Turning Persecution into Growth

RIVERSIDE INDONESIAN FELLOWSHIP
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Turning Persecution into Growth

Riverside Indonesian Fellowship
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2017 · 19 February 2017

Acts 16 will really leave an impression on all of us. Remember Lydia and her marvelous liberation? And then the incident about the woman possessed by a demon. And now we come to the third incident, the story about a Philippian jailer and how God reached out to him through an earthquake. The ultimate question that a man can ever ask is “What must I do to be saved?" And the only answer is given, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

And the ultimate question is, “What is life all about, where am I going and what am I doing here.” Often when a man comes to the place of terrible distress over his own life, only then is he ready to hear the message of salvation. Everybody who is not saved, is looking for meaning in life. For some, it is money, for others it may be prestige. For some maybe it is a new car or another wife. Maybe for others it is sex. Maybe it's athletics. For some people it is alcohol; for others it is drugs, but nothing really will satisfy.

We are traveling through the book of Acts with a great missionary team made up of Paul, Silas, Luke and Timothy. Now, they and the gospel have arrived at Philippi, the beachhead in Europe. And God directed them down by the riverside and they met some women there who were worshipping the true God. And God directed them to one woman in particular by the name of Lydia. And God opened Lydia's heart and she and her whole household were saved.

And immediately when God begins a work, Satan begins a counterwork. They ran into another woman who was a demon-possessed girl. In verses 16 to 18 it records that she followed Paul around for days and she tried what Satan loves to do, to infiltrate. She said, Oh, they are telling you the truth. You ought to believe them. Satan will say anything to get into the organization and then he will begin telling falsehood.

Paul didn't like this, so in verse 18 he just turned around, and didn't even talk to the girl; he just talked to the spirit in her. He said, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And the spirit came out the same hour." So, the enslaved lady was instantly freed. But the reaction was typical. Verse 19, “But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.”

Now, that reaction sets up what happens in verses 19 through 40. Satan's infiltration plan failed because Paul just cast out the demon. But if Satan cannot infiltrate, he has another alternative called persecution. And what happens when the church gets persecuted? It just grows. You see, the blood of the martyrs has always been the seed of the church. But Satan can't resist persecuting them even though he knows it doesn't work. Persecution always results in blessing. They multiply. Infiltration is what destroys.

What will bring positive results from a negative situation? Now here it is suffering persecution. This girl was essentially doing what all the rest of those fortune tellers and palm readers do; she was making a fortune. But she had some agents who were taking most of it, while she was only getting the residual. They didn't care about the girl. They were not happy that she is now delivered from that devil.

They realized that they lost their income. Now, we know that it is all about the money. Remember Mark 5 when Jesus came to Gadarenes where there was a maniac who had a legion of demons. And Jesus cast all the demons out of him. None of the people in town thanked Him. And after Jesus sent the demons into a herd of pigs who went right off a cliff and drowned, the reaction of the people was: “Hey go away, you killed our pigs.”

1 Timothy 6:10 is very explicit when it says that money can get into the way of spiritual perception, “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” It doesn't say that money is evil. Mark 10:23-25, “Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! 24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Well, Acts 16:19 says “they dragged them into the marketplace.” This is a switch for Paul. Back in Acts 8:3, Paul dragged Christians hauling them out of houses, both men and women. But here we see how Paul looks at persecution. Actually, for him it was an opportunity. This place was the big city center, with all the courts and the temple in this big marketplace. Verse 20, “And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city.”

Every Roman colony in a Greek city, was given two men who had supreme authority. So they said to the praetors, "These men, being Jews" and you could just feel the contempt. Anti-Semitism was a big thing in the Roman world. It is marvelous that God had just the right men who were of the right nationality with all the right citizenship and all the right background to do exactly what He wanted them to do.

They were Jews, which added to the beating, which added to the jailing, which resulted in a man's conversion, all planned by God. Verse 21 says, “And they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” That is correct. According to Cicero and Tertullian, the Romans had a law that no Roman could believe in or follow the teachings of a religion that had not been approved by the Senate.

They got into this mess in the first place by being bold. So first, persecution opens up new opportunities. In Acts 4 they preached so they were put in prison but because of that they were able to preach to the Sanhedrin. They were released and told not to preach again. But they preached again and people got saved. Every time they did it boldly, the Lord brought results.

Verse 22, “Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods.” Now, the local police carried with them, for the purpose of punishment, a pile of rods. This was a Roman punishment but without a trial or anything. Do you know that Paul received punishment like that three times in his life? Verse 23, “And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely.”

Verse 24, “Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.” According to archeology, the stocks that they used in those days had a series of holes that got wider and wider and the idea was to spread the legs of the individual as far as they could go in order to induce cramping. And so after all the beating was done, their legs were stretched to increase their suffering.

But that didn't bother Paul. He was in prison often and later on in his life in another prison he wrote in Philippians 1:12-14, “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, 13 so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; 14 and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”

Secondly, persecution led to singing praises. We for sure have never suffered anything like this. Look at their attitude in the midst of this. Verse 25, “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” They wanted the prisoners to hear them, they were giving a witness. On what basis could they praise God? Because God never changes. If God is worth praising right now, He is worth praising anytime at any moment.

A Christian is defeated, when he begins to focus on his own problems. Christians often say where is God? Or, what's happening in my life? Has God forsaken me? If you just are willing to be patient and wait, God is perfecting you. And so they are there singing praises while in pain. Remember 1 Peter 5:10, “But may the God of all grace, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”

The Christian life, depends upon your knowledge of God. You can base your whole Christian attitude on who you really believe God is. When you understand who God is, then you can look everything else in the right perspective. God doesn't change. They never let their problems alter their theology. So they were suffering purposefully and they knew it. They were just singing away, waiting for God to do what He was going to do.

How can you have a song in your heart? Ephesians 5:18 says, “Be filled with the Spirit” then you will “be singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” That comes out of a Spirit-controlled life, but even when you are Spirit-filled, you are still going to have problems. However with the Spirit you are able to go through them with victory. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

God always uses what He needs to use to accomplish what He wants. It was like that with me. God speaks to some and they listen. Others He has to beat up through all kinds of trials and only then they pay attention. Verse 26, “Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.”

Now, that is a specific earthquake localized right in the jail. And the effect of it was that it opened all the doors and opened all the chains. Now, that's amazing. Do you realize that when you go out to share Christ with people that God is on your side? And when the time comes when God is going to reach the prepared heart through you, it will happen. God just shook that jail till all the doors flew open and all the chains fell off.

Verse 27, “And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself.” If jail doors ever did all fly open, what prisoner would stay inside? And so the jailer takes out his sword to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had fled. Verse 28, “But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”

We don't know why they all did not leave, except that God kept them there. They had been hearing Paul and Silas singing praises to God and all the sudden God moved this earthquake. Verse 29, “Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.” Now who is in charge? Look how God can reverse the situation that fast. Salvation is a sovereign work, it is the work of God.

God had done all the preparation. The jailer knew that he was a lost man. He knew that he was sinner and he fell down before Paul and Silas. Salvation is the work of God and we are just around to supply the gospel. Verse 30, “And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” He didn't say, how did this happen? God had convicted him to that point already supernaturally.

Verse 31, “So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” He was ready, nothing stood in his way. That is the right question and that is the right answer. Verse 32, “Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.” Then they taught him what Jesus Christ did and who He was, and they taught everybody in his house also.

Does that teach that if a man gets saved, his whole house is automatically saved? No. They all heard the gospel and believed. Verse 34 says, “Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.” Salvation is by believing. Not by going to church or reading the Bible.

This guy was really saved. How do we know? Verse 33, “And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.” Not only did he believe in his heart, but he also showed his commitment to Christ, by washed their stripes at that hour of the night. He was transformed when God changes his life. Look how he suddenly became hospitable.

Verse 34, “Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them.” This jailer puts them in his house, cleans them up and he feeds them. He had the fruit of salvation. And he also rejoiced! Do you know that a few moments before he was contemplating suicide? God alone can transform a man that fast. Jesus said in John 13:35, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Paul's desire was to take care of believers. So God had a plan. Look at verse 35-36, “And when it was day, the magistrates sent the officers, saying, “Let those men go. 36 So the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart, and go in peace.”

Verse 37, “But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out.” It was forbidden under Roman law for the government to inflict a wound on a Roman citizen. Verse 38-39, “And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. 39 Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out, and asked them to depart from the city.”

They could be fired and that really scared them. But this was good for Christians. Actually Paul is saying, if you touch a Christian I will report you to Rome. He came back to Philippi later on and they didn't dare to lift a finger. And he left Luke there to care for them. Verse 40, “So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.” God really coordinates everything! Let us pray.



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