Gtcotr/ss072119
Acts 16 NLT
27 The jailer woke up to see
the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew
his sword to kill himself.
·
I’d
say it must have been a pretty bad morning for this guy – in fact – this might
be the sign of a pretty bad life.
o It’s not even
daylight yet …
o He just woke up out
of a deep sleep …
§ Probably the
earthquake
§ Maybe the noise
o He sees all of the
prison doors standing wide open
o He assumed the worst
o He saw no reason to go
on living
o He decided to commit
suicide
·
That’s
the picture of someone already living on the edge
o This dude was a
little too stressed
o We know he had a
family … what was he thinking …
o Perhaps he thought
he was thinking of them and how much better off they would be with him …
o He was in meltdown
mode
o Straight to suicide,
don’t pass go and don’t collect $200, don’t phone a friend, ask for a second
opinion or hold off ‘til the buzzer … final answer – I think I’ll just kill
myself.
o Maybe he should have
found himself a different job
§ He definitely didn’t
need to be carrying a sword around
§ If he’d kill himself
… imagine what he might do to someone else!
·
On
top of being completely stupid – He was totally wrong
o The prisoners didn’t
escape – they were having a bible study …
o And if he thought
jail was bad … what would he have thought about hell?
o Things don’t just
automatically get better because you quit or bail or check out.
o No matter
how bad things are right now, believe me, you can make them worse!
·
Let
me catch us up on what was happening in the town of Philippi in the Roman
province of Macedonia.
o The account of Acts
16:12-26
§ Paul and Silas were
on a mission trip and were sent to Macedonia, (now Greece), by the Holy Spirit.
§ Paul ended up
casting an irritating devil out of a slave-girl who made a lot of money for her
owners telling fortunes.
§ The slave owners got
angry and stirred up a mob against Paul and Silas ending up with them being
stripped naked, publicly beaten with rods, and thrown into prison awaiting
trial.
§ At midnight, in
chains and darkness, Paul and Silas began to pray and sing praises to God from the
dungeon of the inner prison while the other prisoners were listening.
§ God sent an
earthquake and loosened everyone’s chains and opened all of the prison doors.
o The head jailer had
been asleep up to that point …
§ Maybe it was the
shaking of the earthquake
§ Perhaps the noise of
the chains falling or doors opening
§ Or the yelling of
the freed prisoners
§ Whatever … the
jailer woke up …
o If a prisoner under
Roman arrest escaped, whoever was guarding them had to take their place.
§ No doubt some of
those prisoners were destined for beatings, torture, perhaps amputations or
castrations, crucifixions or beheadings … now all of those punishments would be
levied on this jailer, or so he assumed …
§ In his stupor,
riddled with fear and armed with assumptions, the jailer believed he was doomed
and decided to kill himself before even washing his face.
Acts 16
28 But Paul shouted to him,
“Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for
lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.
30 Then he brought them out
and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Well,
perhaps one of the things you could do is “Stop assuming the worst!”
Paul
and Silas gave him the answer which will still work for everyone and everything
today. They said:
Today
I want to give you some simple steps to helping yourself and others. If you or
one of your friends needs a little counseling or some therapy, let me give you
a little Biblecology to consider.
Biblecology 101
You think what you think –
You feel what you feel –
You want what you want –
Because –
You believe what you believe.
If
we believe something that is not The Truth
We will think we have the answer when we
clearly don’t
We will manufacture feelings to foster
our warped beliefs
We will want things that will only make
it worse
When
we assume the worst is inevitable, we imagine there is no way out and no reason
to keep going. When we find ourselves at the end of our rope and without hope
for tomorrow what should we do? What will save us?
Acts 16:31 They replied, “Believe
in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your
household.”
Jesus
is the answer for the world today. He is your answer. He is your Guard, your
Guide, your Comfort, your Hope, your Source, your Savior and your Friend. He
will never leave you nor forsake you. Believe in the Lord Jesus … He is the
Truth.
When
you go to His Word you will find direction, protection, provision and strength.
·
If
its broken He can mend it
·
If
its weak, He’ll make it strong
·
If
its bad, He’s not finished yet
Don’t
assume the worst … Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with
everyone in your household. That’s the Truth … anything else will have you
thinking, feeling and wanting things which are just not best for your or for
anyone else.
When
we change what we believe to line up with God’s Word it will change what we
think, what we feel and what we want. We will begin to think, feel and want
what God thinks, feels and wants.
Give
it to Jesus … and believe He can do it!
Mark 9 NKJV
23 Jesus said to him, “If you
can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
24 Immediately the father of
the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
