Acts 28:16

Acts 28:16 states, 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.  The Centurian delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard, but Paul was allowed to live by himself with his guard.  Though still not free, he was in a better position to accomplish his mission, which was to be a witness in Rome.  As we do God's will, we should be thankful for any improvement in our condition.  Even if things are still far from ideal, we need to continue with our mission.  Verse seventeen adds, And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.  Paul was in a position where he could call the chief of the Jews together, and this is what he did after three days.  We might wonder at the three day wait, but Matthew Henry says Paul waited for someone to lay a charge against him, and no one had. Since he was there because of the charges brought by the Jews, he called them to him.  We must wait on God's timing as we witness for Him, but we must be active in carrying out our mission.  Paul was where God wanted him, the leaders of those who were accusing him were there, and after all the time waiting, it was time to move forward. Even if we must wait for an extended period of time before completing our mission for God, we cannot wait forever.  Even in less-than-ideal conditions, God will let us know when it is time to move forward.  Paul began to present his case to the Roman Jewish leaders. Paul's testimony never wavered.  He had done nothing against the Jewish beliefs, but he was still being persecuted by the Jews.  As we live our life, even in times of trials, we need to never waver in our testimony. When we fail to live up to our calling as His followers, we can never try to weaken His word to try and justify anything we do against His will. On the other hand, we must never weaken our testimony to escape the trials of the world.  Verse eighteen continues, Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me. We often complain that the law of the land will not allow us to exercise our faith openly when we don't do it anyway. The Jews may have attempted to prevent Paul from exercising his faith, but all they could do was to have him arrested.  We often give up without a fight and gripe about how the government keeps us from doing certain things. Paul said he had committed nothing against the people, or the customs of our fathers. He did not suddenly cease to be a Jew when he encountered Christ.  He simply became what all Jews were supposed to be.  Verse nineteen says, But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of.  He simply reached out to the Gentiles, the rest of the world, with the gospel.  When we as Christians reach out to people that some may see as our enemies and undeserving of salvation, we may have some fellow Christians oppose us.  We do not cease to be a Christian, but we simply become what a Christian should be.  Paul was rewarded by being arrested, and were we to be also, we can only hope we will be as faithful as Paul was. Again, if we want to write like Paul, remember most of his writing was done when he was under arrest.  Paul told them he had to appeal to Caesar, though he could have been freed and had done nothing against his country. Verse twenty adds, For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.  He knew, as should we, that real freedom comes through Christ. Verse twenty-one continues, And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judaea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee.  The Jewish leaders in Rome said they knew nothing about what Paul had been charged with. They had received no letters from Judea about him, nor had any of the brethren who came there said anything about Paul.   Verse twenty-two concludes, But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against. They wanted to hear what he had to say about Christianity, because everywhere this sect was spoken against.  All we can ever ask is that people will want to hear what we have to say about Christ, no matter the circumstances.  They thought Christianity but a sect but wanted to know more about it.