Acts 16, New Frontiers

Pardon the tardiness of this posting. The author got a little caught up in the MNF Eagles game the night before as well as the greatest burger he has ever eaten in his life.

The gospel meets people from all places and meets them where they are. In Philippi, the gospel touched people from each strata of society in a way that was meaningful to them. Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, was akin to a fashion designer today. She was a wealthy, educated, independent business woman. The slave girl was not just enslaved physically, but enslaved spiritually to a spirit that was both evil and profitable. So, she was used physically and spiritually by the businessmen of the city. The jailer was a clear middle class government worker.

God met each person through a unique demonstration of the power of the Spirit through the gospel. For Lydia, she needed a compelling rational argument. For the slave girl, she needed the good news as demonstrated through Jesus Lordship over all spiritual powers—particularly the ones controlling her. For the jailer, he needed the compelling evidence of joy as demonstrated by Paul and Silas.

The fact that Paul and Barnabas could sing in the midst of not just their jailing, but their torture (stocks at that time would be done spread eagle and was a form of torture), was evidence that God had transformed their lives. Not only that, but they could have tried to escape after the earthquake and led all the prisoners out. The jailer assumed that they had escaped and therefore tried to take his life (knowing that the loss of prisoners would have cost his life eventually before his Roman employer). It would have seemed from the earthquake that this was God breaking Paul and Silas out of jail just as he had broken Peter out of jail. But Paul saw a bigger picture. They weren’t imprisoned alone, but were with genuine criminals who would have left and damaged society more. Also, Paul didn’t need to be released to proclaim the gospel. He had a wonderfully captive audience already. This gave him the perspective to not only stay in the face of the earthquake but make sure no other prisoners left either. Paul and Silas’s transformed lives were evidence that transformed the small culture of that prison cell. This is just as miraculous as the previous exorcism.

The gospel is the power of salvation for all who believe. Your changed life and your genuine Spiritual growth is the greatest gift to those around you. For many, who aren’t interested in rational arguments like Lydia or are directly oppressed spiritually, your changed life will be one of the greatest compelling arguments for the gospel that they will see.

Some of the thoughts of this posting are borrowed from Dr Tim Keller’s message on this passage. If you would like to listen to a free download of this sermon, you may click: http://www.redeemer.com/about_us/vision_and_values/core_values.html and look for the message entitled messengers under value #5.