Supernatural, Everyday Christianity

Introduction

When you are going through some difficult time of grief or discomfort or hardship, how do you typically respond? Do you feel sorry for yourself? Do you get mad? Do you question God’s goodness? Do you think only about stopping the pain? Or do you at least try to think about how God might be using this season of your life to mature you as a Christian disciple, to free you just a bit more from the love of this world, and/or to give you more opportunities to be a witness?

When someone asks you about what it means to be “saved,” what do you say? Do you know the gospel message, and do you tell others about what it means that Jesus is both Lord and Savior? And what do you tell someone to do in response to the gospel? Should they pray? Do better? Go to church?

And what about your rights as an American citizen? If you feel your rights have been violated, or if you feel as though you are losing some of the rights you once had, are you more prone to think in terms of “getting what’s mine”? Or do you think about how your American citizenship might be used to serve the cause of Christ and the encouragement or support of other Christians?

We left off last Sunday with Paul and Silas in “prison” with “their feet in the stocks” and their backs bruised from being “beat… with rods.” (Acts 16:22-24). All of this was persecution, because Paul and Silas had been preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, which was perceived by the people of Philippi as “advocating [or “teaching”] customs [or “behaviors”] that are not lawful for us as Romans” (Acts 16:21). Of course, Paul had cast out the demon that afflicted one particular “slave girl,” and this had caused “her owners” to lose their “hope of gain,” but this was just the occasion (the obvious manifestation) of the clashing kingdoms – Christ’s kingdom and the kingdom of this world (Acts 16:16, 18-19).

Our passage picks up this story, and we will see supernatural displays of God’s power in at least three ways. Let’s consider the Scriptures together this morning, and let’s think about ways we can follow a good example, ways we can live as faithful witnesses for Christ in our own day, and ways we can wisely and lovingly encourage one another while we live in a world that remains hostile to the gospel and to all those who would preach it and live by it.

Acts 16:25–40 (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.

35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 36 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.”

37 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.” 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens.

39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. 40 So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

Main Idea:

In this fallen world, genuine Christian living will provide opportunities for supernatural engagement with those around us.

Sermon

1. Supernatural Witness (v25)

A. An Unnatural Response

1. After being stripped bare, “beaten with rods,” “thrown into prison,” and having “their feet [fastened] in the stocks” (Acts 16:22-24), Luke says that Paul and Silas “were praying and singing hymns to God” (v25)!

a. Who does that!? No one with a natural mind… set on this world!

b. The inhabitants of this world, those who think this life is the only opportunity they have for pursuing happiness and enjoying luxury, they don’t pray and sing in prison at midnight.

B. A Supernatural Response

a. This is a distinctly Christian response… a Spirit-filled, born-again, regenerate Christian response.

i. The Bible teaches us that “suffering” is a Christian calling. Christ Himself has left us an example, “so that [we] might follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21). The Apostle Peter said that Jesus “entrusted himself to him who judges justly,” and all Christian disciples ought to do the same (1 Peter 2:23).

C. Witnessing in Weakness

1. Paul and Silas weren’t suffering in private silence, they were suffering well, and Luke says, “the prisoners were listening to them” (v25).

a. So often, I’ve heard Christians talk and act like their best chance at witnessing to others is from a place of strength…

b. But those Christians who’ve made the biggest impact on me have been the ones I’ve seen faithfully trust Jesus through the hard stuff.

i. I watched Leslie Day hold her baby girl, a twin, who was diagnosed with a rare cancer. Sitting in a hospital room, holding her little girl, not knowing what would happen, she said something like: “I don’t know why God has brought this upon us, but we trust Him, and we pray that we will be able to show others what it looks like for Christians to suffer well.”

ii. That was 10 years ago in May. Isabella has had more surgeries than I can count, she’s still fighting her cancer, and God has certainly answered Leslie’s prayer. She and her husband, Tim, have indeed showed others what suffering well looks like.

c. Brothers and sisters, let others see you in weakness, and let them marvel at Christ’s strength, as you show them what it looks like to love and trust a supernatural and otherworldly Savior.

D. What do miserable Christians pray and sing?[i]

1. Carl Truman wrote an article by this title about 20 years ago.[ii]

a. He said, “Many of us despise the health, wealth, and happiness teachings of the American televangelists and their pernicious British counterparts, as scandalous blasphemy. The idea that Christianity, at whose centre [sic] stands the Suffering Servant, the man who had nowhere to lay his head, and the one who was obedient to death—even death on the cross—should be used to justify the idolatrous greed of affluent Westerners simply begs belief. Nevertheless, there is a real danger that these heretical teachings have seeped into evangelical life in an imperceptible yet devastating way, affecting not so much our theology as our horizons of expectation. We live, after all, in a society whose values are precisely those of health, wealth and happiness.”

b. What solution did he offer?

i. First, he said, “let us all learn once again to lament.”

· We should sing old songs that teach us (catechize us) to trust in the Lord, like “It is Well” by Horatio Spafford.

* “When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well, it is well with my soul.’”

· We should sing songs that confess our weakness and remind us of Christ’s strength, like “He Will Hold Me Fast” by Ada Habershon and Matt Merker

* “When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast. When the tempter would prevail, He will hold me fast.

I could never keep my hold through life’s fearful path, for my love is often cold. He must hold me fast.”

· We should sing songs that set our eyes on future glory, even as we live in present sorrow and pain… songs like “Is He Worthy?” by Andrew Peterson and Ben Shive

* “Do you feel the world is broken? …We do. Do you feel the shadows deepen? …We do.

But do you know that all the dark won’t stop the light from getting through? …We do. Do you wish that you could see it all made new? …We do.”

ii. Second, Truman said we should “seek to make the priorities of the biblical prayers the priorities of [our] own prayers.”

· Do you realize how many prayers there are in the Bible?

* Of course, Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:9-13).

* And so too, the authors of the New Testament prayed for fellow Christians and churches.

For example, Paul prayed for the church in Thessalonica, that they would grow “in love for one another” (1 Thess. 3:12), that “the God of peace” would “sanctify” them (1 Thess. 5:23), and that “the name of our Lord Jesus” would be “glorified” in them (2 Thess. 1:12).

· Brothers and sisters, let’s aim to make our prayers sound like these, full of the stuff the Bible thinks is important.

iii. Third and last, Truman said, that our own “personal ambitions and life-plans” should more reflect those of our Savior.

· Then he quoted from the very letter Paul would later write to the church in Philippi: “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” (Phil. 2:6-8; NIV).

Friends, there is much for us to learn from our text today, but I’m spending some time on this first verse because I think it probably seems ridiculous to many of us… if we’re honest. We can’t just pass by Paul’s and Silas’s example, and I’m calling us all to consider it and to follow it. May the Lord help us to take on a biblical perspective in the midst of our circumstances.

May we learn to shift our expectations… change what we expect from the world and this life… May God help us change what we expect to get, how we expect to be treated, and what we expect of our health, our success, and our reputations… in a world that’s still marked by sin and sorrow… a world where many think the Christian way of life is foolish at best and maybe even dangerous.

2. Supernatural Intervention (v26-30)

Luke continues, “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.” Clearly, Luke is saying that God intervened. Just as God had rescued Peter from prison (twice) and some of the other Apostles as well (Acts 5:19, 12:6-11), God was rescuing Paul and Silas here.

Then Luke tells us, “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.” Apparently, in ancient Roman law, those jailers and soldiers who were responsible for keeping watch over prisoners would suffer the punishment due to any prisoner who escaped.[iii] The “jailer” here seems to be intending to “kill himself,” maybe out of a sense of honor or maybe to avoid a more painful death later on. Whatever the jailer’s intent, Luke says that Paul stopped him.

“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?’”

Let’s note the supernatural – and odd – intervention we see here.

A. Doors and Bonds don’t hold

1. Though Luke tells us there was “a great earthquake,” he is not saying this event was an act of “mother nature.”

a. Earthquakes don’t “unfasten” or “loose” (KJV, NIV) every “bond,” and earthquakes don’t “open” “all the doors” of a given structure.

2. Once again, Luke means for the reader to understand that God intervened.

B. God’s sovereignty over prisoners

1. But God’s intervention didn’t set all the prisoners free.

a. Of course, this event does precipitate the release of Paul and Silas. But Paul was able to tell the jailer, “we are all here” (v28).

2. The obvious point is one the jailer readily understood.

a. Look at his reaction in v29. Luke says, “trembling with fear he [the jailer] fell down before Paul and Silas.”

i. He knew: “Whoever He is, the God of Paul and Silas is King.”

C. The steady drumbeat of Acts… Christ is King!

Magistrates and jailers and prisoners all have their own agendas and their own power to flex, but Christ is King over all of them! Without the use of prisons or bonds, Christ keeps lawbreakers still. Without the use of military or political might, Christ sets His people free. But to what end? What mission has Christ given to His people? What sort of kingdom is Christ the King of?

3. Supernatural Conversion (v31-34)

A. An entire reversal of posture

1. We’ve already noted the jailer’s understanding that Paul’s God is king, but there is more here.

a. Only hours earlier, the jailer had counted Paul and Silas among the lowest of society, locking them in the “inner prison” (Acts 16:24).

b. But now, the jailer was ready to do whatever Paul and Silas might tell him in order to “be saved” (v30).

B. The gospel and its promises

1. The jailer asked, “What must I do to be saved?” (v30).

2. Paul and Silas answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (v31).

a. The gospel: “Believe in the Lord Jesus” (v31).

i. John Calvin comments on this verse, saying, “This is but a short… cold and hungry definition of salvation, and yet it is perfect to believe in Christ. For Christ alone [has] all the parts of blessedness and eternal life included in him, which he [offers] to us by the gospel.”[iv]

ii. Calvin points out something we would do well to consider from this short definition of the gospel of salvation - “Believe in the Lord Jesus” (v31).

· He says, Christ Himself is the mark where we must aim our belief or faith or trust.

* The person of Jesus Christ is the substance of the gospel, and His work of justifying, forgiving, and saving sinners flows out from His person.

* Jesus is the Son of God and God the Son, the God-man, which was sent into the world to “justify” sinners through the work of “redeeming” them… and this is exactly what He did as God’s “propitiating” sacrifice upon the cross (Rom. 3:21-25).

* Jesus is the resurrected Messiah or Christ, who was not only “delivered up for our trespasses” but also “raised for our justification” (Rom. 4:25).

* Jesus is the “firstfruits” of the resurrection, which will be for all “who belong to Christ” at His “coming” (1 Cor. 15:23).

* Friends, Jesus is the better Adam (Rom. 5:12-18), the better Moses (Heb. 3:1-6), and the better Israel (Gal. 3:15-4:7)! He is the author and finisher of the New Covenant, in which all who simply look to or believe in Him are reconciled to God and will be saved from God’s wrath in the end (Heb. 9:11-28).

1. Now, you might be thinking: “Marc, you sure are getting a lot from that little phrase, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus!’”

2. But I respond: What do you think Paul and Silas were talking about when “they spoke the word of the Lord” to the jailer and his household (v32)? I argue that it was the sort of explanation I just summarized!

b. The promises of the gospel: “you will be saved” (v31).

i. Q: What does Paul promise the jailer and his household will receive if they will simply “Believe in the Lord Jesus”?

ii. A: Salvation!

· Salvation encompasses all the gospel promises.

* In Acts 2, Peter promised that those who “repent” and believe would receive the “forgiveness of sins” and the “gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38)!

* In Acts 4, all who “believed” were united with one another in real love and fellowship (Acts 4:32-33).

* All who “believe” are promised “eternal life” (Acts 13:48; 1 Jn. 5:13), “justification” and “righteousness” before God (Rom. 4:5), and they will “not be put to shame” on the last day (1 Peter 2:6)!

* All who “believe” are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for [God’s] own possession,” and it is their privilege – now and forevermore – to “proclaim the excellencies of him who called [them] out of darkness [and] into his marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:7, 9)!

C. The biblical response

1. So, “what must I do to be saved” (v30)?

a. The short answer is, “Believe in the Lord Jesus” (v31)!

2. But what does belief look like on the outside?

a. Well, in one sense it’s an entirely new way of life.

i. Spiritual life – regeneration, being born again – is something radically new.

· The New Testament speaks of an “old self” that has been “crucified with” Christ (Rom. 6:6). The “old self” belongs to a “former manner of life” that is “corrupt” and full of “deceitful desires” (Eph. 4:22).

· But the “new self” is “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24).

· This newness isn’t complete in this life, but Christians are those who “put off the old self with its practices” and “put on the new self, which is being renewed” as God continually shapes us into the image of Christ (Col. 3:9-10; cf. Rom. 8:29).

· But all of this takes time… a lifetime… to observe.

b. There’s a sense in which baptism is the way a person becomes a visible Christian in real time.

i. Theologically, God makes a sinner spiritually alive, and the regenerated sinner repents and believes the gospel… and this is what it means to be a Christian.

ii. But, biblically speaking, the way someone becomes a Christian – the way other Christians and the watching world knows “this one is a Christian” – is baptism… And that’s what we see played out again and again in the book of Acts… including our passage this morning.

· In v32, Luke says Paul “spoke the word of the Lord” to the jailer and to “all who were in his house.” And during the night, “he was baptized… he and all his family” (v33).

* First, baptism is preceded by the preaching of the word, and “believe” is the only imperative here (v31).

1. We must not assume that baptizing the jailer’s “family” included some who did not believe.

2. The responsibility is heavy on anyone who wants to argue for infant baptism… there simply is no such thing in this passage. No children and no infants are mentioned at all.

3. The most obvious reading is that baptism was experienced by those who had heard the gospel, understood its basic promises and obligations, and were publicly confessing faith in Christ.

* Second, this passage is in keeping with the pattern in Acts and Jesus’s commission at the end of Matthew’s Gospel (Matt. 28:18-20).

1. Believer’s baptism is the initial and outward sign that this person is now a Christian, these Christians affirm this new one, and this new Christian is united with those already following Christ together.

Friends, Christian conversion is about more than just your personal faith in Jesus. The Bible itself teaches us that personal faith is certainly required, but that faith is to be experienced, encouraged, understood, and matured in fellowship with other believers. And entrance into the sort of fellowship that produces Christian maturity is baptism… into church membership.

If what I’m saying here seems strange or confusing to you, then let’s get together and talk more about it. It’s vitally important that we understand how foundational these ideas are to our perseverance and growth.

God has designed our personal and individual lives to be utterly dependent… first dependent upon Christ and also dependent upon other Christians. And that’s how we see Paul’s perspective displayed in these remaining verses of Acts 16.

4. Practical Prudence and Love (v35-40)

Luke says in v35 “But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, ‘Let those men go.’ 36 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.’”

A. Not conversion, but political expedience

1. Luke doesn’t tell us why the “magistrates” decided to “Let those men go” (v35).

a. We might speculate that they’d heard about the earthquake in the middle of the night and the miraculous way in which no prisoner was lost.

i. Though, since we’re speculating, it’s more likely that they’d had time to think more about what had happened the day before… and they were coming to realize that they’d basically joined the mob without any real legal justification for the kind of punishments they’d handed down.

b. Either way, I don’t think we are to see this gesture as an indication that the “magistrates” had a conversion experience.

i. This seems more like political expedience… They wanted Paul and Silas to simply “go in peace” (v36).

B. A prudent call for a public apology

1. But Paul refused!

a. Paul sent word, by way of “the police,” saying, “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” (v37).

2. This is the second time Paul refused easy and immediate freedom.

a. When his prison door was miraculously opened and his chains released, Paul had refused to leave. Instead, he stayed and rescued the jailer… first from physical death, then spiritual death (v27-34).

b. Now, when Paul got notice from the magistrates that he and Silas were free, he refused again… but why?

3. In our attempt to answer this question, we might be helped by considering the specific words of Paul’s refusal.

a. He said that his punishment was “public,” that he and Silas were “uncondemned,” and that they were both “Roman citizens” (v37).

i. This sort of violation of the liberty of a Roman citizen could be punished by death.[v]

b. It may well be that Paul saw this as an opportunity, not for his own benefit, but to establish a precedent that might benefit the rest of the Christians in Philippi.

i. Indeed, the magistrates would probably be less likely in the future to pursue mob justice against any other believer among the Philippian church after getting called out for this overstep with Paul and Silas.

· How might this example impact the way we think about our own political rights and citizenship in America?

* I’m not really sure…

* I know that good government provides the sort of political and social context where Christians “may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Tim. 2:2).

* I know that we should pray for all sorts of people, including those who are in “high positions” of authority, asking God to bend their wills toward governing well (1 Tim. 2:1-2).

* And I know that we ought to take advantage of the political process available to us as individual citizens of America and Texas and Upshur or Gregg County… and even as participants in various structures within our specific communities (school boards, municipalities, districts).

* But we should pray and participate, not merely for our own benefit or to benefit our own demographic, instead to use our citizenship (our participation) in service to Christ.

1. How can I personally work toward removing obstacles for faithful Christian living in my school, town, workplace, state, or nation?

2. How can I vote toward putting people into authority who will be least hostile, or maybe even friendly, toward Christian practices?

3. How might I encourage other thoughtful Christians to enter public office? Or might I serve the cause of Christ well in such a way?

· Whatever we do, we ought to think and act more like Christians who happen to live in 21st-century America, and less like 21st-century Americans who are also Christians.

4. In any case, Paul got what he wanted that day.

a. Luke says the magistrates “came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city” (v39).

i. So, Paul and Silas still needed to leave, but they had one more thing to do before they went.

C. A loving concern for the church

1. Even if you’re not totally convinced that Paul called for a public apology for the sake of the church in Philippi (and not for any personal gain or retribution), the fact is that Paul was definitely thinking about the church on his way out of town.

a. Luke says that Paul and Silas left the prison, and they went straight to “Lydia” (v40).

i. It was Lydia who had first heard and believed the gospel in Philippi (Acts 16:14). She was described as a woman of some wealth (Acts 16:14) who had a house big enough to let Paul and his companions stay with her while they were in Philippi (Acts 16:15).

ii. Luke says that Paul and Silas also saw “the brothers” (i.e., Christians) and it’s entirely possible that Lydia’s house was the place where they gathered as a church (v40).

iii. And Luke emphasizes “encouragement” as the purpose for the visitation, but not “encouragement” for Paul and Silas… “encouragement” for “the brothers” (v40).

2. This was Paul’s last time to see the church in Philippi for a while, and he is thinking and acting like a shepherd… He’s thinking and acting like a producer and not a consumer…

a. He’s thinking and acting like there are more important things in life than his own personal comforts.

b. He’s acting like the fellowship and love they share as believers isn’t diminished in the least when they face hardship or opposition.

c. He’s acting like God is in charge of the circumstances, and Christians are simply called to be faithful.

Conclusion

In one sense, our passage is full of supernatural activity. God supernaturally gave Paul and Silas joy in the midst of their affliction, God supernaturally opened a prison, and God supernaturally granted spiritual life to a jailer and his family… a jailer who was once an enemy of the gospel. And yet, this passage is also full of the sort of everyday Christian activity that’s supposed to mark our lives.

It has been my regular claim that everyday Christianity is the most spectacular stuff anyone can experience in this world. It’s the everyday gospel that God uses to bring dead sinners to life! It’s the everyday work of the local church to make disciples by preaching the gospel, baptizing new converts, and teaching one another to obey all that Christ has commanded (Matt. 28:18-20). It’s the everyday Christian response to hardship and affliction that shines like a brilliant light on the dark landscape of this fallen world.

As a matter of fact, in God’s providence, I got a note from a pastor friend last week that illustrated the sort of thing I’m talking about here. On June 28 (last Tuesday), the Senior Pastor of a church in Portland, OR, shared his experience of a riot targeting their downtown church building from the night before. He said, “About 8pm [on Monday, June 27], a crowd of between 150-200 people assembled at a park near our church.” This crowd was out to protest the Supreme Court decision striking down Roe v. Wade and to retaliate against those who represented a pro-life position.

The pastor said, “They marched to our office building 2 blocks away and marched around the block, chanting the sort of slogans you've heard on the news since Roe was overturned. There was a heavy police presence in the neighborhood, as this had been openly organized. As the crowd approached, the company contracted to board up all the windows withdrew, with only half the building finished. After circling the block, a group of well-prepared and fully masked individuals broke off. Using umbrellas and masks to shield their identity from security cameras, they smashed every ground floor window on the side of the building that had not yet been boarded up, and [they] covered that side of the building in vile graffiti, aimed specifically at Christians… The damage was done in just moments… [and the] level of organization and coordination was striking.”

The pastor went on, “A few window A/C units were damaged, and there's a lot of glass to replace and graffiti to remove. But in answer to prayer, there was no fire, no serious injuries, and no further attempts to damage the building. The entire half block was behind police tape and Pinkerton security was present throughout the night… This morning, clean-up continues. Our community coffee shop was able to open, and many of our non-Christian neighbors and regulars have expressed real sympathy. Our staff is praying for gospel conversations and opportunities to come out of this. The back side of the block is housing owned by the church and filled with members and staff. Last night the backyard of one of our staff pastors was filled with non-Christian neighbors who were shaken up by the event.”

He said, “We've been told that this may not be the end, and to be prepared for further violence and harassment in the coming weeks and months.” And then he asked for prayer. Listen to the sort of things he’s thinking about. He said, “Pray that our staff and members would seize every opportunity for the gospel. Many are asking us this morning how we're doing, and every one of those conversations is an opportunity to explain our hope in Christ… Pray that we'd have wisdom as we cooperate with Portland Police in their investigation. There is extensive video and other forensic evidence that we've provided… Pray that our members and staff, especially our coffee shop staff, would continue to have an open, welcoming, hospitable attitude toward our neighborhood. As persecution goes, this was mild, and we're not surprised because Jesus warned us of it. But we don't want this to be an opportunity for the enemy to sow seeds of fear, bitterness, or suspicion that would cause us to pull back. We want to be those who demonstrate the truth and power of the gospel as we ‘love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us’ (Matt 5:44).”

Endnotes

[i] For more songs that fit the theme of this point, see https://blog.faithlife.com/10-worship-songs-about-trusting-god-in-hard-times/. [ii] Carl Trueman, “What Do Miserable Christians Sing?,” Themelios: An International Journal for Pastors and Students of Theological and Religious Studies 25, no. 2 (February 2000), https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/what-do-miserable-christians-sing/. [iii] This is exactly what happened to the soldiers who had been responsible for Peter (Acts 12:19). [iv] John Calvin and Henry Beveridge, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 121–122. [v] “This is the cause that they do carelessly pass over that which was objected concerning injury done by them, only they are afraid of the officers1 of the Romans, and lest they should be beheaded for violating the liberty in the body of a citizen. They knew that this was death if any of the chief governors [prefects] should commit it, then what should become of the officers of one free city.” John Calvin and Henry Beveridge, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 126–127.

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Sproul, R. C., ed. The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version. 2015 Edition. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015.

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The Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984.

Trueman, Carl. “What Do Miserable Christians Sing?” Themelios: An International Journal for Pastors and Students of Theological and Religious Studies 25, no. 2 (February 2000).