Well, good morning everyone. Great to connect with you again this morning and thank you so much
to Jackie and to Jolene. You have basically got the whole message for this morning and just put
in a snapshot for me, which is just brilliant, but it'll be great just to dive a little bit
deeper into Acts 16 and what the implications might mean for us. It was about three decades
ago now. I was sitting in the church office in a country church when I responded to a knock at the
door. I opened the door and there standing before me was a man who was intoxicated. He was in fact
quite messed up. He slept the night down by the river. His face was covered in dry blood from a
fight that he had had through the course of the evening with others sleeping down there.
And he knocked on the door because he wanted a sandwich and a cup of tea. I sat down, I got
to the food and I sat down beside him while he ate his sandwich and he drank his tea and we talked
and he recalled how his life was a mess up from all sorts of different reasons, but he wasn't looking
to change. He wasn't looking really for a conversation. He just wanted the food and to be gone.
His life was a mess, but he was on one level content with where it was at that point.
Now, as I talk with him, I had this thought in my mind that even to this day that I'm ashamed of,
and that is the thought that I cannot imagine this man being in church. The thought that if I started to
speak to him about a greater hope right now in Jesus Christ, he just wouldn't get it. He wouldn't
understand it. I just thought this man was not the Christian type. I'm ashamed to say. My sinful
prejudices were in full swing on that day and in that moment. So what do you think the Christian type is?
What sort of people are Christians in your mind? What sort of people get drawn into the Christian faith?
Well, we're up to Acts chapter 16, as you have just heard, and we see here in this chapter that in fact
God's mercy is for all people. That is, there is no Christian type. So get your Bibles, open up to Acts 16,
the St. Paul's app if you've got it. Open that up. You'll see I've got some points there to get
through. It's Acts 16, and we're ready to go. So first of all, God's mercy is to three people in Acts 16.
The first person we're introduced to is Lydia in verses 11 to 15. There are a few things that we know
about Lydia straight up. She is from the city of Thyatira, which was part of Asia Minor in those
days, and we know that she's a businesswoman. She is a dealer in purple cloth. Now, cloth, which was
dyed purple and then from there turned into clothes and other items, was very expensive. The whole process
was very, very detailed. It was expensive cloth, and it was really only the wealthy people, the rich
people who could afford it. Purple cloth was therefore in their culture a sign of wealth. You wear
something purple, you are a wealthy individual. It's the sort of thing that the royalty bought and the
the elite in society purchased. Lydia, therefore, is a person who sold beautiful clothes to beautifully
rich people. Lydia is the equivalent, if you like, in our day of the owner of a chain of high-end
boutiques in ritzy suburbs of cities. She was also, we are told here, a worship of God. Now, that's a
technical term in the New Testament, which means that she is a God-fearer. Now, these God-fearers were
Gentiles who had left behind their other religious practices and their paganism, and they started
reading the Jewish Bible, the Old Testament, and starting to seek the Bible, the God of the Old
Testament. And so Lydia is, therefore, an admirable person, a decent person, a pious, and a successful
person. So how does God's mercy come to her? Have a look at verse 13 with me.
On the Sabbath, we went outside the city gates to the river where we expected to find a place of
prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. So the setting here
is a low-key discussion. It's not a church service. Paul is not preaching, but the key is at the end of
verse 14. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. Now, the word respond there means
she is attracted to. The Lord opened her heart to be attracted to Paul's message. Lydia, that is,
didn't just believe. She didn't have an intellectual assent to what Paul said, but she found what Paul said
to be wonderful, to be beautiful. We also know broadly the content of what Paul was saying to
this group of women, because back in verse 10, Luke tells us what their task was. After Paul had seen the
vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the
gospel to them. So what Lydia was attracted to is the core, the central message of the Christian faith.
The gospel, the good news is that Jesus Christ, the eternal son of God, came into the world that he had
made, died for our sins and turned God's judgment away from us. But this Jesus rose again on the third
day, eternally triumphant over evil, so that there is now no condemnation for those who put their trust
in him, but only the prospect of everlasting eternal joy in his presence. And so Lydia wasn't just
convinced that that message was true, but she saw it as beautiful. She was attracted to it. It was
wonderful to her. Jesus, in fact, it was wonderful to her. God had opened her heart in such a way that Jesus
looked magnificent. This is a woman whose business was beauty. She sold beautiful clothes to beautiful people,
beautiful people, and she had never seen a beauty like this before. Jesus, Jesus was magnificent.
Jesus gave her life, and she gave her life to Jesus.
And then we move into verse 16, and we see another recipient of God's mercy. It's verse 16.
Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl, a female slave, who had a
spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune
telling. Now, we know a lot about this person. Firstly, she is young. It says female slave, but the word
used in the original language means that she is young, a young slave. She's a girl is who she is. She's a kid.
Her parents must have sold her. She's been rejected by her family. She's enslaved and oppressed
and economically exploited by her owners. But she's also enslaved with inner demons too.
We know from the original language that she had what was called the spirit of the python.
Now, that doesn't mean much to us, but the ancient reader knew exactly what that meant.
It means that this girl belonged to a group of people that were odd, very odd.
They spoke loudly. They acted weirdly. They cried out. They shrieked. They spoke in different voices.
This young girl would all of a sudden speak with a voice of a mature man. They were very troubled,
very broken people, and they were isolating society. And yet, on so many occasions, what they predicted
about the future actually came true. And so people were, at the same time, intrigued by them.
And so if Lydia is an owner of a high-end boutique for the rich, this girl is a drunk, addicted prostitute,
exploited by her pimps, living in a seedy suburb of the city, but also able to predict the future.
Repulsive, and yet in some level, we're attracted to her.
How did God's mercy come to her? Verse 17.
She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting,
These men are servants of the Most High God who are telling you the way to be saved.
And she kept this up for many days.
Now notice that she knows exactly who Paul and his team were,
and nobody else knows who Paul and the team are.
She knew who they were and that they were coming to tell them the gospel.
She knew that they were coming to tell them the way to be saved.
She was impeccably accurate, even though the source of that accuracy was, in fact, evil.
And then we read this in verse 18.
Finally, Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the Spirit,
Now, the Apostle Paul here looks really impatient and really unloving with this girl.
That's because he is.
That is, you know, he's not Jesus after all.
We know that.
But it also shows us that this little encounter is not a made-up encounter.
This is not the way that you would write a legend.
You would write it this way.
If it was a legend, you'd say,
Paul, deeply moved by compassion,
turned and looked on the girl with mercy,
and said,
You poor, troubled soul.
But that's how you'd write legend.
But that's not what's happening here.
Paul got irritated.
He was fed up.
And he said,
In the name of Jesus Christ,
I command you to come out of her.
And at that moment,
the Spirit left her.
So Lydia gets a Bible study down by the river.
This girl gets a power encounter.
Lydia needed to see that Jesus is more beautiful and magnificent and fulfilling
than her money and her purple clothes.
This girl needs a new master.
She needs a new lord.
A new boss over her life.
And she gets that.
The third person we encounter here
is a Roman jailer.
Now this person comes on the scene
because the owners of the slave girl
are pretty ticked off
by the income loss
that Paul has now
inflicted upon them
by healing the slave girl.
Paul and Silas
are handed over to local magistrates
who order them to be beaten
without a trial.
And then in verse 23,
we read this.
They were thrown into prison
and the jailer was commanded
to guard them carefully.
When he received these orders,
he put them in the inner cell
and fastened their feet to the stocks.
So what do we know about him?
The first thing we know
is that he's a jailer.
And that means that he is most likely
an ex-Roman soldier.
When the ranking soldiers retired,
they generally moved
into civil service roles.
He was what we would call
in our society
nowadays working class.
His home is comfortable,
but his home is,
how do I put this,
a long way from the harbour.
We can also see
that he was a brutal guy.
Verse 23,
he is commanded
by the magistrates
to guard Paul and Silas carefully.
In verse 24,
he says,
he put them in the inner cell
and fastened their feet
to the stocks.
That is,
he didn't wash their wounds,
he didn't bandage them up,
he didn't do anything
that you would consider
carefully looking after them.
He didn't do anything for them.
He was asked
to watch them closely.
Instead,
he put them
into the deepest dungeon,
away from the light,
away from the air.
And he also puts them
in the stocks.
The stocks,
spread your limbs out
past what was considered normal.
It induced
incredibly painful
muscle cramps.
It was unnecessarily cruel.
It was a form of torture.
This is a guy
who Paul
just frankly
could not sit down with
like he did with Lydia
and talk with
about the gospel.
He had to show
the good news
of Jesus Christ
in his life.
And so this jailer
notices two things
in the lives
of Paul and Silas.
He sees
in the face
of suffering
a peace
and a joy
and in the face
of cruelty
a kindness
and a forgiveness.
Verse 25.
About midnight,
Paul and Silas
were praying
and singing hymns
to God
and the other prisoners
were listening to them.
They were listening.
The word actually means
they were fascinated,
amazed by Paul and Silas.
Now this is a culture
where if you are in grief,
you wail.
If you are angry,
you curse.
That is,
you express
the inner emotions
in very verbal,
verbose ways.
And here we have
Paul and Silas
expressing peace
and joy
in quite tangible ways.
They were singing
praises to God
rather than cursing.
And the jailer
would have either
heard it,
he certainly
would have experienced it.
The joy
and the peace.
But the jailer
also experienced
a kindness
and a forgiveness.
Have a look
in verse 26.
Suddenly there was
such a violent earthquake
that the foundations
of the prison
were shaken.
At once all
the prison doors
flew open
and everyone's
chains came loose.
The jailer
woke up
and when he saw
the prison doors
open,
he drew his sword
and was about
to kill himself
because he thought
the prisoners
had escaped.
This jailer
was not going to
wait for his own
execution for failing
to secure the prisoners.
And in that moment
as he draws his sword
Paul calls out
don't harm
yourself.
We are all here.
So not only
does Paul and Silas
not leave themselves
but somehow
they managed
to keep the other
prisoners
with them as well.
They had an opportunity
in this moment
to pay back
for the treatment
that they had received.
they didn't take it.
And in that split
second moment
it moved
this jailer.
Verse 29
the jailer
called for lights
he rushed in
and he felt
trembling
before Paul
and Silas.
Not the other prisoners
he knew it was
Paul and Silas
these are the guys
here
these are the guys
who are different.
He says
sirs
what must I do
to be saved?
they overcame
evil
with good
they overcame
mercilessness
with mercy
with unkindness
with kindness
they forgave him
and he
was
amazed
they saved
his
life
and now
he wants
his life
to be truly
saved.
He knows
that Paul
and Silas
have something
that he does not have.
It's got to do
with their God.
They have a power
in their lives
that produces
peace
and joy
and kindness
and forgiveness.
He doesn't have it
doesn't have any of it
and he wants it.
What must
I do
to be saved?
He wants
a relationship
with the God
that they've been
praying and singing
praises to
but notice the question
what
must
I
do
to be
saved?
He assumes
that he needs
to do something
here.
Paul's answer
is very simple
in verse 31
believe
in the Lord
Jesus
and you'll
be saved.
Believe
in what
Jesus
has already
done
for you
and you
will be
saved.
Once again
Paul has
demonstrated
the gospel
to this jailer.
that's what
he's done
all the way
through here.
He has
demonstrated
the core
message of
Christianity.
Now did you
notice that
little incident
in verses
35 to
39?
Paul is
released
but he
doesn't go
quietly.
It's very
odd.
It was
against the
law
to throw
a Roman
citizen
into prison
without a
trial
and Paul
is a
Roman
citizen
and he
has not
had a
fair
trial.
So now
these
magistrates
are running
scared.
Their
livelihood
and even
their lives
are on
the line
here.
So you've
got to ask
yourself the
question
why did
Paul
not speak
up before
he was
thrown
into prison?
When the
magistrates
were standing
there and
they're getting
beaten,
why did
they not
just put
their hand
up and
say hey
guys Roman
citizen,
you know,
against the
law.
Why did
he raise
that issue
afterwards
and not
before?
One
reason is
he's
identifying
with the
church in
Philippi who
will not
have the
same
privileges
that he
has got
and will
suffer the
same way
he was
suffering
now.
But more
importantly
the main
reason is
that this
jailer needs
him to go
to prison.
This jailer
needs him to
go to prison
so that he
could be
saved because
the jailer
is not
free.
Paul needed
to surrender
his physical
freedom so
that this
jailer might
know true
salvation and
freedom.
Paul gave
up his
freedom so
that the
one who
thought that
he was
free
could in
fact be
truly
free.
Paul and
Silas were
in stocks
in the
dungeon but
they were
singing.
That is
their
incarceration
and their
suffering
could not
take touch.
It could
not take
away the
freedom and
the joy that
they already
had in
Jesus.
The reason
why Paul
was happy
to go into
prison because
he was
already free.
The jailer
had the
keys to
the chains
but he
was not
free.
he needed
rescuing.
He needed
to be
saved.
And it
was only
because Paul
kept his
mouth shut,
surrendered
his body
to the
magistrates,
then to
the crowd
and finally
to the
prison that
this jailer
found true
freedom.
Only then
and in
that sense
the
apostle Paul
was walking
in the
footsteps of
his
savior Jesus
Christ.
Jesus
was beaten
so that we
could be
healed.
Jesus
was put on
trial so
that we
could be
free from
condemnation.
Jesus
was restrained
by nails
to a
cross so
that we
might find
liberation
from death.
He was
executed for
our sin
so that we
would be
set free
from sin
and death.
He chose
not to
speak up.
He chose
not to
call down
legions of
angels.
He chose
not to
plead his
cause.
As a
lamb is
silent, so
was Jesus
Christ in
front of his
accusers.
And he
chose it
for us.
And we
see
this is
the immediate
impact
on this
jailer.
Belief in
Jesus
transforms
this jailer.
Firstly, we
see upon
release coming
out of the
prison, he
showed
compassion and
care and he
washed their
wounds.
Secondly, he's
baptized as a
public declaration
that he is now
lined with the
Christian faith and
the Christian
community.
Christianity is
both personal
but it's
never private.
It is
personal but it's
never private.
And thirdly, he
got what Paul and
Silas had.
You see it
there?
He was filled
with joy
because he had
come to believe
in God.
He is now
finally free.
God's
mercy is
in fact for
all people.
They are a
snapshot if you
like to show how
very different
people come to
put their faith in
Jesus Christ.
Three very
different people.
One was from
Asia, one was
a Greek, one
was a Roman.
Economically, they
are upper class,
middle class and
low class.
One was
spiritually open,
one was
spiritually hostile
and one was
indifferent.
One was
logical and
gentle, one
was apathetic and
brutal and one
was troubled and
oppressed.
The good news of
Jesus Christ is
for everyone and
everyone needs the
good news of
Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is
for you.
There is no
such thing as a
Christian type.
The gospel can and
has changed anyone
from the morally
respectable religious
person through to the
serial killer, from
advanced cities to
jungles, from palaces to
refugee camps.
How has it done
that?
Because it's true.
true.
The gospel is true for
everyone.
We live in a culture
that says, well, if it's
true for you, then it's
true for you.
But Christianity doesn't
do anything with you.
It doesn't help you in
any way.
Unless what Jesus says
about himself, his
perfect life, his death
for our sin, his
resurrection and reign
over all things is
actually true.
If it's not true, it
is powerless to bring
transformation and
change.
Powerless to set you
free.
If it's not true, it
doesn't work.
But if it is true, it
works for everyone.
There is no religion in
the world as culturally
diverse as Christianity
because it's true.
Every world religion has
the majority of its
people in one or two
continents.
Except for Christianity.
Approximately 20% of
Christians are in
Africa.
Another 20% in Latin
America.
Nearly 20% in Asia.
A little more than 20%
in Europe.
And a little less than
20% in North America.
That's spread and
impact across all kinds
of different areas and
cultures and people
groups.
No other religion is
even close to being that
well distributed.
Because it is true for
all people.
There is no Christian
type.
There is no greater
unifying power on the
face of the earth than
the good news of Jesus
Christ.
It brings diverse groups
of people together.
I love the last verse of
this section.
After Paul and Silas came
out of the prison, they
went to Lydia's house where
they met with the
brothers and sisters and
encouraged them.
This is the new Christian
church of Philippi.
It is all those who have
believed in Jesus Christ.
Who are they?
At the very least we know in
this new church is Lydia.
It's in her house.
Lydia, the slave girl and
the jailer.
worshipping Jesus side by
side as new description
brothers and sisters in
Christ.
Friends, how much clearer does
the Bible need to be that
heritage, social class,
gender means nothing?
Nothing.
None of it's a hindrance or a
barrier to Jesus.
There is no Christian type.
And so for the Christians
tuning in, listen to me right
now.
God can and does work in the
most unlikely individual.
Just like me.
Just like you.
It's what I'd forgotten.
All those years ago sitting
on that front step of the
house with that intoxicated
man that that was me
spiritually.
I'd forgotten that.
But if you're not a
Christian yet, this all
simply means that God's
mercy is for you.
The good use of Jesus
Christ is for you.
I don't know,
I may not know you
personally.
You may have just tuned in.
But I do know that you
are the Christian type.
The gospel can change
anyone.
Jesus was beautiful enough
for Lydia, powerful enough
for the slave girl, and
liberating enough for the
jailer.
He's got what you'd need
right now too.
There is no Christian type
and who knows what you'll
become when you see Jesus
as beautiful, powerful, and
liberating for you and your
life.
Amen.