Acts is over. What happens to Paul? He is in prison when we leave him. Information seems to say that the charges against him were proved groundless.
During the First Roman Captivity (FRC) which lasted two years, Paul wrote four epistles - responding to representations from the churches (this is why they were spread around): 61-63 AD.
Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians and Philippians.
Colossians & Philemon were sent by Epaphras, (elder/pastor of church in Colossae)
Timothy or Epaphras, delivered Ephesians.
Philippians was the last book written during first Roman imprisonment. Possibly Luke delivered it, and perhaps this is why there is no record of the end of FRC.
If Paul was released from prison, it would have been in around 63 AD - Goodwin. Eusebius records for us that "report has it" that Paul was released after being imprisoned for 2 years. Paul being exiled to Spain is also a possibility, but a vague one.
Paul had it on his heart to go to Spain. Clement (bishop of Rome) wrote in 96 AD to Corinth that Paul might have gone to Spain. Calls Paul the herald of the gospel both in the east and the west. Weak evidence -was not his intent. Several other leaders mention in their letters about Paul being released and/or going to Spain, but they are all simply repeating inferences from their predecessors.
He probably visited some of the churches again. Paul wrote 1 Tim. to Ephesus from Macedonia. At Ephesus he wrote Titus to Titus in Crete.
Tradition has it that Paul died by the executioner's sword, during the persecution of Christians in Rome following the great fire of AD64, at least 2 years after the latest probable date for the hearing of his first case. The fire was believed ordered started by Nero, and the Christians were used as scapegoats. Their deaths were made a sport and thousands died.
Sometime after he wrote 1 Tim. & Titus, he is imprisoned again (SRC). Whether he was released or exiled, he was arrested and imprisoned a second time in Rome, and this time the conditions of his imprisonment were much more stringent than before. There he wrote his last book - II Tim.
Onesiphorus appears to have proved very helpful to Paul during those last days.
16 The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chains; 17 but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me, and found me-- 18 the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day-- and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus.
On the hypothesis of Paul's release and second imprisonment, his case came up for hearing and he was prosecuted (with due regard to his Roman citizenship) on the charge of being a leader of the christians and also of being a persistent disturber of the peace of the provinces. This may be the setting for the passage in II Tim 4::
16 At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. 17 But the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion's mouth.
But only for the time being was he rescued from the lion's mouth. A second hearing was held in due course, and this time the verdict was "guilty", and the sentence, death be the sword.
II Tim. has preserved Paul's last words. It has the strong counsel from a father to a son in the Lord.
His last words to his son:
2 Timothy 4:6-8 6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. (NASB)
Death around 65 AD
CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS:
I. Paul's personality
A. Zealous - He was a zealot for the ancestral traditions of his people. When those traditions were displace in his life by another cause, he was no less zealous in the promotion of this new cause. He became a bondslave of this new Lord, and to His service all his talents and energies were dedicated.
B. Impetuous - This is most apparent in his letter writing. Time and again Paul starts a sentence that never reaches a grammatical end, for before he is able to launch into it, a new thought strikes him and he turns aside to deal with that. When he comes back on to the main track, the original start of the sentence has been forgotten. (rabbit trials)
C. Relational - The range of his friendships and the warmth of his affections are qualities which no attentive reader of his letters can miss. People who risked their lives for him (ie. Priscilla & Aquila, Epaphroditus, etc.). People like Timothy who readily surrendered whatever personal ambitions he might of had, to serve Paul as a son. It was because he held nothing back from his friendships, he freely gave all he had for his friends. Paul has no place for the solitary life as an ideal. "He travels fastest, who travels alone" - would never have been his motto. He emphasizes the fellowship, the togetherness of Christians in worship and action. His converts are his pride and joy. He writes to them as a father addressing his children. He commends everything that is praiseworthy in them. He scolds them for their shortcomings and warns them to change or else. But he is always coaching them, knowing that they can make it.
D. Uncommon strength of will - He was delivered from the bondage of his old ways, never to return. He set no limits on the transforming power of the risen Christ. For him the Christian life was a strenuous business. He liked to picture it in athletic terms - as a race to be run or a battle to be fought. Instant attainment was out of the question. This did not show up as impatience with lesser mortals. He had warm sympathy with those whose conscience was immature, and would go to almost any length of self-denial in consideration for his weaker brethren.
E. Physical toughness - The sheer travel schedule he made for himself. The imprisonments, shipwrecks, beatings, etc., would have overcome a lesser man. A John Wayne type. He wore his scars as trophies. Paul would not interpreted his sustaining of trouble and danger in terms of toughness. In his eyes all this was part of the life of faith, not to be endured as something one would rather be spared, but to be embraced with joy as a sure token of acceptance by God. As the hardships wore down the outer man, they were at the same time used by God foe the renewal of the inner man.
Four themes Paul emphasized in his teachings:
1. True religion is not a matter of rules and regulations. God does not deal with a person like an accountant, but accepts them freely when they respond to His love, and implants the Spirit of Christ in their hearts so that they may show to others the love they have received from him.
2. In Christ men and women have come of age, as the new humanity brought into being through his death and resurrection-life. God does not keep his children in leading strings, but calls them to live as responsible adult sons and daughters.
3. People matter more than things, more than principles, more than causes. The highest of principles and the best of causes exist for the sake of people. To sacrifice people to them is a perversion of the true order.
4. Unfair discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, class or sex is an offense against God and humanity alike.
Four characters affected by Paul's writings:
1). Augustine
2). Luther (and the reformation)
3). John and Charles Wesley ( and the evangelical revival)
4). Karl Barth (and the enlightenment)
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