e on his services, the very appearance of such "yoke-fellows"
[149:6] must have created some interest; and, when the congregation
assembled, who could remain unmoved as the apostle stretched forth his
chained hand, [149:7] and proceeded to expound his message! He seems
himself to have thought that the very position which he occupied, as
"the prisoner of the Lord," [149:8] imparted somewhat to the power of
his testimony. Hence we find him saying--"I would ye should understand,
brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather
unto _the furtherance of the gospel_, so that my bonds in Christ are
manifest in all the Praetorium, [150:1] and in all other places; and
many of the brethren in the Lord waxing confident by my bonds are much
more bold to speak the word without fear." [150:2]

During this imprisonment at Rome, Paul dictated a number of his
epistles. Of these, the letter to Philemon, a Christian of Colosse,
seems to have been first written. The bearer of this communication was
Onesimus, who had at one time been a slave in the service of the
individual to whom it is addressed; and who, as it appears, after
robbing his master, had left the country. The thief made his way to
Rome, where he was converted under the ministry of the apostle; and
where he had since greatly recommended himself as a zealous and
trustworthy disciple. He was now sent back to Colosse with this Epistle
to Philemon, in which the writer undertakes to be accountable for the
property that had been pilfered, [150:3] and entreats his correspondent
to give a kindly reception to the penitent fugitive. Onesimus, when
conveying the letter to his old master, was accompanied by Tychicus,
whom the apostle describes as "a beloved brother and a faithful minister
and fellow-servant in the Lord" [150:4] who was entrusted with the
Epistle to the Colossians. Error, in the form of false philosophy and
Judaizing superstition, had been creeping into the Colossian Church,
[150:5] and the apostle in this letter exhorts his brethren to beware of
its encroachments. About the same time Paul wrote the Epistle to the
Ephesians; and Tychicus was also the bearer of this communication.
[150:6] Unlike most of the other epistles, it has no salutations at the
close; it is addressed, not only "to the saints which are at Ephesus" in
particular, but also "to the faithful in Christ Jesus" [151:1] in
general; and as its very superscription thus bears evidence that i