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Acts
  
5. The Beginning of Paul’s Ministries at Rome (Acts 28:15-31)
15And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.16Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.


Paul was known to the church in Rome. They even knew the details of his thoughts, for he had written to the believers there his most famous epistle, which is, even today, the school of all Christianity. The brothers in Rome were traders, Hellenistic Jews, believing soldiers, and regenerated slaves. After hearing of his coming, they went into motion to welcome Paul and his traveling companions. They walked out to meet and receive them, far from the doors of the great city. Paul took courage, for with the cooperation of this church he had wished, with all his heart, to preach the gospel in all Italy, Spain, and the whole world. Their brotherly welcome appeared to him to be an open door prepared by God. He gave thanks to God for this development, a furthering of the Gospel into the world.
Paul was imprisoned in Rome with kindhearted privileges. He remained, however, chained night and day by the wrist to a soldier who would hear all his words and watch all his behavior. Paul did not preach as a free man, but rather, as a humble prisoner and servant of Christ, to magnify the glory of his Lord through his own weakness.