State-sponsored Services

 

“Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris. who, when they came to Cæsarea, and delivered the epistle to the governor, presented Paul also before him.” Acts 23:31, 33 KJV


When Apostle Paul later wrote to the brethren in Rome “So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also (Romans 1:15)”, he apparently could graphically remember how the Lord replaced the state-inspired threat of the Jews with the state-sponsored services of the Roman soldiers and military personnel. It was a midnight escort service from the Jewish council in Jerusalem to the court of Governor Felix in Caesarea that opened the new missionary door to Rome. Whereas, to the state and the Jews under conspiracy to terminate the life of Paul, Apostle Paul had been arrested, incarcerated, and silenced from all preaching engagements in Jerusalem. Invariably, with absolute focus on the sovereign God and Master of all services, the services of believers’ conspirators and persecutors are readily useful in the hands of the LORD. Likewise, the Pilgrims Progress by English non-conformist preacher John Bunyan was written in the prison; and so were many outreaches by believers who are never ashamed of the gospel of salvation, even in their shameful experiences. Therefore, when believers focus on the opportunities to preach the gospel in all state-inspired sentences, they will be opened to the privileges in state-sponsored services for the glory of the LORD.


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