 Today, we're going to be looking at Acts chapter 16 verses 19 through 34. And so what we'll do is I'll begin reading at verse 19, read to verse 24, give my basic introduction as I normally do, and we'll be looking together at the subject of the greatest question. So beginning at verse 19 and reading to verse 24, Luke writes, when her master saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities, and they brought them to the magistrates and said, these men being Jews exceedingly trouble our city, and they teach customs which are not lawful for us being Romans to receive or observe. Then the multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. So just as a way of introduction, we have a graphic for you that we're going to put up right now. There, there, I'm graphic. So anyway, we've been looking at the travels of Paul. So if you look to the right of the screen on the western coast of Turkey, that's Troas, they went from Troas into Samothrace, went up north into a place called Neapolis, and then on to Philippi. And so we're looking at what took place in Philippi. You know, so very often when I'm teaching, I'll just give you the geographic names and I'll, and I forget what we know. Very few of us have been to that area. So I thought, well, you know, I'll just throw a little map on there for them so that they can kind of see the travels of Paul. And so we know that Paul and his ministry team have traveled now into Europe because Macedonia is northern Greece. And so they've traveled across the Mediterranean and they've landed there in that area there. And they originally had landed in Neapolis. And then they went to the city of Philippi. Again, that's in northern Greece. It was ancient Macedonia. The Greek area was divided into two separate places. There was a Kaia, which is the southern, then there's the northern, which is called Macedonia. So they're up in the north right now in the region of Macedonia. They're in a city called Philippi. And we've already gone through this, but I'm going to remind you of a few things. Lay the foundation so we can pick up here in a few moments in verse 19. We saw that when Paul was in the city of Philippi, he went to a prayer meeting. This prayer meeting was by a river site and he spoke to the women who had gathered there and Paul had given to them the gospel. There was a woman there by the name of Lydia. And Lydia was a wealthy merchant. She came from the area of Thyatira, but was there now in Philippi. Thyatira is one of the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation and it's on the western border of Turkey. Well, she's from Thyatira and she listened to what was being said. She listened intently, heard what was being said, and she had committed herself in faith to Christ. We saw how she had invited Paul and his companions to stay with her for a period of time because she wanted to grow in her newly found faith. And Paul had consented and stayed in her home for some time. I mentioned to you that that home of Lydia more than likely became what was called the house church. So while he's there, ministering in this region, in the city of Philippi, Paul encountered a demonized young girl. The girl had been used by some men to give predictions of the future. She was possessed by what was called the spirit of divination. And so she was a fortune teller. She was giving predictions concerning the future and she had brought much profit, the scripture says in verse 16, to her owners, to her masters. She was a slave to them. So she began to follow Paul and his team around the city for many days and she was interrupting Paul's ministry. She would comment and begin to shriek and all and she was yelling out something. We saw that in verse 17 where it said, the girl followed Paul and us and cried out saying, these men are the servants of the most high God who proclaimed to us the way of salvation. And so when Paul was trying to minister, we'll say one on one or to preach, she'd be there shrieking. It wasn't just that she was raising her voice. It is that she was screeching. She was shrieking out and kept saying that. And so she was following him around for some time and he couldn't minister without interruption. So as she is shrieking out or crying out that these are servants of God bringing salvation, it could have been that it was one of her ways to attempt to be set free from the demon that possessed her. Now remember, and I didn't present this last time. So let me add a little bit to our study. Demons know who Jesus Christ is and demons fear him. In the book of Luke chapter four verses 33 and 34, it reads that in the synagogue, there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, go away. What do you want with us? Jesus of Nazareth, then the question is asked, have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. James in chapter two, verse 19 of his book said, you believe that there's one God. You do well. Even demons believe in trouble. And so there are many people here in the United States, especially because the United States has foundations that were built on the Christian faith. There are many people even in our day in the 21st century who will say, well, I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. I believe in the Holy Spirit. When I was growing up as a little boy, I went to particular classes and that was part of what we said. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. And Jesus Christ is only son, et cetera, only begotten son. We learned to pray and to say I believe, but I didn't believe. What I did is I knew these things that I was being taught, but I didn't believe. The word believe means to put my full trust in. So it's not just what has been called an intellectual agreement where, yeah, intellectually, I agree, there is a God. The demons believe they have what is called demon faith. They believe there is one God. And that's why James says you do well by saying there's one God. Demons believe, of course they do, because God created the angels and the demons are fallen angels. Of course they know the power and the reality of God, but it's not enough just to say I believe because demons believe and they tremble. Now it may be that the demon that possessed her knew he was about to be cast out. You see, demons being fallen angels know of the power of Jesus Christ. They're well aware of who he is as mentioned and they know what their future is in Matthew 8 28 and 29. It says, when he arrived at the other side in the region of the gatherings, two demon possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. What do you want with us, son of God? They shouted, have you come here to torture us before the appointed time? They know what their future holds and they have great fear. Well, this young slave girl kept following Paul and Paul became greatly annoyed. The scripture says, so out of frustration with the demon and compassion for this girl, he set her free. Now we're picking up the story at that point. Just remember that not everybody is pleased when something like this happens. Some people would rather you remain in bondage than to be set free. There are people you know, people you have as friends, perhaps family members who can handle you as a drug addict or can handle you as an alcohol or they handle you as the way you are. But man, the minute you come to faith in Christ in your life changes, they don't want they don't want any part of that. I still remember my cousin, a cousin Ray who said to me, what happened to you, man? You were fun before you became a Christian. And so there are people that you know who wouldn't want you to change because they like you the way you are. Well, in this case, these people were really upset. Notice verse 19, her master saw that their hope of profit was gone and they seized, they grabbed Paul and Silas dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities and brought them to the magistrates to the judges and said, these men being Jews exceedingly trouble our city, they're greatly upset with it. What's going on here? They're enraged. They were making a living off of this young woman and now their living is over. Notice how it says in verse 19, their hope of profit was gone. Both their business and the spirit vanished at the same time. So when the girl was set free from the demons, she no longer could read fortunes and the people saw that she was delivered. They knew the spirit was no longer there. So when the spirit went, so did their business. They had made their living by taking advantage of the pagans and their superstition. And now these people see that the demon has left and their business is over. These men could put up with people's religion and they could put up with their philosophies. That's how people are. I can, I can put up with what you think is truth. I've had people say that to me. You know, it's cool. You believe this is fine. It's good for you. People can put up with your religion. They can also put up with their philosophy. You may have a way of thinking and they'll say, you know, whatever, you know, believe what you want to believe. It doesn't bother me as long as it doesn't intrude in my sense of what reality is. Then believe what you want. You're free to believe what you want. And that's the way Americans are. That's how people are. For them, religious philosophies, beliefs, they're a dime a dozen. Believe what you want. It doesn't matter to me. It makes no difference. But when it came to making money, that's where they drew the line. I'll give you an example. It's like those who will say, well, you can believe, you Christian, you can believe that abortion is wrong. You can believe that. But don't pray in front of our clinic and interrupt our prophet. A doctor called me up one time a while back now. And he was upset. He said to me, why did you send someone to come and pray in front of my clinic? And I said, I'd be honest with you, I didn't send anybody to your clinic. There was somebody in our fellowship who had a burden for the young ladies who were entering in and wanted to minister to them. And in God's Holy Spirit, it led them to stand in front and try and speak to and counsel the women who were going in and given a chance to the men who were bringing them in. But it was something that person had chosen and I wasn't aware of it at that time. And we hadn't at that point or at that instance, we didn't have any teams going. But the doctor called me and wanted to tell me off. And it was interesting in our conversation, as he was speaking to me, how he said, you know, he said, he said, well, they're saying it's a taken of life. He says, but the military does that all the time. It's no different between a soldier killing somebody and what's going on in our clinic. And I didn't argue with him because I could see that this fellow wouldn't understand. His real problem was it was interrupting his business. So you pastors, you Christians, you believers can believe what you want. But don't interrupt our business. Don't interrupt the way that we make our money. You see, the thing that's motivating these people is the loss of their profits and they're making money off of victimizing this pathetic young woman. It's money. It's the love of it that motivated their entire lives, even when it hurt somebody else. It's been said that greed always finds ways ways to make a profit, even when it destroys someone. Somebody said, money has no smell, no matter how foul the cesspool it came from. And that's what's taking place here. You see, when believers speak out against the sins of the culture, we can expect anger from that culture. And so they seized Paul and Silas, notice verse 19, and they dragged them into the marketplace. The marketplace is the center of social life. And it was where the city judges would sit and would deal with people's concerns. And I'll point this out briefly here, because it makes it very clear in verse 19, they seized Paul and Silas. Well, there are two others who are with them that are not mentioned as being seized. One is Timothy and one is Luke. It may be that Paul and Silas, as Jews, may have dressed and appeared in the eyes of these Gentiles. You know, they were visibly, obviously, from from Israel or Jewish people. We know that that Luke was a Gentile, so they didn't take him. And Timothy, his father was a Greek, and perhaps he didn't have that stereotypical look or whatever. But they only took two of them. They took Paul and Silas and left the other two and didn't take them. But I want you to notice here what it says in verse 20. It says they brought them to the magistrates and said, now notice this, this is kind of subtle, you might not even notice it. But these men being Jews exceedingly trouble our city. That, my friends, is anti-Semitism. They were casting aspersions on them because they're Jewish. These Jews are troublemakers. These Jews are opponents of Rome. These Jews have come to our city to upset it. Now what's your problem? Why do you think that? Verse 21, while they teach customs, which are not lawful for us to be in Romans, to receive or observe. They teach customs. The word teach, it means promote. They're declaring openly, they're proclaiming things, they're preaching things and he says that they are teaching customs. The word customs are religious rights. Also social habits. They're disturbing the peace is what they're saying by bringing Jewish superstition to our city. So it's interesting that they're being charged with teaching customs that weren't Roman. But they didn't specify which customs were against Roman practice. There's no real charge there. They don't say what it is that they're doing. Now you'll see later on that it'll be stated in chapter 17 that the Romans and the Greeks, they worship many gods. And also it may be because Rome had recently passed a law against introducing new gods. It may be that they're saying this is illegal because they're not be bringing in anything that is illegal. What we're seeing, and I'll say this briefly, but what we're seeing here we understand in our day and I'll say it real quickly because it's not the heart of my message but it does make a point. What they were doing and something that we're hearing is called virtue signaling. We have that today. People virtue signal. I don't like this because I'm better than you. If you like this you're less than me. It's called virtue signaling. And we see that. It's very common. Well you see the fact is, and if you will, the problem may be that as believers we have the responsibility of speaking the truth in love and we have the responsibility of pointing out things that need to change. In Ephesians 511 take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness instead expose them. So that's what we do as believers. We that's what we as preachers do at least as we speak about the things that are going on. And when you say this is what God's word says regarding that, this is why it's wrong and this is the answer to it. That's what a preacher, a teacher, a pastor, minister is to do. Proverbs 31 verse 9, open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. Speak and let people know. But virtue signaling is part of our culture. We see it constantly. I'll give you some examples. There are those who argue and say children should have the right to transition. They should have the right to do that. So you say, as somebody has done, do children have the right to transition in the proponent of transitioning from a little boy into a little girl and all the proponent will say, well of course they have a right to transition then the question is asked, do they have the right to transition into a Christian? Oh no. Oh no, no. They say one thing and you have to agree with that. How about the libraries? The libraries that have drag queen story hour but refuse to allow Christians to read a Christian book. How about that? How about those who are saying we hate fossil fuel, stop producing it so we can buy it from countries that hate us? That makes no sense. The ones who are saying we love immigrant children we have them sometimes even standing at fences crying but I believe that you can abort American children. That's interesting. We love immigrants but let's kill our own babies. We need to defend the Ukrainian border but we abandon our own. We ban hate speech on campus but we allow students to call for intifada which is the complete obliteration of Israel. See it's a virtue signal it's just saying this well why are these people doing this? Why? Well they're pretending they're pretending to care about public welfare. In this case they're pretending to care about public welfare only because their business has been drying up. Well as they're doing that first 22 the multitude rose up together against them so the hate speech that they're preaching was united in opposition and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. So they rose up they united as an angry mob. They created a loud uproar and it was so threatening that the judges commanded them to be beaten. Notice verse 22 the magistrates tore off their clothes commanding them to be beaten. They were stripped naked and then what they would do is they had a post that they would tie their hands over their heads and then they got rods. The rods were bundles of sticks and they would use them for punishment and they began to beat them. Notice verse 23 it says they had laid many stripes on them and threw them into prison commanding the jailer to keep them securely. So they beat them and beat them until their backs were totally lacerated and they're bleeding severely. This is something Paul speaks about in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 25 when he said three times I was beaten with rods. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 2 he said this he said we had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi as you know but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition and so they beat them their backs are open wounded bloodied and they beat them with many stripes and so in verse 23 they laid many stripes on them threw them into prison and commanded the jailer to keep them. Having received verse 24 such a charge he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. So they put them in jail. They were awaiting further punishment at a later time. We Americans can't really, I at least maybe you can, can't really fathom exactly what that is. I have been in in foreign country, I've been in Rome for example I've gone to what is called a Mamertine prison. I've seen the cells that they had where Paul would have been kept in and this would have been no different in any other city. They would have the building that would house the prisoners but they could have a lower level and in that lower level it's completely dark. There's no light whatsoever and they had stocks there and the stocks were made out of wood and they were used to secure the prisoner. They normally would have five openings of the head and the hands and for the feet and they would fasten them. In this particular case, notice with me, only the feet were fastened in the stock so they were laying on the ground. Now that that's a dark inner cell, there's no light at all, that's a dark inner cell, it's damp, it's cold and it reeks of urine and mold and there they are in this particular condition. Smelly, cold, dark, there's no light, laying on a cold, wet jail cell with your feet locked into a wooden stock so that you can't move and about that time what would you do? First 25 at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them at midnight. There they are, terrible pain, laying on a cold cell, the backs opened up, the floor is wet. Just a short time earlier they had been walking through the city breathing the clean air and enjoying it but now now there's nothing but they're not complaining, they're not complaining about what has happened, the praying and the singing and other prisoners heard not groans of pain but songs of love for God. Someone said though these men were in pain and had reason to fear yet they're not worried and even happy in their sufferings they were so fully satisfied that they were right and had done their duty and there was no room for regret or self-reproach. So there they are laying there in a cold, wet, smelly cell in the dark and how do they respond? Well first a pray, they prayed it says they prayed, they prayed for God's grace and God's support while they're there imprisoned. Like it says in Psalm 46 verse 1, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 50 verse 15, call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you, you shall glorify me. Psalm 91 verse 15, he shall call upon me, I will answer him, I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. They knew that though they were secure in a cell they weren't alone and a second thing they sang to God, they sang to the God who had saved them, they sang to the God who counted them worthy to suffer in his name. Psalm 32, 7, you are my hiding place, you protect me from trouble, surround me with songs of deliverance. Philippians 1, 29, for to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake. So they're in the inner prison at midnight verse 25, Paul and Silas are praying, singing hymns and the prisoners are listening to them. When it says that they were listening, they heard them, that speaks of them listening eagerly. Something inside of these prisoners or other prisoners, something inside of them, when they heard the praise of these Jewish men, something inside them began to respond when it's saying that they listened, with eagerness, they were responding to the worship of these Jewish men, Paul and Silas. The first time I ever heard true worship and I'd heard people sing Christian songs, but the first time I ever listened to true worship it moved me. I'd never seen people who actually believed what they were singing. I'd been to church and you know they would hand us the hymnals and all of that and you would sing or whatever. I'd been in that but I had never been in an environment where the people were actually sincerely worshiping. I have to tell you something within you begins to rise up and say this is amazing. What they're doing here is amazing and that's what's happening. These pagans are hearing these believers as they're singing praises to God and praying and it moves them. Bible tells us in Nehemiah 8 verse 10 the joy of the Lord is your strength. Tertullian a writer and early church father in the second century second into the third century AD said this the leg does not feel the stocks when the mind is in heaven though the body is held fast all things lie open in the spirit and so they sang and as they sang the prisoners eagerly were listening and these joy filled believers made an impact on the prisoners. Well as this is taking place verse 26 suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken immediately all the doors were opened everyone's chains were loosed and the keeper of the prison awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open supposing the prisoners had fled drew him his sword and was about to kill himself but Paul called with a loud voice saying do yourself no harm we are all here as this great earthquake hits and God is bearing a miraculous testimony of his power through that earthquake the earthquake has loosened the chains that were attached to the walls it made it easy for the prisoners to pull the chains from the wall and by loosing the the the chains they're actually seeing something of the nature of the faith of the Christian Isaiah 42 verse 7 speaking of messiah says that messiah is to open the eyes that are blind to free captives from prison to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness and so this is taking place in this has happened before remember when Peter had been loosed from prison in Jerusalem we saw it in chapter 12 an angel had set him free and but Herod at ordered the death of the guards and so this particular guard here this jailer is thinking I'm gonna die too so rather than being put to death he decides to kill himself notice verse 28 how Paul called with a loud voice do yourself no harm we are all here he did something I wouldn't have done I said go for it man kill yourself that reveals to us something about Paul you see it was uncommon to have compassion like that and so he says do yourself no harm we haven't escaped verse 29 he called for a light he ran in and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas and he brought them out and he said sirs what must I do to be saved he called for a light verse 29 it's midnight the area is pitch black imagine yourself in the desert where there is no light at all just you the stars and perhaps the moon and say the moon is is is not full but it's only partial light so what you have is just a starlight then imagine yourself underground with no windows the pitch black that's what it's like where he's at right now so the jailer has to ask for a light to go in and he falls before Paul and Silas as he's trembling he calls for the light because it's so dark well that's a good picture of the spiritual condition of the jailer in Proverbs 419 the way of the wicked is like darkness they do not they do not know over what they stumble the way of a person who doesn't know the Lord because you don't walk in the light as he is in the light the only thing you and I the only thing we without Christ and the light of Christ the only thing we can do is stumble in the darkness because we're groping in the darkness trying to find our way the scripture is very clear about that we have no light within us the light that we call light is really darkness and the bible makes it clear in John 11 verses 9 and 10 Jesus said are they're not 12 hours in the day if anyone walks in the day he doesn't stumble because he sees the light of the world but if anyone walks in the night he stumbles why because there's no light in him so man's condition this man's condition is seen in his need for a light that's how you that's how you can be saved Psalm 1828 it is you who light my lamp the Lord my God lightens my darkness so several of his men came with torches and he rushes into the inner prison and he falls before Paul and Silas and he's terribly afraid you see he had more than likely been a partaker of the beating of these two men but he also more than likely had heard what the young woman had been saying these are the servants of the most high god they proclaim unto us the way of salvation and after seeing what has happened he has no doubt I need I need salvation I need to be saved notice verse 30 he brought them out with deep respects he brings them out of the cell but he asks a question this is the most important question the greatest question sirs what must I do to be saved notice how he speaks to both of them because both of them were preaching the gospel I'm concerned but not just about my safety right now you see he's already shown to us he was willing to kill himself this is a question about salvation he knew that they had been preaching salvation he knew that he also knew that the casting out of the demon is what had delivered these men into his custody so the spirit has convicted him that he's lost and he needs salvation but the question is how how can I obtain this and notice verse 31 believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved he did not say be saved and you'll be you'll be uh you'll be able to believe he said believe and you'll be saved and that's how you are saved by putting your full trust into Jesus Christ God so loved the world the scripture says that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life John 640 this is the will of him who sent me that everyone who sees the son and believes in him may have everlasting life i'll raise him up the last day John 647 most assuredly I say to you he who believes in me has everlasting life and now I want you to see verse 32 because in verse 31 it says you will be saved you and your household but in verse 32 they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house when I first got saved I thought that salvation would come by just believing which scriptures says that and I'll develop that in a moment but I thought that automatically meant that my parents and all of my relatives would be saved too your household that's not what he's saying and you'll see what he's saying in just a moment because what he's actually saying is you will be saved in your household if they also receive Jesus now remember remember in chapter 10 when Peter ministered to Cornelius it was to Cornelius and his house when Lydia came to faith in Christ here in this chapter remember that they spoke the word to her and her household came came to faith in Christ who you see what happened is in verse 32 that they they were to speak the word of the Lord to him and all who were in the house in other words without the gospel they wouldn't have been saved the he already had been convicted he already is asking the most important question the greatest question but he needed the answer it wasn't just that he was believing in the sense like I shared earlier devils believe in tremble it was something deeper the word believe speaks more than just having that intellectual awareness it speaks of entrusting yourself completely however you saved by trusting completely in Christ a lot of people trust in Christ or believe in Christ in Christmas or at Easter because churches are filled on Christmas in Easter but the rest of the week and the rest of the year they don't go to church why because they really don't believe what they're doing is they're just doing cultural Christianity it's much deeper than that so he's not just saying you know just do you believe oh yeah there no he's saying you need to entrust yourself completely to Jesus Christ and when it speaks concerning the fact that they spoke the word of the Lord that means they preached the gospel you need to trust in Jesus so who is this Jesus and Jesus is the Son of God Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary Jesus lived 30 years and went out and began his ministry he did miracles and taught things concerning the Kingdom of God called people to trust in him he was betrayed by sinful hands and was put to death on a cross he died on the cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world but he didn't remain in the grave on the third day he rose again from the dead and later he ascended into heaven he sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within those who trust and believe in him he gives him eternal life empowers them to live for God and it's this Christ who is God in the flesh that we preach to you he came as the Lamb of God to die for your sins because the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ why because all sin and fall short of the glory of God it's appointed unto men to die but once after this the judgment but Jesus came so that you might have life and that more abundantly so he laid his life down for you so that you might have life with him and you'll never have life without Jesus who is our life you'll never have light until you have Jesus who is our light and so he told him what the gospel has to say and the people were listening they already were aware that God was doing mighty things this young fortune teller had been the demon had been cast out they knew that this group of ministers were bringing the real deal and he says I want this and so he said you can have it and that's why he spoke and that's why he told the household and that's why the household came to faith in Jesus Christ we need to always remember that the music and the entertainment and the emotion is not what saved you it's faith in Jesus Christ you are saved when you hear and receive by faith the message about Christ Romans 10 17 in the amplified says so faith comes from hearing what is told and what is heard comes by the preaching of the message concerning Christ that's how you got saved I didn't get saved because I felt good I got saved because I wasn't good and when I heard the answer as to what could make this miserable life have joy it was Christ who brings life and that's what he heard and that's how you were saved too that's how you were saved too there's so many who put their trust into the music and the entertainment and the outlandish things that are said from a pulpit when in fact you're saved by believing in Christ and receiving the word of the Lord well as this is taking place in verse 33 he took them and the same hour of the night and washed their stripes immediately he and his family were baptized so genuine repentance is revealed through observable actions in the case of the jailer his true repentance was demonstrated by his service he took Paul and Silas and in genuine sorrow of heart he washed their wounds because again he may have been when it contributed to their wounds now there were two washings that are taking place the washing of their backs and the washing of the jailer's sins he was cleansed of the wounds that were deeper than the marks on their backs and when he came to faith in Christ they found a place to wash him to baptize him and he and his family were baptized as outward demonstrations that they have turned to Jesus Christ now verse 34 when he had brought them into his house he set food before them and he rejoiced he rejoiced having believed in God with all his household his spiritual hunger was quenched and now their physical hunger is met he rejoiced he believed in God and he believed because his family was saved I'll say something briefly and then we'll close and people know those who go to this church or perhaps have heard me on the radio or seen me some place over the years I've had opportunities to minister in many places and a lot of times people will look at me and then say well he's just an emotional man he shows his emotion easily those would be people who didn't know me or don't know me well because if there's anything I never was able to show it was emotion when I was 19 I've shared this before I won't bore you with a lot of it but when I was about 19 I was spiraling and I began to abuse drugs in a much more concentrated way I was doing a lot of drugs every day every day and one day a friend two friends of mine and I we got some wine a half gallon and we started sharing a bottle I dropped five reds some of you know what reds are it's lily a 40 second all the downers I dropped five reds and I drank most of the bottle of wine and I climbed into my car they left and I climbed in my car into the back I had a station wagon I was laying there on my back and as I did that I began to have the urge to vomit and I knew that if I began to vomit I would drown in my own vomit because my body was paralyzed and I knew a guy named Freddy who had died in that exact way he was I died he died of a barbiturate overdose but he drowned in his own vomit I went to his funeral Freddy Reyes and I knew what was happening I knew I was poisoned I knew I was dying I began to want to vomit but I couldn't move my head in any way I was paralyzed by the drugs and the alcohol and I came out of it I remember praying God I'm too young to die please give me another chance it was shortly after that that I came to faith in Jesus Christ see prior to doing that alcohol was my habit and I had gotten drunk and I had broken into a jewelry store and stolen rings and I was caught and I was going before the judge so my dad hired a lawyer Stanley Brown from Beverly Hills he sent me Christmas cards for years hoping I'd break the law again I remember him and he was talking to my dad and I was there in his office just sitting there and he said son you're gonna do some time you're gonna go to prison that's a felony what you did was a felony I didn't respond I just looked at him and nodded my head like whatever and he turns to my father and he said he has no heart the span has no emotions and I tilted my head back so what so what my dad says oh he's deep no I was in sin I was a narcissist everything had to flow the way I wanted it to and if it didn't I don't care about you I don't care about anything about you I don't want to hear your story I don't want to hear your pain I don't want to hear anything about you you don't know me the way I was people see me as someone who shows emotion I never did I was angry and hurt better and then I almost died and I had a friend who began to try and get me to go to church and that's how I came to faith in Christ I can't stand this this heart of stone and God's word says I will take that heart of stone from you and I will give you a heart of flesh so the emotional man you see on occasion up here it's only by the grace of God and the spirit of God that he allows me to show you what my heart really is and that's what this man needed to a jailer who was hardened who didn't have a problem with these innocent men being beaten he sees the movement of God and says how can I be saved what you have is what I need believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you know we saved and your household too and he washes and cleanses them you see after I got saved I didn't want to go to heaven by myself so I began to tell my mom and my dad and my sisters even my brother as ugly as he is about the Lord and it was through my brother coming to faith in Christ that a Bible study was started at his home in Ontario and it was at a Bible study in Ontario that God brought a young woman who became my wife so I have reason to rejoice in what God does through broken men that he can make whole by the gospel I have reason and my greatest desire is to not go to heaven by myself I want my children with me and I want my grandchildren to be with me in heaven I wanted my dad I wanted my mom I wanted my sisters I wanted my brother and I still want people to see the loving forgiveness and powerful grace of God to take someone who's going in the wrong direction to turn them around and lead them in the right one what must I do to be saved believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved trust him completely this is what he's done for you accept it and he will transform you so from a man who more than likely participated in their beating he became a man who attempted to help them in their physical healing why? because he was transformed and I was transformed and many of us in this grew were and what is our greatest desire might is our third John verse 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth there could be no greater joy than seeing that your family is saved I want to go to heaven but I want mama I want Marie with me I want to go to heaven but I want my babies with me my sons and daughters I want to go to heaven but I want my grandbabies with me I want the whole family to join me and that's why my dad got saved because I said daddy you're a good man you're the best man that I'll ever know I love you I don't want to go to heaven without you bow your head you're going to receive Christ right now and that's how daddy got saved and that's how my mama got saved because you know what I'm not going to go to heaven without you bow your head and daddy looked at me and later on he said I wanted to hit you but he said when you told me you loved me once again I don't use that word I didn't tell my dad I loved him since I was about four years old my dad never showed me any affection my dad wasn't affectionate so I never said I love you my dad didn't say I love you to me until I was 17 years old one time that wasn't the word we used in our family my dad would hit you and the arm and that was a love tap I didn't like him loving me that much we didn't know how to say I love you we didn't know how to cry we didn't know how to show emotion it's all the spirit of God that can change you from hardness to softness and guess what it's a good thing when it happens because you become more like Jesus who wept why can't we why can't we weep for those who are lost why can't we weep for our children and for our friends that's how it works and I thank God even though I get embarrassed for showing emotion I thank God that I can because of Jesus because of Jesus