DO YOU WANT TO BE FREE
ACTS 16:16-40
STARTING QUESTIONS:
ARE THERE BURDENS YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE FREE FROM?
WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE FREE FROM DEBT? I KNOW I WOULD! WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE FREE FROM RESPONSIBILITY? AT TIMES I KNOW I WOULD! WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE FREE FROM OBLIGATIONS LIKE GOING TO WORK AND THINGS LIKE THIS? I KNOW AT TIMES I WOULD!
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN THE CARES OF OUR LIVES, THE RESPONSIBILITIES AND OBLIGATIONS SEEM TO BE BINDING FOR US. THEY CAN FEEL LIKE A HEAVY LOAD ON OUR SHOULDERS, A LOAD THAT WE CAN’T SEEM TO EVER LESSEN.
I REMEMBER SEEING A COMMERCIAL ON TELEVISION FOR A PAIN RELIEVER, ROBAXIASIN OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. IN THE COMMERCIAL, THERE IS A GREEK GOD WITH THE WORLD ON HIS SHOULDERS. HE’S FEELING THE WEIGHT AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR CARRYING THE WORLD, AND HE’S FEELING THE PAIN THAT WEIGHT CAN BRING.
NO MATTER HOW HARD WE TRY, THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING ELSE THAT HAS TO BE DONE AT WORK, ALWAYS A REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT AT OUR HOUSE, ALWAYS ANOTHER BILL TO PAY.
SOMETIMES THINGS ARE GOING WELL AND WE HAVE MANY OF THE CARES I’VE MENTIONED IN ORDER, AND THE UNFORSEEN HAPPENS TO DISRUPT OUR LIVES. IT COULD BE A HEALTH ISSUE, OR SOME OTHER TRAGEDY THAT WE JUST CAN’T PREPARE FOR, BUT WE FEEL THE WEIGHT OF.
IT IS A CERTAINTY, THOUGH, THAT AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, WE WILL FACE BURDENS OR SITUATIONS THAT WE WISH WE COULD BE FREE FROM, AND IN REALITY, KNOW THAT WE CANNOT. SO THE NEXT QUESTION THAT MUST BE ASKED IS THIS:
ARE THERE ANY BURDENS OR SITUATIONS THAT YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE FREE FROM?
THIS MIGHT SOUND LIKE A SILLY QUESTION. THIS WAS HOWEVER, THE EXACT SITUATION THAT PAUL AND SILAS FOUND THEMSELVES
IN WHEN HE WAS AT PHILIPPI.
LET’S LOOK AT THE BACKGROUND OF THIS PASSAGE:
THE BOOK OF ACTS IS A BOOK OF EVANGELISM. IT IS AN EXCITING BOOK THAT CHRONICLES THE BIRTH OF THE CHURCH, AND THE LIVES OF THE GREAT APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL.
THE CONVERSION OF THE PHILIPPIAN JAILOR IS THE FIFTH CONVERSION MENTIONED IN THE BOOK:
1. ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH
2. SAUL OF TARSUS
3. CORNELIUS
4. LYDIA
AND NOW WE HAVE ONE OF THE MOST UNLIKELY OF ALL CANTIDATES FOR CONVERSION A JAILOR, OR SOMEONE WE WOULD REFER TO AS A PRISON WARDEN.
WHAT A UNIQUE SITUATION. IT COULD ONLY HAPPEN IN THE PAGES OF SCRIPTURE. WE HAVE A PRISONER SHOWING A PRISON GUARD HOW TO BE SPIRITUALLY FREE. YOU GOTTA LOVE IT!!!
NOW WE ARE FACED WITH THE QUESTION: HOW DID PAUL AND SILAS WIND UP IN PRISON?
THE SHORT ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION IS, THEY WOUND UP IN PRISON BECAUSE THEY CAST AN EVIL SPIRIT OUT OF A WOMAN.
WHY WAS THIS SO BAD. DIDN’T JESUS CAST OUT MANY EVIL SPIRITS OUT OF PEOPLE? HE WASN’T ARRESTED WAS HE WE WOULD THINK, AND WE WOULD BE WRONG. THERE WAS A TIME WHEN JESUS WAS CHASTISED, JUST AS PAUL AND SILAS HERE WERE FOR CASTING OUT DEMONS. CONSIDER THIS PASSAGE.
MARK 5:17: “Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.”
JESUS HAD JUST COME TO THE AREA AND WAS MET BY A MAN FILLED WITH DEMONS. THE DEMONS SAID HIS NAME WAS “LEGION” FOR THEY WERE MANY. THE EVIL SPIRITS RECOGNIZED JESUS FOR THEY CALLED HIM BY NAME. JESUS IN TURN ALLOWED THEM TO GO INTO A HERD OF PIGS THAT THEN RUSHED INTO A NEARBY LAKE AND WERE DROWNED.
THE PEOPLE OF THE TOWN WERE AFRAID OF THE POWER OF CHRIST, BUT THEY WERE ALSO AFRAID BECAUSE OF THE ECONOMIC LOSS THEY FACED. AS A RESULT THEY PLED WITH JESUS TO LEAVE. THEY WERE SAYING YOU’VE DONE THIS GOOD THING, NOW LEAVE BEFORE WE LOSE EVEN MORE.
IN OUR PASSAGE PAUL AND SILAS ARE THROWN INTO PRISON BECAUSE THEY CAST AN EVIL SPIRIT OUT OF A WOMAN THAT WAS ALLOWING HER TO SEE INTO THE FUTURE. SHE WAS A SLAVE WHO EARNED A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY FOR HER OWNERS BY FORTUNE-TELLING.
LET ME ILLUSTRATE USING THE STOCK MARKET AS AN EXAMPLE. IF YOU HAD A WAY OF KNOWING TODAY, WHAT THE MARKET WOULD DO TOMORROW, YOU COULD MAKE DECISIONS TODAY THAT COULD MAKE YOU MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. IF YOU KNEW TODAY THAT GOLD WAS GOING UP $1,000.00 AN OUNCE TOMORROW, YOU COULD BUY ALL THE GOLD YOU COULD TODAY, SAY AT $1,500. AND OUNCE, AND SELL IT WHEN IT REACHED $2,500.OO AN OUNCE THE NEXT DAY.
THIS IS WHAT HER OWNERS WERE USING THIS WOMAN FOR.
PAUL AND SILAS CAME UPON HER, AND THE DEMON INSIDE THE WOMAN RECOGNIZED THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THEM AND TOLD EVERYONE WHO THEY WERE.
IT’S ALMOST HUMOROUS THE WAY IT IS WRITTEN. LUKE MAKES IT SEEM LIKE THEY IRRITATED PAUL AND SILAS SO MUCH THAT THEY PERFORMED THE HEALING JUST TO SHUT HER UP.
THE OWNERS WERE NOT IMPRESSED BY THIS AS A VALUABLE SOURCE OF THEIR INCOME WAS GONE. THEY BROUGHT THEM BEFORE THE JUDGES FOR “JUSTICE”.
THE MAGISTRATES HAD THEM SEVERELY BEATEN AND THEN THROWN INTO PRISON. THE JAILOR PLACED THEM INANKLE CHAINS IN ONE OF THE STRONGEST CELLS THEY HAD.
POINT ONE: WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT:
THIS BRINGS US TO THE NIGHT THAT PAUL AND SILAS WERE IN PRISON. PRISON THEN WAS MUCH DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE SEE ON TELEVISION AND IN MOVIES TODAY.
WE KNOW THAT IT WAS MIDNIGHT AND THAT ALL THE LIGHTS WERE OUT. IT WAS PITCH BLACK IN THE PRISON, ESSPECIALLY IN THE INNERMOST PARTS OF IT, WHERE PAUL AND SILAS WERE KEPT. THE ONLY THING THE PRISONERS COULD DO WAS SLEEP. THEY WERE IN CHAINS, OFTEN BEATEN, IN TOTAL DARKNESS SO THAT YOU COULD NOT SEE WHO WAS NEXT TO YOU. THE LAST THING YOU WOULD THINK OF DOING WAS SINGING SONGS, LET ALONE SINGING PRAISES TO GOD FOR ALLOWING THIS TO HAPPEN TO YOU.
WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY. PAUL AND SILAS WERE SINGING HYMNS TO A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE, LITERALLY CAPTIVE. WE DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY SANG BUT IT’S NOT UNCOMMON FOR MUSIC TO BRING PEACE TO THOSE IN TURMOIL.
I WOULD LOVED TO HAVE BEEN A MOUSE IN THE CORNER FOR THIS. I WOULD HAVE HAD A LOT OF COMPANY WITH THE OTHER MICE. IT WOULD BE NICE TO TAKE AN OFFERING WITH A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE AS WELL, MIND YOU THEY WOULDN’T HAVE ANYTHING FOR THE PLATE.
THE DOXOLOGY WHICH WE SING AFTER THE OFFERING HAD IT’S BIRTH FROM UNION PRISON CAMPS DURING THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES.
SUDDENLY THERE IS AN EARTHQUAKE. NOW IF YOU ARE A PRISONER IN TOTAL DARKNESS, AND IN CHAINS, THE LAST THING YOU MAY WANT TO HAVE HAPPEN IS AN EARTHQUAKE.
BUT THIS WAS A VERY SPECIAL EARTHQUAKE. IT SHOULD TAKE US BACK TO THE RESURRECTION, FOR THE CIRCUMSTANCES WERE QUITE SIMILAR, AS WERE THE RESULTS.
THE EARTHQUAKE AT THE TIME OF THE RESURRECTION, CAUSED THE STONE IN FRONT OF JESUS TOMB TO BE MOVED. HERE IT CAUSED THE DOORS OF THE PRISON TO BE OPENED.
THE STONE WAS ROLLED AWAY FROM JESUS TOMB TO ALLOW PEOPLE TO GO IN. THE DOORS OF THE PRISON WERE OPENED NOT TO LET THE PRISONERS OUT, BUT TO BRING THE JAILEOR IN TO BE WITNESSED TO BY PAUL AND SILAS.
AFTER THE RESURRECTION JESUS STAYED AT THE TOMB AND TALKED TO MARY. PAUL AND SILAS HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO, THEY WERE FREE. THEY CHOSE TO STAY AND HELP THE JAILER.
LIVES WERE CHANGED AS A RESULT OF THE RESURRECTION. WE WITNESSED THIS AS THE DISCIPLES WENT TO EMMAUS AS THEIR LIVES WERE CHANGED WHEN JESUS SHARED THE GOSPEL. THE LIVES OF THE JAILER AND HIS FAMILY WOULD BE CHANGED AS A RESULT OF THE GOSPEL BEING SHARED WITH THEM.
THE JAILER AS WITH THE ROMAN GUARDS AT THE TOMB OF JESUS WAS RESPONSIBLE TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE WAS NO ESCAPE. IT WOULD MEAN A TERRIBLE DEATH FOR THE JAILER IF ANY OF THE PRISONERS ESCAPED, ESPECIALLY PAUL AND SILAS. STILL IN DARKNESS AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE, THE JAILER BROUGHT LIGHT TO THE PRISON EXPECTING TO FIND IT EMPTY. HE HAD DETERMINED THAT HE WAS GOING TO COMMIT SUICIDE IF IT WAS.
THE JAILER HAD THE SURPRISE OF HIS LIFE WHEN THE LIGHT SHOWED THAT ALL OF THE PRISONERS WERE THERE. THEY WERE FREE OF THEIR CHAINS, THE DOORS WERE OPEN, YET THE MEN INSIDE LISTENED TO PAUL AND DID NOT LEAVE.
IT WAS AT THIS POINT THAT THE JAILER DOES SOMETHING UNIQUE. HE BRINGS OUT PAUL AND SILAS. HE DOES NOT ASK THEM WHY THEY DIDN’T RUN WHEN THEY HAD THE CHANCE. INSTEAD, HE ASKED THEM THE QUESTION THAT HAS BEEN ASKED THROUGH THE CENTURIES “WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?”
THIS QUESTION IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE TO BOTH CHRISTIANS AND NON-CHRISTIANS.
FIRST THE IMPLICATIONS TO NON-CHRISTIANS:
FIRST: SALVATION IS NOT AN OPTION IT IS ESSENTIAL. THE JAILER ASKED PAUL WHAT “MUST” I DO TO BE SAVED. THERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND, NO VARIETY OF OPTIONS.
THE SCRIPTURE IS CLEAR CONCERNING THIS. JESUS TOLD NICODEMUS “YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN.” HE DIDN’T SAY YOU MUST BE BAPTIZED OR BE A MEMBER OF A CHURCH. HE DIDN’T SAY YOU HAD TO VOLUNTEER X AMOUNT OF HOURS, OR DO 1,000,000 GOOD DEEDS. JESUS ANSWER TO NICODEMUS WAS ON A RELATIONAL LEVEL. YOU MUST HAVE A HEART CHANGE. A CHANGE ON THE INSIDE THAT WILL SHOW ITSELF ON THE OUTSIDE.
THE ANSWER IS THE SAME TODAY AS IT WAS THEN.
ACTS 16:31: “They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved— you and your household."”
WE ARE TO BELIEVE IN JESUS ENOUGH TO COMMIT OUR LIVES TO HIM. WE HAVE TO KNOW IN OUR HEARTS THAT HE IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY FOR A PERSON TO BE SAVED THAN THROUGH HIM.
WHEN WE USE THAT WORD “BELIEVE” IT IS TALKING ABOUT A RELATIONSHIP THAT LEADS TO ACTION. IF YOU BELIEVE IN THE LEADER OF A PARTICULAR POLITICAL PARTY, THEN YOU WILL JOIN AND SUPPORT THAT PARTY. YOU WILL BACK YOUR BELIEF WITH YOUR VOTE.
PAUL WAS TELLING THIS JAILER THAT IF HE TRULY BELIEVED IN JESUS, THAT NOT ONLY WOULD HE BE SAVED, BUT OTHERS WOULD BE LED TO CHRIST AS A RESULT OF HIS DECISION.
WHEN BILLY GRAHAM WOULD HAVE HIS CRUSADES, OFTEN HE WOULD HAVE PROMINENT MEN GIVE THEIR TESTIMONIES OF HOW THEY CAME TO KNOW CHRIST AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR. HE DID THIS BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE MAY BE PERSUADED TO COME TO CHRIST THROUGH THE TESTIMONY OF THAT INDIVIDUAL RATHER THAN THROUGH BILLY GRAHAM’S MESSAGE.
PAUL TOLD THE JAILER THAT HE AND HIS FAMILY WOULD BE SAVED. LET ME BE CLEAR, NO ONE CAN BE SAVED ON THE BASIS OF ANOTHER’S DECISION. MY MOTHER WAS A CHRISTIAN, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN I AM BECAUSE OF HER DECISION. I HAD TO MAKE MY OWN DECISION TO SURRENDER MY LIFE TO THE LORD. MY DECISION THOUGH WAS INFLUENCED BY THE FACT THAT SHE WAS A CHRISTIAN.
I BELIEVE THIS IS HOW THE JAILERS FAMILY CAME TO CHRIST. IT WAS AS A RESULT OF THE CHANGE THAT HAPPENED IN HIM. IT WAS A CHANGE THEY WANTED IN THEIR LIVES AS WELL.
THE JAILER DRESSED PAUL AND SILAS’ WOUNDS, AND THEN HE AND HIS FAMILY ALL CONFESSED FAITH AND WERE BAPTIZED.
NOTE THE CHANGE IN THEIR LIVES. THEY HAD JOY IN THEIR LIVES. THEY WERE AT PEACE, BECAUSE THEY MADE A COMMITMENT TO CHRIST.
THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE TODAY, SOME WITHIN THE SOUND OF MY VOICE, THAT ARE IN VARIOUS FORMS OF PRISONS TODAY. YOU MAY BE IN AN ACTUAL JAIL. YOU MAY BE BOUND TO DRUGS, OR ALCOHOL. YOU MAY TRY TO FIND YOUR FREEDOM IN SEXUAL PROMESQUITY.
AFTER TRYING ALL THESE THINGS THOUGH, YOU STILL FALL SHORT. YOU’RE STILL NOT HITTING THE MARK OF PEACE IN YOUR LIFE. THERE IS STILL SOMETHING MISSING.
WHAT IS MISSING IS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. HE MADE A CHANGE IN THE LIVES OF THE JAILER AND HIS FAMILY, AND HE CAN MAKE A CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE TO, IF YOU WILL LET HIM.
IN CONCLUSION, THERE IS A CHARGE TO THE CHRISTIAN IN THIS PASSAGE. THE CHARGE IS SUMMED UP IN ONE QUESTION. WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO GIVE UP TO SECURE A PERSON’S SPIRITUAL FREEDOM?
PAUL AND SILAS HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO RUN FROM THE PRISON AND BE FREE. GOD, HOWEVER, HAD A PLAN FOR THEM AND IN ORDER TO MEET THE JAILER, THEY HAD TO REMAIN A PRISONER. NO CHAINS OR LOCKED DOORS HELD THEM THERE. THEY SANG HYMNS WHILE CHAINED IN THE DARKNESS. THEY MAY HAVE EVEN LED SOME OF THE PRISONERS TO CHRIST, FOR THEY DID NOT RUN EITHER.
THE QUESTION THEN IS THIS. ARE YOU READY TO PRAISE GOD WHEN ADVERSITY HITS YOUR LIFE?
ARE YOU READY TO PRAISE GOD IN THE MIDST OF CANCER TREATMENTS? IT COULD BE THAT THE NURSE WHO ADMINISTERS THE TREATMENTS WILL COME TO CHRIST BECAUSE YOU ARE THERE TO WITNESS TO HE OR SHE.
ARE YOU READY TO PRAISE GOD AS YOU LOSE YOUR HOUSE BECAUSE OF DEBT? THE PERSON WHOS BUYS IT MAY COME TO CHRIST AS A RESULT OF MOVING INTO THIS AREA AND COMING UNDER THE MINISTRY OF GOD’S PEOPLE.
ARE YOU READY TO PRAISE GOD AS YOU LABOR LONG AFTER CLOSING TIME, FOR NO ADDITIONAL PAY, BECAUSE YOU KNOW THE NEXT DAY YOU ARE TAKING A YOUTH GROUP TO A MEETING THAT COULD BE THE PLACE WHERE SOME OF THEM COME TO CHRIST.
WHAT PRISON ARE YOU WILLING TO STAY IN, SO THAT OTHERS MAY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY OF SPIRITUAL FREEDOM FOR ETERNITY?
WE ARE TRULY FREE, ONLY WHEN WE BASE OUR FREEDOM, NOT ON THE STANDARDS OF THIS WORLD, BUT ON THE PEACE AND CONTENTMENT OF KNOWING, EVEN IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY, THAT WE ARE IN THE WILL OF GOD, AND BUILDING HIS KINGDOM.
