Welcome from all of us at Albuquerque Reformed Church, a particular congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church located in New Mexico. We thank you for joining us for this week's sermon. For more information about Albuquerque Reformed Church or to contribute to its ministry, visit abqreformed.org. And now, we invite you to open your Bible and listen to the preached Word. Now if you ask me what is the most important question in life, or if I ask you what is the most important question in life, what would you answer? Some may say, maybe if you ask, you know, this question to someone on the street, some may say, maybe, whom to marry in my life or who would be my life partner, because that has a lot of bearing on your life. If you marry someone right, your life could be a kind of a piece of heaven on earth. And if you marry someone wrong, your life could be a piece of hell on earth. So for some people, that may be one of the most important question in life. And others, it would be, how can I become wealthy? How can I make money? For others, it could be maybe I need to save for my career. What is the best way I can save for my career? But as Christians, if I ask you what is the most important question in life, there's a good chance that some of you may say, how can I be saved? Or how can I have a right standing before God? But compared to the worldly questions which you could ask, the most important question is how can one be saved? That is the most important question in life. And if you have not asked that question in your life, then this is the day that you ask that question. Because all other things pale in comparison to this one question. How can I be saved? Paul knew the answer to this question. And he ventured out to proclaim the answer to this question with his companions. Last time we saw his ministry in the city of Philippi. First he shared the gospel with a woman from Asia minor we can say she was a business woman who was self-employed Paul shared the word with her and she came to believe With her household then Paul exercise exercise exercise a demon from a slave girl Now you may think that that was a wonderful thing. I There was this poor girl who was possessed by a demon. She was oppressed by this demonic spirit. That was a good thing. Perhaps people in the town would be glad seeing the freedom which was brought in the life of this girl. But that is not what we saw. Paul and Silas were dragged. They were literally dragged into the marketplace. and to the authorities. And their accusers charged them with disturbing the peace of the city and teaching customs which were contrary to the Romans. But we know that both were just bogus charges. What happened was not missionaries disturbing the peace of the city, but delivering a poor and helpless woman from demonic possession and exploitation. she was being exploited by her owners for money. Her masters were not angry at Paul and Silas for disturbing the peace, but they were angry because their paycheck was gone. their 401k plan was terminated. All of a sudden they thought, you know, all these years they had this 401k, the retirement plan, that girl, that poor helpless girl was a retirement plan. But because the demon has left her, their 401k plan was terminated in an instant. That's why they were angry. Not because they were disturbing the peace of the city. On a similar note, in many of the Asian countries, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, if you preach the gospel, and if the enemies of the gospel, they attack you, persecute you, they drag you, when the cop comes, they're not going to arrest the criminals. They are going to arrest the preachers saying that you are disturbing the peace. But it is never about disturbing the peace. It is the power, ungodly power and the wickedness which the preachers confront. That is a problem. So they accuse Christians of disturbing the peace. But it is never about the peace, but it is about their own agendas, their false religion and the lies of the devil. And that's what we are seeing here. They were angry because now their income was gone. And now we see Paul and Silas in prison with their feet in the stocks after receiving beatings publicly. Now one of the first things which we see here is Paul and Silas's joy in the midst of trial. Paul and Silas's joy in the midst of trial. Where they are, they are in a prison. They were mistreated and beaten. Now, they could have argued, why did God allow such suffering for them after they faithfully served him? They had left their families and comfort for this mission trip. And here they are left in a dark dungeon. They could have argued that they expected God to bless them after what they had done for God. Is this not how we think sometimes when we go through trials in our lives? Serve God in such a such way. I do so much for God, but why does God allow? suffering in my life We become bitter and angry We presume that that perhaps God is not happy with us. Perhaps there's something wrong with us and perhaps God is not happy with us. I We live in a time in which the health and prosperity gospel is very popular among the people. It is taught from the pulpits on a regular basis that if you become a Christian, then all your troubles will be over. And one of the outcome of this teaching is that we expect God to deliver us from all our troubles. If we are Christians, that means we should never have any troubles. God should deliver us from every trouble in life. But we do not see such deliverance. But when we do not see such deliverance, we feel bitter and angry. Someone has said that in life, it is only 10% which is related to circumstances and 90% is all about how we respond to those circumstances. It is only 10% which is about circumstances and 90% is all how we respond to our circumstances. And I think there is a truth to it. Jesus has not promised to deliver us from all the troubles in this life from all our troubles, but he has promised to be with his people all the days of their life. Jesus said, I'll be with you till the end of this age. You see, Paul and Silas were not bitter or angry at God because of their circumstances, but they responded to their circumstances in a godly way. What did Paul and Silas do in the prison? Their feet were fastened to the stalks, but where was their heart? Their hearts were in heaven. Their hearts were in heaven. Even though they were in that prison, but their sights were on Christ Jesus. They were looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith. What were they doing? They were praying and singing hymns to God. This is what they were doing. Even when their feet were fastened to that stalks, they were in that prison with other prisoners, perhaps a dark and stinky dungeon. Their hearts were still in heaven and they were praying and singing hymns to God in that prison. This is the same Paul writing to the Philippians saying rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. It is at Philippi where he was publicly beaten with rods and thrown into jail. The brothers at Philippi might have been aware of this treatment of Paul at Philippi, but he exhorts them to rejoice in the Lord always. That means in all circumstances. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to learn to rejoice in all circumstances. Is it easy? It is not at all easy. But can we still look to Jesus? Can we still lift our gauge to heaven, even when we are in bad circumstances? I think yes. Paul was not controlled by his circumstances. He did not allow circumstances to take control of his life, but he trusted in the God who controls all circumstances, whether good or bad. They prayed and sang hymns to God, which even made the prisoners listen to them. So one of the things which they did in that circumstance was just to pray, just to take their complaints if they had or the thoughts which they had, whatever they had, take it to the Lord in prayer. That's what they did. They took their concerns before God and they sang. And what did they sing? They sang the scriptures. We read here they sang hymn. and what hymn they might have sang. I don't think that there, in those days, there were hymns of Isaac Watts or Fanny J. Crosby. I'm not saying that it is wrong to sing hymns written by Isaac Watts or Fanny J. Crosby, but they just did not have those hymns in those days. Then what did they sing? They sang the Psalms. They sang the Word of God. Perhaps they memorized it because I don't think that in that prison they had a copy of the Word of God. So they memorized and from the memory they sang the Psalms. And that is one of the reason we sing Psalms because it is the word of God and it is a hymn book of the church God has given his people a hymn book to sing and we sing the Psalms. I think they might have sang Psalm 91 Singing he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty I will say of the Lord. He is my refuge and my fortress my God in him I will trust Or they might have sang Psalm 23, singing, The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want. Or they might have sung Psalm 118, singing, The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do to me? See, they memorize scripture. They sang the scripture. And that's why at that point of time, even without a copy of scripture they were a copy of a hymn book they were able to sing because they were memorizing and that's what they had stored or treasured in their heart and when time came when they were in trouble instead of responding with anger and bitterness they just blurted out scripture. You see their circumstances did not break them. On the contrary, it revealed their heart, a heart which was full of music, joy and reliance on the sovereignty of God, even when they were in prison. Why does God allow trials and tribulations in the life of believers? Paul says in Romans chapter 5 that we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope. So every time you go through trials and tribulations and difficulties, remember this one thing. If you're a Christian, if you're a believer, you're a child of God, then God is doing something in your life. God is developing your steadfastness, He is developing your character, and He is giving you hope. So do not be discouraged when you go through various trials and tribulations, but entrust yourself into the mighty hand of God and He will be with you even in those trials and tribulations. That was the first thing. The second thing which we see here is the miracle which forces the jailer to ask the hard question in life. We see here that there was an earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed. This was an absolute miracle. And when the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. According to Roman law, if a prisoner escaped under the watch of a Roman guard, that guard will pay with his own life. It is either your life or either the life of the prisoner. This is not our modern times where prisoner would just escape from the prison and the prison guard would just do nothing. For example, in Acts chapter 12 and verse 18 onwards, we see that after Peter escaped from the prison, Herod ordered the guards to be put to death. They just lost their life. God delivered Peter from that prison Harith inquired everything and after that he ordered those guards to be put to death. All of them, they lost their lives. And this is the same situation here. The jailer thought that the prisoners had escaped and he would pay with his own life. So he drew his own sword to commit suicide. So he wanted to commit suicide. He thought this is the end of my life. Prisoners, all of them have escaped under my watch and now the empire or the government, the local government, they are going to put me to death. So it is better for me to take my own life than they execute me. So this is the situation here. But Paul called with a loud voice saying, do yourself no harm for we are all here. This might have come as a shock to the jailer. He thought that most prisoners might have escaped. This is what happens. Who will I don't know if you are in prison and if you get a chance to escape from the prison, I think most people would Take that opportunity to escape from prison and to maybe perhaps to go to a different country. I Sometimes I think if I am wrongfully jailed somewhere, and if I can escape the prison and go to escape to some other country, I will escape to that country instead of spending my 30 years in that prison. This is how people think. If they can escape, they will escape. But he hears from Paul that all of them were still in the prison. What he experienced here was something extraordinary. Here is a man who was on the verge of committing suicide. He was on the verge of taking his own life, but God intervened in his life through the Apostle Paul. And this would cause him to ask the most important question in life, which otherwise he wouldn't have asked. Often when we are lost in our own pursuit of life, we forget to ask the most important question in life. Just think about your own friends and colleagues at workplace. How many of them ask about what shall I do to be saved? Or is there a true God? Or if there is a true God, how can I have a right standing with him? It's a sad reality that we have to put so much of effort with people to convince them that there is a day when God will just the whole world. Many of us, we try everything in our power to share the gospel with our friends and colleagues, but even then they just reject it. They try to avoid. The moment you start talking about Jesus, or the scripture, they try to change the conversation or they try to avoid. Most people living in this world when they are in their teen, it is all about college or relationships in their adult years. It is about careers and making money. In our middle age, in their middle age, it is all about family and retirement. And in the old age, it is health or grandchildren and their or their needs. Most people do not stop themselves from being occupied with worldly affairs. Life is all about living in the present and saving for retirement or live for the present. Just enjoy whatever makes us feel comfortable and happy, whether it's drugs or alcohol or something else, but life is all about living in the present. Most likely this jailer might have lived a life very similar to it. But this was a crisis moment in his life. And God reached out to him in this crisis moment and he asked the most important question in life, what must I do to be saved? Have you ever asked this question? Have you ever pondered what will happen to my life after I die? We all die. Even right now, you're sitting here, in some sense, you're dying. Today, one day is less from the total life which God has appointed for you in this world. So in that sense, you already died one day less. You already died a couple of hours less. You already died a couple of minutes less. you already lost couple of few seconds now by this time. In that sense, we all are moving to that ultimate end when we die and we face our creator. So in that sense, are you prepared to meet the creator of heaven and earth? Now the response of Paul is very simple. He said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household. Notice what he did not say. He did not say, join a church. He did not say, go to this, climb this mountain. and then come back and do something else. He did not say that you need to say Hail Mary for 150 times at a time. He did not say you need to get baptized. He did not say you need to get circumcised. Baptism and joining a church is important. If you are a Christian, then you will obey the Lord in water baptism and you will join a church. But that is not part of saving faith. All that you need is faith in Lord Jesus Christ. That's all what you need. Faith in Lord Jesus Christ. You believe that Jesus died for your sins, was buried and rose again on the third day for a justification. Then you are saved. This is what believing in Jesus means. You believe the person and work of Lord Jesus Christ. You know who Jesus is, what he has done for you. You assent to the truth. But that is not enough. But you also need to trust in him. you know about him, you ascend to what he has done, you ascend to the truth of the gospel, and you trust in Lord Jesus Christ. That's what believing means. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. There are some who tease that Paul did not say repent and believe here, and hence, one should not call people to repentance, but rather just to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They say preaching repentance is asking people to add to the work of Jesus. It is true that Paul does not use the phrase repent and believe in this particular gospel invitation, but he does use the phrase repent and believe in other scenarios. We see in Acts 17 that when Paul preached to the men of Athens, he invited them, saying, Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent. In Acts chapter 20, when he gives a summary of his ministry to the Ephesian elders, he said, how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaim it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. In Luke 24, verse 46 onwards, we see that Jesus said to his disciples that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. The point is this, believing in Jesus is not merely a mental ascent. It is turning from one's sin and turning to Jesus in faith and repentance. This is what Paul offered to the Philippian jailer. Turn to Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household. The promise of salvation was not only extended to this jailer, but also to his household. Then Paul and Silas spoke the word to him and all those who were part of his household believed. This is similar to salvation coming to the household of Lyria. Paul went and spoke the word to the Lydia, but we see eventually that Lydia believed and then she and her household were baptized. In the old dispensation before the flood, it was only Noah who was being found righteous in the sight of God. But because of him, his family were saved from the flood. In 1 Peter 3, Peter calls the flood in Noah's days, a type of baptism. The waters of judgment destroyed the world of unbelievers, but Noah and his family were saved through the waters. After the flirt it was Abraham who believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. But God's promise came not only to him but also to his descendants after him. He and all his male children and even the male servants of his household were circumcised. The word was spoken to the Philippian jailer and to his household and all were baptized the same night. Most likely the water was poured over their heads rather than emerged in the middle of the night. I don't think that in the middle of the night he took them at 12 o'clock in the night and took them and he emerged all of them in the water. Most likely water was poured over their heads. Paul and Silas were beaten, abused and thrown into the prison. They could have responded in fear, anger, or with complaint. But they responded in praise and worship. God opened a new door for them, and they were able to witness to the prisoners and to the jailer and his household. But this is not the only thing which we see here. In their pain and suffering, they ministered to others. And now we see them being ministered here. When they were in suffering, they ministered to others, but now they are being ministered. We read here that at the same hour, the Philippian jailer took them and washed their stripes. And when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them. Psalm 30 verse 5 says, weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. their momentary affliction was already being over even before they were released from the prison. You see, God is merciful to his people. If he allows suffering, he allows suffering for a purpose. So that in that suffering or through that suffering, we grow in our maturity, we grow in our character, and that we minister to others. This is what Jesus did. He suffered. He had to go through that suffering. And through that suffering, he brought salvation to his people. He brought redemption to his people. Their going into prison itself was part of the sovereign plan of God. As Jesus dying on the cross, it was part of sovereign plan of God. And that's the same thing which is true here with Paul and Silas. Their going into jail itself was part of the sovereign plan of God. It was God's will to save the Philippian jailer and his household, and hence he allowed Paul and Silas to be incarcerated. But then through Paul and Silas, he brought salvation to the Philippian jailer and his household. The final thing which we see here is their release. The next day the magistrates order them to be released. But Paul said to them, they have beaten us openly and condemned 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 think Paul and Silas could have just left the town quietly. They could have left the town quietly, but Paul is using his citizenship privilege for the Christians who will be left behind in this city. One of the applications which comes out of this incident is that it is never wrong for you to use your lawful privileges. It is never wrong for you to use your lawful citizenship privilege or any other lawful privilege which God has given you. Ultimately, it is God who gives us privileges, who puts us under laws. And it is not wrong for you to take advantage of those privileges when an injustice is done to you, especially when an injustice is done to you. Being Christians and being forgiving doesn't mean that we should not make use of the law for the good of us and for the good of others. Romans were pretty strict when it came to law and order. Magistrates were not allowed to order people to be beaten or incarcerated without condemning them first. They had to establish their guilt and they had to condemn them and then only they could proceed with beating or incarceration. If they did, there were consequences for them. In this particular case, the magistrates were in error because Paul and Silas, they did not disturb the peace of the city. It was a false accusation. All what they did was they delivered that girl from oppression and they delivered that girl from oppression. So they were in error to condemn them, to put them into prison. and here Paul clearly said if they want us to be out of this place let them come and let them come and they themselves let them take us out of the prison and the magistrates were afraid because they came to know that these both are Roman citizens so they came pleading with them and brought them out and asked them to depart from the city and At the onset of the pandemic, the COVID pandemic in 2020, California and Los Angeles County imposed strict restrictions, including orders banning or severely limiting indoor worship services to control the spread of COVID-19. Now most of the churches in California complied. But John MacArthur and his church, Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, initially they complied with these regulations for about 20 weeks. However, by mid-summer 2020, the church publicly announced it would resume regular indoor worship, arguing that the government's ongoing restrictions were no longer justified, and the church had a biblical mandate to gather, even if that meant defying civil authority. They appalled that the county unfairly burdened religious gatherings while allowing other activities and businesses like bars and liquor stores. If it is so dangerous for people to gather together, then why do you allow bars? Why do you allow liquor stores? Is that more important than worshipping God, worshipping, gathering together on Sunday? So that's what they argued that when it comes to other activities, governments are lenient. But when it comes to church, they are very strict. So that was their main argument. So the county and the state threatened them with all kinds of fines. They also threatened that we will take your parking privilege. They threatened them. The church sued the county and the state government, and it won a huge settlement from both, almost $800,000 US dollars. The point is this, it is perfectly legitimate for private Christian individuals and churches to use the means which God has ordained to seek peace and quiet for himself or for the church. Paul used the privileges of his citizenship here and elsewhere. You would see in Acts, he would even use the citizenship elsewhere to let the magistrates know that they were in error. In this way, he also cautioned them before they harassed the Christians they were leaving behind. Now, after they went out of the prison, they entered Lydia's house, and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed them. They will continue to travel with the gospel to other cities which need to hear the gospel. They had the answer to life's greatest question, what shall I do to be saved? This morning, the question to you is, have you found answer to this question? Are you saved? Are you saved from the power of sin and Satan? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Have you found complete freedom in Christ Jesus? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Let us pray. Our most gracious Holy Father, we thank you for your word. And we thank you that in Christ Jesus, we are more than conquerors. Lord, we know from your word that there is nothing which can separate us from the love of Christ, whether it is depth or height or breadth or troubles or trials. There is nothing or difficulties in life. There is nothing which can separate us from the love of Christ because Jesus upholds us in the palm of his hands. So Lord, we pray that you would continue to work in us, that you would give us freedom from power of sin and Satan, and that we would continue to hold fast to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, no matter what the circumstances are. And Lord, we thank you that you are working in us each and every day, that you are You are developing our character. You are increasing our hope every single day. And we know that this hope will not disappoint us because you have poured your love into our hearts. So, Lord, we pray that you would continue to work in us, that you would strengthen us in our spirit and in our inner being, and that we would continue to be transformed into the image of Christ. We ask this prayer in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you for joining us. If you were blessed by this sermon, we invite you to visit us at abcreformed.org, where you'll find more information about our ministry. We look forward to you joining us again, online or in person. Until then, may peace, comfort, and grace be given to you through our Lord Jesus Christ.