God’s Plan, God’s Way

Go ahead and open your Bibles to Acts chapter 16 today, Acts chapter 16. We’re going to start in verse 11 and work our way through the remainder of the chapter. Now last week Pastor Brent did a great job at unpacking everything that we saw as Paul and Barnabas sort of had, you know, some kind of disagreement. And we saw last week that the people sometimes change. And sometimes the preferences in our lives and in our ministries change. And sometimes the places change. Sometimes the Lord says no to a door. And the Lord’s “no” is just as important as the Lord’s “go,” but the mission always stays the same. If the people’s change, the preferences change, the places change, sometimes the mission, or the mission will always stay the same.

Now we saw he picked up a new squad. He got Silas and eventually picks up Timothy. And we’re going to see today that he picks up Doctor Luke. You’ll notice in the text today that Luke starts talking like he says “our trip” or “us” instead of “they” and “them” because Luke is going on the trip and God must have known that Paul is going to need a doctor as he heads out on the second missionary journey.

So let’s not miss the awesomeness that Paul is off on his second missionary journey. Remember Acts 1:8. Be my witnesses in all the world, in Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem first, and to the ends of the earth. Well, Christ is getting it done. The message of the gospel is spreading to the world.

And so you remember they were down here in Jerusalem in Acts 15, and they defended doctrine by grace alone through faith alone. And that letter was written remember. And they took it up to Antioch, which was up here. And then off they go, Paul and Silas, on their second missionary journey. And so they head back. All these churches would have been like Iconium and Derbe and Lystra, the churches that were planted on the first missionary journey.

So you can imagine that they’re taking this letter and they’re saying to these churches, Hey Jews, don’t trouble the Gentiles with any message other than you can be saved by grace alone. And hey Gentiles, remember that the Jews are going to bring some serious baggage and some stuff that they’re got to reconstruct as they’ve been growing in faith and understanding the gospel to the table. So you can show love to them and hospitality to them and be generous to them. And don’t give them a hard time for their history. Ok? And so that was taking place at first.

And then off they go to start planting more churches, off they go to new territory to get the gospel out. And you know, we saw last week that they hit some closed doors. And then Paul has a vision and the vision was a man in Macedonia saying, Hey, come over here and help us, help me. And so that was enough for Paul to get on a boat and cross over to another continent.

Today we’re going to see the gospel getting on European soil. That is awesome. That is a magnificent moment that enabled the gospel to get to us so many years later as Paul in obedience follows Christ. And he got some “no”s. He could have gone up toward Asia, and yet God sends him to Europe to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now the big idea in today’s message is this: Worshippers of Christ are in it for God’s plan over their own. Worshippers of Christ are in for God’s plan over their own. Often our plans don’t go the way we think they should, but if we’ll faithfully worship Christ, He will accomplish HIs will in and through us.

I don’t know about you, but very few of my plans in life have turned out the way that I thought they would. And yet here I am. I’m able to tell people about Christ. And as I look back on my life I could have lots of questions. Lord, why did you close that door? Lord, why did you open that door only to close it? Lord, where were you during this season of my life? Like it just felt like you were gone? Was that you orchestrating things? Was that Satan attacking?

And yet I also know that whether God was orchestrating something or Satan was working overtime to attack me in and through a season, it has been Christ that has carried me this far, and I would be lost without Him and so would you. And I wouldn’t be who I am today if every “no” or every hard season hadn’t shaped his gospel purposes in me nor would I have asked for God to do those things in my life in order to point me in the right direction and make me more of a servant of Jesus Christ.

I pray today that you will see that Christ is in control and that He is able to save. It’s a deep reliance on Him alone that allows us to be used regardless of the circumstances that go before us.

So there’s a lot to unpack in the remainder of chapter 16. Let’s pick it up in verse 11 and just start reading. And we’ll unpack it as we go this morning. So your eyes are on a copy of God’s Word. Acts 16 starting in verse 11.

And it says this, So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. (Acts 16:11-12)

So first just notice the disobedience of Paul and Silas and his new missionary team. The “so” refers to the vision Paul saw of the man saying to come help in Macedonia. Paul was a follower of Christ. Paul was in this for God’s plan, so his closed doors meant that God was going to get him to the right place at the right time. And his vision of this man was enough for him to obey and to get on a boat and to head off into an entirely different continent.

And after stopping in some cities they end up in Philippi. So just some notes about the city of Philippi. It was indeed in the Macedonian district where the vision had told Paul to go. It was a Roman colony, so the gospel getting to Roman thought and Roman life was a really big deal.

Now Philippi is in modern day Greece. You can visit it today. Mitch has been there a couple years ago. He was showing me some pictures of modern day Philippi. And the church that is birthed in this very passage is the same church that Paul would have wrote the book of Philippians to, a book that has probably ministered to you many times in your own faith. It was written because of the events that happened on this very day because of Paul’s obedience to go where God was leading him.

In Philippians chapter 1 Paul writes this: I always thank God for you because of your partnership in the gospel from day one until now. Well consider this day one of the church being birthed in Philippi as Paul and Silas head there in obedience.

Look at verse 13. And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer. (Acts 16:13)

So two things to note. First, notice the devotion and dependency on the Lord that these believers model for us. Sure, they were in a new city. They were in territory that they weren’t familiar with, but they didn’t take a day off. They didn’t go sightseeing. They knew what they were going to do. They prioritized what the Lord prioritized. In unfamiliar territory on the Sabbath day they were going to go and pray and worship Christ just as any other Sabbath.

But the second thing to notice is this: Paul always has a gospel strategy when he steps into new territory, when he steps into a new place. He always sought to speak in a Jewish synagogue first. Paul always would take the gospel to first the Jews. “Why” is the question. Because he knew with his history he could get a hearing from the Jews. he was a Rabbi. He was a Pharisee, remember? And he studied under Gamaliel.

And Paul knew, If I roll up into a new town, into a synagogue and I give them my resume, no doubt I’m going to get a hearing among the Jews. So what’s the fastest way for me to spread the message of Jesus Christ in a new territory? It’s to go to a synagogue and it’s to tell them that I studied under Gamaliel and they’ll give me a stage and a microphone and I’ll be able to proclaim the gospel to more people than if I just showed up and knew nobody. Pretty genius, right?

Now the problem with Philippi was that there was no synagogue in the city of Phillippi. So you see that Paul and Silas on this missionary journey, they’re slowly treading into more and more pagan territory, more and more Gentile territory where they didn’t regard the God of the Jews. So they head down to the riverside because that’s often where Jews would gather on the Sabbath if there was not a synagogue available.

Now what deemed a Jewish synagogue was ten Jewish men. So if you had ten Jewish men gathered together that could be a synagogue. So even in a small city where there wasn’t a building or there wasn’t a physical location to go to, if you had ten Jewish men they would often gather down by the river on the Sabbath and that’s where they would pray. But that’s not what Paul found in Philippi after he followed the vision of the man telling him to go there.

And he probably thought, God is going to do something awesome in Philippi so here we go. And I’m going to go find the synagogue. No synagogue. And look what happens in verse 13. They show up at the riverside and they sat down and spoek with the women who had come together. Stop. So they arrived where they suspected to begin preaching and they found this group of women down by the riverside.

Point number one this morning is this: The world says some people don’t matter, but worshipers of Christ show no partiality. See, often we get deterred when our plans get changed. It can be easy to have an expectation in our minds of how things should go down and often we can get bent out of shape when our plans don’t go the way that we think they should. But that is the beauty of following Jesus Christ. As the Lord directs our steps, we see Him move as we obey.

And so undeterred, Paul and Silas and his team sit down with the group of ladies and they start talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let’s read what happens in verse 14.

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, (that was quick) and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us. (Acts 16:14-15)

So let me give you two observations and a challenge from this passage of Scripture. Let’s first talk about the women. It is an awesome moment that Doctor Luke records that the first audience for the gospel and the first conversion on European soil was a woman. The Bible has unrivaled regard for women. And in this culture this was not the case. In this culture, women were looked down upon. Greco-Roman world- a Jewish Rabbi would never preach the gospel, would never stoop to preach or teach a woman.

And we live in a world and a culture right now where the value of women is a big conversation. We see that God shows no partiality and He accomplishes amazing things through women. It’s God’s desire and design that women would be a part of advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ. And some in our culture would try to say that the role of women is undervalued in biblical thought today.

So first off, where women are not elevated and celebrated, it is wrong and it is not the heart of God in the least. But that wasn’t the case in this culture. Women were looked down upon. Women weren’t given a time of day. A Rabbi would never stop to teach and yet Paul rolls up to the river and with eagerness begins to tell of Jesus Christ. He didn’t change his plans because he shows up and says, Oh, there’s not ten guys here . there’s not a synagogue here. We’ve got to go rewrite the plan. We’ve got to move on to the next city.

No. He’s like, It’s the Sabbath. We go down to the river and we tell all people about the precious name of Jesus Christ because it alone can save. Because real worshippers are in it for God’s plan and not their own. And real worshippers know that in Christ, pertaining to salvation and the gospel, there is no Jew. there is no Greek. There is no male or female. There is no slave or free. We are one in Christ. And our equal value as men and women have been uniquely crafted by God to complement one another to the glory of God.

Isn’t it so true in your household as God, you know, puts a husband and a wife together? They have unique roles as you stand shoulder to shoulder in the kingdom of God and you seek to glorify God. And your absence is noticed. When the husband is absent it’s noticed. When the wife is absent, it’s noticed. And the same is true in the household of faith. The same is true in the church. We should be complementing one another. We should be celebrating one another. We should be using one another’s gifts to the glory of God.

Doctor Luke does a great job at always showing us that through his writings in the gospel of Luke and in Acts. He’s always showing us how God is moving and using women for the glory of God.

Now let’s talk about Lydia for a moment. Lydia rises up, receives the gospel. Lydia was a total boss of a woman, ok? She was seemingly a business owner of sorts. She was a seller of purple, which would have explained her wealthiness. To even get the color purple in this day, it was hard to come by. It was rare. And so she’s selling purple and she’s wealthy because of it. She was a God-fearer and a worshiper of God.

So think about Cornelius who was a Gentile, but he had come to see something in the Jewish God. And so he was worshiping or fearing the God of the Jews. That’s what Lydia was doing. And the God of the Jews was drawing her as she was searching. And she was hospitable and she was generous and she seemingly had a big enough house in order to host this group of missionaries as she invites them into her home.

But this is interesting too. She had influence over her entire household. As she gets saved, she goes back and goes, I’ve got to tell you something. I’ve got to tell you about the good news. The Lord opened my heart. I’ve been praying that this week that the Lord would open somebody’s heart in this room this very hour as we gather together. Because that’s what the Lord does. As His truth goes forward, He opens our hearts that we might receive His mercy and His grace. Beautiful Jesus, just as we sang.

But Lydia, she has influence over her whole household and she begins to tell them of the good news, and she is baptized. Their whole household is baptized. And from this woman, God starts a church in Philippi that still ministers to us today as we read Paul’s epistle in Philippians. Because real worshippers of God are in it for God’s plan and not their own. And as Paul was faithful to preach Christ, God takes this worshiper of Yahweh and turns her into a worshiper of Jesus Christ alone.

So the challenge this morning is this in point number one. Rarely will your ideas and plans for advancing the gospel play out how you think. But if you’re in it for God’s plan, if you’re truly in it and your identity is truly a worshiper of Christ rather than a real estate agent, your identity is Jesus Christ rather than a teacher, rather than a student, rather than business owner. If your identity is a worshiper of Christ, you’ll know you’re in every situation for God’s plan rather than your own plan. So you do what you can to speak Christ and Him crucified in every situation. You let the Spirit of God do the work of opening hearts and wherever He has placed you, you show no partiality and you speak the truth that has changed your life.

So I’ve just got to challenge you. I know that it’s tough. I know that every person in this room walks out of these doors. And I’ve got to believe that as we’ve been going through the book of Acts you’ve been convicted to share the gospel more. I’ve got to believe it. I’ve heard it from so many people. Man, it just seems like Acts is challenging me to share my faith, to be bold in my faith, to tell others about Jesus.

And then you walk out of this and you probably have grand ideas of like, I’m going to go into my workplace this week, I’m going to go into my school this week and I’m going to share Christ. And then once you step into the situation you feel the tension. It’s pretty tense, right? LIke you’re like, These people do not care what I think about Jesus. These people do not care about my faith. These people do not care that I pray to a God who saves.

And so, you know, you’re a business owner and you meet with somebody at dinner and you sit across the table from them and you’re like, I don’t know. I want to make this about Jesus, but I know these people don’t care and I know I’ve got a job to do. I’ve got a deal to close. And so like Lord, help me. Give me strength. What can you do in that moment?

The same is true in school. I want to encourage you, do something. Like just do something. What do you have to lose? What do you have to lose? What if you just say, Hey, I know this table prlaby doesn’t care a whole lot about, I don’t know what your feelings are on faith, but do you mind if I pray for the meal? Can I pray for us this morning? And the prayer might be the vehicle for you to get the gospel into that.

As you have conversations with people, hopefully they know in your workplace like they can come to you and you can go to them whenever you hear that somebody died in their family or that they’re going through a hard time or that they’re in need. If you have the message of salvation that has truly saved your life, speak it. Find a way to speak it. Find a way to say it. I’ve got to believe that Paul as he went down to the riverbed and sat among those women they’re like, I’ve never seen some guys come down to the river on the Sabbath. It’s usually just our little Bible study of women. And we sit here and we pray and hold each other accountable. Two dudes show up and they’re not even from here.

And I’ve just got to believe he just sat down and he was like, Beautiful day. Boy, it’s nice here in Philippi. Hey, I know it’s the Sabbath. I don’t know what you guys feel about it, but do you mind if I pray? Do you mind if I exalt Jesus? And they’re like, Woah, I’ve never seen a guy in my community do that. And they start praying to God, and it opens up the door to casual conversation and they get it to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can do that in our workplaces, in our situations, because God has you there for a reason.

Now let’s keep reading because there’s a lot in this text. Let’s read in verse 16. So Lydia is saved. She invites them in. They stay here. And then verse 16.

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. So here’s a girl that’s in double slavery. Satan has possessed her. She’s under the possession of a demon. And she has slave owners, human beings using her for their own profitable gain. Talk about the way that the world uses people. Talk about the way that the world oppresses people and women. And yet the gospel brings freedom to those who call upon the name of the Lord.

Verse 17. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” That’s true, but if a demon is saying it through a woman, it’s probably in a mocking way, right?

And so verse 18. And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed. It’s ok to be annoyed at Satan’s attack on your life. It’s ok to be annoyed when the enemy comes and tries to destroy you. It’s ok to be annoyed at the agenda that the world is trying to throw at you and trying to get into your home. And greatly annoyed, he 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.

Behold, the power of Jesus Christ.

Verse 19. 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. Not a good day in Philippi.

Verse 23. 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. (Acts 16:16-24)

I mean, at least with the women at the river it seemed like God was orchestrating a new plan. Now it just feels like Satan is attacking everything. Now it just feels like Satan is derailing everything. Where is God? First a demon-possessed girl shows up to cause distraction and cause a scene. Then the exorcism of the demon brings suspicion and persecution from the city. And now they’ve been beaten with rods, which was just a horrendous way to be punished, and they are shackled to a wall in a disgusting, filthy Philippian prison.

And these are the moments where we can easily decide to give up. It’s in these types of moments when questioning God comes naturally. It’s in these moments when depression and anger and all of our fleshly emotions can kick in. And yet it’s in that prison that Paul and Silas bruised and bloody, could have chosen to curse God, but instead they praise Him.

Point number two this morning is this: The world prizes comfort but worshippers of Christ praise in the pain. The world prizes comfort, but worshipers of Christ praise in the pain. Imagine open wounds, sticky blood, put into this inner filthy prison, rat-infested. Think of the disease. Think how gross. Think of the pain as they’re strapped to a wall in these shackles, shackles that were meant to induce cramping as you can’t bend. And they can pull you and stretch you. Painful circumstance.

And look in verse 25. Think of the pain that would have set in in that moment. 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. (Acts 16:25-26)

Let’s not miss the magnitude of the truth that Paul and Silas with all of their wounds and all of their bruises and all of their blood and pain strapped to thsi wall in this prison, they did not curse God but they sang and they worshipped and they recalled to their souls and to their minds the majesty and the goodness of God.

Where do you go in your pain? Where do you go when life gets hard? Where do you go in your suffering? Where do you go when it seems like everything is attacking? So let’s just for a moment just imagine Paul and Silas. Ah, Paul, it hurts so bad man. I can’t believe htis is happening. Where is God?

Paul: Silas, I know it hurts bro. I know it’s painful. But remember. Remember like the songbook of God. Remember Psalm 121. I lift my eyes to the hills for where does my help come from? My help, it comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. C’mon Silas, I know. I know.

What songs do you supposed that they sang? I don’t know. You know, they got the songbook of Psalms. Did they sing, my mind goes to Psalm 121. “I lift my eyes up. My help comes from the Lord.” You sing that in church, but do you sing that in your pain? Do you sing it in your suffering? “I lift my eyes up. My help comes from the Lord.” It’s easy to sing in church on Sunday. Do you sing it Monday through Saturday when you’re in the battle, when you’re in the storm?

And then throughout that prison cell that night, bruised and bloody they sang, “Oh my God, He will not delay.” C’mon. “My refuge and strength always. I will not fear. His promise is true. My God will come through always, always.”

Why did they sing? I mean, they’re in pain. It hurt. But it’s hard to be mad when you’re singing. It’s hard to be joyless when you’re singing the truths of the Savior. So what about you? Like when you have gone through pain and tragedy in this life, what songs, what hymns, do you recall to your mind? What hymns and songs stoke the soul and the fire in your heart to not give up on God but to call upon God who is mighty to save?

Go ahead. Shout them out. What songs? Say them loud. “It is Well” did I hear? “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” That’s great. “Amazing Grace.” That’s awesome. “Speak, Jesus.” “Lord, I Need You.” That’s good. “The Goodness of God.”

Like we could sing lots of songs when we’re in pain, but do you sing that “Your goodness is running after, it’s running after me”? Is His goodness running after you when you’re in pain? Absolutely. He’s using it. He’s changing you. He’s sanctifying you. But God has given us these simple choruses, these simple truths, so that we can call upon Him, we can remind ourselves and our souls of His faithfulness even when it doesn’t feel like it.

And so we sing, “Your goodness is running after, it’s running after me.” I know that many of you have used that hymn “It is Well.” Somebody shout it out. Can we just sing it together?

“When peace like a river attendeth my way.” Think about the times of suffering. “When sorrows like sea billows roll.” That’s what was happening that night in the midst of that prison. But whatever my lot. “Whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well. It is well with my soul.’

C’mon, sing the chorus in faith. “It is well. It is well. With my soul. With my soul.” Every voice. “It is well, it is well with my soul.”

And that rang out in the prison cell that night from the bruised and the bloody Paul and Silas. And all of a sudden. I mean, think about the other prisoners. What is going on? What is wrong with those dudes? Like why are they singing? If anybody should be cursing God, if anybody should be giving up, it’s them. Why are they singing?

Think about the guard. And all of a sudden as the praises of the most high God rang out in the midst of pain, the walls began to shake. And the shackles on their feet and on their hands broke free. And the door of the jail was opened because worship is a weapon of our warfare that is not of this world. We are mighty with God. “Not by power, not by might, but by my Spirit,” says the Lord.

And so Paul and Silas, they were undeterred in the pain and they looked to Christ in the midst of the suffering because Christ set before Him the suffering and endured the cross. And you and I can do the same things. And you may never be shackled to a prison cell. You may never be put in an inner prison and beaten with rods. But sometimes life feels that way. And you might not experience an earthquake that sets you free. But when you stoke the fires in your soul to worship the God of the universe in the midst of your pain and your suffering, you’d better believe that He will shake up your soul and He will shake up your persecution. And He will shake up your trial and He will remind you that He is in control and that He is able to save.

And so we call upon Him in our hardest moments in our suffering because we are mighty with God. Amen. You believe it? You live it. You do it. You apply it to your life in the midst of suffering.

And look at verse 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, (imagine that) he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. (Acts 16:27)

So remember, when Peter escaped from prison, Herod was none too happy. And he took those guards and he embarrassed them in front of the whole town and he killed them, had them slaughtered. So this guard knew. That’s coming for me? And so I’m just going to take myself out now because that was crazy and I’m going to lose my life. And I’d rather get it over with and be tortured less.

Verse 28. 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. (Acts 16:28-29)

Point number three this morning. The world gets revenge, but worshippers of God love their enemies. The world gets revenge, but worshippers of Christ love their enemies. Paul and Silas thought about the jailer over their own personal comfort. That is a convicting statement to me. They thought about the jailer over their own personal comfort.

Put yourself in their scenario. Haven’t they endured enough? Don’t they have plenty of reason to run out of that prison and to flee for their lives? Absolutely, except they’re in it for God’s plan and not their own. And if there was anyone worth rejecting time to, it would have been that guard on that day. But they were in it for God’s plan and not their own. And God desires that all would repent and believe. It’s God’s desire that hte rich like Lydia would repent and believe. It’s God’s desire that the oppressed and the borken like the demon-possessed slave girl would reptn and belive. It’s God’s desire that even your enemy who may have just beaten you and kept you in prison would repent and believe.

The antidote is the same for all of the people. Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And look at verse 30. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

And as believers, we can prioritize people over our own comfort because of the jailer’s glorious question in verse 30. The pain and the suffering and the discomfort and the hardships, they become purposeful when we see others turn to Christ. We never know when the Lord might open someone’s heart.

And yet sometimes they ask, “What must I do to be saved?” because they see the difference in you as a worshiper of Christ. How you go through your suffering, how you go through trial and tribulation is a testimony of Jesus Christ. You singing your way through the storm is a testimony of Jesus Christ. You waiting around to take time with someone who could easily, who you could easily blow off, it is a testimony of Jesus Christ.

And this jailer asked the questions that I pray all of us have seriously asked at one point in our life. Have you contemplated the question that the jailer asked? What must I do to be saved? Have you ever asked that question?

The truth is this. There’s nothing you can do. But what you can do is rooted in what already has been done for you at the cross. Because you can’t save yourself, Jesus, who was perfect, died on a cross and He rose from the dead. Because you can’t earn your salvation, you need the perfect righteousness of Christ to cover your wretched sinfulness. And it can if you’ll call upon the name of the Lord, if you’ll believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as this jailer runs to his enemies, as this jailer runs to Paul and Silas. He asks, “Sir, what must I do to be saved?” Look at verse 31.

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. (Acts 16:31-32)

Note this isn’t easy believism. This isn’t you trying to get your kid to believe in a fairy tale. This isn’t you trying to say believe in Santa Claus at Christmastime. True belief transforms your life. Our belief in the Lord Jesus is in accordance with the Word of the Lord that Paul and Silas continue to speak to the household. You saw that.

They said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved,” and then they continued to speak the Word of the Lord to him and to the household. What did Jesus say in accordance with believing on Him?

He said, “Pick up your cross and follow me.”

Jesus said, “Die to yourself. Die to this world that you might live to Christ.”

And heart this everybody in the room, Paul writes in Romans that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Out of your mouth has to come the words, “Jesus, you are Lord of my life. You are the King. You are in control. You are sovereign. You can have all of me. You can take it all Lord and transform me into your likeness because you are Lord of my life.” Have you confessed Him as Lord? And it goes on and says, “And believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.”

Do you believe on the Lord Jesus? Do you believe in your heart that He is God and that God raised Him from the dead? And true belief that is truly in your heart will move you to action. It’s not something you know. It’s not something you can recite. But if you believe these things in your heart it will move you to action and it will transform your soul. And I’ll be able to look and say, Man, God has done something magnificent in that guy’s life and it’s all His grace and it’s all His goodness and it’s all His work of opening our hearts that we might believe on the Lord.

Look in verse 33. You see immediate change in this jailer. 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. (Acts 16:33-34)

You see just immediate fruit in the man’s life as he begins to love his enemies and take steps of obedience to follow Christ and as he leads his family to follow Christ. I think it’s important to note, you know, as this man who obviously led his household and had influence over his household received Jesus, he would have went and told them that they need to repent and believe and follow his lead. You guys, your new example is me following Christ. And as Paul and Barnabas taught their household, they saw the whole household come to faith.

I know that some in this room desire for their household to come to faith in Jesus Christ. Maybe you have an unbelieving spouse. Maybe you have unbelieving, unrepentant children. And you’re just like, Lord, please. God can do that. We saw God do it to an unlikely person, the jailer.

We saw God do it to Lydia as she went home. I don’t know if she was a single mom. I don’t know if she had extended family at her household. But she goes home and she influences the whole household to follow Christ. Sometimes it’s quick, sometimes it takes time, but we never give up trusting in the saving power of the Lord.

The jailer washes the wounds of Paul and Silas, the very wounds that he helped put there. He invites them into his home, he feeds them, he allows them to speak and teach his household. And in the remaining verses of chapter 16, we won’t read them all, he helps them be released from prison. Paul and Silas are given an apology for their unlawful beating and imprisonment. Paul is a stubborn dude. He’s like, You’re not getting rid of me like in ease and in secrecy. I want a police escort from this town. And so he demands a police escort. The police come.

And he did that for two reasons. He didn’t want the Christians in Philippi to be treated the way that he was treated. So he’s like, You’re going to own up to this. And the leaders of the city, they missed an important fact. Paul was a Roman citizen. They called him a Jew and they beat him as a Jew, but he was a Roman citizen. So it looked really bad on the city how they treated one of their own for doing nothing wrong. Because God gets justice when we wait on Him and when we trust Him.

And they’re released. And verse 40. So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

The point is this this morning. Tremendous fruit came out of Philippi, a church that still blesses us today through the Word. And the only reason Paul and Silas ended up there was because of a vision of a man saying, “Come and help.” Imagine if the vision was like, Hey Paul, come over to Philippi and there’s going to be a small group of women down by the river. And then you’re going to get really agitated by a demon-possessed girl. And then you’re going to cast the demon out and they’re going to capture you and they’re going to beat you mercilessly with rods and strap you to a prison cell.

Paul would have been like, Hey, closed door in Philippi. Let’s head on to the next city. And if God always told us what was coming down the line, we would never follow Him. We wouldn’t want to go. That’s the point of having faith in Jesus Christ. It’s trusting Him that in the good and in the changed plans and in the bad plans where it seems like Satan is attacking everything and ruining everything, we trust Him and His faithful hand to carry us, to lead us, to advance His gospel purposes in us and through us and to get us to the other side. That is the faith that Paul and Silas had and that is the same faith that we can have in the midst of everything that this life has to offer us because we are in it for God’s plan over our own. Amen?

C’mon, stand to your feet. Just bow your heads for a moment and give over to the Lord your questions. I pray that the Lord truly is opening someone’s heart today. That’s what the Spirit does. He opens our hearts to receive the gospel so that HIs message might be impressed upon our hearts. The circumstances that you’re facing, the trials that you’re walking through, the hardships and the pain, recall the goodness of God to your heart and soul and mind. Sing your way through the pain of life. Sing your way through the suffering and watch Him move. Watch Him show up.

And if you’re asking the question today, “What must I do to be saved?” come and ask a pastor. Come and ask an elder at the end of this service. Ask a friend that brought you that you came with and allow the Lord to move. Let’s pray together.

Father God, we come and Lord, we just acknowledge that life isn’t easy. And sometimes we do wonder, Where were You? What were You doing? What were You thinking? And yet Paul and Silas and the missionary team is a great example to us of having faith, walking by faith and not by sight, following You and Your plan and allowing You to work it all out. God, a man plans His ways but the Lord directs His steps.

And so God, I pray for every person in here that You would fill us up, that You would fuel us, that You would fuel our faith that we might have the fire to believe and call upon You in our storms and speak the name of Jesus with boldness in the situations where they didn’t turn out as easy as we thought they would. And God, would You help us to love our enemies, to take time with everybody? God, You’re always working. And sometimes it doesn’t feel like it. Sometimes we can’t see it. But we trust that You are good and that You’re a waymaker. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.