He Rejoiced That He Believed In God (July 8th, 2018) - Marvin McCooty

It's nice to see you guys again.

I'm a little bit nervous.

I don't really know why, but I'm just want to tell you that right now.

Um, yeah, I can't figure that out.

I felt nervous yesterday thinking about it, and uh I feel that right now.

But if you've got a Bible, you can open to Acts chapter 16 if you haven't done that already.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

Um, the biggest guy I've ever seen cry was a 6'9, 292-pound guy named Roy from Boston.

Roy was went to university with me and he wasn't crying because he just stubbed his toe.

Roy was crying because in 2005, the Lord met Roy.

He didn't realize this was going to happen, but Roy walked into this ratty art building where we were meeting as the uh as the Christian Student Society, and he got saved.

And the tears that were flowing down his eyes were tears of joy.

He was crying because he was amazed that God has shown him grace.

And see, the gospel had taken root in his heart, and there was an act of joy that flowed out of his heart.

We're gonna see today in Acts 16 that when the gospel takes root, we're gonna see a couple things.

We're gonna see that acts of joy flow out, but we're also gonna see that it's God that does it.

When the gospel takes root and has touched your heart, you're going to see that it's because God made you open and receptive to the gospel.

The other thing you're going to see is that joy flows from our hearts, but there's also things that come into our life that threaten to stifle our joy, that kill that gospel joy.

But our text is going to show us what we can do by the power of the Holy Spirit to stop those things from happening.

But maybe right now you're like, ah, I've already lost my joy though, Mars.

That gospel joy that I experienced at the beginning, that joy is no longer there.

It feels like it's gone.

I'm already in that spot where I'm not filled with joy.

Then you need to know that there is hope for you.

There is hope for you, because we will see in our text the things we can do to get that back again, all by the power of the Holy Spirit.

But maybe you're in a different category.

You're in the category of I've never experienced gospel joy.

I've never, I don't know this joy that you're talking about.

Well, there is hope for you as well, because our text is going to show what we can do, the step you can take to experience that joy for the very first time.

Look with me at verse 16 in the book of Acts.

Acts 16, verse 16, it says, as we were going through 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.

Acts 16:16

She followed Paul and us, crying out, These men are servants of the Most High God who proclaimed to you the way of salvation.

And this she kept doing for many days.

So Paul and his his crew, they're kind of they're going to the place of prayer, and there's a young girl, and she's following them, but this girl is possessed by an evil spirit.

And the spirit gives her the ability to tell fortunes.

She can tell the future.

And her owners kept a close watch on her.

And that's because they made lots of money off of this young girl.

The spirit in her kept calling out who Paul and Silas were, and she was calling out what they were doing.

Eventually, her behavior starts to irritate Paul.

He's irritated by her behavior and he's troubled by her behavior.

And so he commands the spirit to come out of her.

And when he does this, her owners are not happy.

See, these men were exploiting this young girl.

Look at verse 18.

Says 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.

This young girl here is in double bondage.

She's in bondage to this demonic spirit, but she's also in bondage to these evil men who are exploiting and using her for gain.

As soon as Paul commands the spirit to leave, it says it left her.

See, it's the loss of income for these guys that bring their opposition to Paul and Silas and ultimately their opposition to the gospel.

See, money is more important to these men than this young girl's dignity and her welfare.

The love of money made them cold and indifferent towards another human being.

Some of the worst forms of oppression, injustice that take place in our world, some of the worst forms of exploitation comes from this sin, the love of money.

Human trafficking, pornography, cheap labor, slavery, all of these sins, these wicked things that are in our world, when you track back, a lot of them come from this one sin, the love of money.

See, the love of money distorts our perception.

When it becomes our main aim in life, when money is the main thing, that main thing you're driving for, it causes you to use people instead of loving people, loving our neighbors as ourself.

When making money is your ultimate pursuit, it will not lead to a place of lasting joy.

Often what happens, it leads to a place of more and more sin.

For helping this woman, Paul and Silas are dragged before the leaders and they're beaten and then thrown in jail.

Look at verse 20.

The crowds 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 in the inner prison and fastened their feet in stocks.

And the inner prison here would be our equivalent of maximum security.

He's throwing them in the farthest, the deepest part of the prison.

And then their feet are fastened in stalks.

There's a picture of stalks right there for you.

This is the device that they would have been placed in.

And a stalk serve two purposes.

They serve two purposes.

They held a prisoner securely so that they could not escape.

So you were locked into this thing.

So again, get the picture.

They are deep in the inner prison, and then they're in this device that keeps them, uh gives them the inability to escape.

The other purpose that it served was that those little holes that you see there, the feet were pushed into that, and it was actually squeezing the ankle, crushing the ankle.

So it was actually a means of further torture.

Inner prison, in the stocks, being tortured.

In this device, you had to sleep sitting up.

It was also next to impossible to move if you were beginning to cramp.

You couldn't do anything.

And so what we know here is that Paul and Silas are in pain.

They're being tortured, they're suffering, but notice their response.

Verse 25.

At about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

Here's our first point.

Only two points today.

Here's the first one: gospel joy is possible in hard times.

Possible in hard times.

Paul and Silas have been humiliated, they're persecuted for their obedience to Jesus Christ.

They're publicly beaten and then thrown into prison, but persecution couldn't stifle their joy in God.

The text says that they're praying and singing.

And what you have here is Paul and Silas resorting to a time-tested way to respond in suffering.

Again, the gospel touched their heart.

And so what do you see?

Acts of joy flowing from their lives.

Praying and singing.

See, when we do this, when we sing and pray, it helps us focus on our eternal reality that can get foggy in difficult moments.

When we sing and pray, it helps us to get our eyes in the right direction when difficulty flows into our lives.

Singing and praying is like a good set of windshield wipers.

I've got a bad set of windshield wipers on my car, but a good set of windshield wipers that just clears away all of that dirt and that gut that can get on our screen, our windshield when we are driving, so that we can see clearly where we are going.

When hard times come, whether from persecution in your life or just something else, some other difficulty comes in your life and your joy feels like it's under attack.

One of the things that we can do is sing.

We can sing, we can sing and pray, we can sing gospel-rich songs like Jesus paid it all, with great lines like this, which says, All to him I owe.

I owe everything to Jesus Christ.

Why?

Because sin had left a crimson stain, but what did he do?

He washed it white as snow.

Or we can sing before the throne with another great line, couple great lines, before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea, a great high priest, whoever lives and pleads for me, because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free.

Why?

Because God the just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me.

Or we can sing my favorite hymn, It Is Well.

Which says, When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, no matter what is going on in my life, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul, all because of Jesus Christ and what he has done for us on the cross.

These songs help us to see clearly what we have in Christ in those hard moments and where we're going because of Jesus Christ.

Truth in these songs bring joy in our pain.

If you're ever wondering, what do I do when the hard time comes?

What do I do when that difficult situation rolls in?

What do I do when I've lost my gospel joy?

Do this one thing sing and pray.

It's a path back to gospel joy.

See, singing helps us because the objective truth in gospel-rich songs challenge our subjective feelings.

They challenge those feelings.

Singing and praying helps us because it gives us the right perspective in those difficult moments.

Notice too that Paul and Silas are singing before they're set free.

They're actually singing with no promise of being set free.

Joy can come in those hard moments.

Paul and Silas are singing and then listens to what happens next.

Verse 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.

When the jailer awoke, he saw that the prison doors were open.

He drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

So this massive earthquake comes and it opens up all the doors and all the stocks are unfastened.

Everyone is free.

And then the jailer's like, Well, they're all gone, and I'm probably gonna be killed anyway for losing all of these people, so I may as well kill myself.

But Paul stops him.

Look at verse 28.

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.

Verse 30.

Then he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be safe?

Paul yells, he says, Do not harm yourself.

He says, We're all here, no one has escaped.

And you can kind of picture the jailer stumbling in, calling for lights, and he's you know, he's kind of like the teacher at the science center, trying to get all the kids back on the bus.

You don't want to lose anybody's babies, and so you're counting.

One, two, where's Pastor Mike?

He always drifts off.

Three, four, five.

Everyone was in the spot.

Everyone was there.

No one took advantage of the providential earthquake.

See, this earthquake is for the jailer.

I grew up in a church where this text was often took uh in a wrong spot, I think.

And it became about having enough faith, and your miracle will come if you just pray or whatever it is.

God will bring this earthquake and he'll do all these big things for you, and it becomes about what's happening for Paul and Silas.

But that's not where the text is actually going.

This earthquake is for the jailer.

Because God planned to save him.

He used this earthquake to take the jailer to a spot of humility.

Look at verse 30.

He says, Then they brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

He is humbled, he falls at their feet, he stumbles in, he is finally ready to hear the gospel.

He's finally in a spot where he's aware he needed to be saved.

Here's the thing that's going on for this guy.

His brush with death opened his eyes to the reality that if he would have died in that moment, he would have been standing before God without an advocate.

He would have been before the creator of the world, the one who holds everything together, the one who we are here for.

He would have been standing before God without Jesus Christ.

And that opens his eyes to his reality.

That he would have not entered into a life of lasting joy without Jesus Christ, he would have entered into a life of lasting misery.

And God does not want that for him.

See, whenever God plans to save someone, he will do whatever it takes to open their eyes.

God will in the most loving and humble ways crush you.

And that's what happened to me.

I was in university, on my way, playing football, thinking, you know what, I'm going to make the CFL and make lots of money.

You can see how deceived I was in that.

And then systematically, in my fourth year, the year that you get drafted, systematically, God just slowly started to, He took one of my knees.

Then I just started dropping the ball, fumbling all over the place, and then it just became clear that this guy is not the same guy who showed up on this campus three years ago.

And then do you know what happened on the day when my the draft came up?

Nothing happened for me.

I was sitting there with an agent.

I still have an agent, by the way.

I should get rid of that contract.

Um sitting there, and we just watch round after round after round after round after round, no picks.

And there was moments of drifting in and out of like hard, you know, depression, struggling to go to class, all of these different things.

But God used that to open my eyes to that I was not that special, that I wasn't the best thing since sliced bread.

He crushed me, but he used that 2005, that window, the same time my friend Roy got saved, he used that to save me and change my life.

And I'm I'm not upset in any way that God crushed me to get me to a spot to be ready to hear the gospel.

He loves us too much to leave us pursuing things that don't bring lasting joy.

He loves us too much to leave us in a spot of pursuing things that only bring misery and pain.

So he says, What must I do to be saved?

But you will notice Paul and Silas don't say to him, You know what you need to do?

You need to get yourself together, you need to start living the right way.

That's not what they say.

They only tell him to believe what's already been done.

Look at verse 31.

And they said to him, 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.

They told him what was essential.

They said, Believe in Jesus.

They told everyone in his home the gospel.

Verse 32 makes that clear.

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

They told them how Jesus obeyed all of God's commands when we could not.

They told them how Jesus died on the cross for our sins where we should have been.

And they told everyone in the house how Jesus has been raised to show that sin is paid for, that he's ruling and reigning, and that there is a day coming where Jesus is going to come back and rescue all of us.

And we will get to be with God for all eternity, with glorified bodies, with good knees.

They told them all that Jesus did to restore our relationship with God that was broken because of our sin and because of our pursuit of joy without God.

And they believed.

Maybe you are here, like I said, and you are, if you're honest, pursuing joy without God.

But you're not getting joy.

What you are getting are moments of fleeting pleasure, but often more and more what you are experiencing is misery.

And you're wondering who Who can save me from myself?

Who can save me and take all of this pain from me?

The answer to that question is Jesus Christ.

The jailer shows us the path, how we experience gospel joy for the first time.

We turn and we believe in the one who has given all for us, Jesus Christ.

He is the one who will bring you lasting joy.

The jailer believed, and from that point on, his life is completely changed.

See, when Jesus saves you, the work of transformation starts immediately.

His work of transforming your heart and your life starts just like that.

Look at verse 33.

It says, and he took them that same hour of the night and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.

Then he brought them into his house and set food before them.

And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

Here's our final point: gospel joy is public and changed lives.

As soon as the jailer is converted, we see joy.

Joy coming from his life, and we see change in his life.

Verse 33 says that he took Paul and Silas and washed their wounds.

This is an act of kindness and compassion.

See, washing their wounds would have eased their pain.

It reminds us of the good Samaritan who comes along and picks up that beaten-up man and takes him to a spot where he can be cared for.

And you're wondering if compassion like this can flow from our lives?

The answer is yes.

And it happens when we remember the compassion we have been shown by Jesus Christ.

That because of our sin, we were, we had all kinds of wounds.

But when we placed our faith in Jesus Christ, he came and he picked us up and he began to heal those wounds.

He washed us.

And when we remember that, when we think on that, when we reflect on that, joy comes to our heart.

And then the acts start to flow from that because we begin to ask the Holy Spirit to lead us to people who are hurting, who are in need, so that we can minister to them with the love of Jesus Christ.

So the jailer shows compassion and kindness, and then we see his obedience.

Verse 33 says that he was baptized at once.

There was no hesitation.

There's no hesitation.

And this is the consistent pattern in the book of Acts.

As soon as someone is baptized, saved in Acts, they're looking for water to be baptized.

They want to publicly declare their love and commitment to Jesus Christ, their love and unity with Him and His church.

And you know what I'm going to say next.

If you are a believer, if you're following Jesus and you're not baptized, this is your next step of obedience.

This is the next box to check, if that can be said.

You follow the example of the jailer.

Show the joy you are experiencing in your heart by publicly declaring your commitment and love for Jesus Christ because of his love and commitment to you.

I don't know when you're doing a baptism service again, but your pastor's right there.

He knows.

And today is a good day to sign up and get ready to be baptized.

If you're afraid of public speaking, I am too.

But the Holy Spirit will carry you through that experience.

Trust him and obey the Lord and publicly declare your love for Jesus.

So he is baptized, but he doesn't stop there.

Verse 34 says, He brought them to his house and set food before them.

He welcomed them into his home and provided a good meal.

And so we see compassion, we see baptism, and now we see hospitality from the jailer.

And this is something that we are commanded to do.

This is something that defines us.

Romans 12, verse 13 says, contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Romans 12:13

Hebrews 13, 2 says, Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware.

Now hospitality isn't just inviting people over to your house who you like.

It's inviting strangers into your home.

I'm not talking about random people off the street unless you really kind of want to do that.

But it's people that you interact with but you do not know well.

People who don't look like us, people who don't think or talk like us, people we interact with on Sundays, people we share a driveway with, people we ride an elevator with.

Hospitality is important because it's a way that we can make our joy in God public.

Believe it or not, it's a way that your joy can come back if you have lost it.

You can also encourage joy in others.

As we laugh together in our homes, as we share stories, funny stories of things that have gone on in our lives, as we enjoy great food together, develop great friendships with one another, share our faith with somebody who is not in Christ, or encourage someone who's deeply discouraged because of the pain going on in their life and build unity in our churches.

Here's what we have to get into our minds.

Our relationships will not go deep if all we ever do is interact on Sundays or at a scheduled small group meeting.

The relationships will only go far, but we have to take the steps further in and allowing people into our lives and developing deep relationships and friendships so that trust can be built and so that we can minister and care for one another.

And one of the ways that we do that is by showing hospitality, stepping into deeper, further into each other's lives.

The jailer here is a completely changed man.

Gospel, again, has reached his heart, and you see acts of joy flowing out.

That's why verse 34 says, He rejoiced, that's where the see the joy?

He rejoiced that he had believed in God.

Think about this man.

Before he delighted in torturing Paul and Silas.

There was no mandate for him to put them in the stocks.

That was just a further step that he took.

But now we see him delighting in serving and caring for and helping his brothers in Christ.

This scene shows us the power the gospel has to reconcile us to one another.

The gospel has the power to transform enemies into friends.

See, the gospel makes us good with God, but it also puts us in a good place with each other.

We hear this often, but we shouldn't forget it or let it lose awe on us.

And it's this statement it's that the gospel changes lives.

But we hear it so much that we just we just kind of we forget it.

But the gospel is powerful, it takes a life and it completely transforms it, it changes it.

That's why in 2 Corinthians it says that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old is gone, the new has come.

When the gospel really takes root in a heart, acts of joy flow from it.

And yes, yes, things will come.

We live in a world that is broken by sin.

So things are going to come that are going to attack that joy in us.

But we have seen what we can do through the power of the Holy Spirit to stop that from happening.

We have seen also what we can do to stir and encourage gospel joy in others.

We sing and we pray.

We do acts of compassion, we show hospitality, we invite people into our lives, and we take the step of obedience and we are baptized, publicly declaring the joy that we have in God and inviting other people to rejoice with us.

All of these things we can do by the power of the Holy Spirit.