JUL 17 2016

Sea Change Church · Harry Wilson · July 17, 2016
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

The verse starts. Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we met this female slave who was spirited, who was a female slave who was, oh my gosh. All right, once we were going to a place of prayer where we met by a female slave who had the spirit which she could predict the future. She earned lots of money from fortune telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us shouting, these men are servants of the most highest God who we tell who tell you the way to be saved.

She kept this up for many days. Finally, Paul became so annoyed. He turned around and said, in the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her. At that moment, the spirit left her. When her owners realized their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them down to the marketplace to face the authorities.

They brought them before the magistrates and said, these men are Jews and are throwing our city into an uproar. By advocating custom unlawful for us Romans to accept and practice. The crowd joined in and tagged Paul and Silas. The magistrates ordered them to get to be stripped and beaten with rods. When they had been. After they had been severally flogged, they were in a they were thrown into prison and the jailers were command to guard them carefully.

When he received these orders to them and put them in the inner cell and pass it them faster their feet in the stocks. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God and other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly, there was a violent earthquake. At once, all the prisoners' doors flew open and everyone's chains came loose.

The jailer woke up and when he saw the prisoners' door open, he drew his sword and was about to commit suicide. Because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, don't harm yourself. We are here. The jailer called the lights, rushed and fell, trembling before Paul and Silas. He brought them out and asked, sirs, what must I do to be saved?

They replied, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. You and your household. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Wow. Awesome. Thanks, Augustine. It is Youth Sunday and I'm happy to be here. So if you're new here and you're wondering like, what is that small adult child doing up there preaching? Do not fret. Pastor Adam will be back next week and he's like three times my size.

So we'll be okay. I was thinking about showing up in like stilts, but I'm going to embrace who I am. So we're going to dive in. That was a great reading. Thank you, Augustine. We're going to dive in to this verse. So if you want to look at verse 16. And this is cool because I was, as I was preparing the sermon this week, I finished the sermon like Thursday.

And then I read, I listened to Pastor Adam's sermon. I listen weekly because I'm doing the children's ministry. And I don't get to sit here in big church. So, but he said that that church should be an affirmation of what the Holy Spirit is downloading in your week. That you should come to church and it should just be an affirmation. And it's great because that affirmed my message because it picks right up where one of the main points he made.

And that is when we accept God's call to go, right? We have to expect opposition. And that's exactly where we pick up in verse 16. It says, once when we are going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. They were going to a place of prayer and immediately opposition. So when we go to pray, we have to expect opposition.

This idea for a long time didn't resonate well with me. I actually didn't even understand it. I would just think like, why doesn't the world just stop when I'm praying? You know, like why doesn't everything stop? Why are there sirens and noise? Like the world should stop. Like I'm entering into the throne room of God. Like everything should just stop.

But it doesn't, right? There's opposition and we need to expect that opposition. And there's an enemy that wants to keep us out of that throne room, right? So we have to be aware of that. And so to limit opposition, one thing that helps, it won't destroy it, but one thing that helps is to limit distraction. Sometimes to communicate with God, we have to temporarily excommunicate the world, right?

We have to dive in. So what's that mean is to, they're going to a place of prayer. Like they have a specific place of prayer. Where's your place of prayer? They have a specific place they go. Can we turn off the TV? Can we turn off our phone? I'm suddenly like the most popular guy as soon as I like start to pray. I don't know what happens. I don't know if you guys have experienced that.

I'm not making it up. Like suddenly like all my friends come out and I'm like, where were you yesterday? But I just get, so can we turn off our phones, turn off the TVs and enter into this place of prayer? And verse 17 through 18, I'm just going to go through it. So she followed Paul. So she followed Paul and the rest of us shouting, these men are servants of the most high God who are telling you the way to be saved.

She kept this up for many days. Finally, Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her. At that moment, the spirit left her. So she's walking around following Paul and proclaiming, right? And she's telling truth, right? She's telling truth. But that truth isn't being received, right?

We have to remember where they are. We have to remember like this annoys Paul. I love that it just annoys him. Like Paul gets annoyed. Like that's okay. We can get annoyed. It annoys Paul, right? And so because they're in Philippi. They're in a place where this isn't being received because they're in a place of Roman rule, right? In a really a pagan nation.

And so their most high God, they're not thinking the God of Abraham and Isaac, right? They're not thinking Jesus Christ, right? That's not what they're thinking. So they're attracting this attention around Paul. And it's not an attention that he wants. And so he commands his spirit to leave her. And then verse 19 through 20. It says, When our owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.

They brought before the magistrates and said, These men are Jews and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or to practice. So what we're seeing happen is a power struggle is unfolding here, right? Good is meeting evil, right? And there's a power struggle. And temporarily what happens next is it seems that evil's triumphed.

Temporarily it seems like evil's triumphed. They're thrown into prison, right? So when it feels in your life like evil is triumphed, like where do you turn? When you're having a rough day, like Paul and Silas, like this is not an ideal day, right? This is a rough day, right? They get falsely accused, right? They get beaten, thrown in jail, whipped, stripped naked.

My junior hires love that. I preached on this before too. And they just thought that was like the best thing ever. They're like, they just took their clothes. Like why? They just, they ate that up. I don't know what it was. But they are. They were, you know, they were, so they were stripped naked, beaten with rods, thrown into prison. And then just to add insult to injury, why don't we chain your feet in the stocks?

Rough day. Where do you go? Where do you turn when you're having a rough day? Where do you turn? Looking at verse 25, we see where they turn, right? It says, About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. And the other prisoners were listening to them. Right? In this circumstance, they make a choice. And they choose an attitude of joy.

In the circumstance, they choose an attitude of joy. And they're showing that our joy isn't circumstantial. Our joy is not circumstantial. It's a choice. And joy is, it's a fruit of the Spirit. And I'm an expert at the fruits of the Spirit. No, I'm not. Right? Adam's shaking like, dude, why would you say that? No, I'm not. Actually, not at all. I just recently learned what the fruits of the Spirit even were.

And I just, I never really read about it. And I shared that with my girlfriend. And she was appalled. This is how you know you have a keeper. She was like, you don't know the fruits of the Spirit? Really? So now I have, she made a color-coded chart that sits, I have it by my bed. And so, I'm still no expert in the fruits of the Spirit. But I know that joy is one of them.

Right? Yeah. Victory. And because it's a fruit of the Spirit, that means it's of the quality of heaven. Right? And therefore, joy is eternal. But just like eternity, we have the choice. We have the choice to choose an attitude of joy. Right? And like Adam said earlier, we can't, sometimes we can't change our feelings. But if we choose joy, choose this attitude of joy, that can start to eventually affect how we feel.

Right? If we view joy as a discipline, what would it look like to pursue disciplined joy? Right? And then another thing we see in this verse is that joy is compatible with suffering. Often they go hand in hand. And some of you in here may be in a season of suffering. Where it's like, I, you know, it's a lot easier said than done just to choose an attitude of joy.

You're in a season of suffering. But there's a God, as we see, who sets the captives free. So I'm not telling anyone to just, to put on a happy face. Right? That's not the message. Just put on a happy face. It's going to be okay. Like, no. Joy, joy is compatible with our suffering. And Paul and Silas feel this. Right? In fact, they're overjoyed. Like, they result in song.

Right? That's, that's, they're overjoyed. And this, and I love this. It causes the other prisoners to listen in. There's a difference between listening and hearing. Right? They probably had no choice. Like, they're at midnight. They're all sharing a prison. Like, maybe it had really good acoustics. Like, you probably had no choice but to hear them. Right?

To hear these people singing. But they listened in. There's a difference. I picture, I just picture prisoners leaning into the walls. Right? They're leaning in. And they're just, what is going on in that cell? What's going on? They're leaning in. Are we being a people that cause others to lean in? To want to know what is going on? What's going on at that little church on the corner?

Can I lean in? Right? Or are we being a people where our hurt and our suffering is masking our joy? And not letting our light shine through? We have a God who sets the captives free. Paul and Silas may have been physically imprisoned. But they really, they weren't imprisoned. If you remember Dr. Edith Edgar who was here, the Auschwitz survivor. And she talked about the prison she was in.

But she made a comment that I won't forget. And she said, the worst prisons are the ones in your mind. And that's coming from a woman who survived Auschwitz. Right? The worst prisons are the ones in your mind. Paul and Silas weren't imprisoned. Right? They weren't. Maybe physically, but mentally, emotionally, their hearts were free. Right? Because they're praising the God who sets the captives free.

Their hearts were free. And then looking at 26 through 31. Suddenly, there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once, all the prisoner doors flew open and everyone's chains came loose. The jailer woke up. And when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself. Because he thought the prisoners had escaped.

But Paul shouted, don't harm yourself. We are all here. The jailer called for lights, rushed in and felt trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, sirs, what must I do to be saved? They replied, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household. If you're in that season that we talked about, that season of suffering and depression, and we talked about the place the world is in.

Like there's hurt in the world. Right? And if we're overwhelmed by that and suffering from that, we have to remember that there's a God who sets the captives free. That opposition is met with power. Right? And here in this case, it's met with the power of a mighty earthquake that sets everyone free. And by the end of this story, we find the person who's most imprisoned.

Right? Is the man keeping guard. The person most imprisoned, ready to take his own life. Right? By the sword. He's ready to take his own life and suffer the punishment the Romans are going to have for him. He knows there's punishment coming and he's ready to take it. He's the most imprisoned person there. But Paul offers him grace. And then he comes and he asks the question, how can I be saved?

He's probably not aware of Christian theology. Right? If this is a Roman citizen keeping guard. He's probably not aware that there is, you know, the perfect lamb of Jesus Christ who is up on the cross to die for all our sins. He's not, he may not be aware. So he's coming in this situation. He's asking, how can I be saved? And he's talking about his circumstance.

There is death coming. I'm going to be punished, but I'm witnessing miracle. And clearly you have something to do with it. And I'm coming and how can I be saved? And like so many of us, when we come desperate and we're on our knees and we're asking the question in our circumstance, we get so much more than we bargained for. And that's what he does.

He gets more than he bargained for. Paul answers the question not just for his circumstance, but for his soul. Paul tells them there's a God who sets the captives free. And then later on, Paul writes to this place, Philippi, in Philippians. And I'm going to read part of Philippians 1 through 7. It says, Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus.

I love that he says servants. Because often when Paul writes, he refers to himself as apostle of Christ Jesus. And that is like a mic drop in the church, right? That's a big deal. Like I'm an apostle of Christ Jesus. I've witnessed, I've witnessed, I've experienced Jesus, right? And he uses that all the time. But here specifically, he says the word servants.

And Philippi, if we know anything about Philippi, we know that this was a newer Roman city, right? And it was bustling. It was a good city. But they were so concerned with status, right? What's your status? And they're so concerned with their status in the Roman world. To be a Roman citizen was top notch. And they're concerned about their status in the Roman world.

So when Paul writes to the church in Philippi, he says that he's a servant of Christ Jesus. He's the lowest of the low. Adam said, can I just be a busboy for Jesus in one of his sermons? Paul's saying, I'm just, I'm a servant for Christ Jesus. So as it continues, it says, To all God's holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons, grace and peace to you from the God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy. Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. From the first day until now. Does he remember his first day in Philippi?

Like the beatings and the stripping of clothes. He's naked, junior highers, right? Like, does he remember? I don't know. Like, but from the first day until now, he's sharing in this partnership. And that's enough for Paul. And like he says, whether he's in chains or defending the gospel, which often led to chains, by the way. And what's great, too, is he's most likely writing this from a prison in Ephesus.

Right? So that's, that's, he's imprisoned, currently writing to a place that just imprisoned him. And he's saying, every time I think of you, ah, my heart is filled with joy. Right? Every time I think of you, my heart is filled with joy. Paul knows that he shares in the grace of the Almighty God. That's enough. And Adam's recently asked, is Jesus in chains enough?

And it's enough for Paul. And what was enough for Jesus? It was you. Because in spite of all the suffering, Jesus went to the cross. And he went to the cross joyfully. Because you are enough. Hebrews 12, 2, it says, It says, That's not easy for me to do. Like, I get overwhelmed in my circumstance. Even just a few months ago, I was, I was driving. And I was listening to worship music.

And it's a sunny day. And it's good. Right? And I'm driving and praising the Lord. And things are going good. And I get a phone call from my dad. And my dad is somebody that I, I don't get to see very often. I see him probably once a year. So the phone calls with my dad are precious. Right? And so I answer the phone. I'm not on my Bluetooth. I'm not on my Bluetooth.

And I, I answer the phone. And I'm talking to my dad. And I'm enjoying this conversation. And I see the lights. Right? And I'm like, oh, busted. I know, pray for me. It's okay. I won't break the law anymore. But I see the lights. And I get pulled over. Right? And I get the ticket. And, and I'm angry. Right? I get out. And I, and the cop, the cop was super nice.

But I get the ticket and drive off. And it's frustrating. And I enter into a place of just, you know, I can't afford a ticket right now. Like, oh, I was talking to my dad. Like, I'm kind of getting mad at my circumstance. And, and I turn off my worship music. That comes right back on when the phone call ends. I turn it off. And for that moment, I let my circumstance dictate my joy.

And as I was driving, I remembered and I realized that I don't want to be a person who only worships God when things are going great. I don't want to be that person. Right? I want to be like Paul, who worships God when his feet are fastened in the stocks. That's after the beatings. After the false accusations. I want to be that guy. So I turn, I turn the music back on.

But just so you know, I did turn the music back on. We have a God who sets the captives free. And for the joy set before him, he endured the cross. So you are enough. Is he enough for you? And are we aware that we're intimately loved by God? And if so, can we go forth choosing an attitude of joy? I'm going to pray and invite the worship team up. Thank you guys for listening.

I'm so used to being interrupted because I preached to like, it's hard to come up with a sermon and know the time because I'm interrupted like five times. So this was just silence. It's awesome. It's hard. All right. Let me pray for us. Heavenly Father, thank you, God, that you are a God who joyfully went to the cross for us, joyfully faced death for us, God.

And you would do it again and again if it was just one of us, God. And so I pray for everyone, Lord, if we're in seasons of suffering, that you would remind us that you're a God who breaks every chain, God. You're a God who sets the captives free and that we can rely on you, Lord. So I pray for anyone here that we could put our burden on you, Father, and pursue a disciplined joy because you are a good God.

And you know what it's like to suffer. We're not alone. We thank you, Jesus. In your name, amen.