4
Day 7 – Colossians 1-4, Ephesians 1-6
Day 8 – Philemon 1, 1 Timothy 1-6, Titus 1-3, 2Timothy 1-4
Day 9 – Acts 1-7
Day 10 – Acts 8-13
Day 11 – Acts 14-20
Day 12 – Acts 21-28
The entire Bible, ALL SCRIPTURE has been given to us by God (2TIM3:16), but NOT ALL Scripture has been meant for us ALL to follow … we are told we MUST know how to RIGHTLY DIVIDE the truth of God (2TIM2:15).
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