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We’re continuing our flyover of the New Testament, and we’re flying fast.
Last week we flew through 7 books: James, and then 6 letters written by Paul: Galatians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Corinthians and Romans.
Today, we’re going to review Paul’s remaining 7 written during his Roman imprisonment.
These include his prison epistles: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon and his pastoral epistles, 1 & 2 Timothy, and Titus.
So last week we left off with Paul in Corinth having written his letter to the Romans, which as we learned some have called The Gospel According to Paul.
In it, he lays out a very clear message of the gospel.
Again, clearly we’re travelling fast.
As a pastor and preacher it is not unheard of to spend an entire sermon on one verse, so to cover an entire chapter, book, much less 7 of them means we are truly flying through these.
We will actually be finishing our series in just a few weeks.
So quickly a review of our guidelines as we do our 40,000 foot flyover the New Testament:
Don’t get frustrated by the pace.
Try and see the connections.
Enjoy your flight.
Let’s Remember that we are in the T of our acronym EMPTY, and it stands for Teaching.
E - Expectations
M - Messiah
P - Pentecost
T - Teaching
Y - Yet to come
We’re going to begin with Paul’s letter to the Ephesians during his imprisonment in Rome between AD 60 -62.
Ephesians
Paul had spent 3 years in Ephesus, during his third missionary journey (Acts 19).
The city of Ephesus was the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire with a population of about 250,000 including 10,000 Jews.
There, the young church was facing familiar temptations of false teaching, division, and worldliness.
This letter is truly a stirring restatement of God’s eternal purpose in Christ and an exhortation to the church to live in unity in Christ.
I often use a summary of the benediction given in Ephesians 3, vs. 21 & 22 at the end of our services.
Throughout this epistle, Paul clearly recognizes the devil’s scheme to tempt and accuse our disobedience.
Perhaps looking at the Roman soldier who guarded him in prison he describes the believer as outfitted with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and shoes ready to carry the gospel.
They hold the shield of faith to extinguish the devils arrows, and they wear the helmet of salvation while wielding the sword of the Spirit which is the sword of God.
Our summarizing phrase of this letter is “Unity of Christ” following our key verse:
Philippians
One of my favorites early in my Christian faith, and remains so today.
Paul’s second prison letter is to the church he established in Philippi during his second missionary journey recorded in Acts 16.
Paul and Timothy write to the saints who are in Philippi.
After his distinctive greeting Paul’s prayer for the Philippians reveals the theme of his letter.
His prayers are filled with joy,
It’s in this letter that we get phrases like, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
v. 1:21.
We also get that beautiful instruction to be unified in their imitation of Christ who models how we should live:
The focus of this letter is joy.
And that leads us to the summarizing statement, Joy in Christ.
Colossians
Paul writes with the authority as an apostle.
He has heard about their faith in Christ, their love for Christ’s people, and their hope in Christ’s return.
Reflecting on the supreme and glorious accomplishment of the cross leads Paul into praise and worship:
Paul warns the Colossians against any teaching that would diminish Christ, and urges believers to fix their attention on Him.
He focuses on their new life in Christ, and that is our theme for Colossians, “New Life in Christ”.
Our key verse for the book is Colossians 3:4
Philemon
This is the last of Paul’s prison letters.
It’s a personal letter addressed to three individuals:
Philemon 1–2 (ESV)
To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:
One of Philemon’s servants, Onesimus, had fled for unknown reasons to us.
Philemon was a wealthy resident of Colossae and employed servants for his estate.
Onesimus comes in contact with Paul and becomes a believer in Christ.
Paul has great affection for Onesimus, treating him much like a son.
Paul writes Philemon encouraging him to receive Onesimus back as a brother in Christ.
And that is our summarizing statement for this book, “Welcome your brother in Christ.”
Our summarizing verse is Philemon 21
Our next letters are first and second Timothy:
1 & 2 Timothy
We know that Paul was imprisoned in Rome 60-62, according to a number of early Christian resources indicate that he was released after his initial trial and then imprisoned a second time in Rome from AD 63-65.
It is during this later period that Paul pens his letters to Timothy and Titus.
These are known as the Pastoral Epistles.
First & Second Timothy are written to Paul’s beloved disciple who accompanied him on his first and second missionary journey as we saw in Acts 16.
Timothy is young, and becomes a lifelong mentee of Paul’s, and was given several important ministry assignments in Thessalonica, Corinth, and Philippi.
After Paul’s initial release from prison in Rome, he entrusts Timothy with the church at Ephesus.
His first letter to Timothy is to encourage his faithfulness in the task.
He instructs him to remain there.
Paul guides him in orderly worship and leadership in the church.
He encourages Timothy to devote himself to the public reading of Scripture and preaching of the Word.
That brings us to our summarizing words of 1 & 2 Timothy, “Preach the Word of Christ.”
Our key verse comes from 2 Timothy 4:2
Lastly, we come to Titus, the last letter written during this period.
Titus
Paul had first met Titus during his early missionary journeys, Titus had come to Christ from a Gentile background.
He served as an important example of Paul’s teaching that Gentiles were justified by faith, and as such, they should be treated as full members of God’s covenant family.
Titus is another one of Paul’s children of faith.
Much like he did with Timothy, Paul instructs Titus to teach sound theological doctrine, and to be an example of good works.
Central to his message is Titus 3:4-7
And that brings us to our summarizing statement for Titus, Serve Christ our Savior.
Our summarizing verse is Titus 2:1
As we come to the end of these 7 letters, there is for me a sense of the renewing of our mind that happens in Christ.
That we are no longer the people we once were without Christ, and that this newness of life is to be passed on as we share.
We read in 2Tim 2:2
We can go all the way back to Jesus’s Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20.
And Jesus words in Acts 1:8
So we see the gospel message spreading around the known world then, and ultimately it spread to us.
Think about that.
Paul clearly was concerned about the gospel message being shared.
He was also concerned about the message being diluted.
There is a consistency in the message of the New Testament, to continue to spread not just the kindness that we’re called to be towards our neighbor in love, but the Gospel message itself.
The saving message of Jesus Christ.
That is our legacy and our charge going forward, and all for the glory of God.
Teaching (Part 2)
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