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Book: Acts
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Acts 16:25 Songs In The Night
Intro. Paul was directed by the Holy Spirit to take the gospel to
Macedonia. He came to the city of Philippi, and on the Sabbath
day went down by the river and spoke to the ladies who had
gathered there.
I. The annoyance of the woman with the spirit of divination.
A. She followed them and cried saying, "These men are the servants
of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation."
1. What she was saying was basically correct.
2. It must have been the way that she was saying it that
bothered Paul.
3. It is just possible that Paul did not like the devil
doing his advertising.
B. Paul, in the name of Jesus Christ, commanded the evil spirit to
come out of her.
1. All evil spirits are subject to the authority of the
name of Jesus.
2. Thus the evil spirit came out of her.
C. This created a problem, for men had controlled her life and had
used her divining powers for their own personal gain.
1. When they saw that she was no longer a channel for the
evil spirit, they realized that their hope for making
money off of her powers was over.
2. They brought Paul and Silas into the market place
before the rulers of the city and began to make
accusations against them.
a. "These men being Jews trouble our city." There
weren't many Jews in Philippi, perhaps because
of anti Jewish sentiment among the people.
b. "They teach unlawful customs that we cannot
receive or observe being Romans." They were
teaching that Jesus was Lord. The Romans would
often demand the people to say, "Caesar is
lord." Christians would refuse to do so and
were thus looked upon as insurrectionists.
c. It is interesting that they did not mention the
true reason that they were upset with Paul and
Silas.
1. They tried to pretend that it was their
deep devotion to Rome that motivated
them to bring them before the
magistrates.
2. In reality it was their deep devotion
to their pocketbooks, that caused them
to level charges against Paul.
3. This is so true to human nature.
4. The very thing that they are accusing
you of is often not the real issue that
has them upset.
5. They don't want to mention the true
issue for it is often so foolish and
trite that they are afraid to
acknowledge it, so they pretend to be
angry about something else.
D. The magistrates commanded that their clothes be torn off and
they be beaten.
1. We are told that many stripes were laid on them and
they were then thrown into prison.
2. We are told that the jailer put them in stocks in the
inner prison.
3. Can you imagine a more dismal plight?
a. We know from the continuation of the story that
the blood from the beating was not even wiped
off.
b. Their feet and hands held in the stocks in the
inner prison.
c. It would be sort of like being in a Mexican
jail with no representation.
E. What do you think that you would do under such circumstances?
1. They were probably to uncomfortable to sleep, their
backs still smarting from the beating.
2. Their future was certainly uncertain at this point thus
the potential of emotional distress.
3. Satan often uses such circumstances to attack us
spiritually.
a. If God loves you why did He allow this to
happen to you?
b. Are you sure it was God calling you to come to
Macedonia?
c. How long are they going to keep you here? Will
they ever let you out?
d. Have you ever noticed that Satan's attacks
often come in the form of questions.
1. Question God's word.
2. Question God's love.
3. Question God's fairness.
F. What they did. They prayed and sang praises unto God at
midnight.
1. Jails are not noted to be the friendliest places in the
world.
2. Can't you imagine the remarks being made by the other
prisoners who were trying to sleep.
3. It is an interesting note, though their bodies were
bound, their spirits were free.
a. A man whose spirit is free though physically
bound, is light years ahead of a man whose body
is free but whose spirit is bound.
II. Singing as a means of praise.
A. Why is it that we think that one of the greatest ways to
express love is to sing about it.
1. Think of how many love songs have been written.
2. Somehow singing is a great way of expressing our
emotions.
a. Whether it be sorrow or grief, like in so many
country western songs.
b. Or love and joy.
3. It is also a great way of stirring our emotions.
a. Singing has thus become an important part of
worship.
b. Singing of the One we love.
c. Singing to the One we love.
4. Our spirits are lifted by singing.
a. A dark dungeon can be turned into a house of
worship.
b. It takes our minds off of ourselves, our pain
or fears, and it focuses our minds on the Lord.
c. I have discovered that the more I focus on my
problems the bigger they grow, until they seem
insurmountable.
d. The more I focus on the Lord, the smaller my
problem seems until it becomes insignificant.
5. When I was a child, my younger brother had asthma. When
he would start wheezing at night my mother would come
and take him out of bed and sit in a old wooden rocker
that squeaked as she would rock him. I can still hear
vividly her singing Jesus never fails over and over as
she comforted him and now that I think of it comforted
herself. Songs in the night hours, how comforting they
can be.
6. My experience of food poisoning at a conference in
Penn. I feeling so miserable, and I was so weak.
7. Singing actually becomes a faith builder, for as we
become focused on Jesus rather than our problem, we
then see our problems in the light of His power and
ability, rather than our own weakness.
8. Notice the Psalms, so many of them were songs written
by David in response to dire circumstances that he was
facing.
a. Notice how they focus on the Lord, His power,
His greatness, His strength. He is my fortress,
He is my high tower, He is my strength.
b. Next time you are worried, start singing.
III. The conversion of the jailer.
A. As they were singing there was a great earthquake that opened
the prison doors, and broke the stocks that held them.
1. The jailer was awakened by the earthquake and seeing
all the prison doors open, assumed that the prisoners
had escaped and started to commit suicide.
2. Paul cried out to him to stop, assuring him that no one
had escaped.
3. He came in trembling asking how he could be saved.
B. We now see the hand of God and understand why God had allowed
Paul and Silas to suffer such injustice.
1. God was wanting to reach the hardened heart of a jailer
and bring salvation to his whole family.
2. He no doubt became an important part of the church that
developed in that city. Perhaps even one of the elders.
3. We do know that there was a strong healthy church in
Philippi that continued to send support to Paul to
further his ministry.
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