Road Trip – “Finish Well” 

The “Road Trip,” our summer-long walk through the Apostle Paul’s missionary journeys, wraps up this week. We’ve followed Paul’s life from his early days in Tarsus, through his rising career as a young Pharisee, to the life-changing encounter with Jesus – an encounter that set him on the ultimate road trip traveling he ancient world telling all who would listen about Jesus and the life He offers. After three long journeys and countless words Paul finds himself in Rome, thinking and writing about what it all means.

1.  The Strength You Need Is Not In You (Ephesians 6:10-17)

• After being arrested in Jerusalem, Paul is eventually taken to Rome, where he is put under house arrest awaiting trial. There he writes what we call the Prison Epistles – his letters to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. Somewhat surprisingly, the letters are his most upbeat and contain some of Paul’s wisest counsel to us for following Jesus and living the Christian life.
• At the end of Ephesians Paul reminds his readers of perhaps the most important lesson he’s learned along the way: that living a “good” and godly life is no guarantee that your life will be easy. On the contrary, the “mighty powers” and “spiritual forces” in this dark world – our real enemies – will work to overpower us and make us miserable unless we protect ourselves with “the armor of God.”
• Paul’s point is this: the strength that we as believers need to walk faithfully with God for a lifetime is not in us – we can’t do it ourselves. Our strength – our armor, our protection – is something we must choose to put on. It doesn’t come from within, it comes from God as he changes and strengthens us.

2. The Prize You Want Isn’t Where You Think It Is (2 Timothy 4:6-8) some text
   • We don’t have all the details, but we know that Paul was released after a year or two of house arrest in Rome, and spent the next few years traveling once again – to Macedonia, and perhaps to Spain. And we know that he wrote the last of his letters during this time – what we call the Pastoral Epistles, to Timothy and Titus, young protégé pastors Paul had trained and commissioned during his journeys.
   • In these years, the Roman Emperor Nero began his descent into chaos and madness – a descent that culminated when most of Rome was burned to the ground under suspicious circumstances in 64 AD. Needing to find a scapegoat, Nero blamed the Christians in Rome, and a horrible persecution began.
   • Amid the chaos, Paul is arrested once again and imprisoned in a place for the condemned in Rome – on Death Row, so to speak. It’s there that he writes his very last letter, to Timothy – the last words he has to say after a lifelong journey of seeking God and following Jesus. In 2 Timothy 4, Paul lays it out: “My life has been poured out, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. And now the prize awaits me: the crown of righteousness.” 
   • What a great reminder that “the prize” we seek in our lives often isn’t where (or what) we thing it is. We may think the prize is “the good life,” or wealth, or power; but the true prize – the one worth living for – is what Max Lucado calls “the applause of heaven.” That is, we’re called to live for God’s purpose and pleasure, and by doing so we will receive, as Paul did, the “crown of righteousness” when our journey is complete.

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE

These passages may provide additional insights related to the subject of this week’s message. All verses are NLT unless otherwise noted.

Isaiah 40:28-31; Luke 12:16-21; Romans 12:1; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 4:12-13; 1 Timothy 6:11-12

Video of the Week: Ephesians by the Bible Project

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

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1. As you reflect on Paul’s life and journeys, what aspect of his life do you find to be most remarkable? 

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2. Read Ephesians 6:10-17 again. With all the human enemies Paul encountered on his missionary journeys, why does Paul insist that our (and his) real enemies as believers are “spiritual forces”? 

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3. In Paul’s words (v. 13), the purpose of putting on “God’s armor” is to be able to “resist the enemy in the time of evil.”  In what ways does “the enemy” attack us as believers such that we would need “armor” to protect us?

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4. How, exactly, does someone “put on” the various pieces of armor Paul lists in v. 14-17?  

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5. At the end of his life, Paul told Timothy that all the pain and danger and discomfort that he’d experienced as a follower and apostle of Jesus shouldn’t surprise anyone. Do you think the Christian life is necessarily meant to be difficult and uncomfortable?  Why or why not?

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6. If you’re absolutely honest with yourself, are you living for a “prize” that you’ll receive in this life, or to receive “the crown of righteousness” when you see Jesus? 

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