December 3, 2026 -Faith Isn't About Fair

ACTS 21:37-23:35

Chronological Bible Readings

^{Acts 22:17} “After I returned to Jerusalem, I was praying in the Temple and fell into a trance. ¹⁸ I saw a vision of Jesus saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won’t accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹ “‘But Lord,’ I argued, ‘they certainly know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. ²⁰ And I was in complete agreement when your witness Stephen was killed. I stood by and kept the coats they took off when they stoned him.’

I am reminded that Paul truly thought that he was a righteous person. He believed that he was doing the right thing. I think that we all have times in our lives that we can get caught up in our own understanding of rightness. But as soon as we start looking at ourselves and how "right" we are we become wrong. Paul's eyes were opened when he met Jesus on the road and was struck blind. In order to be able to see things through the eyes of Christ he had to lose sight through his own eyes. Now he lives a life that when he is truly acting in a righteous Christlike manor, he is continuously persecuted. He is arrested, lied about, and his life is put in danger. His response is to confess the sins that created the situation where people he would be put under attack.

^{Acts 22:21} “But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’”

²² The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they all began to shout, “Away with such a fellow! He isn’t fit to live!” ²³ They yelled, threw off their coats, and tossed handfuls of dust into the air.

Then he gives a testimony about what God had done. and what he calls him to do. He is called to do something he would never think is the "right" thing to do. He is called to go to the Gentiles. But he went anyway. The fact that he is called to the Gentiles just fuels the fire of the Jews who are against him. Even though he is speaking the truth of his testimony it doesn't change his situation. He is still attacked and persecuted. He doesn't defend himself or take it personally. His focus is obedience to Christ, and he knows that it doesn't matter what anyone says or does against him, as long as he is being obedient to Christ that is all that matters. Even the times that he is arrested and physically beaten he does not defend himself and focus on how unfair it is. He uses that opportunity to praise God in the face of the persecution.

^{Acts 22:24} the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. ²⁵ As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”

Even when he asks the questions about it being legal to flog a Roman citizen it is not a defense. He states that truth without any defense or additional words and lets God use it to put him right where he needs to be.

Most of us do not suffer physical danger and persecution as we walk in obedience to Christ, but we do suffer criticism and verbal attacks all the time. Our response should be that of Christ as is modeled by Paul. Paul spoke truth but he also knew that it is about Jesus not about him. So, he didn't get caught up on his own feelings over his persecution. He took responsibility for his actions in the situations he was in. He only said what was biblical and his own personal testimony in a factual way without embellishment and God used it for his Glory. No one said living by faith was going to feel fair.