  THE WORLD ENRICHED BY A PRISONER CHAINED "The blood of the Martyrs is the seed of the Church." Anticipation vs. Realization. A few school boys, one day, met to debate the question, "Resolved, That there is more pleasure in Anticipation than in Realization." One on the side that tried to prove that Anticipation gives more pleasure, referred to every boy's experience at Christmas time, saying that the day before Christmas and Christmas Eve always give more joy than Christmas itself—"As soon as the boy gets his toys, then he begins to regret that Christmas isn't tomorrow." That boy expressed in his simple way about the same thought contained in this sentence from Emerson: "Man looks forward with smiles but backward with sighs;" or as another writer puts it, "What we expect is always greater than what we enjoy." Such may not be the case always in life; but it certainly must have been Paul's experience in regard to his anticipated visit to Rome. For several years he had looked forward with pleasure to the time when he would have the opportunity to preach the Gospel in the famous capital of the great Roman Empire. But now as he approaches the realization of his hopes, he is an old man, worn with exposure and confinement, and a prisoner. However, we must not conclude that he was left comfortless, or that he had any less desire to bear testimony to the world of the divine mission of his Savior. On the contrary he continued to seize every opportunity to preach the everlasting Gospel. Syracuse. This he did when the "Castor and Pollux" or "The Twin Brothers," stopped eighty miles north from Malta, at a place called Syracuse, the ancient capital of Sicily. It is not unlikely that Paul asked permission to go ashore and preach the Gospel to the Jews and the Gentiles who were in that celebrated city. If so, we are sure Julius would grant his request. At any rate, the Sicilians afterward claimed that Paul founded the Church on that island. Puteoli. His next important stop was on the northern part of the beautiful bay of Naples, where was situated a town named Puteoli; now known as Pozzuoli. As the ship carrying Paul and his friends entered this harbor, it was met by a crowd of people who had gathered to greet it. Among these were "brethren" who came to welcome and comfort the missionary-prisoner. Perhaps through a desire of Julius to remain here long enough to communicate with Rome, or it may be through his kindness to Paul, the company remained at Puteoli seven days, thus giving the Elders an opportunity to spend a Sabbath day with the Saints in that place. How refreshing to Paul's spirit to worship once again with those who possessed the same testimony of the Gospel as he! Met by True Friends. Word having been sent ahead that Paul was on his way from Puteoli to Rome, many of the brethren in that city started out to meet the beloved and famous missionary. No doubt the Saints in Rome realized that Paul's spirit as well as his body would be worn and weary, and, as true friends indeed, they made preparation to go to him. True friendship always prompts one to go to a friend in adversity rather than in prosperity. It may be that they desired only to give him a royal convoy into their city; for he was truly a royal personage even though bound in chains. Whatever their motive, some of the brethren traveled forty-one miles, and met their beloved Apostle at the Apii Forum. Another party met him at "Three Taverns"—thirty miles from Rome. Paul's heart was touched by this manifestation of friendship and true brotherhood, and he "thanked God, and took courage." Under Guard. When the company reached the renowned capital of the ancient world, it must have seemed to Paul like a huge prison; and when his friends parted from him to go to their own homes and he to his guarded place, his heart must have been heavy indeed. However, Julius kindly delivered his prisoner over to the captain of the Pretorian Guard, the highest military authority in the city—the guard that had charge of all those who were to come before the Emperor for trial. Fortunately, Paul was not put in prison but permitted to dwell in a house by himself, under the constant guard of a soldier. Here he was given all the freedom possible, to a prisoner; so, true to his energetic spirit, he found many opportunities to continue his preaching. This he would do first to the soldiers to whom he was chained daily. As they would frequently relieve one another, he would have ample opportunity to preach the truth to many of the guards, and thus, probably, indirectly to the Emperor himself. Appeals to Jews. He made occasion, also, to preach to the Jews. He called the chief men of this nation together and told them why he was then a prisoner. "Though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers," said he, "yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me; but when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar. "For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you, because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain." Jews Reject Message. The Jews answered that they had heard nothing of evil against him; but "as concerning this sect (meaning the Christians), we know that everywhere it is spoken against." In fact, in Rome as elsewhere, the Jews rejected the Gospel message, and compelled Paul to turn to the Gentiles. The Gospel Spreads. For nearly eight hundred days, Paul remained a prisoner awaiting his trial before the Emperor. During that time, he preached the Gospel to hundreds of soldiers who had one after another daily been appointed as guards. These, when converted, would convert others, and when sent off to Roman provinces, would spread the Gospel in new lands, thus widening the area in which the light of truth might shine. Message Through Epistles. But that was not the only way in which it radiated from the humble abode of the missionary-prisoner. During that two years confinement, he kept in communication with the Church in Europe and Asia. As there were no railroads, no steamboats, nor telegraph, every letter that he received or that he sent to them was carried by a courier, who had to travel very slowly by land and sea, sometimes for hundreds of miles. But he had loving friends attending him who were always ready to bear his messages. Some of these you already know. Luke, the faithful physician; Timothy, his son in the Gospel; John Mark, who, you remember, started with Paul and Barnabas on their first mission; Aristarchus of Thessalonica; Epaphroditus, a friend from Macedonia; Onesimus, a slave belonging to Paul's friend, Philemon, and others. With these faithful servants as messengers, Paul wrote letters, called epistles, which have made the whole world better and richer in the knowledge of truth. These letters are now in the New Testament, and are called Epistle to the Philippians, Epistles to Philemon, Epistle to the Colossians, and Epistle to the Ephesians. ST. PAUL. Chained by the wrist to his soldier guard, in his own house, for two whole years. ST. PAUL. Thus did Paul's epistles written in a Roman prison become literally "Winged messengers that can fly from east to west on embassies of love." Released. Certainty of what Paul did after his having been a prisoner in Rome for two years, ends with Luke's statement, that he "received all that came unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him." It is believed, however, that he was finally given his liberty and that he preached in many lands, tradition saying that he even went to England. It is thought that it was during this missionary tour that he wrote his first letter to Timothy, who had been appointed to take care of the church at Ephesus, and also the one to Titus who was with the churches on the island of Crete. Again Arrested. About the year 64 A. D., however, he was again arrested and imprisoned in Rome. Only a year previous the Saints had been persecuted to death by the wicked Nero. They had been thrown into the Arena, devoured by wild beasts, burned to death as human torches, and martyred in other cruel ways. Beheaded. It was soon after the burning of Rome by this wicked emperor, that Paul, the most energetic of all missionaries, after thirty years of constant service in the ministry, was put to death by beheading. Just before the end came, he wrote to Timothy these beautiful and pathetic words: "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day."' As he bowed his head to receive the fatal stroke, we know that he could have said in very truth: "I feel my immortality o'ersweep all pains, all tears, all time, all fears; and peal, like the eternal thunders of the deep, into my ears this truth—thou livest forever!"
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