"When these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in the Spirit when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, 'After I have been there, I must also see Rome.'" (Acts 19:21)
I made a "mistake" in my reading schedule. I was supposed to be in 2 Corinthians 3, but since I read Luke 19, I went to Acts 19. I think it was a "directed mistake."
The word translated, "see," in our text can mean, "to perceive, attend to." Other translations of the word can be, "look upon, experience, perceive (with inward spiritual perception), discern, ('see with the mind'), attend to, watch, witnessed," and here's an interesting one, "beware." If you want to know what I do in the capitol cities on "my list," this is much of it. I mostly pray "on site," but have had the great privilege to actually speak into the lives of government leaders.
I made a "mistake" in my reading schedule. I was supposed to be in 2 Corinthians 3, but since I read Luke 19, I went to Acts 19. I think it was a "directed mistake."
The word translated, "see," in our text can mean, "to perceive, attend to." Other translations of the word can be, "look upon, experience, perceive (with inward spiritual perception), discern, ('see with the mind'), attend to, watch, witnessed," and here's an interesting one, "beware." If you want to know what I do in the capitol cities on "my list," this is much of it. I mostly pray "on site," but have had the great privilege to actually speak into the lives of government leaders.
Paul is saying in our text, in effect, "I spent most of my life in the religious community (as have I), serving, training, teaching the People of God, Jews and Gentiles. Now, there is a 'call' to the Capitol of the Empire." Paul was sensing a "need" to step beyond the "religious community" into an arena which much of modern Christendom, and I can say, even the Church has, for the most part, neglected. The Prophets of old went into the "Rome" arena. David and his progenitors warred there. The Church of the first three centuries were so effective that they finally put a Follower of Jesus on the throne of the Roman Empire. And one can say with accuracy that the Church has greatly impacted and "directed" the culture of the United States of America up until the last 50 years. The "evangelicals" among us would say that Paul went there to "preach the Gospel." Of course, and it was a Gospel which, I repeat, eventually took over the Empi re!
In the last couple of generations particularly, the "faith of our fathers" is no longer ruling in the lives of many, if not most, church-goers. We have lost the "empire." Most "Evangelicals-Pentecostals" don't vote; it's beneath them, has nothing to do with the "church." Christendom has abandoned governments to the humanists and the humanists have gladly taken control. I am mostly praying in this, but I do exercise a right which most in human history have not known, the right to determine who governs a nation. Today's Open Doors' Prayer Force request is prayer for a Vietnamese Follower of Jesus, a person who, as most people in the earth, has no right to vote: "I was arrested and beaten many times....I have been suffering from memory loss." The majority of US Citizens did not see Viet Nam worth fighting for. I am glad someone fought for us.
Father, in Jesus' name, "Thy Kingdom (Government) come. Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven." Help me, Holy Spirit, to be obedient to the "call." Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
