God is Always Sovereign in Suffering (Acts 16:16–40)
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Introduction
Introduction
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Recap
Recap
Good morning, church.
This morning, we are continuing in the book of Acts, so if you would go ahead and turn with me to Acts 16:16–40.
(Pause)
Some of you may have read, but most of you have probably at least heard of the classic book The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan.
(Raise your hand if you’ve at least heard of that book so I can get an idea. . .now who has read it?)
It’s an adventure story that represents the many ups and many many downs, the joys and the adversities, of the Christian life.
It’s a travel log, following a man named Christian who fled his hometown called the City of Destruction and traces his journey to the Celestial City (which is supposed to represent Heaven).
More on that in a minute, but we can think of the book of Acts, at this point, like a travel log that is full of adventures and full of adversities.
Except it’s not an allegory like Pilgrim’s Progress—It’s an actual historical record of what happened in the early church after Christ ascended into Heaven and commissioned His disciples to go and make more disciples of all nations.
Paul, who we saw come to faith in chapter 9, took three missionary journeys as recorded in the book of Acts
First Journey is recorded in Acts 13–14 and happened around 47–48 AD
I’ll throw a map on the screen . . . This one’s for all the map nerds out there. . .thinking of you, Andrew! (self-proclaimed)
The Holy Spirit told the church at Antioch in 13:2: “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. . .”
Started their journey in Syria and went to Cyprus and then to Asia Minor (Modern-day Turkey)
Their plan was to preach in the Jewish synagogues, but when many of the Jews rejected Christ they recognized God’s call to witness to the Gentiles
between the two journeys, Paul participated in a conference in Jerusalem as the apostles and others talked through and concluded that Gentiles could receive Jesus without submitting to the distinctly Jewish traditions.
salvation, they understood, was by Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone
Gentiles didn’t need to be circumcised or hold the dietary restrictions to now be a part of God’s people
Then, at the end of ch. 15, Paul desired to go on a Second Journey (Acts 15:39–18:22; 49–52 AD) — Show second map
Wanted to go back and strengthen the churches that were started during his first journey
Barnabas and Paul got into the sharp disagreement over whether they should bring John Mark with them (after all, Mark had just abandoned them on the first journey), so they separate and, in God’s sovereignty working through the mess that we create sometimes, multiplied them into two different missionary teams—
Barnabas and John Mark went to Cyprus
Paul and Silas went through modern-day Turkey, picked up Timothy, and then went on to the coastline, to the city of Troas, after being prevented by the Spirit of God to go north into Bithynia or south into Asia
It was there that Paul had the vision of the man calling him over to Macedonia (in modern-day Greece) to come help them, to which they concluded, as the text says, “that God had called us to preach the gospel to them”
That much was evident right away as it was there in the city of Philippi, a leading city of Macedonia, that the Lord opened the eyes of Lydia to the word they were sharing and the Lord saved her.
And that leads us to where we are today in Acts 16:16–40
Read Acts 16:16–40
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. But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 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.” 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.” The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.
Pray for clarity and understanding.
John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress was first published in 1678
60 years or so after the first English translation of the Bible was published.
Up until about 10-20 years ago, only the Bible had more copies sold in history.
For two centuries, along with the Bible, it was the most common and important book in evangelical Protestant households.
The whole story is an allegory—described by many as the world’s most famous allegory—in that each character or place in the book represents a certain spiritual reality and is either a help or an obstacle in the main character, Christian’s journey towards heaven and in his growth in the Christian life.
And there’s a ton of obstacles.
Like when he enters the Swamp of Despondence, representing his overwhelming guilt over his sin
or when he walks through the Valley of the Shadow of Death (wonder where we’ve heard that one)
He would be comforted by hearing the voice up ahead of his friend named Faithful quoting Psalm 23:4
Psalm 23:4 (ESV)
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. . .
or when he’s locked in the deep dark dungeon of Doubting Castle and has to fight the giant named Despair who is trying to get them to give up.
Thankfully, he would remember that he had a key to every lock in Doubting Castle and that key was called Promise, bringing the reader’s mind to recall the promises of God when they suffer doubt and despair like Christian.
The Christian reader can surely relate to many of the trials and temptations, the sufferings, of the character in the book as following Jesus does not equal an easy life. We are not sitting in first class on a train to Heaven sipping our coffee with our feet propped up. This life is hard.
Just a month ago, we studied Paul’s first missionary journey where he stoned in Lystra and dragged outside the city and left for dead, but got up and continued “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (14:22)
John Bunyan surely knew this truth first-hand. He actually wrote most of Pilgrim’s Progress during his 12-year imprisonment in England.
Bunyan was a Baptist preacher in an era of English history when the Anglican Church was the only legally allowed church, a time when 2000 Puritan pastors, like Bunyan, were forced out of their churches and replaced by state appointed leaders. Because Bunyan refused to refrain from preaching the truth of the Scriptures to his congregation, he was imprisoned for twelve years.
Bunyan suffered much more than that in his life.
He lost his mother and sister within one month of each other at just the age of 15.
He would be haunted by spiritual depression and darkness in the early years of his marriage,
before losing his first wife at the age of 30, leaving him with four small children, one of which was blind.
He would suffer constant persecution and multiple imprisonments away from his kids and church
And would die alone of a fever before he reached home to his family, coming back from a trip.
And this summary doesn't include any of the normal pressures and pains of ministry and marriage and parenting and controversy and criticism and sickness along the way.
In all of this, Bunyan was confident that God is sovereign over all the sufferings we endure and is working all things for our good and for His glory.
Based on 1 Peter 4:19 which says
Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
Bunyan would write to his church,
“It is not what enemies will, nor what they are resolved upon, but what God will, and what God appoints; that shall be done. . .our sufferings are ordered and disposed by him, that you might always, when you come into trouble for this name, not stagger nor be at loss, but be stayed, composed, and settled in your minds, and say, 'The will of the Lord be done.'”
This is the hope that Paul and Silas had in their sufferings in Philippi and this is the hope that we can have in our sufferings.
Last week, the main idea from the text was God is Always Sovereign in Salvation. . .
Our main idea from the text THIS morning is that: God is Always Sovereign in Suffering.
MPS: God is Always Sovereign in Suffering
MPS: God is Always Sovereign in Suffering
If you’re here as a visitor and you don’t know Christ,
We are glad you’re here.
What I hope you see from this text and our time here together this morning is that our God, the God of the Bible, gives hope to those who suffer in this life.
And you can have this kind of hope too by believing in the one who endured the greatest suffering in our place, in your place, on the cross.
Stick with us as we study God’s Word together.
With this main point in mind—that God is Always Sovereign in Suffering—there are two takeaways I want us to embrace from this text which we also see play out in the life of John Bunyan:
1. In His Perfect Wisdom and Purposes, God Doesn’t Always Intervene In Our Suffering (Acts 16:16–24)
2. In His Perfect Wisdom and Purposes, God Sometimes Intervenes In Our Suffering. (Acts 16:25–40)
In His Perfect Wisdom and Purposes, God Doesn’t Always Intervene In Our Suffering (Acts 16:16–24)
In His Perfect Wisdom and Purposes, God Doesn’t Always Intervene In Our Suffering (Acts 16:16–24)
Let’s look at v. 16 to understand what events led to the suffering Paul and Silas were about to endure:
English Standard Version Chapter 16
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
There are three individuals singled out by Luke whose lives were changed at Philippi and they differ so much one from another that you can’t help but notice the saving power of Jesus shown in the most diverse types of men and women.
The first is Lydia, a wealthy and independent businesswoman from Asia—as we studied last week, she heard the gospel, “the Lord opened her heart” and she believed it.
The second is this poor slave girl, a native Greek, who was spiritually tormented.
The third, as we will soon find out, a Blue-Collar Roman jailor.
God makes no distinction, Rm. 10:12 says, “the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him.” No matter where you’re from, what you look like, what language you speak, how much you make, or what you’ve done. Christ changed our lives and the lives of these very different people. He can change your life too.
Now, as he usually does, Paul seeks out where the Jews and God-fearers are meeting together in order to share Jesus with them.
This time, a possessed girl is following them—a girl who was in double bondage (slave and demon-possessed). Through her, the demon foretold the future for people for material gain for her owners. In the greek, she is referred to as a “pythoness.” (pouthon)
Python was originally the name of the snake that inhabited the nearby city of Pythia.
In Greek mythology it was killed and controlled by Apollo, the Greek deity specially associated with fortune-telling and would speak through ‘pythonesses’ as his female mouthpieces.
Greeks and Romans put great stock in divination. No commander would set out on a major military campaign nor would an emperor make an important decree without first consulting an oracle to see how things might turn out. A slave girl with this kind of gift was a gold mine for her owners.
As a side note, the Bible doesn’t rule out the possibility of fortune tellers, but recognizes and associates them, as it does here, with demonic presence.
Something explicitly forbidden in Leviticus: DO NOT CONSULT THEM
Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God. 11 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Le 19:31.
The spirit in her nonetheless recognizes the identity and purpose of Paul and Silas.
- Servants of Most High God
- who proclaim the way of salvation
Interesting that demons always seem to have their doctrine right
Mk 5:7 - Demon recognizes Jesus as the “Son of the Most High God”
James 2:19, even the demons believe and cry out!
You can have your doctrine right and not be a true follower of Jesus.
In any case, Paul and Silas have a great side kick here, don’t they?
Like a fan girl saying, ey! Do you know who this guy is? It’s Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson.
Or look it’s the Basketball GOAT—meaning Greatest of all time, not like a goat who plays basketball—Lebron James. . . .although if you ask me, it’s Russell Westbrook.
Why would Paul get annoyed at that? (v. 18)
Well, would you want your main witness to be someone who’s demon-possessed?
Even though she was right in a general sense, Paul’s concern was that she was saying these things under the influence of an evil spirit and was potentially confusing his pagan audience
On her lips, this claim could have been easily misunderstood.
To Pagans, Zeus was the greatest of the greek gods, so they could be led to think Paul and Silas were servants of Zeus;
Salvation in pagan terms meant healing or rescue, but not necessarily thinking of being guilty against one holy God who sent us a Savior to bear our sin.
The Greco-Roman world was full of “saviors.”
Even the emperor dubbed himself “savior” of the people.
It could be that Satan is trying to discredit their message and associate them with the spirits of the underworld like her.
Paul needs to show the separation not association
All that to say, she wasn’t in fact helping. So he cast the demon out of her through the authority of Christ Himself!
Transition:
Though the girl was now set free, things didn’t go well for Paul and Silas after that.
It’s hard to see this in the English, but in the original Greek, Luke makes a nice play on words here to describe the implications of what just happened and I feel it my personal responsibility as a dad to publicly appreciate Luke’s 1st century dad joke.
Many of y’all know I was a high school math teacher before our family came out here to Utah and my students would of course tease me for my inevitable dad jokes which they did not consider to be very punny.
To their dismay, I proudly hung this math pun so they could all appreciate it: Not all math puns are terrible, just sum.
Yes, I know they’re cringe, but I feel the older I get I can’t help but laugh when someone asks me “Why was six nervous? Because seven eight nine.”
In any case, Luke writes an inspired pun in v. 18 that the spirit “left her” (exerchomai) that very hour, and with it, so her owners hope of gain was gone. (also exerchomai)
Healing a possessed girl was one thing; but when that involved considerable economic loss, that was a wholly different matter.
The scene reminds us of the Gerasene pigs incident in Mk. 5, when Jesus cast out the demons into the nearby herd of pigs after which they ran to the sea and drowned.
So they retaliated and and brought them before the city officials under 3 charges
1. They were Jews -
- Thus, intentionally awakening prejudices in the crowd toward Jews
2. They were disturbing the peace
At the very least, this would’ve caught their attention since they were responsible for “law and order”
3. They were advocating customs not lawful for us Romans
But this just wasn’t true
. . .Conveniently did not mention anything about the real reason—that it hit their wallets.
Without trial, they responded to the charges and ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods—a distinctly Roman form of punishment different from the lashings Paul received in Jewish contexts.
This was probably one of the 3 instances of being beaten with rods that Paul mentions in 2 Corinthians 11:25
But, let’s zoom out a little bit and look at the full scope of the sufferings Paul and Silas endured.
The text says they were:
seized (v. 19)
dragged (v.19)
attacked (v. 22)
garments torn (v. 22)
beaten with rods (v. 22)
inflicted with many blows (v. 23)
not two or three. . . many
thrown into prison—into the inner prison (v. 23–24)
for extra security, perhaps fearing the power that they seemed to have after casting out the demon.
feet fastened in stocks (v. 24)
that is, fastened their wounded, bloody, bruised feet into stocks, putting them in extreme discomfort and pain.
The Question has to be asked: Where was God?
Why doesn’t He intervene here?
Is He not able?
Does He not want to?
After all, God had called them to Philippi through a vision of the Macedonian man in the night (Acts 16:9–10)
Was he now any less sovereign in the night within a prison?
God had just used them in this city to save Lydia and her household. . .was He done with them now?
(Pause)
No, prison could neither thwart the plans of God nor remove them from His sight; of this they were sure.
So sure that the text says that Paul and Silas, at midnight, were not grumbling and complaining—
No, instead, it says they were praying and singing!
Truly an example of “joy in the midst of suffering”
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
As the early church author and apologist Tertullian says, “The legs feel nothing in the stocks when the heart is in heaven.”
They were praying and singing.
Would’ve loved to see this—I wouldn’t have wanted to be in the prison with them, but maybe a fly on the cold and damp wall.
- I can imagine Paul and Silas probably asking each other; “well, here we are—what do you want to do?”
Silas: I don’t know, pray?
Paul: Yeah, definitely; also, we literally have a captive audience, so maybe sing some songs?
Silas: Paul, brother-to-brother, I’ve heard you sing before, don’t torture these men further with your singing!
And the text says the prisoners were listening.
No doubt, Paul was conscious of the evangelistic potential of his circumstances as the prisoners hear the faith and hope-filled prayers of Paul and Silas and as they hear about the power and grace of God through their songs.
During a different time of imprisonment, Paul would later write to the church in Philippi:
I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. Php 1:12–13.
And as this was all happening, a great earthquake occurred such that the foundations of the prison were shaken, the doors opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.
God, in His Good and Perfect Purposes, in His perfect timing, intervened in their suffering.
He doesn’t always, but sometimes He does.
He didn’t until now; He let them be beaten, stripped, and thrown into prison.
Why?
The text doesn’t state the reason, but we can see what happens next as a result of their being there.
Prisoners listen.
Jailor and his entire household are saved.
But I don’t want to rush by this fact: That in His Perfect Wisdom and Purposes, God doesn’t always intervene in our suffering.
He CAN—That much is evident by the earthquake He sent later on.
But sometimes He doesn’t.
What do we do then?
What do we do when God is silent?
When we are suffering from a health condition.
When we feel cast off by others
When we feel alone
When my loved one won’t talk to me
When I feel like I’m failing
When nothing seems to go our way.
Pray and Sing.
That’s not all we do, but that’s what Paul and Silas did.
Pray
It’s okay to Pray for Deliverance
A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! Selah
Jesus Himself, considering the weight of our sin He was about to bear and the wrath of God for that sin that He was about to take on our behalf, asked, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Pray for deliverance, but rest in His good and perfect will.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
We may not understand why we are going through the sufferings we are enduring, but we can know that as Christian held to the key called Promise as he faced the Giant called Despair, so we can hold to the promise in Romans 8:28
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Also, we can sing.
When our hearts are failing us,
when we feel overwhelmed,
Let us sing hymns and songs
Great is Thy Faithfulness
In Christ Alone
Amazing Grace
Hallelujah for the Cross
May God give us grace as we sing the truths of the Scriptures and let them seep down into our soul in the midst of suffering.
Transition:
God doesn’t always intervene, but, in His Perfect Wisdom and Purposes, God Sometimes Intervenes In Our Suffering! Praise God!
In His Perfect Wisdom and Purposes, God Sometimes Intervenes In Our Suffering. (Acts 16:25–40)
In His Perfect Wisdom and Purposes, God Sometimes Intervenes In Our Suffering. (Acts 16:25–40)
Again, as they were praying and singing, a great earthquake occurred such that the foundations of the prison were shaken, the doors opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.
Truly miraculous
And the earthquake that rocked the prison foundations woke the jailer out of his midnight sleep.
Immediately he went to investigate his charge.
The worst had happened: the prison doors were open; the prisoners, of course, had seized their opportunity and escaped.
Jailers and guards were personally responsible for their prisoners and in some instances were executed for allowing them to escape.
For a man brought up to a Roman soldier’s ideals of duty and discipline, only one honorable course was open and that was suicide.
And as he drew his sword and was about to drive it in to himself, his hand was stopped by a voice in the darkness of the prison—”Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here!”
Paul stays to see this man’s life saved in more than one sense as the jailor then called for lights, rushed in, and with fear fell down before Paul and Silas, saying “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
It’s possible he heard about the fortune-telling demon-possessed girl’s announcement that these men were servants of the Most High God and that they had come to proclaim a “way of salvation”; If that were so, he might’ve seen the earthquake as a supernatural vindication of them and their message.
It’s possible he fell asleep hearing the prayers and hymns of Paul and Silas from the inner prison cells.
In any case, he’s clearly in a place of saying whatever it is that you got—that is what I want!
And how do they respond?
Believe. . . .and then never miss a Sunday or Wednesday night prayer meeting at your nearest church.
Believe. . .and then stop cussing, tithe regularly, pray 3 times a day, and never miss an opportunity for a gospel conversation.
No, what does the text say?
Simply. . .Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.
That’s it! Believe!
Simple, yet not simple, right?
Sometimes, as part of our nature, but really in our pride and desire to be in control, we’d prefer to have some benchmarks to be assured of our salvation.
If I do x, I can expect to get y.
If I do not do x, I cannot expect to get y.
In that way, we can measure our success, we can be in control of our destiny.
But what are we resting in when we do that?
Our works.
Our success.
But then we no longer have a salvation by grace, but we trust in salvation by works along with all the other religions in the world!
Brothers and sisters, if our salvation depended on us, we would ALL be on the road to Hell/eternal separation from God.
The Bible is clear:
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
Isaiah 64:6 would say even the good that we do. . . .All our “righteous acts” are like filthy rags, literally polluted garments.
No, staying in Romans 3. . .verse 20, Paul would continue to write that “by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight”
Yet, in the very next verse he would go on to say, BUT NOW
English Standard Version (Chapter 3)
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.
Indeed in Eph. 2:8–9, he would write
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
The temptation to add works to our faith in order to be justified before God has been around for thousands of years.
Paul would address this regarding our father Abraham in the next chapter of Romans saying that
English Standard Version Chapter 4
For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness
The Bible, especially the New Testament, is filled to the brim of reminders that our salvation does not depend on what we have or have not done, but solely on the finished work of Christ on the cross.
Being fully God and fully man, HE is the only one in history who could and did live a perfect life—a life that we could never live. . . .one that fulfilled all that a holy God required of us.
JESUS, therefore, offered up His life as a perfect substitutionary sacrifice on our behalf by bearing our sins and bearing the full wrath of God for those sins on the cross.
His last words as recorded in the gospel of John?
- ”Tetelestai” ——> It is finished ——> Paid in Full
All that is required to reconcile sinful man back to their holy Creator accomplished by the person and work of Jesus.
As we sang earlier:
By Your Stripes I’m Healed
By Your Death I Live
The Power of Sin has Overcome
It is Finished it is Done
This Jesus rose again three days later, overthrowing death and the grave, and is reigning now in Heaven over all things, as He always has been, until the proper time when He will again return to judge the living and the dead.
How then can we know that we are we saved?
Hear from Jesus Himself:
English Standard Version (Chapter 3)
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
That’s it. That’s all that the jailor and his household needed to be saved: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.“
And that’s what they did; the text shows he and all his family believed and were then baptized—notice the order.
As in every single instance in Acts, baptism follows faith and salvation.
It is an outward expression of an inward transformation
They were as Rm. 6:4 says
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
As I’ve said before, they are like every rookie in the NBA on draft night putting on the hat with their new team logo on it.
They don’t hide their affiliation with their new team—they announce it to the world!
I just want to make one note about the paragraph at the end here before we draw some application from this text.
The magistrates had just privately sent to have Paul and Silas released, but Paul now flashes his Roman citizenship for the first time.
Had he flashed it earlier, they would’ve been spared from the beatings and imprisonment for Roman citizens were exempt from degrading forms of punishment like they endured and had certain rights established for them that others didn’t have in Roman territories like Philippi.
Why didn’t he flash the card earlier?
Likely he didn’t want to imply that his Roman citizenship was more important than his commitment to Christ and didn’t want any negative affect on the non-Roman believers left behind in Philippi.
He likely flashed it here, however, as a way to protect the church that is left behind. He wanted to show that the church and Christianity is no threat to the Roman way of life, contrary to what his accusers said about him.
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Now how does this text affect us today?
If you’re here and you are a Christian, if you have believed in the Lord Jesus. . .
Rest in Christ. Rest in His work on the cross to secure your salvation.
just as you could not gain your salvation by works, neither can you lose it by works.
English Standard Version Chapter 1
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Like the Jailor and his household who believed and were then baptized, if you are a Christian here today who would like to celebrate the work that Christ has done in you by being baptized, please reach out to me or Nathan and we can talk through what that looks like.
But, for all of us, this text is an encouragement that the Lord delivers. Sometimes He intervenes in our immediate suffering, sometimes He doesn’t. But He always delivers, even if through death, when we will be free of suffering and be with Him forever.
As yourself this: If you plot your life along this continuum of Paul’s initial suffering and later deliverance, where are you? Are you in the stripped-and-beaten stage, or the unshackled, door-flung-open stage?
Both are God’s stages of care for you. He has not left you or forsaken you (Hebrews 13:5).
If you are in the fettered stage, don’t despair. Sing. Freedom is on the way. It is only a matter of time. Even if it comes through death. “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).
If you are here and you have not put all your trust in the person and work of Christ for you, I encourage you to find refuge in the one by whose stripes we are healed.
The One who has paid for all our sin, shame, and imperfection.
We can never be perfect. But He was perfect.
You can be assured and know that you have the same salvation that those in Philippi had.
“Sirs, What must I do to be saved?” The Jailor asked
English Standard Version Chapter 16
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved
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As we come to a close, and as we do every week, we are going to transition into a time taking the Lord’s Supper.
Just a reminder that the Lord's Supper is for Christians—those who have put their faith in Jesus alone for salvation and have turned away from their sin and toward Him as their Savior as the Jailor did, as Lydia did, by the grace of God.
Considering what this Supper represents, the broken body and shed blood of Jesus, let us heed Paul’s warning in 1 Corinthians 11:28-29
Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
In just a moment, we are going to take a couple minutes of silence for prayerful self-examination before God. I encourage you to consider this: Are you living in unconfessed, unrepentant sin? Do you have anything against your brother/sister or do they have anything against you? I encourage you to confess these to the Lord and repent of them; go seek reconciliation with your brother before taking the Supper.
Some of you may need to answer the question: Are you right with God?
If that is not you, or if you are here and you have questions or have doubts, we want to tell you that we are glad you are here and we would love to talk to you about who Jesus is and what He has done, why we can trust in Him alone for our salvation, and what it means to follow Him.
But, we ask that you not take the bread and the cup with us—they are only symbols—instead we hold out to you the real thing, Christ Himself. TELL THE GOSPEL.
If you'd like to know more, grab the person next to you or come find me after the service and we'd love to share more.
As I mentioned before, let's take a few moments to prayerfully examine our hearts before God and I'll come back up and lead us in taking the elements together.
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10 years later, Paul writes a letter to the Philippian church commending them for their generosity and their love for the gospel.
You have to wonder what it was like when this letter was read to the congregation.
Who read it?
Wonder if it was Lydia, the jailor, possibly the girl who was once a slave, but was now free.
Here are the words that he wrote to them which are also for you as we take the elements together.
I’ll close with this:
English Standard Version (Chapter 1)
3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
The gospel. . . . The body of Christ, broken for you.
8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Pure and blameless because of the shed blood of our Lord Jesus. . . .The blood of Christ, poured out for you.
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We are
As I mentioned before, let's take a few moments to prayerfully examine our hearts before God and I'll come back up and lead us in taking the elements together.
Read 1 Cor.:
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
The body of Christ, broken for you.
In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
The blood of Christ, poured out for you.
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