The Book of Acts tells how the early Church grew after Jesus’ ascension. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, giving believers power to preach boldly. Peter and Paul were key leaders in spreading the gospel, which moved from Jerusalem to the Gentile world. Even through persecution, the Church grew strong through prayer, unity, and generosity. God used ordinary people, including former enemies like Paul, to carry out His mission. Christians today are called to be Spirit-filled, faithful, and bold as they continue the work that began in Acts.
[Music] do spelling check only using the bible
as a guide do not remove words or summarize: Now the dark garage is a depiction of
these words, traditions, rituals, culture, philosophies that do not agree with the word of
God. So I urge you today to come out of that dark garage into the place of light. That light is the
word of God. That light is our life. That light is everything to us. Blessed be his holy name forever
more. Before we dive into today’s teaching, I want to give you an overview, a summary of what we
covered last week in Acts of Apostles chapter 15. Last week we covered um the Jerusalem council
deliberation which came as a result of certain men who traveled all the way from Jerusalem to Antioch
just to tell the gentile believers that for them to be saved they must be circumcised according
to the law of Moses. when Paul and Barnabas debated with them, disagreed with them and when
they could not make any progress, the church in Antioch decided to send them to Jerusalem so
that they can hear from the apostles as well as the elders there. So when they got there, Paul
and uh Barnabas made their case and uh some of the Pharisees there who are now believers insisted
that gentile new converts must be circumcised and as well keep the law of Moses. So now Peter stood
up and reminded to them about his vision in Jer when he saw that white sheet led down from heaven
by its four corners filled with all manner of beast four-footed beast clean and unclean animals
and the voice telling him arise Peter kill and eat and he said Lord I have not eaten anything that
is unclean And in that vision he learned that the Gentiles and uh the Jews are saved the same way by
grace alone not by works. And after his testimony, James now who is the leader in Jerusalem affirmed
what Peter said by quoting Amos chapter 9 verse 11 all the way to 18. There it has been the mind
of God that all that Gentiles will come into the kingdom of God. So after that they concluded James
concluded that Gentiles should not be burdened with the yoke of keeping the laws of Moses.
Rather, they should have of four prohibitions that they should stay away from animals strangled, from
eating blood, from anything that is sacrificed on idol as well as sexual immorality. And this they
wrote in letter and gave it to the apostles to Barnabas and to Paul who and as well as Judas also
known as Barsabas and Silas. So they took this letter with them to go to Antioch and to Syria and
Celicia the churches over there. And when they got there the brethren the newcome converts were so
happy. They were so relieved that they don’t have to keep the laws of Moses in order to be saved.
Sometime after the Jerusalem council deliberation, Paul suggested to Barnabas, hey Barnabas, let’s
go and revisit all the places that we planted churches. And Paul and Barnabas saw it as a very
good idea. But you know what? Barabas wanted to take John Mark with him. But because John deserted
them in Perga Pamphylia, Paul said, “No, we’re not going to take him.” And uh their disagreement was
so sharp that they parted ways. And now Silas took John Mark, I’m sorry, Barnabas took John Mark and
he sailed to Cyprus. Whereas Paul now will take uh Silas and then they will go through um uh Syria as
well as Cilicia to Doby and Listra. This is what we covered last week. Just a summary of it. Let’s
have a word of prayer together before we continue. Heavenly Father, how grateful we are for the
opportunity to always come in your presence to be taught by your Holy Spirit. Father, we pray that
you will always remind us that even though we are in this world, we are not of this world. We are
only but pilgrims, our citizenship is in heaven. Remember to us also father that in this world
we will go through trials and tribulations. But even though weeping may endure for a night but
joy comes in the morning. And this joy that we are talking about here is the joy that is not
dependent upon our outside circumstances or things that are happening around us. But this
joy is dependent upon who we are in Christ Jesus. This joy is dependent upon the one who
made his promise to us when he said, “Behold, I am with you even to the end of time.” The one
who said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” The one who said, “I am the Lord, the God
of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” Today we will be studying Acts of Apostles chapter
16. We pray by your holy spirit the greatest teacher you will enlighten us today. You will
give us revelation and knowledge understanding clarity. We pray that the light of the glorious
gospel will shine in our part today. Help us dear holy spirit to be doers and not just hear
us only. Father we thank you for your goodness and your benefits towards toward us. Thank you
because you are faithful to all your promises and loving toward all you have made. Blessed be
your holy name. In one accord, your children this morning as we gather we say let all the glory,
honor, power, and majesty, dominion belong to you forever and ever more. In the matchless name
of Jesus Christ and everybody said, amen. So today we going to dive into Acts of the Apostles
chapter 16. If you miss any of our previous study, I will encourage you to go to our website. All
the teachings are there posted www.kuim.org as well. You can visit our YouTube channel which
is simple truth gospel with Kyrian. And all of our messages are there free of charge. So I read
uh from verse one as a chapter 16 verse1. Then he came to Doby and Listra. And behold a certain
disciple was there named Timothy the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed. But his
father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul
wanted to have him to go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who
were in that region. For they all knew that his father was Greek. And as they went through the
cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep which were determined by the apostles and
elders at Jerusalem. Verse five, so the churches were strengthened in the faith and increase in
number daily. So I will put up the map now on the screen to show you second missionary journey
of Paul. So if you learn better with visuals, it will help you a lot to see the areas that they
covered during the second missionary journey. So like I said earlier, Paul and Barnabas this time
they have parted ways and Barnabas took John Mark his cousin and he went to Cyprus. Now Paul
takes Silas and now they’re going to go through um Syria, Cilicia and they will go through
Dorbe and Lystra. Remember how they ended the first missionary journey. When they got
to Dobby that was when they made the decision to go back home. So now they re uh trace their
tracks by returning to all the places that they first visited. So they went back from Dolby
to Listra to Iconium to Antioch to Perga in Pamphylia and then back to Antioch in Syria where
they started their first missionary journey. So now Paul with Silas is in the region of Doby and
the Listra. When he got there, he met a young man, Timothy. And Timothy was someone who was well
spoken of by um local believers. He gained their reputation so much so that they spoke about him.
Timothy was a son of a Jewish mother who was a believer in Jesus Christ. But his dad was Greek,
an unbeliever. But uh Timothy was considered to be a Jew because Jewish heritage is stressed
through the mother even up to this present day. When Paul saw Timothy, he knew he could invest
in him. He saw something different in him. He knew he could become his spiritual father. He
can pour out what he knows in him. He can pour that in him. Someone that he chose to mentor
in the ways of our Lord Jesus Christ. Somewhere Paul would describe Timothy as one who has the
same mind who one who had the same mind as him. But there was something that was a problem here.
What is that problem? The people around the area, the Jews around the region, they know that
Timothy’s father was a Greek. So Timothy was not circumcised. Now what did Paul do? He called
Timothy. He said, “Timotimo, whatever he called him, Timoteimo, I have a good news and I have bad
news for you.” And Timothy may have said, “Give me the good news first. I want to hear that.” And
Paul said, “You’re going to be traveling with me to preach the gospel all over the world.” But the
bad news is this. I’m going to cut you. I’m going to put a knife in your reproductive part.
So that’s what um that’s what Paul did. He circumcised Timothy. Now at this time Timothy may
be about 15 years old. Now why did Paul circumcise Timothy? After all with him right there is the
decree from Jerusalem council that says that Gentiles are not required to be circumcised in
order to be saved. So why did Paul circumcise Timothy? He circumcised him in order to avoid
conflict, unnecessary conflict, in order to avoid any hindrance to the spreading of the gospel. In
order to avoid any offense to the Jews, in order to avoid Timothy being a stumbling block so that
the Jews will not receive the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So he continued now to travel with
Timothy as well as Silas. So three of them now going from one city to another city delivering to
them the decision made in Jerusalem that Gentiles are no more required to be circumcised
in order to come into the kingdom of God. What do we learn from this section? We learn that first of all God prepares servants
through faithfulness and character. You see Timothy’s strong testimony among believers
open door for him to serve along with Paul. He was faithful. He gave his
faith a corresponding action. Timothy probably was born again during Paul’s
first missionary journey. Remember they went to Dolby Listra and Doby. So that was
probably when Tim had a good news and believe. But after that he gave his faith
a corresponding action. He was faithful so much so that believers all around him knew
something was quite different about him. The kingdom of God is all about
service. In the kingdom of God, the way up is the way down, the way of
a servant. Jesus Christ said that he that must be great among you must become your
servant. Speaking to his disciples, he said, “You call me Lord and you call me teacher.
You are right. That’s who I am. But as I, your Lord and your teacher, if I have washed
your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. That is a reward for faithfulness in this world.
Do you know what it is? That reward is more service, more responsibility. The more faithful
you are, the more you’ve been trusted with much, much work to do in the kingdom of God. So give
your salvation today a corresponding action. Be faithful. Be obedient. You know what? Before
God can entrust something big in your hands, he will test you out with something very small.
You know, there are so many people don’t want to stand on the pit and preach to thousands of
people without even talking to two people at once. is a gradual step in the kingdom of God. There is
a day I want you to have this consciousness. There is a day God will reward us for our faithfulness
in heaven. When Jesus Christ will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Observe
that word faithful servant. He will say, “You’ve been faithful over a few things.
Now I will make you leader over many.” Now come on into the kingdom. Come
on into the joy of your Lord. Now the second thing we learn from this section is this effective ministry
required wisdom and flexibility. You see Paul’s decision to circumcise Timothy shows the importance of removing
unnecessary barriers in our ways. Paul demonstrated a great deal of reason here.
Even though circumcision was not required for one to come into the kingdom of God, Paul would
have successfully make that made that argument and tell them, “Hey, I have the letter here with
me. I don’t have to circumcise Timothy.” Yeah, he would have won the argument, but in
the process of winning the argument, he would have stumbled. for so many people.
Sometimes we have to let go our privileges, preferences, our rights in order to
attend to a higher purpose in life. It’s not all about who is right,
but what is right at that moment? Do you want to be successful in your life? Do
you want to be the one that walks in victory in Christ Jesus? Do you want to be that one that
will not be a a victim but a victor? Then I would urge you today to practice the principle
of Proverbs 3 verse 5 and 6 which says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean
not to your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all your ways and he will direct your path for
you. What is he talking about here when he says and lean onto your own understanding? Talking
about wisdom. Trust in God for wisdom in any area of your life. There are some people they are
successful in one area but they are not successful in another area. And why is that? Maybe they have
used wisdom of God in this area but they are not using it in other areas because they think that
maybe it’s too small. You know those things are minor things. No, the wisdom of God is very
imperative. Wisdom is very important in the kingdom of God. The Bible says get wisdom and
in all that you are getting get understanding. Don’t lean on your own understanding.
Because sometimes we don’t see things the way they are really. We see them
with um some kind of blood vision. When we judge with our own human minds, sometimes
we miss it. But when we ask God to give us His wisdom by His Holy Spirit to direct us in every
area of our life then we see victory will begin to manifest an endless victory. I am not saying
that you are not going to have challenges. I’m not saying that hindrances will not come your way.
My point is this even those things will come. But with the wisdom of God, you will be more than
a conqueror in Christ Jesus. So always pray for wisdom every single day. As you are about to
go out for the day business or work, ask God, shower me today from above with your wisdom.
Wisdom that overcomes the wisdom of men. wisdom to help me to know what to do, when to do it, how
to do it so that I’ll be very successful today in all the areas. It is a very important thing to
do. Don’t miss it. We continue now in verse six. Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the
region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in [a]Asia. 7 After they
had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the [b]Spirit did not permit them. 8 So
passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man
of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 Now
after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the
Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them So in this section here has Paul and Silas now
accompanied by Timothy continued their journey you know going from one place to another. They
attempted to preach in various regions including Asia. They wanted to go to Bithynia which
is Asia but the Holy Spirit redirected them, would not give them permission to go into Asia. So
as a result of this they passed through Mysia to Troas. While Paul was at Troas at night he had a
vision. In that vision, a Macedonian man standing and pleading with him, come over to Macedonia and
help us. So quickly, the missionary team concluded that God was calling them to go into Europe
into the region of Macedonia, which is Europe. I want you here to understand that um
the vision of the man of Macedonia is uh marked a turning point in the church history as
the gospel now began to move westward into Europe. I want to point something out to you in verse
10 where he said immediately we sought to go to Macedonia. Remember who is writing here Luke
the one who also wrote the gospel according to Luke. So this is the place where Luke joined
the missionary team. So now we have four people traveling. We have Paul, Silas, Timothy, plus
Luke. What we cover? What we learn from this section? Number one, if you’re writing notice, God
leads his people through open and closed doors. The spirit saying no in Bithynia was just as
important as the spirit saying yes in Macedonia. So when God says no, it is as important
as when he says yes, we must value both of them equally because they are divine
decision from God and very good for us. God will always direct his people either through
supernatural means or through natural means. Let me give you an example. You remember
Paul, we’re just talking about him here. The vision he had while he was at. Now in that
vision, God supernaturally directed him to go to Macedonia instead of going to Bethania. That
was supernatural. But remember in Galatia 4:13, Paul writing to Galatians told them that it was
sickness that first made him preach to them in Galatia. In that way, God used a physical
barrier to direct Paul to go into Galatia. What I’m what I want to advise you today
is this. When you encounter a closed door, don’t try to force it open. Sometimes when we
encounter a closed door, we are so frustrated that we want that door to open. So we are praying
God open the door. Open the door. We even invite our friends to join us in our prayer and in
our fasting asking God to open the door. The door must open now. It must now. Now it must
open. That’s what we do sometimes. You know, have you stopped and asked yourself this
question? Is this closed door from the Lord? Because sometimes God will use a closed door just
to get your attention, just to tell you that the route that you are going is not the right way.
God will use a closed door to get you to focus to prepare you for something even greater than
that which you want to go into at that point. The question is this when you are trying to
push that door to open do you know what is behind that door? There could be danger there.
There could be a trap set by the enemy there to devour you. There could be evil waiting
just behind that door that you’re trying to force open. But God sees it all. He knows
what lies behind that door. And sometimes he will keep it closed. So this is what
we do. When you encounter a closed door, the first thing you do is pray to God. Ask
God is this closed door from you? Because not all the time a door is closed that the enemy is
working against us. No. Ask God. I want to know this closed door. Is that from you? Should I wait?
Should I forbear? What should I do in this matter? And God by his holy spirit will direct you.
But we have to first ask him. We have to pray. Also when we pray in our prayer there
are three ways God will can answer us. You know God can say yes to our prayer.
So when the petition is right according to the will of God and the timing is
correct, God will say yes. And what I’m saying now is based in the principle
found in the word of God. God will say yes and u and uh that is the reason why sometimes
even before you about to finish your prayer God you know the answer is there and you’re smiling
and you’re rejoicing you know sometimes God will say wait when the petition is according to his
will for this is the confidence we have in him that when we pray according to his will he hears
us and when we know that he hears us whatever we ask then we know that we have the petition
that we desire from him so the will of God is very important God will not answer any prayer
that is against his will is as simple as that is why the best prayer you can ever pray is a prayer
according to the will of God and also the timing him. So when the will is right and the timing is
not there, God will say wait. That is the reason why sometimes when we pray, he seemed that God
is not hearing us. You know, it’s taking long, longer and longer and longer. When you are
in that place, keep on holding on. Never stop. Don’t quit. Hang in there. Keep
on praying. When the right time comes, the door will open. And there is some time
when God will say no. When the petition is made against his own will, the answer to that
prayer will be no. And regardless of what you do, that prayer will not be answered. You may
try to manipulate it your own way. You may try to get the answer your own way, but that is
not from God. And that will not be sustained. Let’s continue in verse um 11. Therefore,
sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to
Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is the [c]foremost city of that part of
Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day
we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and
spoke to the women who met there. 14 Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of
purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things
spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have
judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us. Blessed
be the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So what is going on here now? They’re going to go from to
you know the map will be up on your screen again just to show you how they travel at this time. So
from which is a place where Paul had that vision. They sail to Neapolis and then they travel inland
into Philippi. Now Philippi is a leading city in the district of Macedonia. Macedonia is the region
but Philippi is a city in there which is a Roman colony. Philippi was founded by Philip of Macedon
the father of Alexander the Great. You remember Alexander the Great the one who founded the
Grecian Empire who overcame Media-Persia Empire but this Grecian Empire founded by Alexander the
Great will be also overcome by the Roman Empire. The Philippi this uh uh Philippi was a place where
uh military men retired in those days. So when they got to Philippi which is the first city they
visited as they came into the region of Macedonia they went to the riverside on a Sabbath day. So
Scripture tells you they didn’t have a synagogue there. Probably they didn’t have up to 10 Jewish
men there required to start the synagogue. So they met a lady. They went to the riverside
where prayer was made and the ladies there one of them was Lydia. Now, Lydia was a merchant of
purple from Thyatira. You remember Thyatira was one of the churches that Jesus Christ sent those
post letters. Remember the seven letters Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation sent to seven
churches. Now, this is one of the cities there. Thyatira. That’s where Lydia came from. And
the Lord opened her heart to the good news, to the gospel. The Bible described her as a
worshiper of God. But she wasn’t born again. Remember Cornelius from Caesarea. He was a devout
man, one who prayed, fasted, gave alms to people, but wasn’t born again until the angel told him to
go and call Peter to come and show you how you can be born again. So the same way Lydia here, one
who worshiped God, but was not born again until when Paul brought the message, the good news, she
received it and then something clicked because there is a vacuum in everyone. The vacuum that
only God can fill. You see, God created everyone with that vacuum. Sometimes people will try to
fill that vacuum with so many things, so many idols, other gods themselves. But until that
vacuum is filled with God, one will continue to seek and seek and seek and never be satisfied.
So this is the case for Lydia here. Now something has come in to fill that vacuum the right
thing which is Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. So when she believed, Paul baptized Lydia and her
household and immediately she offered her house, you know, so that he could
host this missionary team. I want you here to see that missionary can
happen ministry I’m sorry ministry can happen anywhere. Here we see ministry
happening uh by the riverside. Ministry can happen at the parking lot. It can
happen at your workplace while you are waiting for your turn for your turn to check out at
the grocery store. Ministry can happen there at the soccer field, that football field.
ministry can happen there. So that is why we have to be ready always because
you don’t know when God is going to use you to minister to a heart that
he has been preparing for a while. That is why we must be ready in season and
out of season. always equipped ready to utilize every opportunity presented to us to
bring someone into the kingdom of God. Now, what are the principles we glean
from this section? Number one, God is the one who opens hearts to believe. God
is the one who opens hearts to believe. You see, Paul preached faithfully, but it was the Holy
Spirit who opened Lydia’s heart to believe. You cannot do it by your own power. Paul said, “I
planted, Apollos watered.” It was God who gave the increase. Our own role in the kingdom of God is to
be faithful and obedient. Obedient to what? To the mandate of our Lord Jesus Christ. To go into the
whole world, preach the gospel and make disciples. We when we are obedient mean that we share the
gospel. We preach the good news. That is our own part. That’s how God is going to reward us.
He’s not going to reward us based on numbers. Oh, I brought so numbers to the kingdom of God. No,
your faithfulness is the criterion for assessment. So sometimes we are uh discouraged when we preach
to someone and they do not receive the good news. We should not be discouraged. We’ve done our
own part. We cannot do our own part and then do the part of the Holy Spirit. It is the
Holy Spirit of God who opens the heart of people to receive the gospel. He is the one
who convicts the world of one sin. the sin of rejection of Jesus Christ. So we let the
Holy Spirit do his own work. We do our own work by being faithful and obedient to preach
the gospel. Now the Holy Spirit of God will take what we said to them and then convict
them and bring them into the kingdom of God. Number two, true faith leads to immediate fruit.
You see here leaders faith um was followed by hospitality. A genuine conviction
is always accomplished by actions. James writing said, “Show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith by my
works. For faith without works is dead. There has to be a corresponding action to our
faith. Even though we are not saved by works, but it is a fruit of our salvation. There has to
be an something evident that someone can see about you to know that you are different. Something
has to be different about you from the way you speak. Are you the one when you open your mouth
obscenities will flow? Or are you the one when you open your mouth your words will be seasoned
with salt to edify people who are around you? There has to be works, corresponding actions,
something that will tell an unbeliever something is different about this one. Something that will
attract them to want to have what you have. They have to see that in you. Your light has to shine.
People have to see that light shining in you. And that’s what Lydia demonstrated here.
As soon as she got born again, she gave her faith a corresponding action, hospitality. There
are those who are called with different gifts. And whatever God has called you to do, let it
shine brighter and brighter. Be an epistle. Someone will read about Jesus Christ.
Someone who may never read a Bible be that epistle that they can read and then
they will ask you about Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Blessed be his holy name forever
and ever more. We are now in verse uh 16. Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a
certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much
profit by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These
men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”
18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly [d]annoyed,
turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ
to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. 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. 20 And they brought them to the magistrates, and
said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; 21 and they teach customs which are
not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” 22 Then the multitude rose up together
against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods.
23 And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer
to keep them securely. 24 Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison
and fastened their feet in the stocks. So in this passage as Paul and his companions
continued ministering in um Philippi, so one day they encountered a girl as they going
for prayer, a slave girl. This girl was possessed by a spirit of divination. She earned a great
deal of money wealth for her owners through fortune telling. You know there are some people
who go for palm reading you know and somebody will read their poem and then make predictions
and tell them you know one thing or the other. You understand that palm reading is one tapping
into the realm of demons especially familiar spirits. There are familiar spirits you
know they know pretty much everything about you and when you assess them they can
reveal things that are true about someone. As a Christian, you have no business getting close
to anywhere where they are doing palm reading. It’s not biblical. So this girl here followed them for so
many days saying these are the servants of the most high God who’s come to
show us how we can be born again. what she her words were technically correct
but the source was demonic and Paul doesn’t want anything any demons any evil spirit to be
associated with the preaching of the gospel so in this place I believe that Paul operated in one
of the gifts of the Holy Spirit called discerning of spirit When one is in operation with this
gift, they can see into the realm of the spirit. So in that realm, you see both demons and you see
angels. I believe that was what manifested here. And when Paul saw that this girl was
uh possessed by a spirit of divination, he took authority in the name of Jesus. Remember
the words of Jesus Christ. These signs shall follow them that believe in my name. They will
cast out demons. Paul exercised their authority in the name of Jesus Christ. And instantly the
girl was set free. And when the owners saw that their money-making machine was gone, they became
furious. So they seized Paul and Silas. And then they took them to the uh city officials and
together with the crowd, they falsely accused them that they brought in unlawful customs to
them. something contrary to Roman culture. And also they cause an uproar in the city, false
accusation. And now the magistrates lay hold of them and commanded that they should be stripped
and beaten with many with beaten with rod. We understand that uh according
to Deuteronomy chapter 25:3 it tells us that uh a man can only be flogged 40 lashes. 40 lashes that’s a
maximum you can flog a man. So the Jews will do 39 just to make sure
that they don’t go above 40. So they would do one less. You remember Paul writing
in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 I believe said that five times he was beaten with
rods 40 times less one which means 39. So in this case when it comes to
the Romans tradition is different because there is no limit to how many
times someone can be beaten with a rod. So who knows how many times Paul
and Silas were beaten with rod. They really suffered. What do we learn from this section here? We
learned that the gospel confronts spiritual darkness and worldly greed. Oh yes, the
gospel that we preach exposes darkness and anything that is associated
with darkness whether it be grief, loss or corruption, sin. Because the
entrance of the word of God gives light. Anytime light is on, it will dispel
darkness. And sometime darkness does not like to be dispelled at all by
light. So they will put up a fight. The second thing we learn from this section
is that faithfulness to Christ may bring suffering. You see, Paul and Silas here were
punished not because they did anything wrong but because they obeyed Jesus Christ
because they preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So oppositions can come to
us if we preach the gospel from Satan and his demons and also sometimes from people those
whose interests are threatened by the truth we preach. Those whose profit and gain are
threatened by the gospel that we preach. So, they’re going to bring up an opposition. But you
know what? Do not stop. Remain faithful as you do it. Remember, surely there is an end, and
your own expectations will never be cut off. Don’t give in to their opposition. Don’t
let it stop you. Don’t chicken it out. Remember that is your reason
why you’re here on the earth. You are not here only just to you know see what
what goes on and maybe have family. That’s not only the reason why you are here after you
are born again. The Bible says he created us in Christ Jesus unto good works. He says to each
and every one of us is the grace of God giving. There is something that you are here to
do. And one of the thing that we must do here is to obey the commandment of our
Lord Jesus Christ to preach the gospel. Blessed be his holy name forever
and ever. We are now in verse 25. But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying
and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 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. 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. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do
yourself no harm, for we are all here.” 29 Then he called for a light, ran in,
and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and
said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke
the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same
hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.
34 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. So in this section here after the magistrate commanded that uh
Paul and Silas be uh put into the prison, you know, their feet were fastened
in stocks after they were beaten. They were cast into the dungeon,
a dark place without light. But what happened here? I want I want to
show you the attitude they cultivated. They responded to their suffering
with an extraordinary attitude. An extraordinary attitude. an attitude
of praise and prayer and worship. And as they did this, other prisoners
heard them praising God. God responded with a corresponding action.
An earthquake shook the whole building and the doors were open.
Their chairs fell off their feet. And when the jailer noticed what
happened that the doors are now open. So he supposed that they
all fled. He drew his son wanted to kill himself because he understood
that his punishment may be execution. But Paul shouted and said, “Don’t do that to yourself. We all
still here. We haven’t gone anywhere. And as a result of this, the jailer
was trembling before Paul and Silas. And he asked the most important
question anyone can ask on this earth. The most important question,
which is, what must I do to be saved? And Paul gave the answer. They gave him the
answer. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. you will be saved and your household who also
believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that uh you don’t when you are saved doesn’t
mean that your household is saved. No, your household will believe but when you
hear the good news and you share the good news with your household and they believe
they will also come into the kingdom of God. Because if you follow the story here, you’ll
observe that the household of this jailer. also had the good news and they
believed and they were also baptized and the jailer washed their wounds, their
stripes, gave them something to eat. What do we learn from this section here? We learn
that praise in suffering is a powerful witness. Paul and Silas turned their prison
cell into a place of worship. The darkest times of our lives are
when our praise must be the highest. They were not complaining and whining and saying
now see what happened. Maybe Silas would said to Paul, I told you we shouldn’t have come here.
We shouldn’t come to this Philipp but you said you saw a vision. Now what happened? How can
you see a vision? How can God say come in here and now see where your vision has landed
us? Silas could have made that argument. But at the darkest time of their life, they were
praising God. That’s what we must do because the joy of the Lord is our strength. The reason why
we praise God and we worship him regardless of our circumstances or situation is because
the joy within us is not anything depending upon these circumstances. Rather it depends on
the one the savior of the world. It depends on Jesus Christ. It depends on our relationship
with him. It depends on our connection to him. So when you are in that situation, when it
seems that everything has come to an end, when you are in that darkest moment of
your life, when your friends deserve you, family members turned against you,
when your finance is upside down, Don’t give in. Do not be dismayed. Don’t
be disillusioned. But I give praise to God because God is the one who is able to change
the situation anyway and he’s willing to do it. So you can worry and you can complain and
you can whine all you want but it’s not going to change the situation. So it’s wisdom
that you praise God even regardless of the situation because God is the one who you
can boldly trust and you can see results from trusting him. Is anything impossible
for our God to do? There is nothing. The second thing we learn from this session
is that salvation is by faith alone. You the jailer here asked a simple question. What must I
be? What must I do to be saved? A very important question. And look at the answer he received.
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember when the people asked Jesus Christ, “What must we do to
do the work of God?” And Jesus responded to them, “This is the work of the Lord that
you believe in him whom he has sent.” Salvation is by faith alone. Believe. Maybe
this jailer was expecting to get a different answer from Paul and Silas. Maybe he was ready to
receive a list of dos and don’ts. But that wasn’t what he received. What he received was salvation
is by grace through faith alone. That’s how we are saved. Let’s get into the last section of today’s
teaching. And I’ll pick it up here from verse um 35. And when it was there, the magistrate sent the
officers saying, “Let those men go.” So the keeper of the prison reported these words to the to Paul,
saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go now. Therefore, depart and go in peace.” But
Paul said to them, “They have beaten us openly, uncondemn 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. 38 And
the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they
were Romans. Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out and asked them to depart
from the city. So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia. And when they had seen
the brethren, they encouraged them and deported. So the next morning, the magistrates send
officers to go and release Paul and Silas quietly. But is you see what happened here?
Paul and Silas refused to live secretly demanding that the magistrates will come
themselves to release them because they have beaten Roman citizens without a trial. So they
must come. And when the magistrate heard that, oh, they were so afraid. You know what
it was? illegal to beat a Roman citizen, to prison a Roman citizen, not to talk
about executing a Roman citizen without a trial. It was an abomination, something
you could not do. And here they committed that offense. So they were scared. So I
believe they came quickly and admitted they were wrong and apologized to them.
And then they told him now you can please leave our city you know we sorry for what
happened you know it will never happen again but when Paul and Silas departed instead
of them going to some other place they went back to Lydia’s house and there brethren you
know Lydia I believe was the first convert in Europe Lydia so with all Brethren. Now Paul
and Silas encouraged them there before they departed their city. What do we learn
from this section here? In closing, encouragement strengthens the community of
believers. Oh yes. Regardless of your situation, encourage other people. You know, sometimes what
someone going through a trial or a challenge needs to hear is that word of encouragement. It
might just be a few words. Hang in there, brother or sister. The Lord is with you. Remember in his
word he promised that he will never leave us nor forsake us. Hang in there because even what you
are going through right now even though it seems heavy but it’s just a matter of time the Lord
will give you victory. You will prevail. Sometime that’s all we need to hear. We are reminded again
about what the word of God says. It’s not like we don’t know what the word of God says, but we want
to hear it from a fellow believer. We want someone to encourage us. So that is why regardless of
what you’re going through, find time to minister to other others, encourage them. And you know the
more you encourage someone the more you encourage yourself because he that refreshes others will
himself be also refreshed. So it’s not all about us not always all about us. You know how you feel
when someone gives you a word of encouragement. You know how you know what it feels like. They
may not even know what you’re going through, but all of a sudden that word of encouragement comes
to you. Do the same to others. Do not be the one that when someone says, “Hello, how are you?” then
you download them with a list of all your problems and what you’re going through. No, no. Rather,
you know, be the one when someone says, “Hello, how are you?” The words that you that that come
out of your mouth will be words of encouragement. Even though yourself going through a lot at that
moment, but you are encouraging others. Be the one who is there for others. For this is what the
word of God tells us to do. Blessed be his holy name forever and ever more. Good friends, I have
come to the end of today’s teaching and I trust God that you are blessed today with his word as
the spirit of God minister to us simultaneously. If you are not yet a Christian, you are not
born again, you are not walking with Jesus Christ at this moment, I want to give you
an invitation to make that decision today. The time is ticking very fast. The Bible says
the day you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. The day is the day of salvation. Now is the
accepted time. So many people died in the world today. The question is this. Were they ready for
eternity when it happened? Did they prepare for eternity before they died? He say in this world is
very easy for us to be distracted by the pursuit of wealth, popularity and so many things. We are
distracted to the point that we forget about the most important thing which is salvation which
is eternity in Christ Jesus which is having eternity in heaven. So I ask you today, where
do you stand? Have you made that decision? Have you prepared for your eternity? If you
would die this moment, will you go to heaven? What is your criteria for going to heaven?
Are you depending on your good works or on your merits? Remember that God does not
grade on a curve. There is only one standard and that is Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ, no
one can go to heaven. So I want to give you this uh invitation to make Jesus Christ your Lord and
your savior. You are the one to make the decision. No one can make it for you. You are the one to
invite him into your heart. It’s never too late. If you’re hearing my voice right now, you can make
that decision right now. It doesn’t take a month or years. Instantly, right now, you can become a
child of God. You can become a new creation. You can have your eternity in heaven guaranteed. Pray
with me, my good friends. Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe he is your son
who died on the cross for my sin. Dear Lord Jesus Christ, please come into my heart. Be my Lord and
Savior. I believe now I’m born again. My name is written in the Lamb’s book of life. I turn away
from my sins and I thank you, Father God, for the precious gift of Jesus Christ to the world.
Amen. If you pray that prayer, congratulations. You are now born again. You are a child of God.
Please find a Bible based church to become a member so you can be taught the word of God.
That is the only way you can grow spiritually. Thank you our partners all over the world. Those
that are helping this ministry to reach so many people with the word of God through your prayers,
financial support as well as your services. Thank you so much. If you want to become a partner with
us, please go to our website. It is www.k kim.org. Remember, only those who hear the good news, the
gospel, and put the gospel in practice are only ones who receive the benefits or the promises of
the word of God. So, always be a doer of the word of God. It’s always my pleasure to pray for you
before I end any teaching. May the Lord bless you, keep you, guide you. May He lift up his
countenance upon you and give you peace passes every understanding, wisdom from above, wisdom
to know what to do when and how. I pray that He will heal every disease in your body today. That
God will open financial doors to you. That His angels will always watch over you to protect
you, to deliver you from every destruction. I pray that God will bless the rest of your week in
the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Everybody said, “Amen.” Good friends, it doesn’t matter what you
hear or what they say or what you see. Remember, we do not walk by sight. Rather, we walk by faith.
Always remember that surely there is an end, and your expectations will never be cut off.
Blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to introduce to you my new book. This
book is titled First and Second Corinthians, a comprehensive review. You see, in first
Corinthians, Paul uh corrects uh certain issues going on in the church, which is very useful to us
today because we encounter the same things going on in our midst today. In 2 Corinthians, Paul
encourages believers to remain faithful to Jesus Christ despite our challenges, trials and false
teaching. He also reminds us that Jesus Christ, Father God is our comforter and also our strength
in the times of weakness. So this will be a very good resource for your private study time for your
family and also for small Bible uh study groups. It is available on um Amazon right now and you can
also get a copy through our website www.kuim.org. My good friends, I want to introduce to you my
new book titled uh Spiritual Retirement. You see, we live in a world where so many people
are concerned about retiring physically and they have done nothing about
their spiritual retirement. They have done nothing about that preparation
that must be made now in order to secure eternal retirement. So this book helps us to
understand that preparation. It helps us also to identify the devices of the enemy to him that
us from reaching that our ultimate goal which is eternity in the kingdom of God is a very good
resource for you and for your family and for your friends. It is a very good gift that
you can give to believers and unbelievers. It is now available on our website www.kuim.org
and you can also find it on Amazon.com. Remain blessed in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. Amen. My good friends, I want to introduce to you my new book titled Understanding Galatians
and Philippians. It is an insight and commentary in these two epistles. The book of Galatians
teaches us that uh it is only by grace that we are saved not by works. And in Philippians we
learn that uh God is always with us encouraging us as we go through our trials and through our
tribulations giving us the strength, the joy and the peace that we need to be more than conquerors.
This book covers these topics in detail. It is going to be a very good resource
for you and for your own family and friends. So now is available on Amazon
as well as on our website www.kuim.org. Always remain blessed in the name of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. [Music]