Acts 16:6-40

Say something stupid. It just might happen. Acts chapter 16, we're starting at verse 6, page 925 in your pew Bibles, and we'll be reading to the end of the chapter.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

All right.

And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.

We remained in this city some days.

And on the Sabbath day, we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods who was a worshiper of God.

The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.

And after she was baptized in her household as well, she urged us, saying,

If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.

And she prevailed upon us.

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.

She followed Paul and us, crying out,

These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.

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.

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 as 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.

And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them 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 of 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.

But Paul cried with a loud voice,

Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.

And the jailer called for 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, you and your household.

And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.

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.

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.

But when it was day, the magistrate sent the police, saying,

Let those men go.

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.

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.

The police reported these words to the magistrates,

and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens,

so they came and apologized to them,

and they took them out and asked them to leave the city.

So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia.

And when they had seen the brothers,

they encouraged them and departed.

When I graduated from college,

I joined the staff of InterVarsity, a campus ministry,

and I was assigned to work half-time here in New Haven

and half-time at Wesleyan University in Middletown.

Now, if you're not familiar with Wesleyan,

Wesleyan is somewhere between a hippie commune,

an elite private college,

and a testing ground for unconventional ideas.

Students are quite intelligent and thoughtful.

At the same time, popular activities, at least among some students,

included protesting for all kinds of reasons,

throwing naked parties,

and smoking pot on the hill on 420.

Wesleyan had long since abandoned its Methodist heritage,

and it ranked at that time number one

on the U.S. News and World Report listings

for schools where students ignore God on a regular basis.

Occasionally, a Christian international student,

usually from somewhere in Southeast Asia or something,

would arrive on campus

under the impression that Wesleyan was a Christian university

because of its name.

Their misconceptions did not last long.

When I arrived,

the Christian fellowship was a group of about 25 students.

They met on Friday nights

in the basement of an administrative building.

In other words,

they met where no one would ever find them.

The administrators don't work on Friday nights,

and students don't go there.

Then they weren't intentionally trying to hide.

In fact, they really wanted to be engaged

with the broader campus.

And over time, the group did grow.

But they struggled with questions like this.

Does Christianity really belong here,

in a place like Wesleyan?

As a Christian,

can I be deeply committed to Jesus Christ

and deeply engaged in the life of my college?

What does that even look like?

Now, I wonder whether you've had similar questions yourself

in the place where you live or work or study.

Does Christianity have a place

in my research lab

where people assume that science

will one day explain everything?

Does Christianity have a place

in my suburban neighborhood

where everyone's life seems just perfect?

Does Christianity make a difference

to someone who has suffered,

who's been wounded a lot?

Is the Christian message really good news

for my happy pagan neighbors

or my committed Muslim and Hindu and Buddhist friends?

In an increasingly pluralistic society,

can a church that's committed to the authority of the Bible

and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ

truly flourish?

Or does Christianity really belong somewhere else?

If you're not a Christian,

perhaps you've wondered,

why would I think that Christianity

is good news for me?

You know, I sort of feel like

most Christians aren't like me.

Some parts of Christianity feel foreign.

Historical relics of a bygone era.

Well, this morning's text from the book of Acts

addresses exactly these questions.

What we see this morning in Acts 16

is the gospel of Jesus arriving,

taking root and growing

in the midst of a proud, pagan,

privileged and diverse city,

namely Philippi.

So far in the book of Acts,

we've seen the gospel of Jesus

expanding from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria

and more recently throughout Syria and Galatia,

which is modern Turkey.

I've included an outline of the book of Acts

in the center of your bulletin

that shows this progression.

We put it in about six weeks ago,

but we're at the beginning of a new section.

And there's also a map,

so you can see where some of the places are.

And in this new section,

the gospel of Jesus is proclaimed

for the first time in Eastern Europe.

It sort of crosses another barrier

into Macedonia and Greece.

Now, compared to other cities,

Luke's account of Paul's visit to Philippi

is unusually detailed,

indicating its special importance.

It's also a time when Luke was present with Paul.

Did you notice in verse 10,

the pronouns change from they to we

for most of the chapter?

Some scholars have even wondered

whether Philippi was Luke's hometown.

But regardless,

we'll see two main things this morning.

First, that Christianity belongs

in cities like Philippi.

And second, that Christianity flourishes

in cities like Philippi.

So first, Christianity belongs

in cities like Philippi.

We see this in verses 6 through 10.

In these verses, we see it's not an accident

that Paul and his companions

came to Philippi.

Rather, it was part of God's providential design.

Paul and his companions

were twice prevented by the Holy Spirit

from going to other places in verse 6 and verse 7.

But then finally in verse 9,

Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia

saying, come over and help us.

And they conclude,

God has called us to preach the gospel to them.

Now, you might wonder,

what exactly do we take away from this?

Is it possible for me

to have that kind of confidence

that God has specifically called me

to be here in New Haven

as his ambassador?

Should we seek out or wait for

this kind of direct supernatural divine guidance

before making major life decisions?

You know, I find that some Christians

are hesitant to accept a new job

or get married or move far away

without feeling some kind of supernatural guidance

or at least an unusual coincidence

that seems like confirmation.

Some Christian ministries

make a practice of not making

any new ministry initiatives

unless someone feels specifically led

by the Holy Spirit.

And so some people actually start each day

in listening prayer,

waiting for God to impress on someone's heart

what the group should do.

Now, while there is a value

to spending extended periods of time

with God in prayer

and surrendering and laying before him

our decisions and our questions

and our priorities,

it's actually not Paul's pattern

to wait for special supernatural guidance

before moving ahead.

That's not Paul's pattern here at all.

Paul's default mode was not

do nothing unless specifically directed

by the Holy Spirit.

Rather, his default was

actively obey the command

of Jesus Christ,

which has already been given to us.

In his case,

the command to go and make disciples

of all nations

and to trust that God would redirect

his path if necessary.

So chapter 15, verse 36,

Paul said to Barnabas,

let us return and visit the brothers

in every city where we proclaim

the word of the Lord

to see how they are.

There was no dream,

no vision,

no prophetic word,

just a thoughtful initiative

to care for fellow believers

in Jesus Christ.

You know, and there's much

that God has already called us to

in his word.

Most broadly,

to love the Lord your God

with all our heart

and soul and mind and strength,

to love our neighbors as ourselves,

to do anything that fits

under those two headings,

broadly speaking.

More specifically,

seek first the kingdom of God

or work in order to earn

our daily bread

and to share with those in need.

Love and support and encourage

our fellow believers.

Pay our bills and taxes

and honor the authorities,

to do good to all

as we have opportunity

to live at peace with all

as far as it depends on us

and to bear witness

to the gospel of Jesus Christ

in season and out of season.

These are just a few

of the exhortations

that are broadly given

to Christians in the New Testament.

from Jesus and the apostles.

And so, you know,

the God of the Bible

is not like a GPS.

You know, I find GPS

is actually quite annoying.

I mean, you know,

it tells you in an annoying voice

every time you need to turn right

or turn left

or the road is changing name

and you need to keep going straight.

But really, a GPS

is for someone

who lacks a clear sense of direction.

Now, you know,

some of us do lack

a clear sense of direction

and a GPS is a blessing.

But God is far better

than a mechanical device.

God is our Father in heaven.

And what He wants to do

is not tell us

in an annoying voice,

go left, go right,

go straight.

But He wants to reveal

our ultimate destination.

And He has.

That we be conformed

to the image

of Jesus Christ, His Son.

And on the way

to that destination,

He desires that we walk

in the wisdom

that He's given us.

In other words,

He's sort of shown us

the lay of the land,

the big picture,

and calls us

to use our wisdom

in making choices

to pursue

that long-term goal.

So has God called you

to be His ambassador

here in New Haven?

I think you can be confident,

yes,

as long as you are here

and as you seek to walk

in obedience

to His commands.

You can be confident

that He has put you here

for a reason.

And if He sees fit to do so,

He can redirect you.

Now it's interesting,

we don't know exactly

how the Holy Spirit

redirected Paul.

Was it a prophetic word?

Was it a strong

internal conviction?

Was it a circumstance

that made it simply

impossible to proceed?

I don't think

we can be sure,

but the redirect

was clear enough.

There does seem

to have been

a period of some uncertainty.

First God says no

to preaching in Asia.

That was to the west

if you look at the map.

Then they try to go north

into Bithynia

and there's no there.

And then only after

trekking through the mountains,

people can't even figure out

what roads they took

because there weren't

good roads

through the mountains.

They were sort of going

through the middle of nowhere

for two or three hundred miles

all the way to Troas.

Only once they get

to Troas,

does the way forward

become clear?

And sometimes,

maybe you can identify

with this,

sometimes there are seasons

where God seems to say

no to one thing

and no to another

and we wonder

what God's up to.

And sometimes all we can do

is keep going

in the one direction

that's not completely

closed off to us.

But the encouragement

from this passage

is that God's hindrances

are not in vain.

By hindering them

from preaching in Asia,

Asia Minor,

the Roman province,

and by hindering them

from going into Bithynia,

the Holy Spirit

launched them across the sea

into a whole new region

and brought them

all the way to Philippi.

So we see that

in God's providence,

Christianity belongs

in cities like Philippi,

but we also see

that Christianity flourishes

in cities like Philippi.

And this is the major theme

in the passage.

Now, as I said earlier,

Philippi was a proud city.

Verse 12,

it was a leading city

of the district of Macedonia.

It was also a privileged city.

As a Roman colony,

its citizens enjoyed

special benefits,

special perks.

Its economy had also been boosted

by nearby gold mines,

so it was prosperous.

It was also a diverse city.

It was located

on the main east-west road

called the Via Ignatia,

and Philippi attracted

a wide range of people,

including a large number

of military veterans

from the Roman army.

So it was proud,

it was privileged,

it was diverse,

it was also pagan.

Most people in Philippi

had no background

in the Bible.

There was no Jewish synagogue

inside the city.

There was only a small group

of women who gathered

outside the city gate

by the river

to pray on the Sabbath.

So biblical faith

was seen as a foreign religion,

as something not to be trusted,

as something that was

not included

within the city limits.

And in fact,

that's a substance

of the accusation

that's made against Paul

in verse 20 and 21.

What do they say?

These men are Jews.

They're disturbing our city.

They advocate customs

that are not lawful

for us Romans

to accept or practice.

In other words,

they're saying,

you guys don't belong here,

go back where you came from.

But what Luke wants us to see

is that this accusation

is completely unfair

and completely baseless.

That Christianity belongs

and flourishes

not just in Jerusalem,

the historic center

of biblical faith,

not only among Jews

in the diaspora,

where there was a large number

of people who had moved

from Jerusalem,

enough to form a synagogue,

but also in a proud,

privileged,

pagan city like Philippi.

And that Paul himself,

Paul himself was

a faithful Jew

who believed

in the God of Abraham,

Isaac, and Jacob.

But he was also

a Roman citizen

who sought

the good

of the Roman cities.

Now what we see

in Luke's detailed account

is that the gospel

of Jesus took root

among all kinds

of people

in Philippi.

People from across

the social spectrum.

People from all kinds

of different backgrounds.

And in particular,

Luke introduces us

to three people,

three very different people

in whom the gospel

of Jesus took root

to make this point

that the gospel

of Jesus flourishes

in cities like Philippi.

So first,

we're introduced

to Lydia,

verse 14 and 15.

Lydia was a successful

independent businesswoman,

a seller of purple goods,

that meant she would

have been catering

to high-end clients.

Purple clothes

signified wealth

and royalty.

She had a house

and a household.

But while she was successful,

she was also,

in some ways,

an outsider in Philippi.

She was a foreigner.

She herself was from

the city of Thyatira.

Now, I think it's

quite interesting

that her hometown

was smack in the middle

of, guess where,

the Roman province

of Asia,

the exact place

where the Holy Spirit

had just hindered,

prevented Paul from going.

Because, perhaps,

because he didn't want him

to stay there,

he wanted him to go further.

And yet,

in his sovereignty,

God prevented Paul

from preaching

in the Roman province

of Asia,

but then led him

to a woman

from that very province

just in the city

of Philippi.

Perhaps on her next

business trip home,

she also brought with her

the good news of Christ.

But verse 14 tells us

Lydia was not only

a foreigner,

she was also

a worshiper of God.

And that was a term

used for Gentiles

who had rejected

pagan polytheism,

who had become

very interested in

the one God

revealed in the Bible,

who had started attending

Sabbath prayer services,

joining with

the Jewish community

that read from

the Old Testament,

but hadn't formally

converted to Judaism.

She hadn't yet been

received into

the covenant family

of God.

And in verse 14 and 15,

we see three ways

that the gospel

took root in Lydia.

This successful

businesswoman

who was yet,

in some ways,

an outsider.

So first,

she listened

to God's word.

Verse 14 says,

the Lord opened her heart

to pay attention

to what was said

by Paul.

Her attention

was gripped.

Her mind

was persuaded.

Her heart

was strangely warmed.

And she said,

yes,

this is what

I have been searching for.

This God

who came in

Jesus Christ,

who has sent

his Holy Spirit,

he's the one

who has been

searching for me.

So,

she was baptized.

She didn't hold back.

She took the plunge.

Not only her,

but her household as well.

And third,

she started treating

other Christians

like family.

God had opened her heart,

so she opened her home.

Through Jesus,

God had included her

in his family,

so she included others

in hers.

One commentator said,

Lydia's generosity

of spirit

showed the genuineness

of her faith.

You know,

it's no small thing

to invite four grown men,

Paul,

Silas,

Timothy,

and Luke,

into your home

on an indefinite basis.

And,

you know,

one of the ways

you can tell

when someone genuinely

becomes a Christian

is that their attitude

toward family

and toward possessions

dramatically changes.

Family is no longer

just blood relatives.

Family is also,

in an even more

enduring sense,

brothers and sisters

in Christ,

in the family of God.

And possessions

are no longer

things to grasp onto

and take pride in.

They become resources

to be used creatively

by God,

used creatively

to advance God's purposes

and to serve

other people.

And so we see

that happening

right away

in Lydia.

At the end

of the chapter,

it seems that

Lydia's house

becomes the gathering place

for the Christian community

in Philippi.

And Lydia's generosity

left an enduring legacy

in the Philippian church.

You know,

the church in Philippi

became well known

for its sacrificial generosity.

Paul writes

in his letter

to the Philippians,

he says,

in the beginning

of the gospel

when I left Macedonia,

no church entered

into partnership

with me

in giving and receiving

except you only.

He says,

you sent me help

for my needs

time and again.

Philippians 4,

he writes that.

And so this generosity

fueled by

the gospel

of Jesus Christ

became a defining

mark of this church.

So that's Lydia,

the first person

who is affected

by the gospel

of Jesus.

But we also see

another person

in verse 16

through 18,

we see a slave girl.

Now this slave girl

was almost

the exact opposite

of Lydia,

socially speaking.

Lydia was an independent

business owner.

She was a head

of her household.

This girl

was absolutely dependent.

She owned nothing.

She was a slave.

She was at the mercy

of her owners

who exploited her

for financial gain.

Lydia was a worshiper

of the one true God.

This girl was deeply entrenched

in pagan practices.

She had a spirit

of divination,

was engaged

in fortune telling.

The same word

was used

to describe

the priestesses

in the temple

of Apollo

at Delphi

who would allegedly

be thrown

into a frenzy

and then supposedly

have special insight

into the future.

Lydia listened

attentively

to Paul's words.

This girl

followed Paul around,

interrupting him

day after day,

crying out,

these men are servants

of the Most High God

who proclaim to you

a way of salvation.

Now in one sense,

what she said

sounds true.

Paul was a servant

of the Most High God.

But you know,

most people in Philippi,

if they heard that,

he's a servant

of the Most High God,

you know who they

would have thought of?

They would have thought

of Zeus,

one of the greatest

of the Greek gods,

not of Yahweh,

the God of the Bible.

And Paul was proclaiming

the way of salvation.

Actually,

it's a little more

ambiguous in the Greek.

It says,

not,

it literally just says,

who proclaim to you

way of salvation.

So it could be

the way of salvation,

but it could be

just a way of salvation.

And that word salvation

had a very broad meaning.

It could have simply,

sometimes it was used

simply to mean health

or well-being.

So some people

might have thought,

huh,

Paul's giving us

some new advice

about how to be healthy,

how to live a better life,

a new way of living.

So verse 18 says,

eventually Paul became annoyed.

And I don't think that means

he just got really impatient.

It's more like Paul

was indignant,

deeply troubled,

like Jesus was at times

in the Gospels.

This girl's loud declarations

were misleading

and distracting.

But Paul, I think,

was also troubled

by seeing the bondage

that she was in.

The bondage to her owners

who were exploiting her.

The bondage to the evil spirit

who controlled her.

And so he turned

and said to the spirit,

I command you

in the name of Jesus Christ

to come out of her.

And after years of enslavement,

this girl was finally free.

You know,

in every privileged,

prosperous city,

there's a dark underside.

Prostitution,

slavery,

drug addiction,

physical abuse,

self-harm,

bondage to evil spirits,

all kinds of things.

And you know,

the Christian Gospel

is good news

for all who are lost,

for all who are enslaved,

for all who are exploited.

Jesus Christ has come

to set the captives free.

You know,

we don't hear what happened,

the rest of what happened

to the slave girl,

because her owners

were immediately furious.

They stirred up a riot,

had Paul and Silas beaten

and thrown in prison.

The slave girl was set free,

but Paul and Silas

paid the price.

They were imprisoned.

And yet,

even in the prison,

the Gospel of Jesus

flourished.

Verse 25,

Paul and Silas

were praying

and singing hymns

to God at midnight.

The other prisoners

were listening.

What a picture of joy

in the midst of opposition.

Later on,

during another imprisonment,

Paul would write

in his letter

to the Philippians,

he said,

what has happened to me

has really served

to advance the Gospel.

Because he says,

now everyone knows

that my imprisonment

is for Christ.

And he says,

as a result,

most of the brothers

and sisters

are much more bold

to speak the Word of God

without fear.

So Paul's writing

from prison

and he says,

you know,

the fact that I'm in prison,

God's actually using this

for the good of his kingdom,

for the good news

of Jesus to go forth.

So the Gospel of Jesus

speaks to Lydia

and opens her,

her heart is opened.

The slave girl is liberated

and third,

we meet a jailer.

Verse 25 through 34,

now compared to Lydia

and the slave girl,

the jailer would have been

somewhere in between

on the social ladder.

He worked for the state.

Perhaps like many others

in Philippi,

he was an army veteran.

Regardless,

as a corrections officer,

we can assume

he was a tough guy.

He saw human beings

at their worst

and every day

he had to lock people up.

But what we see

is that God broke through,

even to this hardened jailer.

First,

God displayed his majesty

by sending

a powerful earthquake.

Earthquakes happened

occasionally in that area

and people often

interpreted them

as a sign of coming

divine judgment.

The jailer's initial instinct

was to take his own life.

Because if his prisoners

had escaped,

he was liable

to the same punishment

that they would have

all received.

And who knows,

some of them may

have been,

it's possible

that he would have

been executed.

But you know,

God didn't just display

his majesty

to the jailer

in this powerful earthquake

that opened all the doors

of the prison.

God also displayed

his mercy.

Verse 28,

Paul cried

with a loud voice,

don't harm yourself.

We are all here.

And interestingly,

the result was

he was even more afraid.

Trembling with fear,

it says,

he fell down

before Paul and Silas.

You could have escaped,

but you didn't.

You've saved my life.

Why in the world

would you do that

for me?

Sirs,

what must I do

to be saved?

What must I do

to be rescued

from the judgment

of this God

who sent the earthquake?

What must I do

to receive

this saving mercy

that you have

extended to me?

And Paul and Silas

said,

verse 31,

believe in the Lord Jesus

and you will be saved.

You and your household.

It's that simple.

You see,

the Bible speaks

of a majestic God,

a holy and righteous God

who will one day

judge the world.

It says,

no creature

is hidden

from his sight,

but all are exposed

to the eyes of him

to whom we must

give account.

But the Bible

also speaks

of a merciful Savior,

Jesus Christ,

who willingly shared

in our own flesh

and blood,

who endured

God's judgment

on our behalf

so that we might live

by believing in him,

by trusting his work

on our behalf.

And the circumstances

of the jailer's conversion

and of Lydia's conversion

were as different

as they could be.

God opened Lydia's heart

on a peaceful Saturday

afternoon

by a riverside

while she was listening

to Paul speak.

God saved the jailer

after rudely awakening him

in the middle of the night

and barely preventing him

from killing himself.

But the results

were the same.

Do you see

these same three results?

of the gospel

coming to Lydia's heart

are expressed

by the jailer.

Like Lydia,

he listened attentively

to God's word.

Verse 32.

Like Lydia,

he and his household

believed

and were baptized.

Verse 33.

And like Lydia,

he immediately treated

his brothers in Christ

like family.

Verse 34.

He washed their wounds,

he brought them

into his house,

he fed them a meal.

not typical behavior

for a corrections officer

then or now

to do with his inmates.

Now it would be

absolutely prohibited

by the law.

But do you see

how the gospel

transforms people's lives?

Makes us attentive

to his word,

makes us committed

to his people,

makes us loving each other

like family.

Have you experienced

this transforming power

of the gospel

in your life?

Verse 34 says,

the jailer rejoiced

along with his entire

household

that he had believed

in God.

You know,

I don't know

what your experience

is like here

in New Haven,

but I don't find

New Haven

to be a particularly

joyful place.

Many people

in New Haven

are busy,

driven,

and ambitious.

Others are bored,

weary of life,

seeking pleasure

in order to fill

a deep emptiness.

But you know,

the gospel of Jesus Christ

creates a community

characterized by joy.

Deep and lasting joy

that penetrates

the heart of even

the most cynical,

hardened,

world-weary people.

And this was the witness

of the church

at Philippi,

beginning with the jailer

and his family.

The theme of joy

appears over and over

in Paul's letter

to the Philippians.

I make my prayer

for you with joy.

He says,

my brothers and sisters

whom I love

and long for,

you are my joy

and crown.

And he reminds them,

rejoice.

Rejoice in the Lord

always.

And again I say,

rejoice.

Brothers and sisters,

this is what

the gospel has called us

to here in New Haven.

To be a community

of people who find joy

in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Not in our circumstances,

not simply in pleasure,

not simply in

always smiling

and pretending,

but enduring joy

of knowing that

God is for us,

that Christ has died for us,

that his spirit is with us,

and that he will come again

in glory one day.

This is what the gospel does.

In a proud,

privileged,

pagan city,

the gospel of Jesus

opens the heart

of a successful businesswoman,

sets free

an oppressed slave girl,

and brings joy

to a hardened

corrections officer,

and it brings them

all together

in the family

of God.

One commentator

put it like this.

He says,

what we see in this chapter

is that the gospel triumphs

in the Jewish meeting place

outside the walls

of the city,

and in the Roman stronghold,

inside the city,

even inside the prison.

It triumphs over

magistrates

and their jails,

and it triumphs

over demons.

Luke shows

that the gospel

and its followers

can exist

within the place

of Roman authority

by creating

its own space

in-house.

Thus he shows

that the Christian faith

is neither subservient

to Rome,

nor is it fundamentally

at odds

with Rome.

In other words,

he's saying Christianity

belongs

in cities like Philippi.

Christianity flourishes

in cities like Philippi,

and Christianity

will endure

in cities like Philippi.

Verse 40,

before Paul leaves town,

it says,

he went to visit Lydia

and to encourage

the brothers.

Once again,

a reminder

that God had brought

these different people

together into

his one family

as brothers and sisters

in Christ.

The gospel of Jesus Christ

is good news.

It's good news

for all kinds of people.

It satisfies

the inquiring mind

of thoughtful

spiritual seekers.

It brings profound meaning

and purposeful generosity

to successful business people.

It brings liberation

and healing

to the poor,

the downtrodden,

and the oppressed.

It brings joy

to hardened police officers

and weary social workers

who have seen it all.

And it brings us together

into one family of God.

Let's pray

that we would be changed

by this good news.

Lord, we pray

in the words of Paul's prayer

for the Philippians

that our love

may abound more and more

with knowledge

and all discernment

so that we may approve

what is excellent

and be pure

and blameless

for the day of Christ.

Filled with the fruit

of righteousness

that comes through

Jesus Christ

to the glory

and praise of God.

We pray that you would

make us a joyful people.

We pray that you would

give us confidence

as we go forth

into the different places

where you have put us

with this saving message

of the gospel,

with this healing

reality of Christ

in us.

And Lord, we pray

that you would

make us a people

who reflect

the glory of this gospel

of Jesus Christ.

We pray in his name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, let's stand

and let's praise

the one

whose rain

brings joy

even in the most

unlikely places.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Jesus shall reign where'er the sun does its successive journeys run. His kingdom spread from shore to shore till