“Joyful Perseverance”

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The title of the message today is Joyful Perseverance”.
James 1:2–3 (NASB)
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance [or perseverance].
What is perseverance?
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary: PERSEVE'RANCE, (From persevere: “Not to give over or abandon what is undertaken.”)
It is persistence in any thing undertaken; continued pursuit or prosecution of any business or enterprise begun; applied alike to good or evil.
Perseverance keeps honor bright.
Patience and perseverance overcome the greatest difficulties.
The Greek word for perseverance is “hupomone” (hoop-om-on-ay') and it simply just means “patient endurance”. In other words, any New Testament, whenever you see the words patience, endurance or perseverance, they are synonymous. In fact, “hupomone” is translated all three ways in the NT because in the Greek, the word means all three things at the same time.
In order to persevere, one must be experience significant difficulty. And to persevere joyfully means that we are able to patiently endure difficulty while maintaining our joy, our hope, our faith and God’s peace in our lives.
This may sound like some extreme form of Christianity, but in reality, it is what God desires to give all of it in Christ AND, it can and should be realized in all of our lives, if Christ is indeed our Lord.
The text I want to share with you today is a beautiful example of joyful perseverance in the Lord.
Context:
We are going to be in Acts 16. There we will be joining Paul and Silas on the Second Missionary Journey. They set out from Antioch, teaching and preaching as they traveled through Syria and Cilicia. From there they went through Derbe, Iconium and Lystra and in Lystra they met Timothy. Paul began discipling him and Timothy joined Paul and Silas on the Second Missionary Journey. The three of them then passed on through Galatia, eventually crossing all of Turkey to get to Troas, where they ended up connecting with Luke. Luke, the author of the book of Acts, was added to the mission team there. From there they sailed across the Aegean Sea into Macedonia. While on the southeast continent of Europe, they stopped in the Roman colony of Philippi and began to minister there. Philippi, was named after Philip, king of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great.
So far on this journey Paul and Silas traveled more than 750 miles over the course of about a year. So this has been a long and hard journey, most of which was on foot. Just getting to Philippi took perseverance and and Holy Spirit fueled strength. This Second Missionary Journey took perseverance!
And that is where we will pick things up. That’s the context as we start with Acts 16 verse 13.
Acts 16:13–34 (NASB)
13 …on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled. 14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us. 16 It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” 18 She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment. 19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, 21 and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.” 22 The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he 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 together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.
[PRAY]
(v. 16) “It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling.”
The Greek is the word “Puthon” (poo - thone) and it is where we get our word “Python”. So there is this image of a snake or serpent. Puthon was also a title given to soothsayers and fortune tellers. Fortune telling or soothsaying…the puthon, is also what ventriloquism is originally based on. Someone else is doing the talking through the individual. Fortune telling was demonic. This girl was intertwined with a demon. The demon had ahold of her like a python wrapped around its prey. That’s why Paul had to cast the demon out of her because she couldn’t rescue herself.
(v. 18) She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus…
(v. 19-24) 19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, 21 and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.” 22 The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
2 Timothy 3:12 (ESV)
12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…
What kind of persecution were Paul and Silas enduring?
They were severely beaten and unjustly imprisoned. Their backs were beaten with rods. When the rod they would strip off their clothes so the rod could make direct contact on the skin. Used in this was, the rod would break the skin and leave some pretty severe lacerations. And Luke tells us the Paul and Silas were beaten with MANY blows. So they are in severe pain and have raw and bloody wounds on their backs. Then they thrown into the inner prison.a…also know as a dungeon. If you think that jails are bad in this day, you’re right, but in Paul’s day, they were intolerable. There was no lighting, no running water, no such thing as a toilet…there would be excrement on the floor and who knows what else. Dungeons were full of rats, lice, other parasites all kinds of disease. The stench would have been unbearable. Not only that, but they were not alone. They would cram prisoners in there, some of which would suffer greatly, starving to death and eventually dying. Paul and Silas would have been surrounded by the groans of the dying and the moans of the living. Having been just beaten, with their legs cramped, sitting in one position not able to move, their backs bleeding, their wounds unwashed, unable to sleep because of the the pain and the atmosphere, here they are, awake at midnight.
Now, if we were in that situation, what would we be doing?
Hopefully we would be crying out to God for help, but we’d probably also be complaining or maybe even cussing. But what did they do?
Paul and Silas show us what joyful perseverance looks like:
(v. 25) “…Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God…”

Pray!

(v. 25) “…Paul and Silas were praying…
Philippians 4:6–7 (NASB)
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Colossians 4:2 (NASB)
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving…
Ephesians 6:18 (NASB)
18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance…
James 5:13 (NASB)
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray…
Matthew 26:41 (NASB)
41 “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Praise!

(v. 25) “…Paul and Silas were…singing hymns of praise to God…”
The epistle to the Philippians is Paul’s most joyful letter, and references to joy abound within its pages (Philippians 1:4, 18, 25–26; 2:2, 28; 3:1; 4:1, 4, 10). He encourages the Philippian believers to rejoice in spite of suffering and stress. He tells them that they need to rejoice in service and continue to look to Christ their Savior as the object of their joy, hope and faith. In other words, the book of Philippians is all about joyful perseverance.
1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NASB)
16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Romans 12:12 (ESV)
12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Colossians 3:15–16 (NASB)
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
God gave them a song to sing in the middle of their suffering.
God’s presence and power in them caused them to sin in the middle of the night.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon said this about our passage:
“Any fool can sing in the day. It is easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight; but the skillful singer is he who can sing when there is not a ray of light to read by…Songs in the night come only from God; they are not in the power of men.”
Psalm 42:5–8 (NASB)
5 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence. 6 O my God, my soul is in despair within me; Therefore I remember You…
8 The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; and His song will be with me in the night…

Preach!

(v. 25) “…and the prisoners were listening to them…”
Philippians 2:14–15 (NASB)
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world…
2 Timothy 4:2 (NASB)
2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season…
1 Peter 3:15 (NIV 1984)
15 …Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that is in you…

What was the result?

(v. 26-34) 26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he 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 together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.
Galatians 6:9 (ESV)
9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Romans 15:4 (ESV)
4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Philippians 2:14–15 (NASB)
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world…
Matthew 5:16 (NASB)
16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Memory Verse of the Week:
James 1:2–3 (NASB)
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
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