Acts 28:30–31: “Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.”

April 25th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Paul was chained to at least one soldier both day and night. No doubt each soldier assigned to Paul received a clear witness about Jesus since Paul, “received all who came to him.” We know that Paul’s confinement gave him the time to write letters that we know today as the Books of Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. God of course didn’t waste Paul’s time in Rome any more than He would waste the time of anyone anxious to serve Him. Although we, by our limited perspective, may think it wasted, we can be sure God is working to bring about good in every believer’s life, each and every day. Doctor Luke ends the story here, but the early church historian Eusebius, who died about 340 AD, wrote:

After pleading his cause, he [Paul] is said to have been sent again upon the ministry of preaching, and after a second visit to the city [Rome], that he finished his life with martyrdom.

Caesar Nero had Paul taken outside the city and beheaded.

Many have commented that there will be an Acts 29 and 30 and so on and so on when we get to heaven. In a sense, the Holy Spirit is still adding chapters within each of our lives as we labor until Jesus comes again or we go to be with Him in heaven. We are confident that as Paul wrote, to be “absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). So we all, who love His appearing, press on together as sojourners on this pilgrim’s road toward His celestial city.

“LORD, help us today to share the kingdom of God with those around us.”