Going through a rough time? Having a bad day? Maybe you’re wondering where God is in all of this; when will He show up?… will He show up?… Pastor Jim took a look at these questions during his sermon of August 16, 2015.
However, the audio file is complete (so sit back, relax, read what is here, and listen to Pastor Jim…)
Click on the following “Play” button, scroll down, and follow along (this recording is from the 9:30 service)…
Our scripture was the book of Acts, chapter 16. A familiar passage about Paul and Silas in prison. Click the drop down box to follow along with Dr. Luke’s description of what happened…
Acts 16
Acts 16:16-34 One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a demon-possessed slave girl. She was a fortune-teller who earned a lot of money for her masters. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”
18 This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her.
19 Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials. “They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.”
22 A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.
25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.” And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God.
35 The next morning the city officials sent the police to tell the jailer, “Let those men go!” So the jailer told Paul, “The city officials have said you and Silas are free to leave. Go in peace.” Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
So You’ve Had a Bad Day…
Have you ever had a bad day; a really bad day? We all have. No one is immune to bad days. Thankfully, not many of us have had a day a bad as Paul and Silas’ in this text. Their day could be summarized by that wise old saying, “No good deed goes unpunished.”
You might be saying to yourself, “I not only have had a bad day, I’ve had a bad week… a bad month… a bad year… a bad decade, a bad….”
Paul and Silas were definitely having a bad day! But this text gives us some basic advice on how to handle life’s most difficult times.
In a 1957 movie, Elvis Presley made prison look like a rip roarin’ time when he sang “Jailhouse 
Rock.” But there are similarities between this staged “Jailhouse Rock” and the “Original Jailhouse Rock” that happened in Philippi way back in 52AD.
In both Jailhouses, music brought redemption; it changed the situation. In the movie, the warden “threw a party,” but in Philippi, it was God who through a party. And God didn’t just “throw the party for Paul and Silas (or for Elvis)- He threw it for everyone involved.
And it WAS a party; it wasn’t just about singing the blues. Music connected them to something higher than their dismal circumstances.
Paul, Silas, the other prisoners, and even the jailer were all in dismal circumstances. The text tells us that Paul and Silas were “Cast” into the inner dungeon. This word literally means:
“to throw something with no concern for where it lands.”
No respect, no appreciation for the good they had done.
It couldn’t get much lower for them, but they’re not singing the blues! Instead they’re praying and singing hymns of praise.
Hymns of Praise?!? It’s easy to praise God when things are going good, but what songs do you sing when your world is turned upside down?
1: God Comes to Our Prison…
When we prepare by worshiping, praying, and even by singing… God will enter our prisons. He will help us to rise above our circumstances.
The ancient church Father Tertullian said,
The legs feel nothing of the stocks when the heart is in heaven.
It might be hard or impossible to find any joy in difficult circumstances. If you look to the chains around our feet, it’s not likely that you’ll be thinking of anything joyful.
But Joy isn’t in our circumstances- Joy is in the Lord! Paul and Silas were looking to God- singing songs of praise. God gave them the power to live above their circumstances.
“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation. I’ve been purchased of God.
Born in His Spirit, and washed in His blood.”
She also wrote the words “Jesus keep me near the cross.”
Why? Because she learned how to sing in the dungeon.
Have you ever felt so low that you couldn’t see your way out? Have you ever felt that nobody cared? You’re not alone! Fanny Crosby probably felt that way at times. Elijah did too:
1 Kings 19:3-6
3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.” Elijah was in a dungeon, but God broke through…
5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water!
Even in life’s dungeons, God never leaves us nor forsakes us and He will never allow us to be defeated. He makes a way of escape where there seems to be none. He watches over us as the apple of his eye.
For joy and strength, don’t look to your own power or certainly not to your own circumstances! Nehemiah 8:10 tells us:
The Joy of the Lord is your strength!
Keeping in tune with God can give you strength and composure at life’s difficult moments. Consider this story about Carol Burnett…
To keep from being pulled off her feet, the comedienne had to run alongside down the block. A passerby noted her predicament and quickly alerted the driver.He stopped, jumped out, and released Miss Burnett’s coat.
“Are you alright?” he asked anxiously.
“Yes”, she gasped, “but how much more do I owe you?”
2: God Comes at Midnight…
Deliverance comes at our darkest moments, and we need to be tuned into God like an old transistor radio in order to see God. For Paul and Silas, they were tuned into God’s station by praying and singing hymns. Verse 25 of our passage tells us that God shows up at “around midnight.”
And the other prisoners were watching Paul and Silas. Because they were tuned in, others were able to see God too. Because Paul and Silas were “tuned into” praises and not into their own “woe is me” situation (injustice, pain, etc.), they and everyone there were able to find God.
The prisoners were listening to Paul and Silas. In fact, they didn’t just “hear” them and wished they would shut up, instead they Listened. The Greek word used here means “Listen ATTENTIVELY”. Paul and Silas had their attention.
Throughout the Bible, the time of “midnight” carries significant meaning. Midnight is the darkest part of the night, and one second after it a new day begins. It reminds us that God makes all things new and He brings us calm- even at midnight.
After family had returned home and colleagues had returned to the hotels in preparation for the next day’s conference sessions, I went up to the Ocean City boardwalk and sat at the gazebo trying to take in all that had happened. It was about midnight as I sat alone that I was able to experience the presence of the Lord in amazing ways.
As I sat there replaying the ordination service I recalled the journey difficult as it was with many sacrifices along the way, as I looked forward to a future where I could be serving Camden and then who knows where, I found myself just praising God. And in those moments of praise I found a sense of calm, of peace, of contentment.
At midnight God ministered to me and gave me a confidence which delivered me for the moment and emboldened me to move forward.
God seems to do some of His “best work” at midnight! Check out these verses…
It’s one thing to pray at midnight. It’s another thing to be able to Praise at midnight. Most of us don’t have any problem praying at midnight; but can we learn to Praise God at midnight???
The Bible gives many examples of prayers given during both day and night; prayers of Praise and prayers that cry out to God for help…
Daniel was prepared because he never stopped praying. Daniel 6:10 says that he was in the habit of praying Three times a day. Even when he knew he might end up in the lion’s den, he prayed anyway (“in all circumstances.”). Because he was prepared and in tune with God, God could use him as an example of His power by sparing Daniel from the lions.
Charles Spurgeon said…
Any fool can sing in the day. It is easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight.
But the skillful singer is he who can sing when there is not a ray of light to read by…
Songs in the night come only from God; they are not in the power of men.
3: God Shakes Things Up…
When God shows up, things will change. He not only shakes up the core of our circumstances, but He also may very well shake up the core of our being. Our prisons may be painful, and we may want to escape from them, but difficult times are also places where God can demonstrate His Power……..
=== END OF POST, BUT NOT END OF SERMON ===
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