Acts 22 :17

Acts 22:17 says, And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;  Verse eighteen adds, And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.  Then, when he came to Jerusalem and was in the Temple praying, he was in a trance.  He saw Jesus saying to him to make haste and get out of Jerusalem, because they wouldn't receive his testimony concerning Christ.  If people will not accept the gospel where we are, God may lead us somewhere else.  If there does come a time when we need to move on because people will not hear our testimony concerning Christ, He will let us know.  Until then, we are to witness to all men.  Verse nineteen continues, And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:  Verse twenty concludes, And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.  Paul reminded God of what he had done to Christians, imprisoning them, and even holding the coats of those who had stoned Stephen.  Like Paul, we may at times feel the need to remind God of all the bad things we have done to excuse following His will. Paul did not surprise God by telling Him what he had done, and neither will we.  Verse twenty-one says, And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.  Paul was then told to depart, that God was sending him to the Gentiles.  Verse twenty-two adds, And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.  Then, the crowd that was listening lifted up their voices and called for his death.  They were willing to listen until what Paul said went against what they believed.  People may listen to us today, until what we proclaim, Jesus Christ, crucified, resurrected, Lord, goes against what they want to believe.  Then, they may act as Paul's audience did and say kill him.  Even so, we must stay true to our faith.  Verse twenty-three continues, And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, The crowd that wanted to kill Paul begin to cry out, to throw off their clothes, and throw dust in the air.  These sound like the actions of a mob, not the actions of God's people. Verse twenty-four concludes, The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.  The chief captain ordered Paul to be brought into the castle and be examined by scourging.  In other words, he was to be whipped to get answers that he had already given.  The chief captain was trying to maintain order no matter the truth or the cost to maintain the peace.  Too often people today are willing to compromise the truth in order to maintain peace, especially if a large group is creating problems.  Still, no matter how large or wild the group gets, we can never compromise the truth of the gospel to maintain peace with the world.  

 Acts 22:25 says, And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? Paul then asked a simple question.  As they were binding him to scourge him, he asked if it lawful for the chief captain to scourge a man who is a Roman, and who has not been condemned.  Sometimes, our best course of action is to simply remind people of who we are.  Verse twenty-six adds, When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman.  Paul was not a Egyptian as some had said, nor was he just a Jew.  He was a Roman citizen and had certain rights.  We should not be ashamed to claim the rights our citizenship brings us.  Even if an angry mob threatens us, we are still endowed with certain rights, and we should make the most of them.  Verse twenty-seven continues, Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea.  The chief captain asked Paul if he was a Roman and Paul answered yes.  Verse twenty-eight states, And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.  The chief captain said he had purchased his freedom with a great price, but Paul said he was born free.  Our freedom was bought with the great price of Jesus’s death on the cross, but it is free to anyone who will accept it.  Verse twenty-nine adds, Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.  Those who were to examine Paul immediately left, and the chief captain was afraid, because he had bound a Roman.  God sent the ideal person into this situation, a man who was a Jewish Christian and a Roman. When God sends us to a particular place, we can be sure He has sent the best person for the task.  Verse thirty continues, On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them. Paul was freed from his bonds the next day. The chief captain wanted to know what the Jews were charging him with.  He had arrested Paul, was going to scourge him, had kept him bound overnight, and now he wanted to know what Paul had done to deserve this treatment.  We can hope if we as Christians are accused of some wrong that those who are in power over us will get the facts before acting.  He called the chief priest and council in and set Paul before them.  He realized it was a religious question and brought the parties together to resolve it.  We would do well to come together in an orderly manner to discuss differences instead of resorting to mob tactics.