Acts 17: 24-34 Don't Sit, Serve!

Acts 17: 24-34  “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.  And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything.  Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.  From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.  God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.  ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’  As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’  “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.  In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.  He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”  When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”  At that, Paul left the Council.  Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed.  Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.

In the above focus we see Paul talking to the members of the Areopagus.  These people are the ruling and spiritual leaders in Athens.  Their ideas of a spiritual existence rest in their worshipping many gods.  They have made many idols and shrines to these gods in Athens.  Some of the Athen citizens had erected an altar to a god they called unknown.  Paul uses this idea of an unknown god to introduce the Creator God.  The Athenians' lifestyle revolved around exploring the meaning of life.  Before the Areopagus, Paul introduces Christ to them.  A few of them had already met Paul in the marketplace where they had debated him about his  "babbling” ideas about the man, Jesus of Nazareth.  Paul begins his presentation to the Areopagus by talking about God who is so great that He does not live in shrines, altars or idols.  The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.  And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything.  Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.  Paul narrows down the idea of many gods that must be served to one God, the Creator of all things.  For in him we live and move and have our being.  Paul relates to them that even some of their own philosophers understand that humans are his offspring, in his likeness.  Therefore, people should not think that God can be depicted in an image made by human design and skill.  This eternal God is far beyond man’s imaginations.  Paul then presents the reason they should believe in the God that he is presenting them.  For this God raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead.  To the Greeks this was a startling statement, one that surpasses their philosophers' ideas of what it means to be human with a rational mind.    Even their gods they serve have prescribed reasons for existence; they do not change the nature of what it is to be human.  When the Greeks heard this idea about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered.  Paul knew the Greeks would receive his message of the resurrection with difficulty, for he was raised in a Greek community.  Where is the philosopher of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.  Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.  (1 Corinthians 1:21-23)

Apostle John in ministering to the church at large said that this fact of a physical resurrection of Jesus has to be accepted by all Christians; otherwise, they are supporting an antichrist view of Jesus.  The way to eternal life comes only through the resurrection of Christ.  Paul is very explicit in the necessity of believing Jesus was resurrected from the dead.  If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.  More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead.  But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.  For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.  And if Christ has not been raised, YOUR FAITH IS FUTILE; you are still in your sins.  (1 Corinthians 15:13-17)  The Greeks in Athens were stumbling over the fact that flesh could be brought back to life after death.  Yet, some of them wanted to hear more about this resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  We want to hear you again on this subject.  But others who were drawn by the Holy Spirit to the reality of Paul’s ministry became Christians.  Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed.  Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.  As Paul moved through the Gentile world, he was constantly confronted by idol worshipping.  This old trick of the devil was everywhere in the Gentile world.  Even the Israelites swallowed this deception, serving idols most of their existence.  Jeremiah warned them about this betrayal of the God of Creation.  He told them that God would not tolerate long the Israelites' adulterous lifestyle.  Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am going to bring calamity upon them, and they will not escape.  Though they beg for mercy, I will not listen to their cries.  Then the people of Judah and Jerusalem will pray to their idols and burn incense before them.  But the idols will not save them when disaster strikes!  Look now, people of Judah; you have as many gods as you have towns.  You have as many altars of shame—altars for burning incense to your god Baal—as there are streets in Jerusalem.  (Jeremiah 11:11-13)  The Israelites fell into the abyss of creating numerous gods after their own imaginations.  Idols and shrines were everywhere in their environment.  They chose these false gods to serve other than the only true God, the I AM who called their ancestors through the faith of Abraham.  They, unlike the Greeks, had been brought to the light of God through the law and the prophets.  God had revealed clearly to them his holiness and also his enduring love and mercy to them.  They were delivered from slavery; they were given a land of milk and honey.  They, a small Semite people, became a powerful nation.  However, instead of honoring God, they chose to honor and serve gods made out of their own imaginations.  The Greeks were not so privileged by God; they lived in darkness and deception, always steeped in idol worship.  Satan's deception ruled their lives, even sacrificing their own children to these idols.  As Jesus said to the wayward Pharisees and teachers of the law, your father is the devil.  For Paul to bring light to the Gentile world was a dangerous mission; Jesus told Paul at the very beginning of following him that he would suffer much in delivering light to a dark and threatening world.  Jesus knew this same darkness that was in the Greeks existed in the Jewish religious elite.  The priests loved the deference of the people, playing the role of super spiritual people with long prayers and holy blessings.  However they were acting like the Gentiles who lived in darkness.  Jesus scolds them for their pretentious behavior.  When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.  Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.  And when you pray, do not keep on BABBLING LIKE THE PAGANS, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  (Matthew 6:6-11)  Paul was dealing with a very religious city of Athens.  Many philosophers telling the way to true life.  Many priests of shrines and altars instructed people how to have a meaningful life.  Paul came to them with a very simple message: Christ crucified and his subsequent resurrection are the way to eternal life with the Creator God. 

John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus the Christ.  “I baptize you with water for repentance.  But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”  (Matthew 3:11-12)  Jesus becomes the ministering Messiah after He is filled with the Holy Spirit.  Immediately after his baptism in the Jordan, Jesus is led into the wilderness, tested by Satan to give up his ministry to the world.  Jesus’ manifesto to Satan, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.  (Matthew 4:4)  All people who trust in Jesus’ work will fulfill this manifesto.  They will be born again, becoming a tree that produces good fruit, imaging God on earth. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, as I also remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  (John 15:3-5)  As Jesus walked through the next three years, He expressed the will of God for all people; restoring them to God, becoming his children in the holiness of Jesus.  By believing in Jesus and his works, the eternal plan of God for people to be born again in his image becomes a reality, producing the works of God as a good tree produces good fruit.  In the above focus we see Paul introducing Jesus, the vine, to the Greeks.  He is offering them a new life, a transformative life.  In abiding in Christ, their intrinsic nature will be changed.  They will be imaging God in their lives.  The Greeks in their lifestyle were then as people who now during Christmastime hang bobbles on the tree to make it beautiful.  But bobbles do not change the basic nature of the tree.  Jesus came to change the intrinsic nature of the tree.  As we see Jesus in the holiest day of all creation celebrating the Passover with his disciples, a time when He drinks the cup of wine and eats the bread with his beloved disciples to commemorate what will happen later on that day, we see his disciples not focusing on the upcoming event, Jesus’ immanent death, but on themselves.  IN THE MOST HOLY OF DAYS, WE SEE THE DISCIPLES FOCUSED ON THEMSELVES, THEIR FLESHLY DESIRES.  A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.  Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors.  But you are not to be like that.  Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.  For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves?  Is it not the one who is at the table?  But I am among you as one who serves.  (Luke 22:24-27)  Their focus was not on Jesus the Great Servant, but on themselves as being greater in this world.  What is in this cross for me?  How does the Passover benefit me?  We see the IDOL OF SELF rear up his evil presence in the upper room.  We see the shrine to self being manifested in that occasion.  Jesus was forgotten as they fixed their desires on themselves; who is the greatest, who does Jesus love the most?  Where am I in this Christian thing?  Jesus desires for them to be servants, for He came to serve the world, and now He will die for every man and woman who has ever lived.  Paul is giving the Greeks an opportunity to know the living God.  If they would believe on Jesus’ works on the cross, they would be created anew.  He is telling them to put away their idols, their adulterous lifestyle, and live for Christ.  Some believed that message of Paul’s but many did not.  They continued to hang bobbles on their lives but failed to be born again, new creatures IN CHRIST.  Friends around this breakfast table, your lives have been bought with a high price: THE CROSS.  Therefore, celebrate this Passover season by serving others rather than yourself.  Give what Christ has given to you.     

    

  

  

 

Acts 17:16-23 Idols Do No Harm and No Good!

Acts 17:16-23  While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.  So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.  A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him.  Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?”  Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.”  They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.  Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?  You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.”  (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)  Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens!  I see that in every way you are very religious.  For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god.  So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

In the above passage we find Paul in the city of Athens; his companions on his missionary mission had escorted him from the city of Berea where he personally was facing threats on his life.  Athens was a powerful city-state in the Greek world.  Paul was comfortable in this prestigious city, for he had been raised and educated in the Greek city of Tarsus.  As Paul was strolling through the city, he noticed the people in this city were very religious, for it was full of idols.  The Athenians were interested in the meaning of life and the purpose of existence.  All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.  Their darkness in them of knowing God, their Creator, greatly distressed Paul.  Their attempts to understand life revolved around serving idols.  Paul of course was in the Greek world to reveal the true God, so he began to minister this truth in the synagogue and the marketplace.  The Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated Paul about the meaning of life and how to have a pleasurable and good existence.  The Greek philosophers were heavily into the ideas about how to have a rich and fulfilled life.  The Epicureans were focused on living life richly by taking full advantage of satisfying one's life with the best of foods and entertainment, however, with moderation.  The Stoic’s were more introspective, facing life under the dictates of reality and fate, accepting  the world as it is, living at peace with your existence.  Paul talks about the Greek’s strong desire to live under the stipulation of the rational mind.  For them, wisdom and common sense should be the controlling forces in a successful and peaceful life.  In analyzing the Jewish society and the Greek society, Paul distills the differences between them spiritually by saying, Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.  (1 Corinthians 1:22-25)  The Good News does not need to be verified by signs, miracles, and wonders; neither must it be designed around the rational thinking of men and women.  The true way to God comes only one way, through Christ crucified and his subsequent resurrection.  Paul knew as he walked through Athens that the Athenians were trying to open another gate to the kingdom of God through their rational thinking, but Satan’s control over their minds had led them into great darkness and deception.  Satan was playing his old tune that man can find God through his own wisdom and strength.  His scheme is to convince men and women that they possess god-like power and wisdom—that they too can be like God through elevating their own attributes.  But Paul places the correct perspective on man’s insignificance when it comes to comparing himself with God: the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.  This darkness of the self-importance of men and women, their power to be like God had captivated the Athenians' minds.  Paul knew their estrangement from God was great.  He tells them that their altar to the unknown god is really a shrine to the living Creator.  

The intellectual elite in Athens wanted to hear about this strange babbling of Paul; for them it seemed as if Paul was talking about some other God that existed.  They invited him to speak to the Areopagus, the governing council of Athens, consisting of the elite of the city and philosophers.  They wanted to hear about this new god or thoughts that Paul was so enthused about.  May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?  You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.  This of course was an open door to the people of Athens.  By convincing the Areopagus of the Good News, he could reach into the depths of the society with the message of Jesus Christ crucified for the sins of the world.  Paul uses their altar to an unknown god as a way to introduce the God of Creation to them.  I see that in every way you are very religious.  For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god.  He told them they were very ignorant of this god, but this god they have an altar to is the God he served.  Paul said, He has come to reveal himself through his Son Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  Jesus, the Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  (Colossians 1:15-17)  This revelation that Paul had of Jesus Christ is now told to people who exist by their own rational thinking; their own contrived light.  Now Paul is telling them, your way of living is darkness and futility.  A hard message to accept in their riches of philosophy.  However, Paul was raised and educated in the Greek way of thinking, so he was able to debate them about life and the meaning of life, but what they thought and what the Jewish elite thought about life, Paul had abandoned and counted it all as dung, worthless trash.  I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.  I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.  (Philippians 3:8-11)  Paul was sent to the Gentile world, and he would experience the suffering Christ experienced, even his death by violent men.  However, as he addressed these elite and learned men of Athens, he knew their darkness was very great.  The devil had deceived them into idol worshipping, an irrational way of thinking about God.  For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.  They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.  Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk.  Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.”  (Jeremiah 10:2-6)  In Athens, a bastion of deep thinking, the people were captivated by the darkness of idol worshipping, deceived by the devil.  

Paul’s call to the Gentile world mirrors greatly with Jesus’ call to the Jewish people of Palestine.  Jesus came to minister to the elect, the descendants of Abraham.  The Gentiles carried a derogatory name by the Jews: dogs.  In healing a demon possessed child of a Gentile woman, Jesus refers to the Gentiles as dogs in his dialogue with the mother of the child.  Jesus answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”  The woman came and knelt before him.  “Lord, help me!” she said.  He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”  “Yes it is, Lord,” she said.  “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”  (Matthew 15:24-27)  He heals the child, but his primary focus on earth was to the Jewish people.  Paul’s calling by God was to the Gentiles.  “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance and saw the Lord speaking to me.  ‘Quick!’ he said.  ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.”  "Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you.  And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’  “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”  (Acts 22:17-21)   After Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, he went back to Jerusalem, his home.  But God had other purposes for Paul than staying in Jerusalem, where he felt at home.  No, Paul, over his protest, was sent by God to the Gentile world, going from city to city ministering the Good News of Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead.  He had to leave his home to fulfill God’s purpose in his life.  We see Jesus also leaving his home to go from city to city in Israel to minister about God’s goodness and love for the Jewish people.  After an early morning prayer in Capernaum, Jesus was called away from his home base where He and his disciples were living.  His disciples were not too happy about leaving their homes, but they followed Jesus.  Jesus had a target on his back throughout his whole ministry.  Paul in the Gentile world had a target on his back all the time he was fulfilling God’s call on his life.  Both Jesus and Paul were warned by their followers not to go to Jerusalem at the end of their ministry, but both went.  They were fixed on going to Jerusalem.  Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem, and Paul was chained, imprisoned, sent to Rome because of the Jewish pressure to kill him.  Both Paul and Jesus died violent deaths.   Jesus was called to the Jews and Paul to the Gentiles.  Of course Paul’s excursion into the Gentile world was for the cause of Jesus Christ, to introduce the Redeemer, sent by God to all the world.  As God does with all people, He has a mission for people to fulfill in their lives.  It is so interesting that God has a time schedule for all of us to follow, no lolly-dallying around when dealing with God.  We see God telling Paul, Quick!  Leave Jerusalem immediately.  Not tomorrow, but TODAY.  We see the angel when delivering Peter from jail, “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.  Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so.  (Acts 12:7-8)  No messing around, hurry!  Jesus tells those who want to follow him, you cannot go back and bury your loved ones or say goodby to them.  No, you must hurry and follow me; no sign is needed.  Often we want reinforcement in our decisions, but if God asking you to follow him, then do it with faith.  Paul went into the lion's den; the Greek world.  He was there in constant danger; never knowing if he would have the next day to live.  But God had said to him, quick, go, leave your comfort zone.  How hard that is for us; how hard it was for the disciples to leave their loved ones, their homes, the places where their ancestors were buried, but they did.  They gave their lives for the purposes of God.  Breakfast companions, you are the salt of the earth, the light to those who live in darkness.  God tells you every day, Quick, Go, Tell the world about me, for I have a timetable for everyone you meet.  This is your day to spread the Good News.  God bless you richly.     

        

 

Acts17:10-15 You're More Than Conquerors!

Acts17:10-15  As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea.  On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.  Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.  As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.  But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up.  The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea.  Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

In the above focus we see Paul and Silas once again harassed and threatened by Jews.  These Jews were not from Berea, for they were open to the gospel message, but they were from the troubled city of Thessalonica.  These particular Jews from Thessalonica had rejected the Good News and were now passionate about stopping Paul and Silas from teaching in Berea that Jesus is the Messiah.  They were foes to the idea that Jesus had been sent from God, that He was the fulfillment of the Old Testament, the Messiah.  This fervent opposition to Jesus was so prevalent in the Jewish communities that they were willing to persecute and murder his messengers.  Jesus prophesied about this situation when talking to the religious leaders of his day:  “You snakes!  You brood of vipers!  How will you escape being condemned to hell?  Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers.  Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.  And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  (Matthew 23:33-35)  Paul was warned by Ananias that he would face this storm of opposition in his life after committing to follow Jesus.  After Paul’s conversion on the road of Damascus, he lived from that time on with a target on his back.  Many Jews would line up as his enemy, desiring to kill him.  In and out of these Greek communities in his second missionary journey, he was always in danger of being murdered.  In Israel, Jesus was always under the threat of being murdered.  Religious leaders followed him everywhere with murder in their hearts.  They tried to trick Jesus into saying something detrimental to the Roman rule.  They knew only the Romans could administer capital punishment, so they brought up a question about whether the Jewish people should pay taxes to Caesar.  Jesus avoided this trap by asking whose inscription was on a Roman coin, the legal tender of that age, used in the commerce of selling and buying in Israel.  Of course, Caesar’s image and inscriptions were on the coin, so He said for the Jewish people to pay in taxes what belongs to Caesar.  The religious leaders were always monitoring Jesus’ activity, always in the middle of the crowds, always willing to confront Jesus with difficult questions.  They were hoping Jesus would say something that would disappoint his large following.  However, Jesus did not only address their questions, but He also addressed their wicked and murderous thoughts about him, exposing before the public the rot in their souls.  We can assume that in the Greek communities, Paul and Silas were not challenged by the few religious leaders in these cities, for there were probably few of them residing in these communities.  We can assume that Paul and Silas’ opposition came from ordinary people.  John the Baptist called these Jews who came from all over the region to be baptized, “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  (Luke 3:7)  HIs opinion of the Jewish community was not high.  Often large crowds gathered around John to be baptized, and large crowds gathered around Jesus to hear his ministry and to be healed.  Yet both men knew the chosen of God were in darkness with eyes covered and ears stopped to the truth, the way, and the life.  

Jesus faced this conflagration of opposition.  He went to Jerusalem when his disciples said for him not to go, for they feared for Jesus’ life and for their own lives.  But Jesus was willing to go into the bee's nest of hostility.  Eventually He was arrested, tried and crucified.  He gave his life for his beloved Jews who claimed Abraham as their father, but He knew their religious leaders' father was the devil.  These vipers turned the crowd from following Jesus to shouting  “Crucify him, crucify him!  The people, except a few of Jesus’ most intimate followers, left Golgotha that day, believing they had done God’s will.  The nemesis of the Jewish leaders had been put to death with great cruelty, satisfying the will of the people.  Now in these Jewish communities  the will of many Jews and Greeks was not to accept the Good News but to oppose it.  Probably some Jews rejoiced when their Jewish brethren were mistreated in Philippi by the Greek magistrates,  The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods.  After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.  When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.  (Acts 16:22-24)  Paul and Silas were pushed on to Thessalonica.  There too the Jews had trouble accepting the news of Jesus being the Messiah and probably thought good riddance when the missionaries escaped to Berea to preach the gospel.  Paul and Silas, even though discouraged, even though knowing they had a target on their backs, and that any day could be their last, they pressed on, fulfilling Jesus’ words to his disciples.  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.  (Mark 16:15-16)  Both of them had experienced what Jesus said about being born-again.  They had a new life, now walking as lights in a dark world.  They had once lived in abject darkness, feeling their way through life, but now they could see.  The mystery of eternal life had been given to them, and they knew life forever in God’s dominion came only through the door, faith in Jesus Christ and his divinity and his work on the cross.  They were not going back into that former life; they were not going to retreat; consequently, they pushed forward in their journey, from one Greek city to the next, proclaiming  the Good News that Jesus saves.  In Berea they found a Jewish community ready to hear this Good News. They were open to investigating what these disciples were ministering by going to the Tanakh, the Hebrew bible.  They were earnest in knowing the truth about the Messiah.  However, as Jesus predicted, some Jews would  pursue from town to town his followers.  But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up.  God’s beloved Jews, those who possessed his precious promises that he gave their father Abraham, were now in the leadership role to quash the message that the Messiah has come to the world to redeem all people from their sin.

I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.  (Revelations 3:8)  Paul and Silas knew that God had opened a door to salvation that no man could shut.  Their purpose was to reveal this door of God’s mercy and grace through Jesus Christ and this work on the cross.  Jesus was the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham.  Jesus would bless all nations; many would come to him from many lands.  All would be given a new Canaan, an eternal dwelling place.  Jesus fulfilled the throne of David, always doing the will of God the Father.  David always attempted to do the will of God; that throne Jesus would sit on.  All Christians would be in the likeness of Jesus, seeking the way of life, God himself.  The Jews, God’s chosen from all people, represent God’s eternal love for all people.  Even his chosen, those he blessed with supernatural happenings in their existence, could not hold the line of obeying the Creator at all times.  They failed so miserably that God drove them out of Canaan.  They incessantly violated God’s command not to serve other gods, but in their hearts and minds, they served images and ideas coming not from God but from their own wills.  As Ezekiel in chapter 8 reveals, "Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces.”  Jesus tells the religious leaders, that their minds are deep in rebellion to God’s will;  their lips say the right thing but their minds are drawing from their father the devil.  Why is there this rebellion from God’s beloved people?  Maybe to reveal to the world that even the best of people, the chosen, are bound by the condition of sin.  They are the quintessential example of how much God loves his creation: men and women.  The rest of creation reveals God’s glory, but men and women reveal his image, and He will not turn away from his image.  His mysterious plan of salvation that He revealed to Paul would be spread throughout the world.  Yes, the Jews chased Paul and Silas from one town to the next; yes, if they could have, they would have closed the door to salvation, the Good News to the world.  But they are no worse than all people.  After Noah’s time, God knew the nature of mankind: Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.  (Genesis 8:21)  God would redeem his own image through the work of Jesus Christ, his Son, on the cross.  He would bring his beloved back to him, the Jew first and then the Gentiles.  He would call these newly born, out of a world of darkness, his children.  His Son would introduce them to his Father.  Jesus referred to his people with terms of endearment: brothers and sisters.  After his resurrection, Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.  Go instead to my BROTHERS and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”  (John 20:17)  The kingdom has come: now we who are IN CHRIST are his brothers and sisters, part of the family of God forever.  The message of the Good News is the message of eternal life with God.  God’s chosen, the Jews, were actively fighting this plan, but they were not alone: the majority the Greeks allied themselves with the Jews.  The devil was the foe of Paul and Silas.  The disciples were fighting the unseen principalities of the underworld.  However, in the midst of so much opposition, Paul and Silas were more than conquerors through him who loved us.  (Romans 8:37)  We too around this breakfast table are more than conquerors.  Our fight is never over, the contest between the devil and God is on our battle field.  Is our banner raised high, knowing we are fighting a winning battle, or are we limping back to the rear of the fight with sorrow on our brow.  Paul and Silas said, “Never.”  We know you around this breakfast table shout the same thing: NEVER!  Amen!            

 

 

Acts 16:31-40 Corrupt Leaders!

Acts 16:31-40  They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”  Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.  At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.  The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.  When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.”  The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released.   Now you can leave.  Go in peace.”  But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison.  And now do they want to get rid of us quietly?  No!  Let them come themselves and escort us out.”  The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed.  They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city.  After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them.  Then they left.

Paul and Silas had been beaten and thrown in jail illegally, for they were Roman citizens.  A Roman citizen was always entitled to a trial before punishment was administered and could not be tortured or whipped before they faced their accusers in a court of law.  The citizens of Philippi were guilty of a great sin against Caesar by beating Roman citizens with rods and throwing them in jail without a trial.  The magistrates that ordered such actions were in danger of being punished harshly by Rome, maybe even facing death.  So when they found out Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, great fear fell upon them.  Paul was not going to allow them to release him so easily from jail.  He would confront them with the reality that they had belittled Roman law by mistreating them as they did.  “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison.  And now do they want to get rid of us quietly?  No!  Let them come themselves and escort us out.”  Paul and Silas had been stripped and beaten unmercifully.  They were publicly shamed in front of a Greek community, their bodies were bruised and bleeding; now the Greek magistrates wanted Paul and Silas to go in peace.  Paul had no intentions of going in peace, for the leaders had violated the Porcian statute: entitling a Roman citizen to a trial before punishment was administered.  In this situation we see Paul confronting leadership for violating the sanctity and role of leadership that comes from God’s hand.  Paul wrote, Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.  The authorities that exist have been established by God.  Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.  (Romans 13:1-2)  Leadership of any community, state, province or country is placed in control to prevent people from living in chaos, for chaos is utter darkness, destructive in nature.  But leadership that is wicked and leads to hurt and biased actions should not be obeyed.  Paul and Silas were confronting leadership that had its origin in the devil's schemes.  The devil hated the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection, and he intended to stop this message by destroying the messengers.  Paul was not going to allow the devil to get away with his scheme of stopping the message of THE WAY.  Consequently, Paul put fear in the magistrates by reminding them of their illegal act and that he could report them at anytime in the future.  Then he kicked sand in the devil’s face by going back to Lydia’s house where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them.  Then they left.  The devil was not given any chance to rejoice because of this situation, for Paul went back to the believers and encouraged them to continue spreading the Good News.  

As happened Cornelius' household, we now see in Philippi a Greek jailer’s household saved.  The jailer wanted to know the way to God.  After the earthquake that freed  the prisoners and opened the doors of his prison without one prisoner fleeing, he wanted to know how he could find the God that Paul and Silas served.  “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  Paul’s refrain was simple but profound in its efficacy for new creatures would be made that night in the jailer's household. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”  Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.  At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.  Believers rejoiced about this wonderful happening that night; new members in the family of God were created.  Jesus said you must be born again, and now in the household of the jailer, new born-again Christians would live in the Greek community of Philippi.  These people in the household were not given ideas of where to find God; they were not given activities to perform to please God.  The Greeks were steeped in philosophy, ideas of how to view life, how to find peace and satisfaction in life.  But Paul and Silas did not say to them that there are avenues of thought one must follow in life to know God or Greek philosophers you must adhere to to know the purpose of life.  NO, they need not go anyplace to find God for He can be found at their lips.  But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’”  (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).  But what does it say?  “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.  (Romans 10:6-10)  What must I do to be saved? asked the jailer.  Paul tells him to believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.  Salvation is an act of God.  Rightness with God is his act and not man’s act.  All a man or woman needs to do is to believe in God’s work of salvation on the cross, rightness with God will be his or her eternal inheritance: For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified.  Justification does not come from works: it has to be a heart change, a new heart.  Any other way than a new heart will not bring transformation; it has to BE CHRIST IN US AND WE IN HIM.  This oneness with God brings permanent change in a person’s existence.  In the Old Testament Moses tells the Israelites that they have the ability to obey all the laws and regulations.  They do not need to go anywhere or ask for any additional help from anyone.  Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.  It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”  Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”  No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.  (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)  The knowledge of how to please God, to be like him, was in their hearts.  It was in their mouths as they repeated the law and its regulations in the temple.  It was in their minds, their hearts, but they were never able to satisfy the requirements of the law and its regulations because their hearts were not transformed by the mercy and grace of God: Jesus Christ on the cross.  Their rebellious nature, innate within them, would not bow down to all the rules and regulations of the law.  Moses said you have the ability to please God, but he prophesied that they would seek their own way and be punished for it, and finally dispersed to all the nations around them.  However, we see in Philippi new lives being created, for the jailer and his household proclaimed in their hearts that Jesus is Lord.  No longer will they live for themselves, but they will live for Jesus and through the resurrecting power of the Holy Spirit.  Works could not tame the rebellious nature within mankind, but Jesus as Lord not only tames the inherited rebellious and sinful nature of mankind, He circumcises the soul.  

Luke 7 shares a lovely story about a prostitute and her love for Jesus.  Jesus is in the household of a Pharisee, a member of a  religious sect who believe it is very necessary to rigidly follow the commandments and regulations given by Moses.  For some reasons of his own, he invited this apostate, Jesus, into his home to share a meal.  A woman of ill repute comes and kneels behind Jesus, weeping profusely.  When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.  A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume.  As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears.  Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.  (Luke 7:36-38)  She attentively and tenderly treats Jesus as a gift from God.  The Pharisees’ thoughts about this situation were very critical of Jesus because Jesus allowed this wicked woman to touch him and weep over him, as she poured expensive perfume on his feet.  He thought if Jesus were from God, He would never allow such a woman to touch him.  Jesus knows his thoughts, and his thoughts are wicked.  Jesus brings up a scenario of two men who had to obtain a loan from a rich man.  One needed a loan of 500 silver pieces, equivalent to 500 days of wages.  Another needed only 50 silver pieces to satisfy his need of money.  The loaner of the silver pieces eventually discovered that each of them could not pay back what he loaned them.  He forgave both of their loans, not requiring them to pay him back the money they owed him.  Jesus asked the Pharisee who would be the most thankful to the loaner for not having to pay back his loan.  The Pharisee answered correctly: the one who owed the most.  Jesus then tells him the truth about his time in the Pharisees’ house.  He says to the Pharisee, you did not give me the accustomed honor of offering me water to wash my feet.  You did not give me oil to anoint my head.  You did not give me a holy kiss when I entered your dwelling.  You failed to honor me at all.  But look at this woman who is detested by you.  She has not stopped weeping over my feet, washing them with her tears, and because you did not give me a towel, she dries my feet with her hair.  She has brought to me a gift of expensive perfume, she has anointed me with that gift of love.  She has not stopped kissing my feet because of her affection towards me.  Who does God honor most for treating me with respect this day, you or her?  She has great love for me, you have little love for me.  Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown.  But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”  Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”  The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”  Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”  (Luke 7:47-50)  Her faith as the jailer's faith in Jesus Christ as Lord has brought her into a  position of being right with the Father God.  Jesus confronts this supposed leader in knowing God.  He explains clearly to him that he is in need of knowing the righteousness and perfection of God.  He is in need of knowing the mercy and grace of God.  His self-righteousness, and maybe in our context, his church-going ways carry no weight with God.  Love, caring, and empathy for this woman of the streets carry weight with God, but he lacks these characteristics in his soul.  In Philippi Paul confronts the leadership of that community, for they disrespected the laws of Rome.  By doing so they were out of the will of God, for God wanted his servants to be honored not beaten with rods.  This Pharisee, a leader in his community, was out of the will of God.  As Peter said to the Sanhedrin, we say, we must obey God rather than human beings!  We must treat the outcast, the poor, the disgraced with the mercy of God for we ARE CHILDREN OF THE MOST HIGH.  Amen!  As children of the Most High, how do we treat the needy in our world?   

 

Acts 16:19-30 Walk in Freedom!

Acts 16:19-30  When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.  They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”  The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods.  After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.  When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.  About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.  Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.  At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.  The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.  But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself!  We are all here!”  The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.  He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Paul and Silas had been thrown in Philippi’s jail because they had cast out a demon from a woman who was making money for her owners.  This demon possessed woman was the meal ticket for these men.  Because Paul had destroyed the way for them to make money, they lied about the disciples' activity in Philippi.  They stirred up trouble for the two disciples, causing the Philippian magistrates of the city to arrest the disciples, stripping them and beating them severely with rods.  After their flogging, they were placed in the inner cell of the jail, with their feet fastened in stocks.  The jailer on the threat of his own life was commanded to guard these two Jewish men carefully.  To be a jailer was a great responsibility within any community in those days, but the position also carried with it a death sentence if any of the prisoners escaped.  When Peter was delivered from jail by an angel, the sixteen guards who were responsible for guarding Peter were all killed by Herod because Peter had escaped from his confinement.  The Philippi jailer knew his life would probably be taken if these two disciples escaped from the deepest part of his jail.  However, God intervened in the circumstance of the disciple’s confinement by causing an earthquake to happen in Philippi.  This earthquake freed the prisoners from their chains and flung open the doors of the prison.  At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.  This earthquake in the middle of the night crumbled the prison walls, opened the doors of the dungeon.  Because of this disaster, the jailer believed his prisoners had escaped.  He drew his own sword to take his life, not waiting to be executed by the magistrates the next day, but Paul yelled out in this clouded darkness of dust and debris, “Don’t harm yourself!  We are all here!”  They were probably there because all the prisoners had heard Paul and Silas in their broken and bruised bodies praying and singing hymns to God.  These other prisoners understood that something supernatural had just happened and that these two disciples of prayer and praise had caused their God to intervene on their behalf.  The prisoners did not flee; they were in awe of this God of Paul and Silas.  The jailer also knew that Paul and Silas’ God had intervened that night on the behalf of two ordinary men.  The jailer's response to this unusual event was to call out to the disciples, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"  How can I know the God that you know?  How can I know the God who keeps men with broken and bruised bodies singing and praising him in the depths of a dark and dank dungeon?  What must I do to know such a powerful God in my life?  Paul and Silas led this frightened man and his family to Christ Jesus, baptizing them in the name of Jesus that night.  

Paul and Silas were in the center of God’s will that night.  They were in the center of God’s will that day when the were experiencing a severe beating with rods.  They were in the center of God’s will when these Greek thugs were enjoying the flaying of the disciples’ skin with rods.  They were in God’s will when their bruised and limp bodies were dragged to the dungeon.  They were in God’s will when the chains were cruelly and hurtfully fastened on them.  They knew this was God’s will for them, so they were singing and praising God in the suffocating air of the inner dungeon.  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  (Romans 8:28)  Paul goes on in his letter to the Romans, Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword separate us from the love of God, his concern for us?  No!  Never!  But it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”  (Romans 8:35-36)  Even though this is true, we know in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  (Romans 3:37)  Paul and Silas knew this cup of suffering they were experiencing was for the cause of Christ.  But only Jesus had THE CUP that must be drunk for the deliverance of mankind from the prison of sin.  When Peter tried to prevent Jesus from drinking the cup of suffering for mankind, Jesus commands Peter, “Put your sword away!  Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”  (John 18:11)  Now in the Philippi dungeon, we see Paul and Silas drinking the cup of suffering because of ministering to the Philippians the deliverance message that comes through believing in the works of Jesus Christ.  Paul, not Silas, knew he would drink this cup of suffering many times in his life.  He was told after his conversion on the road to Damascus that suffering for the Lord would be part of his life experiences.  But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go!  This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.  I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”  (Acts 9:15-16)  As Paul moved from one community to the next, preaching the gospel, he met resistance to the Good News he was preaching.  He met threats on his life, in and out of these cities.  He was never secure, knowing his life could be taken from him any day.  He understood the Good News he preached also brought a sword to each community.  The Good News requires men and women to make a decision about Jesus as Lord.  Nothing else but acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord by faith would establish eternal life in them.  Rejection of Jesus as Lord would bring eternal damnation to their lives.  This news was not good news to the rebellious and sinful.  The path of life for these recalcitrants would not lead to being a child of God, but would lead to eternal damnation.  Jesus promised Paul hatred from the Jew and Greek alike, not love, acceptance, and praise from them.  “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.  You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.  When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.  Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.  (Matthew 10:21-23)  We see in the Philippi jail, Jesus’ promise to Paul, You will be hated by everyone because of me.  

But in truth, Jesus brought the love of God to all mankind.  He alone paid the horrendous price of freeing men from the consequences of sin: DEATH.  The cross paved the way for all men and women to escape eternal death.  The cross alone reveals clearly God’s everlasting love for his creation that He made in his image.  This plan of God to bring into his presence children made holy by the cross was the essence of his plan for Adam and Eve from the very beginning.  Through the cross, God’s love and grace would be unveiled.  Even the law of Moses was draped in grace and mercy.  Obedience to the laws and regulations would satisfy God’s demands on mankind.  The chosen had received knowledge of God.  The rest of the world was in darkness and deception, trying to find the reason for life through other means, even through idol worship of many gods.  But Jesus came to reveal a Father God of love, unadulterated love.  This love is revealed clearly in the scene at Jesus' empty tomb.  In this scene, we hear two angels from heaven asking Mary about what she is doing there and why is she crying.  DEAR WOMAN, why are you crying?  These two angels are stating what heaven (God) feels about this human, Mary.  Their sensitivity with this woman and her broken heart shows heaven’s love for her.  Later, she meets someone she thinks is the gardener.  The “gardener” also expresses a love for Mary,  DEAR WOMAN, why are you crying?  Jesus, still a resident of this world is expressing the love of the Father to her by addressing her as dear woman.  She is considered as precious as the disciples or men, as highly praised in the Old Testament as King David.  On the cross Jesus addresses his mother in the same way, When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “DEAR WOMAN, here is your son.”  (John 19:26)  One of the most beautiful stories in the New Testament is the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery.  Her accusers were right about what should be done to this woman who betrayed her husband.  She should be stoned to death.  As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery.  They put her in front of the crowd.  “Teacher,”  they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery.  The law of Moses says to stone her.  What do you say?”  (John 8:3-5).  Her case of adultery had not yet been adjudicated by the Sanhedrin, but still she was definitely guilty.  The verdict from Jesus’ mouth should had been: stone her to death.  Instead He writes in the dust and then says the one without sin should throw the first stone.  The law says the people who caught her in adultery are obligated to throw the first stone.  The witnesses must throw the first stones, and then all the people may join in.  In this way, you will purge the evil from among you.  (Deuteronomy 17:7)  The law goes on and says, if the high priest finds her truly guilty, that it is a proven fact, the stoning should be carried out exactly as the sentence dictates.  No grace and mercy should be allowed in this situation.  The punishment must be carried out exactly as stated by the leaders.  Anyone who does not follow through with this sentence of the high priest is to be killed.  As we know by this story all who walked away from stoning of the woman were breaking the law, and they should be killed.  After they have interpreted the law and declared their verdict, the sentence they impose must be fully executed; do not modify it in any way.  Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the Lord your God must die.  In this way you will purge the evil from Israel.  Then everyone else will hear about it and be afraid to act so arrogantly.  (Deuteronomy 17:11-13)   Now in the above focus, we see Paul and Silas walking free from the bondage of the law of the Philippians.  They do not have to fulfill the requirements of the law on their lives.  God gave them grace and mercy by having an earthquake show up that night.  They did suffer, but their suffering brought a jailer and his family to God’s kingdom.  Jesus gave grace to the adulterous woman, not stoning her, but leading her to the kingdom of God.  Dear friends around this breakfast table, you do not have to fulfill the requirements of the law on your souls.  You can walk out of the dungeon of your life, the darkness and deception of life.  The first stone need not to be cast toward you, for Jesus is near, the kingdom of God is near, and the label of being a child of God is on your soul.  Paul and Silas spoke of this freedom in every community.  Jesus has not come to condemn you, but to free you today from sin, to walk in the freedom of the bright and morning star, Jesus Christ.  Rejoice in that freedom.  

Acts 16:11-18 Stand Tall!

Acts 16:11-18  From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis.  From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.  On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer.  We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.  One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth.  She was a worshiper of God.  The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.  When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home.  “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.”  And she persuaded us.  Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future.  She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.  She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”  She kept this up for many days.  Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!”  At that moment the spirit left her.

In the above focus we see Paul and Silas now discontinued their ministry in Asia and proceed on to Europe.  Paul reacted quickly to the Spirit of God’s leading to go across the Aegean Sea to Europe.  During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”  After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.  (Acts 16:9-10)  We know Paul was not satisfied in building upon someone else’s ministry; he wanted to reach new lands, places where people had never heard the Good News about Jesus Christ.  Consequently, the vision inspired him to go to Europe.  In Macedonia he goes to the largest city in the area: Phillippi.  There he bedded down for the night, probably in a place without the conveniences of a home, for we see his first convert, Lydia, invite him and Silas to her home.  As we see Jesus moving from one place to another in his travels around Israel, He sometimes bedded down in places that were out in the open, with few conveniences, such as the olive grove where He was arrested.  Once a teacher of the law who was convinced Jesus was a rabbi worthy of following asked Jesus if he could join his retinue.  Jesus revealed the cost of attaching to his ministry to the Israelites.  When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.  Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”  Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”  Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.  ”But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”  (Matthew 8:18-22)  Paul and Silas are now in a Roman city, in an unknown environment, willing to follow Jesus without really knowing where to lay their heads down at night.  They only knew that they MUST FOLLOW JESUS wherever He leads them.  They are in Phillippi for several days, not easy days of enjoying the climate and their new surroundings, not a sight-seeing, touring experience.  Instead, we see them going to a place where they can pray, probably concerning what they should do in Phillippi.  At the river on the Sabbath, they meet some Gentile women who are probably washing clothes.  They began to speak to the women who had gathered there, one of them was  Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth.  The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.  When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home.  We see in this narration that Luke the writer of Acts was also invited to her house.  Now these Jews were in Lydia’s home where they could further their ministry in Macedonia.  Their place of ministry was not in a temple or synagogue but at the river.  

One day when Paul and his companions were going to the river to pray, a woman met them who was demon possessed.  She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.  This seemed to be a wonderful message to shout out to the crowd, something like a billboard pointing  the way to a church or explaining the way of salvation: John 3:16.  What a great way to open Phillippi to the Good News!   However, this demon possessed woman was a tool of the devil.  She was a slave of a man who earned his money from this woman’s ability to predict the future.  This soothsayer, worked in the arena of the dark world, a seer who could tell people their future for money.  Even today, this occult ministry is very profitable; many people get involved with this New Age business.  For many days, Paul tolerated her incessant exposition of them being people sent by God to explain the way to be saved.  He knew the origin of this woman’s words; they came from the pit of hell.  She, an instrument of the dark world, was sounding out a discordant message for the people knew she was demon possessed.  Finally, Paul could not tolerate this situation of sweet water, a positive message, coming from a bitter spring.  “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!”  Of course the power of Jesus’ name delivered her from this demon immediately.  At that moment the spirit left her.  This acknowledgment of the devil that the disciple carried the Good News to people, troubled the world of darkness, a world of deception and utter evil.  With the Good News in the world, the devil’s dominance over people would be challenged.  The devil and his cohorts, the demons, knew their time was short: eternal judgment would fall on them soon.  What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted.  “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”  (Matthew 8:29)  After the fall, mankind slipped into darkness, so much that in Noah’s time, the Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.  (Genesis 6:5)  After the flood, the Lord said that every inclination of man’s heart was contaminated.  So darkness and confusion about life existed in humans until Abraham’s time.  Then Abraham’s choice of believing God’s words that life would come from his seed through the dead womb of Sarah brought light into the world.  Later on in the wilderness this light was manifested in the law and regulations.  Man failed to live up to the light, but the promise of Isaac, the SEED lived through the descendants of the Israelites, and culminated in Jesus, the Son of God, who would reveal forever to mankind the goodness and light of God.  Some people will try to bring the light of God to people by another way, other than complete dependence on the name of Jesus.  We see the sons of Sceva in their exorcism of demons combine Paul’s name with Jesus’ name.  They were becoming well known by their ability to  exorcise demons.  One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?”  Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all.  He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.  (Acts 19:14-16)   The devil and the demons know where the power of God rests, and it is in Jesus’ name alone.  Paul uses Jesus’ name to deliver this woman from the darkness that had inhabited her being.  James tells us the demons shudder at the knowledge of God.  They know the reality of God, and that we too should know the reality of God by faith, but this knowledge existing in us and through us leads us to good works for the sake of God being revealed to mankind.  But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.  ”Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.  You believe that there is one God.  Good!   Even the demons believe that—and shudder.  (James 2:18-19)

The devil knows the reality of the Good News; he does not want THE WAY taught in his land of darkness, but the disciples will do just that.  They will teach of the Good News, wrapped up in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, telling people everywhere that eternal life has come to them through faith in Jesus Christ.  But along with the giving of the Good News will come pain.  Paul and Silas will soon be confronted with suffering in Phillippi.  But as he tells Timothy,  My son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.  Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  (2 Timothy 2:1-3)  Paul is in chains as he writes this to Timothy but he is not finished with announcing the Good News to all who would trust in the knowledge of Jesus Christ as their Savior.  Paul is still on the offense.  He tells Christians, who are in a foreign land, owned by the devil, to put on the whole armor of God.  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  (Ephesians 6:10-12)  The devil was using this woman who was possessed by a demon to confuse the people of Phillippi; he was scheming to confuse these Roman citizens.  But Paul stood his ground; he knew she was part of the devil’s attack on him and the message of Jesus Christ as the redeemer of all mankind.  The full armor of God has defensive equipment and offensive equipment.  To stand your ground, wear the belt of truth around you; have the breastplate of righteousness in your life; and your feet fitted with the shoes of peace.  However, when you go into enemy territory, have the shield of faith to deflect the arrows coming against you, make sure your head is protected by the security of your salvation, use the sword of the Spirit, to even separate the marrow from the bone in people’s lives.  And in everything, either on defense or offense pray continually.  Paul and Silas were praying continually.  They were moving into enemy territory.  They, (the Gentiles) are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.  Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.  (Ephesians 4:17)  Paul and Silas were instruments of light, a brilliant contrast to the dark world of the Romans.  As  Paul said to Timothy, to be a vessel of Jesus Christ, you must be willing to die with him, to endure life's perplexities with him, to face ongoing hardships with him, to remain faithful to him as He is faithful to you all the time, and then, finally you will reign with him.   Christian companions, the blessings of a Christian’s life are many, but also concomitantly present are the hardships and the perplexities of life.  The road of a Christian is often not easy.  Jesus is not for quitters or those who retreat.  Jesus says,   Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.  (Matthew 10:37-39)  So often when the road becomes difficult in life, we consider as the Israelites didd to go back to Egypt, even as slaves, for at least in Egypt they could understand their existence.  But we who are on the threshold of eternal life, we will never go back to Egypt.  We will put on the full armor of God, when being attacked and when on the offense.  As Paul encouraged Timothy, endure all things, stand tall, let people know you are a child of the Living God.