Still bleeding and in pain and given the surroundings they did what to most would seem a contradiction, they lifted their voice and worship God.
After rebuking a spirit of divination,that worked through a slave girl and causing a loss of revenue for this girl's master Paul and Silas were falsely accused , severely beaten and then cast into prison at Phillippi.
"The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten.
After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.
Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks" Acts:16:22-24
Praise at Midnight
Here, the two Christian ministers are ,while on the way to a prayer meeting, they encounter a young woman with a spirit of divination, when Paul turns and rebukes the spirit, her master seeing only a loss of income stirs up an assault on the two men of God they are beaten, falsely accused and locked in a secure cell in the very depths of the prison, bound in chains. Here they are in a dismal place to be, but then at midnight, the darkest part of the night they lift their voices in praise to God. They lifted their voices glorifying Jesus Christ.
"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them" Acts:16:25.
This was their response to the circumstances, they did not fall into self pity nor did they focused upon the pain they were in, instead they worshiped. As they lifted their voices glorifying Jesus Christ the other prisoners heard them and listened to them sing. They noticed and heard their faith expressed in praises to God. It witnessed to the prisoners of the courage Christians can have in the face of hardship. Paul and Silas' minds were not on themselves but rather on Jesus.
They understood that Jesus was there with them, He was the strength they needed to face this or any time of hardship. They worshiped their Lord, without shame or reservation. They Knew there was nothing to fear .
This was their response to the circumstances, they did not fall into self pity nor did they focused upon the pain they were in, instead they worshiped. As they lifted their voices glorifying Jesus Christ the other prisoners heard them and listened to them sing. They noticed and heard their faith expressed in praises to God. It witnessed to the prisoners of the courage Christians can have in the face of hardship. Paul and Silas' minds were not on themselves but rather on Jesus.
They understood that Jesus was there with them, He was the strength they needed to face this or any time of hardship. They worshiped their Lord, without shame or reservation. They Knew there was nothing to fear .
As it says in Hebrews13:5-6 "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”"
God's Response
As they praised the great God, at the darkness part of the night , when mornings' light was still far off God responses to their worship and shakes the Earth .
"Suddenly
there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison
were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s
chains came loose".
Acts:16:25
The door of their cell is broken off its hinges ,the chains are broken, but they do flee, that is they do not need to escape the situation, for they are already free. The freedom that Paul and Silas had is true freedom found only in Jesus. They ,in truth, were the freest men in the prison they had a freedom which goes beyond circumstance.
The Jailer under who's charge they were in,sees what has happened and assumes they have fled and moves to end his life, and is to his amazement , is stopped by Paul.
"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!”Acts:16:27-28
Realizing that they are still here in spite of the obvious opportunity to escape was not taken , he sees the faith in these men to stand and face hardship , sustained by the faith of the Lord they serve, the Jailer is over whelmed and is moved to conversion and a desire to know Jesus who has moved so mightily in their lives.
The door of their cell is broken off its hinges ,the chains are broken, but they do flee, that is they do not need to escape the situation, for they are already free. The freedom that Paul and Silas had is true freedom found only in Jesus. They ,in truth, were the freest men in the prison they had a freedom which goes beyond circumstance.
The Jailer under who's charge they were in,sees what has happened and assumes they have fled and moves to end his life, and is to his amazement , is stopped by Paul.
"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!”Acts:16:27-28
Realizing that they are still here in spite of the obvious opportunity to escape was not taken , he sees the faith in these men to stand and face hardship , sustained by the faith of the Lord they serve, the Jailer is over whelmed and is moved to conversion and a desire to know Jesus who has moved so mightily in their lives.
"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?”
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 family 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
family" Acts 29-34
All Have Trials
Just as Paul and Silas
were on their way to a prayer meeting and found themselves in a very difficult situation we too can find ourselves with challenges, that imprison us, but how do we respond? Difficult times will come upon us all, hopeful we wont find ourselves facing what Paul and Silas did but we all will face trails of some sort.
"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you:" 1Peter:4:12
"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you:" 1Peter:4:12
We can face many things in this life, but how do we respond? Paul and Silas in truth demonstrate how we all should face difficulties from which there seems no way out, even when there is no comfort at hand, we truly are in the "inner prison", just as Paul and Silas found themselves. We can be, at the midnight our of our trail, that is ,when all seems dark, it is now at these moments of trials that we should worship and praise God and give Him glory.
At Mid Night
When it seemed
the darkest, at mid night, the darkest part of the night when the hopeful dawn was yet far off their voices rose up in the night and songs of praise echoed in the cold prison corridors, Acts tells us that the other prisoners took note of how they dealt with the situation, that tells us others notice how we face hardships in life“the prisons were listening to them”
as they sang and praised God.
They turned to
Him, “the prisons were listening to them”-
as they sang and praised God. This tells us people take
notice of how we handle trails and test. Then God came and answered- He responded
to their worship and praise of God.
God Moves to Deliver
When it seemed hopeless the Great God delivers them came to save them, He shook the earth. What God did was to show what was true, that He was with them. It is when things seem the worst that God can come to the inner prison of our trails and test and shake the earth its self and show forth His deliverance in our lives.
When we lifted up our voices and praise God it demonstrates that He is present "God inhabits the praises of His people" Psalm:22:3
We see here, what is acted out , in Psalm 18: Our God intervening with power as He saves His people.
Real Freedom
The chains fell off and the doors were
open- but they did not run- they were already free this is the freedom that comes only through Jesus Christ- this is the freedom that Jesus came to bring us.
"He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed," Luke:4:18b
"He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed," Luke:4:18b
This freedom releases us from so much, we have hope and even peace which surpasses understanding or even reason, it frees us to glorify our Lord always.
Jailer Converted
When the Jailer awoke he saw what had
happened he asked "What must I do
to be saved?" he is like those around us who are moved by how Christians can face difficult times and are moved to ask about our faith, which sustains us in our trials.When others see
how we are handling our trails and test, God can use it to call others to
Christ.
Peter tells advises us to rejoice even in hardship, for we have hope in the Son of God, remember this; that no matter how bad the circumstance is in life, it is for this life only and will not follow us into eternity all because of Jesus, this alone can set our hearts free to give glory to God. 1Peter:1:6
We should praise Him out
of the midst of our trails . He will come to us to strengthen us to encourage us that we can encourage
others our deliverance is in Him not circumstance and He can use
us to bring others to Jesus Christ. Amen
Rev.Todd Crouch, Pastor
The Fountain of Life Church a Congregation of Grace Communion
Washington, Pa
Fountain of Life Broadcast heard on RKP
Radio 1710 & 1670 AM in Washington, Pa.and 1710 AM in Bentleyville ,
Pa. And online around the world at www.rkpradio.com
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