Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Acts: Enlarging Our Vision
By Being his Slave Pt 2 03/29/09
Sermon Series: Acts: Enlarging our Vision
Title: ‘By being His slave’ pt.2 Text: Acts 16:16-40
Introduction: Few people like the thought of being different. The idea of standing out from the crowd fills many with fear. We want to blend in. The reward is acceptance and to a certain degree anonymity.
The only problem with this kind of thinking is that it keeps you from having an impact on anyone. God’s Word tell us to live lives that make a difference in the world. To do that, we must live lives that are different, from the world. And the challenge, is doing that while going through the same problems and difficulties as everyone else.
You see, how we react under pressure should be important to us not only because of how it affects us, and because of how it impacts others.
The Bible teaches that we are ambassadors for Christ. We are here, in Christ’s place, encouraging others to follow Jesus.
· If what they see in our lives, is a Christianity that makes a difference, then they will be interested.
· But if what they see, is the same old thing they see in themselves, then they won’t listen to a word we say.
In our text today, we re-enter the prison where two men react differently to their circumstances and make a difference in the lives of others.
Transition: Open your Bibles to Acts 16:25 (page 845 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you) For it’s there we will continue to find we enlarge our vision of God by being His slave.
III. Acts 16:25-34 Spirit filled slaves of God
Read: Acts 16:25-34
In the book Man’s Search for Meaning, author Victor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, wrote about his experience in a Nazi concentration camp. He said everything was taken away from the prisoners.
· They were stripped of their clothing, their pictures and all their personal belongings.
· They even took away their names and gave them numbers.
Frankl said ‘Everything was taken away from them except one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.’
Think about that for a moment.
I am convinced that after your commitment to God, the most important choice you make everyday is your attitude.
· What you think about your circumstances is more important than your circumstances themselves.
· At the end of the day, one way or another, your attitude will shape your reality.
OK….now think about that in relation to our text.
Paul and Silas were badly beaten, bleeding, bruised, and in great pain. They were in the ‘hole’, the part of the prison that was reserved for the worst offenders….absolutely dark, wet as it was probably below the ground water table, where they enjoyed a lot of ‘R&R’…rats and roaches.
Yet…we read that at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God….they were worshipping. Their bodies were in chains, but their spirits were free. Why? Attitude.
· They trusted God,
· they believed in God
· and they were going to worship God, regardless of their circumstances.
It’s sad that we fail to come out on a Sunday to worship God because we were up too late the night before, we have a headache or it’s just too cold out.
Paul and Silas’ attitude toward God shaped their reality…so does yours.
An attitude of worship, in all circumstances, will make a difference not only in our own lives but in the lives of people around us.
The prisoners in the ‘hole’ were certainly used to sounds coming from other prisoners. But it was always moaning, crying or cursing…not praying, certainly not singing songs to God. And make not mistake, Paul and Silas were not singing ‘Nobody know the trouble I’ve seen.’ They were singing ‘I serve a risen Savior he’s in the world today.’ And ‘Praise God from whom all blessings flow.’
Ok, perhaps not those songs exactly, but ones like it.
The text says it was midnight when Paul and Silas were praying and singing. Midnight, or night, in Scripture , is often used to represent the dark or troubled times in our lives.
Anyone can pray and sing when the sun is shining and all is well…but it’s in the night, in the hard times that prayer and song are all but silent.
Yet…listen to what God’s Word has to say about this.
Read: Psalm 42:8 ‘By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.’
Read: Psalm 92:1-2 ‘It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night’
Remember I said our attitude shapes our reality? Here it is…case in point. Paul and Silas were slaves of God and they knew it.
· They may have been in the magistrate’s prison,
· they may have been in his chains,
· but they were slaves to God.
And as his slaves, it was their obligation to show respect to their master. One way slaves of God show respect to their Master, is by regular, heart felt worship.
Our attitude shapes our reality.
· Paul and Silas didn’t follow the crowd by moaning and groaning their plight.
· Paul and Silas stood out by making a choice to worship God in the midst of impossible circumstances… and they influenced others and made a difference in at least one persons life…the jailer.
We all know the story. Paul and Silas are praising and worshipping God and there is a great earthquake. The doors to the prison cells are shaken off the hinges and the chains are loosened from the walls.
Folks….believe me when I tell you this. There is great power in praise. There is a freeing release in worship
· Just because we don’t jump up and down during worship,
· just because people aren’t shouting ‘amen’ and ‘hallelujah’,
· just because we aren’t ‘slain in the Spirit’ when we praise God,
don’t for a minute, think that His awesome power is not being released on us when we gather together on Sunday mornings. God is in our midst, (Turn to someone and tell them…God is in our midst)
God is miraculously:
· touching hearts, changing lives,
· bringing hope,
· offering freedom from guilt and sin,
· restoring relationships, fortifying faith
· comforting the hurting, extending love
· offering mercy
while we, with perhaps a bit too much reservation, worship Him.
The circumstances you complain about
become the chains that imprison you.
Worship breaks those chains by refocusing our attention on God, our Master.
You being here, if nothing else, is making a difference in someone’s life because they see you’re here and not at home on Sunday mornings.
The jailer saw what was going on too.
· He probably heard Paul and Silas tell the other prisoners about Jesus.
· He probably heard the prayers and the joyful singing from Paul and Silas.
· He definitely felt the earthquake.
Believing all the prisoners escaped (remember it was dark) he decides to kill himself rather than face harsh torture from the magistrate for having the prisoners escape on his watch.
By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul knows what the jailer is thinking, and he yells out…Hey…it’s OK, we’re all here, put the sword away…and he did!
The jailer saw that Paul and Silas were different, they had a sense of surety, of confidence about them. When they spoke, people
listened. When they prayed and worshipped God, things happened.
· All the prisoners were still in their cells mainly because of what they saw in Paul and Silas.
· The jailer didn’t kill himself; not because he knew, that all was well, but because Paul said, that all was well.
Why would a jailer bow down at the feet of a prisoner? Because he knew that these men were different. He knew that they had come to proclaim the way of salvation.
· Had he heard this from the lips of the slave-girl? Perhaps.
· Had he heard it from Paul and Silas, or from one of the prisoners, or even from Lydia or one of the church members? Perhaps.
It was not until after the jailer led Paul and Silas outside the prison that he asked them what he must do to be saved.
They told him and then they went to his home and told his family and they all believed, were saved, and baptized.
· Because two Christians had a different attitude about their circumstances.
· Because two Christians recognized they were slaves to God.
· Because two Christians chose to worship God in the most difficult of situations.
· Because two Christians told someone about Jesus.
There are more then 2 Christians here this morning….Imagine what God could do!
Transition: Well…we’re not done with the text yet.
IV. Acts 16:35-40 God’s slaves seek God’s justice
Read: Acts 16: 35-40
This is a hard text to understand. Paul seems prideful, and arrogant rather than happy he was being released. But as I examined the text in light of the rest of Scripture, I saw a truth that I didn’t see before. Paul was standing up for God’s justice.
You see, Paul and Silas were Roman citizens and as such deserved and real trial and should not have been treated as they were. When the magistrate found out they were Roman citizens, he realized he could be punished for his unlawful acts, so he wanted to get out of this situation, quietly.
Paul saw the injustice and demanded a just response. You see, the Christian looks forward to the return of Jesus Christ, not only to be with him but because he comes to establish justice on the earth.
Read: Matthew 6:10 ‘Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.’
And what is a least part of God’s will?
Read: Isaiah 61:8a ‘For I, the Lord, love justice…’
Read: Psalm 9:8 ‘He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with
justice.’
A slave of God will stand up for what is right and just, in honor of God, their Master who is… right and just.
Conclusion
Here is a closing thought.
· There are people who are taking their cue for life….from you.
· There are people who are getting their view of Jesus from you.
· There are people who are seeing what ‘church’ is like from you.
You need to be aware of the influence you have on others. That means you need to be conscious of the attitudes you are expressing and living out every day.
· Are you following the crowd? Or are you following your Master?
· Are you a slave to the whims and wishes of others? Or are you a slave to the Word and Will of God?
We enlarge our vision of God by being his slave.