Songs in the Night

Good morning my name is Jeff Kammerer, I am the NextGen pastor here and that means I get to work with kids and students and parents. We are finishing up a series this week called Ministry in the Hard Places and our text this morning is a great culmination of what can happen when ministry happens in the hard places.

And maybe you’ve noticed as we’ve walked through these Scriptures together or perhaps in your own life that God really moves in seasons of difficulty. During the American Civil War there was a soldier by the name of Ira Sankey. Who also happened to be a gifted singer and led music for D.L. Moody. One night he was doing picket duty and a Confederate soldier was lurking in the shadows, had Sankey in clear view, pulled out his musket ready to strike, when all of a sudden Sankey began to sing. He sang a song called Savior like a shepherd lead us, here's the first line up on the screen..

"Saviour, like a shepherd lead us, Much we need thy tender care. In thy pleasant pastures feed us, For our use thy folds prepare."

As he sang the confederate soldier pulled his finger off the trigger and decided he’d allow Sankey to finish the song, after all he had a beautiful voice. But, by the time he had finished he was no longer able to pull the trigger. His mind flooded with memories of his mother, who had died early in life, sing that very song to him.

I’ve titled the sermon today Songs in the Night which we can read in Job 35:10

Job 35:10 ESV

10 But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,

If there was prescriptive way that we should handle ourselves in hard moments in life I think the Bible presents us often with a solution that many of us would not consider. Sing.

If you haven’t been with us the previous few weeks we’ve been building up to this scene as Paul and Silas under the direction of the Lord made their way to Philippi, were teaching people the message of the gospel and some people didn’t receive the message. Paul and Silas ended up in prison because they had delivered a woman from a demon. A few weren’t happy because this woman telling the future was their source of income. So Paul and Silas are in prison. Let’s read this account as we see how singing leads to salvation.

Acts 16:25–34 ESV

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. 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. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 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.

Prayer

Here’s what we see first:

1. Worship in the hard places. (vv. 25-28)

Paul and Silas were singing and praying, probably not exclusive things, their songs were most likely prayers to God. And there is no indication of prayers of petition and asking for their release. Which seems like it would be completely legitimate, I’m here for doing God’s will, there surely isn’t any harm in me praying God would release me from this prison. And it’s possible they did but there is reason to believe their focus is more on praising God and they are willing and eager to do that in the middle of the night, as they are bonded and secured in prison.

But the reason I think their focus is on praise and adoration of God is because of how the other prisoners are reacting. These are the guys who are rightfully imprisoned, and what does the text say? They were listening, not simply hearing, of course they were hearing it, they were listening intently to what Paul and Silas were singing. Why were they listening so intently? Because the world cannot make sense of a Christian who is rightly walking through seasons of hardships. Do you know what we have in Christ, that someone without Christ cannot possibly have access to? HOPE!

It must've been so puzzling to these prisoners how these two guys could be in the same position as them but yet are rejoicing and singing. Paul and Silas were certainly not performing for these guys but this is a demonstration of a really important truth for us, the world is watching when we experience hardships. What do people see when they see you walking through difficulties? Or better yet, how many people have you allowed into your life that can actually see how you respond in those moments? There is always value in praising God and honoring him in those difficult seasons but how much more would God use those moments if we were more transparent with people in our life?

What is the most common question we ask when we are in the valley? Why? God why are you doing this? Why me? We don’t always get to experience an immediate answer to that question. In fact, some of you may be waiting for many more years to fully understand what God was trying to accomplish by allowing you to dwell in the hardships, but other times God delivers like he did here for Paul and Silas. We see this earthquake. Not an accident or coincidence. This is a very intentional act of God. Doors open, makes sense an earthquake would do that, shackles fall off, not so easy to explain. But here’s the thing about faith, it doesn’t need explanation. God simply moved as only he can. He does that for you too by the way.

So the prisoners aren’t locked up anymore but they are all still there. The jailor wakes up and sees all the prison doors open and thought, well that’s it, I know how this ends. He was responsible, if he allowed any prisoners to escape he would be faced with their same fate. So a jail full of prisoners that escaped, he had no hope. So he reaches for his sword, ready to kill himself when Paul yells out, don’t do it. We’re all here. I’ve been reflecting all week on how close this guy was to face eternity separated from Christ because of his ignorance of the message of the gospel. But Paul, so aware in this moment that he had the presence of mind to stop him and look what it leads to...

2. The fruit of faithfulness. (vv. 29-32)

Acts 16:29–32 ESV

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?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.

Trembling with fear… The jailor was overwhelmed. Just moments before he was ready to enter eternity and now he’s presented with the truth that he is unfit to be in God’s presence and in desperate need of salvation. The sweep of emotions from the jailor went from sound asleep, to suddenly awake, to no hope, to relief, to fear. And in this fear he asks the most important question anyone can ask. “What must I do to be saved?” If you are here this morning and don’t have the hope of Christ, my prayer is that this is the question that is reverberating in your heart. What must I do to be saved?

And if you are a follower of Christ this is the question people around you are asking when they see you singing and praising God in your season of difficulty. But here’s where it so challenging for us, we can never get to this point if we’re focused on ourselves. The jailor was about to kill himself, this conversation was seconds away from not happening and Paul needed to be in a place where his mind was off his circumstances so he could be led by the Spirit. Being in a proper place of worship, despite things not going so well, will lead to fruit, you may not know when, but it will eventually come.

If this is the most important question, what’s the answer? What must I do to be saved? He responds in verse 31 but it’s so important to not disconnect verse 31 from 32. Because the simple response is this, “believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” If you had to explain the gospel to someone in 5 seconds this is it. But this is clearly the beginning of the conversation because salvation doesn’t happen until after they preached to him the word of the Lord. We don’t know how long it took but that’s not really significant, what is is they had additional conversation explaining what it means to trust and follow Christ. If someone asks how they can be saved and all you say is believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, I’d assume that you were able to choke that out as your last breath. You should be explaining to someone everything you know about the gospel. That’s what I assume Paul did.

Do you know what else happens if you isolate verse 31 from verse 32, you could walk down a path of incorrect theology in which you believe in household salvation. Where you conclude because my mom or dad is saved then I’m saved by association. There are too many instances in the Scripture that speak of salvation as an individual response, let me give you a couple you can look up, these are both from the book of Acts… Acts 3:19 , Acts 10:43 . So what does Paul mean here? Well he could be issuing a promise from God only to this jailor and his family, but I tend to think he’s simply extending the same offer to his household that he just made to him, if your those in your household believe, they will be saved too. And that’s why in verse 32 it says that they preached the gospel to everyone in the house. There would be no need to do that if salvation came through the head of household.

Acts 3:19 ESV

19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,

Acts 10:43 ESV

43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

So the word was made simple, then it was fully explained and as a result, the jailor and everyone in his household believed and verses 33 and 34 show us...

3. The Response of Salvation. (vv. 33-34)

Acts 16:33–34 ESV

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.

I’m so glad we got to celebrate baptism in our services today as we read about the jailor and his family as they each respond in faith but if you notice it’s actually the second thing they do in response to their salvation. The first is washing their wounds. They are still in the middle of the night by the way. I think if this as a very clear act of humility in serving Paul and Silas in this way. This was the guy in charge of the jail. There’s a good chance some of these wounds they have were from him, just hours ago.

What has happened? The gospel has radically transformed his life.

What evidence is there that the gospel has radically transformed your life? Do you have compassion on others? Have you been baptized and speak publicly about your faith? Baptism in a sense can become one of those first public declarations that you have accepted Christ. Have you brought others into your house and served them. It didn’t take the jailor long after he was a believer to invite Paul and Silas into his home to eat.

The transforming power of the gospel is also what allows us to hope in the midst of trials so how should we respond?

Application

1. Sing.

Try to get in the habit that when you are in the midst of trial you lean into the Songs in the Night that can only come from the Lord. I can recall moments of difficulty where I’ve sung out I love you, Lord… and i lift my voice. In those moments I had no idea where that song came from. I’m not really a singer and don’t really even listen to music, but God had implanted that song in my heart to guide me in moments of diffculty. And it’s not the only one.

And it’s part of the reason why during our times of family worship we sing. I’m so thankful that our worship team is putting together songs for our families, I’ve told Jonathan several times how appreciative I am for that but I know lots of others have contributed to that. Use the resources available. Before that we were using this, and we still are a bit, it’s a simple hymnal. I had to purchase this when I went through seminary and I cannot remember what I sued this for but I’m glad it’s one of the ones i hung on to because we sing some of the older hymns that are rich in biblical doctrine. Why? Partly because I want truth to pop into my kids hearts and minds when they are experiencing difficulties.

2. Be ready to share the gospel.

I started by sharing a story about Ira Sankey and that was actually only part of the story. About 15 years after his life was spared without him knowing, he was on a ship on the Delaware River on Christmas Eve. News quickly spread that he was on board and was rather well known at this time and the people aboard convinced him to sing a song for them and as he was trying to think of a Christmas song to sing, his mind kept going back to Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us. As he finished singing a rough looking man came up to him and asked if he served during the civil war. When he said he had this man told him he was a confederate soldier and nearly killed him until he sung that same song. He looked at Sankey on the battlefield and thought, surely a God so great who was able to save that man from certain death is great and mighty. But, though he was affected by the thought of this great God he didn’t know what to do. The question he was yearning to hear answered was, what must I do to be saved. For 15 years he wandered, searching for the answer until speaking with Sankey on a ship, Christmas Eve, 1876. Where he finally found the shepherd he had been searching for.

You have no idea the impact you have on someone’s life and the opportunity that might present itself on any given day.

3. Receive the gospel.

Perhaps others of you are like the Confederate soldier. You are searching for the answer to the most important question you could asked, what must i do to be saved?

Before we dismiss let me give you a more clear answer to that question.

Acknowledgment of sin. The Bible often says we should repent, turning from sin is acknowledging that this is keeping you from right relationship with God.

Believing God provides you victory from sin when you trust his message. He claimed to be the son of God and that there is no other way to be saved except through him. An aspect of that belief is the virgin birth, that he lived a perfect life, that he died on the cross while sin was placed on him, and that after three days in the tomb he rose to life and reigns in heaven. If God is speaking to you this morning I’d encourage you to speak with someone before you leave. There are plenty of people here including me who would be happy to share with you about what it means to trust Christ.

This is the message that is often shared in churches but i believe over the 2000 years since Christ was on earth that this message has been shared in homes far more than is shared in churches. Do you need help understanding the message of the gospel, i’d encourage you to invite someone into your home, just like the jailor did so they can help explain to you the message of the gospel.

This is the challenge and expectation Jesus had for his followers.

Prayer

Before we dismiss I’d lie to invite a few families to the front who have walked through the membership process.

Doug and Bree Hollish

Matt and Angie Edmondson

Cameron Edmondson

These families met with Pastor John for a membership meeting where they learned about the history and the vision for our church moving forward. They filled out a membership application and have met with one of our elders.

Our elder team is now bringing them before you for a final vote into the church membership. If you affirm the elders decision to bring Doug and Bree Hollish, and Matt, Angie, and Cameron Edmondson into membership we’d love to hear an amen. Any opposed.

We’re going to have these families stay up here, we’d encourage you to welcome them to our church family before you leave.