When Kingdoms Collide (Collision part 4 of 4)

We're continuing our study today in Acts chapter 22. We are watching the life of Paul and his final moments as a free man, just before he becomes a prisoner of Rome. We are gleaning a whole bunch of applications from the Scriptures about the importance for us as Christians today to reach out to those people who are outside of our little circle and to be wise when we're doing so.

So, open your Bibles with us to Acts chapter 22. I think you'll enjoy it. With that, would you open your Bibles to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 22? Please stand with me for the reading of God's Word. We will start reading where we left off last week, with verse 21.

The context is that Paul is sharing his story with a group of people in Jerusalem, and he is sharing the part where Jesus, the risen Jesus, appeared to him. In Acts 22:21, it says, "Then Jesus said to me, 'Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.'" They listened to him until this word, "Gentiles," and then they raised their voices and said, "Away with such a fellow! He is not fit to live!" As they cried out, they tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air. The commander of the Romans ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks and said that he should be examined under scourging so that he might know why they shouted so against him. As they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?"

Lord, we pray that You would give us insight and help us to make application here in this passage before us this morning. We thank You for the good things that You are doing in and through our lives here at Cross Connection. We pray, God, that You would prepare us for even greater things. Your Word says that You have prepared good works that we should walk in those things.

So, Lord, as we are gathered here today to go through Your Word, would You equip us more fully by Your Word and by the work of Your Spirit to do those things? We know that Your Word is living, that it is powerful, and that it is sharper than any two-edged sword. Through Your Word, we are instructed in righteousness so that we would be equipped for the good things that You have prepared.

So, Lord, ready us, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name. All God's people agreed, saying, "Amen." You can be seated. We believe that it was during the winter.

Between 57 and 58 A.D., Paul was in the city of Corinth, spending the winter in that region of Greece. While he was there, he was writing a letter—a letter that would become, although he had no idea at the time, one of the treasures of the New Testament, the New Covenant: the letter to the church at Rome, which we call Romans. We have studied through it; in fact, we spent most of last year here at Cross Connection studying it.

I am certain that when Paul was speaking those words to a young scribe by the name of Tertius, who was writing them down on parchment, he had no idea that those words would become what they are today. He had no inkling that, when they were written, 2,000 years later, people would still be studying them and that those words would be translated into languages he had no idea even existed as he was in the city of Corinth. Yet now, 2,000 years later, that work is considered by some to be the most important thing Paul ever accomplished in his life. It is regarded as one of the most important works of the New Testament. No doubt, it is one of the most important doctrinal books of the Bible.

Nestled right in the middle of the book of Romans, almost exactly in the center, is perhaps the most memorable verse. Even people who have never read the book of Romans and do not regularly study the Bible may have heard this verse: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to His purpose." How many of you know Romans 8:28? Most of you may know no other verse in the book of Romans, but you know Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good."

What Paul did not know when those words came out of his mouth, and when Tertius wrote them down on a piece of paper, was that the reality of that truth would be tested just a few months after he spoke it. He had no idea that he would be facing the challenges described in this passage. Over the last three weeks, we have been studying an event that really only took place in a matter of moments—just a few days, seven days really—after Paul had come into the city of Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost and to bring an offering.

To the Christians that were there to bring financial support to them, just about a week after he had come into the city, Paul had an event that took place. We've spent three weeks going through it, and it's easy for us to forget, when we're looking at something like this over the course of three weeks, that it happened in a very short period of time.

A short period of time as Paul entered the temple in Jerusalem for his final visit. Not only was it his final visit to the temple, but it was the last time that Paul would experience freedom. Although there are some Bible teachers who believe that Paul had a short period of freedom about eight years after this event, we do know that most of the rest of Paul's life, the final ten years of his life that began at this point, would be spent as a prisoner of Rome.

Now he is coming into this event, the last part of his life spent in chains. Although he'll spend the next couple of years in that region of Judea, he will then be extradited to Rome and spend the last remaining eight years of his life as a prisoner there. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose.

If you look at point number one on your sermon guide this morning, it comes right out of that verse: all things work together for good. But when we hear those words, many times they are shared with us when we're going through a situation that does not appear to be very good. Have any of you ever had someone share those verses with you when you're going through something that's not very good? You start to question. In fact, you know what they're going to say, and you go, "Yes, I know," but the question goes through your mind: do they really believe it? Is it really true that all things work together for good?

The Scriptures do say that for those who love God and are the called according to His purpose, yes. Although sometimes, in the moment, it is nearly impossible for us to see how good could come from the apparently not-so-good thing that is happening to us. We've all experienced that to some extent. Do you think for a moment that those who were around Paul when...

This happened. Timothy was probably there because of his traveling companions. Timothy was the only one who had Jewish heritage, so it's likely that he was by Paul's side in the temple by the time Paul was taken out and was being beaten by a crowd of angry Jewish men. No doubt Luke probably saw it, along with some of Paul's other traveling companions, such as Pater, Antiques, and Trophimus. They witnessed these events.

I think about James, one of the key leaders of the church in Jerusalem, the one who told Paul, "We think you should go into the temple and do this thing, partake of this vow." I wonder if he saw these happenings, along with some of the other elders of the church in Jerusalem. They must have been thinking at that moment, "Oh no, we sent Paul into the lion's den." Do you think when they saw these things, they were thinking, "Well, this is good; this is exactly the outcome we were anticipating"? No, I don't think so.

But we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. We recognize that there are times in our lives when those words don't seem to hold true, at least in the moment, because we just can't imagine that good could come from what is happening.

Those words echo the sentiments of every single Christian in the churches that Paul had visited on his way back to Jerusalem. When he sent the letter to the church at Rome, he left Corinth and went to Philippi, then to Troas, and continued his course through Caphs, Rhodes, and Samus, and all those different cities. We know from Acts chapter 20 that in every single city he visited, they shared with him, "Chains and tribulations await you at Jerusalem." They told him not to go to Jerusalem.

When he came to Caesarea, there was that theatrical prophet Agabus who came in, took Paul's belt, and bound himself hand and foot. He said to Paul, "Thus will happen to the man who owns this belt when he goes to Jerusalem." Now those words are being confirmed; they are coming to pass. Paul is in the midst of that, and you wonder, is it really true that all things work together for good?

Now Paul, the captive, stands before an angry mob of his own countrymen. Behind him is the Roman barracks in Jerusalem, and behind him is his future. He will be in a place like that for the rest of his life—in prison.

The barracks were filled with trials and the threat of execution. Before Paul stood a group of angry countrymen, and he was given an opportunity to address them. The Roman commander granted him grace, allowing him to share his testimony with his fellow countrymen who were present. As he spoke, he reached the pivotal moment of his story, recounting his conversion experience.

Paul recalled that he had been in the temple about twenty years prior to the events described in Acts chapter 22. He shared that he had a vision in which he saw the risen Lord. The Lord instructed him to leave that place, saying in verse 21, "Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles."

It is interesting to note that even as Paul spoke to this group of Jewish men about the risen Lord Jesus, they were not disturbed by his account of Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified and raised from the dead. Their outrage only surfaced when they heard him say that the Lord had sent him to the Gentiles. This reaction highlights the deep-seated animosity that existed between the Jews of Judea and the Romans, as well as the rest of the Roman Empire. The tension was so profound that they could not comprehend that a former Pharisee would reach out to Gentiles.

The crowd listened to Paul until he mentioned the Gentiles, at which point they raised their voices and shouted, "Away with such a fellow from the earth! He is not fit to live." In their eyes, his actions warranted death. Not only did they cry out, but as described in verse 23, they tore their clothes and threw dust in the air.

To us, sitting 2,000 years removed from such events, this reaction may seem strange. However, it was a symbol of severe disgust among the people of that time. This act of tearing their clothes and throwing dust in the air was reminiscent of the response of some during the night that Jesus was betrayed and tried. When He declared Himself to be the Son of God, they too expressed their disgust in the same manner.

Said this man should die, and now Paul says God sent me to go reach out to Gentiles. The people hearing him tear their clothes and say this man's not fit to live as they throw dust up into the air. But this reminds us, as God shared His heart with Paul, "I want you to go to the Gentiles."

It reminds us, point number two, that God's heart is for those outside of our little circle. You see, the easiest thing for us to do is to stay huddled among our own friends, among our own family, among those in our closed little loop. The easiest thing for us to do is to separate from others who don't look like us, talk like us, or smell like us. If you've traveled to some other countries, you know what I mean by that. Americans place a very high priority on smelling clean; other people in other parts of the world don't necessarily do that.

But it's the easiest thing in the world for us to just gather with people we can associate with, people we can identify with—people who seem to be like us. We have to be careful never to allow ourselves to fall into an "us and them" sort of mindset, which is something that, quite honestly, the church has been doing for a while in our nation.

We have a tendency to look at people who are not a part of the church, people who don't go to church on Sunday. Let's recognize that there are a lot of them in our own community here in North County. Only about a third of the population attends a church on a Sunday morning. There are a lot of people in our own community, in our neighborhoods, who, when you're getting ready to go to church on a Sunday morning, maybe they're out mowing their lawn, washing their car, or getting ready to walk the dog. But they're not interested in the things of God or going to church.

It's easy for us to fall into an "us and them" sort of thing, where we look at them and say they're the enemy, or we try to avoid them like they're some sort of strange alien. We don't want to be anywhere near them.

Now, the sad fact is that we start to do this within churches too. We look at other churches that also believe in Jesus, people who go to other churches, and we say, "Oh, they're the enemy." I mean, I said it jokingly earlier; we won the competition for the walk of our life. But there is a way in which we can look at other people in our community. Maybe you meet someone and you see, "Oh, you're carrying a Bible. Hey, what church do you go to?"

To manual faith you go. Oh really, just stay there? You're one of those?

We get into this "us and them" sort of thing. We don't know who "them" is, but we stay away from them. We have to be very careful not to fall into that mentality as it relates to those who are outside the church. People in our workplaces and neighborhoods who don't attend church are not the enemy. They are not some sort of strange alien to be avoided.

The earliest faithful follower of God was a man by the name of Abraham. God's word to Abraham was given in Genesis chapter 12, verse 1, where He said, "Abraham, get out of your country, from your family, and from your father's house to a land that I will show you." God's missionary heart is seen in that, in His commissioning of the first missionary to go, to leave what was comfortable, to leave what was common, to leave his home, his country, his family, and his father's house to go to a land that God would show him.

Now, God may never call you or me to leave our country of origin. He may never ask you to leave your family or your town, to travel around the world to another land. That may never happen to you. But we must see that God's heart is for those who don't yet know Him. We have to recognize that God's desire is for those who have not yet heard. He wants them to come to know the truth.

Sometimes, the most simple way for us to make that a reality, to make that happen, is to simply invite others to come and to welcome them when they do come. Welcome them into the circle.

You probably remember this because you can think back to the first time you stepped into a church as a non-believer. You felt a little concerned: Will I be received? Will I be struck dead immediately when I sit down because God knows how bad I've been? Some of you remember what it was like to come in.

The problem is that we, in this little room, in this gathering, speak a different language. We say things like, "Brother, I'm so blessed. Would you like to come over for some fellowship?" The person who's never heard that goes, "What in the world is fellowship?"

We have a language that newcomers may not understand, and they often come in feeling a bit concerned. They may not know where to park or where to sit. One of the ways we can make people feel unwelcome is by walking in and thinking, "It's really kind of funny because, as I look out here every Sunday morning, I know where you will be. You're always where you are right now, within one or two seats. It's your seat."

You know it's your seat because it fits you so well; it has been your seat for so many years. This is not a memory foam seat, but one of the ways we can make people feel unwelcome is by thinking, "Oh, they're in my seat. Who is that in my seat? Didn't they get the memo? I turned the card in front the other way so that they would see this is not welcome territory. That's my seat."

You laugh because we all know to a certain extent that we feel possessive of our seats. One of the ways we can welcome people is simply by inviting them to have a seat. We can say, "Hey, come sit down right here." It's pretty easy to identify someone who is not normally here; they often look lost and don't exactly know where to go.

One way to welcome them is to give up our seat or, for some, it may be hard, but perhaps we could park across the street so that they have a place. When they come in and think, "Well, I don't know where to go," we can show them that this is the place to go. We can also look out for someone who looks lost and welcome them by saying, "Hi, I'm so-and-so. Welcome to Cross Connection."

I would encourage you not to cry out, tear your clothes, and throw dust in the air at the sight of a newcomer. God's heart is for those outside of our little circle. While it is our nature to surround ourselves with a small group of people, may we begin to grow with the same heart that God has and see that He wants them to know His love and grace.

Of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, the commander in Acts 22:24 ordered Paul to be brought into the barracks. He said that Paul should be examined under scourging so that he might know why the crowd shouted against him.

Now, remember that everything Paul was saying as he stood on the steps of the Antonia Fortress, speaking to the gathered angry mob, had been in the Hebrew language. However, this commander spoke Greek, and the text makes that very clear. Paul had spoken to him in Greek, asking if he could speak to the crowd for a moment. As he turned to them, he spoke in Hebrew, so the commander had no idea what Paul was saying. He might have known a little bit of Hebrew, but he had no clue about the content of Paul's message. All he knew was that at a certain point, when Paul was speaking, the crowd began to rip off their clothes, yell, scream, and throw dust in the air.

The Romans were concerned about a riot and a revolt. The commander was likely thinking, "Oh no, I just gave this guy an opportunity to speak, and now he's incited a riot." Therefore, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks for examination under scourging, which was the common Roman method of trying to figure out what had happened. They would strip him down, bind him with leather straps around a wooden post, and whip him until they figured out what he had done wrong.

This sounds like a good plan to the commander. I mentioned last week that Paul, in a letter he wrote before this event, specifically in 2 Corinthians 11, stated that prior to this incident, he had already experienced a whipping five different times, receiving 39 lashes each time. This means that before this moment, Paul had been whipped 195 times. He also mentioned in 2 Corinthians 11 that he had been beaten with rods three times, stoned with rocks once, and shipwrecked three times by this point. Now, he was facing another scourging, another whipping.

In Acts 22:25, as they were binding him with thongs, they had already stripped off his outer cloak. No doubt, when they saw his back, they thought, "Oh man, this guy's a rabble-rouser; he's obviously a malcontent. Something's wrong."

Look at all the scars on his back. Obviously, this is a bad dude. We got the guy, and so they are binding him with leather straps around a wooden post. Paul said to the centurion, the overseer of those soldiers who are binding him, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who's a Roman and uncondemned?"

Now, Paul knows the answer to this question; it's a rhetorical question. He knows that this Roman centurion will know the answer. The answer is no, it’s not lawful. In fact, this is a huge violation of Roman code and Roman law. A citizen of Rome had great privileges and rights, and one of them was that he could never be bound or beaten without due process.

Here is Paul, although these guys don’t know it; he’s a Roman citizen. They have no idea. In their minds, he’s just another Jewish man from Jerusalem, looking like the rest of them. But he had his citizenship among the Romans. So he asks, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who's a Roman and uncondemned?"

Already, this Roman commander, this Roman centurion, is in violation of Roman law because they bound him. Acts chapter 21, verse 33, says they bound him with two chains. Just in binding him, they are in violation of this law. Because of this violation, the Roman commander who oversaw this centurion was now eligible for possible punishment for what he had done in binding a Roman citizen. He could be punished, lose his post, or even be put to death, depending on how everything were to play out.

When the centurion heard this, he went and told the commander, saying, "Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman." Ultimately, we are citizens of heaven, and as such, we should be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves.

Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 10. In Matthew 10, Jesus is preparing his disciples to go out and share the Gospel. He has given them authority over unclean spirits.

Spirits have authority over sickness and have given them boldness to speak the truth of God. He tells them to go only to Jewish individuals, the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then He says in Matthew chapter 10, verse 16: "Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, not because you've done anything wrong, not because you're a criminal, but for My sake as a testimony to them and to Gentiles."

But when they deliver you up, don't worry about what you should speak, for it will be given to you in that very hour what you should speak. For it is not you who speaks, but the Spirit of the Father who speaks in you. Jesus says, "Don't worry when you come to a situation like this. You can't prepare for it, you can't plan for it, you won't know what to say. You don't have to, because God will give you the words to say in that moment." He was foretelling not just Paul's circumstance and situation here in Acts chapter 22, but many other Christians who have experienced this throughout the last 2,000 years of history.

Jesus says they'll deliver you up to councils, and they'll scourge you; they'll beat you. You're going to come before governors and kings, and you're going to go there not because of yourself, but for My name's sake. You'll be there to give testimony. Now Paul is standing in this very situation, facing scourging, and he says, "Is it lawful for you to do this to a Roman that's uncondemned?" The centurion goes to the commander and says, "You've got to be careful what you do with this man."

In verse 27 of Acts 22, the commander came to Paul and said to him, "Tell me, are you a Roman?" I imagine he said that with a little bit of doubt: "Are you really a Roman?" Paul answered, "Yes." In verse 28, the commander responded, "With a large sum, I obtained this citizenship." Paul said, "But I was born a citizen."

Now, there's discussion among historians and Bible scholars about this exchange that's going on here. Some historians say there was no way in the Roman Empire to be able to purchase your citizenship. They claim the only way you could actually do that was with a bribe; you would bribe someone for your citizenship. Apparently, this individual, this commander, was not born a citizen; he had obtained it through some other means.

Costing me a large sum, there are a few commentators who point out that this commander is, in some way, mocking Paul. It’s as if he is saying, "Man, it cost me a lot. I guess things have gotten a little bit cheaper since I paid for it," while looking at Paul with all the stripes on his back in the situation he is in. Apparently, it is a lot easier to get your citizenship these days.

Paul responds, "I was born a citizen," which is a very curious statement. We know from the Book of Philippians that Paul was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, meaning his heritage is purely Jewish, purely Hebrew. In the very next chapter, Acts chapter 23, he mentions that his father was a Pharisee, and he also was a Pharisee. He is the Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Pharisee of another Pharisee. This raises the question of how his father or grandfather obtained Roman citizenship being a foreigner.

We know that Paul was born in what is now southern Turkey, in the city of Tarsus of Cilicia, located in Asia Minor. However, we do not know how his family came to possess such a significant status in that world—Roman citizenship. What we do know is that God had uniquely created this individual, Saul of Tarsus, who became the Apostle Paul, to be a link in bringing the gospel from the Hebrews to the Gentiles. In the same way that God ordained Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations, I believe God said, "I am creating you uniquely. I am gifting you with this position. I am giving you this so that you will be able to fulfill this purpose."

Paul states, "I was born a citizen," and then immediately, I love the understated nature of the Bible. Those who were about to examine him withdrew from him. It is so nice and pleasant that they just withdrew from him. But think about the picture: here are these soldiers who have just stripped Paul, bound him, and are about to whip him. They are probably somewhat excited about this, thinking, "Hey, we finally got some action here, something to do." Then, all of a sudden, they hear he is a Roman citizen. They know that as a result of his citizenship, what they are about to do to this man could mean their very own punishment. So, they kind of think, "Nothing to see here," and they withdrew from him. The commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman citizen because he had bound him.

This brings us to point number four on your outline.

Use every resource available to you as we, with God's heart, reach out to those outside of our little circle. We do so with wisdom, but also with meekness, as we are told to do by the Apostle Peter. Sanctify the Lord Jesus in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense for the hope that is within you, with meekness and fear. We are wise as serpents, but we are gentle as doves. We are harmless and meek in our interactions with people, but we should use every resource, every right, and every privilege that we have to reach people for the Kingdom of God.

You may or may not realize this, but your citizenship as an American, if you have it, and your ability to speak English fluently as your first language is quite an awesome privilege and resource. In most nations of the world, you have rights that many other people do not have, just because of the nation that is behind you. The privileges of being a citizen of the United States of America are significant. Yes, there are some who are hostile towards us, and that is not helpful, but in most places in the world, it is an awesome open door.

Even if you are never given the opportunity or the call to go into one of those places, God has given every single one of us here today resources. He has given us open doors and opportunities, rights and privileges, and we should use those things. We should use the influences that we have to reach out to those who are outside of our circle to share the goodness and grace of God with them.

There is a very interesting teaching that Jesus gave, in fact, one of the more interesting things that Jesus said in the Gospel of Luke. You can turn there if you'd like—Luke chapter 16. It has caused more than a number of Bible teachers to scratch their heads at what Jesus says here. In Luke 16, verse 9, Jesus, speaking to His disciples, says, "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves how? By unrighteous mammon." Wait, what? Make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon? Mammon is connected to money. Make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.

Home you go. What in the world are you saying, Jesus? I'm not sure what this means. Another translation, the New International Version, says this: "I tell you, use your worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves so that when it, the worldly wealth, is gone—or the world is gone, whichever way you read it—you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings." People scratch their heads and go, "Wait, what do you mean, use worldly wealth to gain friends?" I'm not quite sure I follow you, Anji.

Essentially, what Jesus is saying is to use the worldly resources that you have available to you for the good of the Kingdom of God. Use the opportunities, the privileges, the place that God has placed you, and the influence that you have in the company that you work for and in the community that you live in. Use whatever resource God has given to you as an ambassador of Christ for His Kingdom, for the good of His Kingdom. You might say, "Well, that just seems strange to me."

Well, there's a great illustration of this in the Old Testament in the book of Nehemiah. Turn in your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 2. As you're turning there, let me lay the groundwork for the timing of Nehemiah. In the year 586 BC, the nation of Babylon laid siege to Judah. They laid siege to the city of Jerusalem and took it captive. In August of 586 BC, they destroyed the city of Jerusalem, including the temple, and led away captive as prisoners of war most of the people that lived in that region back to Babylon. This included a young man by the name of Daniel and three of his friends who were later named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

There, the children of Israel lived as captives in Babylon for 70 years. At the end of that time, the Medo-Persian Empire came and destroyed the Babylonians, and now they were ruling over the kingdom of Babylon. When they came and ruled over that area, they gave the opportunity for the Jews who had been prisoners of war to return to their homeland, back to Jerusalem. Only a small segment of them actually did. They went back and tried to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. The temple was the central focus of Jewish life, and so now they were trying to rebuild it, but all of their enemies round about were making it very difficult.

Word came back to a man by the name of Nehemiah from those who were in the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah was a Jewish man who was given a place of privilege, a place of opportunity.

In Nehemiah chapter one, we are told that Nehemiah was the cupbearer to King Artaxerxes of Persia. The cupbearer was not just the person who stood there and held the cup; he was actually a trusted advisor. One of his jobs was to taste the food of the king before it was served to him. Why? Because one of the ways that kings were assassinated during that time was through poisoning. The king trusted this individual, and Nehemiah had a very precarious job.

Nehemiah received word from those in Jerusalem who were trying to rebuild the temple that the work was not going well and that things were very difficult. Nehemiah chapter one tells us that for an entire month, actually four months, he prayed and fasted for his people and for Jerusalem. Then we read this in Nehemiah chapter two, verse one: "It came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king."

Now, I had never been sad in his presence before. Therefore, the king said to me, "Why is your face sad since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart." If you are the king and the person who tastes your food does not look well, you are going to want to know what is going on. The king asked Nehemiah, "What is the problem? You have never looked sad in my presence before. I don’t understand."

Nehemiah became dreadfully afraid and said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my father's tombs, lies in waste and its gates are burned with fire?" The king then asked him, "What do you request? What do you want?"

So, Nehemiah prayed to the God of heaven and said to the king on earth, "If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my father's tombs, that I may rebuild it." The king said to him, with the queen sitting behind him—many Bible teachers and scholars believe that this was Queen Esther, also a Jewish lady—"How long will your journey be, and when will you return?" It pleased the king to send Nehemiah, and he set him a time. Furthermore, Nehemiah said to the king, "If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors."

Of the region beyond the Jordan, or beyond the river, they must permit me to pass through it until I come to Judah. I also sent a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, requesting timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel, for the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy. The king granted these requests to me according to the good hand of my God upon me.

Then I went to the governors of the region beyond the river and gave them the king's letters. The king had also sent captains and army horsemen with me. This is a man who used every available resource and opportunity for the kingdom of God and for the good of God's name. He knew that he had a privileged position; he didn't take it for granted, nor did he overly take advantage of it. When given the opportunity, he recognized that this was a God-given moment. The good hand of God upon me has placed me in this place at this time to do what God wants to get done.

We see another story just like this in the Book of Esther: "For such a time as this." Maybe God has placed you in this place for this very purpose. God's heart is for those outside of our little circle. As we gain His heart and seek to reach out to them, we should be as wise as serpents and as meek and harmless as doves. We should use every available resource and opportunity that is available to us to reach them.

Amen. So that on that day, when I, when you, when we stand before Him, we might hear Him say, as we read in Matthew 25:21, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord." I don't know about you, but I hope to hear those words someday. God's heart is for those outside of our little circle here at 1675 Seven Oaks Road or your front door, wherever you live in this community, your cubicle at work, or whatever it may be. God's heart is for those outside. May He grant us to have that same heart, that we would be wise in our dealings in this world, as meek and gentle as doves, using every resource and opportunity. As Paul says in Ephesians chapter five, we should make the most of every opportunity, for the days are evil.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Father, we thank You for...

Your Word, we thank You for the exhortations of this passage. We pray that You would help us to make application from it. God, stir our hearts. It may be that there are some standing here in this room today who are going through a difficult trial or tribulation, something that they have a hard time seeing the good in.

Lord, remind us that You do have a good plan, even when there are things in our lives that don't appear to be good. You are working all things together for Your good in our lives. So, God, work in us and transform us.

Lord, help us to see and have Your heart for those who are outside. Help us to be wise in our dealings in this world and to use the resources and opportunities that You have given to us for Your namesake and for Your kingdom. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.