“BELIEVE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND YOU SHALL BE SAVED – THE REST OF THE STORY”
Acts 16:16-40
Dorn Ridge Church of Christ March 01, 2015
Audio Link to listen to the preaching of this sermon: http://chirb.it/dqea4N
INTRODUCTION:
1.) Many of you will remember the news commentary broadcast titled: “The rest of the Story.”
A.) The Late Paul Harvey would give commentary on stories that the regular news broadcasts would not include.
B.) He would dig into people and stories of the past and present and present valuable gems of interest to his listening audience.
2.) Today I want to give the rest of the story of one of the most quoted and misquoted passages of Scripture in all of the Bible.
A.) Today I want us to see the rest of the story of Acts 16:31 that says: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you
will be saved – you and your household.”
B.) As we look at this portion of God’s Word this statement was first made in a prison cell by the Apostle Paul.
ba.) But before we look at prison let us see the:
I) CAUSES OF HIS IMPRISONMENT.
1.)He had a priority of Prayer.
A.) The church continued in regular times of prayer, just as Jews had done earlier.
B.) We are not told if they were still meeting by the river.
ba.) Regardless where they were meeting, prayer remained a priority in their walk with Christ.
bb.) When people are walking with Christ, living in the Word of God, and faithful in prayer Satan is always threatened.
bba.) Because of this, it does not take long until the forces of darkness attack and challenge the servants of God.
C.) In Philippi as those of faith were going for prayer a woman possessed by a demon of hell became a spiritual nuisance to Paul, and Silas, and the body of believers.
ca.) Satan presented a challenge between the:
2.) Prediction of the future versus Preaching the Word of God.
A.) Acts 16:16
B.) Fortune telling and fortune tellers have always been condemned by the Word of God.
ba.) Leviticus 20:6
bb.) Even today, many will look to the stars and daily horoscopes, palm readings, and other avenues to try and predict the future.
bba.) Sadly, even many Christians also look to these things which the Bible has condemned.
C.) Most fortune tellers are frauds, but those which are not are led by the demons of hell.
D.) I want you to notice the message this girl was giving.
da.) Acts 16:17
db.) The testimony this girl was giving was the truth.
dba.) It was even a testimony proclaiming these men were teaching of salvation through Jesus Christ.
dc.) There was absolutely nothing wrong with the content of the testimony this woman was giving.
dca.) The problem with the testimony was the source of the information.
dcb.) Even though at this point the testimony was the truth, it was from a demon of hell.
.01) Neither Jesus, nor the apostles would accept the testimony of a demon because it was first of all from the devil, and secondly, even though in this instance it was the truth, the next instance that demon could be speaking a lie.
.02) Even though this demon was testifying to the truth, the goal of these demons was to discredit and sabotage the work and ministry of Jesus Christ.
E.) Paul was being harassed, and the work for Christ was hindered by this demon possessed girl.
ea.) Paul confronted this demon of hell and cast him out of this girl.
eb.) Acts 16:17-18
3.) Profitless prophet.
A.) The owners of this poor slave girl did not care about this girl.
aa.) They only thought of her as a source of income because of this demon.
ab.) After Paul cast out the demon she could no longer predict the future, and therefore was no longer bringing financial gain for her owners.
B.) Paul and Silas were arrested for stopping the income of these slave owners.
ba.) That is the reason for their imprisonment.
II) CASUALTIES IN THE PRISON.
1.) They were dragged into the market place.
A.) Acts 16:19-21
B.) These men were criticized as Jews bringing in customs unlawful for the Romans.
ba.) To understand the reasoning of this charge, I want you to think back to last week’s message.
baa.) I said there were very few Jews in the area because of Emperor Claudius ordering all Jews out of Rome.
bab.) By calling them Jews, rather than Christians, it could stir up the crowds in anger against Paul and Silas.
.01) In fact, this was exactly what happened.
.02) They stirred up so much trouble for Paul and Silas that:
2.) They were stripped and beaten.
A.) Acts 16:22
B.) These men were not just beaten, but Scripture states they were severely flogged.
ba.) The Jews would beat with leather throngs, and as harsh as that was, would limit the beatings to 40 lashes less one.
baa.) The Romans on the other hand were often far more brutal.
bb.) Many times the Romans would beat a person with steel rods instead of leather.
bc.) 2 Cor. 11:25
bd.) The Romans would also not necessarily stop at 40, but beat a person sometimes even to the point of death.
be.) This was considered to be such a severe beating that it was illegal to beat a Roman citizen with rods, yet that is exactly what had happened to the Apostle Paul, who was himself a Roman citizen.
bea.) That is why it became such a major issue when these men were later released.
beb.) Acts 16:35-40
3.) They were thrown into the prison.
A.) Having been severely beaten with steel rods, they were now brutally thrown into the prison.
aa.) Acts 16:23
4.) Their feet were fastened in stocks.
A.) Acts 16:24
B.) Here in the midst of that terrible situation, something wonderful happened.
ba.) What happened was the:
III) COMING OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
1.) Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.
A.) This says an awful lot about the character of Paul and Silas after all they had gone through for Christ to be able to go to God in prayer.
aa. Acts 16:25
ab.) The other prisoners were listening to them.
ac.) There in the midst of that prison worship service with bodies in great physical pain, these men worshipped God.
2.) The power of God was displayed with an earthquake.
A.) Acts 16:26-28
B.) The foundations of the prison were shaken.
ba.) The prison doors flew open.
bb.) The chains fell off of all the prisoners.
C.) The Jailor awoke, and seeing the situation, drew his sword to kill himself.
ca.) He knew that death by his own hands would be far easier than what the Romans would do to him if his prisoners had escaped.
cb.) Yet even then, the Power of God was at work keeping the prisoners in their cells while there appeared to be the opportunity for freedom.
cc.) The Bible does not tell us if the other prisoners were asleep, or in a trance, or just under the hand of God in those cells.
cca.) But what we do know is that Jailor experienced the Presence and Power of God in ways he had never experienced it before.
3.) The way the power of God had been displayed that night, and now holding the prisoners in place brought a change in this jailor.
A.) If the God of Paul and Silas could do all this, then he was the one this jailor would follow for salvation.
aa.) Acts 16:29-30
ab.) After everything he had seen, this jailor had no choice to ask the question: “What Must I Do to be saved?”
ac.) This is the very same question the Jews in Jerusalem had asked of Peter a couple of decades earlier.
aca.) At that time Peter replied: “Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
.01) There is no reason to think the answer should be different now than it was then.
IV) CALL TO BELIEVE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR SALVATION.
1.) This jailor knew these men preached the truth of salvation.
A.) He had experienced the presence and power of God.
B.) Surrounded by the working of God he knew he was a sinner.
2.) This Jailor knew that what these men had was the real deal, and he wanted it for himself.
A.) He wanted to know the joy of salvation, and a relationship with the God whom Paul and Silas worshipped.
aa.) In response to his question on what he must do for salvation, Paul and Silas gave this answer:
B.) Acts 16:31
ba.) At first glance we might ask why Paul’s answer was different than that of the Apostle Peter.
bb.) My response is not that the answer was different but that they were at different places in their spiritual journey of salvation.
bc.) When we look at the entire passage it becomes obvious that both Peter and Paul gave the very same answer to that question.
C.) Today, there is a large segment of Christianity that will take this verse out of context without looking at the entire passage of Scripture.
ca.) Those who do so present an incomplete and I might add therefore a false and unbiblical plan of salvation.
caa.) We do not have the option to merely take one verse of Scripture by itself out of context as a basis upon which to determine a Biblical doctrine.
cb.) This man’s walk of faith was such that Paul told him to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
cba.) As an unbeliever nothing more would have been suitable teaching until he had learned the significance of it, which we will see happened later in this text
cbb.) Looking at the remainder of this passage it is very clear that Paul presented the entire gospel message to him just as Peter had done on Pentecost.
cbc.) But until he came to a faith in Christ he did not need baptism, or anything else.
.01) Without faith in Christ any of these other actions wouldhave been meaningless.
V) COMING TO CHRIST.
1.) The Jailor had come to believe.
A.) This man had been told to believe or to put faith in Jesus Christ.
B.) This certainly was not the entire message he received that night.
C.) after that message Paul took him into a study of the Word of God to find what he had to do to be saved?
ca.) I have to ask why this would be done if this man had already come to experience salvation at this point as those of the faith only groups would proclaim.
caa.) The answer to that question is that Paul was taking him on a journey from the point of an unbeliever to that of becoming a child of God.
2.) The Jailor and his household heard the Word of God.
A.) Acts 16:32
B.) Here in the middle of the night, Paul and Silas showed this man and his household the plan of salvation.
3.) The Jailor and his household were baptized into Christ.
A.) Sometime in the middle of the night between midnight and dawn this man came to understand the death, burial, and resurrection message of Christ.
B.) In the darkness of night, this man and his family entered into the waters of baptism for the forgiveness of sin, and to be united with Christ.
ba.) Acts 16:33
bb.) So many preachers and churches have looked only at verse 31 of this passage, and have missed the full message that is presented here.
bc.) If salvation is by faith only as some promote, and baptism of no consequence:
bca.) Would Paul and Silas baptize them in the darkness of night instead of waiting until daylight
.01) The importance of baptism is seen when the scripture states “immediately he and his family were baptized”
bcb.) Would Paul and Silas with bodies severely wounded from being beaten with metal rods perform a baptism if it was not required?
.01) If baptism was of little or no importance, I think Paul and Silas would have waited until their bodies were not so full of pain, and they had healed from their wounds.
.011) No if you look at more than just the 31st verse of this passage it becomes very clear that God’s plan of salvation was more than a faith-only teaching of man.
.012) I want you to notice one more thing about this passage:
4.) It was only after this entire experience, including baptism that the jailor and his household were filled with joy.
A.) Acts 16:34
CONCLUSION:
1.) As I close this morning, I want to encourage you to see the whole of the word of God.
A.) Don’t let anyone deceive you into reading the words “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be
saved” apart from the rest of the Word of God.
B.) This very passage that so many quote by itself, shows very clearly the importance of baptism as well when you look at the entire text.
ba.) Other Scriptures also show the need for repentance, and confession as well.
bb.) Today if you have faith in Christ, but have never confessed him as Lord, nor given yourself to Christ in baptism, then you have never entirely given your life to Jesus Christ.
bc.) If this message, and the Word of God has spoken to your heart today, I challenge you to come, follow Jesus in the waters of baptism, and give your life to him in saving faith.
