The Scriptures.

Paul a pattern for us of the longsuffering of Jesus Christ our Lord. Let's not lose sight of this as we continue to study more of Paul's ministry.

Chosen by the Lord specifically to bring the good news of salvation to others, Paul lived to this end. Recovering from his whipping and imprisonment, Paul traveled onwards.  It was Paul's manner to enter the Jewish synagogue when he went to a new city. He'd enter on the Sabbath days and he would talk with the Jews there. Paul knew the scriptures very well, he'd studied them from his youth. He would reason with the men OUT OF THE SCRIPTURES. Paul didn't just go in and tell the story of Jesus Christ, he presented facts from the very scriptures these men believed and followed.  The only scriptures Paul had were what we call the old testament.  Do you remember these verses-

Luk 24:15  And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 

Luk 24:25  Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 

Luk 24:26  Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 

Luk 24:27  And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 

The prophet spoke- and it was recorded in the scriptures.  Jesus himself began at MOSES and ALL the PROPHETS and expounded to them in ALL the scriptures the things concerning HIMSELF.

Eye opening revelations for so many to be able to hear exactly where the scriptures they held to be HOLY, to be TRUTH, to be GOD'S WORD to them- revealed Jesus Christ to be their MESSIAH. 

Paul would go to the SCRIPTURES to REASON with these men. Paul didn't hold up some scroll written by an apostle, he didn't tell them what he thought, he went to the SCRIPTURES.  Do we go to the scriptures? Are they relevant to us today? We get so focused on the newer scriptures we may seem to neglect the older scriptures but it is in the older scriptures where Paul found the Savior, in it in the older scriptures Jesus Himself revealed the prophecies of His coming. The gospel was preached with a mingling of the prophecies and the revelation of the fulfillment of those prophecies. The new scriptures are the writings of those fulfilled prophecies and prophecies for the future.  The scriptures- old and new- are both HOLY, given to us by the HOLY SPIRIT.  Paul used, them and we NEED to use them as well.   All by the grace and mercy, the will of our Lord and Savior now and forever! All in His most amazing LOVE.

Act 17:1  Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: 

Act 17:2  And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures

Paul and Silas freed.

Act 16:35  And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go. 

Act 16:36  And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. 

Act 16:37  But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. 

Act 16:38  And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans. 

Act 16:39  And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city. 

Act 16:40  And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed. 

The day dawned after such an exciting night. The horror of being whipped and imprisoned didn't keep Paul and Silas from praying and singing praises to God. Then a powerful earthquake shook the jail so that the doors and chains both broke so that the prisoners were capable of escape. Having believed the prisoners gone the jail keeper was about to end his own life but Paul stopped him letting the despondent man know they were still there, they hadn't ran off. The man was so amazed and grateful he couldn't help but believe in the truth of what the disciples stood for. The man took Paul and Silas to his home and after talking to the family all of them believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ and longed to be saved. Taking them to be baptized that very hour the disciples were then invited back to the jail keeper's home where they were fed well and kept safe.

When the DAY came the magistrates sent the sergeants to the jail wanting the men freed. The jail keeper told Paul and Silas this but Paul didn't want to be sent off in secrecy. Paul told them they were beaten in public, condemned, and they were Romans, and they were imprisoned. If the magistrates wanted them to leave they had to come and get them out themselves.

Now the sergeants were afraid because those they'd beaten and imprisoned were Romans.

Obviously the Magistrates were afraid too because they quickly came and removed them from the prison and asked them to leave the city.

Paul and Silas weren't there to make trouble, on the contrary they wanted the gospel to reach all that it was possible to reach and the gospel did not advocate violence at all.  They left the prison and went to another Christ follower's house and visited with their friends and were comforted and then they left the city.

Paul and Silas wanted to share Christ with everyone as God led them to do so. It didn't matter to them what hardships, what sufferings they had to endure. They would DIE for their beliefs.  They would suffer severely for their faith.  WE have to comprehend the reality of this and not just believe we aren't to suffer for our beliefs. If God doesn't call you to suffer for your faith that's wonderful, I’m not saying everyone is called to suffer the same. But we KNOW if we are going to follow Christ we are called to live for Him and if we are living for Him and NOT for the world - there will be sufferings. If we are speaking truth to others as God directs us then we will suffer because the majority of people will not believe in truth. Spiritual suffering, physically suffering, we will suffer and may GOD help us to endure and count any and all suffering as joy, just as Paul did.

Please, Lord, please we would be YOURS! All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! Now and Forever!

Suffering Salvation.

Act 16:30  And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 

Yesterday we studied the above- The prison jailer was shocked to discover all the prisoners were still in their cells without any shackles or doors to hold them. This man was so shocked he knew that what Paul and Silas were guilty of was false, that their praying and singing and all they were as disciples of Jesus was true. Going from a hairsbreadth from committing suicide to asking the disciples what he must do to be saved, this man was converted to follow Christ!

Act 16:31  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 

Act 16:32  And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 

Act 16:33  And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. 

Act 16:34  And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. 

Amazing! Simply amazing! They told the man to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, him and his house, his family.  Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to the jailer and his family and then they went to the river and washed the blood from their bodies and then baptized the jailer and his family, all in the same hour. AMAZING! The power of the Holy Spirit at work, the wonder of the gospel of our Savior!

The jailer then brought them all back to his house and fed them, rejoicing, believing in God- all of them!

Such an amazing conversion.  Paul and Silas were whipped and imprisoned, could it have been solely for the ultimate salvation of the jailer and his family? Paul counted all his hardships as joy, he knew God had a reason, a purpose for ultimate eternal good in all He allowed.

Paul suffered so much, as did many followers of Christ.

Are we to suffer? When we suffer can we count it joy? Does God have an ultimate purpose for our agonies? Can we trust Him towards that end? Can any suffering we undergo be worth it all for the salvation of a single person?

God's will in all things! We would be tremendously blessed if anything we do brings a single person closer to our Savior and His amazing love.

May God use us, all in HIS LOVE!

Act 16:35  And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go. 

Act 16:36  And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. 

Act 16:37  But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. 

Act 16:38  And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans. 

Act 16:39  And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city. 

Act 16:40  And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed. 

Paul- beaten and jailed, continued to do God's will.

When in prison do you imagine a lot of those imprisoned long to break out of their confines? There have been numerous tales of jailbreaks, and attempted jailbreaks, it truly is a common theme. My faulty logic tells me that most prisoners don't wish to escape so much as they wish they could get out of jail legally so they can go back to their lives without fear of be apprehended for escaping. Of course, I'm thinking with a twenty-first century mind, not one 2000 years ago.  Would the time make a difference, I imagine to some degree. Still and all, a lot of prisoners may take advantage of a jailbreak if it were made easy enough for them to get away, right? In any case, Paul and Silas, whipped and in chains, imprisoned in the local jail were singing songs of praise to God and praying when SUDDENLY there was a huge earthquake! This earthquake was so great that the very foundations of the prison were shaken and IMMEDIATELY all the door of the prison were opened and all the shackles loosed. Just take a moment and picture it all. The chaos of it all but also the quickness of it all happening. The prison keeper was sleeping when it happened and it woke him. Instantly he saw the prison doors were all open and the greatest of despair overtook him. It was his job to keep the prisoners from escaping and if he hadn't been sleeping but awake when it happened he may have been able to  keep the prisoners from escaping! They were all gone and he was to be held accountable. He knew that his punishment would be humiliation and death and something broke inside him. He would kill himself before he faced the awful knowledge what he'd allowed to happen.  Positioning the sword to slice into his own body he was about to plunge it into himself when he heard a prisoner cry out to him-  "Do yourself NO harm for we are all here!"  Paul saw the keeper's intent and did not want the man to end his own life.  He could have said nothing and let the man kill himself and then escaped but that was not what God willed. Allowing someone to hurt themselves will forever be wrong when we have it in our power to help them.

The prison keeper called for a light and quickly ran into the cell area. Shaking violently from his near suicide he fell down in front of Paul and Silas. Rising up again, he brought them out of their cell and said- "Sirs, what must I do to be saved."

More on this tomorrow by the GRACE and WILL of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST! NOW and FOREVER!

Act 16:26  And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. 

Act 16:27  And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 

Act 16:28  But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 

Act 16:29  Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 

Act 16:30  And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 

After you suffer awhile.

Act 16:25  And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 

Remember they were BEATEN- given MANY stripes!  The pain they had to feel had to be horrific. Yet, here they were, praying and singing praises unto God! Blood soak clothing, chains on their feet, nothing at all comfortable about their prison and they were praying and singing!

Prayer and song.  Just how incredibly important are prayer and song? The Bible is filled with BOTH. Prayer and song- daily occurrences. Paul and Silas were not praying and singing solely because of their situation. They habitually prayed and sang. To pray and sing in their dire circumstances was them proclaiming their faith loud and clear amid the worst of tribulations.

Personally, I can't imagine being whipped once, let alone many times. Sure, I received a whupping here and there as a child, but never from a fierce whip wielding enemy intent upon my suffering. Whipped repeatedly for their faith! Imprisoned for their faith! Singing praises! Praying to their God! If only I could sing and pray to God in my own personal tribulations which are a far cry from being whipped and imprisoned.

Paul and Silas were heard praying and singing by other prisoners, I can just imagine those prisoners thoughts. They sure weren't praying and singing themselves and yet here were two freshly whipped and incarcerated prisoners praying and singing, and not singing a mournful woe is me tune, but praises to God!

They PRAISED GOD in their agony, so why aren't we taught to praise God in our much lesser agonies? Can you imagine going through personal horrors and praising God? It's hard to do so, isn't it? We'd much rather cry and lash out, mourn and complain when we are given our tribulations. Our faith can't see beyond our dark and very troubled times. Is it any wonder that it's questionable that God will find any faith left on earth? Our faith is so darn fickle so it's really not very much like faith at all but something we pretend is faith.

We do, seriously, we have pretend faith and it comes and goes sometimes from day to day, hour to hour.

When will we get a faith that truly is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen? When will we be able to look beyond our individual tragedies that plague us all the time, I'm talking about the little tragedies too- the upsets that have us frustrated so very often.  Why can't we see past EVERY single life obstacle in our path towards Jesus? Why can't our HOPE be in Him even when we are sick and in pain, when mentally and emotionally we are being tortured? EITHER we truly believe EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING we face here is temporary to eternity, or we don't. 

I'm not saying things aren't going to cause us to cry or get angry- Jesus did both, the disciples cried and became angry, we are going to do these things. The biggest thing we have to always do is HOLD FAST to the FAITH that after the tears have been cried and the anger assuaged, or rather even while we are crying and fuming, we KNOW that Christ is our Savior and some unfathomable way things will work out for ETERNITY'S sake, not for our temporary time here and now. Our time here and now may be one bad thing after another, constantly. Our time here might be a constant state of insecurity in things that keep us clothed, fed, housed, and healthy. The only security we are promised is a heavenly treasure, not an earthly treasure of even the smallest kind.

1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 

1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 

1Pe 5:9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 

1Pe 5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 

1Pe 5:11  To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 

  

How many God-fearing people are really controlled by Satan?

Possessed by an evil spirit- this is a reality. Paul and Silas were on their way to pray and a girl possessed with an evil spirit of divining intercepted them.  This girl had masters, note- more than one, and these masters used her soothsaying for their greed.  This was REAL.  We pass stores with flashing neon signs advertising PYSCHIC READINGS, and what do most of us do, scoff at it. We don't believe. But truthfully we SHOULD believe that there are EVIL spirits at work.  On the other hand there are those who use these soothsaying-psychics and believe they are from God, and their work is a good work. However, unless they are solely using a gift of prophecy for God's glory only, and not to make money by reading palms, using cards, and telling people their future and fortune, they are NOT of God. You can hate me for saying that, and call me a liar, and not believe it at all, that’s your prerogative. Your psychic may be the sweetest, loveliest, nicest, best person you've ever known - someone you would NEVER believe is possessed of an evil spirit, and there is Satan's deception at work, a perfect example. Satan deceives. Satan doesn't make his evil ways evil appearing, he deceives, he has the evil angel take on the appearance of an angel of light, and therein people are led astray- people you would never imagine being led astray.  How many God-fearing people are controlled by Satan? We don't know, but there are going to be a lot, we can only pray desperately that we are not among them. 

Going back to this girl Paul and Silas encountered, this girl with REAL power of divination given to her by evil spirits, pestered Paul and Silas as they went about their business.

Yes, her pestering may have been words of truth- she said- These men are the servants of the most high God which show us the way of salvation. Truth.  But coming from the mouth of an evil spirit controlled girl could never be deemed a good thing.

Many days she accosted them and verbally spouted her declarations and finally Paul- who was grieved by the poor girl's demonic possession- turned to face the spirit and commanded it in Jesus' name to come out of her.

The evil spirit released the girl that same hour.  She was FREE! The evil that had lived within her was taken out!

How she felt about being relieved of the evil spirit isn't mentioned here, but her masters are.  When they realized the girls special powers were gone they were furious! Their cash cow, their money maker was gone and it was all Paul and Silas' fault.  They captured the two disciples and dragged them to the rulers of the marketplace. Put in front of the city's magistrate they were accused first of being Jews, and being a Jew among Gentiles was a pretty big deal. Then they were accused of troubling the city, and teaching new customs, unlawful customs at that. These were Romans and they were NOT allowed to observe the stuff these Christ followers were preaching. 

Stirred up by the masters of the girl the rulers, the magistrates tore off their garments and ordered Paul and Silas to be beaten.

Do you suppose that Paul hadn't immediately rebuked that evil spirit because he knew what would happen? He waited. That possessed girl continued for days calling out about Paul and Silas and she could have been healed from the possession immediately but she wasn't. God still had work for Paul and Silas before the girl could be healed.

Now, Paul and Silas were whipped with MANY stripes and thrown into prison.  Just imagine the agony they had to be in. They suffered!

Secured in the prison, their feet in stocks, again just imagine their agony.

The girl- freed from her evil spirit was worth it all, right? Spreading the good news of the Savior's gospel, the gift of salvation, healing in the name of Jesus Christ, this was worth it all. One person receptive to the message of salvation is worth the horrific pain.

We have to comprehend the reality of the world we live in with Paul a pattern of Christ's longsuffering. Paul worked hard and endured MUCH suffering. Do we?  No. We don't believe we should have to, it's just not part of our way of life, right?

If God calls us to endure suffering, may we be prepared to suffer for Him in whatever way He needs us to suffer all for the glory of God and His kingdom.

Act 16:16  And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: 

Act 16:17  The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. 

Act 16:18  And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. 

Act 16:19  And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, 

Act 16:20  And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, 

Act 16:21  And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. 

Act 16:22  And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. 

Act 16:23  And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: 

Act 16:24  Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

The Holy Spirits and Evil Spirits- Both Can Do Miracles.

Act 16:6  Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, 

Act 16:7  After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. 

Act 16:8  And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas. 

Act 16:9  And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. 

Act 16:10  And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. 

Forbidden of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit suffered them not.

A vision appeared…saying…

The Lord was guiding Paul and Silas as they journeyed in a very real way.

We often WISH to hear the Holy Spirit so clearly as it is written here, don't we? Maybe some of you do, but I'm not among those that hear clearly. Is it my fault? Yes. Or perhaps these days not many hear the Spirit or witness the power of miracles, because there is a very great danger in these last days of doing so.

Mat_24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Mar_13:22  For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.

2Th_2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

Rev_13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Rev_16:14  For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

The spirits of DEVILS will be working miracles and they'll be doing so in order to deceive.

Evil spirits are a reality.

These evil spirits WILL-  no doubt here, they WILL deceive many.  These evil spirits WILL perform miracles.  These evil spirits WILL show signs and wonders.  There will be many signs and much deception.

We cannot focus on being witnesses to supernatural events, we can't strive to hear the voice of the Spirit. We need to solely seek God and His will.  We need to be quiet and let the Spirit speak in the Word of God, in prayer.

The Spirit FORBADE actions Paul and Silas sought to take. The Spirit suffered them not- it didn't allow them to do something they wanted-  THE Spirit didn't go along with all that the apostles desired to do, things they thought would be good, and right, and for God's work. God- the Spirit had other ideas. They were shown what God wanted of them eventually, but they weren't all knowing.  This same Holy Spirit will truly guide us today but in His way, not ours. We have to believe.

All through Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR, now and forever!!!!!!!