An Invitation Requires Truth Series

An Invitation Requires Truth

Acts 16:25-34

Invitations, Part 6

Introduction

- It is important that you and I understand the power of an invitation

-- Whether it’s an invitation to a ballgame, to a BBQ, or even to church

-- Everything we do starts with an invitation to be a part of something else

- Inviting someone to be a part of what you’re doing says several things to them:

1) What you have going on is important

2) What you are a part of is enjoyable to you, and,

3) What you do is worth their time to check out (at least once)

- Contrast: If we won’t invite others, what does that say about what we do?

- Background for our message: Paul and Silas are in prison … Why? (v17-24)

-- A slave girl filled with a spirit a divination continued to pester them for days

-- Her spirit allowed her to tell fortunes, and when removed her owners were angry

-- So they brought Paul and Silas before the magistrate, who had them beaten

-- They were ordered to be locked up and put away for these actions

- Read Acts 16:25-34

- Pray

∆ Point 1 – Even Prisoners can Worship

- If you’ve ever read the book of Acts, this story has always struck me as unusual

-- Not unusual because God showed up (it is the bible after all)

-- Unusual because people read it casually, but still miss God’s invitation

- Prison during this time period was not a welcome or comfortable

∆ Prison Photo 1 (Mamertime)

- Prison would be no more than a chamber to hold the worst criminals in

-- It would be dark, damp, and literally cast away from all persons

-- In prison, you could easily be forgotten about

∆ Prison Photo 2 (Mamertime)

- Both of these images are from an actual prison where Paul was held

-- Today they look cleaned up, well lit, almost ordered sort of holding cell

-- But, these prisons were anything of the sort, they were horrible

-- Knee deep sewage, cold, restrained in chains against a wall; over-crowded

-- They were just the type of place where you knew hope was lost for you

∆ Point 1 – Even Prisoners can Worship

- Yet, notice what’s happening in our story (v25)

-- APP: You have really got to love something/someone to be praising at midnight

-- Even the other prisoners are awake and listening to them also

-- I’ve often wondered … were they shouting at them to shut up? It’s midnight!

- However, when you can testify to how great God is, how can you stay silent?

-- How can you not praise his name for all that He has done for you?

-- Yes … even in prison, the name of the Lord can and must be praised!

- This public praise, this rejoicing and worship leads to something amazing (v26)

-- God, shows up! The doors fall off, the earth shakes, the foundation is rocked

-- IMP: Even in the darkest places, God hears our worship service if we will …

- I’ve often wondered how hard you have to praise for God to descend like this

-- I don’t think it’s a matter of volume, or style … but of sincerity

-- When God’s people cry out to Him, His response is always to show up

- TRANS: The jailer wakes up, comes running, and realizes his head is on the line

-- When your profession is a jailer, you have one job: keep bad people in jail

-- To let them out would be to fail your job; which could lead to instant death

∆ Point 2 – All is NOT Lost

- See how the jailer’s first thought is to draw his sword and end his life? (v27)

-- Does not give consideration to his family (discussed shortly), but only to himself

-- This is the worst case of self-preservation mode I’ve ever really seen

-- APP: “Uh-oh, I’m in trouble … well, let’s just end it all now”

- Paul’s plea to him is not only redemptive, but also restorative … how so? (v28)

- First: “Don’t harm yourself”

-- Nothing says I have no hope left than to end one’s life

-- Even in the darkest times, with Christ, we still have hope of a future

-- Paul knows this and proclaims to him that there is no need to take his life

-- Why? 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

- Second: “We are all here”