Verse 13:
One way the gospel was advancing was through Paul’s own preaching. He had made it clear to everyone he was in contact with that he was under arrest for Jesus Christ. In other words, everyone came to agree with him and attribute his arrest to the gospel of Jesus Christ. If someone in Rome were to ask, “Why is it that Paul can’t leave his house?” The answer would be, “Because of Jesus Christ.”
The first group he mentions is the palace guard. This is literally the Roman Praetorian Guard. Praetor was the title given to men who were the commanding general’s of Roman armies out in the field of battle. The guard – the Praetorian Guard was to protect the tent of the general. They were elite private citizen soldiers who were hand-picked. They received double pay and special privileges. Eventually, they became personal guards to the Emperor. By the time of Paul’s writing the letter to the Philippians the Praetorian Guard had gone from bodyguards on the battlefield to the most powerful body in the Roman state. They were so powerful that although it was not law, it was customary that an Emperor try to win their favor and when becoming the new Emperor. And it was expected that he give a large financial donation to the Guard. It became very common that the Praetorian Guard even knock off Emperor’s to install another one who had courted their favor in a better way.
These were a ruthless, corrupt, and politically powerful group.
These were the men who were chained to Paul night and day and who had become well acquainted with the gospel of Jesus Christ from Paul’s relentless preaching to them.
Do you advance the gospel of Jesus Christ where you are at in the world? You do not need to be a missionary called across the globe to be spreading the gospel. Paul says 2 Corinthians 2 that we as believers are the fragrance and the aroma of the knowledge of Jesus Christ wherever we go. The fragrance is the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Paul was giving everyone who came into contact with him the knowledge of Jesus Christ. The last words of the book of Acts are actually the context of Paul while he writes to the Philippians. It says, “For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” He taught them who Christ was and what He did and what that meant for them. Jesus Christ is the resurrected Son of God who died on the cross for the sins of man and by believing in Him we may have true freedom, true everlasting life in Him.
One way the gospel was advancing was through Paul’s own preaching. He had made it clear to everyone he was in contact with that he was under arrest for Jesus Christ. In other words, everyone came to agree with him and attribute his arrest to the gospel of Jesus Christ. If someone in Rome were to ask, “Why is it that Paul can’t leave his house?” The answer would be, “Because of Jesus Christ.”
The first group he mentions is the palace guard. This is literally the Roman Praetorian Guard. Praetor was the title given to men who were the commanding general’s of Roman armies out in the field of battle. The guard – the Praetorian Guard was to protect the tent of the general. They were elite private citizen soldiers who were hand-picked. They received double pay and special privileges. Eventually, they became personal guards to the Emperor. By the time of Paul’s writing the letter to the Philippians the Praetorian Guard had gone from bodyguards on the battlefield to the most powerful body in the Roman state. They were so powerful that although it was not law, it was customary that an Emperor try to win their favor and when becoming the new Emperor. And it was expected that he give a large financial donation to the Guard. It became very common that the Praetorian Guard even knock off Emperor’s to install another one who had courted their favor in a better way.
These were a ruthless, corrupt, and politically powerful group.
These were the men who were chained to Paul night and day and who had become well acquainted with the gospel of Jesus Christ from Paul’s relentless preaching to them.
Do you advance the gospel of Jesus Christ where you are at in the world? You do not need to be a missionary called across the globe to be spreading the gospel. Paul says 2 Corinthians 2 that we as believers are the fragrance and the aroma of the knowledge of Jesus Christ wherever we go. The fragrance is the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Paul was giving everyone who came into contact with him the knowledge of Jesus Christ. The last words of the book of Acts are actually the context of Paul while he writes to the Philippians. It says, “For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” He taught them who Christ was and what He did and what that meant for them. Jesus Christ is the resurrected Son of God who died on the cross for the sins of man and by believing in Him we may have true freedom, true everlasting life in Him.
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