It seems that we see more and more every day that the world, in its attempt to stop the gospel message of Jesus, is trying to imprison the message by imprisoning the "called." First of all, the gospel will not be chained by the world's chains, and God will see to it that the message and the messengers will be protected and projected more and more into the black hole of the imprisoned world and offer hope in Jesus. God will do whatever it takes to see that the message of hope is heard by a lost and dying world, and the scriptures below illustrate to what lengths God will go to keep the gospel free and spoken loudly.
Acts 16: 22 A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. 23 They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. 24 So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. 25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.26 Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! 27 The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!” 29 The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.” 32 And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. 33 Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. 34 He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God.
The result of Paul freeing a slave girl who had a demon in her was them being put in prison. Story over? Not when God wants the story to go a different way. Paul and Silas are "severely" beaten, stripped, and put in jail without a trial. The prison jailer is instructed to ensure they are secured, so they shackle their feet in stocks and take them to the innermost part of the prison. The light has been put out and will not be seen again...BUT.... GOD!! God shows up, and He causes a massive earthquake that shakes the prison walls, and the doors to their cells come wide open, and their shackles fall off!! God did it! The light came from the innermost part of the prison, and the message was still alive and changing lives. The jailer saw the doors were open and figured the prisoners were gone and decided to commit suicide because he was going to be executed anyway when they saw the prisoners had escaped. Here is how jailers were treated for letting prisoners escape per the imprisonment of Peter and God freeing him. Acts 12: 19 Herod Agrippa ordered a thorough search for him. When he couldn’t be found, Herod interrogated the guards and sentenced them to death. From inside Paul's cell the jailer heard Paul say "put your sword away, we are all here." The jailer got some physical light in the room and saw they "were" still in the cell. He wanted the physical light, but he realized the true light was in Paul and Silas. His question was. "What must I do to be saved?'
Paul said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.” 32 And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. Paul knew God was working and believed in the power of His Word, which would change the lives of the jailer's family. That confidence was realized, and the jailer's whole family was born again and baptized!!
Even though it was late, the jailer washed the wounds of Paul and Silas, and he and his family were baptized. The jailer took Paul and Silas into his house and fed them and they all rejoiced. Here is the thread: preach-stripped and beaten-put in jail-earthquake-doors open and chains fall off-Jailer wants to get saved-jailer gets saved plus his household-jailer treats Paul and Silas' wounds and feeds them-they all rejoice together. We rejoice with them and praise God for how he moved heaven and earth (especially earth) to free the message. God wasn't through yet. At this point, God has given Paul "holy boldness," and Paul rejects the officials, freeing them and telling them to "go in peace." Paul wanted the officials to come and free them in person and added a little caveat, "We are Roman Citizens!" Paul also said, "They publicly beat us and imprisoned us without a trial, and that is illegal!!"
The officials came to the jail and apologized, set them free, and begged them to leave the city. God moved to keep the message free to offer to a lost and dying world. The light of the gospel, though put in the innermost cells in the prison, could not be kept from having its effect. The jailer and his whole household were born again, and Paul and Silas were apologized to and set free. God DID IT!!
God is still doing it and is "large and in charge" when everything else falls apart. The Word of God and the message of Jesus can never be contained, and the power of God IS the power IN that message. This puts an exclamation point on what Paul wrote to the church in Rome in Romans 1: 16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. Pray to the God who makes all things possible and see just how much He can and will do to make sure the gospel continues to be offered from the societal prisons of our present world. The gospel message cannot and will not be chained or imprisoned because God is on His throne! God took a stinky, dark prison, and showed the light of the gospel could not be contained. What kind of earthquakes are needed to let the message be freed in your life. You have a very personal testimony of what the gospel has done for you and now it is time to let it go and let God use it so others can be born again. The dark places cannot contain the light of the gospel, even when unfairly accused and put in prison.
Vesselogical Out,
David Warren
Comments