Sun Am Worship
Text: Acts 16:16-34 (King James Version)
"Father, I am your servant, willing and desiring to be used to bless your people."
Acts 16:16
And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed
with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by
soothsaying:
Acts 16:17
The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the
servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of
salvation.
Acts 16:18
And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to
the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And
he came out the same hour.
Acts 16:19
And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they
caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the
rulers,
Acts 16:20
And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do
exceedingly trouble our city,
Acts 16:21
And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to
observe, being Romans.
Acts 16:22
And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent
off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
Acts 16:23
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into
prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
Acts 16:24
Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison,
and made their feet fast in the stocks.
Acts 16:25
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the
prisoners heard them.
Acts 16:26
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the
prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's
bands were loosed.
Acts 16:27
And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the
prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself,
supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
Acts 16:28
But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are
all here.
Acts 16:29
Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell
down before Paul and Silas,
Acts 16:30
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be
saved?
Acts 16:31
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,
and thy house.
Acts 16:32
And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his
house.
Acts 16:33
And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes;
and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
Acts 16:34
And when he had brought them into his house, he set
meat
before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his
house.
The other day I saw a guy who says he can predict
earthquakes.
And he doesn't predict the actual day of the quake, he just
looks for indicators that say a quake is likely during a certain period of
time.
And he has indicators like the phases of the moon and the depth of the
tides.
And he says, when you see these things, it's likely that an earthquake
is going to happen.
Well, I can't predict earthquakes, but I can predict
something else.
I can predict bad days.
I have a set of indicators myself
that will tell you that a bad day is likely, if not a sure thing.
Here they
are: You can be pretty sure it's going to be a bad day when:
1. You call
suicide prevention and they put you on hold.
2. You see a 60 minutes news
team waiting for you in your office.
3. Your birthday cake collapses from the
weight of the candles.
4. You turn on the news and they're showing emergency
routes out of the city.
5. Your twin sister forgets your birthday.
6. You
wake up to discover that your waterbed has broken...and then realize...you don't
have a waterbed!
7. Your horn gets stuck as you follow a group of Hell's
Angel's down the freeway.
Now, these are not guarantees that you'll have a
bad day, they're just indicators that the chances are pretty good!
Well, if
I'd been writing this 2,000 years ago I might have included one more.
"You
know it's going to be a bad day when...you're stripped, beaten and thrown in a
jail cell."
That's exactly what happened to two men in the 16th chapter of
the book of Acts.
Paul & Silas were called by God to take the gospel
into the region of Macedonia.
But when they got there, instead of wide open
doors, like they might have expected, they ran into opposition!
Big time
opposition!
Opposition so powerful that they were able to convince the
authorities to treat these men like common criminals.
But before we go to
that particular jail cell, allow me a short side-road.
How many in here
want to live a godly life in Christ?
If that's a goal of yours raise your
hand.
Alright, with that in mind, let me read something Paul wrote to
Timothy.
2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
"Everyone..." he didn't say some people. He didn't say
first century Christians, or apostles or prophets.
"Everyone...who wants to
live a godly life in Christ Jesus..."
Now, if you raised your hand, that's
you. Just as if your name was written right here in the Bible, the Holy Spirit
is talking about you when he says, '
"Everyone who wants to live a godly life
in Christ Jesus will..."
It doesn't say "might."
It doesn't say "could
be."
It says, absolutely, unequivocally, without a doubt,
"will suffer
persecution!"
Now, how many here still want to live a godly life in
Christ Jesus?
Alright, but at least you go into it knowing about the
downside!
You see, I think we've soft-pedalled the gospel sometimes!
"The
Christian life is not a week at church camp. For every stirring campfire
testimony and 'mountaintop experience' there are ten times when we
struggle."
That's so true it hurts!
"Those who want to live a
godly life in Christ Jesus WILL SUFFER PERSECUTION!"
"JESUS NEVER SAID
FOLLOWING HIM WOULD BE EASY,
JUST THAT IT WOULD BE WORTH IT!"
God did
not promise Christians an easy life!
He promised them an eternal
one!
And so there are going to be those times when you're wrongfully
accused and woefully mistreated.
So what's a Christian supposed to
do?
Well, we just grit our teeth and hold on, right? Wrong!
We rejoice!
And people might look at you funny.
But that's alright, because this isn't
some "power of positive thinking" seminar.
It's not some Bobby McFerrin
"Don't Worry, Be Happy" song.
This is a rejoicing that's rooted in reality!
I think I'm having a bad day if I break a
shoelace!
Verse 25:
"But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying
and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them."
I
wish I could say that's what I'd be doing, but I don't know if I
could!
Paul and Silas was not the first one is a situation like
this.
I look at Paul and Silas sitting in that dungeon of a prison and I
don't see Paul and Silas.
I see others who have been where they were.
I
see David in the cave of Adullam, cold, scared and hungry.
Running away from
the very man he would have given his life for!
But instead he feared for his
life!
I see Joseph in Pharoah's prison, sent there by jealous brothers
but protected by a loving God.
I see righteous Daniel sleeping like a
baby while the lions prowled around him all night, dreaming of Daniel soup..but
God had closed their mouths.
When I look at Paul and Silas on that prison
floor, bleeding and bruised, I don't just see Paul and Silas.
I see three
young boys thrown into a fire so hot that it killed the men who threw them
in!
And I hear King Nebuchednezzar say to his servants, (My favorite line in
the Bible!)
"Weren't there three men we tied up and threw into the fire?" And
they said, "Yes, O King."
And he said, "Look! I see four men walking around
in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the
gods."
Paul and Silas weren't alone in that prison cell and they knew
it!
They were surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.
They were filled
with the Holy Spirit!
They were encircled by the heavenly host.
Talk about
prison overcrowding! This one was crammed!
And so they sang and rejoiced and
praised God at the top of their lungs.
The next time you're in the prison
of persecution or the dungeon of despair, look around!
Realize you're not
alone, and then do something that may seem a little strange.
Sing a song.
But don't be like this guy!
Jim Serian tells of the time when one of his
congregation's organizations "The Women's League" wanted to announce a new
project they had undertaken for the church. On that particular Sunday morning
during the announcement time, the President of the Women's League came up to
announce a new project that the women were going to take upon themselves. After
a brief description, the President called for all of the ladies of the league (a
group made up mostly of our 55 year old and up female saints) to "march up to
the front of the sanctuary" so that the congregation could see the earnestness
of their endeavor.
Serian was the pianist for the church, and decided to
give the ladies a marching tune to encourage them as they came down the aisle.
He started playing the children's chorus, 'The Lord's Army,' to keep in step
with the march. He says: "In MY head, I was hearing the familiar words, 'I may
never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery...'
Unfortunately, everyone else was hearing the words of the
original tune, 'The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be, ain't what she
used to be, ain't what she used to be...'"
He said "When the surprised
Women's League President asked why I was playing that tune, I got so flustered,
I couldn't answer, so I just left through the side door."
Verse 25 says, "and the other prisoners were listening
to them."
Talk about a captive audience! This was it!
This
lesson from Acts is a story about freedom.
It sure is interesting how God
works.
One thing you can never take away from a Christian is God and the
presence of Jesus Christ.
And with God there is freedom even in a prison,
and at midnight there is light!
The magistrates have them "stripped and
beaten," and thrown into jail where their feet are put in stocks and the jailor
is ordered to "guard them carefully." But, as I mentioned, the apostles don't
act like your typical prisoners.
Do we possess this kind of
freedom?
Are we able to rejoice, even when the times get rough?
Or
does our faith depend on everything "going our way?"
There is a
cotton-candy like view of Christianity that promises all health and wealth, but
it melts away when reality strikes.
Evil and pain can sometimes confuse
and distort a person's views of Christianity.
Sometimes folks begin to
blame their suffering on a lack of faith.
Many may give up on Jesus
all-together.
And as a result, they become spiritually bankrupt and are
left with little inner resources with which to battle the trials of
life.
Paul and his friends were beaten and thrown into jail for doing
what was right, good and lovely.
Sounds awful, doesn't it?
Well,
it is..
..but when we read the New Testament we notice that this kind of
treatment was routine for the early followers of Christ.
In 2 Corinthians
Paul gives a litany of trials and tribulations that he and other Christians had
to endure: "afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonment, riots,
labors, sleepless nights and hunger."
As one writer puts it: "If Paul
were here today, he'd be nauseated by those who tout a prosperity
gospel."
For Paul, it wasn't so important how badly Christians were
treated; he had been freed by a towering faith in Christ that enabled him to
endure and rise victoriously over any opposition!!!
Through Christ, and
Christ alone, we too can overcome the tragedies of life, and turn trouble into
triumph!
For a number of years the license plates of New Hampshire had
the slogan, "Live Free or Die."
Ironically, those words were stamped onto the
license plates by inmates in the state prison.
They were kept in their
prison by high walls and barred windows.
But many people today agree to
stay in other sorts of prisons, when they have the opportunity to leave all
along.
Something inside us wants to live free, but often we are unwilling
to do what the Gospel of Jesus Christ says we must do to be truly
free!
We cling to material possessions as if they could stay with us
forever.
We allow pride and vanity to distort our view of what is truly
beautiful in life.
We let fear control us; fear of what other people
think and thus we run with fear from the Only One Who can truly set us
free—Christ Jesus the Lord!!!
Paul was free.
It's true that he
spent many of his years as a Christian disciple in Roman prisons, but he was
free!!!
His freedom was rooted, not in this world's definition of the
term, but in his spiritual awareness that he was a beloved child of
God.
He knew he was called by God to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
and that he would be with God for ever after his mission on earth was
fulfilled.
This freedom gave him the courage to speak and act without
having to please the world and the power to respond to people's pains with the
healing love of God.
How great is that?
In Acts, all the other
inmates were listening with awe and wonder as the apostles praised God in
prison, stocks and with bleeding backs to boot!
Then, "Suddenly there was
such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and
everybody's chains came loose."
But none of the prisoners took off for
the hills.
That night they had seen what real freedom was, and they
wanted it for themselves.
They had learned that true freedom did not come
from anything outside the prison doors.
And when the jailer woke up
thinking that all his prisoners had escaped, he was about to commit suicide
until Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"
Talk about
prison ministry.
This was like nothing the jailer had ever seen or
dreamed of.
"Why had they not escaped?
And why do they care about
me, the man in charge of keeping them locked up?
Surely, there is a great
power at work in this place.
Certainly they possess something I
lack!"
So, the jailer actually brought them out of the jail and asked,
"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
In other words, "Sirs, what must I do
to be free like you are free?"
Think about it, what causes other persons
to have a desire to be converted?
Is it the things we say, or the cars we
drive?
Is it the size of our church, or the color of our
carpet?
Or is it about the way we live..
..and I'm not talking about
being able to follow the Ten commandments to a T..
..I'm talking about an
abiding relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Ghost.
Ray Comfort and his Distorted Disciples will answer to
God himself for the corruption they are sewing in the lives of people, in whom
God is desiring to set free.
I'm talking about this relationship altering our lives
in such a way that we are given a faith that can move mountains, a peace which
transcends all understanding, a joy that doesn't make any sense, perseverance in
the face of tremendous obstacles, a deep and unconditional love for all
people—including our enemies, hospitality to strangers, a smile on our face and
a skip in our step..
..and I could go on and on and on..
Paul and Silas could have stayed right there and had a
jail ministry, but God had something else in mind.
Hear this if you hear
nothing else, God can set you free!
You can't do it, don't even try!
How
much of a chance did those men have of getting out of there on their
own?
Could they chew through the chains, could they break down the doors,
could they overpower the guards? NO!
They were absolutely, totally powerless
to free themselves.
And they knew it.
And that's exactly what God was
waiting for!
You see, that's how God operates!
Over and over in the
Old Testament we see it!
He turns to Gideon in the 7th chapter of Judges and
says, "Hey Gideon, you have too many men to win this battle, get rid of a
few."
So Gideon whittles it down until there are only 300 men left.
And
finally God says, "Alright, that's perfect!"
Then God tells him why he did
it.
Judges 7:2 "...In order that Israel may not boast that her own strength
has saved her."
You know what? Sometimes God looks at us and says, "You're
too strong!"
"You have too many resources."
"If you get out of the mess
you're in, you'll just look back and say, "It's a good thing I was strong enough
to handle that!"
When your strength is gone and your resources depleted,
know this:
God can set you free!
And he will set you free, and he does it
because he loves you and he does it because he cares, but he does it for another
reason, too.
When people see Christians living like Christians---they too
want to be a Christian!!!
As I said, this is a story about
freedom!
And quite simply, everyone in this story is imprisoned, in one
way or another, except for three of the people who are in prison—the apostles
themselves!!!
How free are we, really?
That night after the
earthquake, the jailer and "all the others in his house" were saved!
The
world was turning right way up at last, and what better way of showing it than a
Roman jailer, who had been imprisoned by his own fear..
..at terror so
great that he would rather impale himself on his own sword than face the wrath
of his superior officers..
..throwing a midnight party for three battered
but rejoicing heralds of King Jesus?
Yes, in Jesus Christ, we are offered
freedom such as the world can never know.
In Him is healing and wholeness
and strength.
There is no prison on this earth strong enough to keep Him
out—or keep us in!!!
Praise God.
Several years later Paul wrote a letter to the church in
Philippi and he said something that the Philippians knew to be true.
He
said,
"I have learned the secret of being content in every situation, whether
well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." (And, he could have
added, in a prison cell or out of one)
And then he topped it off by
saying...
"I can do everything through Him who gives me
strength."
Amen.