The Kingdom of God- 1

Subtitle:  Introduction

Various Passages.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 16, 2025.

As we finished the book of the Acts of the Apostles, we saw how the Kingdom of God was an important theme.  The book began with Luke describing the teaching of Jesus to his disciples, after the resurrection, as “speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).  Three verses later, the disciples ask Jesus this question.  “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”  Of course, our Lord told them that it wasn’t for them to know the times and the seasons.  Rather, it was for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit and be enabled to take the Gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth.

Let me point out what Jesus didn’t say.  He didn’t say that their notion of a kingdom being restored to Israel was ludicrous or unfounded.  He didn’t lecture regarding the kingdom prophecies of the Old Testament that they were all intended to be read only symbolically, or spiritually.  Instead, he tells them that they are not supposed to worry about the timing of God’s seasons.

Of course, the book of Acts ends in chapter 28 with two more bookend-mentions of the Kingdom of God.  Paul explained and testified to the Jewish leaders of Rome concerning the Kingdom of God.  The book then ends with the statement that Paul was “preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ…”

A person may be tempted to ask the question, “What about the Gospel?”.  However, we saw in our sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount that the Gospel is essentially about the Kingdom. 

Matthew 4:23 says, “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.”  In Matthew 4:17, Jesus taught the crowds that they needed to repent because the Kingdom of heaven was at hand, or near.  This was true because Messiah the King (i.e., Jesus) was finally in Israel.  Later, Jesus rebuked the chief priest by telling them that “tax collectors and harlots are entering into the Kingdom of God before you.”

Thus, we can see that Jesus is telling them that the Kingdom and its King are at hand.  Yet, they need to enter it.  In fact, people who appeared to be disqualified from the Kingdom were finding the way to enter into the Kingdom at that time.  Of course, that way is to put your faith completely in God’s Anointed King, Jesus.  At its essence, the Kingdom is a reference to the King that administers it.  This is what the famous beatitudes of Matthew 5 emphasize.  Those who had been persecuted and were poor in spirit were told by Jesus that they were blessed because the Kingdom of heaven was theirs.  The King was there encouraging those who had ears to hear in Israel that their ability to participate in the Kingdom was not negatively affected by these things, but in fact, it seems to be in their favor! 

Matthew clearly shows Jesus as King Messiah giving his teaching (instructions) to those of Israel who wanted to be his citizens (his disciples).  The King is hear and they could enter the Kingdom!.

Let’s look at some passages.

The King/Kindom concept in the Old Testament

Psalm 29:10 pictures God seated on his throne during the flood.  The probability that the author means the flood during the time of Noah is extremely high here, in fact, hard to seriously question.  The Flood was a scary time for humans as a whole.  However, most of life throughout most of history has been difficult and scary for the average human.  Yet, the kings and kingdoms of the world are a cut above the average human.  At the Flood, kings and their kingdoms were just as powerless as the peasants who perished with them.  While the kings and kingdoms of men were washed away, never to return, God’s rule was not touched by the great destructive chaos on the earth. 

Of course, God’s heart is touched by the great destruction.  It was precisely because God cared for humanity that the Flood came.  Wickedness had filled the earth with violence.  The average experience was a boot in the face, death of loved ones, and death of self.  God was touched by the heinous violence that was playing out everyday upon the powerless by the powerful.  

Yet, God brings a remnant through the flood so that humanity is not extinguished, and His purpose for us would be obtained.

Yes, God is angry with the wicked, but His anger is not like our anger.  Human anger does not produce the righteousness of God.  However, God’s anger is pure and gracious.  It always has the redemption of humans at its core, and it is generally triggered by our treatment of one another.

The chaos of the flood, or even the chaos of those wicked kingdoms that existed before the flood, could attack or affect God on His throne.  His rule is absolute and cannot be harmed by the rebellion of the wicked.

Psalm 47:7-9 speaks of God in the terms of a great Emperor.  He is the King of all the earth (the kings of the earth).  He is King over all things.  He has always been King; He is King today; He always will be King.  The “shields of the earth” is a reference to kings and their governments.  They are supposed to be a shield to their people, but wickedness quickly infiltrates even the best of human kingdoms.  These kings and kingdoms all answer to God.  For the Christian, there is no question that God is King over all things.  By the way, He is also presented as King of the heavens as well, but that is not the place of our concern.

So, we can speak of the Kingdom of God as the simple reality that God has always been and always will be the Sovereign over all of creation.  We can call this the Universal Kingdom of God.

We may quibble over the things that are allowed to happen within His rule over the earth, but we do so because we don’t understand what He understands.  If a person finds themselves continually blaming God for all that is wrong on this planet and in their life, they need to read the Word of God and pray for understanding from the Spirit of God.  Our minds have been shaped by this world and by our flesh in a certain way of interpreting these things.  Our ability to hear what our Creator and Redeemer is trying to teach us and say to us needs His help.  It also needs us to be humble and ask for His help.  He is our loving Heavenly Father.  We will never benefit ourselves by trying to make Him the bad guy.

God is our King, but He is much more than that.  In some ways, it seems obligatory to trumpet the kingship of God and argue against anything that appears to diminish it.  However, I ask you to bear with me for a few moments.  When it comes to God’s Kingship compared to anyone on earth or even the devil, His Kingship cannot be questioned.  But, when it comes to contemplating all that God is, His Kingship is a subset, or facet, of Who He is.

If you start at the beginning of the Bible and walk through it (concordance queries will be quicker), you will go a long way before you run into the concept that God is King and that He has a kingdom.  Think about the picture in Genesis 1 and 2.  In chapter 1, God is presented as an all-powerful Creator, Artisan, Craftsman Who brings all things into existence.  Humans can create things that didn’t exist before, but we cannot do it like God does.  We merely assimilate matter that already exists and already has properties conducive to the effect we want.  God, however, is the One who made that matter and gave it the properties that it has.

Yet, God made humans to be His image-bearers on the earth.  This concept from Genesis 1 is fleshed out further in Genesis 2.  God is presented not only as Adam’s Creator, but also his Father.  He brings Adam into existence.  Men and women can do a similar thing today through procreation.  However, our method is a shadow of God’s absolute power to create a human being.  Adam is to bear the image of his Heavenly Father by giving himself to the purpose that his Father gave him, and by doing it in a matter that is like his Father.  This is why we see relationship, communication, and care happening throughout the passage.  Adam’s Heavenly Father even  obtains a bride for him.  Thus, Adam’s fathering of the children he produces with Eve is to be a reflection of God’s greater Fathering. 

There are kingly aspects to who and what a father is.  However, it would be a strange father who ran his home solely as if he were the king of it.  If he made everything become about how the kids could serve his purposes, and even treated their disobedience and defiance in the same way that a king would treat such from a rebel citizen, then that would not be a good parent.  He would essentially be a tyrannical man imaging that God is a tyrant, which isn’t true.  It would be a false image.  No, a father has a much more complex identity then to simply call him king.  God is King of all things, but He is far more than that.  He is something far grander than that.  He is our Heavenly Father.

First Corinthians 15:24 and 28 speaks of Jesus and part of his purpose.  His is going to abolish all rule, authority, and power.  The idea is clarified in verse 28.  When all things are subjected to Jesus, then he will also be subjected to the Father, Who has subjected all things under Jesus.  The rulers, powers, and authorities that are subjected to Jesus are both human beings and spiritual beings.  In the end, no one but God the Father will have rule, authority, and power.

Yet, notice the end result that is highlighted in verse 28.  The point is not about God becoming the only King, Kingdom, Rule, Authority, etc…  The point is about God taking His rightful place as the “All in all.”  The Father is our everything, which is so much more than our King.  We could even say that He is so much more than a Father.  He is our Everything.

I will point out that the word for subjected here simply means to take your proper place under one who has authority and power.  It is put in a passive form.  Thus, it points to something being done to human power, spiritual powers, and finally Jesus.  Yet, we should not see that as something that is necessarily forced.  The wicked will have their rule, authority and power forcefully taken from them.  However, the righteous and the Lord Jesus do so as volunteers, even as sons, glad to do the will of the Father at the time of His choosing.  Paul is looking far ahead into the final state of all things.  Humans will not rule and have authority over each other.  This picture is not about domination and subjugation.  In fact, it is about destroying all such warped imaging.  It is about all things being in harmony, taking their proper place, with God and not about establishing God as King over all things.

What you find in Genesis is that the use of king and kingdom is used of rebellious humanity.  Genesis 10:10 tells us that Babylon was the beginning of Nimrod’s kingdom.  His name means rebel.  Even his city building is reminiscent of Cain’s city building as he went into the land of Nod in Genesis 4.  These are not righteous men.  These are men who are trying to accomplish something in the face of God, in rebellion to God’s purpose and plan.  Kings and kingdoms arose among the wicked.  Yet, God knew that this would be.  He would use this sinful concept of power and authority in order to teach humanity a better way.

If you think about it, humans were given dominion over the earth by God.  However, there is no concept that we would have dominion over one another.  It was the sinful rebellion of humanity in league with fallen spiritual beings that created a world of “better men” harnessing the lesser men for the glory of humanity.  This realm of kings and kingdoms subjugating one another is, no doubt, at the heart of God’s description of the pre-Flood world.  “the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”  Later in the same chapter, we are told, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.”

The sinful rebellion of mankind creates a sinful warped concept of authority and power.  What should have been a godly dominion over the earth turns into an ungodly domination of one another through violence.  This was not God’s purpose.  He never designed humanity to be ruled by our betters (an aristocracy).

Before we go any further, I want to take a few moments to stop and flesh out the difference between authority and power. 

Authority refers to the right that one being has to give commands, create things, possess things, etc.  If you think of the word “authorize,” then you can begin to appreciate that authority among humans is a reference to certain rights we have.  Where do these rights, authorities, come from?  All authority comes from God.  He is the foundation of all authority.  We can know this is logically true when we ask what gave God the right, the authority, to create all that He has?  The answer is that He did.  If anything that was created has any authority, it received it from the Creator who is the ground of all authority.

If you imagine the right you have over your own body, mind, and possessions.  It is God who alone can be the foundation of that right.  Authority is a moral concept of a person’s right.

Let’s now add the concept of power.  Those who have authority (let’s say to have a child) may not have the power to do so.  A man chained in a prison may have a God-given right to marry a woman and have children, but he lacks the power to be able to do so.  On the other hand, a person may lack authority and yet, have the power to do whatever they want.  It is not too hard to come up with examples of that.  However, not all power is about that kind of force.  The serpent in the Garden used the power of persuasion, deception, lies, and temptation in order to interfere in a relationship in which he had no authority.  Powerful beings and powerful people tend to step on the authority that God has given to others.

When God rescued the people of Israel from Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, it was connected back to His promise to Abraham.  God promised that He would make a nation out of Abraham.  That nation would be His chosen vessel to bless the nations.  However, any nations that cursed Israel would be cursed by God.  When Israel comes to the promised land of Canaan, they are the invading Kingdom of God that God is using to confront the extremely wicked societies that lived there.  If those nations, people, would recognize God’s hand upon Israel and respect it, they would not have to be cursed.  Think about Rahab in Jericho.  She respected God’s close connection to Israel and chose by faith to throw her lot in with Israel.  God blessed her because of that.

Of course, the Old Testament historical books and the prophetic books present Israel as failing in its mission to bring the light of God’s justice to the nations.  Even the line of David is depicted as a fallen tent, a fallen dynasty. Yet, God promised through the prophets that He was going to raise up an Anointed Servant of God.  This servant would succeed where Israel had failed. 

The book of Isaiah is a great place to see this, although there are many examples.  Read Isaiah 42:1 and the following.  “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My Chosen one in whom My soul delights.  I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.”  This is the true purpose for which God raised up Israel in the first place.

Previously, in Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah prophesied of a special child that would be born.  This child would have titles that are incredible: Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace.  We are then told, “There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”  This special son of David would raise up the fallen tent of David and fulfill what those before  him had failed to do.  This is what Jesus is announcing when he shows up.  He is not announcing the overall truth that God has always been the King of heaven and earth.  He is announcing that the Kingdom that would be brought forth under King Messiah had arrived.  God was fulfilling His promise to the people of Israel.  It was time for them to follow that King into the Kingdom.

We are going to stop there for today.  However, I want to ask you this.  Have you put your faith completely in Jesus?  Are you living your life for Him and His purposes?  Of course, it is easy to say that we are.  However, life has a way of testing just how resolved we are.  This is why we gather on Sundays and other days.  This is why we pray together, read the Word of God together, and fellowship with other Christians.  We are being tested all the time and we are going to need more than just our own strength to continue to trust the Lord Jesus.  Don’t delay.  Press into the Kingdom of God by putting all of your trust in Jesus and the message He gave to His disciples.

KoG 1 audio

The Acts of the Apostles 85

Subtitle:  A Plot Foiled

Acts 23:23-35.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 03,  2024.

Note: There is no sermon for October 27 because we had a visiting evangelist that morning.

We are looking at Paul’s journey of being a witness for and of Jesus.  As we do so, it is good for us to contemplate and pray about our own journey of being a witness for Jesus.  We do not know all that will happen, but the Lord will be with us.

On one hand, a plot of some assassins will be foiled in this passage.  However, on another level, a plot of the Sanhedrin to have Paul executed is also being foiled.  This is not done by any one person (a Roman commander, or a Roman governor), but by the hand of God.

Yet, even with these good things happening, Paul is no longer in control of his day and his whereabouts.  He has had a lot of freedom over the last 20 years.  Now, he has been arrested, and will continue in some form of custody for something  like 4 to 5 years.

Regardless, the Lord, who led him during those decades of missionary work and helped him to establish churches throughout Anatolia and Greece, can also work mightily through this imprisonment.  During this time, Paul will write four letters that are called the “Prison Epistles,” or “Prison Letters.”  These powerfully describe the position and power of the Lord Jesus, while also calling for believers to have the joy of Christ.  Imagine being in prison and encouraging others to experience the joy that you have.  The New Testament letters are: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon.

It is easy to see only the negative of our situations.  We need the same perspective that Paul had when he said, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NKJV).

Let’s look at our passage.

Paul is taken to Caesarea (v. 23-35)

Receiving news of a plot to assassinate Paul, the Roman commander realizes that he needs to get Paul out of town, not only for his safety, but also, to keep things from getting out of hand in Jerusalem.  Already several riots have occurred around Paul.  Volatile situations have a tendency to be triggered by smaller events that don’t seem so potent at the time.  Paul may be a nobody to this Roman commander, but he isn’t going to underestimate what can happen.

The commander formulates a plan to evacuate Paul to Caesarea on the coast that night.  This is where Governor Felix was.  Now, a night march is easier to ambush, but the commander would have the element of surprise on his side.  This would buy them the time needed to get Paul to a more secure location.

The threat is known to be 40 men who have vowed not to eat until they have killed Paul.  The commander’s response is to ensure that these 40 men, and any others who may join them, will not be successful, even if they do figure out that Paul is being moved.  The commander pulls together 200 soldiers, 70 cavalry troops, and 200 spearmen.  They will leave at 9:00 o’clock that night.

The 470 soldiers will be an intimidating force to the 40 men and any others.  This almost 12 to 1 ratio ensures that Paul will be safe.

The commander also sends a letter with the group that is addressed to Governor Felix.  There are a couple of things that we can know from the letter, which Luke includes in the story.  First we find out that the commander’s name is Claudius Lysias.

It is interesting that he tells the narrative of Paul’s arrest in a way that makes him look better.  He basically writes that he rescued Paul from a riotous crowd because he found out that he was a Roman citizen.  Of course, we know that he only found out Paul’s Roman citizenship because a soldier that he had ordered to whip Paul, found out that Paul had Roman citizenship.  This soldier then warned Commander Lysias about what he was about to do.

He does accurately describe that Paul is really accused of transgressions of the Jewish religion, and not things worthy of death.  Yet, there was a plot to assassinate him, so it was best to send Paul to the governor.  The Jews would then be able to appear before Felix and make their charges against Paul.

In the end, the commander is not doing Paul any favors.  He is protecting his own backside with the governor, who will be protecting his own backside with Caesar.  Yet, God is in control of those who think they are in control.  This is one of the underlying themes throughout the book of Acts, even the whole Bible.

The mission goes as planned, and the soldiers are able to take Paul to Caesarea without incident.  The march all night and make it roughly halfway to the city of Antipatris.  Then, the horsemen take Paul on to Caesarea while the other soldiers return to the barracks.

When Paul arrives in Caesarea with 70 horsemen, the letter from Commander Lysias is presented to Governor Felix.  After reading the letter, the governor briefly questions Paul.  The question of where he is from is probably an attempt to pass this case off to someone else, like Herod Agrippa II.  We are going to see him in chapter 25.  However, Paul’s origin in Tarsus of Cilicia ensures that Governor Felix has to deal with his case.  The “problem” cropped up in his jurisdiction, Jerusalem.  The governor most likely sees this as an undesirable situation that can acerbate relations between the Jewish leaders and him.

It is clear that the governor is not interested in hearing Paul’s story.  He will hear Paul’s side of the story when his accusers show up to press their charges.  Thus, Paul is kept in the praetorium, which was a fortress-like palace built by Herod the Great and currently used by the Romans as an administrative headquarters.

It is no fun to have your life is in the hands of an authority figure.  We do not know much about Felix, except what we see in the book of Acts.  He is going to keep Paul in prison/jail for two years.  On top of this, next week we will see that he was hoping for a bribe.

This is the kind of authority figure Felix was.  He was willing to leave an innocent man in prison for the hope of money and for the trade-off of somewhat warmer relations with the elders of Jerusalem.

You and I have not been in a situation that is exactly like Paul’s, but if we focus on the basic components of this situation we can learn some things.  First, we have a bureaucrat who has power over another.  All authority is supposed to be for the service of the people as a whole, but it is very common for bureaucrats to exercise power in ways that are best for them.  When your situation is in the hands of a bureaucrat who doesn’t care about helping you, and you are unable to move forward until you get their approval, you can end up in a kind of limbo. 

These can be very frustrating times that try our patience.  It is natural to feel these things.  You may even complain excessively and devolve into outright angry tirades against them.  These things will spoil our spirit.  It is important for Christians to learn how to step into that place of God’s peace that we see Paul demonstrating here in the pages of Acts.  Your circumstances may be dire, but God hasn’t changed, and the peace that He has for you hasn’t changed.  God has peace for you, even when the world around you is going crazy.  This is why Paul could write about joy while he was sitting in a prison cell, or under house arrest.

Paul will eventually be executed by Rome for serving God, and His Anointed King Jesus.  Paul’s ability to be frustrated and angry would be far more understandable than ours.  However, have you ever noticed that your flesh doesn’t care if your life is on the line or not?  Does your flesh care that Paul had it worse and demonstrated patience?  I don’t think so.  When something, or someone, gets in our way, we become frustrated and angry.

Think about how computers are supposed to make life better, but half of the time they make things harder and chew up your time trying to get them fixed.  What about government?  It is supposed to serve the people and make life better for us, but it often does the opposite.

We can find ourselves in a harassed, frustrated and angry place.  In those moments, it doesn’t take much to trigger a response that is less than Christ-like.  If that is you, then you are human like the rest of us.  Yet, God cares, and He has a plan for us in the midst of such harassing times.  The enemy of our souls wants us to explode as an individual and as a society.  Yet, we know that this is not what Jesus wants.

May God help us to fix our minds upon Jesus.  This reminds me of a verse in Isaiah 26:3.  “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”  Let us trust in the Lord, rather than letting a person on this earth who has some authority trouble our souls.

Plot Foiled audio

The Acts of the Apostles 65

Subtitle: A Quick Release

Acts 16:35-40.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 26, 2023.

Paul and Silas were in prison when an earthquake (God) opened their doors and loosed their chains.  We then saw how they led the Philippian Jailer to believe on Jesus.  A lot of things happened that morning from midnight to daybreak: they preached to the household, they baptized the jailer and his household, and their wounds were treated.

We don’t know the exact content of their prayers earlier that evening.  However, it seems likely that they asked God for favor to be released and things on that level.

We often pray for God’s help in different matters.  Sometimes, we have our heart and sights set on a particular answer, or a particular way for it to be done.  However, God in His power has a multitude of ways by which He can help us.  We, however, are not unlimited in power.  It is hard for us to trust, to believe, that God can answer the same prayer in a 1,000 different ways.  We tend to pray specifically for one way.  If we don’t see anything in the natural realm heading in that direction, we feel like God is not answering, or saying, “No.”  It is possible that God has already done everything, and things are simply falling into place.  We can fret needlessly when we neglect to trust God and wait upon Him in peace.

Think about the cross of Jesus.  It was not what any of the righteous in society were praying for.  When it happened, they all felt that it meant he had failed.  That was all they could see.  Yet, God’s power would bring Jesus even through death into victory.  In fact, his death itself was a victory over sin itself.

This is only in regard to God’s power.  Now, think about God’s wisdom.  In His wisdom, He may choose a way that we don’t understand, or take us in a different direction than we hoped for.  When God led Israel out of Egypt, He took them through the wilderness.  Part of it was to cut down on the number of enemies that they would have to fight.  Yet, part of it was to show Israel how He could powerfully care for them and loved them.  It was to be a time of intimacy.

The test for all of us is to know that, between God’s power and wisdom, our puny minds are  not going to figure out exactly what God is going to do beforehand.  We should pray, ask for help, and then trust Him to respond in His timing and in His way.

In our story today, God had Paul and Silas released from prison in less than 24 hours.  That is a quick release, a miraculous release, and it is all because of the help of God.  However, they didn’t know that when they were praying and singing hymns to God.  May God help us to grow in our patience and learn to trust our heavenly Father.

Let’s look at our passage.

Paul and Silas are released from prison (35-40)

Though Paul and Silas are taken to the warden’s house in the middle of the night, they are technically under his charge as prisoners.  He simply is responsible for producing them whenever the magistrates summon the prisoners.

Whether they go back to the jail or not is not clear from the passage and is really irrelevant for our purposes.  In the end, word will come to let them go.

Before we get into that, I want to deal with this aspect of singing and praising God in the midst of persecution.   I imagine that several hymns, psalms, came to mind as they prayed to God.  It is clear that even David’s psalms began as prayers to God.  At some point, he crafted them into a poetic prayerful song to God.  Songs are a powerful way of ensuring that we remember milestones of spiritual wrestling with God.  Some things are worth remembering, are worth building an altar over and giving thanks to God.

Paul and Silas prayed in physical agony before God, and by the night’s end, God had answered their prayer powerfully, even having the jailer wash and tend their wounds.

At dawn, the magistrates send word to the warden that Paul and Silas are to be released and told to leave town.  We do not know exactly why they made this decision.  It is possible that they believe that Paul and Silas will leave town quickly and everything will be over.  There had been such a raging mob the previous day, that they didn’t want to have such a volatile situation.  They had already beaten the men, and so perhaps they feel this will get rid of the opportunity for more mayhem, and for their ability to control the city to be questioned by Caesar.

It is also possible that the earthquake in the middle of the night after such a strange day was interpreted by them as a bad omen.  “The gods must be angry.”  Either way, they want them to leave and never come back.

You might be wondering why God would send an earthquake when He would know that they would be released the next day.  Of course, why would he let them be beaten when He knows they are innocent?  These kind of question can never truly be answered because we are asking about what exactly God was thinking.  Good luck with solving that.  Yet, we now know that the freedom of Paul and Silas is not due to the good graces of the magistrates.  It is at the good graces of God.  The earthquake and consequent freeing of the prisoners would stand as a witness to believers that God was powerfully working in Philippi.  They could know that God was with them, no matter what happened ahead.

When Paul and Silas are told that they can leave, Paul refuses to go quietly.  We should note that he is not above sneaking out of town, which we saw in Acts 9.  There, he was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall of Damascus.

Paul doesn’t have a principle of never sneaking out of town.  There is something else going on here.  We need to listen to the Holy Spirit and seek His wisdom in moments like this.  Instead of a principle of always doing such and such, there is a real flexibility, a liberty, of the Spirit of God for what needs to happen.

Paul tells the warden that they are Roman citizens.  Why did he wait until now to bring it up?  It is possible that he was unable to do so in the pandemonium and anger of the city.  They simply wouldn’t let them speak.  There was no reason to assume that these Jews had Roman citizenship, but it would have been a wise thing to determine before beating them without trial.

Roman citizens had certain rights.  In this case, they should have been tried in a court with the ability to speak in their defense.  To punish them without trial was a grievous offense.

Paul doesn’t usually make an issue of his Roman citizenship.  Yet, he does here.  I do not believe this is an ego-driven decision.  Paul couldn’t care less about Roman citizenship.  He was more concerned about his citizenship in the kingdom of heaven.  Yet, the reputation of the Gospel of Jesus was at stake here.  And, it was clear that God was working in this situation.  God would use this abuse of rights to turn the tables on the magistrates.

It is important to understand that, though we have natural rights as humans and as citizens of the United States of America, as a citizen of heaven, we can waive them for Christ if need be.  The decision is not about my rights, but about what is helpful to the Gospel.  Paul’s Roman citizenship is subservient to his heavenly citizenship.

Men had put Paul in prison unjustly.  Of course, Paul did not want to be stuck there.  Yet, it is not up to the men who put him there, or my own rights.  It really is about God’s will.  They knew that God had more things for them to do.  And, they knew that God was making a point here in Philippi with the exorcism followed by an earthquake, and the salvation of two households in Philippi.

When word is sent back to the magistrates that they were Romans, we are told in verse 38 that “they were afraid.”  Paul could sue them, and they knew that he had them over a barrel.  They went from having their way with Paul and Silas to being afraid of what they will do.

Paul wants the magistrates to come down and release them.  This is the difference between, we magnanimously let you go and admitting fault publicly.   A quiet release and departure would allow them to play up that they had taught Paul and Silas a lesson.  An official setting of them free as Roman citizens would demonstrate the gross negligence that they had exercised the day before.

It is interesting that part of their fear has to do with what Paul and Silas will do.  Wicked people are always afraid that others will be just like them.  These guys don’t know Paul, but they are sure that they are about to be called on the carpet by the power of Caesar, if they don’t appease these guys.

Yet, notice that their fear is about the power Paul and Silas have as Roman citizens.  They are afraid of the Roman system and their own breach of its rules.  They are not, however, afraid of the God of Israel and His Messiah, Jesus.  They are not afraid of mistreating the ambassadors of Jesus, but of citizens of Rome. 

We could give them some slack since the Gospel is relatively new.  How are we doing today, twenty centuries later?  If we are to fear any power structure, it should be that of Jesus, and the God of heaven.  What is our excuse today?  I know of no country that is making its decisions based upon a fear of God and His Anointed King, Jesus.

A confrontation is always going on between the power of Jesus and the power of the world.  It is not just at the natural level with governments and human authorities, but against wickedness in the spiritual realm.  Do you know that you are a part of that confrontation, just as much as Paul and Silas were?  When you come into the life of an unbeliever, there are spirits who have invested a lot of time in trapping that person in sin.  When you speak into that, you are stirring up a spiritual hornets’ nest, poking the nest.

Though this calls for sobriety, we should not forget that the retaliation of those spirits is a poking of the Lion of Judah, who is on our side.  We are the apple of God’s eye.  And though that does not call for arrogance, it doesn’t call for fear and weakness either.  God has a plan for you to assist in plundering these spiritual powers.  It starts with your own life and then moves out from there.  He is committed to you entering into glory with Him.  May we go forth boldly with His help!

We also see here that God sometimes uses the world’s systems against the devil.  I am sure that the devil does not want Paul and Silas released.  Yet, even when he has control of the whole Roman system, we see God using it against him.  You can see why there is a push in our world to coalesce the powers and systems of this world into one system controlled by one man, or very few men.  Such a global system will be achieve if only for a few years (see Revelation 13). 

This can give us some understanding to the judgment following the Tower of Babel.  Nimrod had led the world into a rebellion against the plan and purpose of God.  The judgment came in the form of confusing their languages.  They then separated because they couldn’t understand each other.  This barrier would take time to be overcome.  By then, different cultures and different ways of thinking would be entrenched.  Though this sounds bad from a sense of powerfully “fixing” problems in this world, it really is also a grace.  Often, God’s judgments have an element of grace within them.  These barriers to “global unity” would slow down and confound the devil’s ability to do anything that he wants, even when he has all of them under his influence.

The magistrates show up and “pleaded with them,” “brought them out,” and “asked them to depart from the city.”  God doesn’t determine what men will do, but every power and authority on earth is at the mercy of God’s decision, Roman empire or not.”  If we truly believed this, we would be far more careful in our lives, and we would be far more concerned for America.  Religion without relationship is not enough.  We are either serving God and His purposes, or we are resisting and rebelling against the Spirit of God.

Paul refuses to leave without saying goodbye to the new believers.  Thus he goes to Lydia’s house and encourages the brethren (believers) there.  Added to them now is the Philippian jailer and his house hold.  On top of this, we can hold out hope that the fortune-telling slave who was freed from the pythonic spirit would join the church as well.  Perhaps, she was on the auction block that next day, and either Lydia or the jailer, could purchase her freedom and attach her to their households.  Who knows?

These three people represent very different flavors of God’s grace.  Lydia was technically a believer.  However, once Messiah Jesus had come forth, she would need to put her faith in Messiah to demonstrate her faith in Yahweh, the God of Israel.  The Philippian jailer was no doubt an idol-worshipper.   The demon possessed girl who was now free had quite a different story.  Ultimately, it is not about how amazing your testimony is.  It may be wiser for us to think of it as God’s testimony in our life.  All three of these people needed Jesus just as much.  No matter how different the story, they were all in the same boat without Jesus.

Paul and Silas would leave, but not as whipped felons with their tail between their legs.  They would walk out of that city with their heads high, and rejoicing in what God was only beginning to do in this city.  May we too march forth into our cities and into our families so that God can use us to accomplish great spiritual work for His kingdom.

A Quick Release audio

The Acts of the Apostles 64

Subtitle: Just Who is the Prisoner?

Acts 16:25-34.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 19, 2023.

Have you ever noticed that there are some people who have a lot of things, but they are never thankful?  We all wrestle with this, but some people are especially bad in this area.  They are always complaining that they don’t have that, or that they do have this, or that something happened, didn’t happen, etc.  They tend to only see what they don’t have, but even this is not their problem.

Imagine all the things that you don’t have, but that you also don’t want.  I can think of all manner of things that I do not have and I thank God that I don’t have them.  How many bad things could have happened to me today that didn’t? 

Our title today asks the question, “Just who is the prisoner?”  There are people who have very little, but some of them are the most thankful people you will ever meet.  In fact, we tend to do one of two things when we run into them.  We may be impressed, like being around them, and try to be better at it.  Or, we may be annoyed by them, and do what we can to avoid them.  I ask the question because we don’t always know who is mentally imprisoned by things.

Being a prisoner is more about your mind than it is about the external circumstances.  Richard Wurmbrand was a Christian pastor in Romania when the communists took over.  He was imprisoned for standing against the communists.  Eventually, he was released and he came to the United States of America in order to exhort American Christians to pray for the persecuted Church throughout the world.

I mention this because we are often too fixated on what we don’t have, here in the land of plenty.  People elsewhere would be thankful for even 10% of what we have.  What about freedom?  Would we remain faithful to Jesus if we lost our freedoms overnight?  Would we complain that God doesn’t love us, or that “it doesn’t work”?

Let’s look at our passage and may the Lord help us to be a thankful people.

Paul and Silas end up in a prison in Philippi (v. 26-34)

Paul had cast a demon out of a fortune-telling slave.  Her owners used their power and relation to the people of Philippi to abuse Paul and Silas by having them beaten and thrown into prison. 

We do not know exactly what time they ended up in prison in stocks, but our passage picks up at midnight.  Here, we find Paul and Silas praying and singing hymns to God.  That may seem unlikely to most.  Of course, they were badly beaten and are not able to sleep.  What else do you do in such a case?  They were having a bad day.  Still, they look to God for help, but also to praise Him.

When your day is surrendered to Jesus like theirs was even the bad things will have something good in them  It is not like God causes them to be thrown into prison.  There are plenty of bad actors who do not like them.  There are enough sinners around you to put you in prison.  We don’t need to blame that on God because He allows it to happen.

We need to stop looking at God like a micromanager who is the direct agent behind everything that happens in life.  Of course, God takes full responsibility for the universe that He has created, but that is not the same thing as being primarily responsible for sinful acts.

Bad things can come into our life because of the sin of others, and it can come into our life because of our own poor or sinful choices.  We are in a sea of sinful choices that causes difficult and troubling things.  Yet, in the midst of that, God promises to help us if we will trust him and live for Him.  In fact, sometimes it is the “bad” stuff that does the most good.  Think about Jesus on the cross.

We are also very bad at defining what is good and what is bad.  There are many things in my life that I once thought were bad, but there was a blessing in them that I couldn’t see at the time.  God has shown me over time that they were not nearly as bad as I thought, and they were a lot better than I gave them credit for.  The next time you think that you are having a bad day, then think about this. Remind yourself that you are really bad at defining things.  Maybe this day isn’t nearly as bad as I feel like it is right now.

We need to let God redeem our thinking.  If you suffer for doing the right thing (like Paul and Silas were doing), it is not because God hates you.  No, He loves you, and He wants you to keep faith through it.

They are awake at midnight because God is their only hope and their only joy.  They may be in chains, but their minds are not in chains.  Our greatest chains are the ones in our minds.  May we learn to trust Jesus and throw off such chains.

Paul and Silas couldn’t sleep so they talked with God about their situation.  When you can’t do anything, that’s a good time to pray.  There is no prison that can keep you from praying.  It can only influence you not to pray.

What are some of the chains that keep us from praying?  We can let chains of anger towards God keep us from praying.  Why is this happening to me?  Yet, imagine if God did this to us?  What if God followed His anger and demanded of us why we were doing this to Him?

We can let chains of fear bind us.  Paul and Silas could feared that their going to die in that prison and that no one who had power cared for them.  But, that is not what they did.

They could have let chains of despair drag them down.  Why is God doing this to us?  We have served Him so well, and now this!  This isn’t worth it; I quit!  I’ve done all of this work for nothing, and God doesn’t care!

One of the greatest tests for a believer is suffering in one form or another.  Suffering tests our faith far greater than anything else.  Weak faith is easily stripped down in the furnace of affliction.  What if you lost everything in your life?  Would you be able to continue serving God, loving Him, being thankful?

Yet, the Bible tells us that God is in the furnace with us.  He has promised to work all the things we are going through for a good purpose, at least if we are one of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).  Ephesians 1:11-12 says that He “works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.”

Stories about heroes always sound amazing because they are about someone else.  But, what if it was me?  We have too many examples in Scripture to doubt that God is worthy of our praise even in persecution, or to doubt that He doing something good through it.

Sin is like chains.  It starts out small and is easily broken, but over a long period of time and continued sinning, it becomes thicker and thicker.  Soon, we are at its mercy and unable to get free.  Paul and Silas were not in bondage to sin, and thus, they were able to praise God in a tough situation. 

There are also chains of fleshly desires, the chains of being praised by others, and many others.  Don’t wait until they are so strong that you can’t get free.

At midnight, we are told that an earthquake shakes the jail and the chains break free of the walls and floors.  The cell doors open and Paul and Silas are freed from the stocks.  We don’t know if the shackles broke free from their hands.  The angel did this for Peter in Acts 12.  Sometimes God answers us sooner than we think He will.

I would not venture to say that most prayers are not answered right away because there are so many prayers of our heart and spirit that we cannot keep track of them all.  Yet, at least in the area of things that seem big in our mind, we can tend to prepare ourselves to settle in for the long haul.  You may pray for years for some things, months for others, days, etc.  Of course, how many Christians in history have ended up in prison due to persecution, and yet were not set free by God that first night?  The answer is most of them.

Our hope is not in how quickly God answers our prayers, but in the fact that He always answers.  If the situation doesn’t change today, then I need to remain faithful to Him, and remain a faithful light.  Waiting on the Lord is never easy.  However, His timing is always good, and we can trust it.  Even for those who perished in a prison, God did not fail them.  At the resurrection, they will rejoice that their prayer was finally answered!

We must also be careful of seeing the earthquake itself as the answer.  It is only part of what God is doing.  How long did they contemplate what to do?  Or, did they immediately ask God what they should do?  Does God want us to run?

I believe that Paul understood that God was doing a special work that would aid the Gospel in Philippi.  So, when it came down to it, he remained in his cell waiting to see what God would do next.

The story moves to the jailer.  After the earthquake, he is sure that the prisoners will escape.  There is one rule of a warden in charge of securing prisoners.  You guard this man, these men, at the risk of your life.  The warden despairs of any hope of finding the prisoners so he draws his sword in order to take his own life.  Paul and Silas can either see him outside the dark prison, or they hear him draw his sword and figure out what is going on, or perhaps the Holy Spirit tells them what is going on.  Regardless, they stop the warden from killing himself by ensuring him that they are all still in the prison.

At this point, the warden, shocked at all that has transpired, trembles and asks what he must do to be saved.  Wow, that is a turn around. 

We need to always remember that our worst days can become our best days because of Jesus.  The last 24 hours were not on Paul and Silas’ top ten favorites of ministering for the Lord, at least not yet.  They were in excruciating pain while they prayed and sang to the Lord.

We should note that even before they were released the prisoners and the warden could hear them praying and singing.  No doubt, they had pegged these men for loony bins, but your in prison.  The content of their prayers and songs would have resonated in their minds.  Who are these strange guys?  How can they be hopeful and praiseful in a time like this, in a place like this?

Whether Paul and Silas realized it or not, they were living out a sermon that night to a whole prison full of men who needed Jesus, even the jailer.

Sometimes God lets things happen in our life because other people are watching us, and He wants us to be a witness to them.  This is a holy moment when men who have been beaten for serving Jesus cry out to him in prayer and praise.  Those men were witnessing a holy moment.

Paul and Silas tell the jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”  How did he know to ask for salvation?  Perhaps, it is from the content of their prayers and songs.  It may also be from the stories about the fortune-teller slave that was freed from a demon.  She had said they would declare the way of salvation.

Regardless, he is given the way.  We can sometimes make salvation much more complicated than it needs to be.  It all boils down to faith in Jesus.  If you keep your faith in Jesus, then everything else will be worked out.  Jesus will lead and help you.  Jesus has given this man powerful witness through Paul and Silas.  He will help him forward even when Paul and Silas are gone. 

Impact is good, but it cannot take the place of Jesus.  Thank God for people in your life who have impacted you and influenced your life for God, but in the end, keep your eyes  upon Jesus.

When they say that his whole household will be saved, it is not saying that he can believe for them.  Rather, he is in a pivotal position for the people of his household, family members and slaves.  Salvation is a personal work that impacts the world around us, starting at home.  Paul may have simply meant that his salvation would no doubt bring about the salvation of the home that he leads (i.e., the normal progression and not necessarily a guarantee).  However, he may actually be speaking prophetically.  It may be that the Lord is showing Paul that this man’s whole household will be saved.  Yet, this doesn’t change that they will each need to put their faith in Jesus, just like this jailer.

Several things happen in the dark early morning hours.  Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him and his household.  The jailer washes the stripes on their backs, which had been left unattended.  He and his family are all baptized.  Wow, what a day!

This jailer in one day went from being normal to being suicidal to being joyful.  Just who are these prisoners?  And, just who was the prisoner?  Paul and Silas didn’t act like normal prisoners because they knew that they were still free in all the ways that matter.  The served the Lord of Freedom.  Whereas, this jailer who was not in prison, was the one who really needed to be set free from the judgment that loomed over his head without Jesus.

The next time you are tempted to complain about your situation ask yourself this question.  Just who is the prisoner here?

Prisoner audio