Before Paul sets sail, with other prisoners, in chapter twenty seven of Acts, I think we will review.  First thing, as we read the Bible, we need to read with the question of what does this mean to me today.  Even though it is nice to know what the early Christians like Peter and Paul experienced, the more important question is what does that mean to me about being foiiower of Christ.  The Bible, like Christ, must be personal and teach us each time we read it.  Otherwise, we could read it once and think we knew everything it meant to them, those long ago Israelites and Christians that the Bible was written about.  To be meaningful, the Bible must speak to me personally every time I read it, which means I must never quit reading it.  Next, we need to understand that God has a plan for the life of each Christian.  This does not mean that we have to accept that plan, but it is there.  Paul at any point could have been freed from his physical bonds by simply doing what society wanted him to do.  He was in physical bonds because he would not renounce his spiritual bond to Christ.  He said that not everything was expedient in his relationship to Christ and other Christians.  We must never do the expedient thing if it means not following God's will for our life.  So, the next point would be that God will reveal to each of us His will for our life.  Paul did not choose to remain in bonds because he liked to suffer, but because he knew God's plan for him and saw God's work in carrying out that plan.  If we begin to look to what brings  us the greatest material success in the world instead of what brings us closest to God, we will never be what God wants us to be.  The last point for now is that we attempt to put Christianity into time frames, when with God time is immaterial.  What was expected of the New Testament Christian is no different than what is expected of the Christian today.  All Christians for all time have been expected to follow God's plan for their lives.  God today is the same God that the Israelites and the first Christians served.  When we speak of how bad the world is today, we need to realize that since the fall of Adam and Eve, the world has been bad.  When we talk of how Christians are treated today, we need to realize that nothing has changed.  Christians have been persecuted since the beginning and will continue to be.  When Christians such as Paul proclaim Christ to the world, they become the enemy of the world.  God said whoever was not for Him was against Him, and so it is for His people.  Those who are not for God are against us, as His people.  The passage of time has never changed this, so we should not be surprised when we are reviled and persecuted.