Transformed!

Remember yesterday in Acts 21 how Paul freaked out the soldier when he spoke Greek?

Acts 21:37 Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, "May I speak to you?" He replied, "Can you speak Greek?

Now in Acts 22 Paul is freaking out the Jews by speaking Hebrew:
Acts 22:1-2 "Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now."
2 And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then he said:

As we've learned before about Paul, he is extremely intelligent and well eduacated.
Acts 22:3a "I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers' law,

Paul was EXTREMELY zealous toward God:
Acts 22:3b ....and was zealous toward God as you all are today.

Acts 22:4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women,

Acts 22:5b ...and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished.

Acts 22:19 So I said, 'Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You.
20 And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.'

Can you imagine the shock Paul experienced when he found out that The God he thought he was serving, was actually The One he was trying to destroy:
Acts 22:7-8 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?'
8 So I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.'

Immediately, Paul is ready to serve His King:
Acts 22:10a So I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?'

Paul heard directly from Jesus! There are those crazies out there, some calling themselves "red letter christians", that will disgard the letters of Paul....if you are in this camp, you need to reconsider....PAUL HEARD DIRECTLY FROM JESUS!
Acts 22:14-15 Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth.
15 For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.

Were you baptized? Were you baptized after you surrendered your life to Jesus? Take a look how important it is to God that you do:
Act 22:16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'

They all listened to Paul....until when?....until Paul proclaimed that the Good News was for the Gentiles as well as the Jew.....that was more than the Jews could take:
Act 22:21-22 Then He said to me, 'Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.' "
22 And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, "Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!"

So what did the commander do? SCOURGED HIM!!
Act 22:24 the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against him.

But Paul is about to freak him out again because Paul was a Roman citizen, which is a big deal. Roman citizens were afforded special protection beyond the average person. Many people worked hard their whole life to buy their Roman citizenship, but Paul was born a citizen:
Act 22:25-28 And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?"
26 When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, "Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman."
27 Then the commander came and said to him, "Tell me, are you a Roman?" He said, "Yes."
28 The commander answered, "With a large sum I obtained this citizenship." And Paul said, "But I was born a citizen."
29 Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

And because of the fact that he was a Roman citizen, Paul gets another chance to preach The Word to the Jews.....stay tuned!