Paul and Silas in Prison

Call to Worship

Psalm 68:4-6,19-20,35 “Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the Lord; exult before him! Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.” “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.” “Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!”

Prayer

Song 1 & 2

His Mercy Is More

This Is My Father’s World

Nancy Presentation

Nancy Armstrong is visiting our church today, and has asked if she could make a special presentation. Nancy I’ll invite you up now and to come and share with us.

Song 3

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Prayer (Requests)

Acknowledgment of Father’s

This morning we’ve come to worship our Heavenly Father, but we can also awknowledge our earthly fathers, that God has given to us. After the service last week Diane and I were talking and we thought it would be really nice to have a time where people can come and share briefly about their fathers, awknowledge them and give thanks to God for the gift of fathers. If any one would like to come and share and awknowledge and give thanks for their fathers. I’ll invite them to do that now.

Sermon

That was beautiful, thank you all for sharing. For those who haven’t been with us for the past several weeks, we’ve been going through the book of Acts, and this morning we’re going to continue through Acts. But what I’m drawn to this morning is the act of awknowledgement. We’ve just awknowledged some of our father’s, earlier Nancy was able to awknowledge Cass. But what I find interesting is that often we awknowledge or give thanks for people, it’s similar in some ways to when we worship God our Father. When we awknowledge people we thankfully remind ourselves and them of the things they’ve done that we’re thankful for, the ways we relate to them that we’re thankful for, and the character that they’ve shown that we admire. That’s all very similar to when we worship God, when we worship we remind ourselves, and praise God for what He’s done, for who He is to us, and for the character that He has. And yet at the same time there’s a major difference, because God is the only one that deserves all praise at all times, He’s the only one that always comes through for us, He’s the only perfect one, and the only one that can truly fill all of our needs.

And when we worship God, it’s not like some magic formula or mathematical certainty that He’ll do exactly what we ask, often His ways are far higher than ours. It’s like a relationship between a parent or child. When the child asks for something, the parent often doesn’t do exactly what the child asks because that’s not what’s in their best interest. But the parent does do what they deem is best for the child, even if initially it’s confusing for the child.

I remember one time when my brother Reuben and I were younger, Reuben decided that we should climb out of our second story window on bed sheets, by tying them to the top bunk in our room and then scaling down out the window. And at the time we didn’t really think through it we just knew it would be fun, and then when our parents came in and told us that I couldn’t help Reuben go out the window on bed sheets, we were like “what come on Mom and Dad?! It’s fun!” But obviously it was not actually in our best interest to do exactly what we wanted, it was in our best interest not to fall from a second story window… and so our parents had to stop us from doing what we wanted. And sometimes as parents you have to put a stop to something in order to keep your child safe, but other times you allow things to happen to them, because you know that although the moment or event might really suck, the outcome is worth it.

And when you’re a young kid and something bad happens to you, you get confused and you don’t understand why your parents didn’t protect you. But as you get older, and you mature a little bit you learn to trust your parents more, because you’ve seen that you can rely on them, and you trust their wisdom and provision more. And the same is true about Paul and Silas in the passage that we’re going to read today.

For those who’ve been here the past several weeks, you’ll recall that we’re about half way through the book of Acts, and last week we covered Paul’s first mission’s trip and the announcement that gentiles were officially welcomed into the church. And when we finished we saw Paul and Barnabas split up, and Paul carry on with Silas. And that’s where we’re at today, if you’ll open your bibles with me we’re in Acts 16 starting in verse 16. And just for context, Paul and Silas have started on Paul’s second missionary journey, and they’ve just travelled into the city of Philippi, and they’ve just converted a lady named Lydia, and while they’re in Philippi they’ve been staying at her house, and that’s where we’re picking up the story.

Acts 16:16–34 ESV

As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

So let’s break this down a little more. Paul and Silas are in the city, they’re going to the place of prayer, and they meet this slave girl, her owners think she can tell the future, turns out she’s possessed by a demon, and she’s following them around saying: “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” and you’d think that this would be fine, because it’s true right? They are serving God, and they are proclaiming salvation. But, Paul get’s annoyed by it. Why? Because Paul knows that even though the demon is telling the truth, light and dark don’t mix. He talks about that in some of his letters, light and darkness can’t exist at the same time, and neither can good and evil be the same either. In the same way, the gospel is not in unity with the powers of evil, and so Paul can’t allow the demon to be their witness, because otherwise people will associate the gospel of Jesus with demons, and nothing could be further from the truth.

And so Paul cast’s the demon out of her, and she’s no longer able to predict the future, and so her owners are angry and they bring Paul and Silas before the magistrates (the rulers of the city), and they start to beat them. And even though Paul and Silas had done nothing wrong they’re beaten severely and thrown in prison.

And it’s here that we’re able to see the maturity of their faith. Going back to what I said at the beginning, when parents are looking after their kids, sometimes they need to allow them to go through something difficult in order for the best outcome to be achieved. And similarly, if I was Paul or Silas I think my response might be to ask their heavenly Father why? Phrases like “Father, why did you allow us to be beaten without cause? Why are we being wrongfully thrown in prison?” might be on my lips. In the jail cell I wonder if I would be complaining to my heavenly Father, instead of trusting Him and worshipping. But that’s what we’re told Paul and Silas do. Acts 16:25 “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God...”

Prayer and singing hymns are acts of worship. And worship is a weapon.

What do I mean by that? Let me answer with a different story from the bible.

The story isn’t one that perhaps you’ve heard before, at least I know that until recently I hadn’t heard it. It comes from 2 Chronicles 20. And in this passage, there’s a king, his name is Jehosophat. And the surrounding nations around him have all teamed up and declared war against his kingdom, Judah, and a vast army is marching toward him, and like Paul and Silas he’s in this position where he’s afraid for his life, he’s not sure what’s going to happen, and he turns to God and starts to pray, and verse 3 says that “he begged the Lord for guidance” and he calls all of the people of Judah to come to Jerusalem and to pray and seek the Lord for help. And this is his prayer:

2 Chronicles 20:6–12 NLT

He prayed, “O Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you! O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name. They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’ “And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them. Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance. O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”

It’s such a desperate prayer, and as we keep reading what we’re told is that the men of Judah stood around the king as he prayed this with their wives and children around them, and they’re all terrified, and then it says that the Spirit came on one of the men, whose name is Jahaziel. And he gives this incredible speech, it reminds me of one of the great speeches you see in war movies, or fantasy movies. Like when Aragorn give his ‘men of the west’ speech in the Lord of the Rings when they’re at the black gate, or in the movie the Darkest Hour when Winston Churchill gives his “we will never surrender” speech. Jahaziel’s speech is much like these, this is it:

2 Chronicles 20:15–17 NLT

He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!”

And what happens next?

2 Chronicles 20:18–24 NLT

Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the Lord. Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout. Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.” After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang: “Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!” At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other. So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped.

They worshipped God, and the Lord fought that battle for them. Their worship became a weapon against their enemy. And worship is a weapon against ours as well. Paul makes it clear in Ephesians 6:12 who our enemy is:

Ephesians 6:12 “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”

When Paul and Silas were in prison they were doing the same thing as King Jehosophat, they were using their worship as a weapon, but not a weapon against the magistrates or against the jailer, or the young girl who had had the demon. Their worship is a weapon against their own fear, against the unbelief of those listening to them, and against the bondage that they’re in because of those against their faith.

And the reason that worship is an effective weapon is because it’s calling on your Heavenly Father to come and fight on your behalf.

Do you remember when you were a kid and you thought your Dad had like super powers. When you’re little your convinced he can do anything… I remember one time I was about 12 or 13 and I was using the lawn tractor to mow the lawn at New Minas Baptist and I was mowing down this hill and I got the lawn tractor stuck in this ditch, and I couldn’t figure out how to get it unstuck, and I just kept thinking “darn, how am I going to get this unstuck, I’ve tried everything” and then a thought occured to me… “My Dad!” “My Dad can get it unstuck, he knows way more about this than I do” and so I went and got him and he came over and he helped me to get it unstuck. And I remember just the relief of knowing that my Dad could do this for me because I couldn’t figure it out.

And the same was true with Paul, Silas, Jahaziel and Jehosophat, their weapon: the one that stopped the enemy army dead in it’s tracks and caused the earth quake that set Paul and Silas free, was the worship that asked their Father for help. Because God is a good Father, who provides faithfully for His children when they ask Him to.

Remember earlier when I said that sometimes parents allow their children to experience hardship to achieve an even greater outcome? The same is true for Paul and Silas, because after God set them free, they didn’t fight against their jailer, instead they kept him from taking his life. And because of the lived out testimony of the worship of Paul and Silas, the jailer asks them how he can be saved, and he receives the gospel and is saved. And the same happens to his whole household.

Why?

Because the faith of the father affects the whole household. There was a study from the Promise Keepers and Baptist Press groups a number of years ago that found: “if a father does not go to church, even if his wife does, only 1 child in 50 will become a regular worshiper. If a father does go regularly, regardless of what the mother does, between two-thirds and three-quarters of their children will attend church as adults. If a father attends church irregularly, between half and two-thirds of their kids will attend church with some regularity as adults.”

The Philippian jailer’s household came to faith because they followed his example, and God the Father allowed Paul and Silas to suffer for a short time so that through their testimony this whole family would be saved.

Worship acted as the weapon that brought salvation to a whole family, because worship called on God to act in a situation that was bigger than what Paul and Silas could deal with on their own.

And the same is true for us, as Christians we worship because we know that we serve the same God that saved Paul and Silas from prison, the same God that delivered Jehosophat’s kingdom from the enemy army, and the same God that brought the jailer and his household salvation. We worship the God that fights on our behalf, and you conquered the power of sin and death on our behalf.

The truth is that our sin leads to death, and that every last one of us have sinned, and so we are all derserving of death. But God our perfect Father knew that we couldn’t fight our sin and it’s consequence: death on our own. And so He made a way for us to be rescued, because He sent His only begotten son, Jesus, to die for us. God saw the battle we were in, He saw that we were losing, and He came to rescue us, by using the Son He loved so much as the sacrifice play. And Jesus the only one who didn’t deserve death, died a painful, torturous death so that we could use prayer and worship as a means of coming to the Father, being saved, and being adopted by Him. And because Jesus rose again and lives, we also have eternal life. Because of the overwhelming, gracious, and sovereign love of our perfect heavenly Father.

Our earthly fathers will sometimes fail us, and having talked to a number of fathers, I know that they themselves would be the first to admit that they haven’t always done a perfect job, or even as good a job as they wanted. But by God’s grace many of them have passed on a legacy. And men in the room, that’s the best thing you can do for your families. Lead them to Christ like the Philippian jailer did, like those men standing terrified with King Jehosophat earnestly seek God in prayer to defend and protect your families. Equip your children, your nieces, nephews, grandchildren, even great-grandchildren with the best weapon you could give them: a heart of worship devoted to seeking Christ as their saviour and Lord. Stand firm and be willing to fight for your families, but you don’t have to do it with your fists or your wit, fight for your families in your example, with your prayers and your worship. Because you can’t lead them, you can’t protect them, and you can’t make them flourish like you want to, but you can pray for them, and you can teach them to worship, and you can rely on God to lead your family, protect your family, and make your family flourish. And Mothers the same goes for you, pray for your family, show them the example of your faith in your life, and teach them how to worship our Heavenly Father.

Song 4

How Deep the Father’s Love

Announcements

Coffee and Refreshments

Upcoming yard sale: July 8

Benediction

1 Thessalonians 3:11–13 (ESV)

Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.