Acts chapter 16. And I don't plan to be too long
this morning, but I've said that before, hadn't I? Acts chapter
16. While you're turning, let me
say this. Sometimes We just assume that certain things are understood
by all, but sometimes they need to be said. So I want to just
say this plainly. I want to say this in the hearing
of adults and children. There is nothing wrong with this
book. Everything is right about this book. It's God's Word
to us. You can never read it too much. You can never know it too well.
You can never lean on it too often. It has been food for the
souls of God's children through the ages, every generation. and nothing, nothing can take
the place of it. It seems in our generation there
has been an all-out campaign to have Christianity without
the Bible. It cannot be. To have Christianity without
taking the Bible seriously, it cannot be. To have Christianity
without believing the Bible, it cannot be. To acknowledge this Bible as
God's holy word is not an optional thing. It's necessity. It's vital. It's
our textbook. God speaks to us through it. Some think if we have enough
excitement, if we have enough charisma, If we have enough programs,
if we have enough personality, if we have enough talent, if
we have enough attraction, maybe we can make things work. No,
I've seen all that change and change and change and change
a thousand times over the last 46 years. But this, God's Word, never Never,
never changes. So in Acts the 16th chapter this
morning, I want to break into the middle of a verse, in verse
19 for a reading. They caught Paul and Silas and
drew them into the marketplace unto the elders, brought them
to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly
trouble our city. and teach customs which are not
lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. And the multitude rose up together
against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded
to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes
upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to
keep them safely, who, having received such a charge, thrust
them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight, Paul and Silas
prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard
them. 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 bands
were loosed. The keeper of the prison, awaking
out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out
his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners
had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice,
saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called
for a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down
before Paul and Silas. and brought them out and said,
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved in thy house. And they spake unto him the word
of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took
them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and
was baptized, he and all his, straightway. When he had brought
them into his house, he set meat before them and rejoiced, believing
in God with all his house. That's reading down through the
verse 34, Acts chapter 16. Now in this entire passage, even
before we started reading, there is an emphasis on prayer. Way back in verse 13, when they
came to Philippi, Paul and Silas and their company looking for
a place to worship, looking for someone to worship with. It said
on the Sabbath they went down by the riverside where prayer
was wont to be made. In other words, it was a customary
place of a prayer meeting. Then in verse 16, and it came
to pass as we went to prayer, and then in verse 25, here in
the prison, at midnight Paul and Silas prayed. Praying people will be found
praying. You say, well, they've took prayer
out of the schools, they've took prayer out of public places,
they're trying to take prayer out of this and prayer out of
that. If you're God's child, they can't take prayer out of
your heart. God's children, praying people, will be found praying
even behind prison bars. And this is where Paul and Silas
were here in prison. And not only can pray in people, pray in prison,
they can sing in prison. And that's our message this morning,
a song at midnight. A song at midnight. Verse 25,
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto
God. Now when I say a song at midnight,
I don't just mean literally as it was in this text, literally
12 o'clock at night. But the term midnight speaks
of a dark hour when the sun is not shining. It speaks of a dreadful
hour when the day is done, the day is gone, there is no more,
it's midnight. And so with that thought in mind,
many, many, many are the midnights of our life's experience. Many times in the middle of the
day is a midnight experience. All day can be a midnight experience. Many are the midnights. Times
of darkness. Times when we cannot see any
light. Times of dread. distress, defeat,
and we feel it's midnight. The day is done. There's nothing
more. In this text, Paul and Silas
had committed no crime for which they had been beaten, put in
stocks, cast into the inner prison. They were treated as dangerous
and hardened criminals. And the only thing they're guilty
of is magnifying the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse
18, back in verse 18, Paul had cast a demon out of a girl. But
Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the Spirit, I command
thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came
out the same hour. Now, the apostles could do this
and also could heal and also could raise the dead. Read the
book of Acts. These were apostolic gifts that
ended with the apostles. Now, next time you run into somebody
that claims to have the power to cast out demons, you ask them
about the other things the apostles did. Invite them over to the
hospital to empty out all the beds, see? take them out to the
cemetery to empty all the graves. No, there are no apostles today. Paul and Silas, Paul was an apostle. And his companions, Silas and
the others, they had had a measure of success earlier in this chapter,
here at Philippi, when they went to the prayer meeting we referred
to down by the riverside. And the Lord had opened hearts. He had particularly opened the
hearts of one named Lydia and others. And it said that she
and her household were baptized. So there's been some success. But upon casting out this evil
spirit from the girl, now they've been beaten and they're thrown
in prison. The tide has turned. Things have
changed. What did look pretty bright and
pretty promising now has turned to the negative. They're beaten,
thrown in prison. I want to say today's religious
elite would tell us that if these boys had been what they ought
to be, they'd have gotten an invitation to speak at the synagogue
rather than winding up in jail. But then not many people really
believe Romans 8.28, do they? And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to His purpose. The positive and the negative,
the pleasant and the unpleasant. All things work together. The daylight and the midnight. So these men are in prison because
they're supposed to be in prison. Not because they've done anything
that we can see as to why they should be thrown in prison. But
I said they're in prison because they're supposed to be in prison.
Why are they supposed to be in prison? Because God has ordained
that they be in prison, and He's going to do a work while they're
there. This is exactly what God means for them to be at this
exact time. We often refer to our situations
as circumstances beyond our control, and that they are, my friend,
Circumstances beyond our control. But I'd remind us this morning,
there are no circumstances beyond God's control. There are no circumstances
that He did not know about long before they became circumstances. He worketh all things, Ephesians
111, all things after the counsel of His own
will. Now, if you choose to believe
that things are out of God's control, that's your business.
But you've got to deny this book to do it. And so they said concerning Paul
and Silas, these fellows are trouble. Verse 20, they do exceedingly
trouble Our city. They're breaking the law. They're
teaching customs which are not lawful for us to receive. Verse
21. And it wasn't just two or three
people against them. Verse 22 says, the multitude
rose up together against them. I want to tell you that's the
story of the Lord and His people in this world. It was the case
with the Lord Jesus. It's the case with His people
in every generation. The multitude rose up together
against them. We're in a world where there's
so many opinions, there's so many ideas, so many directions. The politicians can't agree on
hardly anything. Everybody is against everybody.
I'm right and you're wrong. That's the whole idea. But hey,
when it comes to what people think of God and His Son and
His people, the multitude rolls up together against them. And so it is in this day and
hour. We're not against anything filthy, vile, unclean, but yet
society is against God. The magistrates rent off their
clothes, didn't ask them to take them off, tore off their clothes
and beat them. How humiliating, how unjust. And verse 23 says, they laid
many stripes upon them. You'd think these two, Paul and
Silas, had done something awful. But they hadn't. They hadn't. Why has it come midnight in the
prison? The lights are out. Why is it
come midnight they were not protesting? Why then were they not screaming
out and contending, we don't deserve this. You're wrong to
treat us like this. No, they never wasted their breath
with all that. That wouldn't have changed anybody's
mind. That wouldn't have gained them one ounce of sympathy. or
mercy, why bother? But rather, as we've read, come
midnight, in verse 25, they're heard praying and they're heard
singing praises unto God. A song at midnight. Whatever your situation this
morning, And I'm amused at that word situation. I was listening to a tape of
a preacher from another country and he would break that down.
He would say situation. Considering your situation. So
this morning, whatever your situation, what do you feel you deserve
to be where you are or not? You must do one of two things,
cry or sing. Not both, just one or the other. And the only way to sing praise
is to God, as these men were doing, is to quit wallowing in
self-pity, quit crying, quit saying, I don't deserve this,
I deserve better than this. No. Our Lord taught us some things,
Matthew chapter 5 verse 11. Blessed are ye when men shall
revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad
for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you. Don't cry, sing. But preacher, you don't understand.
Yeah, we understand. Don't cry, sing. John 15, 18, Jesus said, if the
world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. But life's not fair. He never
said it would be. Tribulation. Pressure from all sides is the
lot of God's children in this world. And our Lord never hid
this from his disciples. He told them, this is the way
it's going to be, boys. It's going to be tough. It's going to be
tough. Pressure. to teach us, to mold us, to conform
us in a small measure to be like
Christ himself, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, nowhere
to pill your head, nowhere to turn, no peace in this world. But Christ said these things,
I've spoken to you, that in me, You might have peace. I'm your
peace. We look for peace in the wrong
places, in the wrong ways. Peace is not to be found in having
no problems. Peace is found only in Christ
himself. John said, and he is our peace. Peace is not in perfect circumstances. Peace is in a precious Christ. Perfect peace can be when the
storm is raging in a precious Christ, a perfect
Christ. 1 John 3.13, Marvel not, my brethren,
if the world hates you. You say, well, I thought everybody
was supposed to love me. Yeah, well, they don't. John 16, 33, in the world you
shall have tribulation. You know what tribulation is? It's pressure from every side. It's having nowhere to turn. It's wondering if anybody cares. It's desperation with seemingly
no way out. Tribulation. On the Isle of Patmos,
John wrote, I'm your brother in tribulation. I don't know
what tomorrow holds. don't know. They called our Lord in Matthew 10, 25 Beelzebub. You know what that means? It means God of the manure pile. That's what this religious world
thought of the Son of God. And Jesus said, they're going
to treat you like they treated me. They're going to think of
you what they think of me. Not the publicans, not the harlots,
not the whoremongers, not the drunkards and the dopeheads.
No, they won't bother you. but the religious world, those making the grade, those
that are in a position to look down on you. Now Paul and Silas here, don't
you reckon the devil told them, you don't deserve this? God's not doing you right. That's
what he come at Eve with back in Genesis 3. God's holding out
on you. God's not doing you right. Well,
I'm sure the devil came at him. But you know what? This has happened so many times.
Paul and Silas are looking beyond the circumstances. And they start
singing. They pray! And they sing behind
bars at midnight. Let me tell you something. If
God never helps you to look beyond your circumstances and rest in
Christ, the devil will kill you. That's his goal. 2 Corinthians 4, Paul said, Therefore,
seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we
faint not. He didn't say we faint not because
we're doing such a good job. He didn't say we faint not because
we have the approval of so many. or because we've had so much
success. He said we have this ministry
God has given us. And he said we faint not. How?
Why? As we have received mercy. That is the only reason this
morning we haven't all fainted. We've received mercy. We've all
had troubles. We've all had plenty of them. We all still have some and we're
all going to have more. And we're going to have them
whether we cry or whether we sing. Why not sing? We receive mercy. Singing in your midnight, let
me tell you something now. We're going to learn this from
this story. Singing in your midnight just
might result in an earthquake. Verse 25, they sing at midnight. Verse 26, and suddenly there
was a great earthquake. You are not in any prison, neither
am I. that God cannot rattle the foundations
of it anytime He's ready and knock the doors wide open. Verse 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 bands We're loosed. You say, well, don't look like
my trouble's ever going to end. Let me give you a prescription.
Let me give you a prescription. And at midnight, Paul and Silas
prayed and sang praises unto God. You say, oh, I prayed and I prayed
and I prayed. No, that's not the prescription. It's pray, then sing. Sing praises unto God. But I just can't sing. I don't
have anything to sing about. The song is not supposed to be
about you. Read it. The prescription is, sing praises
unto God. Why? Here's why. You don't know what you're going
to do, but He knows what He's going
to do. You can't sing worried about
what you're going to do, but you can sing waiting for what
He's going to do. And He's going to do. Isaiah 40 verse 31, But they
that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. The waiting in that verse is
the anticipation of a certain outcome, a decreed outcome. It's not waiting to see if God
will do anything. It's waiting for God to do what
He's certainly going to do. They that wait upon the Lord
Believing, trusting, in anticipation that He's got things under control,
just waiting for what it is He's going to do. We get this so wrong. We say, oh well, I've done everything
I can do. I've prayed and I've cried. I'm just waiting to see
if the Lord will do something. No, He's going to do something. Don't wait to see if He'll do
something. Set your heart, mind, affections on Him and wait for
whatever it is He's going to do. Wait in anticipation. They that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength. Now, if you're not doing that,
you're going to say, oh boy, I'm at my wit's end. I just can't
wait any longer. I just can't wait any longer. Yeah! If you're
waiting on the Lord, Knowing that He's going to do what He's
going to do, you can wait a little longer. You can wait a little
longer. Wait, I say, the psalmist said, upon the Lord. What am I saying? I'm saying
this. Our God is not scratching His
head about anything. Did you know that? He's not puzzled. He's not trapped. He's not in
a crisis. He's working His purpose. Acts
15, 18, known unto God are all His works from the beginning
of the world. Since creation, God hadn't decided
anything. Did you know that? You and I run around, well, I've
got some decisions to make. God don't. Since creation, He
has not decided anything. Read it, Acts 15, 18. None unto
God are all His works from the beginning of the world. You're
not going to talk Him out of anything. You're not going to
talk Him into anything. He's God. All in the world you
and I can do is cooperate with Him. Trust Him. Believe Him. to do right, and he always does.
Okay, a sudden earthquake. I said I wasn't going to be long,
but this is sure getting better all the time. A sudden earthquake
shook the foundations of the prison. All the doors flew open,
verse 26, and every man's bands were loose. The stocks fell off
of Paul and Silas. All the feet restraints, all
the handcuffs, Everybody is loose. And the poor old jailer, he's
about to have a heart attack. Because if him prisoners gets
loose, he's in trouble. It's dark. He thinks they've
all escaped. He draws out his sword and is
about to kill himself. And even though it's dark, Paul
knows what's going on. I don't know if he could see
a little bit, or I don't know if he could hear that sword coming
out of its sheath. He knew what was about to happen. And he hollers to the jailer,
Don't do it! We're all here! Verse 29, Then
he, the jailer, called for a light, and sprang in and came trembling
It fell down before Paul and Silas. This is how God works. We don't know what all the rest
of them thought, but this man knows this is no ordinary earthquake. This has something to do with
Paul and Silas' God that they've been praying to and singing praises
to. And really, if you stay in the
context here, this beautiful statement, Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. It was not just a general
statement to everybody. It was to an individual in distress. It's to one whose heart God has
prepared and he's ready to believe. This is not a cheap peddling
of the gospel to people that spit in God's face while you're
trying to give it to them. No, this is a man God has prepared
his heart that's given this instruction. Many times in life, things have
happened that seem like Nobody else paid any attention
to it, but God would take that little thing, that little statement,
that little experience, that little incident, and rattle my bones with it,
shake my heart with it, get my attention. Many is the time I've experienced John Newton's line, It was grace
that taught my heart to fear. Things that nobody else paid
any attention to scare me to death. And grace! My fear is relieved. It's God moving into what men
call ordinary. There is no ordinary. There's
God. Talking about God just causing
you to do the right thing. The safe thing. And at the moment you could do nothing
else. I remember one occasion, I know
our time's gone, I won't throw this in. One time years ago in
the workplace, I was a young man, like Michael, a little older
than Caleb. And all the rest of y'all's way too old. But anyhow, I was a young man
about like Michael. And there was two fellas in the
workplace, friends, were going such and such a place that night.
And they urged and pleaded with me all day trying to get me to
go with them. And it was kind of tempting and it was kind of,
the prospect was a little exciting. But I knew in my heart, God just
kept pounding my heart all day. I couldn't go. Next morning, they never showed
up for work. Whedon's wife called. They were both in jail. Was I too good to be in on that?
Not at all. There was a part of me that wanted
to. No, I wasn't too good to be in on that. But God was too
good to me to let me be in on it. In all my life, I've never been
arrested. Why? My God, Have I never deserved to be? Many times. Many times. But God. Say, what have you done
that's so awful, I ain't telling you. Can I boast in myself? No. But
God. He's always been there. He's
never failed me. I really can't afford to sing
at midnight. So can you. He said, Sirs, what must I do
to be saved? They said, Oh, there's nothing
to do. You couldn't do it if it was. Just believe on this
one we're singing to. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And thou shalt be saved. He didn't say believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and you can get saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and you'll be saved. If you can believe it, it's a
done deal. Now just a moment, and I'm through,
and I'm like the old colored fella, I'm closing, and this
is my last close. He said that about a half a dozen
times, and he finally said it, and this is my last close. Suppose in the blackness of midnight, these two fellas, Paul and Silas,
beat half to death, locked in the inner prison, feet fastened
in stocks, And Paul says to Silas, brother,
I feel like under the circumstances, we should retire from the ministry. I just feel like God's leading
us that way, considering this mess we're in. That did not happen. John 16.33 was a reality to these
men. In the world you shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. I don't know what in the world
I'm going to do tomorrow. Just sing in your midnight. I don't know what the future
holds, just singing in your midnight. I don't know about my family.
I don't know about my children. I don't know about my health. I don't know about my finances. I don't know about my church. But all that you don't know,
God does know. Just sing to Him. Paul and Silas wasn't singing
for somebody to bring them a hacksaw. That's about all our song is,
isn't it? They were singing praises unto
God. They weren't singing, please,
please, somebody let us out. No, they'd been out all night.
They're behind bars, but they're out. They're not anybody's prisoners
but the Lord's, and neither am I, and neither are you. They're
singing praises unto God. What do you know this morning
about having a song at midnight. It requires not looking at the
bars, but looking beyond the bars, looking to God who can
rattle the bars, shake the foundations of the prison, and open the doors. Sing praises unto Him. Set your affection on Him, who
He is, and sing praises Not after he shakes the prison, sing before
he shakes it. Sing while it looks unshakeable. Sing in your midnight a song
at midnight. Thank you. Stand together.