Joy in face of Danger & Paul & Silas in Prison

To circle back on our last night together, we’ve talked about the spike lately in celebrity & youth suicides which I don’t think is detached from the base ideas we’re considering together of a sense of purposelessness, hopelessness, faithlessness & tonight joylessness.

About 400 years after God used Martin Luther to lead Protestantism out of the Catholic Church, came WWII & another German theologian, pastor, seminary professor, and participant in the resistance movement against Adolph Hitler, he had been imprisoned by the Nazis for his activism. In the final days of the war, Bonhoeffer and his fellow prisoners had experienced a strange mixture of hope and panic as they heard the Allied guns on the horizon. Moved from place to place in advance of the American and British forces, the little group of prisoners was finally brought to a schoolhouse in Schonberg, Germany.
Time finally ran out for Bonhoeffer. An interrogator from Berlin named Huppenkothen arrived with orders for Bonheoffer’s immediate trial and execution. On the Sunday prior to his execution, Bonhoeffer was entreated by his fellow prisoners, among them Roman Catholics and even a Communist from Russia, to hold a worship service. The sermon touched his fellow prisoners deeply, encouraging them. Following this message, Bonhoeffer was called out of his cell and transported to Flossenberg, Germany where he was interrogated, tried, and condemned.
Bonhoeffer truly embodies the principles inherent our Acts 16 passage today & in Hebrews 4:14-16, namely that joy depends on one’s relationship to Jesus.  This was a truth Bonhoeffer lived to the very end, one that left an enduring picture of true Christian faith & perseverance in the midst of adversity.

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Opening quote - From James regarding Joy in face of danger

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

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Read text

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶ As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” ¹⁸ And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.
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 jailer^[e] 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.
³⁵ But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” ³⁶ And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” ³⁷ But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” ³⁸ The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. ³⁹ So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. ⁴⁰ So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

Pausing here – any thoughts our questions on this passage before we move into the breakdown?

What can we learn from the account of Paul and Silas in Jail?

How is it Paul & Silas can face beatings, trials & imprisonments without complaint?

Is their fearlessness tied to something deeper than their immediate surroundings? (Peter - Acts 5:41)

If Paul & Silas can take even imprisonment as an opportunity to minister to others, worship & spread the gospel why are Christian’s today so unlikely to evangelize?

I think Brian said the Barna group reports that 92% of American Christians will not tell someone about the Gospel in the next 12 months!

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Answer: Paul and Silas ministered together on the Paul’s second missionary journey (Acts 15–18). Paul and Silas are first mentioned together after the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, as both men were part of the group that took the council’s decision back to Syrian Antioch (verse 22). Silas is called a “prophet” who “said much to encourage and strengthen the believers” in Antioch (verse 32).

After Paul and Barnabas parted ways, Paul chose Silas as a traveling companion, and they went to Syria and Cilicia, ministering to the churches (Acts 15:41). After that, Paul and Silas traveled to Derbe and Lystra, where they picked up another companion, Timothy (Acts 16:1–3). Following a journey though Asia Minor, the Spirit led Paul and Silas into Macedonia (verses 6–10). During the missionaries’ time in Philippi, people were saved and a church was established, but Satan opposed their work. Paul and Silas were arrested, beaten, and put in prison for their preaching (Acts 16:16–24). While in prison, Paul and Silas sat with their feet in stocks singing hymns. At midnight, an earthquake broke open the prison doors, setting the prisoners free. The jailer feared that his superiors would blame him for the jail break, and he prepared to run himself through with his sword rather than face the punishment. Paul and Silas convinced him not to harm himself, they preached the gospel to him, and he was saved, along with his entire household that night (Acts 16:25–34).

From the biblical record of Paul and Silas we learn the value of faithful companions and dedicated servants of the Lord in spreading the gospel. Paul and Silas were likeminded and equally committed to the service of God. Whether they were praying for guidance in Asia, blazing new trails in Europe, preaching in synagogues, or singing in jail, Paul and Silas did it together. Their loyalty to the gospel and to each other is a model of how believers should work together today.

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Closing quote - The joy in life is to be used for a purpose. I want to be used up when I die. George Bernard Shaw

 

I have no greater joy then to hear that my children walk in truth. -- John 4

“We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer