JESUS' JAILBREAK

Acts 16:16–40 ESV

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

i guess the heart of my message is the love of your father

there are number of times in my life where i felt like i was alone

or that things were the way just because that is the way it is

we hear so much from all types of leaders.

we hear that our faith costs.

and so in many cases we walk with a discombobulated philosophy of the cross.

We have all been in a position in life where we were ready to give up

to throw in the towel

however there are two stories in the bible that I know of for sure in which i entitled my message

JESUS’ JAILBREAK

See in this story, Paul and silas were confronted by a girl who had a spirit of divination

divination in short in short is that this girl saw and talked to dead people.

this girl saw and talked to dead people.

she believed in foretelling and artificial sacrifices

I will tell you this, if it were me.

id be ready to get out of there

But Paul and Silas stood their ground

they were headed to a place to pray and nothing, i mean nothing was going to stop them

The bible then says that she followed them and a little way there she dimed them out

She was like “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”

Just a little bit of history, paul and silas had just baptized lydia in the HS, and people were mad.

These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”

they were mad and wanted this to stop and so they seeked to kill the two

And this little girl recognized the two while they were traveling and she threw them both under the bus

she was like YO, here they are.

matter of fact, she didnt just do it once

but she did it a couple of times.

enough that it got on pauls nerve and so he turned around and said to the spirit,

come out

and it came out

do you understand the power that is within

do you understand your authority because of adoption

do you understand that you speak for the father

and so the words that you speak that you are actually prophesying to the atmosphere

and so everything that is spoken, that everything else has no choice but to obey your words

the decree, the law of the king

Now this really freaked some people out because this had people talking

I mean it made people even more mad

I mean they were already talking about snatching up paul and silas and puting them in prison so they could shut them up

See when i first read this story i was thinking about what i would have done in this situation

i was like bring it

im about 50 percent Jesus and 50 percent Paul, so run up and see which one you end up with.

I mean i was like peter with the sword when he cut off the soldiers ear.

I was all about the physical battle.

See i was ghetto before I bacame saved and now its about a 95/5 spit

just kidding

maybe

so these guys felt threatened and so they grabbed silas and paul and dragged them to prison

so that to me, that tells me that silas and paul didnt go willingly

but that they went down fighting

now that woulda been me

id be like im not going down without a fight

So they took them to court

they took them to the magistrates, kind of like our judges of today and they lied on them

they lied by their preception

they said These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city.

basically they were saying hey look, these men are trying to persuade our people to believe something the WE don’t necessarily believe

These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

And so from that point the crowds grew and got more and more angry

and so the magistrates then ripped the clothes off the backs of these men and had them beaten

and so after so many blows they put these men in prison under the belief that it was to keep these men safe

But see they didn’t just put them in prison, they put deep back in prison, and that wasn't enough.

they then shackled their legs so they couldn't walk and had to stay stationary

And so it was about the midnight hour that Paul and Silas were praying and singing 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.

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.

They were set free.

Jesus’s jailbreak

there chains were loosed and the doors were open

And then there is the story in acts i believe it is in chapter 12 where peter is thrown in prison

and in this specific case, an angel stood right beside peter and hit him on the side to get his attention.

MY RESPONSE

i dont know about you but if i woke up from being hit and then see an angel standing by me id be pretty tripped out.

But these like this were just normal everyday occurrences

The bible says that peter thought that he was dreaming.

didn’t say that he was tripped out startled

Paul was just worshipping God like nothing had happened

see these apostles had a belief and a mandate that we today do not have

see the bible says 365 times to not fear

So to me that means that God knew something that we don’t seem to comprehend

One thing that these guys had in common though is that they knew where to go

they knew that regardless the situation that they needed to worship and praise the father

James had just been killed and Peter was than dragged and thrown into prison

but he had a resolve that regardless of any situation that one day in his courts was better than 1000 without

And Paul was in prision for doing the will of the father.

but he to knew that one day in his fathers courts was far better than 1000 without

And that is where we need to be

There is a song by eddie james that I love

the lyrics go as such

How lovely is Your dwelling place O Lord Almighty My soul longs and even faints for You For here my heart is satisfied Within Your presence I sing beneath the shadow of Your wings Better is one day in Your courts Better is one day in Your house Better is one day in Your courts Than thousands elsewhere

and that was the mentality of these apostles

see they understood that one day in His house, that one day in His courts was better than anything else

see these apostles knew that everything that they ever wanted and needed was in His Kingom

that everything was in his house

and that is where our mentality and revelation needs to be

we need to understand that everything that we need or want is in His house, in his kingdom

and as we realize that,

just as you see here in the scriptures that that understanding brings peace

that the name of the Lord brings peace and understanding

and when things get tough, that when you just call on his name 1000’s of demons must flee

JESUS

did you see that

1000s of demons flee’d by the sound of his name

and that is what we need to understand

that when things get tough

or when things seem impossible

that just by the call of his name that the impossible has now be come possible

Paul was worshipping and singing unto the lord, and when he called upon the name JESUS, his presence appeared, the ground shook

then their chains broke loose and the doors to the prison opened up.

so let me ask you something

do you feel chained up

do you feel like what is going on is impossible

do you feel like your not going to make it

do you feel like giving up

well check this

the apostles were the example in which we are to follow as they follow christ

And according to the word, His word, his truth, is the same today as it was yesterday

So if you follow the examples of the apostles,

then you too can get your jail break

that situation that seems impossible will soon become possible

For that name JESUS is the master key to every given situation in life

Let me ask you something else

are you afraid to follow christ?

do you think that the cost to pay is too high

well first think about the cost if you dont

but check this

the apostles knew the cost, but they had seen to much to doubt

they realized that Jesus’ name was the name above all names

they realized how much the father truly loved them and what he would do for His children

Now i want you to understand that we are all his creation, but we are not all his children

but these apostles knew that he would go far and beyond, that he would shake heaven and earth for them, his children

and they knew that if they had to serve him locked up and unbathed, then that is what they would have to do

And believe me i get it

but it is our natural earthly vessel that has gotten use to certain comforts

and once our comfortability is threatened, then our flesh rebels and gets buck wild

we become afraid and then our flesh tells us that the cost is too high

So let me ask you another question today

how has not having him in your life effected you today?

Day by day has been stressed and out of control,

well call on the name Jesus and see what that does for you.

that name is above all names

and as you can see, that for those that honor him and call him lord, that he will shake heaven and earth for them

In short, he will create a jail break