19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. 21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
The Philippian Jailer Converted
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 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 everyone’s bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer1 called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And 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 wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.
19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. 21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
The Philippian Jailer Converted
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 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 everyone’s bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer1 called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And 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 wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Joel Brooks:
It's been really neat. The the last 4 or 5 testimonies we've had, I don't know if you picked up on this, but they've all been so different. People from all different back backgrounds, personalities, the Lord bringing the gospel to them in all different ways. And one of the things that you see is that there's no Christian type out there. There's not a person that you can look at and and say, oh, that's a good candidate for becoming a Christian.
Joel Brooks:
God pursues everybody, and he relentlessly pursues us. And it's just been so encouraging to hear all these testimonies and God's relentless love towards us. That's what we're gonna be looking at actually today in Acts 16. If you wanna go ahead and turn there, Acts 16, we're looking at our 3rd conversion story. If you remember, Luke has just joined Paul and Silas in this 2nd missionary journey, and we're in the past throughout acts, we have heard about all these mass conversions.
Joel Brooks:
Now that Luke's with him, he details 3 personal conversions. Last week we looked at how Lydia came to know the Lord and this slave girl came to know the Lord. And this morning, we're gonna look at this male jailer and how he came to know the Lord. So it is possible for men to become Christians. At least at least one of them.
Joel Brooks:
So 16, we'll begin reading in verse 19. But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. And when they had brought them to the magistrates they said, these men are Jews and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us Romans to accept or practice. The crowd joined in attacking them and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.
Joel Brooks:
And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw him into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them. And 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 bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
Joel Brooks:
But Paul cried with a loud voice, do not harm yourself for we are all here.' And the jailer called for the lights and rushed in. And trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved and your household. And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in the house And he took took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds.
Joel Brooks:
And he was baptized at once. He and his family. Then he brought them up into the house and set food before them, and he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Joel Brooks:
Will you pray with me? Father, we ask that you would open up your word to us, Jesus, that we would hear you calling to us through this word by your Holy Spirit. Lord, I pray this would be so much more than just black ink on white pages, but through your spirit, it would become alive in us, and we would truly hear you calling to us. I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore, but Lord, may your words remain, and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus.
Joel Brooks:
Amen. So we saw last week that Paul had cast out the demon on from this servant girl. He he didn't wanna do it, so he only did it because he was annoyed. And the moment he did it, things quickly went south. The girl's owners were angry that they lost their ability to now profit off this girl, and so they they dragged Paul and Silas off to the magistrates, and they basically incited what we call a race riot.
Joel Brooks:
They actually don't bring any official charges to Paul or Silas because what could they say? These are guys who cast a demon out of a girl. I mean, you can't really bring that as a charge, so their accusation is essentially this, these guys are Jews and they're troublemakers. And and that was enough. It didn't really take much to incite racial prejudice with these people and they immediately began attacking Paul and Silas to the point where their clothes were ripped off, and they were beaten probably to an inch of their life.
Joel Brooks:
Finally, they were thrown in jail. There was no judicial action here. There was no trial here. It's just an angry mob beating them up and and they were likely thrown in jail to keep them safe. Actually it says that they were thrown in and the jailer was told to keep watch over them and keep them safe.
Joel Brooks:
But in verse 24, we read that having received this order, he put them in the inner prison and He fastened their feet in stocks. This is actually a form of torture here. The inner prison was what we would call the dungeon. It was the lower most prison there and and what that meant is that's where all the human waste tip typically ran in the prison. Was it was just captured down in that lower dungeon.
Joel Brooks:
And, and to be your feet put in stocks, I had to get rid of the image I had of Disney World, because really that's kind of the image I had there. It's like, you know, fun, you put in stocks to get your pictures taken, but but this was your legs being spread out far in an uncomfortable position. And it was forced in that position all night long, and you would cramp up. And your feet were actually elevated to where it was only your shoulders laying down on the ground, once again, in human waste. Remember these soldiers, Rome, they were experts at torture.
Joel Brooks:
I mean we have reports of Romans going into cities and crucifying 20,000 people. They crucified women. They crucified children. They were not the kind of society that handed out stickers. They were a brutal society.
Joel Brooks:
They knew how to torture and they were inflicting pain on Paul and Silas. And this was not something the jailer was asked to do. This was his idea. He wanted to torture them. He was likely an ex soldier because most of the people living in Philippi were.
Joel Brooks:
It was kind of the retired community for, ex soldiers. There were a lot of civil jobs there and those were the really good jobs and they were reserved for ex soldiers. And so, he was likely a hardened ex soldier living there. The people of Philippi were extremely patriotic, hardworking, hard nosed. They would not have taken kindly to strangers, foreigners, people telling them what to do or maybe things they need to change.
Joel Brooks:
Least of all, some lowly Jew coming in, trying to disrupt their way of life. And so this man's racial prejudice against them poured out in all forms of cruelty. And so the question is this, how do we reach somebody like him with the gospel? How can he reach somebody like the jailer? Because he's so different from from Lydia.
Joel Brooks:
I mean, Lydia, you know, she was wealthy, she was successful. Or or what about the servant girl? She was poor and she was oppressed, But this guy is just a no nonsense blue collar worker. And you can't reach him through a rational discussion like you would a Lydia. I mean, can you imagine inviting him to a Starbucks and asking him to go through the book of John with you?
Joel Brooks:
He's not going to do that. Nor is he open to a display of power because he doesn't need to have a demon cast out of him. He doesn't feel in the least bit oppressed. And he's not spiritually seeking like a Lydia nor has he given himself over to spiritual evil like the possessed girl. He's not drawn towards the gospel nor is he angry at it, he's just indifferent.
Joel Brooks:
When I picture him, I picture a guy who wants to do his duty, do his time, go home, maybe kiss his wife, sit in front of the couch, watch Netflix, and drink a beer, and then repeat the entire thing the next day and the next day. How do you reach somebody like him? We see that the way that God reaches him with the gospel is through songs in the night. Look at verse 25. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Joel Brooks:
Now a number of years ago, many years ago, I was in Northern Ireland for one of the mission trips I led there. And we'd already been there about a month. It was our last day there and it was really a magical evening. We were at the beach up in a place called Coleraine, and there was the sky was completely lit up, the sun was setting all hues of purple and pink. It was really magical.
Joel Brooks:
And and I left the team and I decided to go for a walk on the beach. And, the sunsets there last about 2 hours during the summer. And so it was just this gorgeous time of walking on the beach. It was low tide, meaning you had almost a half mile of beach before you even hit the water. And I was I was walking towards the water and I saw all of these sea lions, alright.
Joel Brooks:
And I got closer and closer and there was over a 100 of them. A 100 sea lions there and so I did what, you know, any kind of manly man would do as you were in a setting like this. I sang shout to the Lord. Alright. That's That's what I did.
Joel Brooks:
I went up to them and I mean it was a safe place. There's nobody around. The moment just seemed right. And so I began to sing Shout to Lord. If you don't know it, old classic, it'll be back in 10 years.
Joel Brooks:
But it's a really hard song to sing. It's kinda like when I have to leave the doxology, what key do you start it? I started shout to Lord way too high. And, and I'm singing, and by time I get to, you know, like, I sing for joy. I won't I won't do this, but I went for it.
Joel Brooks:
I mean, I was going as loud as I could, and it was just screech. That's all it was. And I I remember very vividly seeing all these sea lions, stop what they're doing, they're just looking at me, and it was like, over a 100 really old bald regal men, just just bobbing in the water, and they they came near. I apparently sounded like a sea lion. And, it was just this this wonderful magical moment, like if ever there's a time to worship, that was the atmosphere for it.
Joel Brooks:
It's one of the reasons you like to crank up, you know, worship song in your car and you can sing loud because nobody can hear you. It just seems right. But you have to ask a question, what actually is the right environment, the right atmosphere to produce that type of singing or that type of worship? Because Paul and Silas had none of that. None of that.
Joel Brooks:
This was a song done in the night, in the midst of suffering. Night time comes to every Christian. It comes to every Christian. It's easy to worship God in the day When things are going well. Easy to worship God when you are surrounded by people you love.
Joel Brooks:
You have the companionship of good friends. When you're basking in a financial security, when you are enjoying good health. It takes little effort to sing songs of praise when you're surrounded by the chorus of other Christians singing as well. That's day. But what about when the night comes?
Joel Brooks:
What is your response when it gets dark and it's harder to see God's gifts? Harder to see God himself. One of the things we realize is when it gets dark, we have to learn to use other senses to realize that God is there when we could no longer see him. Night comes to the Christians in many ways. It might come through the failing health of your parents.
Joel Brooks:
Something my wife and I have had to walk through the last couple of years as Lauren's mom has been enduring cancer. It might be your health. Maybe you were a really active person at one point, had a life of sports, loved to run races, and now your body is failing you. And it's just endless doctor appointments. Or maybe you had a healthy bank account, but that's begun to bleed out and you no longer have any financial security.
Joel Brooks:
Or nighttime used to be peaceful for you. But now you lay in bed and you cannot turn off your mind. It just churns and it churns and churns with anxiety. It's the darkness of the night creeping in. And your future, it used to be so clear, used to be so vibrant, it used to be so full of light, but but now when you look at the future, it's just kind of darkness around there.
Joel Brooks:
That darkness will come on every one of us. Darkness comes to every Christian. It's just part of life. The question is, what is our response going to be? We need to redefine suffering and darkness in our lives.
Joel Brooks:
We need to no longer see darkness suffering as an enemy, but as really an opportunity. Paul's closed door was really not a closed door. It was an open door for the gospel. And he found that the light of the gospel shines most brightly in the darkness. And we need to pray that God opens our eyes to actually see those opportunities in these dark moments.
Joel Brooks:
Hear me, worship in the midst of suffering is a gift we have only in this life. Because the time is coming where all we will have is day. That's all we will experience this day and there will no longer be any night. There will no longer be in tear any tears because every tear will be dried up and wiped away. So to be able to worship God now through tears is a gift that we only have for a short while.
Joel Brooks:
And it's a gift that the church needs to embrace and needs to use. So our response in the darkness is that we sing. We we open the service with Psalm 42. I'm not sure how much you paid attention to to that last verse we read in Psalm 42, but verse 8 says this, the Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime and in the night, his song shall be with me. A prayer to the God of my life.
Joel Brooks:
His song shall be with me. It's not a song that we have to manufacture, A song that we have to conjure up. It's not a song that we write, but it's God's song that He gives us. He places in us in those night time moments. Job 3510 says that, our maker gives us songs in the night.
Joel Brooks:
These are songs of His love, songs of His faithfulness to us, and ultimately, I'd say they are songs of victory and hope. Listen, the the ultimate darkness or suffering that comes our way is the grave. It's death And it's one that doesn't matter how healthy you currently are, how wealthy you currently are, that doesn't matter your social status. Every person on this planet is on the same path that ultimately leads to the grave. Every person must walk this path.
Joel Brooks:
That's the nighttime that's coming, but the the good news of the gospel is this, that Jesus has gone there ahead of us and He's gone through the grave and He's come out the other side, and when we see Him we have real tangible concrete proof that the grave is not victorious over us. And what that allows us to do is this, we can sing going to the grave because we know there is more singing coming out of it, And we don't have to be fearful if we enter into that night time. We sing going to it because we know the song continues and intensifies on the other side of it. Paul and Silas were not singing because they were happy. There was nothing to be happy about.
Joel Brooks:
They'd be sadistic if if that's the reason that they sang. I mean, they're they're painfully laying in human waste in a dungeon. There's nothing to be happy about. They were singing out of what I call or their their singing was this, it was an act of joyful defiance. Their singing was an act of joyful defiance.
Joel Brooks:
It was a song that was deeply rooted in a joy that was not based on any circumstance, but it was a joy given to them by the Holy Spirit. But it was also an act of defiance. It was saying suffering, darkness, grave, you will not have the final word. I am not fearful to go to you. It's a joyful act of defiance.
Joel Brooks:
Knowing that their suffering of this life was nothing more than a light momentary affliction preparing them for the eternal weight of glory. Now, this type of this joyful act of defiance, singing that way has been modeled to us throughout Christian history. Of course, you would see this later. I mean, shortly after this as Christians were being thrown to the lions, they would sing. As Christians were being burned at the stake, they would sing.
Joel Brooks:
But here in particular in America, we we saw this in the 19th 20th century through the black slaves and the old Negro spirituals. It's really unbelievable when you read through those songs. How they sang as a joyful act of defiance. I I read through, I spent some time this week and I read through a number of the old Negro spirituals and I just gotta confess, I could not stop crying. I actually gathered the family around, like what are we gonna do?
Joel Brooks:
I'm gonna read you some lyrics of old Negro spirituals. Like, alright. But but we were all crying. By the time we're done with it, let let me just read you the words of one of the songs I came across. It's, I'm a traveling to the grave.
Joel Brooks:
My missus died a shouting singing glory, hallelujah. The last words she said to me was about Jerusalem. My sister died a shouting singing glory hallelujah. The last words she said to me was about Jerusalem. My brother died a shouting singing glory hallelujah.
Joel Brooks:
The last words he said to me was about Jerusalem. I'm traveling to the grave. I'm traveling to the grave, my lord. I'm traveling to the grave in order to lay this body down. Can you imagine singing that?
Joel Brooks:
You're singing you just saw your wife die. She was singing glory and she was talking about the new Jerusalem to come. God's kingdom come. Did you see your sister die saying the same thing? You see your brother die saying the same thing.
Joel Brooks:
You're like, and I'm going there too. It was not a song out of happiness, but make no mistake, it was a song out of joy and also a song out of defiance. That the grave will not have the last word. That the suffering that they are experienced is not the final word, but that the glory, hallelujahs, endure forever and ever. They were not just singing these songs to them to the Lord, they were singing these songs to themselves.
Joel Brooks:
Paul and Silas were singing these songs to themselves to remind them of the truths in which they believe. And they were also singing so others could hear. The prisoners listening. The slaves were singing so the masters would listen. And I would dare say that they were singing so that the powers and the principalities of the air could hear.
Joel Brooks:
That the devil himself could hear that he is lost, and that the grave has no power. Singing is a joyful act of defiance. Martin Luther used to say that the devil cannot stand singing, because it reminds him that he is defeated and we are free. I've shared this before, but the day my dad died, I was in college and I just got a call. I needed to rush to the hospital just saying he had a heart attack, And as I was driving there and Lauren was with me, all I could do was sing.
Joel Brooks:
Hymns that, you know, just came from my childhood. I mean, I just kept singing and I kept singing, not because I was happy. And I was singing to God, but I was also singing to my own heart. Remember these truths, Feel these truths. Believe these truths.
Joel Brooks:
I was singing to Lauren, so she would be reminded of these truths. And I was also sinking to the powers and the principalities because I knew whatever happened, the grave would not be the end. A few weeks ago, we had, somebody come forward and pray during one of the services, and and he was he was a broken broken man. He just realized he had contracted a disease in which there is no cure, And he is just He's just bawling in front of me and I just said, look in my eyes. Look in my eyes.
Joel Brooks:
Hear me. No matter what happens, this is not the end. No matter what happens, this is not the end. We have a song that endures. It's the reason we sing.
Joel Brooks:
Now, the effect of this singing is profound. We read here that the prisoners around Paul and Silas are listening. I mean, they don't have any other entertainment. I mean, what are they going to do? I'm imagining that the jailer is also listening to these songs being sung because he's gotta just be wondering how.
Joel Brooks:
There's nothing to sing about. Why are these guys singing? Where does this joy come from? And then somehow in the midst of this singing during it, an earthquake comes, and let me just say this, if ever ever you want to have an earthquake, just lock up an apostle. Alright?
Joel Brooks:
You lock up an apostle, an earthquake is going to happen. We just see this over and over in scripture. So an earthquake happens and it results in all the prison doors being opened, the stocks falling off, the jailer wakes up, sees the prison doors open, thinks the prisoners have escaped, and he grabs a sword and he's about to to lunge it in his ribs. And we know just from his action there, we learn a great deal more about this jailer. He didn't have to do that.
Joel Brooks:
Now it is true that if a jailer allowed his prisoners to escape, that often his life was forfeit. You know, once again, Rome didn't hand out stickers. That's not how they motivated people. But they didn't always kill the jailer if they allowed prisoners to escape. There were exceptions.
Joel Brooks:
Like, possibly if an earthquake hits and opens up every jail cell. But but you see, the jailer didn't even go to try to defend himself. He didn't go to explain things. He didn't go and try to make a run for it. He didn't even go home to maybe kiss his wife and kids goodbye.
Joel Brooks:
This happens and he immediately pulls out a sword, he wants to end his life. What we realize here is that for him, duty was everything. If he didn't have his duty, if he failed at his duty, or if he couldn't work anymore, that was it. He, he might have been the jailer and Paul and Silas might have been his prisoner, but he's really the one we find who is in bondage. His identity was his work.
Joel Brooks:
He was in bondage to His duty and His job. He can't believe that Paul and Silas at this point don't leave. I mean he's just about to thrust the knife in and Paul says, Don't do it. We're we're here. We're all here.
Joel Brooks:
Which is amazing, not just Paul and Silas didn't leave, but none of the prisoners left. That that is amazing. I mean, these prisoners probably many of them are on death row. They're probably gonna be executed yet doors open, they can leave and yet they would rather stay with Paul and Silas after hearing those songs in the night than make a run for it. Such was the authority of the songs that were sung.
Joel Brooks:
No one leaves their jail cell. And this jailer can't believe it. Why would they show such mercy to him when he was torturing them just moments earlier? And it was this act of extraordinary mercy and compassion combined with those songs and prayers in the night, those things broke through the jailer's heart. And what we realize is a jailer can't be taught.
Joel Brooks:
A person like this can't be taught the gospel. They have to be shown the gospel. They have to be shown it. Charles Spurgeon, who is a pretty decent preacher, He said, I could preach 50,000 sermons to prove to you the gospel, but I will not prove it half as well as you hearing one song in the night. The reason that Paul and Silas, I believe, could stay in those prison doors even when they were already open is because they were already free.
Joel Brooks:
They'd already been set free from their sin. Already been set free from the grave. They were the most free people there. Have you ever felt such freedom as that? Freedom where it doesn't matter what your financial status is, your marital status is or how your marriage is going.
Joel Brooks:
Freedom from your body, where it doesn't matter if your body is failing you or if your friends have left you. There's such a freedom that you have in Christ because your identity is not built on those things. It's built on him alone. A freedom like that sets your heart to singing. It's actually ironic in this story.
Joel Brooks:
We we didn't get to read all of it, but the prison doors are open to Paul twice and he refuses to leave both times. Because he actually saw closed doors as open doors for the gospel. He he didn't assume just because he was in a closed door and in a dark situation that meant, okay, I need to immediately pray for deliverance. I need to immediately try to get out of here. Sometimes he thought, this closed door is the best open door I have for the gospel.
Joel Brooks:
And let me tell you that, sometimes that is true for us. When God puts a closed door in front of you and you are in the night, that might be the best platform you have to preach the gospel and to allow it to shine. Don't be so quick to pray for deliverance and to walk out of that door. God is the one who's brought you there. In verse 30, the jailer asked one of the most famous questions in all of the Bible.
Joel Brooks:
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And Paul responds in verse 31, believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. You and your household. Paul simply says, believe in the Lord Jesus. He didn't say, well an apology for starts would be nice.
Joel Brooks:
Or, how about you know maybe you you get over your racial hatred? Maybe get a little therapy for that. How about you quit torturing us? How about you maybe make a commitment to start going down to the river with all of the other women there and and going to church. When you get your life together, none of that is there.
Joel Brooks:
It's simply believe in the Lord Jesus. And let me tell you, this jailer could not have known much about the Lord Jesus. But he knew he was Jesus and he knew that he was the Lord. And that was enough. And we see this immediate transformation that happens with him.
Joel Brooks:
I mean, he becomes this, like, cuddly soft kitten. I mean, he is he he is as gentle as a kitten. He brings them up to his house. He washes the wounds that he had inflicted, he serves them a meal, he introduces them to his family, gets them to teach, he's baptized. And what we see is that through songs in the night and through an outlandish mercy and compassion on one's enemies, this jailer is redeemed.
Joel Brooks:
Now let's stop here and just ask the question, why did Luke include these three stories? He had 1,000 to draw from, but he chose to present us these particular conversion stories. Three very different people. He wrote to us about Lydia who is wealthy, who is successful, morally upright, seeking after truth. He wrote to us about the servant girl who was possessed and oppressed.
Joel Brooks:
She knew the truth, but she despised it. Lowest of the low in society. And then he gives us the story of the jailer. Hardened, blue collar worker worker. Racist, cruel.
Joel Brooks:
Not spiritually minded at all. Yet, they all hear the message of Jesus and a radically transformed by it. These 3 also would have been different ethnicities. Lydia was, like we learned last week, she would have been more asian. The slave could have literally come from anywhere that Rome had conquered and then this jailer, he would have been European.
Joel Brooks:
Then of course, you have Paul, kind of a white Jew. I mean you couldn't get more different people if you tried. What we're seeing here is that the gospel has no type. There's no one that you can peg and say this is the type of person that becomes a Christian. There is no such thing as a Christian ethnicity, or a Christian personality, or disposition, or social class.
Joel Brooks:
Christianity is for everyone. This is what we saw early on when we went through acts 2 at Pentecost. God had the very first Christian sermon preached in every language at the same time. So no culture, no nation could say that Christianity is ours. But it's for everyone in every culture.
Joel Brooks:
Do you realize that Christianity is the only religion, the only religion that has been not been dominated by one part of the world. So if you look at Islam, it's epicenter has always been the Middle East. If you look at Hinduism, its epicenter has always been India. Confucianism, its epicenter is China. Buddhism, its epicenter is Asia.
Joel Brooks:
But the only thing you could say about Christianity is where it started. But where has its epicenter been? It's moved all around. I mean, it started in Israel then it spread to Europe and it's gone to Asia Minor. It's gone to North America.
Joel Brooks:
It's gone to Asia. I guess now you would say perhaps the epicenter Christianity is either in Africa or in Latin America. But Christianity fits in every culture. There is no type because God wants people to worship Him in every tongue, tribe, and nation. I wanna end with a song about singing in the night.
Joel Brooks:
We've looked at all these different conversion stories and and really what we learn from them is the mode of how we share our faith. And through some, it's through the rational discussion and evangelistic Bible study. Through some, it's a display of power, helping people who are oppressed come out of that. And then here we see that we need songs in the night. And once again, I'm gonna read from a old Negro spiritual.
Joel Brooks:
It's a famous one. There's a balm in Gilead. There's a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul. Sometimes, I feel discouraged and think my work's in vain. I mean, I just had to stop there when I was reading that.
Joel Brooks:
Sometimes, I feel discouraged. Sometimes, as I'm working out here in the fields, I I feel that my work is in vain. But then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again. If you cannot sing like angels, if you cannot preach like Paul, you can tell the love of Jesus and say that he died for all. For all.
Joel Brooks:
The gospel for everyone. Pray with me. Lord Jesus, give us your songs in the night that you have promised. May they become in us an act of joyful defiance, in which we not only sing praises to you, we remind ourselves of truth, we we allow others to listen in and be drawn into your gospel, and also we defiantly say those words to the powers and the principalities of the air, that they have not won. That the grave is not the end.
Joel Brooks:
But through you, Jesus, you have provided victory and hope. Light our hearts on fire with these songs in the night. We pray this in your name, Jesus. Amen.