Persecution Turned Opportunity

Acts 16:16-34.......

Here is the setting of today’s sermon. Paul and Barnabas part ways after Paul decides to go on a 2nd journey back through the places where they went in the 1st journey to see how those churches are doing.

Paul takes Silas with him on the 2nd journey. Silas was a leader in the Jerusalem Christian church. He carried the acceptance letter from the Jerusalem council to the Gentile believers in Antioch.

In this journey Paul and Silas picked up a couple more missionaries/preachers along the way. Timothy joined them in Derbe and Lystra. It seems by the way that Luke wrote this that he himself joined the other 3 when they got to Philippi.

Philippi was the chief city of Macedonia. This was in Europe (modern day Greece). The route they took from Antioch would of been approx. 3000+ miles.

They had an all-star crew in Philippi, which began with a woman named Lydia. She, along with other Gentile women would go out of the city and meet on the Sabbath by a river. They worshipped the God of the Jews. Lydia was businesswoman, she had a household but there is no mention of a husband. It says that the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things that she was listening to. Paul was preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ and she believed and was baptized as well as all of those that lived with her.

Now, we come to our text........

They were headed to pray when this young lady began to follow them around shout a truth: “These men are the servants of the most high God, which show us the way of salvation.”

Right words, wrong idea. I heard it put this way, one of the most effective ways for satan to cripple the church is infiltration. Satan will agree long enough to get into a movement and be accepted.

This has been very affective for many years. Another method he uses is persecution, which that has not been very effective. It seems under persecution the church of Jesus thrives. When it is infiltrated it is not very effective in God’s eyes.

So, Paul didn’t like her agreement with them and through the discernment given him, he could see this was not genuine and recognized that she was possessed by a spirit of divination. This is called a python spirit, basically that is the name of the spirit. This spirit was supposed to speak to the dead.

Some have said that it would just speak to other demons that supposedly predict the future.

After a few days of her shouting these TRUE things about them, Paul cast that demon in the name of Jesus Christ and that evil spirit came out of this damsel.

Right words wrong heart!

This made her masters very upset! They made a lot of money off her so-called fortune telling.

KJV tells us that their gains were gone!

They caught Paul and Silas and dragged them to the social center of Philippi turned them over to the authorities and they took them to the magistrates. Every colony had two of these, they were judges.

Some have asked why they didn’t get Luke and Timothy, well Rome didn’t like Jews, but Timothy was half Gentile and Luke was a Gentile. The emperor had an order out at the time to expel Jews from Rome.

The accusation made against them was that they troubled or threw the city in confusion because of their Jewish teaching! Which was not the real reason.....the real reason is back in verse 19 “........their gain was gone.....”

That young lady was liberated but their concern was their gain!

All the people got stirred up by these accusations and the judges did not even investigate the charges nor hold a proper hearing. They acted along with the crowd.

Listen, they tore off Paul and Silas’s clothes in the middle of this social center and beat them.

Some historians say that those that did the beating were called lictors which were the police.

They carried around a bunch of birch rods tied together and at the top and on one side was the head of a hatchet or ax. They would beat folks with those rods and if they continued to be unruly they would just roll those rods around where that ax would go into them.

Pretty gruesome bunch and they had their way with Paul and Silas!

They then were cast into prison, commanding the jailor to keep them securely. So, this jailor did as they commanded, he put them into the inner prison, which was the deep dungeon. This would of been the most secure part of the prison.

He placed them in stocks. These were wooden and they basically were 2 boards with 2 half holes on each and the ankles was put in the bottom half hole and the top half was placed on top of the bottom and locked so they could not get up.

Most likely, in Roman time their legs was spread apart enough as to cause cramping.

To the extreme persecution for preaching the Gospel! You might say that is too much, maybe Paul got a little carried away! Perhaps, Paul was thinking “take no thought for your life....”

Or, Philippians 2:17 “Yea, and if I be offered (poured out as a drink offering) upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.”

Basically, He said, you dear Philippians, if I died on your behalf I’d be happy and that’s just about what he was doing right here, isn’t it?

One preacher said it this way...... “Paul spelled persecution this way O-P-P-O-R-T-U-N-I-T-Y.”

At the end of his letter to Philippi, Paul said this: Philippians 4:21-22 “Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren that are with me salute you. All the saints salute you, especially they that are of Caesar’s household.” The ones in Caesar’s household was more than likely guards that were with Paul before his trial and Paul was chained to them. One writer wrote that he liked to think that it was more like they were chained to Paul!

Opportunity!

Now, to the meat of the message...............I want us to notice there are 3 people involved in this text, well we can say 2, Paul and Silas were as one (One mind, one accord). The jailer and Paul & Silas.

2 different contrast of people.

Many Bible scholars believe that the Jailer was a retired veteran Roman soldier. The city of Philippi was a major city that had been chartered as a "Roman Colonial City". Old soldiers sought retirement in these cities. The position of Jailer was most suitable for a veteran, and a fit soldier would have been the likely choice of the Roman officials. I suspect that this was not an elected position, but an appointed one. Who would have been better suited for the job than a man who had commanded in combat and proved his ability with men and the sword in the face of Rome's enemies, and lived to tell of it?

This man more than likely took pride in his job and was very good at it.

Then there was Paul and Silas, Christians and nothing else. Paul’s motto was Philippians 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Galatians 6:14 “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”

The scene is set, Paul and Silas arrested for following after and preaching the Truth of Jesus Christ.

The faithful jailer, who was counting on his life always to be that of a soldier in duty towards his country.

At midnight Paul and Silas began to pray and they sang praises unto God........

This is very important to note......these praises wasn’t for God to do something for them, it was because of Who God is!

If we could ever get our hearts there then all the things that seem to snatch us around would have less effect on us.

Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:6 “But godliness with contentment is great gain:”

Philippians 4:11 “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content.”

They praising God for being God, for His Son Jesus Christ and for the gift of the Comforter which is the Holy Spirit.

What could possibly they be praising God for? Some would ask????? God never changes and the promise of God will never change, although our circumstance may change, God never changes!

What did they sing? Probably the Hillel Psalm 113-118. I will give you 2 lines of that praise song in Psalm 117 “O praise the Lord, all ye nations; praise Him, all ye peoples. For His lovingkindness is great toward us; And the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise ye the Lord.”

That didn’t have anything to do with their circumstance, but had everything to do in what they trusted, something greater than just temporary life! This why Paul said in Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say, Rejoice.”

Those 2 were praising and all the prisoners heard them........those could of been sure enough criminals and some could of been in Paul & Silas’s situation. Either way they got filled with how good God is, beyond our circumstances!

During the praises an extremely targeted earthquake happens. This earthquake was meant for the prison and the stocks on the feet of those prisoners

Doors were opened, the stocks were loosed! Very specific earthquake!!!!!!!

Might this have been this done to relieve the burden of the Christians or the burden of unbelief?

The jailer, a man that probably had a pretty illustrious career, a man that counted on everything in his little box! He had a box and I believe we have that same box! We count on that to always be there and when it isn’t then our world seems to fall apart!

The perfect contrast to that was Paul and Silas, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, while liberating the young damsel, then the next they were naked in front of the whole city, beaten, and sent to the darkest, deepest place of the prison, in stocks! Yet their hearts were thankful and praiseworthy!

In my reading and listening for this message, I cam across some notes about Habakkuk, matter of fact I sent it to someone this week. Habakkuk had been overcome by the state that Israel was in, they were going down the drain fast!! They had forsaken God and He basically had left them to their own desire and it wasn’t working out so well!

Habakkuk was distraught about all of it! This is how we get in our lives, we get like the jailer we focus on the circumstance, instead of Jesus Christ! Dictated by the circumstance, instead of singing praises to God for His Son Jesus Christ and that His love never changes and is not dictated by earthly things!

Well, Habakkuk come to his senses Habakkuk 3:17-19............

The jailer as soon as he saw the doors opened, he went to kill himself! His box was turned upside down! Everything that he strived for was destroyed in one moment! He knew the consequences for failure in the Roman government, so he thought that killing himself would be better!

Paul shouted out to the jailer to not harm himself, that they were all here. Even the other prisoners were still there! Something great and powerful happened that night!

This jailer wanted some light to see what was going on, never has this happened before! The very specific earthquake was a great phenomenon, but that would never compare to these Christians!

They were singing praises and you know that the jailer heard the prayer and the song of these men’s heart!

When he got the light, the jailer went in, trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas......was he worshipping them, no he was trembling because he was seeing something greater than his box, than his government, his was confronted with the power of God through Jesus Christ!

Because the first question was: “What must I do to be saved?”

Right then and there he was faced the fact that there was a One and Only True God and there was sin in his life and he would have to answer to this God that was greater than Caesar and the government! His box could not even compare with the reality of God and Jesus Christ!

The jailer knew he needed saving from the wrath of this God! The fear went from his government to how to be saved from the One Who is All Powerful!

Notice that the thought changed from killing himself to saving himself!

If you are placing are hopes and dreams in the box of this world, when that box is destroyed there is no hope or peace and that is the human response to that! That is not the answer, notice how the realization of this man changed when it was not about his box anymore, but about God!

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! Thy house will be saved, why? This is not an automatic, his house will have to on their own believe, but when they see this man believe it will cause them to react as he did with Paul and Silas! In turn, they will believe and they did!

Believe in what? Jesus is the Christ (the anointed deliverer) the Son of the living God!

Believe that He came in the flesh and walked perfect in this world with the same functions as we have in the human body and mind, yet without sin! He gave Himself to be the propitiation of God’s wrath in our stead, so that the punishment for our sins will be complete and Jesus’ blood would cleanse us that we will be able to stand in the presence of God without fear! He was resurrected on 3rd day to guarantee that the sacrifice was sufficient and that we might live forever where God resides!

Paul and Silas believed that and their lives were dictated by their belief in Jesus Christ!

By that people’s lives were changed all over that land!!

Look at the transformation of this jailer.......he took them home and cleaned them up, fed them, and everyone in the jailer’s house was saved and baptized

Verse 34, now he was rejoicing! Not sure what was going to happen next, but he was sure of Who Jesus was and that was his box now!!! No one or nothing can destroy that box!!!