God’s Kingdom Grows.

Introduction

Scripture

Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can more like You, and more made into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much, that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all to often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possible can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison standing open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped.28 But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Don’t harm yourself, because we’re all here!”29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He escorted them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”31 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 along with everyone in his house. 33 He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized. 34 He brought them into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had come to believe in God with his entire household.

35 When daylight came, the chief magistrates sent the police to say, “Release those men.”36 The jailer reported these words to Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders for you to be released. So come out now and go in peace.”37 But Paul said to them, “They beat us in public without a trial, although we are Roman citizens, and threw us in jail. And now are they going to send us away secretly? Certainly not! On the contrary, let them come themselves and escort us out.”38 The police reported these words to the magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. 39 So they came to appease them, and escorting them from prison, they urged them to leave town. 40 After leaving the jail, they came to Lydia’s house, where they saw and encouraged the brothers and sisters, and departed.

Context

Last week, we began this account of Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke’s going into the town of Philippi in Macedonia. It would seem that in a very short amount of time, the missionaries would get right at work and in short manner, their sharing of the Good News of Jesus Christ would lead to the salvation of Lydia and her household. This of course is a great thing! These missionaries work was having results and God chose to grow the faith in that area, that would soon have an important church planted in it, in fact this church you can read more about in your Bible in Paul’s letter to the Phillippians, and in this letter we can see that this church was a very loving and supporitive church, going out of their way to fund and encourage Paul and team on their missionary journeys.

Not long after Lydia’s coming to the faith, Paul would command a demon out of a slave girl, who’s owners then riled up a mob because their easy money from her fortune telling was now gone. This mob would take Paul and Silas to the ruling authorities in the area, who had them beaten and stripped and thrown into a dungeon to suffer. Time and time again, we see this theme of suffering come up for Paul as he was faithful to his calling that God had for him.

Time and time again, believer, you too will know suffering as you are faithful to the calling that God has for you. Make no mistakes believer, their are times that this suffering will be constant, overwhelming, debilitating, and unbearable to handle. But, as we will soon see with Paul and company, it is not meaningless. It has a reason and purpose. What you feel in your suffering right now believer, has a purpose and reason for good. Even though you can’t see it, hold onto that believer.Your suffering for The Kingdom has a God Honoring Cause and Purpose. Hold on and know that your suffering is for God and yes one day He will reward you for it, but more importantly He will be glorified for it and His name will be better known and loved. So, let’s jump in From the text, I want you to see these actions as God’s Kingdom Grows.

Message

The first action I want you to see as God grows His kingdom is that: God makes Himself Known. (25-28)

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison standing open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped.28 But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Don’t harm yourself, because we’re all here!”

Can you just imagine this scene? While beaten up, bloody, and broken, faithful Paul and Silas are sitting in dungeon while chained up, what are they doing? Praying and singing hymns to God. Wow! Their worship of their mighty God knew no ends, even over their own pain and suffering, yes, i’m sure they prayed that their pain would go away, but in the same they were praising God for who He is. Notice this though, the text says that prisoners were listening, and if you were a prisoner near them, this would have been a strange sight and sound. Where you expect despair and cries of anguish, instead you see and hear calm and sounds of joy! This would have peaked the literally captive audiences interested, who no doubt were hanging on every word Paul and Silas had about this God that they served. Then! Boom! Their God made Himself known in dramatic fashion! An earthquake happened and everyone’s chains, shackles, bonds, and gates came wide open! What would you expect here?..... A jailbreak right!? But this is not what happened, instead, they all stayed, they were all amazed at the power of this God these men were just singing about. The jailer, then, not knowing what had happened, ran in and in his despair, not knowing anyone had left, decided it was better that he kill himself then be subject to the law. As he took out his sword, to deal the fatal blow. A voice cries out from the darkness! Don’t do it! We are all here! God made Himself known here in a big big way.

While not all of our conversions include this huge dramatic scene that was so epic it is retold time and time again in history, every believer has their own time where God reveals Himself to you, and then you know and follow this God that is worthy of all glory and worship. I can recall at my own time of conversion, at the age of 21, having never grew up on the church and not having many Christian friends, how God showed himself to me in a way that I couldn’t deny any longer, and believe me he revealed Himself other times before, but I chose to ignore it. I can recall looking in the mirror, and finally seeing the wicked person that I was for who I really am, like my reflection was looking back at me and that reflection was some creature out of a horror film. In that moment, I said to myself, “Jacob, something has to change or you are going to die, but I don’t know what it is.” Then, within a short while a close friend called and invited me to go to this new church in town, and she didn’t want to go alone, and I said to her, yes, because something needs to change and I don’t know what it is, but this seem’s like the place to start.

Believer, how did God reveal Himself to you? Think on that from time to time, it will do you good and embolden your faith that help you be that Child of God that see’s God’s kingdom Grown. Non believer, person who has not yet accepted Jesus Christ as your life long Lord and savior, are you ready for this? Are you ready for God to reveal Himself? All you need to do is ask Him to, and keep your eyes wide open for Him, and He will show Himself to you. The Bible tells us that all who call upon the name of The Lord will be saved, are you ready for that? Are you ready to be saved? Believer, are you ready to see you loved ones saved? Know that you have a part to play in it. I can’t tell you exactly what it is, but I can tell you that it absolutely should include praying for that person, that they would be saved, and finding ways that this person can hear and then respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This will include hardship and heart ache for you, yes it will, but remember that Your suffering for The Kingdom has a God Honoring Cause and Purpose. God makes Himself known, but understand that you will undoubtedly have a part to play in it, which ultimately will see God’s Kingdom Grow.

The next action to see as God’s Kingdom Grows is that: God saves broken down people. (29-34)

29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He escorted them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”31 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 along with everyone in his house. 33 He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized. 34 He brought them into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had come to believe in God with his entire household.

In this shocking turn of events for him, the jailer, called for lights and saw things just as Paul had told him, everyone was their. Then, he had them brought out and broke down, asking, what must I do to be saved?” Now, keep in mind, this town and culture was one that had No, NONE, No, idea that a person needed to saved. They were perfectly content worshiping false God’s (demons and Satan Himself), and living in that. This question shows a few things, 1st, that he wanted to be saved, 2nd that he knew he needed to be, and 3rd, that He had been looking for how to be at least for a short while and now believed he had found the people that could tell him. Just seconds before, he was a man in despair so deep that he was about to kill himself, now he had great joy in the words he is told, ““Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” So, they were brought before the household, share the message of Jesus, and said the entire household said yes and were baptized. Immediately, the jailer in joy, began using one of spiritual gifts to further the kingdom, showing hospitality and care, cleaning them, bandaging up their wounds, and giving them a meal. Just moments before, this jailer was a broken down man, now he was a saved man and their was reason to rejoice once again.

Jesus Himself told us that he came not to save the righteous, but the unrighteous, the sinners. That is, people who know they have a problem. As we know, people who are often overly proud and self righteous, rarely come unto salvation. At least, not until God knocks them down a peg or two. I mean, has anyone in this room ever decided to go to the doctor before because we were feeling particularly well that day? No, we go because we have a need of some kind of healing, or a routine check to make sure nothing is wrong.

This jailer was a man that was broken down, perhaps even before Paul and Silas entered his jail. He was a man in anguish and didn’t know how to stop it. He was a man just like any other believer, when you understand what your sin is, and that you are in fact a believer, are desperate for the cure, which is faith in Christ. So, believer, don’t shy away from sharing your faith with the person that you think is to far away, or to manic, to depressed, or to far away. It could very well be that this person is searching for God and is desperate because he or she has not yet find Him. This person is suffering, just as you were, and should this person say yes to The Gospel, then they will one day see their suffering for the kingdom has a God Honoring Cause and Purpose, once they know they are suffering for the kingdom. Don’t forget that pain, don’t forget that suffering you felt in your heart believer, and let it motivate you. Because God saves broken down people. This is one way that God’s Kingdom Grows.

Another action to see as God’s kingdom grows is that: God’s servants suffering has a purpose (35-40)

35 When daylight came, the chief magistrates sent the police to say, “Release those men.”36 The jailer reported these words to Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders for you to be released. So come out now and go in peace.”37 But Paul said to them, “They beat us in public without a trial, although we are Roman citizens, and threw us in jail. And now are they going to send us away secretly? Certainly not! On the contrary, let them come themselves and escort us out.”38 The police reported these words to the magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. 39 So they came to appease them, and escorting them from prison, they urged them to leave town. 40 After leaving the jail, they came to Lydia’s house, where they saw and encouraged the brothers and sisters, and departed.

Little did everyone know, that for one reason or another, the magistrates decided to let Paul and Silas go. So, they sent word for them to be let go. The jailer, of course would have been very happy to share this news. But, listen to Paul’s reply, “They beat us in public without a trial, although we are Roman citizens, and threw us in jail. And now are they going to send us away secretly? Certainly not! On the contrary, let them come themselves and escort us out.” In other words, they have broken the law by not giving us a trial and will face very severe consequences if your higher ups find out. So, you better come down here, and show the whole town we are innocent and abide by the law peaceably, or else. This was very smart of Paul, who now had at least a small church in the town to protect and allow to worship freely. This was just the ticket, now they would never be messed with and the new foundling church body could flourish. So, Paul and Silas went out, visited and visited Lydia and the new house church that most likely met at her house, before leaving onto their next stop.

Their no way Paul and Silas would know what their suffering would have been for, in this case for the Philippian Church Body. If they hadn’t, then it’s clear that the stirred up crowds would have done something harmful to them. But they knew that they would have some kind of suffering and they went forward none the less. Believer, what is your suffering right now? Are you lonlely, lost, scared, beaten and battered by either the world or person or a fear of something? Know that just because you are going through that, doesn’t mean that you are outside of God’s will or that you are even not loved by God. No, in fact, it means that as a child of His, He trusts you to do this tough thing you are going through in a way that He want’s you to, in a way that brings Him Glory. How? We don’t know, we can only imagine. But, I can guarantee you, that one day, as you step back and think about it all, you will go, “Ah hah! See what God did.” Yes believer, Your suffering for The Kingdom has a God Honoring Cause and Purpose. So, keep your eyes peeled, and see that what you are going through is spiritual warfare and your objective is for God’s Kingdom to Grow. So, keep your eyes wide open, take a step back and look if you need. Your suffering has a purpose, a purpose that only with God can you fulfill as you work to see God’s Kingdom Grow.

Conclusion

Beloved. I know that you have asked yourself this question before. “Why is my suffering so meaningless.” As we have seen, for the believer it is not. It has a purpose and reason that is so great that goes beyond your ability to even understand! How cool is that, that God can take ashes and make a beautiful garden out it. As you suffer while you work have God’s Kingdom Grow, remember what you saw today with Paul and Silas. Remember that sooner or later God will make Himself known if you are seeking Him. Know that God saves broken people, so everyone is faith sharing target. And importantly, remember that your suffering has meaning, and God see’s it, and knows what you have done and what you have gone through, and one day, either in this life or when you see Him face to face, it will be rewarded.

With all of that being said, I would be remised if I didn’t share the Gospel (or the Good News) of Jesus Christ with you today, for the benefit of both believer and non-believer in the room. This begins all the way back at the beginning, God created everything, and he created all things good. He gave His most treasured creation (us, mankind) the ability of free will, the ability to choose Him or rebellion. Man was deceived by Satan and desired to be like God and sinned (or rebelled against God). This brought the curse of sin and death into the world and it remains with us to this day; which separates us from God. God though, loved His creation (mankind) so much that He worked through history to redeem all mankind that would turn to Him from sin so that we can experience a full and perfect relationship with Him again. This was through the perfect and final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the pay for sins. Accepting this free gift from God, makes you new and forgiven. All you have to do accept this free gift by repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus and you will get to experience the good side of God’s justice forever. So, now that you know this, you can no longer plead ignorance. I invite and urge you to respond today non-believer and apply this to every part of your life believers in the audience today.

With that, Let’s conclude. Brothers and Sisters, I love you all. During our last song together, if you need prayer, or want to talk more about Jesus, or have something you want to talk about, I’ll be here, don’t be afraid to come on down. Let’s pray. Father God, we thank You for who You are and what You are doing to us here in this place. May whatever it is that You are doing in each of heart here, continue as we leave go out into the world this week. Change us, mold us, make us, re-arrange us, that we can be both better lovers of You and better showers of You. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.