If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Acts chapter 22. Acts 22, and we'll look at verses 22 through 30. Particularly, we'll look at verse 28 tonight. Verse 22, And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth. For it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried out, they cast off their clothes and threw dust into the air. The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle and bade that he should be examined by scourging, that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned? When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest, for this man is a Roman. And then the chief captain came and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a woman, a Roman? And he said, Yea. And the chief captain answered, With great thumb obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him. And the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him. And on the morrow, because he would know the certainty whereof he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them. As you recall back in chapter 21, Paul entered Jerusalem and he immediately went to James and the other elders. In an effort to accommodate the Jews, he accompanied two to the temple in order to go through the rite of purification with them. It was simply an act of humiliation on the part of Paul, a sense in giving up his rights to accommodate these brothers. in order to bridge the strife that was brought up between Paul and the Jews. The Jews are accusing Paul of abandoning the temple and abandoning the law, speaking against God. And so he's trying to maintain harmony. And so he condescends to these brothers. Immediately upon entering the temple, though, the Jews grab him. They're furious at him. These are the unbelieving Jews. They descended upon him with false accusations and determined to kill him. The situation became so desperate, it was almost to the point of a riot within the city, that the Romans came and rescued him and took him into custody. And then Paul asked permission to speak before the multitude. And so he began to speak in Hebrew to the Jews that were present. And of course, when he began speaking in Hebrew, They became very silent and they listened. And he began to share his testimony how God had marvelously and miraculously saved him, that Jesus Christ had appeared unto him, throwing him to the earth, crushing his rebellion, saving him marvelously. Paul was captivated by the risen Christ and immediately cries out, What shall I do, Lord? And Paul was saved and raised up to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. Well, hearing Paul describe his testimony was okay, but as soon as he began to mention the fact that he was called to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, they became furious and outraged, which is what we see here in verses 22 and 23. They said, Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried out and cast off their clothes, they threw dust into the air. Well, the Roman captain, realizing things had gotten out of hand, and his responsibility is maintaining peace within the city, he immediately takes Paul into custody. Now, he's absolutely unaware what all the uproar is about. He doesn't understand, either because Paul spoke in Hebrew, and the Roman centurion, the Roman captain, did not understand Hebrew, so he wasn't aware of why the Jews were so angry with Paul, or He might just simply have misunderstood or had a lack of understanding of the theology in the Jewish mind, why they were so angry with the Gentiles. Whatever reason, he didn't understand why the Jews were so angry at Paul. He didn't know if Paul was some great criminal, that Paul was guilty of some terrible act. Something stirred up these Jews with such a fervor that they're trying to kill Paul. There's a great riot taking place in the city. And so the Roman captain had to know what was the cause. And so he determines, I'm going to scourge Paul. Now, we all know what the scourging was. Roman law permitted prisoners to be scourged in order to receive information from them, a form of torture. Or at times it was simply administered as a form of punishment. But we know the Roman scourge, it had lengths of leather bands. To the end of each one was attached pieces of bone or a piece of metal. When it was applied to the skin, it literally ripped the skin. The bone was usually exposed and many times the poor victim died right there on the spot or at least soon afterward. It was a horrible, horrible punishment. Of course, we know our Lord suffered the scourging at the hand of the Roman officials. Well, Paul surely understood his peril. He had been flogged before, but the Jewish flogging was not the same as the Roman scourging. The Jewish flogging didn't have the bone or the metal at the end. There was a terrible beating. Paul was flogged. He was stoned. He was beaten with rods. He was often tortured at the hands of the Jewish people. But he had not yet been scourged. And so he understood his peril. He was in mortal danger. Paul, understanding the peril of his situation, he brings up the fact that he was a Roman citizen. He had done that before. He did it in Philippi. In Acts 16, the keeper of the prison told this thing to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go, now therefore depart and go in peace. But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly, uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison. And now do they thrust us out privily? He's used the fact he's a Roman citizen before. He's used it again. The Romans were very proud of their citizenship. They had many rights that the others in Rome did not have. Remember, there's 10 to 20 million slaves in Rome. The Roman citizens had particular privileges, and they were very proud of their position. I'm not saying Paul was proud. I'm saying the Roman citizens were proud. It was only the Roman citizens that could wear the classical toga that you so often see associated with Rome. Only citizens wore such garments. And the citizens had certain inalienable rights, such as the right to vote, the right to own property, the right to make legal contracts, the right to serve in public office, and the right of immunity from certain taxes. They had great privilege. They also had certain judicial rights, such as they could not be scourged. This was a punishment that only non-Romans could experience. and they had the right to freedom from the death penalty. The only cause for the death penalty for a Roman was treason. Obviously, Paul was not guilty of treason. Paul had not been openly condemned, and even if he had, he could not be scourged. And so, anyone violating these rights would be open to severe penalty. And so, Paul mentions this to the centurion that's preparing him for scourging. They were stretching him out with thongs, preparing to scourge him. And upon hearing of his citizenship, the officer immediately went to inform the captain. Verse 26, Take heed what thou doest, for this man is a Roman. We can understand how this must have struck fear in the heart of the captain. He not only had bound Paul, and it was illegal to bind a Roman citizen, he had bound Paul, and then he was about to scourge Paul, and Paul had not yet been condemned of anything. Fear must have smitten his heart. He was about to face severe penalty himself. So, immediately, the chief captain comes to Paul and questions Paul. Verses 27 and 28, the chief captain came and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? Paul says, Yea. The chief captain answered, With great sum I obtained this freedom. Paul said, I was free-born. Now, you can imagine the captain is looking upon Paul. The captain, a Roman citizen, proud of his citizenship, looks upon Paul. You can imagine Paul's garments are probably ripped. I mean, the Jews had come upon Paul to kill him. He was probably bloodied. So he's got these garments that are torn, they're soiled, they're bloodied. He looks like a pauper. And so this captain looks at Paul and he says, it was with large sum of money that I obtained my citizenship. And Paul says, yea, but I was free born, which a free born citizen, they had certain classes of people within the Roman citizenship. The free born, the natural born had greater rights than someone who obtained their citizenship in another way. Now there was different ways to obtain Roman citizenship. If you did some great act of service for Rome, you could be granted the privilege of citizenship. You would not be on the same level of status as one born as a citizen, but you could be a citizen, which would give you the rights of citizenship. Or you could purchase it, but it's very expensive. No normal person would ever have the funds to purchase citizenship. Paul, on the other hand, was free-born. If your father was a Roman, then you were born a Roman. A high status, a high privilege to be born a Roman. Verse 22 literally says, I was born. The translations usually add words for clarification. King James Version adds the word free. I was free-born. New American Standard translates it, but I was actually born a citizen. The word citizen is not in the text. That's added for clarification. It literally just says, I was born. And of course, when Paul says, I was born, There's no doubt what he's talking about. I was born a citizen. I was free born. Paul is, in essence, saying, I was born into this kingdom. Well, as we look at the text and the surrounding text, The immediate thing that comes to our attention is this whole concept of kingdom. It's all throughout the text. In other words, why is it that the Jews became so furious in verses 22 and 23 when they had been very attentively listening to Paul? with silence and receiving every word as he's telling of Christ coming and appearing to him. That's not what made them furious. They became furious when Paul explained that he was not sent to the Jews. He was sent to the Gentiles. Verse 18, Paul says, And I saw him saying unto me, Make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. Then verse 21, And he said unto me, Depart, for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles, unto these dogs, unto these unclean ones. When the Jews heard that these dogs, these unclean Jews, these unsanctified ones, that Paul would go to them, They became so furious that they screamed, this fellow is not worthy to live. Let him be killed. Because he dare say that a Gentile has citizenship in the kingdom. Now, the Jews were proud of their citizenship, just like this Roman captain was. The Roman captain's proud. He says again, With great some, verse 28, with great some obtained I this freedom. He's proud. Well, the Jews were proud of their citizenship in the kingdom of God. They believed that the kingdom was theirs. It belonged to them. They were the people of God. And what was the basis of their claim? What was the very basis of such a boast? It was simply this. They were born into it. They were free-born. If you were to ask a Jew how he received his citizenship into the kingdom, he would have simply answered, I was born. Abraham's my father. He's my... I'm the heir. I am born into this kingdom. This was a dangerous and perilous conclusion. They believed it was theirs by birth. That by birth, the promises were theirs. They were the people of God. They were the sons of Abraham. And this was a fatal conclusion, because they failed to embrace the king of the kingdom. They spoke their own condemnation, John 19, 15. But they cried out, Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, We have no king but Caesar. They condemned themselves. They failed to understand that their position was conditional, and they rejected their king. John the Baptist told them, Matthew 3, 9, And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father. For I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And Jesus warned them in Matthew 21, 42. Jesus saith unto them, Did you never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner? This is the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous in our eyes. Therefore I say unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. The Jews were proud of their heritage, proud of their citizenship, because they were free-born. The truth of the matter is, they were counting upon their natural birth. The fact that they were physically related to Abraham. Well, as we look at this passage tonight, verse 28 again, we see again a great contrast between two individuals. One who had gained his citizenship by purchase, the other had gained his citizenship by birth. And I'd like to just, and obviously verse 28 is not talking about spiritual birth. It's surely talking about natural birth. The Roman captain is a citizen by purchasing it, and Paul is a citizen by birth. But as I looked at it, and I'm reading through the text, many times as you go through narratives, and narratives in and of themselves as you go through scripture, there are many times that truths are taught through narratives, statements are made, things are brought to our attention, that may not in and of themselves be theological in their very essence, But then you see some great analogies that take place as you look at the passage, and you can see here the Jews who are proud of their natural birth, but their problem was they did not have a spiritual birth into the kingdom. And then you find here the dialogue between Paul and this Roman captain, in which the Roman captain is proud of his citizenship, but it was a purchased citizenship, And Paul says, I didn't purchase mine. I was born. And so, consider for a moment tonight this dialogue between Paul and the Roman captain. And then ask yourself the question, am I a citizen? Or, what is your citizenship? I'm not asking you what country you live in. I already know the answer to that. Everyone here are citizens of the United States of America. And everyone here, as I look around, as far as I know, you're all born into it. You're free-born. You obtained your citizenship just simply because you were born here. I'm not talking about your natural citizenship, or your natural birth for that matter. I'm asking you, are you citizen of the kingdom of our Lord? The problem the Jews had, they were proud of their birth. But it was their natural birth. And just because you were born into this country does not make you a citizen of the kingdom, of our Lord's kingdom. The Roman captain spoke of how much it cost him to enter into the kingdom. How much does it cost to enter into the kingdom of Christ? How much did it cost? How expensive is it? to enter into the kingdom. Let me just give you a few of the demands, and it's costly. In fact, entering into this kingdom costs more. The Roman captain here is talking about it cost him a lot to enter into the kingdom of Rome. To enter into the kingdom of Christ costs more than entrance into any other kingdom in the history of the world. First of all, it demands perfect conduct. In other words, no wickedness shall enter into the kingdom. 1 Corinthians 6, verses 9 and 10, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not enter into the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. In fact, it demands perfection. Second of all, it demands that you give up everything you have, everything, to surrender all of your goods. In other words, you don't claim anything of your own any longer. It all belongs to the King. Jesus told the rich young ruler, if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast and give it to the poor. and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me." Or Luke 14.33, So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple. So you give up everything. In fact, even your own life, surrendering everything to him. Matthew 16.24, Jesus said unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me for whosoever shall save his life shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it and if that's not enough you have to suffer to enter into this kingdom Acts 14 22 confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God Who in the world could ever enter into such a kingdom? Who would ever want to? Who would ever desire to enter into such a kingdom as this? You've got to be perfect. You've got to give up everything. You've got to be willing to suffer. Who in the world would enter into such a kingdom? Jesus answered his disciples when they asked basically the same question. With men, it is impossible, but with God, All things are possible. You see, to enter into this kingdom, you have to be born into it. You have to be free-born. Just as Paul had to be born into Rome, he had to be free-born to enter this kingdom. Now, there are many people that try to enter it the wrong way. Where the Roman captain had an option, I can purchase my way into it. There's only one way to enter our Lord's kingdom. You can't purchase your way. And there are many people that are trying to enter in some other way, Jesus tells of false teachers. false shepherds that enter in by the wrong way. They're liars and thieves and robbers. But you can apply it to Christians or false professors of Christianity who try to enter in to some way other than through the Lord Jesus Christ. John 10 1, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door of the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, The same as a thief and a robber. Well, many are trying to buy their way into the kingdom today. I dare say most people are trying to buy their way into the kingdom. Now, many, many people do not have a concern one way or the other. But of those that have any interest in religion at all, most people are trying to purchase their way into the kingdom. Many try to buy off God by their good works. You can hear their voices on the Day of Judgment. Jesus tells of them in Matthew 7, 22. Many will say unto me, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? Do you hear what they're saying? What they're saying is this. Here we are, Lord. Our pockets are full. We are prepared to buy our way into the kingdom. We have much of which to purchase our entrance with. Same thing the Roman captain is saying here. I spent a lot of money. I spent much to buy my citizenship. And what these people are saying, what most people are saying, my pockets are full, I have much of which to offer, I've done many wonderful works, and now I am prepared to buy my way into the kingdom. Well, unfortunately, we have to come empty. Empty. Your pockets have to be empty. Your pockets have to have holes in them. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall inherit the kingdom of God. You have to be absolutely poverty stricken. You have nothing of which to offer. They'll scream, you know, Lord, but you said wicked men shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Look at all of our righteousness, all the things that we did. Surely this will purchase our way into heaven. Lord, you said that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom. But they failed to hear all of the words of the kingdom. Words such as Titus 3.5, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Or Ephesians 2, for by grace are you saved through faith. That not of yourselves is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. Or Romans 3.20 that we looked at a few weeks ago. Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. You must be born into the kingdom. There's no other way. There's no other way to enter into the kingdom. Now, I'm not talking about natural birth. That's the error that the Jews had. They thought it was by natural birth. And there are many today that believe that you can enter in by natural birth. There are many parents that believe because I'm a Christian and I am in the covenant, then my children who are my physical offspring, they too must be in the kingdom. And there are children that presume because their parents are in the kingdom that they too must have access. They might be tempted to say, I am born into the kingdom, that is, by my physical birth, by the fact that my parents are children of the covenant and I too am a child of the covenant because my parents were, because I am in the church, because I've been baptized, I am in the kingdom. But listen to the Apostle John correct this line of reasoning. John 1.11. He came to his own, and his own received him not. Who were his own? Obviously the Jews. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. So, he's saying that those that come to him by faith, believing in his name, they become sons of God. The physical offspring are not sons. He came to them, they did not receive him. But as many as did receive him, including Gentiles, they have become sons. As much a son as Abraham, as any Jew was. But then it adds another thing. Verse 13 says, which were born. Now is this talking about physical birth? Obviously it's not. He came to his own, his own by physical birth, but they did not receive him. It's talking about a different kind of birth here. It's talking about a spiritual birth. You have to be born into the kingdom. So these are ones that received him, those that embraced him, those that believed on his name. And then it says, which were born. In other words, as a result of this birth, they received him and believed on his name. Listen to what it says about the birth, which were born, not of blood. In other words, not by natural descent. It's not based upon who your parents were, whether or not your parents believed. It's not by blood. This is quite easy to understand here. It's not by blood. And then it adds, nor of the will of the flesh. In other words, it's not by human decision. And then it adds, nor of the will of man. In other words, it's not through the desires of others. Then how? If it's not by blood, or the will of the human flesh, nor the will of other men, then how do we get in? It's by God. It's a God birth. It's a supernatural birth from God, which is what Jesus tells Nicodemus in John 3.3. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again." It's not the physical first birth, it's a second birth. You must be born again. He cannot see the kingdom of God. So I'm talking about a strange supernatural birth. I'm talking about the same power that rose Lazarus from the dead when Jesus says, Lazarus, come forth. And he came forth. absolute supernatural power, the same power that created the earth and commanded the light to shine out of darkness. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Have you been born into the kingdom? Have you been free born? not purchasing your way into the kingdom, but have you been born into the kingdom? Well, you must be born into this kingdom to obtain this citizenship. Now, the question is then, how are you born into this kingdom? Well, how was Paul born into his Roman citizenship? Did he have any part in it? Did he do anything to receive it? Now the Roman captain did much. He was an adult and it cost him a lot of money. I don't know how much, but it was a lot. And he had to give up what he had to obtain his citizenship. But Paul, he wasn't even born yet. He wasn't even alive. When he's in his father's loins, just because his father is a citizen, he has this right of citizenship. So how does a Christian obtain his birth citizenship into the kingdom of God? Well, the point is, it's God's doing. And truly, we have no part in it. How do you obtain citizenship? It's God's doing, which almost leaves us in a state of confusion, does it not? In other words, why bring the gospel? We have no part in it. We do nothing. We're just born into it. And so we just sit back and wait for the birth to take place. Well, no, and this is the point, and that's the reason you have to be so careful when you're preaching in John 3. You're going through the passage of being born again, and you automatically want to come to the end and say, so let me tell you how to be born again. But we're never told in Scripture, seek the new birth, just like you did not seek your natural birth. You could not, you weren't here. And just like a dead person, born dead in trespasses and sins, a dead person doesn't suddenly sit up and say, I want life! Let me do something to get the life! It does not happen that way. And so the new birth describes those who are in the kingdom. It does not describe how to enter the kingdom. And that's the important distinction. The New Birth does not describe how to enter into the kingdom. It simply describes those who are in the kingdom. And so, how do you enter the kingdom? Well, you enter the kingdom through the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Again, that's what John is saying in John 1. He says, He came unto his own, his own received him not, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. That's how they became sons of God. That's how they entered into the kingdom. And then he adds, which were born. In other words, this new birth enabled them to believe, enabled them to receive Christ, and so we seek Christ. We don't seek the new birth. Either you're alive or you're dead. But dead people cannot seek being alive. And so the new birth merely describes those that are in the kingdom. And we can only enter the kingdom through the Lord Jesus Christ. Those that are in the kingdom, those that have been born, obviously show evidence of life. Now, how do you know that you were born the first time? It's a pretty easy question. Because you're here, because you're alive. Even if you didn't have your parents to tell you about your birthday, Which we, in western cultures, I suppose everyone probably keeps track of their birthday. And so your parents marked that day on the calendar. It's an important day. It's the day that you were born. And so they mark it on the calendar. January 16th, you were born. Came into this world. And so every January 16th, you celebrate your birthday. It's a day of celebration. You know you came into the earth January 16th. But the true way that you know that you came into the world, even if your parents were not around to tell you, you know you came into the world because you're here. Because there's evidence of life. Because you feel. Because you breathe. Because your heart is pumping. You know you're alive. So you know that at some point you were born. Well, the same is true of the new birth. Every Christian has a different testimony of how he came to life in Christ. And God does it in many different ways. You've heard me say before there are some elements that are consistent in every single testimony. That is the element of sin, and we've come under conviction of sin, and we see the excellence of Christ on the cross. But many times God brings us through a process. We may come through a period in our life where we begin to understand our sinfulness. Progressively understanding our sinfulness. More and more understanding our sinfulness. And it may take place over a season. And we begin to see the excellence of Christ and He becomes more and more glorious to us. And we never have that day that we And we say, well, no, it was January 16th that I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. But through the process of God saving us, we understand our sinfulness. We come to understand Jesus Christ is glorious. His death upon the cross is excellent. I trust in nothing else. I love Him with my whole heart. And now you're an adult, and perhaps you can't give a day. And so you begin to question. I can't give a day. I don't even know if I can give you the month. I'm having a hard time giving you the year that God saved me. I know that I love Him with my whole heart now. I know that I'm serving Him with my whole life now. I know I'm trusting Him alone for salvation now. But I can't give you the day. Well, can you give evidence of your birth? And obviously the Christian can give evidence of their birth. They know what they were. They know what they are. They know they love Christ with their whole heart. They can see that their life is fixed upon Him. They're trusting Him alone for salvation. And so their peace, their rest, their hope, their life, their all is founded upon Christ. This is the heart of a believer. How do you know you were born? Because there's evidence of life. It doesn't matter if you were 12 years old and you were baptized and you've lived your whole life like the devil and you say, but I know I was baptized. Yeah, but where's the evidence of life? But the man who has embraced Christ and living for the glory of Christ is able to show you, I was born. I was free born. Jesus Christ came to me, purchased my citizenship. I could not purchase it on my own. I am not as one that can give something to obtain citizenship. Christ came and he purchased my citizenship. He rescued me from sin. He redeemed me from my corruption. He delivered me from my hopelessness. And now I have freedom and life in Christ. And he did it, and he alone. Well, I think as we see passages like this, and we hear Paul say, I was free-born. And immediately, I don't know if when you read this, immediately the thought comes to your mind, yes, I was free-born. I came to faith in Christ, and it wasn't of my doing. It was all of God's doing. I'm not of one like the Roman captain that says, but I purchased mine. James says, show me thy faith without thy works. I'll show you my faith by my works. But I understand that my works are only the testimony and evidence of my new birth. It has nothing to do with obtaining my new birth. So I will rest upon Christ and Christ alone. The captain might think, I've gained it. But Paul says, I was born. Unbelievers might think, I'm OK, I've gained it. But the true believer says, I was born. It's all of Christ. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for even such passages as this that reminds us once again of all that you've done for us in Christ Jesus. We could have done nothing of ourselves. We were dead. Father, you birthed us. You brought us into the kingdom. It's all because of the glorious Christ who died for our sin. Thank you, Father, for such grace, for such mercy, for such a gift. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You're dismissed.