Acts 16:16-18 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.
Acts 16:19-21 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
Acts 16:22-24 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
These men were beaten and flogged without a trial and thrown into prison. They’re sitting in an inner cell shackled with their backs bleeding from the wounds. Paul and Silas here would be physically spent, because of the beating and severe flogging.
Silas looks over at Paul—I told you to leave that girl alone. LOL
God, we cast out a demon and this is what we get?
God we are doing your work, and we get beaten? We are on a missionary journey; how can we move around if were locked up in prison??
Instead of “watching our back”, now our backs are bleeding from the beating! So, if there not complaining, what are they doing?
Acts 16:25-28 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
Paul and Silas RC are praying and singing hymns. There’s this violent earthquake and the foundations of the prison were shaken, the prison doors were all opened, the chains were all broken and the shackles fell off their feet. Yet no one escaped, no one attempted to run. They just remained in the prison even though they had been set free. Paul shouted, “We are all here!”
So, if the earthquake was not to free them what was the purpose?
Acts 16:29-36 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then 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—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household. 35 When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” 36 The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”
Here’s what we need to ask ourselves: Did God know that His missionaries were going to be released in the morning? So why the violent earthquake?
There’s only one purpose for the earthquake – not to free Paul and Silas, but to give the opportunity for the jailor and his family to be saved.
God wants to save the jailor and his family. He has 2 obedient Christians. He just needs to create the opportunity and that’s what He does.
God still works such miracles today. He opens the prison doors of the heart of those who are lost. He breaks the chains of sin that binds the hearts of men.
God wants to bring freedom to all men, freedom from the penalty of sin and death, freedom from condemnation and hell.
How are these accomplished?
Acts 16:29-31 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then 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—you and your household.”
Paul and Silas are dragged before the magistrates, beaten with rods and severely flogged, taken to the inner prison and shackled. And what is it they choose to do? They choose to pray and sing hymns to God.
They were worshiping because their eyes were on God and not on their circumstances.
- That FOCUS changes everything. That perspective changes everything.
When we get into a slump, emotionally or spiritually, it is usually because we have zoomed in on a problem. We’re fixated on something that has gone wrong/ bad. Day in and day out we are consumed by it. All of our attention is focused on it.
Learn here from Paul and Silas. Direct your attention to God and worship Him. Worship is taking our eyes off of our circumstances and places our focus on God.
CHOOSE to worship God. You may not be able to change the circumstances, but you can change your attitude. So change your attitude, and choose to worship God.
Because worship restores our spiritual insight. Helps us to regain our spiritual perspective. Worship enables you and I to express our trust in a God who is present and is in control. (Never leave or forsake)
Is it easy? No. Nothing is more difficult than praising God when everything seems to be going wrong.
But, the purest form of worship is praising God even when you don’t feel like it because it shows God that our worship isn’t based on our circumstances.
FREEDOM TO CHOOSE ONE’S ATTITUDE
Everything was taken away from these prisoners. They were stripped of their freedom, stripped of their clothing, and their personal belongings.
Everything was taken from these men except one thing: Their God given freedom to choose their attitude in any given set of circumstances.”
I’m absolutely convinced that the most important choice you and I can make every day is our attitude. I have learned that the outcome of my life–will be determined by my outlook on life. And at the end of the day, one way or the other, my focus, and what I am focused on determines my reality!
God has given us this great gift called freedom. We have the freedom to choose.
We are RESPONSE-ABLE. In other words, we have the ability to choose our response in any set of circumstances.
Paul and Silas were in prison. Their bodies were ravaged and chained. But you can’t chain the HOLY SPIRIT. That’s what Paul and Silas showed us 2000 years ago. They were chained, but their spirits were free to worship God.
Their worship set off a chain reaction. God acted in response to their praise and worship. That’s what happens when we worship God. It changes and charges the spiritual atmosphere. And most importantly, It changes our heart.
We tend to see what we’re looking for.
A pessimist will always see something bad in a good situation and an optimist will always see something good in a bad situation.
Paul gives some priceless advice in Philippians 4:8. He says, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” A true worshipper always finds something to praise God for because they’re looking for something to praise God for.
Psalms 22:3 “God inhabits the praise of His people”
ATTITUDE OF WORSHIP
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