Gospel Center

Acts 28:16 When we arrived in Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.
 
THE Lord Jesus promises he is preparing a place for his faithful followers to be with him in heaven: John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” How sweet it is to know your trust in Jesus is the way to eternal dwelling with him.
   As we await that day, let’s also trust today he has a place for us to dwell in his purpose and power. To follow Jesus is to follow him into a place he has set aside for you to demonstrate your love for God and love for one another. That place begins in your home. If you are a husband or wife, mother or father, son or daughter, the home is a good place to live out the good news. From your home, you can also care for a neighbor and others you invite into your home. Perhaps your place is to be a teacher, a scientist, a farmer, a business owner or a politician. The world has endless places Jesus has prepared for his gospel to be taught, loved and lived – even in a prison. Recently an astronaut in the Space Station told the gospel to the world!
   Paul surely thanked Jesus that he had prepared a prison house to be Paul’s ministry place in Rome. He could have been jailed in one of Rome’s harsh and dangerous prisons, with minimal outside contact. After all, Paul was a Jew. Emperor Claudius had expelled Jews from Rome 11 years before.  Although Jews were coming back to Rome, the new Christian sect was also developing an unfavorable reputation. The Jews and Christians would not worship the emperor! You could say Paul had two marks against him.
   But if God is for us, who can be against us?
(Romans 8:31) Indeed, God was certainly for Paul. His authority was the King of Kings, who granted Paul a relatively safe place in a Rome-guarded prison house. For two years, the apostle would have a new guard every four hours. He had no freedom to go and come, but he had freedom to meet with any who came in peace. Even if the Jerusalem Jews had sent people to kill him as they had plotted in Jerusalem, Paul was safe from the storm of opposition that had sent him there.
   Paul’s friends would need to provide his food and clothing. Paul will appeal for financial help to the churches he’s pastored. God will bring him others. He’ll need writing tools, someone to help him write and friends to keep him company. He will write four epistles – Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon – to teach the church then and now to help us know Jesus and our response to the place he has prepared for us. Paul’ life will be a day-to-day restricted life; yet his ministry will remain until Jesus returns.