Take a Stand for the Cause of Christ!
Acts 16:35-17:9
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - August 8, 2007
*Age is relative -- Or it seems to be anyway. These past two days I went with Ron to visit some of our homebound members. Yesterday I got called a young man! -- And as we were leaving today, Miss Mabel said, “You boys come back to see me soon.”
*On the other hand, I spoke to someone else yesterday who hadn’t seen me in a few years. She almost fell out of her chair when she realized that the old man walking toward her was me.
*Age may seem relative, but the truth is that time is short for us all. We must take a stand for Jesus Christ while we can. How can we do it?
1. First we must defend each other.
*This is likely what Paul was trying to do in vs. 35-39. Remember that Paul and Silas had been severely beaten. Vs. 23 tells us that the authorities laid many stripes on them, but now morning has come:
35. And when it was day, the magistrates sent the officers, saying, "Let those men go.’’
36. So the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart, and go in peace.’’
37. But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out.’’
38. And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans.
39. Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out, and asked them to depart from the city.
*More than once, Paul stood his legal ground as a Roman citizen -- And we might wonder why. Being a citizen of Rome carried great privilege in that day. Was Paul just trying to throw his weight around?
*William Barclay gave some great insight when he said: “(Paul) could stand on his dignity. He claimed his rights as a Roman citizen. To scourge a Roman citizen was a crime punishable by death. But Paul was not standing on his dignity for his own sake but for the sake of the Christians he was leaving behind in Philippi. He wanted it to be seen that they were not without influential friends.” (1)
*Paul was most probably doing what he could to defend those believers he was leaving behind, especially the new believers he was about to see at Lydia’s house in vs. 40. Be sure that God wants us to defend each other. He wants us to defend the weak. One of the most important things we can do to stand up for Christ is to protect each other from enemy attacks.
*And know for sure that our enemy is on the attack. He is certainly attacking our families, and he is attacking the cause of Christ in the public square. Here are a few examples from Jerry Falwell’s National Liberty Journal:
*In July, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the city of Slidell, LA, over a painting of Jesus that hangs in a courthouse lobby. The Slidell City Court refused to remove the painting showing Jesus holding a copy of the New Testament. An attached message reads: “To Know Peace, Obey These Laws.”
*In June, a lesbian couple filed a civil rights complaint against a Christian ministry after officials rejected the couple’s request to hold a same-sex ceremony at the site. The Ocean Grove (NJ) Camp Ground Association declined hosting the ceremony. In its defense of the decision, the privately-owned ministry, operated by Methodists, points to their official disapproval of same-sex unions.
*A veteran teacher in San Diego was ordered to take down a display of historic documents and celebrated works of art, because some of them included the words “God” and “Creator.”
The teacher, Brad Johnson, who has taught in the Poway Unified School District for more than 30 years, has sought out legal aid from the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Thomas More Law Center, which has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the district. The lawsuit claims that school officials violated Mr. Johnson’s constitutional rights by ordering him to remove the signs from his classroom walls because, according to officials, the banners promote a “Judeo-Christian” viewpoint. The Law Center says that Mr. Johnson has displayed the documents in his classroom, without complaint, for nearly 25 years. The banners included phrases such as: “In God We Trust,” and “One Nation Under God” (the 1954 amendment to the Pledge of Allegiance).
*In June, the online dating service eHarmony.com was sued by a California woman who says the company discriminates against homosexuals because it does not afford dating options for gays, lesbians and bisexuals. When Linda Carlson could not find a female to date on the site, she complained to eHarmony. But the company refused to alter its policy, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The suit alleges that the dating service discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation, a violation of California law.
*Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, says the site, founded by Dr. Neil Warren, a Christian, was designed to help couples establish “successful heterosexual marriages.” And Tony added, “California’s law may protect people based on ‘sexual orientation,’ but it doesn’t do so at the expense of someone else’s religious conviction. This is just another example of homosexuals trying to sue their way into acceptance.”
*Last Nov. in Zachary, LA, John Netherland was sharing his faith with passersby about 75-100 feet from the entrance to the local bar. Even though he stood on public ground, a police officer told John he could not preach there and instructed him to move instead to the far side of the public easement, closer to the street. The officer then warned John that if he stepped back where he’d been standing, he’d be arrested and jailed. John assured the officer that he would comply. Nevertheless, the officer told John that if he continued to preach, even in the new location, he would arrest him anyway, for “disturbing the peace.”
*On June 11, attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund filed the lawsuit on John’s behalf, saying that “the city ordinance and the policeman’s application of the ordinance are blatantly unconstitutional. (2)
*Thank God for the Alliance Defense Fund, the Liberty Counsel, and other organizations taking a stand for the cause of Christ! But we must do all we can to defend each other.
2. How can we take a stand for the cause of Christ? Defend each other, and develop each other.
*This is what Paul and Silas were doing in vs. 40: “They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them . . .” The KJV says they “comforted” them. It’s the same basic word that Jesus used in John 14, when He called the Holy Spirit “The Comforter.” God wants us to work together with His Holy Spirit to give encouragement, comfort and strength to each other.
*But Pastor Aaron Brown points out that this is not going to happen, if we don’t give our time. Aaron said:
-The first sacrifice we can make in order to become contagious Christians is the sacrifice of our time. For many people, time has replaced money as their most valuable asset. Work weeks are longer, leisure breaks are shorter, the pace of life is faster. An article in USA Today poked fun at the craziness of our schedules. The author calculated that if we did all we’re supposed to do to live what experts say is a balanced, well-rounded life, it would require forty-two hours a day to get it all done! With lives like that, you make a huge statement to others when you joyfully offer them the gift of time. . . (3)
*Aaron went on to say:
-Early in my ministry I would get so frustrated when I would be trying to do something or go somewhere or prepare for a meeting or sermon or class and I would get interrupted by someone with a need or a question. But I’ve discovered over the years that what I once called interruptions are the times of ministry! If finally made sense to me when somebody said, “Aaron, I just want to thank you for giving me the gift of time, because it made all the difference in my life, in the life of my family, and in my future with God.” (3)
3. How can we take a stand for the cause of Christ? Develop each other, and depart to serve the Lord.
*There is a time to get up and go under the leadership of the Lord. Notice how Paul and Silas were following the Lord in Acts 16:40 & 17:1. “They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.”
*Of course, not everyone goes at the same time to the same place. A.T. Robertson noted that vs. 40 says “they departed,” not “we departed.” (4)
*Remember that by this time Luke was part of the mission team, so Acts 16:17 says: “This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, ‘These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.’”’
*Now Paul and Silas depart, but apparently not Luke and Timothy. God has a specific place of service for us all -- A specific place of service for you. He may not want you to leave West Monroe. It may mean leaving a class that you enjoy to serve somewhere else. It may mean leaving a pew to serve in the Nursery or as a Greeter or a Van Driver. God has a job for you in His Kingdom. You just have to find out which job description fits you best.
*Pastor Gaither Bailey said, “I once asked an adult Sunday school class to write a job description for Noah. This is what they wrote:
-Wanted: Person to build, maintain and sail a large ship.
-Must be civil engineer with experience as a zoologist.
-Must have experience in public relations, navigation and carpentry.
-Benefits: free 40-day world cruise – free shovel.
-Must be able to stand noise and foul odors.
-Above all, must have patience. (5)
*That’s not our job description, but God certainly has a job description for you -- maybe 2 or 3. So we have to get moving and get doing what He wants us to do.
4. How can we take a stand for the cause of Christ? Depart to serve the Lord, and deliver the Good News.
*This is what Paul and Silas kept doing in vs. 1-9 of Acts 17. Here are some very important things to notice about delivering the Good News about Jesus Christ.
1-We should make it a habit. We ought to have a lifestyle of talking to people about Jesus, so vs. 2 says, “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for 3 Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures.”
2-Another thing to notice is that people need to know. We may think they already know, we may think they understand, but we need to be like Paul in vs. 3. There he was “explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.’”
3-Also notice that we can expect a harvest! In vs. 4, “some of [the Jews] were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.”
*God has promised that there will always be a harvest from His Word. In Isaiah 55:10-11, He said:
-“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
-So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
4-Expect a harvest, but also expect a protest. It could even be like the protest we see in vs. 5-8:
5. But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
6. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.
7. Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king Jesus.”
8. And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things.
5-Expect a protest, but keep delivering the Good News about Jesus! -- Because people desperately need to know, because there will be a harvest, and because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. He died for us! He gave His life so that we could live forever.
*Gareth Griffith went on a vacation in Florida 10 years ago. While he was there, Gareth decided to try sky diving. He was jumping together with, an experienced instructor named Michael Costello.
*Something went wrong. The main chute failed to open. No big deal, they had a back up chute. The back up failed too.
*The two men went into a violent spin as they plunged to their destiny. Michael, the instructor, corrected the spin and regained control of the fall. Gareth was on bottom and the instructor was on top. But as they neared the ground, the instructor, folded his arms and legs, causing them to switch places, so that the instructor hit the ground first, cushioning his student’s blow. Gareth survived, because his instructor was willing to give his life for his student. (6)
Conclusion:
*It’s been 10 years, but I would guess that not a day goes by without Gareth remembering what Michael did for him -- And we must remember what Jesus did for us!
-We can change the world.
-We can turn the world upside down for Jesus!
-We can help turn the world right side up for Jesus!
*Take a stand for Jesus Christ every way you can, just as long as you possibly can.
1. Barclay’s Daily Bible Study Series (NT) by William Barclay, Revised Edition (C) Copyright 1975 William Barclay. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, PA - The Philippian Jailor - Ac.16:25-40
2. National Liberty Journal online - August 2007 - Religious Freedom - www.nljonline.com
3. “Becoming a Contagious Christian -- Sacrifice.” By Rev. Aaron Brown, www.saintpauls-umc.com/sermons/2003/sacrifice.htm
4. Word Pictures in the New Testament by Archibald Thomas Robertson - Acts 16:40
5. SermonCentral illustration contributed by Gaither Bailey
6. HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR STUDENT Reuters News Service, 6-24-1997 (Found at www.churchchrist.net/Sermons/Jesus.htm)
