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Persecution and Injustice Meet God’s Plans

1. READ

   Acts 21:1–28:16

2. CONNECT

   10min
   Paul’s words to the church, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts … Be thankful” (Colossians 3:15), and “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4), take on a deeper meaning when we remember that he wrote those words from prison. So, before we study Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon, we will look at the circumstances around Paul when he wrote them.

3. Reflection

   What advice would you give to a friend who is choosing to walk into a highly charged situation where they may face persecution for their faith in Jesus?

4. WATCH

   20min

5. DISCUSS

   15min
   1. What is something new you learned about Paul and his ministry from the video?
   2. Many people warned Paul about the suffering that awaited him in Jerusalem. Why did these warnings prepare Paul for the future instead of making him change his plans?
   3. How did Paul’s past experience of trusting the Holy Spirit guide him?
   4. Describe Paul’s posture towards his suffering and the injustice he received.
   5. When Jesus was accused, he was silent like a sheep at the slaughterhouse. However, Paul defended himself eloquently. What role did God’s specific plans for Jesus and for Paul play in their decision to speak or not?
   6. How did Paul’s confinement in Rome fulfill a greater purpose in God's plan to get the gospel to everybody?

6. APPLY

   15min
   Paul’s unjust imprisonment restricted his body but not his ministry. Dr. Reggie Kidd explains in Lesson 1 of Paul’s Prison Epistles:

   Paul was an apostle. Jesus had personally called and trained Paul and appointed him to serve as his ambassador, his covenant emissary. And as strange as it may sound to us today, Paul’s appointed tasks were not put on hold when he was imprisoned. On the contrary, in God’s providence, prison was exactly where God wanted Paul to be at this time in his life. God himself had orchestrated events so that Paul’s imprisonment in Rome would provide the opportunity for Paul to continue to spread the Gospel of Christ.

   Paul’s imprisonment created fresh expressions of four things that were already well-developed in his ministry:

   • Preaching – Paul had preached boldly since Jesus met him on the road to Damascus. While in prison and under house arrest in Rome, Paul had a series of new audiences to preach to, and he asked for prayer that he could proclaim the gospel boldly (Ephesians 6:19, 20).
   • Praying – All of Paul’s letters regularly mention his prayers for the church as well as for individual believers. Paul had even more time to spend in prayer when he was in one place than when he was busy traveling, teaching in churches, and making tents. And the letters he wrote from prison contain some of the richest prayers for others in all of Scripture (Philippians 1:9-11; Colossians 1:9-12; Ephesians 1:15-23; 3:14-19).
   • Suffering – Paul had already been beaten, imprisoned, and shipwrecked but his final arrest and imprisonment added fresh suffering to his life: unjust accusations, plots against his life, corrupt politicians leaving him to rot in jail while they hoped for a bribe, physical danger and suffering, as well as the fact that it kept him from visiting the churches he loved so much.
   • Writing – Paul wrote letters to churches throughout his ministry but when he was in prison his letters became the way for him to continue his pastoral and teaching ministries.

   1. What part of Paul’s example resonates with what God calls you to do personally to advance the gospel and build up the body of Christ?
   2. What gifts and abilities of yours has God used to grow and strengthen his Kingdom?
   3. What changes in your life circumstances (recent or upcoming) could affect these gifts and abilities? Brainstorm ways that God could use your gifts and abilities in new ways in this new situation.

7. CHALLENGE

   Think of a way that you are suffering or have suffered as a result of someone else's sinful choices. What from Paul’s example could encourage you to fix your mind on God and his purposes instead of other people’s sin. Finish with a time of prayer. Include prayer for believers who are being persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ.