And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. Acts 28:16
A Gospel preacher was telling me about a series of Gospel meetings in a small city in the southern United States. The preacher went to city hall and made the proper applications for setting up a Gospel tent, then set out to erect the tent in preparation for the meetings. Some of the officials at city hall became concerned, and expressed those concerns to the chief of police. The chief called in one of his officers and assigned him the task of shadowing the preacher. The policeman was to accompany the preacher everywhere he went, and to attend all of the meetings that the preacher held. The purpose was to make sure that the preacher did not do anything illegal, and to bring charges if the preacher violated any city ordinances. The Gospel meetings did not go well. Very few people attended, and visitation produced very little interest. After a couple of weeks, the preacher decided the effort was not worthwhile, and announced that the meetings would close. The next day, as the preacher dismantled his tent, the policeman stopped by and informed him that he had trusted Christ that morning. Contacts that the policeman provided resulted in a nice number of souls being saved in the weeks that followed.
If the policeman had read today’s text, he would probably have chuckled and recognized himself in the soldier that was assigned to the apostle Paul in Rome. Instead of being placed in prison with the criminals, Paul was placed under house arrest. His only restriction was that a soldier was to remain with him at all times; he was at complete liberty to receive whatever visitors would come to him. Just think about that soldier and his assignment to remain always in Paul’s company. He would be a listener to every conversation, a participant in every Bible reading, a part of the audience at every Gospel meeting. He would also have the privilege of examining Paul’s testimony and life at close quarters, and could see the reality of Paul’s beliefs. We cannot imagine that soldier not being the object of Paul’s attention as a soul in need of salvation. It is also hard to imagine that soldier not being saved in such an environment. His assignment was undoubtedly to his eternal blessing. This is an example of how God uses circumstances to reach people who would usually be outside of the Gospel’s reach. It is also an example of God moving in every sinner’s life to bring about an encounter with the Gospel, as we will realize when we consider how God worked in our own lives to bring us to salvation.
It is true that we are all saved the same way, by trusting Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord. It is also true that the circumstances by which we were reached are as unique as our own DNA, and proof of God’s special interest in every one of us. – Jim MacIntosh