Paul's Detour - Acts 16:16-34

Acts 16:16-34 tells the story of Paul’s second missionary journey. Paul planned to revisit all the places he had previously started churches at. God sent him a supernatural vision that told him to go to Macedonia instead. Paul obeyed the vision, changed his plans, and ended up in Philippi, which was a key city in Macedonia. There he met a business woman named Lydia, who became a Christian because of Paul’s ministry. Paul stayed in Lydia’s home and shared Christ with anyone in town who would listen. A closer look at each verse reveals some powerful truths.

Verse 16 - Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit of prediction and made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling.

Paul and Silas were on their way to pray when they encountered a demon possessed slave girl. This slave girl could tell the future through the demon that possessed her. The owners of this slave girl made a lot of money from her fortune telling. When people play with the occult, they open themselves up to demonic attack. Though the occult may at first seem to give a person special power, in reality it makes a person a slave to demonic power. Demons do not care about the people they possess. They only care about power and control.

Verse 17 - As she followed us she cried out, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.”

This demon knew Paul was a man of God. It is fascinating that demons know the truth! Even though demons know the truth intellectually, they have refused to accept the impact of the truth. We must remember what the Apostle James said in James 2:19 - You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe—and they shudder.

Verse 18 - And she did this for many days. But Paul was greatly aggravated, and turning to the spirit, said, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out right away.

The demon possessed slave girl followed Paul and his group around for days telling everyone who Paul was. The Bible says that Paul became aggravated about this and cast the demon out of the girl. The Greek word for “aggravated” is diaponetheis. The word can also mean “burdened.” Paul was not as much aggravated at the girl herself as he was burdened about her situation. She was after all demon possessed! When we minister to people whose lives are messed up by sin, we must be careful not to get aggravated at the person. Instead, we should be burdened for how the sins that bind them are slowly destroying their lives. We should be praying for God to deliver them from the chains that bind them. Paul decided to do something to help this young lady. Using the power of Christ, he commanded that the demon leave the girl. Notice he did not use his own power, but the power of Christ. The demon had to obey because Jesus Christ is on the throne and Satan is just a pretender. Satan only has power if we let him have it. Jesus’s power triumphed over Satan on the Cross! But we often let Satan convince us otherwise.

Verse 19 - When her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. 

The slave owners did not care if the girl was freed from the spiritual chains that bound her. All they cared about was money. When they realized they would not be able to exploit the girl any longer, they got very upset. What we get upset about reveals a lot!

Verses 20-21 - They said, "These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews, and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.”

The slave owners distorted the truth. They said Paul was disturbing the city when all he had done was help a desperate little girl. People should have been rejoicing at this good deed, instead they called good, evil, and attacked the good doers. Notice they used a racial slur, “They are Jews.” Racism has been used to justify many sins throughout the ages. Notice they appealed to their customs and their laws. Their customs and laws allowed little girls to be enslaved for the profit of others. Whenever our customs and laws create situations where one person can be wrongfully exploited by another, it is time to chance those customs and laws!

Verse 23 - After they had inflicted many blows on them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailer to keep them securely guarded.

Paul and Silas were arrested, beaten up and thrown in jail. The jailer was specifically told to guard them “securely,” which meant to put them in the maximum security section of jail. The world’s reaction to the things of God sometime seems severe. But remember, Satan was fueling this response because he had lost a major battle in the spiritual war. Remember what Paul said in Ephesians 6:12 For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of darkness and the spiritual forces of evil.

Verse 25 - About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

Paul and Silas had been unjustly beaten by a mob and then chained to the floor in the maximum security section of the jail. Their response to their situation was praying and singing praise to God! How do we respond when we are treated unjustly?

Notice that the other prisoners were listening! Other people notice how Christians respond to unjust difficulties. We must resist the urge to be complainers and instead learn to use the power of prayer and praise in challenging situations.

Verse 26 - Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's chains came loose.

Though we might be tempted to think that the earthquake was caused by the terrible singing of Paul and Silas, it was actually caused by the POWER of their prayers and praise! Never underestimate the power of prayer and praise! When God’s people start praying and praising, the foundations of Satan’s deepest cells are shaken. When God’s people start praying and praising, closed doors of every kind are opened! When God’s people start praying and praising, the chains of every sin that binds us come loose! We need to be praying and praising God more, especially when we are treated unjustly.

Verse 27 - When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped.

In those days, if a prisoner escaped, the jailer would be executed publicly. When the jailer saw the doors of the prison opened, he assumed all the prisoners had escaped and he decided to kill himself and get it over with. 

Verse 28 - But Paul called out in a loud voice, "Don't harm yourself, because all of us are here!”

Paul saw that the jailer was about to kill himself and called out to stop him. Paul had been beaten by a mob, arrested unjustly, chained to the floor of cold stone cell and yet he still cared about the jailer, whom most would have considered his enemy. How we treat our enemies says a lot about the kind of people we are.

Verse 30 - Then he escorted them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Notice the change in the jailer’s behavior. He had chained them to the floor but now he was “escorting” them out of the jail. When God gets a hold of our lives, we often begin to change our behaviors without anyone having to tell us to do it. But an outward change of behavior is not enough.  We must not just have a temporary change of outward behavior. We must experience an inward change of spiritual condition. We must be born again. The jailer asked the most important question that anyone can ask, “What must I do to be saved?” We are all sinners and because of our sin we all deserve to spend eternity in hell apart from God, family, friends and all that we hold dear.

Many people ask why a loving God sends people to hell. The answer is that God does NOT send people to hell. People send themselves to hell as a result of their own wrong choices. No one forces us to sin; we do that quite well all on our own.

Verse 31 - So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

Paul answers the jailer’s question by telling him to believe on the Lord Jesus. If we want to be saved from a dark eternity separated from God and all that we hold dear, then we must believe in Jesus. Believing in Jesus means believing that Jesus is who He said He was and trusting Him to guide us in our lives. Notice that Paul calls Jesus, “LORD Jesus.” A “lord” is a ruler that tells others what to do. But Jesus is not a cruel ruler who tells others to sacrifice while He sits in a castle living well. Jesus is the kind of ruler that gave Himself for those who follow Him. Jesus is the kind of ruler we WANT to follow. Believing in Jesus is more than just an intellectual acceptance of the historical Jesus. Believing in Jesus is allowing Jesus to become the Lord, or ruler, of our lives. If we want to be saved from a dark eternity in hell, we must believe Jesus is who He said He was AND we must allow Jesus to become the ruler of our lives. If we have not yet been saved, we should consider turning from our sin and placing our faith in Christ. We might express that through a prayer something like this:

Dear Lord, I know I am a sinner and I deserve to be separated for all of eternity from You and from all that I hold dear. But right now I turn from my sin and place all of my hope in You. I want You to be the Lord of my life and help me know how to live. With Your help, I will do my best to follow You and serve You for the rest of my life. Thank you Lord, Amen.

Verse 33 - He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized.

As soon as the jailer made this personal commitment to Christ, his life was changed. The jailer took Paul and Silas home and washed their wounds. What kind of jailer does this for his prisoners? The jailer and his entire family were baptized as an outward of expression of their new faith. Baptism is IMPORTANT! Far too many people have treated baptism as if it was just a sweet ritual that we should go through to make our grandmother happy. Baptism is a public declaration of our inner faith and a shout of praise goes up from the angels of heaven every time a person is baptized in the name of Jesus. If we have not yet been baptized, it’s time.

Conclusion:

1. We are in a spiritual war against the forces of evil and should not be surprised when demonic forces oppose us and distort the truth.

2. There is power in prayer and praise that will overcome evil and give us strength to endure difficulties in life.

3. Outward behavioral change will only last if it comes from an inner spiritual transformation that begins with believing and following Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

4. Once we have had that inner transformation, we should be publicly baptized to proclaim that faith to the world.

--------------

Dr. Terry W. Dorsett has been a pastor, church planter, denominational leader and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully through times of suffering. He writes extensively and you can find all of his books at:

 http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY

Judgment Day - Thoughts from Malachi 4

Malachi 4

“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. ² But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. ³ Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the LORD Almighty.  ⁴ “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. ⁵ “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

Verse 1 - Surely the day is coming . . . All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire . . .

•               Chapter 3 began with refiner’s fire, which purifies us but does not destroy us. This reminds us that God wants to use the difficult things in our lives to make us better people, not to destroy us.

•               Chapter 3 ends with the warning that one day we would all reap what we have sown and the difference between the righteous and the wicked would be made clear. We accept this as just and right.

•               Chapter 4 opens with a description of what happens when that day of judgment finally comes.

•               Most of us do not like to think about judgment day, but avoiding the topic will not make it go away. Judgment day will happen eventually.

•               The first time Jesus came, He came as a baby in manger. His message was one of grace and forgiveness.

•               The next time Jesus comes, He will come as a judge. His message will be one of judgment and justice based on how we responded to the message He gave when He came the first time.

•               For those who have followed Jesus faithfully, judgment is nothing to be afraid of.

•               For those who have not followed Him, fear is an appropriate response!

•               Obviously people want to know when judgment day will happen.

•               Only God the Father knows exactly when that day will come.

•               Read Matthew 24:35-36 and summarize it below:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

•               God is keeping the date of judgment day a secret so that we cannot live like the Devil our entire lives and then try to get right the day before Jesus returns.

•               Since that day is going to be a secret, we do not need to invest countless hours trying to figure out when that day will be.

•               Read 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 and summarize it below:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

•               Thieves come when we least expect it. Likewise, judgment day will come as a surprise.

•               God is delaying judgment day so that everyone in the world will have a chance to hear the Gospel and respond.

•               Read 2 Peter 3:9-11 and summarize it below:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

•               Though God’s timing is not our timing, God is also not willing that any of His chosen ones should perish. Therefore, God is waiting for the last person who is going to believe to have the same chance as the first person who believed. Then the end will come, and it will not be pretty.

•               Since we do not know when the end will be, our focus must be on living holy lives right now that what when Jesus returns He will find is living rightly.

•               Though we do not know when the end will come, we do know that the Gospel must be preached to every corner of the world before the end comes.

•               Read Matthew 24:14 and summarize it below:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

•               According to the “Joshua Project” there are 6918 people groups around the world that still have no access to the Gospel.

•               While that may sound like a lot, only a few years ago there were more than 10,000 such groups.

•               God’s Spirit is moving quickly to call His people to Himself

•               One day very soon we will see the fulfillment of Revelation 7:9-10. Read those verses and summarize them below:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

•               We also know that before judgment day happens the Lord will come back and gather up all His followers and take us to heaven.

•               Read 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and summarize it below:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

•               When Christ returns Christians will be changed and all our imperfections will finally be removed in an instant.

•               Read 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 and summarize it below:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

•               When Jesus returns we will all give an account of ourselves and our relationship with Jesus.

•               Read Romans 14:10-12 and summarize it below:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

•               Those who had a relationship with Jesus will enter into the eternal reward of heaven.

•               Read Matthew 25:31-34 and summarize it below:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

•               Those who did not have a relationship with Jesus will have no place left to go but to the eternal punishment of hell.

•               Read Matthew 25:41, 46 and summarize it below:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

•               Note that hell was never designed for people. Hell was designed for the Devil and his demons. But for those who reject Jesus, there is no other place for them to spend eternity, so they go to hell.

Verse 2 - But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.

•               Jesus is the sun of righteousness because He is the Light of the world and the only person who was ever completely righteous.

•               Those of us who have discovered a relationship with Jesus will not experience eternal judgment. Instead we will finally experience healing from the sun of righteousness!

•               Verse 2 says that we will experience healing in His wings. In those days, Jews wore an outer garment called the Tallit. It was a shawl like garment of wool or silk with fringes at the four corners. It was commonly referred to as a prayer shawl. The corners of the shawl were known as “wings.”

•               As a Jew, Jesus would have worn a Tallit regularly. Therefore, in a figurative sense, Jesus would have had “wings” because the edges hanging down from his prayer shawl would have been called that.

•               Take a moment to read the story of the sick woman in Luke 8 who snuck up behind Jesus and touched Him. She had been sick all of her life. She had spent all of her money going to doctors, but they had not been able to help her. She had heard about the healing power of Jesus and believed that if she could just touch the edge of His garment, she would be healed. She wove her way through the crowd and touched Him. She instantly experienced healing from the “wings” of the Sun of Righteousness.

•               On judgment day all who follow Jesus will finally be healed of all their physical sicknesses.

•               More importantly, on that day, all who follow Jesus will finally be healed of the sin sickness that has plagued us since our birth!

•               That will make us free from the burdens that have held us back and we will be like young animals running around the fields playing and having fun.

•               Hallelujah, what a Savior! We must do all that we can to ensure that we are ready for that day!

Verse 5 – See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.

•               One way to be ready for that day is to be watching for the prophet “Elijah” who will prepare us to receive Jesus when He comes.

•               This prophecy was fulfilled literally 430 years later when John the Baptist came and proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah and prepared the way for the Jews to receive Jesus.

•               Some people argue whether John the Baptist was the fulfillment of this prophecy or not.

•               We know John the Baptist was the fulfillment of this prophecy because the angel Gabriel said he would be in Luke 1:11-17.

•               Jesus also said John the Baptist was the fulfillment of that prophecy in Matthew 17:10-13.

•               But in a practical sense, anytime someone seeks to help another person discover faith in Christ, then God is using that person as a modern day “Elijah” in someone else’s life.

•               We have had many “Elijahs” help us find faith.

•               We should seek to be an Elijah to someone else.

•               These are the days of Elijah and we should be the voice of Elijah crying out!

Conclusion:

•               God is gracious and gives us many chances, but when the end finally comes we had better be ready because all our chances will be used up.

•               It is impossible to know when that end will be, so we should live holy lives ready for Jesus’ return.

•               When Jesus returns, it will be a great a day of healing for those who followed Him but a terrible day of judgment for those who rejected Him.

•               We must be an “Elijah” to help others find faith in Christ so they can be ready when Jesus returns.

         This is an excerpt from the book Malachi: Finding Hope in the Midst of Adversity. It can be found on Amazon.