Welcome back to
Books of the Book.
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We are in Acts chapter 16 and
we are looking at the Macedonian
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call that has just come to Paul
and his team and now they've
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responded to the call and
they are heading to the area of
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Macedonia. We're picking up in
verse 11 of Acts 16. The Bible
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says, Therefore sailing from
Troas we ran a straight course
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to Samothrace and the next day
came to Neapolis and from there
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to Philippi which is the
foremost city of that part of
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Macedonia, a colony. And we were
staying in that city for some
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days and on the Sabbath day
we went out of the city to the
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riverside where prayer was
customarily made. And we sat
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down and spoke to the women who
met there. Now a certain woman
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named Lydia heard us. She was
a seller of purple from the city
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of Thyatira who worshiped God.
God opened her heart to heed
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the things spoken by Paul and
when she and her household were
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baptized she begged us saying,
if you have judged me to be
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faithful to the Lord, come
to my house and stay and so she
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persuaded us. Now this is the
first real convert that we find
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here or the experience we
find in this area of Philippi.
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So already heeding the
Macedonian call brings fruit
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for the New Testament church.
Now there are a couple of things
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here that are interesting for
us to note. First of all it says
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that on the Sabbath day
they went out by the riverside.
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It's important for us to note
that we see this consistently
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in the New Testament church that
the practice of the apostles,
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including the Apostle Paul here,
is to worship on the Sabbath
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day. Now sometimes people
say well Paul worshipped on the
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Sabbath in the New Testament
because that's when the Jews
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worshipped. That's the time the
synagogues were open. Well first
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of all, we find throughout the
book of Acts that the synagogues
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were open every day. And
furthermore, we find here that
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there isn't a synagogue and
so what do Paul and his team do?
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They go down by the riverside
where prayer was customarily
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made. In other words, it's not
a one-time thing. It's a custom
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on the Sabbath day. It was
Paul's practice, his custom, to
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worship on the Sabbath day and
I don't know if we had talked
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about the idea
of going to prayer.
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Yeah, in verse 16
it speaks of that.
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Okay. So you'll touch on that in
a moment. One other thing here
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about this woman Lydia now. They
went down. They met with the
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people there. There was a woman
named Lydia. A couple of things
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about Lydia. Sometimes I've
heard talk of the Bible being a
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very patriarchal, man-centered
book where women were demeaned
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and looked down upon. While that
I'm sure was the case in some
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places of the world, and it even
is today in some places of the
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world, it doesn't seem to have
been the case in Philippi. This
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woman, Lydia, is listed as a
seller of purple. In other words
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she was a business woman, a
prominent business woman and
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scholars assume that this woman
Lydia, from what we know about
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her, was a woman of means and
influence. So whereas there may
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have been places in the Bible
and cultures where women may
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have been looked down upon that
was not the case universally in
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scripture and Lydia is an
example of that. She's a woman
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of influence which is
also important when Paul is
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witnessing because when she
makes her decision and she has
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influence there's an impact,
a ripple effect that going to go
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through this area. Now the Bible
tells us further of Lydia that
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the Lord, and I love the way it
words this in verse 14, The Lord
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opened her heart to heed the
things spoken by Paul. You know,
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sometimes when the truth
is presented we're all about
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hearing and not heeding. The
Lord opened her heart not just
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to hear and cogitate and
meditate on it and have some
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mental assent to something,
but to change her practices, her
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life practices to heed the
things spoken of by Paul that
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would materially change her life
and she was open to doing that
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and that openness led to
her baptism and, notice, her
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household was baptized. So again
speaking of her influence and
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this became the beginnings
of the church in Philippi.
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That's right. And you know
touching on your comment about
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the prominence that Lydia had
as a female in that society, as
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we keep going through the book
of Acts we'll find a couple of
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different places where the
writer of Acts, Luke, notes the
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number of prominent Greeks and
leading women who came to the
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faith. So the Bible is
very clear to give this sense of
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equality in terms of everyone
now being open to the door of
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salvation and being seen as
equals in value and worth in the
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eyes of God and that's just
a beautiful part that we see in
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the book of Acts. That's
right. Now in verse 16 it
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says, Now it happened as we went
to prayer, and this is what you
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were mentioning a moment ago,
this is a phrase that in the
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common vernacular might just be
we went to church. But still I
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think it's worth mentioning that
as evangelistic as Paul was and
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as active as he was he took
time for prayer. He didn't get
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so busy that he didn't make sure
that he kept his communion and
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connection with God. Here we
find that, As we went to prayer,
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a certain slave girl possessed
with a spirit of divination met
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us. Now that's interesting, a
spirit of divination. Now we can
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get the idea here that more than
likely this is going to be not a
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good spirit. If you
would pardon me to go
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back just a little bit.
That point you made on prayer.
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I've encountered people involved
in ministry, and of course I'm
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involved in
ministry, can tend sometimes to
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feel like that ministry exempts
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them from things like prayer
meeting and things like that
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because I'm a part of ministry.
Sometimes people will say well
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Pastor I know you're a part
of ministry too but you go to
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prayer meeting because you
have to, it's your job. But the
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reality is I go because I need
to and that's what you're seeing
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in the life of the Apostle
Paul. I mean, the man was always
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ministering. But even when he
wasn't leading out in something
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he felt his own personal need to
be at the house of prayer, be at
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the prayer meeting, be at the
worship services and investing
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himself in the work of God and
participating in the fellowship.
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That's right. He had a
commitment, a discipline, that
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was really the anchor for his
faith. Well now we come back to
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this slave girl who is possessed
with this spirit of divination
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and it says, She brought
her masters much profit by
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fortune telling. So apparently
someone found out about the
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strange abilities of this
woman and she has this spirit of
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divination which we would
assume would probably be an evil
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spirit, but as we keep reading
we'll find out. It says in verse
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17, This girl followed Paul and
us and cried out saying, these
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men are the servants of the most
high God who proclaim to us the
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way of salvation, and this she
did for many days. So you get
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the sense that, well, this is a
good thing to say, right? I mean
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they are servants of the most
high God. She's supporting them.
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But isn't it the case that
whenever the cause of truth is
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going forward that fanaticism
attends it. Whenever you're
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trying to make a clear stand on
something somebody else stands
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with you who happens to have
some crazy ideas. It removes the
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credibility of the stand that
you're trying to take and that's
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what's happening here with Paul.
This woman clearly is not of a
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right spirit but she's on their
side and he gets, the Bible
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says, annoyed. Greatly annoyed.
Yes he does. It says, But Paul,
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greatly annoyed, turned and said
to the spirit, I command you in
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the name of Jesus Christ to come
out of her. And he came out that
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very hour. But when her masters
saw that their hope of profit
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was gone they seized Paul and
Silas and dragged them into the
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market place to the authorities.
So this kind of reminds me of
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when Jesus cast the legion
of demons out of the demon
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possessed man and they went into
the swine. You know that story.
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And the swine ran off the cliff.
Then the owners of the swine
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that was part of their
possessions there. They wanted
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Jesus out of town. They weren't
so concerned with this spiritual
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healing as much as their
physical loss and that's what
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you see here. They're upset only
because this woman was bringing
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them money and now she's ruined
when really she was healed.
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It's also interesting to note
that she was foretelling things.
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That's right. But she was doing
it from the wrong spirit and
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once again just because there's
some supernatural something
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doesn't mean it comes from
the Lord. Many times it can be
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derailing us and deceiving us.
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One of several times in the
book of Acts where we see that.
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In verse 20 it says, They
brought them to the magistrates
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and it says, These men being
Jews exceedingly trouble our
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city and they teach customs
which are not lawful for us
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being Romans to receive or
observe. Then the multitude rose
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up together against them.
The magistrates tore off their
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clothes and commanded them to
be beaten with rods. Once again,
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sufferings that the apostles
experienced. And when they had
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laid many stripes on them,
they threw them into prison
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commanding the jailer to keep
them securely. Having received
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such a charge, he put them into
the inner prison and fastened
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their feet in the stocks. I
feel like I've seen this before.
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That's right. The last time
I think we saw this Peter was
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guarded by the four
squads of soldiers...
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With two soldiers
chained, one on each arm...
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one on each side,
that's right, that's right.
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So he couldn't get away. There's
no way the Lord can take him
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from us or anybody
could break him free.
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But the Lord allowed them to
have that type of strength of
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security so that he
could show his power.
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That's right and so we see
it again. Here they're taken,
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they're put into the prison, as
you said, the inner prison and
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their feet are in the stocks.
Now what's fascinating to me,
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Jim, in this narrative is that
they've just been beaten with
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rods and the beating takes place
on the back and they lay stripes
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which is just a word for
the fact that it's cut into your
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flesh and left scars. Now there
are fresh wounds on their backs,
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they're in this jail cell and
I'm sure it's not all that clean
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hard dirt or concrete floors or
stone floors and their feet are
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in the stocks which means their
feet are up somewhere. You know
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sometimes the arms would be
in the stocks, but in this case
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their backs are left with their
feet up in a position where
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those fresh wounds are on that
floor and you can imagine the
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pain of that just having gone
through the beating. So what are
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they doing? Cursing or depressed
and more. No. Look at what it
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says in verse 25. At midnight
Paul and Silas were praying and
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singing hymns to God and
the prisoners were listening to
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them. They were amazed. What's
going on here? And the Bible
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goes on to say that suddenly
there was a great earthquake
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so the foundations of the prison
were shaken. So you know the
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Lord has one way or another to
open them up. This time it's not
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an angel, it's an earthquake.
And immediately all the doors
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were opened, everybody's chains
were loosed and the keeper of
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the prison awaking from sleep
and seeing the prison doors open
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supposing the prisoners had fled
drew his sword to be about to
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kill himself. Remember the
guards were killed when Peter
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was set free. So he figures
he'll be killed, I may as well
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kill myself. But Paul calls out,
in verse 28, with a loud voice,
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don't do yourself harm. We're
all here. And of course the man
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now is amazed. He sees there's
a supernatural hand and he
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trembles. Sirs, what must I do
to be saved. And verse 30, And
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they said to him believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and you will
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be saved, you and your household
and they spoke the word of the
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Lord to him and all who were
in his house and the Bible says
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they all believed and
were baptized. Once again the
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Macedonian call results in
now the salvation of another
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household. These households,
Lydia's household and the
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household of the Philippian
jailer became the beginnings
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of the Macedonian church, the
church of Philippi as a result
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of them answering
the Macedonian call.
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Amen. Well we get into verse 35
and it says, When it was the day
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the magistrates sent the
officers saying let those men
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go. So now they're going to let
them go as if they couldn't have
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gone on their own. And in verse
36 it says, So the keeper of the
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prison reported these words to
Paul saying the magistrates have
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sent to let you go. Depart,
go in peace. But Paul answers a
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little bit surprisingly. He
says They have beaten us openly
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uncondemned Romans, and that's
the key word here, and they have
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thrown us into prison and
now do they put us out secretly.
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No indeed. Let them come
themselves and get us out.
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So you see while Paul was
willing to surrender and be
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submissive and you saw the great
humility of the Apostle Paul, he
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also, when the law demanded
it, he would hold people to
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accountability and he
was holding them here to
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accountability. It says in verse
38, The officers told these
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words to the magistrates
and they were afraid when they
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heard that they were Romans
because that was a great offense
00:13:36.83\00:13:41.05
to abuse a Roman citizen. So
they had reason to be afraid.
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But they came and pleaded with
them, brought them out, asked
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them to depart from the city.
So they sent out of the prison,
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they went back to Lydia's house,
and when they had seen the
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brethren they encouraged
them and departed. And now the
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Apostle Paul brushes
off the dust and he's off to
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Thessalonica. One encouraging
visit after another, one answer
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to the Spirit's call after
another. May God bless you as
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you answer the Spirit's call.
00:14:07.03\00:14:08.39