Paul was sitting in prison with every reason to be discouraged. He was just days away from his execution at the hands of Emperor Nero. He was isolated and treated like a man to be scorned, unlike his earlier stints in jail. The Emperor Nero had blamed the Christians for the great fire that destroyed the city of Rome. For the first time they were subjected to terrible persecution and citizens from every corner of the empire turned against them. Christians were burned as living torches to light the emperor's social gatherings. They were thrown to lions and killed by gladiators. They were despised throughout the empire as being cannibals. Their talk about eating the body and blood of Christ was given as testimony against them. They were considered atheists because they did not worship the off…