PONDERING... Have You Been Freed From Bondage? (Acts 16:16-34)

VIDEO

Have You Been Freed From Bondage? (AM Sermon Notes)

GIST: Because of Jesus, slaves to sin are set free and those who are without hope can receive the joy of salvation. 

SCRIPTURE: Acts 16:16-18, 25-34

Welcome back to our study in the book of Acts! We’ve been off for a few months, so let me recap where we are here. After following the apostles and the first Church in Jerusalem for several chapters, Luke broke off and began following Paul on his missionary journeys. This Paul was a zealous Jew bent on killing Christians until he encountered Jesus and had his life flipped upside down! He went from trying desperately to stomp out this “false teaching” to being led to desperately spread this life-changing truth!

Chapter 16 picks up at the beginning of Paul’s second missionary journey. He has parted ways with his long-time companion and left on this journey with Silas. Along the way, they have been joined by a young man named Timothy, who Paul grows to consider a son, and the narrator of this gospel, Luke. God has already closed several doors on this journey, but has been clearly redirecting them as we’ve seen salvations everywhere they’ve gone. They’ve been lead to Macedonia and have been spending time sharing the gospel in Philippi. Since there were not enough Jewish men to have a synagogue, which was typically Paul’s first stop in a city, they first went to a group of women who had a prayer meeting down by the river. It was there that they met Lydia, a prominent and wealthy woman, who saw the truth and was saved.   

Today, we’re picking up with them still in Philippi. A lot happens in these final verses that is so interconnected, and I didn’t want to skip over any of it. So, we’re going to look at it from one angle this morning, and then take it from another this evening. This morning, I want to focus in specifically on the converts. Tonight, we’ll look at the witnesses. 

Since we won’t be moving through the passages consecutively this morning, I’ll start with our gist. Then, we’ll pray and work through the passages. Today, we’re going to see two very different people rescued from sin: a demon-possessed slave girl and a Roman jailor. Those these individuals might have lived lives very different from our own, in both we see our natural condition and need, so we can take away this gist: Because of Jesus, slaves to sin are set free and those who are without hope can receive the joy of salvation.  Let’s pray and dive in. First, we see this beautiful truth→ 

I. SLAVES TO SIN ARE SET FREE (16-18)

Let’s start by looking at what is recorded immediately after the conversion of Lydia. “16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation." 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour.”

Now, I know it might seem like a stretch to our modern ears to hear me say that we can draw some comparisons between our lives and the life of this young girl. It’s clear from the passage she was→ 

Possessed. This isn’t something we tend to think about today. Nonetheless, demonic possession is a reality. We might not see it thrown into the light as often as we see recorded in the life of Jesus and His apostles, but that is likely because we’re not shining His light as brightly as they were! 

Here, this girl has been taken over by an evil spirit that has somehow given her the ability to see the future. There seems to be evidence that this was something she was actually able to do, and not just how she was advertised by her slave-owners, since they were turning a profit. That would have been hard to maintain if she weren’t able to do anything.

Now, something interesting to point out here that I had not noticed until later this week while studying the passage is that the word translated divination here is actually from the Greek name Python. Python was a giant, magical serpent who could tell the future. Eventually, this serpent was killed by the very popular false god Apollo who was the son of their head god, Zeus. After killing this monstrous serpent, who was trying to eat him and his sister, the myth tells us that Apollo took over the domain of prognostication (telling the future). That means, in the eyes of this pagan city, this gift would have come from one of their favorite gods who happened to be the son of their lead god. Hold onto that for a second. 

So that’s her plight. In the truest sense, she is taken over by sin. Then, the passage tells us that she starts yelling what is technically true, and it gets to Paul. She’s crying out: "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation." Why would that bother them? The core issue seems to be that she was a—> 

Poor Witness. At the center of this had to have been that she was tainting the truth by proclaiming it. Here she was living in sin and speaking about God’s movement. She was literally taking the Lord’s name in vain...because this truth had had zero impact on her life thus far. I also feel like tone probably played some role in this, as well. We don’t know how she’s saying this, but she’s not stopped by her owners, so I feel like it is safe to at least speculate that there was a level of mockery in her voice. If people took her seriously, and given her reputation, it would have been reasonable to assume they would have had she given them cause, then she would have been telling them to listen to Paul and Silas instead of her.

The text says this annoyed Paul, so he spoke. The Greek word there seems to imply being bothered because of being burdened. Paul spoke because her testimony was detracting from the truth and because he was burdened by her miserable condition. And in that moment, she was→ 

Rescued By The Power Of The True God. Remember, the local people would have thought she had power from a son of god, but when the real Son of God spoke into her life, she was rescued instantly! Paul didn’t need to repeat himself. God spoke into her heart, and she was rescued completely, in that moment, from her sinful captivity and made new! Really, this mirrors→ 

Our Condition. You might not be under the same demonic possession she was, but our natural state is no less under the control of sin. We might not like to admit this, but just think about it for a moment. Can you stop yourself from sinning? By your will power, you might be able to adjust certain behaviors, but can you change your heart, or control your thoughts? Jesus said in John 8:34, “34 ...Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”  I’m always reminded of Benjamin Franklin who narrowed morality down to thirteen virtues and decided to take a few weeks to tackle each one before arriving at near perfection. After spending I believe a year or so trying to tackle one of the virtues, he gave it up as impossible and contented himself with living as a “flawed man”. He would not have considered himself a Christian by any means, but he even admitted this: 

“In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself; ... for, even if I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.” (87)

Naturally, we are stuck in sin and→ 

Mocking His Name. Though we might not all verbally mock God, though some of us might do that as well, we do not take Him seriously. In our hearts, we consider following after Him as a foolish or, at the very least, unnecessary way to live our lives. He tells us He’s the only way to Heaven, and we try to live like He’s wrong. Nonetheless, we can all still be→   

Rescued! Knowing this is where we are naturally because of the effects of sin, Jesus chose to take on Hell for you and rise again for you so that you could be freed from your bondage! That happened to this young girl, and it has happened for many of you, and it can happen for all of you who call on His name. Amen!

Though this was an amazing sign of God’s grace, not everyone was happy. Especially the people who had been making a profit off of this young woman’s plight. They’re so upset, they end up having Paul and Silas arrested for being “Jews messing up their Roman way of life”.  We’ll look at what happened while they were in prison tonight (it’s incredible by the way), but for now, let’s just look at one thing that happens while they’re there. It’s here we’ll see that→ 

II. THOSE WITHOUT HOPE CAN RECEIVE THE JOY OF SALVATION (25-34)

Look at what happened when they were imprisoned→ “25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." 29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.”

Here we have a picture of a man stuck in→ 

Inevitable Despair. He’s a Roman jailor. His responsibility is making sure prisoners don’t escape. This night is the same drudgery as every other, but two of his inmates are incessantly singing praises to a God he doesn’t believe in. Then, an earthquake shakes the prison, and by another miraculous act of God, the doors are all opened, and the bonds of every inmate are undone. That doesn’t just naturally happen with an earthquake! 

And clearly, the jailor had been sleeping on the job because the text says that he woke up to see all of this and immediately went to kill himself. This might seem like an extreme reaction, but if any inmates escaped on his watch, his punishment would have been death anyway. This is the state he’s in. He doesn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. He’s completely hopeless. 

Without Christ, is our position any different? We might not have drawn our swords, but we’re still stuck in our sin with no way of escaping the inevitable. Yet, just like him, we have been presented with an→ 

Opportunity for Grace. The prisoners could have escaped, but they didn’t. They stayed, and Paul cried out to this man not to kill himself. At that moment, he came face to face with God’s grace. He was a pagan jailor. How did he know what to ask? Well, he had been listening to Paul and Silas singing in their cell ☺️. But he also knew that he needed to be saved. Like this slave girl and all of us, he needed to be rescued from his hopeless condition. Paul gave him the answer he needed, and the same one we all need, as well. He didn’t say, “be better,” or “sin less,” or even “join a local church” — though that’s an instrumental part of spiritual growth, it doesn’t save you. He said this, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…”! What did that result in? His salvation and→ 

Irrevocable Joy. Talk about transformation! From hopeless to joy beyond measure! Where did this joy come from? It says it is because he believed! Now, I don’t want to gloss over this mention of his family being saved as well, because it can be taken out of context here. His family was not saved because the jailor was saved, but the jailor being saved presented them with an opportunity to hear the truth for themselves...which led to their salvation. So, this transformation impacted more than just the jailor, and that’s amazing grace. The same amazing grace we can experience when we’re freed from bondage and receive His irrevocable, never-ending joy!

TAKEAWAYS

1. Naturally, you’re in bondage. This is where we are apart from Jesus coming in and setting us free. Do you realize that today? Do you feel hopeless and stuck? → 
2. Come and be set free. He can set you free. Come to Him believing that Jesus is God who took your place— the place you deserved, Hell— and asking for Him to take over, to be your Lord, and you will be saved!
3. Experience hope and rejoice in it! For the first time or millionth, if you’re experiencing hope in this world so full of hopelessness, rejoice. You’ve been set free! Praise Him→ 
4. Then→ share with the world…and don’t forget your family! Though not a major point I made this morning, you guys know my heart, so I couldn’t neglect to mention this takeaway. Share the gospel with everyone, but don’t forget about your immediate flock— your family. The jailor was saved and his family experienced grace because they got to hear the same life-changing truth!

PONDERING... What Happens When You’re Saved? (Mark 5 Part 1)

What Happens When You’re Saved? (AM Sermon Notes)

GIST: The hopeless come face-to-face with the Savior and are completely transformed by His compassionate Grace.

SCRIPTURE: Mark 5 (Part 1)

5 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” 24 And he went with him.

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

I asked for some assistance reading this passage today to help break up the monotony of having to hear my voice for prolonged periods of time. As an afterthought, this also worked out nicely because it emphasized these individual narratives. This is a long passage, and there are three distinct accounts of Jesus’ interaction with three distinct people. Again, however, I struggled this week with whether or not to cover it together, or separate, but could not shake the powerful similarities and interconnectedness.

In the end, we’ll be spending two weeks here. Today, we’re going to look at those who “got it”, and next Sunday, Lord willing, we’ll be looking at those who didn’t.  So, without further ado, here’s today’s gist. In these passages, we have a beautiful picture of what happens when you’re saved: the hopeless come face-to-face with the Savior and are completely transformed by His compassionate Grace.

I. THE HOPELESS

Details of Desperation. We’ve already noted that Mark moves through his Gospel account at breakneck speed. Yet, these three individuals get special attention. In fact, there are only a few other passages like this in the entire book. As I studied this, these details really resonated with me because the details of their desperation point to Jesus’ individual care. This is not a blind, blanket salvation which effects people incidentally (like people getting cars from Oprah just because they happened to be the ones on her show that day...etc). This is personal and deliberate.

So, what do we see in the individual narratives of each of these people? They are all completely desperate and 100% without hope. Let’s look at them.

The Demon Possessed Man. As soon as Jesus and His disciples get out of the storm we looked at last week, they arrive on the shore and are greeted by a welcoming party…and not one we would ever wish to encounter! It’s likely still dark, as they left the other side of the sea in the evening, so that adds to the eeriness of the scene, as out of the tombs where he lives runs a man possessed by many demons. His state is terrible. It is easy to focus on the demons who possess him and miss out on the man being possessed. He’s a terrifying figure. He lives amongst the tombs because he has been driven from town. They tried to tie him up, even with chains, but due to his supernatural captivity, he’s able to break those. In Matthew’s account*, we’re told people didn’t even come to this area any more because he was so violent. Yet, though he was being used to torment others, he was even more tormented. Due to his possession, he’s been separated from his home, lives amongst dead bodies, is naked (Luke 8), bound (though unsuccessfully), and suicidal. This is a picture of complete hopelessness as we see that “Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones” (Mark 5:5).

The Incurably Sick Woman. We also saw two other people in this chapter. After going back to Capernaum, Jesus encounters an incurably sick woman in the middle of the throngs of people pressing against Him. She’s hopeless, too. For 12 years, she’s suffered from some sort of menstrual bleeding. Not only has she spent all of her money on doctors, so she’s now destitute, but nothing has helped. In fact, it says she’s suffered under these physicians. Medical care at this time often caused more harm than good. That alone is pitiable. Yet, in addition to this, the nature of her sickness would have made her ceremonially unclean under the Old Testament Law. She would have been like a leper, outcast from society...for 12 years! In fact, she shouldn’t have even been in this crowd.

The Dying Girl and Her Devastated Dad. Then the final individual we encounter is one that hit this daddy hard, a dying girl. It’s not hard to see the desperation of her condition. She’s dying. In fact, by the end of this chapter, she has died. Yet, it’s interesting that the little girl is not the emphasized individual here. It’s actually her dad, who happens to be a leader of the local synagogue (not a Pharisee, but a religious leader responsible for overseeing the workings of the local synagogue). Though we have no reason to believe he’s suffering from anything physical, there is not a single parent in the world who would want to be in his position. His baby is dying, and he’s powerless to save her. Emotionally, he’s devastated.

Each is without hope, and that is the state in which they come face-to-face with the Savior.

II. COME FACE-TO-FACE WITH THE SAVIOR

Recognition of His Power. Another common denominator in each account is that each person has a recognition of Jesus’ power which grows.

The Demon Possessed Man. The demon possessed man falls on his face, bows before Jesus. Why? These demons know exactly who He is, and they beg Him to be gentle with them and not cast them out of the region. Don’t worry, we’re going to camp out on that request a bit next Sunday night, but for now, let’s just note the cause of their request. They know exactly who Jesus is and of what He’s capable. The man himself, does not, but is about to experience it, and when he does, his life will never be the same. In fact, he then begs to go with Jesus, but is sent back to his family and friends to tell them what the Lord has done. Jesus calls himself God, so there is no doubt as to how this man was rescued and by whom.

The Incurably Sick Woman. Likewise, the sick woman is confident that touching Him will heal her, so she does. When she does, Jesus seeks her out, calls her daughter (speaking to her not as a man to a woman, but as a father to his child), and tells her it was her faith in Him that healed her, not the “magic in His clothes”. He didn’t want her faith to become superstition, so He emphasized the true source of the power--Him! His amazing, compassionate grace!

The Dead Girl and Her Devastated Dad. Similarly, Jairus seeks Jesus for healing. He was a prominent figure in Capernaum. He knew what Jesus could do because, likely, he’d seen it. When the girl is reported to be dead, Jesus then turns to Jairus and tells him not to fear, but believe. In essence, He’s saying, ‘you claimed to trust Me; don’t stop’. Jesus then goes to the dead girl, and speaks these precious words, “Talitha cumi”. Every time I’ve read these words this week, and even as I type this here, I have gotten this a pang of emotion I probably would never of felt before I had kids. The Aramaic phrase here is one that would have been used by parents to wake their child up in the morning. It’s endearing and personal. He comes and says, ‘Sweetie, it’s time to wake up’...and she does. Praise the Lord!

The hopeless came face-to-face with the only one who could save them; their only hope--and were completely transformed by His compassionate grace.

III. AND ARE COMPLETELY TRANSFORMED BY HIS COMPASSIONATE GRACE

First, let me make this quick note; each of these people were ceremonially unclean according to Old Testament Law. Not only was the man possessed by a demon, but he lived amongst dead bodies and to touch such was to be unclean...and he was running around in the nude, which was also unclean (and, honestly, unsanitary in general ☺). The woman was suffering from menstrual bleeding, which was consider a time of uncleanliness. And the little girl… was actually a dead body. This is what Jesus does when we’re saved. He takes the unclean and makes it clean. He takes us as outcasts and adopts us as children. Let’s just take a second to look at the aftereffects of Jesus’ Grace in these individuals’ lives.

The Freed Man. This man was a raging terror, and now sits “clothed and his right mind”...and becomes a powerful testimony for Christ!

The Healed and Restored Woman. This woman was outcast and suffering. Now, she’s physically healed, socially restored, and shown love by the creator of the universe.

The Living Girl and Her Comforted and Amazed Family. This dad was devastated. He was powerless to help his dying daughter. Then, while he was trying to find a way to save her...she dies. He’s not even there when this happens. I can’t even imagine the heartbreak. But Jesus comes to the dead girl, and restores her life. She’s alive. Her family? Talk about a complete transformation for them, as well! They turn in an instant from mourning to rejoicing. They’re both comforted and amazed!

When we come face-to-face with the saving power of Jesus, our lives are forever transformed!

TAKEAWAYS

1. Do you realize your desperation?

We’re just like this spiritually bound, physically hopeless, and emotionally broken. In fact, we’re dead in our trespasses(Ephesians 2:1-10), until a Word and a touch from Jesus free us and bring us life!

2. Are you coming to the only One who has the power to save you?

Jesus’ words in verse 36 to Jairus can be spoken to each of us. “Do not fear, only believe.” You cannot save yourself. HE CAN!

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

-Doxology, Thomas Ken

3. Are you being transformed by His compassion?

Oh, how He loves you. Though we are desperate, hopeless, and destined for Hell, He has poured out His Grace. Again, this is not a blanket action, but deeply personal. He sees your need. He is your need. Come to Him and be completely transformed. His Grace changes everything.

Now, go home and tell everyone what Jesus, the Lord, has done for you!

* Side Note: In Matthew’s account there are two demon possessed men mentioned. This is not a Biblical contradiction. Rather, Mark and Luke likely chose to emphasize the more prominent of the two.