Changed for the Kingdom
Notes
Transcript
A. Rapport for the time
Joy of seeing the Lord’s plan as he sits outside of time. Even more amazing to know that we are a part of that plan.
B. Reading of the text
C. Review of the text
D. Relevance of the text
I. Praising in a Storm
I. Praising in a Storm
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,
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 everyone’s bonds were unfastened.
According to vs. 25 Christians are not like everyone else. Out Hope is a constant hope that enables us to have joy in the middle of difficult circumstances. The world in which we live WILL constantly be in a state of change but we don’t have to live that way. Our hope has been built by faith on the cornerstone of our faith Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul and Silas have been beaten and thrown in a hole in the ground and at midnight they up praying and singing to the Lord. That is a different way to live for born again believers.
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
App: At what point do I come to the understanding of what God has done for me? That is is the only way to be praying and singing to God while in jail and recovering from being Beat with a rod while chained in the inner most part of a prison.
What happens in vs. 26 has happened before to the Apostles and to Peter.
Apostles delivered
19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,
20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”
21 And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.
22 But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported,
23 “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.”
Peter delivered
7 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.
8 And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”
9 And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
10 When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him.
An earthquake happens and although these happen in this part of the world this one is different in that it unfastened the bonds that the prisoners find themselves in as well. You want to tell me that God isn’t watching over Paul and Silas after he sent them to Macedonia? This is our Lord. He does not send us alone and he alone has the master plan.
We don’t know what the prayers of Paul and Silas must have been that evening but I doubt they every thought that this would happen on this night for them.
---Acts—christian standard
The Earthquake asserts authority; it declares God as sovereign over the Roman Empire and its colonies. God’s rule transcends Israel’s national land. Earthquakes not only indicated God’s personal presence but also represent a change of fortunes. For some this means release, for others, it means death
19 For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.
App: we are way to quick to sell our Lord short on what he is capable of doing. We instead assume that the place we are in at the moment is a place he would never put one of HIS believers. Just like the Jewish people in the OT that believed that since they were God’s chosen people nothing would ever happen to Jerusalem. How they went about their life didn’t matter, God Chose them!
T.S. We go from praising in a storm to Hope in the Dark for one that can’t seem to find any hope by himself.
II. Hope in the Dark
II. Hope in the Dark
27 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.
28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”
29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.
The jailer wakes from the earthquake like anyone would and immediately drew his sword to kill himself. Remember Paul and Silas are placed in the inner most parts of the prison so they have no way of escape, but God made a way. The jailer would be responsible if anyone was to get out of the jail.
19 And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.
Instead of dying this day the jailer is cared for by Paul and loved on well.
29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.
30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Paul has saved this man’s life physically but the testimony of faith has not brought the jailer to the point that he wants to know more. We know for sure that the jailer fell asleep to Paul and Silas praying and singing to the Lord. What else did the jailer experience we do not know. “the earthquake has presented him with irrefutable evidence that God is at work with Paul’s group. He wants to know whatever more Paul can offer. Is there a way to escape God’s reaction to the injustice in which the jailer has played a role? In the face of this evidence, the jailer does not want to be found on the opposite side.” Darrell Bock--
For the unredeemed—this is the question that all people will want answered at some point. They will either deny that there is something to be saved from or they will come to this question..what must I do to be saved?
Paul answers with the authority of the Lord.
31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Simple Grace—The gospel is not that hard to explain. It has great depth but the basic of the Gospel is Belief—faith in Jesu Christ. Belief in Christ means a repentance of our sins and a turning to him.
The Gospel!!
32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.
33 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.
34 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.
vs. 33 The changed jailer washes their woulds and cares for them and they in turn baptize him and his entire family comes to faith.
Vs. 34—Joy of the Lord has entered the house—what a difference these hours have made in the life of the jailer and the entire house. He was all but dead not that many hours ago.
App…This is what the Lord does for us..He takes those that are dead and brings us to life.
T.S.
III. Haughty brought to humility
III. Haughty brought to humility
35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.”
36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.”
Paul and Silas have returned to the jail cell now and the magistrates have decided to let them go. Remember this is after they have beaten them.
37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.”
38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens.
39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city.
40 So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.
The magistrates had condemned Paul and Silas with no trial, ultimately treating them as criminals even thought they were innocent. The magistrates are the ones that actually broke the laws according to vs. 38.
Acts (4) Humbling the City Magistrates (16:35–40)
The “alarm” of the magistrates was understandable (v. 38). Abuse of the rights of a Roman citizen was a serious offense. Magistrates could be removed from office for such; a municipality could have its rights reduced. For instance, the emperor could deprive Philippi of all the privileges of its colony status for such an offense.
The magistrates had to declare Paul and Silas innocence in public. Why would Paul ask for this from them?
Schneider—Christian standard commentary
Pau land Silas do not want their message to be dishonored among the people of the town. They wish for the gospel to have a clean and honorable reputation.
Paul and Silas are protecting their new flock. The public reputation of the mission needs to be noble because people in the city remain who follow Jesus.
The narrative form of Paul and Silas in Philippi follows the configuration of Christ’s humiliation but eventual exaltation. (Phil 2:5-11)
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
4.The cultural citizenship is a fitting close to the narrative. The belated note of Roman citizenship causes readers to reread the narrative and see that the disturbance may have centered on ethnic reality more than a cursory reading might show. Paul has been accused as a Jew of destabilizing the ethnic balance of a Roman City, but he is in fact a Roman citizen. Paul’s very presence in Philippi blurs ethnic lines. A new, multiethnic, multicultural, and multigender movement is arising.
2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.