THE BATTLE FOR SOULS
Text: Acts 16: 14 - 20, & Acts 16: 23- 31
Acts 16: 14 - 20, & Acts 16: 23- 31 (14) A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. (15) When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us. (16) One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. (17) While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation." (18) She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour. (19) But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. (20) When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, "These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews …. (23) After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. (24) Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. (25) About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. (26) Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. (27) When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. (28) But Paul shouted in a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." (29) The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. (30) Then he brought them outside and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (31) They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."
God is all knowing (omniscient), God is all powerful (omnipotent) and God is everywhere (omnipresent). God knew and plan for us before we we born and the plans he designed for us with a future and a hope in Jesus Christ (Jeremiah 29:11). God can see things from an aerial picture and from a panoramic picture ---the complete and comprehensive picture through time in every age. The point is that God knows what we need, when we need it and how to help us with that need. God knows all that are in need right now in real time. God knew what was needed in Macedonia, when it was needed and whom God planned to use to help meet that need and how the “meetings” will take place.
God was sending Paul on his second missionary journey to Macedonia to share the Gospel. Paul had other places in mind but the Holy Spirit compelled them to go to Macedonia. It is obvious that God was arranging the meeting with three significant people (Lydia, a slave girl and a jailer). It should not surprise that the Lord arranges meetings. In the Old Testament the Lord arranged when Moses met Pharoah because God used Moses to be his instrument to deliver the Children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. In the fullness of time, God sent His only begotten Son to deliver us from slavery to sin and death. The Lord arranged the meeting between Annanias and Saul aka Paul in Acts 9, because Paul was God’s chosen instrument to share the Gospel with the Gentiles. The Lord arranged the meeting between Peter and Cornelius as we saw in Acts 11 as we talked about in last week’s sermon. Beyond a doubt, the Lord was arranging the meeting these three significant people in Acts 16. The Lord has planned and is planning how and when he sends us as His instruments to share the Gospel.
Today we want to talk about conquest and consequences.
CONQUEST
How can anyone have any true freedom apart from knowing the truth that will set them free (John 8:32)?
1) Freedom threatened: The Christians of the first century had obstacles similar to what we are facing today. Right now, in real time our freedom as Christians is being threatened daily. This threat is nothing new. Christianity has been threatened in every generation.
2) Demand for emperor worship: In the book the of Daniel, in the Old Testament, Nebuchadnezzar was an emperor who wanted to be worshiped as a god.
3) When in Rome: How many times have you heard the expression, “When in Rome do as the Romans do?”Paraphrasing how William Barclay put it, People of Smyrna were expected to demonstrate “political loyalty to Rome, burning a pinch of incense in order to receive a certificate to worship any god they chose provided that it did not conflict with public decency and order”. Christians who did not burn their pinch and swear that Caesar is Lord, set themselves at odds with snitches. (Williams Barclay. Letters to the Seven Churches. Westminster press, 2001, pp. 18 -19). Do we see echoes of doing what Romans do when in Rome kind-of-thinking in our world today?
How do we destroy strongholds that demand our allegiance?
1) Spiritual wickedness: We are not fighting against flesh and blood though people of flesh and blood are being used by the devil to exploit others as they have in every age. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world's rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12 MKJV).
2) Godless people: ”For some godless people have slipped in unnoticed among us, persons who distort the message about the grace of our God in order to excuse their immoral ways, and who reject Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord. Long ago the Scriptures predicted the condemnation they have received.” (Jude 1:4 GNB). “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (II Corinthians 4:4 NRSV).
3) Judgment: Jesus tells us that “… this is the basis for judgment: The light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light because their actions were evil (John 3:19 ISV). Naturally, darkness likes to hide because light provokes the darkness because it does not want to be exposed by the light (John 3:20 paraphrased). That is precisely why Satan hides the light of the Gospel to keep unbelievers away from the light and truth of the Gospel (II Corinthians 4:4 paraphrased).
4) Spiritual guidance against strongholds: We simply cannot fight with weapons of the flesh in spiritual warfare! That would be like showing up to fight a forest fire with a squit gun. We must rely on the Sword of the Spirit [the Word of God and His strength] and prayer in the Spirit at all times for ourselves and for our fellow saints (Ephesians 6: 17 - 18 paraphrased). ”The arm of flesh will fail you; you dare not trust your own.” (from the Hymn “Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus”). When darkness or people “blinded from the light of the Gospel” cannot see do they not resort to force and even exploitation to accomplish the evil that that they do? The lord reminded Zerubabel that things would not be accomplished by “… might, nor by power [of the flesh] but by God’s spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6 KJV paraphrased). God’s grace is sufficient because His power is made perfect in weakness which is why Paul boasted about his weakness and took pleasure in his weakness because God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness which is why Paul said he would boast his weaknesses in the face of all the adversity that he faced (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 paraphrased).
5) The battle for souls: It is not just about the battle between the light and the darkness but also the lost souls that hang in the balance!
6) Liberated souls: Paul’s witness helped to bring three people to the light of the Gospel--- Lydia, a slave girl who was being exploited and a jailer. God was also exposing fellow prisoners to the Gospel. God had already planned the meetings of these three plus the prisoners.. How many were liberated beyond the fruit of these three plus the prisoners? How many would not have been liberated in the future without that fruit?
CONSEQUENCES
What was the consequences of their mission to Macedonia?
1) Lydia:According to William Barclay, Lydia was at the top of the “… social scale as a purple merchant of the purple dye that that came drop by drop from a certain shell fish. (William Barclay. The Daily Study Bible Series: The Acts of the Apostle. Revised Edition. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1976, p. 123). Although Philippi (which was Roman colony) did not have a synagogue for worship, women in that vicinity were gathering for prayer and Lydia was among them. Acts 16:14 tells us that the Lord opened her heart when Paul about the Gospel. It would have been easy for her to become a victim for the love of money (I Timothy 6:10). Her conversion was a success!
2) Slave girl: The conversion of the slave girl created a problem because it cut off the profits that she was earning for her master who was exploiting her as a fortune teller. Satan was behind the spirit of divination and he protests when he looses his grip on an unbeliever who becomes a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. The late seminray professor and author, Kenneth O. Gangel said, “The Greek word used for divination was puthos from which we get the English word Python. “The python, a mythical serpent of the Greeks, guarded the temple of Appollo. A possessed person was often described as a pyhton. Pagan general would often consult someone with a “pythian spirit” before marching off to war”. (Max Anders. Gen. Ed. The Holman New Testament Commentary: Acts. Nashville, Tennessee: B & H Publishing Group, 1998, p. 271). That is why Paul and Silas were taken before the magistrate and were thrown in jail, because their light provoked the darkness that could no longer hide! Now remember in Mark 5:7 there was a legion of demons that protested because Jesus was evicting them from the one that they possessed. So it should be no surprise that Satan puts up a fight when the light intrudes on his darkness!
3) The Jailer: The jailer got saved. Paul, Silas and the rest of the prisoners saw that the jailer was about to commit suicide because if a guard lost his prisoner it usually meant death. The jailer changed his mind when Paul “shouted “Do not harm yourself”. When the jailer called for lights he asked Paul what he needed to do to be saved. There is no doubt that the Holy Spirit was at work because the jailer and prisoners got saved!
4) Faith greater than a mustard seed: Think about the miracles that took place in the earthquake, the breaking of prisoners chains and the prisoners who could have fled were still there and the salvation of all the prisoners who were present at the jail, including the jailer! Paul and Silas had been arrested, beaten, and chained and yet they praised God anyway. Does that remind you of anything? Elsewhere in the New Testament, Paul described what was happening when he said, “We always thank God that you believed the message we preached. It came from him, and it isn't something made up by humans. You accepted it as God's message, and now he is working in you” (I Thessalonians 2:13 CEV). The Holy Spirit was at work there!
5) Adoption: Romans 8:28 - 29: We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him. They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose, (29) and he has always known who his chosen ones would be. He had decided to let them become like his own Son, so that his Son would be the first of many children (CEV).
What are the consequences if we fail to be open to going where the Lord sends us?
1) Our obedience matters: Unlike Lydia, how many people will get pierced with grief because of their love of money if we fail to go where the Lord sends us? How many people will be exploited by becoming slaves to their addictions and their need to make money in a dishonorable way? Or, how many prostitutes will become exploited by the sinful money they make for someone else if we fail to go where the Lord sends us? How many souls will be lost if we neglect to go where the Spirit sends us?
2) Prayer, trust and the Spirit’s power: God set up all of the meetings with Lydia, the slave girl, the jailer and the fellow prisoners. There is a battle for souls in every age and God is always working every where He sends us Consider Romans 10:12-15 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. (13) For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (14) How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? (15) And how are they to preach unless they are sent? … (ESV). Are trusting the Lord when we seek to stay in our comfort zones? How many souls will be lost if we seek to stay in our comfort zones instead of where the Lord is sending us?
3) The harvest: In Matthew 9:36-38 it says that Jesus “… saw the crowds, [and] He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (37) Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; (38) therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (ESV). May we prayerfully trust the Lord when He sends us to help bring in the harvest in this battle for souls!
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
