friends, the future is bright. The future is glorious. The future that God has prepared for you is full of joy, unspeakable and full of glory. Friends, remember the gospel trajectory is not simply heaven when we die. That is a joy, but there is more to come, that there is a recreation, a renovation. There is the resurrection of the body. There is Christ returning to make all things new and all things Dear friends, there will be a day coming soon where this world of sorrows will be swallowed up in the mercy of God and the love of Christ for his people. And friends, that's a day to look forward to. So friends, if today is dreary and today is hard, keep looking to Christ and keep looking to the future he has prepared for you. Well, friends, if you would grab your Bible now and turn with me to the book of Acts. Friends, we continue our study of the book of the Acts of the Apostles in Acts 16, beginning this morning at verse 35 and concluding at the end of the chapter at verse 40. Acts chapter 16, verse 35, down to verse 40. Dear friends, I have entitled this morning's sermon, Vindication. Vindication. Acts 16, verse 35. Beloved, let us read God's word together. These are the words of the living God. God says, but when it was day, the magistrates sent the police saying, let those men go. And the jailer reported these words to Paul saying, the magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace. But Paul said to them, they have beaten us publicly, uncondemned men who are Roman citizens and have thrown us into prison. And do they now throw us out secretly? No, let them come themselves and take us out. The police reported these words to the magistrates and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed." Friends, this is the word of God. Thanks be to God. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, you have promised to vindicate your church. You have promised to deliver us from all adversity. You have promised, Lord, that you are our rock and our defender, our shield and our exceedingly great reward. Dear Lord Jesus, as you have been honored and vindicated, so too we shall share in such honor. We pray, O Spirit, that you come and give strength in the day of trial and adversity. When we face all manner of difficulty and distress at the hands of men, Lord, we pray, keep us faithful. Help us to look to Jesus. Dear Spirit, strengthen us. And we ask that you bless this time as we study together. For Christ's sake, Father, we ask. Well, friends, here we are in Acts 16, and in Acts 16, we have the record of Paul, Silas, Luke, Timothy, the whole of the missionary gang come to Philippi. And you recall that Philippi is in Rome. It is a Roman colony. It's Romified in just about every aspect that you can think of. And while Paul is ministering, preaching the gospel, the church is growing. They're thrown in prison, all in silence. They're beaten. They're accused of being rioters. They're accused of being malcontents. They're accused of causing disturbance in the city. Friends, this is a paramount to treasonous activity. They're being regarded as terrorists in the city of Philippi. So this is a very heavy charge and that explains the outburst of the people of Philippi as well as the severity with which the city officials treated Paul and Silas. And so you remember that they were brought before the magistrates, and remember the magistrates are like the city council, like the mayor and the alderman. I mean, these are the big guys. These are the ones in charge of running the city. And it's not just, you know, passing laws or ordinances. They're also administering justice. So this is a big deal. So the highest authority in Philippi reacts to the crowd and the charges against Paul and Silas. even venture, they don't even try to see whether the charges are true, they just treat them as condemned criminals. And so these magistrates beat them up, they throw them in prison, and yet we saw in the providence of God that even the pain of Paul and Silas, even the adversity that they endured was promised by a faithful God. In His great mercy and wisdom, He ordained that to be the means by which they will encounter the Philippian jailer. And through their own deliverance, God would bring salvation to this jailer and to his family. The jailer heard the gospel. His family heard the gospel. And they were born again. There was a whole conversion of this family. And we see that God is at work in the lives of his people. He is faithful to us. No matter what circumstances, he brings us through. The word of God is not bad. But it goes forth with power, and that we can trust that we're faithful to Christ in whatever circumstances, in whatever occasion we find ourselves. God is still going to use us. He'll use our prayers. He'll use our witness. He'll use our worship. We trust, we go, and we hope. Well, the Philippian jailer was so overjoyed at the mercy of God that he not only took Paul and Silas out of there, you know, inner maximum prison unit, and he brought them into his own house. But again, remember, the jailer's house is connected to the jail, so it's one big complex. And so Paul and Silas are there, and now we get to verse 35, and it's morning time. So all this has happened during the night. Well, news has gotten to the magistrates that there was a great work of God, something miraculous and mighty went down in the jailhouse last night. The great earthquake shook, and we see the response of the prisoners and of the jailer. And so naturally, the magistrates of verse 35 say, maybe we overplayed our game. Maybe we didn't do the right thing by locking these men up. We need to fix it. So verse 35, they send a message to the jailer via the policeman, hey, let these men go." Well, friends, what do we take from this? Well, remember, friends, the book of Romans and all throughout the scriptures tells us that there is no authority on earth except that which has been ordained by God. So, for example, friends, you have the mayor, you have the county sheriff, you have the judges in whatever level of courts they are. because of the providence of God. He ordained it. And friends, they have authority and they are responsible to God. All authority is from God and all authority is responsible to God. And that includes not just elected officials, that includes parents, teachers, that includes employers and managers. Friends, if there has been any authority entrusted to you, any, duties that have been, any honors that you receive, friends, you are accountable to God. All authority, even bad authority, has been ordained by God and is accountable to God. So, friends, pray for your magistrates, pray for your judges, pray for your politicians, pray for those in authority over you. The scriptures tell us again and again to pray for those in high position, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives, that we may do the work of the kingdom, that we may be about Christ's business of being and making disciples. So friends, we often see how our officials are deriding, and many times it could be for things that they don't do well, right? But friends, pray for them. And pray that the Lord would convert them if they're unconverted. Pray that God would give them wisdom for the tasks that have been appointed to them. And let us ask that God, the Holy Spirit, would help us that if we have occasion, we can keep calling on our elected officials. We can call those in power over us to say, hey, this is what God requires of you, right? God requires that you rule justly. God requires that you practice righteousness. God requires of you, oh magistrate, that you do justice. The church can call upon the state to be the state, right? Church and state are different, but the church can have a prophetic role in that. So these magistrates messed up, and they wronged these men. And now they're trying to put things right, which is good. It's a good thing that they're gonna let Paul and Silas go, but the problem is is that they're gonna try to do it sort of, you know, without any fanfare, right? They're trying to save their own political skin. They're trying to save face in front of the crowd and especially in front of the emperor, because remember the emperor is the one that's really got his, you know, he's overseeing this city directly, right? He appoints the officials and appoints all of this. So they're accountable to him. So let these men go. And in verse 36, the jailer, brings these words to Paul and says, hey, the magistrates have let you go, therefore come out and go in peace. All right, friends, so God is vindicating Paul and Silas, right? They've suffered injustice. They've been beaten. They've been humiliated. It's been a long, hard night. They're probably still sore from all the events of the evening and the day before, but now God in his mercy has seemed pleased to give justice. The magistrates have admitted that they were wrong, and now the jailer says, hey, I'm all about this. Let's get you out of here. Come out, Paul. Come outside. Let's get you out of here and go in peace. Friends, God is at work. You know, friends, there are many times when we suffer abuse at the hands of others, and it seems as though we don't get this kind of response, right? I mean, friends, how many times have you suffered unjustly at the hands of others? Someone has said something slanderous or scandalous about you. Somebody has spread a rumor about you. Somebody has tried to harm you in some way in your job or in your, you know, in your neighborhood. Friends, think of all of the things that people have done to wrong us. And we might as well say, think of all the ways that we've wronged others. Because, friends, Scripture says that it goes both ways. But the thinking about our own slights and the sins that others have committed against us. Friends, we don't always get this kind of response, where those that have wronged us come and confess, come and try to make amends, come and seek for reconciliation, for peace. What do you do, friends? Well, friends, remember that God has promised you ultimate day of vindication. Jesus Christ has been entrusted with all authority in heaven and on earth. He has been given the task by the Father to judge the living and the dead. God has appointed a day of reckoning, the day with a capital D. That is the day of Christ's return, the day of the resurrection of the dead, the day of the final judgment, the day of the consummation of the kingdom of God. It's all one matrix. It's all one cluster of event, right? And friends, on that day, God will reveal the secrets of men. And through Christ Jesus, He will judge according to perfect righteousness. There is no sin that has been committed on this earth. There is no act of righteousness that has been done on this planet that God will not bring to account. He will open the books, and every word that you have said, and every thought that you have thought, and every deed that you have done, and every duty that you and I have failed to do, all of that will be exposed. And not just me and not just you, but everything that has been done in this world since the beginning. And God has promised to make things right. He will repay, he says, the wicked according to his works. God is able to make the punishment fit the crime. He is able to extract and exact a proper proportionate penalty for every wrong that has been done. You have a God, friends, who is a perfect judge, who is not blind, who is not ignorant, who is not callous. But he has promised that he will judge the world in righteousness and more so he will vindicate his saints. That day is coming, friends. So when you do suffer abuse at the hands of others, even, friends, when you may suffer at the hands of other Christians, other believers, because sometimes, friends, we can hurt each other. You know, friends, sometimes the people that can hurt us the most are the people that love us the most and the people that we love the most. That's true in our biological families, and that's true in the family of God, and that's true in the church. So what do you do? Because, friends, it's so often we can get bitter and hard, angry, resentful. And, friends, the Scriptures tell us that no root of bitterness spring up among you by which many become defiled. Friends, if we don't deal with that wrong rightly, it will fester, it will grow, and it will poison not just us but others. So what do we do? You look to that day, and you look to the Christ who is on His throne. You come to the Father in heaven. That mercy seat has been opened to you through the blood of Christ. You come humbly by the power of the Spirit and you bring all of that pain and you set it down at the Father's feet. Name those slights. Name those harsh words. Name and take all of those hurts, all of those difficult people Say, Father, you have called me to forgive, and I myself have been forgiven. Father, I know you have forgiven me much. I know in many ways I have sinned against you and against others. But Father, I come to you praying now that you would not only forgive me, but that, Father, you would be my defender, that you would plead my cause, that you would be the one to stand for me. in this difficult situation. And you can trust that your Father will settle it. Your Lord Jesus will make it right. And you may not see it today. You may not see it tomorrow. You may not even see it in your lifetime, friends, but God's Word tells you Christ is going to settle the score. Vengeance is mine. I will repay. Thus says the Lord. And that means, friends, you can be free from that pain. You can take that hurt and set it at the feet of King Jesus and you don't have to worry about it. Friends, how liberating is that? May God the Holy Spirit help us to do that. Because, friends, that's so hard. We think of how that person wronged us. We think about what they said or what they did. And sometimes it's like it just, the more we think about it, it just fixates in our mind and gets deeper and more entrenched. And we need God the Holy Spirit to come and help. God the Holy Spirit to come and soften that heart and sludge all of that. pain and the wrongs that we have endured, and to keep bringing it back to the feet of Jesus. Keep coming to that throne of grace because God has said he will make it right. And perhaps, friends, you will see, as Paul and Silas here did today do, a measure of vindication in your lifetime. And I believe some of you, some of us can even think of times where We've suffered and persons have wronged us, but then in the providence of God, well, it was made right. We were vindicated. We were proven to be the innocent party. Trust the Lord. Trust his word. Keep looking forward to what he's promised. And that, friends, is how you will have peace, how the Lord will give you peace in this time and in these circumstances and in these difficult days. Well, what does Paul respond? Verse 37. Paul says, no, no, no. Verse 37, we're not going to do it this way. Now, friends, I want you to understand that Paul is here doing something that is a pattern for us to follow as Christians, and he's also following the example of our Lord Jesus. You see, Paul and Silas could have pulled the Roman citizen card right at the beginning, but they didn't. province of God, and by the power of His Spirit, they were careful on how they exercised their rights. And the Lord gave them the opportunity here to exercise their rights, to plead for justice in order to protect the church. So Paul now brings charges against the magistrate. He says, they have beaten us publicly. They says they have they have broken the law. These magistrates have beaten us publicly and we were uncondemned. We had no trial. There was no jury. There was no verdict. This was a miscarriage of justice. We were uncondemned men who are also Roman citizens. They have wronged us and they have wronged us in such a way that we have the right now to appeal to the emperor for his recompense against these magistrates, right? So Paul is saying, they're not gonna throw us out secretly. No, no, no, no. If they want to release us, they're going to have to come down themselves. So, you know, you might look at that and you might say, well, Paul's kind of, you know, just kind of needling them a bit, right? He's gonna make them squirm a little bit to get them out. But what Paul is doing, friends, is he is showing us an example of how we, under the authority of Christ and in humility before our God, we don't always have to insist on our rights. We may, for a time, set them aside, but we may also invoke them when it is necessary and especially for the blessing of others. So, you know, you remember, friends, your Lord Jesus had every right that you could imagine. He, touching His deity, the Lord Jesus, as the Son of God, as the second person of the Trinity, He was worthy of all worship. He had the greatest of all dignities. He was adored in the heavens, friends, and He took all of that dignity, all of that honor, all of that which was his right to enjoy, and in the incarnation, friends, he set it aside. He humbled himself, Philippians 2 tells us, taking on the form of a man. He took to himself a human nature, coming in the likeness of man who's found in human form, and he humbled himself even further, even to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him, raised him from the dead, and now restored to him all the glory he had with the Father before the world existed, but now even more so as the glorified God-man, as the Lord Jesus Christ. So, friends, there will be times where for the sake of Christ and his church, we are willing to suffer abuse, and not insist on our own way, not stand on our rights, because we know who we belong to. And ultimately, friends, we belong to Jesus. And he has the right to spend us however he will, to use us to whatever purpose he would have for us. And as we recognize that, friends, we recognize that my life is his, to do with as he pleases. And that will lead to his glory and my highest joy in him. But there will come times, friends, where we can, by the mercy of God, insist on what he's given to us. So friends, remember, Paul's Roman citizenship was a gift. Ultimately, he came from God, but remember, Paul, he didn't buy the citizenship. It was his by birth, right? His father, presumably, was a Roman citizen, and so that was passed down to Paul. So he's insisting on these things, but he's not doing it in such a way as to get even with the magistrates. As we'll see, what he is doing is he's exercising his rights for the glory of God and for the blessing of that church in Philippi. Because he knows that if the magistrates have to come down publicly and take him out of jail, then that is going to be a level of public protection for the church. Because all the people in Philippi will now see, okay, the Magistrates messed up and did injustice to Paul and Silas and they threw them in jail. And so we need to be careful and respectful and treat these Christians according to what the law requires. Paul is not insisting on his rights just to insist on them. He has a purpose. He has a goal, and that is to protect the people of God. Well, friends, how do you think about your rights? You have many rights. As a U.S. citizen, do you not? You can vote. You can drive an automobile. You can do all kinds of things, friends. And we thank God for these liberties that we have. But friends, how are we employing those rights? How are we using what God has entrusted to us? How are we stewarding the freedoms we have? Are we constantly insisting on, I need to receive what is my due? Or are we saying, Lord Jesus, teach me to follow in your footsteps. May your spirit help me to spend and use what you have given me. for your glory. Friends, there's a kingdom-mindedness that the Christian must have when it comes to his rights and how he exercises them. So, friends, be thankful to God for all that you have. Be thankful for the place where he's put you. Be thankful for all of the ways that you can serve him. Well, then verse 38, we see that the police now, they're the couriers and they're bringing the message back and forth. The police come and tell the magistrates these things. And the magistrates were afraid because now they realize, whoa, we messed up even worse than we thought because this Paul and Silas, they are Roman citizens. And so here they are now afraid of the wrath of the emperor. Well, friends again, more vindication. But friends, as much as these magistrates may tremble at the power of Caesar and the threat of the emperor's sword, friends, remember that the living God is a much more terrifying thing, a much more terrifying sign. He is a much more fearful, a being to be feared than any emperor, than any king. You know, for instance, Scripture talks about the fear of the Lord, and we wonder sometimes what that means because we go to places such as 1 John and we say, wait a minute, there's no fear in love. Perfect love casts out fear, right? What does that mean? Well, remember, John's talking about the fear of the Lord in the context of trembling at the judgment of God, right? The Christian, because he knows he's loved in Christ and loves the Lord Jesus, he has no terror of the judgment to come. He knows that the Father, Delivered Him and saved Him and loved Him and adopted Him. He sent His Spirit to seal Him. There's no fear of a final judgment to send us to hell. That's what John means. But the fear of the Lord, friends, well, that is something that is not native to the sinful man. You and I, by nature, do not fear God, the Scripture says. We might fear the punishment, but we don't fear Him. And the fear of the Lord, friends, is the posture of the heart. It's an attitude, friends, of reverence and awe of quaking delight at the glory of who He is. Friends, the fear of the Lord comes as we behold the Lord and the glory of His holiness. As you peer into the Scriptures, as you read, and the Word of God, and the truth, and the character of God, the righteousness of God, the holiness of God, the goodness of God, the power of God, all of these things are coming home to you by the power of the Spirit. When we encounter the Holy One, friends, that fear is real because He is real. You know, friends of the Chronicles of Narnia, you recall that little Lucy once asked, I believe it was Mr. Beaver, about Asim. Remember, Aslan is the Christ character of Lewis's Chronicles. And Mr. Beaver, Lucy comes to Mr. Beaver and says, Aslan, is he safe? He's a lion. And so she says, is he safe? And Mr. Beaver says, oh, he's a lion. Of course he's not safe. Look at those claws. Look at that. Look at those teeth. Look at the power of that lion. But he says, oh, he's good. Lucy, he's very good. Friends, that is the Lord your God. That is the Triune God. That's Christ. So awesome in goodness. So powerful in His strength. So perfect in His purity. So abounding in His love. Friends, when we catch a glimpse of Him, well, it leads us to quake with delight. This is the living God. This is the Lord God Almighty who reigns. Friends, these magistrates fear the emperor. What they need to fear more than that is the living God. And friends, if you fear the living God, that fear of the Lord casts out all other fears. If you fear God, if you know Him, if you rejoice in Christ, friends, there is no peril, there is no danger, there is no threat of men or devils that can shake you. So friends, is that the God that you know? Is that the Lord that you serve? This living God who said to Moses, I am who I am, the self-existent eternal God, a God who says he is holy, holy, holy. Friends, knowing God for who he is, you will now then discover who you are. and you will understand the world that you live in. Friends, if we get our understanding of God wrong, if we don't see the Lord for who he is, if we don't recognize him for all of his majestic glory and grace, friends, everything else will go wrong. Knowing God, friends, is core, fundamental Christianity. And friends, it doesn't stop at conversion. Indeed, it really starts when we're born again. So friends, do you have a passion for knowing God? Do you have a zeal to seek to fear the Lord and know Him and love Him and serve Him? May the Spirit come and awaken our hearts to the glory of who He is. May we see once again how awesome is our God. And friend, maybe today you haven't. Maybe this day you're still standing afar off. Friends, I pray that you call out to God to have mercy on you, that God would come and soften your heart and open your eyes to see that He is a great God, a God of perfect justice and love and so merciful to sinners as we are. The Lord who says He will judge the living and the dead also says to you, come and drink of the water of life without price. He says, come and live. Come and enjoy me. Come to my son. Friends, again, I pray that if you've not yet come to Christ and tasted that he is good, that today, friends, the Lord would have you come. Well, they're afraid. And so in verse 39, the response is, they do exactly what Paul and Silas did. They come down, the proud magistrates with their purple stripes, with all of the dignity of their office, they have to go down to the smelly jail and bring out these two men that just the day before they had treated as trash and common criminals, vindication criminals. That's coming for you. Christ is the proof of that, raised from the dead. He has been honored. He has been exalted. He has been vindicated. You will share in that vindication as his church. So don't lose heart. Keep trust. And they leave. They leave the jail, but before they leave, friends, on their way out of town, they stop to see Lydia. Oh, dear Lydia, the seller of purple goods, that luxury merchant. It's Lydia whose home, whose house became the incubator for the church at Philippi. See what God has done in this city. Before Paul and Silas came with the gospel, before they came with the word of God, there wasn't even enough people here to have a synagogue. And the only God-fearing people in this town were some Chevrolets that went down to the river and prayed together. But look what God has done by the power of his word and through his church, by his spirit, he has saved households. He's delivered Lydia and her family into the kingdom of God. He's reconciled the jailer and his family to himself. He's gathered in many, many others. And so when Paul and Silas are about to leave, they come to the church and they visit with them and the brothers, and they encourage them. They encourage them with their own example. They encourage them with the scriptures. They encourage them to keep looking to Christ, and they depart. Friends, take home. Jesus is so faithful to you. Your Father in heaven has purposed your days. Before you were even in your mother's womb, God ordained them all. He knew what trials you would endure, what tragedies you would suffer. He also knew the joy and the blessings that He had set forth for you. All of this does not catch Him by surprise. All of this has been His decree. And He has also promised you that this has meaning. It has purpose. He is doing something. He is working for your sanctification, for His glory, and that it will be worth it. Take the gospel, friends, and may the message of Christ and Him crucified and risen again, may it not be for us simply a testimony about something that we believed, and then now we just sort of live the Christian life on our own steam. Sometimes people, as Christians, we do that. We think, well, you know, the gospel really is just for the unbelievers. You know, they need to hear, God is holy, I'm a sinner, and Jesus Christ is the only Savior, and they need to repent, and they need to believe. Oh, yes, that is true, dear friend. They must hear of Christ, and the Lord has called us to tell them. Dear ones, the gospel is not just for the unbeliever, it is for you. Because, friends, these gospel promises remind you of what the Lord has done and what the Lord will do for you. So treasure them up. Rehearse these promises. May the scriptures capture our minds And may the Spirit encourage us by the truth. My Lord Jesus is faithful to me. My Father has promised that he will vindicate me. And then let us speak to others these words of life. Let's take these truths. And when our brothers and sisters are beaten down and worn out with the trials of this life, when they're having difficulty sleeping, there's problems with their children and their grandchildren, let's take these promises and let's encourage each other. And let us say, keep looking to Christ. Keep seeing His faithfulness. Do you not remember what the Father has promised you? Oh, weary saint, do you not see the future that's prepared for you? He is going to make all things good and all things bright. Encourage one another with the gospel. Let us keep pointing each other to the future that God has prepared for us. because he's promised, and he will do it. Well, friends, in conclusion, keep looking up, keep looking to the Lord, and in this week to come, let us ever see him faithful to us. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you that Jesus has been vindicated, and we will share in his vindication. We will share in his honor. We will share in his glorious spirit. that, Lord, in this week to come, that these promises would be very sweet to us. We ask that you would help us to encourage one another with these words. We pray, O Spirit, that you would continue to bring scriptures to mind, Lord, that we may encourage our children and grandchildren, our wives, husbands, Lord, we pray for others here in church, that, Lord, you would just bring to mind the word at the proper time. O Spirit, we pray that you would cultivate within us godly speech, our speech that it may be seasoned with salt, gracious, that, Lord, we may speak words of life to each other and to the world where you have sent us. Our Father, we pray, please have mercy on us today. Encourage us in the truth. Father, you're worthy to be worshiped. And so, Father, we give you praise in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.