Seeing the Chains

"When Christians came to visit the Apostle Paul in Rome and saw his chains, some of them may have wept or felt defeated. Perhaps some of them stopped witnessing. But later, when they faced a hostile public, they did not back down. Seeing Paul in chains had prepared them spiritually for the fight that lay ahead.

"In Philippians 1:14, Paul writes, "Most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear."

(Tom White, from Voice of the Martyrs, October 2010)