Prison Fellowship

PRISON FELLOWSHIP

I am sure someone will think this is going to be about how to conduct a prison fellowship without being one of the prisoners, but that isn't going to be the case. Rather, I would like to bring to light people who were in prison that were godly men, and their conduct, and the effect it had on those whom they interacted with. The first prisoner just has to be Joseph, wrongfully imprisoned because of his master's wife, who claimed he wanted to take her to bed, when in fact it was the other way around. Let's see what happens...

"And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison. But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper." (Gen. 39:20 - 23) Let me also point out this was not a comfortable prison like they have in America, this one was hard to live in! "He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:" (Psa. 105:17 - 18) Now in the beginning it says that God gave Joseph favor in the eyes of the keeper. Most prisoners act like they belong in prison, and so they will not receive favor in the eyes of their guard. But Joseph, a godly man, received favor; he acted like he was trustworthy among all the other prisoners, and God opened the eyes of the keeper to this, so that he would give Joseph a trustee position, and this was a unique favor. You see, in reading further, he had charge over the other prisoners, and that is a responsible position. If you don't have the respect of the other prisoners, and if you didn't treat them fairly, they would logically make you wish you weren't in that position, but Joseph didn't have that problem, because God was with him, and whatever he did went well. If one of us should find ourselves imprisoned, fairly or not, we can see from Joseph's situation that because he maintained faith that God would see him through it. Despite his miserable estate, feet shackled in painful fetters, yet he maintained his godly integrity and behaved in a manner all who interacted with him gave him favor, from the guard to the fellow prisoners. He eventually was freed, because he interpreted a dream to the butler, who in the end finally remembered Joseph, who correctly interpreted his dream. We believers are ambassadors for Christ, and even if we have the trial fo being in prison, we are to maintain the integrity of a Christian. Quick soul check; how many of us have a hard time even when we've never been in prison? My guard isn't always up, either! I confess!

Jesus gave us an example of why we should think of people in prison, despite not knowing who they were: "Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me in: Naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me." (Matt. 25:34 - 36) We need to remember that people in prison are not only a lonely bunch, but a number of them will finally feel so down and out, they will hope in God, and if we come into a prison as His ambassador, we will give them great hope, and they will believe God sent us, and won't they be correct? The least of our brethren are not only the poor and homeless outside of prison, but the wretched inside, as well! Some are inclined to visit the sick in the hospital, some are inclined to feed the homeless on a corner of an intersection, but some are inclined to visit in prison; these people need love, too!

We also may be given tribulation that because we are a witness for Christ, that we be cast into prison for His sake! "Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, 'Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.'" (Acts 5:17 - 20) "Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29) "And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." (Acts 5:40 - 42) I have written these three pieces of scripture to show how the apostles went to prison for Jesus' name's sake, and refused to bend from their duty to preach and teach the gospel. Note how none of them broke down. No, they were united in fellowship and belief that their ambassadorship required them to be of one accord, despite the threat of prison and a beating! They put in the forefront of their minds that Jesus promised a great reward for not bending away from their integrity.

"Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, 'Arise up quickly.' And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him, 'Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals.' And so he did. And he saith unto him, 'Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.' And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision. When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself, he said, 'Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent His angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.'" (Acts 12:5 - 11) In verse 2 of this chapter James was killed, but Peter was saved just before he was to be killed by Herod. Note in verse 6 that Peter was sleeping. Now if you knew the king was planning to bring you forth to be executed the next day, would you be sleeping? Peter had faith in God whatever his destiny, and he demonstrated this to the effect he slept between the two guards, which would have made a faithless person all the more afraid. As we can see in this passage, his faith paid off, and he was freed by God!

Okay, this one will be a little bit long to read, but it is the best example of ambassadorship of Christ in a prison, how to bring about fellowship under this extreme fire: "And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, 'Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.' Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' And they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.' And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house." (Acts 16:23 - 34) How many of us could do this? First, they were beaten badly, as "many stripes" depicts. Then, they have it that their feet were fastened in the stocks. This is NOT FUN! It is painful and extremely uncomfortable, since you can't move from that position once your feet are trapped in them. What was their response? SINGING AND PRAYING! Singing so loud, the rest of the prisoners heard it! Now some would think these two were gone mad, but the ones who did not think that way would marvel; wouldn't you? Wouldn't your curiosity peak? Okay, you hear them singing, and now the ground responds with an earthquake so intense, everyone is FREED! So why doesn't everyone leave? Paul and Silas didn't! The guard knew the consequences for escaped prisoners, and was ready to kill himself, but Paul stopped him! Now when you're in this guard's position, and two very unique men protect your position in life by keeping all the prisoners from escaping without touching them, I think you will give them your full and undivided attention! As you can read from the end of the scripture, the guard becomes born again, and is converted, demonstrating this by the way he treats Paul and Silas after they answer his question about salvation. Their prison fellowship behavior won at least one soul that we have read of to Christ. Can you imagine the effect it had on the other prisoners, even though it is not written?

God forbid any of us become, peradventure, in a situation that puts us in prison (although just being a Christian may come to that). But if it does come to pass, we have all this to dwell on for model behavior, should we need to be ambassadors for Christ under extreme conditions such as these!