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“And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go…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? Nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out” (Acts 16:35,37).
When the magistrates told the serjeants (the police) to go and let Paul and Silas out of jail, Paul said that the magistrates should come themselves and bring them out. Was Paul right to insist on this? Yes, he was. He did not complain about what had happened to them, neither did he report it to higher authorities, and try to get the magistrates in trouble.
However, he wanted to reach the consciences of those magistrates, because they had acted unlawfully, and because they had beaten and imprisoned Paul and Silas without bothering to find out what really had happened. This is a good example for us too. If the world treats us wrongly we should submit to it, but it is not wrong on our side to remind them that they are doing wrong, and that they are responsible to God for their actions.
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