Text: Acts 16:25-40, Title: Shaking Philippi, Date/Place: NRBC, 10/5/08, AM
A. Opening illustration: One sunny Sunday morning, Henry Jones awoke to find his wife standing over him, shaking him by the shoulder. "You have to get up," she urged. "We have to get ready for church.” "I don’t want to go to church," he replied. "I want to stay in bed.” Crossing her arms over her chest, his wife demanded, "Give me three good reasons why you should stay in bed and not go to church." "OK," he answered. "First, I don’t get anything out of the service. Second, I don’t like the people there. And third, no one there likes me. Now can you give me three good reasons why I should go to church?" His wife responded, "First, it will do you some good. Second, there are people who really do like you, and they’ll miss you if you aren’t there. And third, you’re the minister!"
B. Background to passage: Paul and Silas (at least) have been thrown into prison after being beaten with rods for casting the demon out of a girl and causing a riot. I wonder how you write that one up. Anyway, their imprisonment sets off a chain of events that can only be described as providential. And this set of events really shook the town of Philippi
C. Main thought: In the text we will see three things that shook in Philippi
A. Shaking the Prison (v. 25-26)
1. Now we all know that the Apostle Paul was a strange man. And now we see him battered, bruised, bleeding, with his feet in stocks, in a dirty, rat-infested prison, and he is singing! In fact, he and Silas were praying and singing, and all the other prisoners are listening. It was a well known way to deal with troublesome situations in the ancient world. They were confident in God and renewing their minds and hearts to that confidence. And that confidence is in Christ regardless of circumstances, because sometimes he delivers and sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes He heals, and sometimes He doesn’t. Sometimes He causes things to get better, and sometimes He causes them to get worse. All for His good and wise purposes.
2. Eph 5:18-19, Philip 4:4, 2 Cor 1:8-9, 4:16-17, 1 Peter 5:10,
3. Illustration: Jonathon Edwards believed that music had a special effect on the soul, A couple of days after the experience the reporter who first wrote about the event talked to Chippie’s owner. He asked how the bird was doing. She said, "Well Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore-he just sits and stares." It’s no wonder. One minute the little guy was swinging and singing, and before he knew it, he was sucked in, washed up and blown over. In the moving Facing the Giants, coach says we are going to praise Him if we win, and we are going to praise Him if we lose. C. S. Lewis describes the role of suffering in the life of the believer as “soul-making.” It is the shaping of the Christian with the hammer and chisel of adversity. Lewis also said “God whispers to us in our pleasures; speaks in our consciences; but shouts in our pains.” Tertullian said, “The legs feel nothing of the stocks when the heart is in heaven.” "Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind."
4. We are instructed to rejoice in the Lord always, because God is good all the time. When you are in a tough spot in life, fix your mind and heart on Christian truth and upon the Treasure by singing or listening to songs about Him. For we know that God is using this suffering to accomplish great things in our lives, and showing us our need of Him and our need to trust in Him. And we know that when the suffering is over, God will strengthen and establish us. This is another reason that I believe that songs of faith should be our choice in daily listening, whatever genre you prefer. Singing and making melody to the Lord is a sign of being filled with the Spirit. And nothing refreshes the heart like a few moments or hours of Spirit empowered worship between you and God. And what a witness to the world of your faith when you rejoice in your suffering. Only believers can rejoice in suffering.
B. Shaking the Gates of Hell (v. 27-34)
1. After the earthquake shook the prison, Paul and Silas shook the gates of hell as another lost soul was plucked from eternal punishment. This jailer was about five seconds from splitting hell wide open and becoming another trophy of Satan, when Paul stopped him. He knew that regardless of the reason, guards who let prisoners go were executed. But when he heard what Paul said, which was amazing in itself that all the prisoners stayed, he immediately fell at their feet and asked how to be saved. The jailer knew that something supernatural was going on, and his heart was ready. Surely he had heard the songs of grace and faith, and been amazed at their attitude, countenance, confidence, and their eternal perspective. Luke gives us a summary of the message, then the jailer believes, exhibits evidence, and again wins his entire household to Christ. Then they are all baptized and join Lydia’s household as the church in Philippi. And note that the joy that Paul and Silas had was passed on to the jailer’s household.
2. Jude 1:23, Rom 11:14, 1 Cor 7:16, James 5:20,
3. Illustration: tell about sharing my testimony with the deputy the other week, “As salt we need to make people thirsty for the Lord. If you put a salt crystal into the mouth of a horse he would actually drink water after because the salt would make him thirsty.” UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute found 75% of college freshmen are searching for meaning and purpose in life and would like their schools to help them explore such questions
4. We must be prepared to answer those people who catch a glimpse of Christ by watching our lives and quickly attribute all blessings, success, deliverance, and sustenance to Christ. Have that 3-minute version of your testimony ready for use. God will use you to bring others to Himself if you will be faithful. Every person in that jail, and every person in this room is either lost or saved, there are no in-betweens. You may be on your way, or not. If you are here because of someone else’s witness, you need to believe! If you are at a point where you have lost all hope, you need to believe! And your family needs deliverance too! And genuine faith is accompanied by joy in Christ. This doesn’t mean that you are all the time happy and bubbly, but that all the time there is a deep abiding peace and joy in Him. This joy, as well as hospitality, evangelism, and baptism are good evidence of genuine belief.
C. Shaking City Hall (v. 35-40)
1. And after this display of integrity, the officials decided to free the prisoners, the time already served was enough. So then Paul makes a big deal about them punishing uncondemned Romans. And it was a big deal. Magistrates’ job was to ensure the protection of Roman citizens. And it was criminal to have a Roman citizen punished without a trial. So the magistrates would have lost their jobs (this explains their fear). And the cities could have lost their status as provinces which meant a lot of privileges and monies. And they had already beaten and imprisoned them. So Paul demanded that they come and personally escort them out of town. This would have shamed the magistrates. But more importantly, and probably the reason for the stand, is that it would have prevented further persecution of the new church.
2. 1 John 3:16, John 15:13; Rom 16:4; Philip 2:17, Philip 2:30
3. Illustration: Kristi Burton, founder of Colorado for Equal Rights, was thirteen when she decided to spend her life defending the unborn. “It just came to me,” she told the Denver Post earlier this year. “I prayed about it and knew God was calling me to do it.” Eight years later, Kristi is spearheading the Colorado Personhood Amendment — an effort she began at nineteen — to define a constitutionally protected person as “any human being from the moment of fertilization.” In May, with the help of over 1,300 volunteer petitioners and 500 churches, Kristi turned in 131,245 voters’ signatures to the secretary of state — nearly twice the number required to get the amendment on this November’s ballot. "When Hitler began interfering with the churches and humiliating the German Jews, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a loyal German himself, began to resist and protest. He refused to participate in the state churches, which bowed down to the fuehrer’s demands. Several of Bonhoeffer’s friends urged him to bend. They argued that they would lose the opportunity to preach altogether if they followed Bonhoeffer’s example. He replied, "One act of obedience is better than a thousand sermons." He eventually paid with his life for holding that conviction" See you at the Pole rally on campuses nationwide two weeks ago,
4. This is an occasion of civil disobedience. Something happened that was not right, and Paul stood up for it, but not because it affected him. Remember, Paul is not out for revenge or vindication because he was wronged. Sometimes we need to be wronged rather than make a stink. But the key is our motivation. Are we standing up for those without a voice, or because we didn’t get what we deserved? Are we looking out for the kingdom and the church with our stand, or simply our own violated rights? As believers we have no rights! America gives inalienable rights, but Jesus bought and paid for you, and now owns you, your life, your destiny, your money, your reputation, and your everything. But sometimes for the greater good, you and I should not keep silent. If the kingdom can benefit from your advocacy, or souls may be won to Christ because of your protest, more power to you, and more glory to Christ. We can shake our nation in the political realm, but remember legislating morality or religion saves no man.
A. Closing illustration: The Bob Boyd Evangelistic Association: From cities in the U.S. to the far reaches of Pakistan, India, Africa and Russia, the Bob Boyd Evangelistic Association has reached hundreds of thousands of people around the world and seen thousands come to Christ through city-wide campaigns. We mobilize the churches of a city to shake their city for Christ! How? By organizing leaders into key committees (Prayer, Publicity, Program, Follow-up, finance, etc.) and training believers to reach out to unbelievers and invite them to attractive evangelistic events, and by ensuring excellent follow-up and discipleship of those who pray to receive Christ.
B. But the way the NT says to turn a city upside down is to be faithful to proclaim even in persecution, be active in evangelism, and be willing to sacrifice personal safety and comfort to advance the kingdom and the church. Do you want to see Tifton turned upside down for Christ? it can start with a church just like us, drawing a line in the sand, and vowing to sell out for Christ and be faithful to the work that God has called us to do! Decide to be radically faithful to Christ today!
C. Hebrews 13:13
D. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
• Is Christ Exalted, Magnified, Honored, and Glorified?
