A Life Saved
Scriptures: Acts 5:18-21; 12:5-10; 16:11-40; John 21:18
Introduction
Last week I spoke to you about the ongoing situation in Ferguson, MO. I shared with you in that message that Rev. Dr. Martin L. King said “Riots are the language of the unheard.” In other words, people riot when their voices have been silenced and they are seeking a way in which to be heard. The same happens today but not everyone who participates in a riot does so because they are trying to get their voices heard. Some people participate because it gives them an opportunity to destroy the property of and steal from others. Think about it, what does breaking in a store and getting caught running down the street with a stolen TV have to do with a policeman shooting a child? Some people call that “Getting Back at the man” while I call it stealing for personal benefit. People who feel justified in burning down businesses and stealing from others is really hurting the very cause in which they are supposed to be fighting for. Their actions, in some people minds, actually justify the actions of the police. As a Christian we should always, always carry ourselves as a Christian. We might participate in protests and marches, but always with a mindset of abiding by the righteous laws that are in place to protect all, not some. Our actions in the most trying of situations can sometime lead others to think differently about Christianity and what it means to be a child of God.
This morning we are going to examine a story found in the book of Acts where two Christians had the opportunity to do something that could potentially save their own lives but chose instead to remain in their situation and thus lead someone else to Christ. We’re going to examine their attitude during the situation as well as what follows after their opportunity for freedom was presented to them. At the close we will consider what we should do today when we find ourselves in situations where justice is not always present or working in our favor. Please turn with me to Acts chapter five.
I. Jailhouse Break In Order To Teach
I want to read a couple of incidences of where the disciples were placed in prison but were delivered by an angel prior to our getting to the story which is at the heart of this message. In chapter five we find a situation where the apostles were arrested because they were doing many signs and wonders before the people. Please note that these are the same men who just a short time earlier was in hiding and fearing for their lives. Verses twelve through seventeen describes some of the signs and wonders that they were doing which made the religious leaders jealous (verse seventeen says the high priest and some of the Sadducees were jealous.) Don’t you find it amazing that the very people who were supposed to be representing God and teaching others to walk with Him were the very ones who were jealous of those actually doing the works of God? Things have not changed as it is the same today.
The high priest and his associates had the apostles arrested and thrown in jail. Let’s read from Acts 5:18-21a. “They laid hands on the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said, ‘Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of Life.’ Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach…..” The night of their imprisonment an angel of the Lord came and released them. He did not release them so that they could escape and go to another town; he told them to go back to the temple and continue to teach there. The next morning when the high priest’s servants went to get them, they found the jail was locked with the guard in his place, but no prisoners. As they thought about what could have happened, someone came in and told the chief priest that the apostles were back in the temple teaching. The apostles were not delivered from prison on this occasion so that they could escape; they were delivered so that they could continue to deliver the word that the Lord had for the people. While this would seem strange on the surface for the apostles to be sent back to the temple, God had souls there who would hear their message and be saved. You see, sometimes “we” have to come out of our self-imposed prisons to allow God to use us. We have to move beyond what our minds tell us we can do to that place where God is able to direct our paths. This is the first situation. Keep this in mind as we move to the second jailbreak. Please turn with me to Acts chapter twelve.
II. Jailhouse Break To Save Peter’s Life
In this story we find that the Christians are being heavily persecuted. Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of the Herod the Great who ruled at the time of Jesus’ birth, was on the surface a practitioner of Jewish rites and a religious patriot. Herod had taken James, the brother of John, and put him to death with the sword. (James was the first of the twelve disciples to be martyred.) When he saw that his killing of James pleased the Jews, he sent four squads of soldiers to arrest Peter. His plans were to kill Peter also. As Peter sat in prison, the church of God prayed fervently for him. You see, prayer changes things. When the people of God get together and fervently pray, things change. I am not talking about the little 3 minute prayers we do when we dismiss, I am talking people prayer for hours for change. I am talking about people praying in the Spirit and in their own understanding without wavering. When we pray, things change. Well, things changed for Peter. Let’s begin reading at verse five.
“So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God. On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, ‘Get up quickly.’ And his chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, ‘Gird yourself and put on your sandals.’ And he did so. And he said to him, ‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.” (Acts 12:5-10)
Let me ask you a question? Why was Peter asleep? Herod had just put James to death and was planning to do the same to Peter the next day – why was he asleep? If you knew you would die the next day, would you go to sleep or would you lay in bed awake praying for a way out? Peter was asleep! Maybe he slept peacefully because he had a promise and he knew Herod would not be able to kill him on the next day. Maybe he was thinking about what John had recorded in his book pertaining to a word that Jesus had given to Peter. In John 21:18 Jesus had told Peter the following: “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Jesus spoke this to Peter signifying what type of death he would die. Peter understood this and knew that since Jesus spoke it, it would definitely happen. Therefore, he knew that it was not his time to die and something would change the course of what Herod was planning for him. And with that, the angel comes. The angel walked into the room, wakes Peter up, and escorts him out of the prison and into the gates of the city. When he knew that Peter was safe, he left him. When Peter finally realizes that this was real and that he was not seeing a vision, he goes to the house of Mary where those who were praying for him were located. The next morning Herod was angry at his escape and ordered that the guards be executed. Shortly thereafter the plans that Herod had for Peter were carried out against him by an angel of the Lord when he allowed the people to refer to him as a god and he failed to give God the glory. My point with this second story is that Peter was delivered from the hands of Herod by an angel and the guards who were responsible for him were put to death. The two guards who slept next to Peter could have talked to him about his Goad but apparently they did not do that. The next day there were executed by Herod because it was their responsibility to secure Peter. Had they talked to Peter that night they’d be in heaven today. That’s brings us to the heart of this message. Turn to Acts chapter sixteen.
III. A Jailbreak That Did Not Happen
In Acts chapter sixteen, Paul and Silas were ministering in Philippi, a Roman colony with Roman citizens who enjoyed all of the rights of the citizens of Rome. As they ministered throughout the city, there was a young lady who was possessed with a demonic spirit and practiced divination (fortune telling, prophesying) following them around and yelling “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” It is interesting that a demonic spirit was proclaiming this about Paul and Silas. After many days, Paul became annoyed and cast the spirit out of her. I have wondered why he did not do that on the first day when he knew what possessed her and maybe it was because he knew what would happen when he did it. After he cast the spirit out of the woman, the men who were making money off of her fortune-telling seized Paul and Silas and took them before the authorities. They were beaten and cast into jail. Let’s pick this story up at verse twenty-five.
“But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.!” And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:25-31)
Why didn’t Paul and Silas escape the prison when they had the chance? Even more strange is why the other prisoners did not escape as they were not associated with Paul and Silas? I think we can identify the answer in what took place before the earthquake. Prior to the earthquake Paul and Silas sung hymns of praise to God. They had been beaten and cast into jail and yet they were singing hymns of praise to God. The Bible tells us that as they sung the other prisoners listened. I believe that the other prisoners recognized that the earthquake was a result of Paul and Silas singing hymns of praise to God. Psalms 22:3 says “But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” That word “inhabitest” in the Hebrew means “to dwell, sit, abide and remain.” It’s an action word of a choice that when we praise God, we enter into His presence or better yet, He comes into our presence and dwells with us for a little while. The Spirit of God came into their presence in that prison and shook things up. All of the chains fell off the prisoners and all of the doors were open. When the guard awoke, he assumed that everyone had escaped and he drew his sword out to kill himself because he understood that would be his punishments for allowing the prisoners to escape. Before he could do it, Paul yelled out that they were all still there. After confirming this, the guard got saved with his whole household. We do not know what happened with the other prisoners, but I believe that some of them might have also accepted Christ because they chose to stay with Paul and Silas when they could have easily escaped.
In the first two stories we read the disciples were freed from the prison by an angel because they had more work to do. In the first story they were sent back to the temple to teach. In the second story Peter was delivered from the hands of Herod who had planned to kill him the next day. In this story, once again an angel shook the place and freed everyone. However, unlike before, Paul and Silas were not led to leave the prison. They chose to stay there and in doing so saved some lives. Their response to their situation, singing hymns and praises to God, led to others receiving salvation. If they had left that prison, that guard would have killed himself and ultimately went to hell and possibly his whole family with him. Consider this for a moment. Paul and Silas decision not to escape allowed souls to be saved.
Conclusion
What about the decisions we’re making? I started this message with some of the things that had happened in Ferguson. The actions of a few individuals (burning buildings, cars and looting) in the mind of some justify the behavior of the police and I can understand this. What I hope that you see is that our responses and actions can lead to a different outcome in individual lives. When we take a stand on an issue, we have to remember that we are a Christian first and no matter how angry and/or frustrated we get, we cannot respond to the world the way they expect us to respond – “us” meaning Christians. People cannot see our Christianity as they can see skin color. They can see your skin color regardless of how you’re acting. People can only see “Christ” in us when we speak and more importantly when we act as our words do not always align with our actions.
We are entering into a time of year when people are more thankful and giving than others times of the year. People give more donations and does more charity work during this time of year versus any other. For some this is the time of year to do those things because it’s part of the “Christmas Spirit.” For a Christian it should be a way of life. So as I close this morning I want you to consider two things: first, are you inviting God into your space through your praise and worship? If you know that God inhabits the praise of His people, are you giving Him true praise? And second, as you’re experiencing your difficult situation and others are watching you, does your actions lead others to Christ or away from Him? A man and his entire family was saved because Paul and Silas sung hymns and praises to God versus wallowing in pity at being beaten and cast into prison. Possibly other prisoners were saved because they chose to stay where they were when they had the opportunity to be free. Their temporary stay in prison led to an eternity for others to be in heaven. Now let me make this real for you. If this incident happened fifty years after Christ’ death then the one night that Paul and Silas spent in jail voluntarily after they were freed has enabled that guard and his family and possibly some of the other prisoners to have spent the last nineteen-hundred and sixty-four years in the presence of God. One night for nineteen-hundred and sixty-four years – with plenty more to come! Does this make sense? Our suffering is temporary, our time with God, an eternity. Choose carefully how you walk through your times of crisis because your one night might lead others to an eternity with Christ. May God bless and keep you is my prayer.
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
