"This man could have been set free"

I have been reading through the book of Acts recently and found something I found to be both inspiring and convicting. The last 7 or 8 chapters of Acts deal with Paul being under arrest and basically moving from place to place, put on trial after trial for a number years. The first thing that is intriguing here is that Paul knew he would be arrested and yet he walked right into it. 

In Acts 20:22-23 Paul tells the Ephesian elders, “I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.” The Holy Spirit Himself assures Paul that if he keeps going the route, he is going he will be put in prison and face hardship. What would you do if you had that assurance from the Holy Spirit? Paul continues on. 

Then in Acts 21:4 disciples in Tyre “Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem.” What you do if you had Christian friends tell you that God was telling them you shouldn’t go? Paul went anyway. We should take this as disobedience to God. The Spirit didn’t necessarily tell these people that Paul should not go to Jerusalem, very likely the Spirit told them what would happen to Paul if he went. 

In Acts 21:11 a prophet named Agabus tells Paul that he will be tied up and given over the Gentiles if he goes to Jerusalem. He went on.

In verse 12 Paul says, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 

So, Paul goes to Jerusalem and is arrested, he goes on trial no less than three times. While on trial before Festus he appealed to Caesar. In other words, he wanted to present his case to Caesar, and, as a Roman citizen Paul had that right. In between this and Caesar Paul is able to make his case to a king by the name of Agrippa during which he presents the Gospel to Agrippa. In Acts 27:28, Agrippa says to Paul, “‘Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?’ Paul replied, ‘Short time or long –I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am”

Then in verse 32 Agrippa says to Festus (the man who was over Paul) “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

Ok, so what’s my point here? I just want to know why. Why did Paul keep moving forward when he knew he would be arrested? He answers this question for us in Acts 20:24 right after telling the Ephesian elders he knew he would be arrested, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”  

Paul says living or dying, freedom or chains don’t matter to him – all that matters to him was testifying to the good news of God’s grace. This was the goal of his life. Every circumstance was a means to this end. Every time he stood trial, every time he was in prison Paul used the opportunity to share the Gospel. Why did the Holy Spirit keep assuring him of what would happen? Because the Holy Spirit wanted Paul to make the choice himself, wanted him to know the cost. And Paul said he was willing to pay it. 

This ought to be true of all of us Christians shouldn’t it? Our rights, our property, our comfort, our very lives ought to be insignificant to us in comparison with telling everyone who has ears the Good News of Christ. I am not there yet, I care too much about myself – in many ways I haven’t understood that I am already dead and alive in Christ. But I am learning, and I pray that I can one day say with Paul “I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”