In Position: On Purpose

In Position: On Purpose

Acts 16:19-34   

Intro: Closing. 

As we turn to Acts 16 this morning, we are given the circumstances surrounding a scene where the importance of remembering one’s purpose, despite the position they might find themselves in, is seen powerfully. Paul and Silas, after concluding that God had called them to a particular place, end up in a problematic position…in prison.  

They will experience great difficulty and imposition, but as the chapter goes on, it becomes clear that they were in that position on purpose…These verses provide powerful reminders to us that there is purpose for us in whatever position we might find ourselves in. 

We will begin our reading this morning in verse 16, but prior to starting there, I want to give some of the backstory from this chapter. Paul and Silas traveled through some different cities to encourage and strengthen the churches in these places. In verse 6 we read that they wanted to go preach the Word in Asia, but they were “forbidden” by the Holy Spirit. They ended up going a different direction, specifically, they decided to go to a town called Bithynia, but once again, the Spirit of the Lord would not allow them.  

After the dead ends, Paul got a vision in the night of a man from Macedonia pleading with him to come there. Paul understood the vision as direction and calling from the Lord and knew they were to head there. They ended up in the city of Philippi, which was a Roman colony and leading city in Macedonia. 

Upon their arrival, they experience some success after meeting a woman named Lydia at a prayer meeting…she and her household respond to the message spoken by Paul and come to salvation, however, others in that city respond differently. 

From verse 16 we understand that while they were on their way to a place of prayer, a woman in slavery who was used by her masters for profit as a fortune teller began to follow Paul and the others around. She followed them around for “many days,” “crying out repeatedly saying, ‘these men are bondservants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.’”  Her method of making sure people knew their message was not the way they wanted their purpose articulated. After she followed them around for many days, Paul rebuked the evil spirit which left immediately. This is where we pick up their story this morning. 

Read Acts 16:19-34 

With their opportunity for making money gone, and this girl in slavery now free from the evil spirit, they bring Paul and Silas before the authorities with vague and false accusations. Because of these accusations, they would be beaten and placed in prison. Though stuck, locked up, and locked in, what we will see is that Paul and Silas did not use it as an opportunity to give up or give in; rather, they remained “on purpose” even though they found themselves in an undesirable position.  

Perhaps this morning you find yourself in an undesirable position. Perhaps not like Paul and Silas, but circumstances or a situation you would rather not be in. I want to encourage you this morning that there is purpose in your position, so in your position, remain on purpose! I want to give you three postures that will help you stay on purpose in any position: who to remain fastened to, what to remember, and the right response. 

Acts 16:22-24, The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

• After being badly beaten, the jailer is ordered to guard them securely and places Paul and Silas into the inner prison, with their feet fastened in stocks.
• The inner cell of the prison was the harshest, least ventilated, most degrading location.
• Their feet were fastened into wooden stocks. These wooden stocks were anchored to the floor and were commonly used for torture and detention.
• The stocks were reserved for prisoners with low social status. Once in these stocks, the prisoner was immobilized.
• There were two charges against them from verses 20 and 21. The first charge was that they were Jews causing the city trouble. And the second charge was that they were proclaiming customs that were not lawful for those in Philippi to accept or practice because they were Romans.
• The first charge was the opposite of the truth: The disciples had not caused trouble in the city, rather, they had caused some trouble for the slave owners who lost their way to make money.
• The second charge, that they were proclaiming customs that were unlawful for those in Philippi to accept or practice was technically true.
• There was a law forbidding Roman citizens to practice any foreign religion that had not been sanctioned by the state; however, the law was rarely enforced, and, in this case, the charges were vague.

Illus. Rarely Enforced?

• The accusation were either weak or wrong, and there was an assumption on the part of the accusers that Paul and Silas who were both Jews, were not also Roman citizens.
• As Roman citizens their civil rights were guarded and, in this case, were illegally violated due to their appearance as Jews.
• To beat a Roman citizen without a trial, was against Roman law.
• Paul will later tell them in this chapter, that he is a Roman citizen, and let them know that they had beat he and Silas, Roman Citizens, without due process….
• These factors could have given them a sense of entitlement when they arrived in prison. “We will be out of here tomorrow; we don’t belong here!”
• Often, when we are led somewhere that leads to a tough situation that is unwanted or unfair, many begin whether or not God has a purpose in their difficult position.
• So, they could have gone the way of entitlement. Or, they could have gone the way of embitterment.
• Earlier in the chapter, there were other places they had desired to go, and the Lord had clearly told them “No.” This was the city He had called them to. They could have begun questioning the direction God had given; or simply respond with, “We don’t want to be in this place anyway, we can’t wait until our stay is over and we will just sit here until we are out of here!”

• Paul and Silas chose neither entitlement or embitterment.

• Paul and Silas knew there was a greater purpose to their position than just being stuck in prison.
• They were there because they had been given a mission from the Lord go there, and they didn’t allow there imposition to change their mission.
• Just as they had a mission to preach the gospel despite their current conditions, we do as well.

2 Corinthians 5:20, We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us. 

Acts 1:8, …You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.

• These verses give us insight that we have a mission in this life. So easy it can be to let our disposition surrounding that mission change based current events or conditions, but our mission, despite difficulty, remains.

2 Corinthians 4:17, For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

• It is interesting that Paul would call his afflictions momentary and light. He had been stoned, beaten, shipwrecked, thrown out to sea, dragged into prison, and had a thorn in flesh that simply would not rest; yet he calls it all “light.”
• He calls it light because he had great spiritual sight, he saw whatever he was facing circumstantially as light compared to the weight of God’s glory.

Psalm 16:8-9, I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices…

2 Corinthians 4:8-9, We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

Illus. Pressure. 

• Afflicted, persecuted, and struck down; Paul knew that though they their feet were fastened to stocks, though they were in the midst of great imposition, God still had a mission for them, and they remained fastened to Him!
• What we see is next is that what comes out of Paul and Silas when pressed, was a song.

Acts 16:25, But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

• Picture this. Paul and Silas are thrown in prison, bloodied and beaten.
• Surely the others in prison knew the condition Paul and Silas were in.
• Surely the jailer knew why they had been placed there. Those in the other prison cells understood their position, they too were stuck.
• But right there, while locked down and locked in, Paul and Silas don’t throw in the towel, give up, or give in, rather, they let the praise begin.
• And for me and for you, the proper posture, when your circumstance is beyond you.
• What do they do? At midnight, in the midnight hour, they begin praying aloud and singing hymns of praise to God.

Illus. Midnight hour. 

Illus. Do you hear that?

• The song you sing in difficulty matters, how you sing it and who you sing it to matters. If you are a follower of Christ, your actions and decisions, they matter.

Colossians 3:2-3, Set your mind of the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

• You never know who might be listening or watching you in your life. Make your life hidden in Christ, so that when others see you, they see a reflection of Him.

1 Corinthians 11:1, Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. 

Illus. Listening in. 

• From verse 27 we learn that the jailer who was given orders to guard Paul and Silas securely keep watch over the prison had fallen asleep. When he woke up, he saw the prison doors opened.
• His response to the sight, was to end his life thinking that the open prison doors meant that the prisoners had escaped.
• Under Roman law, if a prisoner escaped during your watch, it would be your responsibility, and the payment would be your own life. The jailer knew that once the news about this came out, he was going to be finished so he was about to save his superiors the trouble. 
• Paul knew this as well, and yelled to him… “Do not harm yourself, we are all here!.” 28
• The jailer asked for lights and rushed into Paul and Silas, and after falling down before them asks, “what must I do to be saved?” 30

Acts 16:31-34, They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and was overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with his whole household.

• The jailer took them to his house and they spoke the word of the Lord to his family. They also believed and were baptized.
• Paul and Silas could have chosen a different way out of there. There could have seen the door open and made a break for the exit.
• They could have told the jailer that he and all his bosses were in big trouble. From verse 38 we know that the officers and chief magistrates become fearful when they learn that Paul and Silas are Roman citizens because their treatment of them was unlawful.
• They could have pressed the issue and proceeded out of there…But what is clear is that they were still “on purpose.”
• The purpose the Lord had called them to Philippi was fulfilled, to be witnesses to Christ, and to point people to put their faith and trust in Him.
• The way this evangelism would take place was different than they expected, there was great difficulty and pain.
• Had they not endured that difficulty, been falsely accused, beaten and placed in jail, that particular jail; the jailer and his family would not have likely met Paul and Silas.

Illus. Greater Purpose.

Proverbs 19:21, Many are the plans in a person’s heart,     but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. (NIV)

Illus. The battle.  

Colossians 1:16-17, By Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Acts 16:19-34