Well, if you'll open your Bibles tonight to the book of Acts and chapter 16, we're going to continue in our study in the life of Paul sometime in the next several Wednesday nights. I haven't settled on which Wednesday night yet, but we're going to go back. We're going to read some of our missionary prayer letters and pray for them. We'll be doing that in the near future. Maybe when we get through with Paul and Silas at Philippi, we'll take a break and do that. But we were thinking about Paul and his second missionary journey after he had gone back through the region of Galatia and establishing and strengthening the churches there and got as far as Troas as the Holy Spirit had closed doors for him to go other places. And he was given a vision of the Lord, a man of Macedonia saying, come over and help us, made his way across to Macedonia, came to Philippi, preached the gospel there by the riverside where the ladies were meeting. worshiping under the Judaistic system, the Old Testament system, and Paul preached the gospel, and one lady in particular, Lydia, got saved. And Paul and Silas then, her home became their headquarters. They also led others to the Lord. We don't have the names of everybody in Acts. Paul mentioned some others in the book of Philippians as he writes to the church of others that had gotten saved. But because of the success of the gospel, Satan mounted his opposition. And we talk about this, first of all, through confusing association as the damsel demon possessed with a spirit of divination, a fortune teller. began to proclaim these men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us a way of salvation. It was confusing because she's demon possessed and yet she's declaring the truth. And so it would be confusing. They would, the people who had never heard of Jesus would associate him with the demonic spirit that was in this girl. And so Paul cast the demon out of her. As a result, her masters lost their income, and so they got upset, and they brought Paul and Silas before the magistrates and made accusation against them. They said, these men are Jews, they're teaching things that are contrary to public policy, and they're teaching things that trouble our city. And so the magistrates ran off their clothes and commanded to beat them, laid many stripes on them and cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely, who having received such a charge, this is verse 24, Acts 16, thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks. So the question we wanna look at tonight, or the thing we wanna look at tonight is how did Paul and Silas respond to this persecution that they faced at Philippi, and what was the result of their response? And we've talked about this a little bit in last Wednesday night, but I want to go back through and just touch on what we dealt with last Wednesday night and tie it into the things we're talking about tonight. But they responded, first of all, with patience, endurance. They did not retaliate. They did not get angry. They did not get bitter. Their treatment was unjust. The mob demanded their punishment. The officials agreed. There was no trial. They were just punished. They were Roman citizens, and so they were not legally, they couldn't be beaten the way that they were. Legally, they couldn't be even prosecuted without a trial, so everything that was done was unjust. It was humiliating. They were stripped of their clothes before they were beaten, and it was excruciating. They're beating severely with rods. This is one of the three times that Paul was subjected to caning, in addition to the five times he received 39 lashes with a whip, and then they're thrown into the inner prison, and they're placed in stocks. And their backs are still bloody and bruised, and it would have been very painful, and then to be placed in the prison, in the darkness, and in the stocks. And at that point, they're in misery, physically speaking. They're in pain. They're hurting. This is not a pleasant experience for them. But they didn't get bitter. They didn't get angry. They endured it. They're following the example of Christ. As we noted last Wednesday night in 1 Peter 3, Peter wrote, it's better if the will of God be so that you suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing, for Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. Peter reminds us that Christ's death was an unjust death. He died the sinless for the sinner, but he endured it for our salvation. And what his followers endure doesn't save anybody, but it does ultimately point people to Christ as we endure suffering. And Peter would later write, this is thankworthy. if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully." And he said, you know, if you do well and suffer for it and take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. This is what God wants of us, that if we suffer unjustly, and it doesn't just have to be persecution. As believers, I mean, we don't face persecution today the way that Paul and Silas did at Philippi, but we can face injustices. We can have people do us wrong. But if we endure it patiently, that is what God wants. That's what's acceptable to God. That is what is pleasing to God. And again, Peter points to the example of Christ, that we should follow in his steps, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. The Lord put it in the father's hands. And that's what he calls upon us to do when we are treated wrong, an injustice occurs against us. Put it in the father's hands. Accept it, endure it patiently, and commit it to the Lord who will judge righteously. God, if we are being mistreated and treated unjustly, God will right the wrongs. and we just need to commit it to Him. And that's what they're doing. And as a result of that, because they could commit it to the Lord and trust the Lord to make things right, then they could praise the Lord. So at midnight, they're praying and singing praises to God, and the prisoners heard them. Again, they're not bitter and they're not angry. They're not discouraged. They're not feeling sorry for themselves. I mean, that would, even if you didn't get bitter or angry, at that point, It would be easy to have a pity party, woe is me, woe is us, look what we've had to endure, this is not right, and feeling sorry for ourselves. That is sin. Anytime we have a pity party, we need to understand that we are sinning against God. Because first of all, I'm focused on, it's selfishness. And it's also a lack of faith. because God is in everything that happens to us. Nothing happens to us except what God allows. And if he allows it, he has a purpose for it. We'll talk about that in just a moment in this situation, but there's always a purpose. And so we can praise the Lord and not be bitter or angry or even discouraged, but simply endure it. And so Paul and Silas are praying and singing praises to God, and they're doing it loud enough so that everybody in the prison could hear. They're not ashamed. Again, they've come into a city where people had never heard the name of Jesus. They don't know about Christianity. These guys come in and they preach the gospel and they get treated like criminals. And again, the natural thing would be to be embarrassed. But they're not. They're praising the Lord and they don't care who hears them. And so it's loud, loud prayers and loud praises. And one writer said, curses in vile language with weeping and gnashing of teeth would be what you would normally hear in these Roman prisons. But now the voice of singing is heard. Prayer and praise come from the cell of the two imprisoned evangelists. But he said, suffering like theirs we know no longer. But if some suffering is the lot of some Christians or a little tribulation comes, there's often murmuring and doubting instead of rejoicing and praising the Lord. But the thing that we need to understand is they made a choice to praise the Lord. This is not natural. It's a choice that they made and we have to do the same thing. When we face troubles and trials and difficulties, when we're tempted to have a pity party or to be discouraged, or to grumble and complain, we have to choose instead to rejoice, believing that God is in control, that God has allowed all this to happen. If it is an injustice, that God will right the wrong in his own way and in his own time, and we choose to rejoice instead of complaining and grumbling. Paul wrote to the Philippian church. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice, those are commands. And they could, as they would read that from the pen of Paul, they would just have to remember when he first came there and how he and Silas praised God and prayed in the prison to know that when Paul says rejoice in the Lord, he's not blowing smoke, that he knows what he's talking about when he says, when he commands them to rejoice in the Lord, because he's had to do it. He's had to do it in obedience to the command of God, even when he didn't feel like it. And Peter, who suffered like things, as Paul wrote again in his letter in 1 Peter 4, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fire trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you, but rejoice inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. And he goes on to say, if you're reproached for the name of Christ, if you're gonna suffer persecution as a Christian, you're blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you, and God is glorified through it. Jesus said, blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you, and men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad. For great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which are before you." Paul is simply obeying the command of Christ. When you're persecuted for righteousness sake, rejoice and be exceedingly glad. Matter of fact, what did Peter and John say early in the book of Acts when they were beaten and commanded not to preach in the name of Jesus and the Bible says they went away what? You remember? Rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer, shame for the name of Christ. I mean, you know, as Peter writes it, Peter had also lived it. So he's not writing something he doesn't understand, something he hasn't had to do. James would write, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience. Count it all joy, reckon this to be a good thing. because it has a good purpose. But it's a choice that we make. I think I may have shared this quote with you last Wednesday night, but let me repeat it tonight. It says, it's a good thing to rejoice in the Lord. And this writer went on to say, perhaps you have tried this and the first time seemed to fail. Nevermind, keep right on. And when you cannot feel any joy, when there is no spring and no seeming comfort and encouragement, still rejoice. and count it all joy. It is a choice that we make. And let me just stress to you tonight that we cannot, as Christians, we cannot live by our feelings. We're not told, but I feel sure that Paul and Silas didn't feel like praising God at that point. I mean, their backs are, they've got open wounds that are bleeding. They're hurting, they're bruised, it's painful, they're in the stocks, which is even adding more to their pain and suffering. I doubt that they really felt like praising the Lord, but they chose to praise God. And whether they did or not, the Bible doesn't say, but we are commanded to rejoice, and that's not just when we feel like rejoicing. We have to live by faith. We have to live on the basis of what we know is true in the word of God, to claim the promises of God and let the promises of God direct our actions. And I don't know if you understand this or not, but let me just note this for us tonight. Feelings follow thoughts and deeds. Feelings follow thoughts and deeds. As a matter of fact, let me just, let's go a step further. When you feel discouraged or down, our normal tendency is to, we dwell on that feeling and we just foster that feeling. What we need to do when we feel down and discouraged, we need to stop and examine what am I thinking right now? because the feelings of discouragement or frustration or anger, whatever, the emotions that I experience are driven by my thoughts. And if I want to change my emotions, I've got to change my thoughts. And my thoughts have to be thoughts that are in line with the truth of God's word and the promises of God. And so when I'm struggling with the wrong kinds of feelings, examine what am I thinking? And where's my thinking contrary to the Bible? And change my thinking so that I'm thinking biblically. And it's not that immediately I'm gonna feel better, but in time as I dwell on my thoughts and focus my thoughts on the truth of what God says, the feelings will follow and I will begin to feel, my feelings will be in line with what is actually true. So sometimes I just have to do what I know is right and think rightly regardless of how I feel. I have been somewhere in a conversation recently, I've shared this, but there's a point where David said, and maybe I shared it in the message, but anyway, he prays, Lord, unite my heart to fear your name. And the heart is my thoughts, my feelings, my desires, and my actions. And David says, unite my heart to fear thy name. He's saying, Lord, may my thoughts and my feelings and desires and my actions all line up with what your word says and what your word expects. And sometimes I know what's right, and I'm trying to do what's right, But I don't feel like it's right. My heart is not united to fear the name of God. And sometimes I have to pray, Lord, unite my heart to fear your name. Lord, I know it's right. I know in my mind, I can think the right way. And I'm trying to do right, but I don't really feel like this is right, or I don't feel like doing this. Lord, unite my heart to fear your name. Bring all of my heart together. in what is right. Sometimes it might be that I'm trying to do right, but I'm not thinking right. I know it's right, and I want to do right, but my thoughts just say, you know, this is not right. My thinking is wrong, and I need you to unite my heart to fear your name. But I have to let the Word of God ultimately drive my life, drive my thinking, drive my actions, and it will drive my feelings and desires as well when I'm following the word of God. So again, when I'm sitting in a jail cell, my back is bruised and bloody, and I'm in the stocks, and I don't feel like this is a good thing. I don't feel like I want to be here. I don't even feel like I ought to be here. But what I know is God is sovereign. God is in control. I'm not here by accident. God has allowed me to be here. God has a purpose in this. I don't need to feel bad about it. We just have to remember that God's in control and God has a reason and a purpose. And so they respond with patience and they respond with praise. And what results from that? Well, first of all, we see a demonstration of God's power. And by the way, you know the story. So God's power was demonstrated how? in an earthquake, but let's back up because God's power was actually demonstrated before an earthquake. God's power was demonstrated when Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises at midnight to God because that doesn't happen naturally. That's a power of God in the heart of Paul and Silas to enable them to pray and sing praises to God. That's a work of God in their heart. It is not natural to respond to unjust cruelty with patience and praise. That is something that only God can enable us to do. Don't forget that. And you know, on the one hand, I am commanded to rejoice and it is a choice that I make, but understand that it's not a choice that I can make in my own strength. But God will enable me as I determine to obey him and I begin to rejoice and God will enable me to continue to rejoice and to pray and to praise him. And so God's power is demonstrated even in the prayer and praises of Paul and Silas. And then it is demonstrated in the earthquake. And it's interesting how God has often used nature to accomplish His purposes, even on behalf of His people. In Judges chapter 5, and you don't need to turn there, but in Judges 4, Jabin, the Canaanite king, and Sisera, his general, have subdued Israel because of their sin. The Book of Judges, you know, how it's a cycle of sin and slavery and prying out to God and he releases them. So they're under the domination of the Canaanites. And they cry out to God and God tells Deborah to tell Barak, get an army, fight against the Canaanites. And Barak does with Deborah's encouragement. But when Barak led Israel against Sisera and the Canaanite army, how was it that Barak won the battle? Well, the Bible tells us that God sent a mighty rainstorm that caused the Kishon River to flood. Sisera had all these chariots. And one of the struggles that Barak and the Israelite army had is they didn't have chariots. And that was like the tanks of that day. I mean, the army that had all the chariots was the most powerful army. So the Canaanites had the chariots and the Israelites didn't. So how are we going to win this battle? We don't have the weapons that they do. You don't need them. When God tells you to go out and fight, and God tells you, I'm going to give you the victory, it doesn't matter. God has the weapons. And God, in this case, uses the flooding of the Kishon River. All of a sudden, the chariots, the Bible says, were washed away. No doubt some of them got mired down in the mud. Basically, God eliminated the advantage of the chariots. And the Canaanite army begins to run away, and God allowed a great slaughter to occur, and Israel won the battle. Of course, you know that Sisera was killed by Jael, who drove a nail through his temple as he slept in her tent. But God gave a victory that day. God used nature. When Joshua and the army of Israel battled a confederation of five Canaanite kings in Joshua chapter 10, the Lord caused hailstones to fall on the enemy. and kill them. And the Bible says that more enemy soldiers were killed by the hailstones than were slain by the Israeli army. God gave the victory. God used nature to deliver his people. I thought about the American War for Independence from Britain, and I was reminded of this when I first went to Yorktown. There's a video that you can see at the end of your tour of the new Yorktown. Yorktown Museum. But Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, which brought the war to an end. But the thing that you find out if you didn't know when you watch this film at the end of the, at that end of the museum, is that the night that Cornwallis decided we've got to evacuate Yorktown, God sent a rainstorm that caused the York River to be impassable. So that Cornwallis was stuck in Yorktown. and had no choice but to surrender to George Washington. God prevented Cornwallis from escaping. God used nature to bring an end to that and to give America our freedom from Great Britain. And, you know, if you study history, you see God at work over and over again, using nature even. And God has many ways. I was reminded of, you know, Corrie ten Boom was released from a Nazi prison camp. She should have been exterminated and would have been within, what, a week or so from when she was released. It was an accident. It was a mistake and it was a clerical error. that caused her to be released from the concentration camp to gain her freedom. God worked through a clerical error. God has many ways of delivering his people. And when we find ourselves in difficult situations and we wonder, how's this all gonna play out? Well, God has many ways to bring deliverance to you. And by the way, death is also one of the ways that God delivers his people. You say, death? You know, I was reminded of what John Hutcheson said about the guy who went to his doctor, he'd had cancer, and he'd been battling it for a while, and then finally went to the doctor one day, and the doctor said, you got six weeks to live, and he went to the pharmacy where he had been going, getting his medicine through all this cancer battle, and he said, hey, I got great news today. I went to the doctor, I got great news. In six weeks, I'm gonna be with Jesus. Hallelujah. Death is sometimes God's way of delivering us. If you know Christ as Savior, the Bible says to depart and be with Christ is far better. And we are, instead of rejoicing when we get the news that we're gonna die, our tendency is to, oh, woe is me, that we don't believe the Bible. When the time comes that you get released from this body and this world, it ought to be, amen, hallelujah, praise the Lord, I can't wait. But we don't look at it that way. Why? And especially as we're seeing things change in America. You know, every time a believer dies, we ought to rejoice, man, praise the Lord, they've been delivered. And one day we're gonna be delivered too. And I don't wanna go before God's time. You know, God has a work for us. If he leaves us here, he's got a work for us to do, and that's what it's all about. But when the time comes that we get released, Praise the Lord. And that's the way I look at it. I'm getting a release, man. I'm here and I'm ready to go. But I'm not leaving yet because God's not done with me yet. He has something more for me to do. But when the time comes, it's not a bad thing, it's a great thing. Because this is temporary and that's permanent and that is far better. I guess we struggle with that because we've never seen it. And in America, up to this point, we've had it pretty good. So it's like, how can it be better than this? It's been pretty good. But the Bible says it's better. So even death is God's deliverance of his people. But God had a purpose in all this. God used the persecution and the patience and the praise of Paul and Silas to reach the jailer and his family with the gospel. the jailer got saved. He humbled himself when there's a great earthquake so that the foundation of the prison was shaken and immediately all the doors were open and everyone's bands were loosed. and the keeper of the prison, awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew out his sword and would have killed himself supposing the prisoners had fled because if they all fled, he would pay with his life. He'd rather take his own life than be executed for a dereliction of duty. But Paul cried with a loud voice saying, do thyself no harm for we are all here. And then he called for a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved in thy house. And they spoke unto him the word of the Lord, and all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was baptized he in all his straight way. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. The jailer humbled himself before God, admitting his sin. He came in, he was trembling. He fell down before Paul and Silas and called them sirs. Literally, it's the word for master. But let me ask you a question. You're thinking with me tonight, so let me ask you this question. What in the text, and you'll need to look at your Bible to answer this question, but what in the scriptures in this text tells us that this jailer recognized that he was a sinner? You don't find the word sinner in anything that he says, and yet he acknowledges his sin. What in the text tells you that? Because he has to be saved. Why do you need to be saved if you're not lost? So he understood he's lost, he's a sinner, and he needs to be forgiven, he needs to be saved. And so he comes in and he asks the question, what do I do to be saved? What do I need to do to get to heaven? And Paul and Zola said, you know, paraphrasing, nothing. There's nothing you can do except believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not what you do, it's what Christ did. And again, to believe on Christ is not just to believe that Christ died or even to believe that he died for my sins. It is to rest in his death on the Calvary as the payment for my sins. that I know I'm going to go to heaven because I've admitted to God that I am a sinner. I understand that I deserve his judgment, but I believe that Christ paid for my sin when he died on Calvary. And I rest in Christ's death as the payment for my sins. And I accept God's salvation and forgiveness on the basis of what Christ did for me. So that if I were to stand before God and he said, why should I let you into heaven? I would say only because Christ died for me. And I'm resting in that, I'm counting on that. I'm believing the promise of God, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. God promised it and I believe it and I'm saved. What must you do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house. Now, I wanna just kind of quickly address something here because Not only did, and with Lydia, it says that her whole household got saved. She's baptized in her household, verse 15. Here, this jailer is saved, and he was baptized, verse 33, he in all his straight way. They all, not only did the jailer believe on Christ as Savior, but they all believed on Christ as Savior. all in his household, they all heard the gospel. Verse 32, they spake unto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in his house. And verse 34, they, believing in God with all his house, not only did the jailer believe, but all of his house believed. They all heard the gospel, they all believed. This is a text that Those who believe in infant baptism, it's one of the texts that they use to support their belief in infant baptism, and the argument goes this way, there had to be children in his home. And it says all of his household was baptized, so there must have been children that were baptized as well. But the problem with that is, if you look at the text closely, again, all in his house heard the word of the Lord. Verse 32, they spake unto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in his house, and he rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. So, and he was baptized, he and all his straightway. So they were all baptized, but they all heard the word And they all believed, and therefore they were all baptized. So they all had to be of an age where they could hear the gospel and believe the gospel, make a determined choice to accept Christ as Savior, and they followed Christ in believer's baptism. And so, Paul shared the gospel. He would have instructed them in some rudimentary truths of the Christian, basic truths of the Christian life, because, I mean, they understood the need to be baptized. It was the first thing after salvation, be baptized. And that's what they did. And their actions suggest that they were indeed saved. Of course, the account, Luke tells us that they believed in God with all of his house, that they were all saved. But the fact that they submitted to baptism and then they had treated the apostles with kindness, he took them the same hour, verse 33, of the night, washed their stripes, and was baptized and then brought him into his house and set meat before them. I mean, this is the guy who before was treating them roughly as prisoners. Now he's gotten saved. His heart has been changed and he looks at Paul and Silas differently now. He sees them as brothers in Christ. There's something different about his heart and he treats them differently and he helps them. And all that just indicates that they had indeed been born again. There was immediate change that took place in their life. But think about this, and we'll conclude with this, but had Paul and Silas not been imprisoned as they were, had they not endured as they did, had they not praised as they did, the jailer would have never heard the gospel and been saved. There was purpose in what God did or what happened to Paul and Silas, there was a purpose in it that somebody needed to get saved. And when troubles and trials come into your life, you need to respond with patience and with praise and be looking to see what is God doing. And it very well may be that God is seeking someone through your suffering, that there's somebody that you're gonna have an opportunity to share the gospel with that you wouldn't have had that opportunity had you not been going through the things that you're going through. There is always a purpose. Sometimes the purpose is just to grow us up, that the trial of our faith works patience and patience brings spiritual maturity. Sometimes it's a work that God is doing in us to grow us up spiritually. But many times, the troubles and trials that come into our life are intended by God to give us an opportunity to share the gospel with somebody else. God is seeking someone. And he's bringing our lives together so that we can be the instrument that God uses to share the gospel with them. And that's the purpose in it all. But if we grumble and complain and are miserable, we're gonna miss an opportunity that God has for us. And Paul would write to the Philippian church some years later when he's in a Roman prison. He said, you know, this imprisonment has resulted in the spread of the gospel so that the gospel has reached even to Caesar's palace. And Paul closed his letter to the Philippian church by stating, all the saints salute you chiefly they that are at Caesar's household. There were people in Caesar's household that were saved because Paul was imprisoned in Rome. And it was an unjust imprisonment. It lasted for four years, but Paul rejoiced in the Lord. and preach the gospel as God gave opportunity. And even, you know, we know Caesar heard the gospel. Nero heard the gospel from the mouth of Paul when Paul stood before Nero to give his defense. Nero would have never heard the gospel had Paul not been imprisoned unjustly. He appealed to Caesar because he was going to be killed. We'll get there eventually in our study of Paul, but that just gave an opportunity to share the gospel. Even with Nero, God is always at work in everything that's going on in our lives. We just need to endure it patiently and praise the Lord and just watch and see what God is doing and let God be God. Let him work his will, his purpose, his plan, and let him use us as he chooses. and let him get the glory for all that is going on in our life. Let's stand together for prayer. Father, we thank you for this account of an event in the life of Paul and Silas. And thank you, Father, that in your grace, they responded in the right way. Help us, Father, to learn to trust you, even in our difficulties. To learn to praise you, to rejoice, even in our difficulties. Help us, Father, to trust you that you do have a purpose, even in the bad things that happen in our life. That they're not unintentional, they're not meant for our harm, but for our good and for your glory. And very often, Lord, for the good of others whose lives we can touch for you. So, Lord, impress upon our hearts this truth tonight. And may it make a difference in our response to the troubles that we face in the days to come. And we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.