 Acts chapter 16 beginning at verse 35, reading to verse 40. Luke writes when it was day, the magistrates sent the officers saying, let these men go, those men go. So the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul saying, the magistrates have sent to let you go. Now, therefore depart and go in peace. But Paul said to them, they have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed. Let them come themselves and get us out. And the officers told the words to the magistrates and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out and asked them to depart from the city. So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia. And when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. And so let me bring you to the events that we're looking at today. We know that Paul and Silas had been arrested. They were in a city called Philippi. And they had been arrested because they cast a demon out of a young girl. This young girl was a slave. She was used by her masters as a fortune teller. And the scripture tells us that her owners had made a great sum of money with her fortune telling. So when Paul cast the demon out, her masters were infuriated. They saw that they lost their hope of profits when the demon had been kicked out. And they became furious. And they dragged Paul and they dragged Silas before the magistrates, before the judges. And they brought charges against Paul and Silas. And they founded their charges first on the fact that they were Jews. Now at that time the Jews were looked at as troublemakers, even opponents of Rome. So the charge that they laid against them was really what we today would refer to as disturbing the peace. They said they were teaching customs that were unlawful to Romans. Now as we saw, they didn't specify which customs but it could have centered on the message that they were proclaiming. You see, at that time Rome had forbidden the introduction of new gods. And Paul had cast out the demon in the name of Jesus Christ. So Paul had been preaching Christ and works were occurring through him in the name of Christ. And so the name of Jesus would have given them a charge of preaching this new God. So without a trial the magistrates acted on the allegations that had been made. And Paul and Silas as we've seen were stripped of their clothing. They were beaten with rods. They were then cast into a prison cell. They were fastened by their ankles to the stocks. And they lay on the cold damp floor in a dark dungeon. The smell would have been putrid. The floor would have been cold and wet. And it was midnight. And they were in terrible pain, discomfort. And they were alone. And they showed us what happens when we go through our own times that we would refer to as our midnight, our hour if you will, our midnight hour. Because it says in Acts 1625 at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and they were singing hymns to God. So they're in prison. They're in a dungeon. Their feet are fastened to a stock. They're on a cold wet floor in a putrid dark cell. But they begin to sing and they sang and prayed loudly and joyfully. So much so that the other prisoners who were locked up heard them. They heard them as they were praying and they heard them as they were singing and they were listening to their prayers and they heard them joyfully sing. And as they did so, it impacted them and impressed them. They were actually moved. You see, there's something about people praying and singing that can be attractive to those who don't know the Lord. Why are you praying? Why are you seeking this one? Why are you singing to him with such joy and exuberance? Why do you do that? What is so attractive about this one whom you're singing to? Well, as they heard them praying, undoubtedly their prayers were something the others could hear. I don't know what they were praying, but they were more than likely speaking to God about how good he is and what he does. And something began to move inside of the prisoners as they listened to Paul pray and Silas worship. In Psalm 108, verse three, it reads, I will praise you, Lord, among the nations. I will sing of you among the peoples. You see, this is Philippi, this is a gentile area. They're not in Israel here, they're amongst the nations. And so the Psalmist said, I'll praise you amongst the nations. In Psalm 104, verse 33, I will sing to the Lord all my life. I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. And so that's what they're seeing. It's like the Bible became alive in front of them as they see these people who have been beaten and in great pain and discomfort in a smelly cell and yet they're praying to God and they're worshiping him and they're listening to him gladly. You see how we respond in our own midnight hour can have a very impact, powerful impact on people. People can begin to say, where does this peace come from? Where does this joy come from? How do you survive these things? You lost your job or you're ill or you have a tragedy in the family. How is it that you're able to respond like that? What is it about you when my father went home to be with the Lord? And we're standing inside of the room there just outside of the room that my father passed away and that my father went to heaven. And the doctor comes in and makes the announcement and my wife, Marie and I and our kids and all we stand up. And the first thing we did, my mom was there and the first thing we did is we took hands and formed a prayer circle there in that weighting room and prayed to God and later on when we came out somebody approached me and said, I've gotta ask, what are you? So we're believers in Jesus Christ. We're Christians. See the world sees that kind of thing and they wonder why didn't you react in anger because so many people when they lose something or they go through, the first thing they do is they begin to blame God or they're angry at people and they react with great screaming and I've been there. I've seen that. When my cousin Richie was 17 years old, he died of an overdose of heroin. He'd become a heroin addict at a very early age and they found his body in a field and he had been consumed by ants and it was a closed casket service. I was 12 years old and I went to the funeral and my aunt, my aunt Tilly who later came to faith in Christ through my ministry, my aunt climbed on top of the casket next to the ground that was to be dropped in and began to scream and people had to remove her from that. I've done funerals where people have been drunk, just kind of staggering around. They're so upset and they look at us and they say, how do you handle that? How do you go through that where a lot of people would get upset and people would actually give them grace in that they'd say, well they just lost someone? And Paul's there and Silas is there and they're on this cold floor and it smells. It's dark and they're singing and they're praying and people want to know what's going on and we see that. Now how do you respond? Psalm 54 verse four surely God is my help. The Lord is the one who sustains me. That's how we make it and as that's taking place we saw this an earthquake hit, the prison doors had been open, the chains of the prisoners had been loose, they could have escaped and the jailer thought they had and he was about to kill himself but Paul called out with a loud voice and he said, don't harm yourself. We're here, all of us. You see his evangelistic gift and his compassion provoked him to cry out to the jailer. Don't harm yourself. Don't harm yourself is a cry of a believer to someone who's unsafe. Do yourself no harm, whether it's through a lack of hope or a lack of self control. Do yourself no harm. That's why we'll say do yourself no harm through your drinking and your drugging. Do yourself no harm. Do yourself no harm through your fighting, your anger, your improper sexual relationships. Do yourself no harm. Do yourself no harm is what the believer will say through the world when we say don't make these bad life choices. They're gonna hurt you. You see that's what we do. We cry out, do yourself no harm even though people think that we're meddling in their personal life. Well it gives you the right to tell me what to do they'll say. Who are you to tell me to do myself no harm? I'm not doing myself any harm actually. I enjoy the way I am. But that's our message. We cry the same thing even as Paul spoke to this jailer and said do yourself no harm. We say the same thing. There's no reason to do yourself harm if you have a life that's been saved by Jesus Christ and that's what's taking place. So he says do yourself no harm. Don't kill yourself. We're all here. None of us took the opportunity to escape including these other prisoners. Remember that when Peter had been released from jail by the angel that he had left for a home and the result were that the guards had been executed but in this case Paul told the jailer do yourself no harm. It's logical to think that they had left but none of the prisoners escaped. So he's saying that to me, he's saying be at peace. You're not gonna lose your life. Now the prisoners had been drawn by the prayers and the singing. They didn't leave. The deliverance of the girl, the message of salvation Paul had preached though was something that jailer more than likely would have been aware of and it would have hit him. He was so shaken. We saw this last time that he asked him what must I do to be saved? You preach salvation. I've seen the way you live. I've experienced this earthquake. Obviously you have something that I need. And that's when Paul said to be saved is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall be saved. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. And as well as your household, you need to believe in Christ. And he shared the gospel with him and he and his family had been saved. And then as we saw last time, he gently cared for the man. He fed them, he ministered with mercy to them and then the family received baptism and his life was forever changed because he heard and he'd received the gospel. And so that's what's taking place after this point. That brings us to our study. So as this is happening, verse 35, when it was day, the magistrates sent the officers saying, let those men go. And so the magistrates are the judges and they sent notice it says the officers. The word officers in my Bible has it in the verse. It says the Lictors, the rod-bearers, that's what they were. They were the ones who inflicted the beating on men, on the men. So these officers are being sent. Now we aren't told why they decided to release Paul and Silas. It may be that they heard what had happened after the earthquake. They could have heard that the doors had been opened up and none had escaped. And we need to remember they were superstitious men and they're not willing to anger the gods and these prisoners might be under supernatural protection. More than likely they thought a night in jail and a beating and they took a severe beating would be sufficient. So by letting them go, he's also releasing them to continue what they did. The charges were not followed through with and so they're gonna go back to what they were doing which was preaching and all of that. So he's saying, go in peace, which would communicate his own well wishes towards them. And so they come and they tell that to them. Let those men go, verse 36. So the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul. Saying, the magistrates have sent to let you go, now therefore depart and go in peace. Depart and go in peace. Go in peace reflects the jailers' thoughts concerning them but Paul wouldn't do it. Paul wouldn't do it. Verse 37, Paul said to them, they have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans and have thrown us into prison. And now, do they put us out secretly? No indeed. Let them come themselves and get us out. I like Paul. I really do. He's quite a man. Notice how it says, uncondemned Romans. Paul and Silas were Roman citizens and were exempt from that kind of treatment and punishment. There had been no trial and they had been punished in public. And in doing so, actual Roman law had been violated. You see, the charge that was made against them was that they are disturbing us by bringing in culture. They're disturbing our cultural norms. That's not a real charge. But what the Romans did to them, well that is a crime. They had no trial. They were punished in public. The law had been broken. So you've done this in public. You did this openly and now you want us to leave secretly? Verse 37 again, no indeed. Let them come themselves and get us out. Now an injustice has been done and it shouldn't be covered up. What's happening here is this very simply. We have been openly called into question our reputation has been tarnished. By putting us in prison and beating us, you impugned us as well as the message that we proclaim. And by treating us as criminals, you have called into question our character. Now I want to develop this. I want to make application for a moment with you about this. You need to know this. We need to remember this. One of the tactics that Satan uses is to undermine and attack our character. If our character is questionable, the message itself will be questionable. Why is that? Well, because we as Christians will tell people that we were sinners, God forgave us. We've been washed with the blood of Christ. We have the power of the Holy Spirit. He's transformed the way we live. So we no longer do the things we once did. So we're not doing certain things anymore and that develops credibility. People see us the way we are and they'll say something happened and you were changed. Something is different about these people. What is it? And so there's a credibility that the message has because we're saying that the message changes lives. And so the question has been for his character but if the question is character because they beat him openly, they put him in prison, then it's gonna undermine the power of the testimony. And so that's what happens. By treating us as criminals, you have called into question our character. Again, if your character is called into question, so is the message. That's something that happens in the ministry of Christ. We see it in scripture. Remember this on one occasion? Remember how Jesus had cast a demon out and the religious opposition didn't question the exorcism. What they did is they questioned him. In Matthew 9.34, it says the Pharisee said he cast out demons by the Prince of Demons. They were questioning who Jesus was and the character of Christ by associating him with Beelzebub, with the devil. Well, it's by the power of the devil that he does this. They didn't question the work that he performed. They were questioning who he was and by questioning who he is, they're questioning the message, the power that he has, the authority that he has, they're questioning its origin. And so they're saying, yeah, he may have cast out a demon but he did it through the Prince of Demons. There's another question that was asked of him. One other time that something was stated, they made it clear that they thought that Jesus was what once was called illegitimate. In John 8.41, and Jesus was speaking to them, they said, his opponent said, we aren't illegitimate children. The only father we have is God himself. Now, what are you saying when they say we're not born of fornication? We're not illegitimate. What we're saying, what they were saying there, they were inferring that because Mary, his mother had conceived of him prior to being justly married that he was a child of fornication. That was a slam on who he is because they're saying that we have been legitimately born, my mom and my dad were married and then we were born, but you weren't. Your mother was not. You weren't born legitimately. They're calling Jesus' birth into question and delegitimizing his message. There's another time that Jesus was eating a meal and he was eating with unsaved people. Now, people would normally be judged by the company that they kept. Proverbs 12.26 says it like this, the righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. And so my mom said, show me a man's friends and I'll show you the man. Who you associate with is normally, well, it's normally used as a proof of the way you are. And so if you hang around with a bunch of angry people, they'll say, well, that guy's a gangster or just mean spirit or whatever. Well, all those friends fight, he probably does too. That's just, you know, if you hang around with a bunch of drunks and say, yeah, that guy's, he's a drunk too or whatever. The friends you have, it's just show me a man's friends, I'll show you the man. So that's called guilt by association. And so when they see Jesus there and he's eating with these people and all of that, the question is asked when the scribes, according to Mark 2.16, when the scribes were Pharisees, saw Jesus eating with these people, they asked his disciples, why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? He's obviously like that. You see, in their mind, sin was the common denominator with Jesus and these sinners, he fellowships with sinners. So he must also be one. Since he spends time with them, he must agree with their way of life. That means what he's saying is doubtful because he is not separate from them. And that's why Jesus made it clear. The reason I came, he said, is to seek and to say that which is lost. In Mark 2.17, on hearing this, Jesus told them it's not the healthy who needed a doctor but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners. You can't get me to the doctor if I'm not sick. Marie's tried, my wife has tried. Ain't going. Ain't going. No, the ones who go to the doctor are the ones who are ill. And that's what Jesus is saying. I didn't call the righteous. I came to call the sinners to repentance. You can think all you want of how good you think you are but at least these people know what they are. And I've come to minister to those who have need. You, you're so self-righteous, he was saying to the Pharisees, well, you think you're well but you're not. You're sick. These people, they're in need. These are the ones I came to seek and to save. These are the lost. He wasn't one of them. He was there to transform them by giving them the message. You see, and so what they do, and it still happens to this day, is people will look at who you hang around with and they will question who you really are. Well, Paul does not want the gospel to be tainted in that way. And that's one of the reasons he didn't just leave the way that they asked him to. You see, if they could undermine his character, they could attack his credibility and if they undermine his credibility, they will discredit his message. So he refuses to just leave and go on his way. Verse 37, no indeed, let them come themselves and get us out. When he says get us out, it means to escort us out. Listen, they beat us openly. They openly threw us into prison. And now they can humble themselves and personally escort us out of prison. We have been illegally imprisoned. Roman law has been violated. We have been unjustly beaten. And all of this is left in the mind of those who are aware of it that we're guilty. So in order to rectify this problem, judges come and escort us out personally. By escorting us out of the prison openly, people will know that we are innocent and that will clear us of any wrongdoing. Also, when the judges do this, it'll strengthen the faith of the new believers. It'll be an open acknowledgement of our innocence. We're Roman citizens. We've been unjustly jailed. We've been unjustly beaten. In doing this, you have violated Roman law. Now there are times when we exercise our rights and there are times when we need to make our voices heard. We don't do that to kind of, the old saying is to thumb your nose. We don't thumb our nose at authority. We don't do it to be regarded as warriors against what we used to say in the older days. We weren't against the man. And we're not doing it to be warriors against the devil so we can be seen by others. We don't do it that way. When we do stand up and say, no, I will not do that, it's to preserve our right to live as free citizens in a free country. We do it to preserve the rights of other people too, especially believers. So whenever there's a time when you have to stand up against the authority, you do it not because you wanna be looked at as a hero, you do it because you're protecting other people and that's what Paul's doing. Paul was a petty man who felt his rights were violated. He did it to preserve his right to preach the gospel. You see he and Silas were Roman citizens. He had a right to free speech and the eternities of those he was ministering the gospel to was on the line. He wasn't simply fighting government. He was pursuing the right to preach which he had the right to do. And it wasn't his reputation alone he was concerned about. It was that the gospel should continue going forth because it's the gospel that sets people free. In Acts 1042, remember how Peter had said that Jesus, he had commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. He's commanded us so we ought to obey God rather than man. You want us to not talk in the name of Jesus and we will speak in the name of Jesus because you don't have the right to tell me I can't. And that's a free speech that we still have to this day. So when people tell the believer you need to shut up, no we don't. No we speak freely because as far as I know the First Amendment is still in power and I still have the right to tell the truth in the name of Jesus Christ. And so to tell me not to speak in his name you're violating my rights and I as a citizen and as a minister of the gospel have the freedom to proclaim that which I've been commanded to do. You see and that's what Paul was doing. It wasn't that he was thumbing his nose. It wasn't that he's petty. It's not that he wants to fight. He doesn't want to be looked at as some kind of warrior. He's just obeying God and that's the best thing you can do is to obey the Lord. Well as he's speaking in verse 38 the officers told these words to the magistrates they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. This deflates the judge's sense of self-importance and their power and their authority. If word got back to Rome they would be in serious trouble. You see the punishment appointed for those who transgressed the law was death and the confiscation of their property. So in doing this Paul made it clear that these judges cannot overrule the law. This safeguarded the preaching of the gospel as well as safeguarding the believers. You see remember Paul is protecting the Philippian church that had just been born in being mistreated and dealing with it he made it safer for the members of the body of Christ that they're in Philippi. The gospel was that important. Its transmission had to be protected. And so in verse 39 they came and pleaded with them and brought them out and asked them to depart from the city. They pleaded it. This was humiliating for these government officials but it had to be done. They stood to lose everything even their lives that they refused to. And so they pleaded with them they escorted them out and requested that they leave. So they requested or they asked them to leave. Remember when Jesus ministered in the gatherings and how that there were two men of the gatherings they had been in the tombs. They cut themselves with stones. They were screaming at night when travelers would pass by where they were at they would come running out and scare them. And that Jesus went there and he cast the demons out. Remember they were called legion for there were many and they ended up going into the pigs and the pigs ran into the water and they drowned. They became deviled ham. You remember that when that happened? And that's where you get the Bay of Pigs and that's how it happened. Remember how that this man, one of the men has spoken of as being at the feet of Jesus and listening to him. And then when Jesus was about to depart he said, I wanna go with you. And Jesus said to him, no, you go back and you tell your friends and family what great things God has done for you. But the others there who saw this happen asked him to depart from them. The world still does that. The world still does that. You can be in such hurt and such pain and you can be saved by God. You could have been depressed or suicidal and you get right with God and you tell your friends and they like you the way you used to be. They could put up with you as a depressed person at least we know what to expect when you come in the door. Or you may have been an alcoholic. Somebody that ruined all of the family get-togethers. It's Thanksgiving, oh no, so and so is gonna show up. It's your turn to watch them. That kind of thing because you know what he's gonna do. Or you may be that angry person at the table that something has brought up and before you know it you would give your opinion and anybody who disagreed with you is just an idiot and you guys are all stupid. All of us have that in our family. Sometimes we become pastors. We all have that in our family. And then you get saved and they want you to depart. I could put up with you when you were angry. I could put up with you when you were depressed. I could put up with you when you were an alcoholic. I could put up with you when you dropped those drugs, when you did drugs. I could put up with you because at least they knew what to expect. But now I don't. People will ask you to depart. They want you out. They want you gone. They don't want anything to do with you. And I'm not trying to teach you to be looking at people as if they're completely always against you. That's not necessarily true at all. But some of you understand what I mean. Some of you got saved and the people you knew don't want anything to do with you. What they're saying is depart. And that's the worst thing you can do. You never, a person should never ask somebody who can do them good to leave them alone, but they do, but they do. They depart. They say, get out of here. And the people want the church today. Our nation is turned against the body of Christ in such an obvious way. And for somebody like me, it's so transparent because I grew up in a different nation than I live in now. And it's not some old man up here, just nostalgic, sentimental guy. I'm not that. I just see it for what it is. I just see it for what it is. And the nation we live in right now is so corrupt and so evil and yet we got people who are saying it's not, but it is evil. It is wrong. There are so many things. I'm not gonna get all weird on you about it, but it's true. Anybody who has eyes to see can see this. It's a different world that we're living in. And the church is being told to shut up. And so when COVID hits and there's a lot of reports, I hope you guys are keeping up with these things because if you're not, let me share a couple of things. There are reports coming up, men like Fauci that everybody respected, right? Everyone, oh, he's the, you know, he said, I am science. I mean, that's who he is. He's science incarnate. And he's saying, I am science. Well, now he's saying, well, that six foot rule that everybody was abiding by, we just made it up. There's no way there was no scientific evidence that that was, we just, it just happened. He said that this is almost a direct quote. He just said that you got to get your boosters. You got to get these shots. They're going to keep you. Oh, really? Did that really work? No, it didn't. Then what were you really doing? Controlling, we're controlling you. We're controlling you. And there are big pharma making billions of dollars from you and we're getting this as constant and believers are buying into it. We're buying it. I don't. I didn't get a shot. I didn't get a second. I'm not going to get, I don't need one. I got COVID twice. I've got antibodies, super bodies. Dude, I do. See, that's how God created us to fight these things. I have to be careful because I can talk a long time on this and I'm trying to do a Bible study. Depart from us. You're getting in our way. Somebody wrote me a letter once and said, I can hardly wait till you're gone. Your church is gone. Because your car is in our neighborhood bothering me. And so I wrote him back. He gave me his address. I'll write you back. And I said, you know, you want the church to leave. Have you ever thought that the fact that the church is here has actually stopped crime? That the people who go to church are not out there robbing banks or harming people but are putting together families and raising them in the right way? Have you ever thought about that? That we actually are the salt and the light? And if the church was gone, that all hell would break loose. And you're saying that you can hardly wait until we're gone? And I said, let me tell you, that's gonna happen. Jesus is removing the church and you'll get your wish. But until then, we're gonna reach the world for Jesus Christ. That's what we do. That's what the church is here for. And see so, but they say, we don't want you. We don't want you here. You are a minister of the gospel. And as you go forth, living your life, you're being watched and you don't even know it. And no, I'm not preaching paranoia. You're being watched. People will see you, especially when you're serving in a capacity that somebody may notice. They'll see you and you don't even know that and they'll note the way you are and what you do and they'll see you on the job site and in public somewhere, at the supermarket. I run into people in the supermarket often who will walk up and say hello. And I said, just great, we love it. And I put my stuff in their basket and then take it out later. Just this last week, my wife and I were at a restaurant in the area and we walked in and there were quite a number of people who were wearing black. And so my wife said to me, probably a funeral. And I said, yeah, I think so. And we sat down and they were in a banquet room and we sat down and then here comes a young man, he comes walking out and he's at the counter and I'm not noticing him, I really didn't. I noticed him come and pay his bill or whatever. But then he walks up to me, I've never seen him before. He walks up to me, he says, excuse me, I don't wanna disturb your meal. And I said, you're not, no. He says, are you? And he asked me, are you Pastor David? And I said, yes, I am. He goes, I want you to know something. Well, actually, I said, is that a wedding? He said, no, it's a funeral. My grandfather, he said, died. And I said, I'm sorry, this young man was 41 years old. He told me his age. He goes, my grandfather died. And I said, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry to hear that. He goes, he was a good man. He said, I didn't have a dad. I didn't have a dad. My grandfather raised me. I said, well, thank God for a good grandfather. This is what he said to me. He says, but I want you to know something. You have become a father to me. I am telling you, I am telling you, you don't know how you impact people. You don't know how I did. I've never seen this young man. He doesn't even go to our church. He watches me online. He says, that means everything to me. I want to be that man. I want to be an example. I want to have the younger men say, I would like an example of someone who loves his wife, loves his children, loves his grandchildren one day. I want that example. You can be the same thing. You are the same thing. If you've given your heart to Jesus Christ, there are people who look to you in that way. And that's why Paul didn't want to be associated with something that is wrong, that would keep his ministry from flourishing. And yet the world still says, depart from me. I don't want anything to do with you. Get out of here. And that's what they're doing to them. They're saying, leave. Well, in verse 40, they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia. And when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. And so they said, leave. And they did. They were cleared of the charges. They were declared innocent. And they went to Lydia's house. Now remember, Lydia's house had been made available for Paul and his team to stay there. And it became a meeting place for the early church, the church of Philippi. The Philippian church became very precious to Paul. And the Philippian church loved him deeply. They were thankful because he had introduced them to God through Jesus Christ. And they supported him. Later on, he writes a book to them, the letter to the Philippians. And in chapter four, verses 15 and 16, he says, you yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, but you alone. For even in Thessalonica, you sent a gift more than once for my needs. In 2 Corinthians 11.9, he said, when I was with you and needed something, I wasn't a burden to anyone. For the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way. And we'll continue to do so. The Philippian church was very precious. Well, they loved him very much. And so in verse 40, they saw the brethren and they encouraged them. You see, they'd been concerned, but God had a plan to reach a jailer and his family. And initially it looked bad, but God had turned the evil around for good. And notice that they strengthened them. They comforted them. What did they do? Well, they told them what God had done. And again, his loving concern for the believer is revealed. Remember how Paul had exhorted the churches in Lister Iconium and Antioch? He had been mistreated terribly. He was stoned by a mob. He was left for dead, but he rose up and went into the city of Derby. And he preached there. It says in Acts 14, 22, and 23, when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lister Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying, we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. Paul didn't teach, nor did he live a life of cheap grace. Now that I'm saved, I can continue to do whatever I want and go to heaven. He didn't live that way. He knew that trials and persecutions were part of the life of a believer. Remember Jesus in Luke 9.23 had said, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves. Take up their cross daily and follow me. Paul was Jesus' disciple. He had this inner drive, a motivation to follow him. He knew that the life would not be easy. It certainly wouldn't be painless. It wasn't a self-seeking life, a self-pleasing life. It was a life that was filled with affliction with difficulty. It seems to me that this element, by the way of the gospel, sometimes is lacking in the preaching. Christian life isn't a painless life. He knew he was to deny himself, to seek God's will in everything. He knew that carrying a cross was going on a death march. And he made the decision to follow Christ at the end and it was worth it. Later on, you would tell the Philippians in Philippians 1.21, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. He had an eternal framework is what it was. Paul was capable of seeing beyond. He knew. Jim Elliott once said, he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. And it was from that perspective that Paul would encourage believers. He was still in pain. He had taken a severe beating. He had been on a floor that was filthy and cold in the dark. He's still in pain and he's bruised and he's battered but he had the credibility that was needed to encourage a church. He wants them to keep their eyes on the one who suffered on their behalf because he saw them as more than just people that he spoke to. He saw them as what has been called as forever family in Philippians 4.1. He said to him, my brothers whom I love and I long for my joy and crown stand firm in the Lord my beloved. So what he went through, he knew could be used to encourage others. And he revealed what the response to this kind of treatment is to be in First Thessalonians. He said it like this in chapter two verse two. He said after we had suffered before and were spifily treated at Philippians, you know we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. They could not shut us up. Why? We were commanded by God to speak the truth. That's what you've been commanded to do by the way. Instead of saying there he is God send him. It's a good thing for us to say here my Lord send me I'll be used for you. There's nothing I can ever give up that is more than what I've gained by being in him. All of my blessings. Sometimes when I hear the songs and I'll close with this when I hear the songs of how good God has been to us I can't help but tear up a bit because I think about that. My wife and I think about that together. Look what God has done in our lives. Look how good he has been to us. He gave us beautiful grandchildren. We had to have kids first but he gave us beautiful. He has been so good. Why would I deny the one who has loved me? Why would I shut up? You know Christian encourage your brothers and your sisters and me I encourage you be open about your faith. I do believe that we're in the last days but I also believe I really am growing even more so now to believe that there's a younger generation that is just looking for someone to tell them the truth. I really believe that. I talked to young people. Tell me the truth. There's so many lies out there. Can somebody but please live the truth before you try and give me that truth because I see through hypocrisy. That was me as a young man. When somebody said to me you shouldn't drink you shouldn't smoke pot. I'd look at them and say then you drink. It's just a different way of going to the same direction except when you drink you want to fight. When I smoke dope I want to twinkie. I mean but it's your way of coping. I don't need dope. I needed the spirit and others do too. We all do. This world needs Jesus. Let's not close our mouths. Let's speak in his name.