As chapter 21 closed, Paul had just asked the Roman commander for permission to speak to the Jews who were still wanting to kill him. Paul surprised the commander by speaking to him in Greek.
As I pointed out last week, the end of chapter 21 is an example of one of the silliest possible chapter divisions in the Bible. There is no change of location, no change of subject, it's not a new day, or a new audience. It's not even a new sentence.
What happens next can be very helpful to us. In the midst of an explosive and very dangerous situation with a lot of bad things going on, Paul speaks powerful words of testimony. The value of this chapter to us is two-fold. The most obvious point is that this is a crucial series of events that continued the unfolding of God's plan for the early Church. God wants us to know about that, so He used Luke to record it in this book.
Beyond that, I see a valuable application of this section to teach us how to give a good testimony, even in a bad situation. As you watch Paul turn the attention away from himself and toward the Lord Jesus Christ, you can learn how to formulate your own testimony of faith in Christ. Follow Paul's example.
1 - Connect With People (1-2) 2 - Tell What You Were Like (3-5) 3 - Tell How You Heard About Christ (6-15) 4 - Explain Repentance And Faith (16)
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Pastor, Heritage Bible Church in Boise, Idaho. Author, The Antioch Initiative training program for Russian Pastors through Slavic Gospel Association. Bible teacher on Heritage Bible Radio. Served as a pastor in California and Idaho since 1971. Taught Bible and Theology at The...
