I want you to find Acts chapter
16 again. Acts chapter 16, verse 16. Acts
16, 16. And notice, we read this phrase
often in Scripture, and often we just read over it and don't
think much about it. And it came to pass. It came to pass. Now it came
to pass on God's purpose. God's grace. He came to pass
to the glory of Christ, to the furtherance of the gospel of
God, and for the good of God's people. And it came to pass. You see, all things are working
according to God's purpose. He's working all things after
the counsel of His own will. Of Him, and through Him, and
to Him are all things to whom be glory. And it came to pass. Those things that come to pass
in our life, in our heart, what things are passing right now
in your lives, in your daily routine, these things are ordained
of God for our good and for His glory. It may be heartache, it
may be sickness, it may be trial, it may be great rejoicing, all
things are of God. All things are of God. It just
didn't happen. It wasn't an accident. It wasn't
luck or fate or chance. It came to pass. Psalm 37 says the steps of a
good man are ordered of God. They're ordered. Every step I
take, every step every believer takes are ordered of God. Ordered of God. And it came to
pass. Now notice what happens here.
Here's what God brought to pass. God brings these things in the
lives of Paul and Silas and his people. As we went to worship,
pray, as we went to a prayer meeting, this woman, this young
girl, don't know how old she was, don't know much about her
other than the fact she was possessed. She was demon possessed. with
a spirit of demonism, which was used. This young girl was abused
and used by these people who constrained her to be a fortune
teller and they did it for money, for money, for gain, for gain. Now as Paul and Silas continued
to minister the gospel in this city of Philippi, meeting with
believers, notice they had a desire to go to a prayer meeting. You
know, this church had already had a name. It was called Riverside
Grace Church. You remember Paul last week met
with the women down on the creek bank. And as he was going back
to Riverside Grace Church on the day of worship to preach
the gospel of God, this woman here, this possessed young lady,
I'd suspect that she was in her teens, just a teenage girl, just
a young girl, so weak and so frail. But as they were going
to preach the gospel, this young woman hounded them, badgered
them, and she was certainly demon-possessed. She followed them, and she cried
after them, saying, These men are servants of the Most High
God, which show us the way of salvation. Now here's a good
description of several things. A good description of the religion
of wicked men. A good description of the religion
of wicked men, telling false, fictitious, fanatical stories
to get gain, popularity, a following. And that's what these men were
after. They weren't concerned for the salvation of sinners.
They were interested in making money, getting a following, to
get much gain. And they did this by telling
stories. Doesn't that describe the religion
of men, telling false, fictitious, and fanatical stories. And this
woman here, she followed them, but notice what she says here. These men are servants of the
Most High God. Now this demon spirit that possessed
this woman recognized that these men were God sent men. You know, even the demons recognize
the Lord Jesus Christ and honor Him as God. I want you to show
you a couple of scriptures. Turn to Matthew 28. Matthew 8
verse 28. Matthew chapter 8 verse 28. You see the devils believe and
tremble. Matthew 8 verse 28. And when he was come to the other
side, into the country of the Gadarenes, is what that is, there
met him too possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding
fear, so that no man might pass that way. And behold, they cried
out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son
of God? Art thou come hither to torment
us before our time? They recognized the Lord Jesus
Christ and gave him, recognized his authority and his power.
Turn to another scripture, Mark chapter 1. Mark chapter 1, verse
21. Mark 1, 21. These be men of the
servant of the Most High God. Mark 1, 21. Mark 1, 21, and they went into
Capernaum, and straightway on the Sabbath day he entered into
the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at his
doctrine, for he taught them as one that had authority, not
as a scribe. And there was in the synagogue
a man with an unclean spirit, now just like this woman that
we're reading about here, saying, Let us alone. And the unclean
spirit cried out, Let us alone, what have we to do with thee?
Thou Jesus of Nazareth, art thou come to destroy us? I know that
who thou art, the Holy One of God. So this demon spirit and
this woman recognized God as God. These are the servants of
the Most High God. And notice what this demon said. which show us the way of salvation. Show us the way of salvation.
Show us or tell us about salvation in Christ. Now here's what God's
servants do. God's servants do show or tell
or preach the way of salvation. That's what God's servants do.
God's servants are the Most High God. They do preach Christ and
Him crucified. They do point sinners to the
Lord Jesus Christ. The way of salvation. Not a way. He's the way of salvation. He
said, I'm the way, the life, and the truth. No man comes to
the Father but by and through Me. Servants of the Most High
God do this. Hold your place there. Turn back
to Acts chapter 11. Look at verse 14. Here's what God's servants do.
Servants of the Most High God, they show or preach the way of
salvation through Christ. And they do this, Acts 11 verse
14, "...who shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy house
shall be saved." We tell you words. We preach the Word of
the Lord. Salvation by the grace of God. in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what God's servants preach. Now notice verse 18, back in
our story here. And she did this, not once, but
she did this many days. Now I don't know how many days.
She followed them, and she said this, said these things, 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, that demon spirit came out of this young woman and she was
set free. Paul was grieved by her presence,
by her action. Paul saw that she was in need
of salvation and therefore he cast out this demon spirit and
this girl received the blessing. I believe the Lord saved her.
I just flat believe the Lord saved her. God gave his apostle
authority to do this and to demonstrate that he was sent of God. I command
thee. Now how did he get that authority? This was the special authority
God gave to his twelve apostles to cast out demons and to do
these things demonstrating that they were sent of God. Now listen
to me. Those who try to imitate this
today are nothing but frauds and are themselves possessed
with a wicked, depraved spirit. Now, this goes on all the time
in religion, the religion of men. You just flip on your TV
sometime, and these clowns, they'll get a big crowd, a big gathering,
take up a bunch of money, get gang, and then they'll start
commanding this demon or that demon, the demon of cancer, the
demon of arthritis, the demon of this, the demon of that, oh,
oh, oh. It is so phony. I can't even watch it. It nauseates
me. These men are such frauds, such
charlatans. How can anybody in their right
mind even put up with such nonsense? And yet, they have a follow-up. It just shows how depraved people
really are to be taken in by that. Those who try to imitate
the apostles are frauds. Frauds. By commanding spirits
to come out. He sent us to preach the gospel
and He'll take care of demon spirits. He'll take care of those
who are possessed. Now, what's going to happen here? This girl had been healed. This girl had been like that
wild Gadarene we read about in Mark chapter 5 when the Lord
cast out that demon spirit. They saw this man was clothed
and sitting in his right mind and he was worshipping the Lord. That's what happened to this
young girl. And when these hucksters found out that their little scheme,
their little game was ended, God put an end to it, and their
money was gone, and they saw that their future hope of their
following was ended, Well, they got upset. They wrongly arrested
Paul, falsely accused him and cruelly beat him and put him
in jail. Verse 19, when her master saw that the hope of their game
was gone. Gone. They caught Paul. They just somehow, they caught
him, they tied him up, him and Silas, and drew them to the court,
drew them to the Roman magistrates, brought them to these Roman soldiers
who held the court, and they falsely accused. They said, these
men, they're Jews, and we're Romans, and they trouble us.
Now, they were liars. They were lying. It says here,
they teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive.
Now, did Paul go around preaching Jewish customs? He wasn't preaching
Jewish customs. What was he preaching? Christ?
Christ? and the Lord Jesus Christ again
and again. Not customs, but this is what
the religion of men do. They would accuse those who do
preach the gospel as troublemakers. It says over in another place
that these men, they turned the world upside down. Often, God,
you look at the story of the reformers. Martin Luther stood
against that whole large religion of Catholicism, and what did
they say of him? He's a troublemaker. That's been
true all down through history. God's true servants are often
accused of being troublemakers, when in truth, in reality, they
are simply teachers sent of God. Well, they're troublemakers,
and they teach customs. Well, what happened? The multitude
rose up against these men, and the magistrates may be being
swayed by the crowd, much like when Pilate brought forth the
Lord Jesus Christ and said, Behold your king. Well, he didn't look
like a king that day. After they got through beating
him and stripping him and putting a crown on his head, and no Jew
sat away with him, we have no king but Caesar. And maybe these
magistrates as a multitude rose up against Paul and Silas. Notice what happens here. They
strip off their clothes and commanded and commenced to beat them. Beat
them for the gospel. And then they cast them into
prison. Now as I said earlier, they weren't
beaten. And some of the commentators think here, they think they weren't
whipped, but they were beaten with rods, with sticks, or clubs. They were clubbed. And it wasn't
so many stripes. They weren't beaten according
to Jewish law, Roman law. Roman law. And a man that was
sentenced to be beaten, if he died while he was being beat,
well, no big deal. These men, apart from God's grace,
could have been beaten to death. They were beaten and mangled.
Can you imagine? Hit on the head, the back, the
legs, the arms, the ribs. No doubt they had broken bones.
No doubt they were bleeding. No doubt they were... Just imagine
the pain they were in. And then the jailer was charged
to keep them safely. And he put them in the inner
prison. He received the charge not to let these men out. Now
they probably couldn't walk. They probably drug them and had
to put them, drag them and carry them, put them in there. Probably
couldn't walk, they were so beaten. But yet he puts them in the inner
dungeon and then he puts them in stocks. Well, here's the rest
of the story. Verse 25. At midnight, Paul and
Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard
them. They worshipped and rejoiced
in the God of all grace." Why not? Why not? Believing God, they were full
of joy. You see, they believed God. Paul
later wrote this, "...in everything give thanks." Rejoice evermore
in everything give thanks. This is the will of God Concerning
you believe in God they were full of joy They knew that this
was an accident They they counted it an honor to suffer shame and
beating for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ The believers joy
is the joy of faith in the Lord not joy of Circumstances they
were in bad circumstances It couldn't have gotten much worse
but yet they found reason to rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a good lesson for us.
When circumstances seem so bleak. Have you ever been just to the
point of despair? I mean just despair. Circumstances
just seem to be out of control. Our faith And joy is not based
upon circumstance or feeling. We look to Christ. Rejoice in
the Lord always, Paul said to the Philippians when he writes
to them. And again I say, now consider who he is writing there.
Philippians 4 verse 4, he's writing to the Philippians, rejoice always. They knew what happened to Paul. They knew it by first-hand experience.
They saw what happened to this man. Shame for the intruders,
he says at Philippi. And yet he writes to them in
that letter over and over again. The key word and the theme of
that letter to the Philippians is what? Rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice in him. This is what
Paul's doing. You see, he believes God. God
help us to do so when our circumstances are bleak and things look like
they're going just opposite the way that we think they ought
to go. Rejoice in the Lord. Find our joy and comfort in Him.
Well, as they prayed and as they sang praises unto God, their
heart was full of worship. The prisoners heard them. There
were others in there. And suddenly God answered, verse
26, God answered with an earthquake. So much so, it was a great earthquake. I rejoice that God, who is God,
can shake this earth. Have you ever been in an earthquake?
I have. It's kind of a frightening thing.
When I was just a little boy, nine or ten years old, where
I grew up, out in northern Utah, I lived on the Wasatch Front.
And on that Wasatch front there is what is called a Wasatch Fault. Some of you have been watching
this mine rescue going on in Utah and they are mining in a
fault line. The ground moves out there. And
one morning when I was about your age, Ethan, I woke up in
bed one school morning and my bed was just shaking back and
forth. And I thought my dad was shaking my bed to wake me up. And I woke up and there was nobody
there. And my bed was rocking and shaking
and oh, I tell you, I was terrified. God sent a great earthquake and
these men were terrified. And suddenly there was a great
earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And
immediately the doors sprung open. And everyone's bands were
loosed. And the keeper of the prison,
waking out of sleep, shook him up. Seeing the doors open, he
would take his own life, drew out his sword, and would have
killed himself supposing that the prisoners had fled. Remarkable
providential intervention of God. God who is God alone can
shake us to our foundation and set us free. And often times,
that's exactly what the Lord has to do. He has to send a great
earthquake It may be this trial, that trial, this heartache, that
heartache, and He sends a great earthquake in our life to shake
our foundation to cause us to look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, it got this jailer's attention. It woke him up. Woke him up and
put holy fear in him. Notice verse 28. Then Paul, this
man standing there and about to take his life, Paul called
out and cried unto him, Don't hurt yourself. We have not escaped. You see, God awoke this jailer
up and put a holy fear in him. And this is what the Lord must
do for sinners who are dead, asleep in sin, and unconcerned
about salvation. God must wake us up. If God doesn't
send an earthquake of the gospel, the power of God and salvation,
we'll sleep right on, unconcerned about salvation. Well, I like
what Paul said here in verse 28, don't hurt yourself. He had
a concern for this man. We ought to have a concern for
those who are going on unconcerned about sin, about salvation. Don't hurt yourself. We're all
here. And then this man, he called
for a light, and he came in to the dungeon, and he came in trembling,
and fell down before Paul and Silas." What a remarkable thing
this is. Almighty God whittled this man,
this proud, arrogant Roman, you can imagine, How boastful he
was of the authority. You're in my prison. You're not
getting out of here. I've got authority over you.
And here he comes, whipped like a little pup. Whittled down by
God Almighty. Begging. Fell down before Paul
and Silas as a mercy beggar. And said, verse 30, Silas brought them out, this
man brought them out, and he said, Sirs, what must I do to
be saved? There is no person so hardened
by sin that God cannot overcome. Is there any nut too hard for
the Lord to crack? Any sinner too hardened? This
man would harden. I mean, he would harden. But
there's no sinner too hard that God can't crack his heart with
the earthquake of the gospel. And this man asked a good question,
what must I do? What must I do to be saved? Once this man despised Paul and
Silas, now he wants their instruction. What a remarkable thing. Perhaps
he heard, this jailer heard of the message this demon possessed
woman broadcast all through the town. These men show us the way
of salvation. When God revealed to him that
he was lost and he needed salvation, God revealed to him that these
men had the answer. What must I do to be saved? Now, listen to me here. Thinking
he must do some work. Notice he says, what must I do?
Thinking he must do some work, perform some ceremony, keep some
law, he asks, what I must do? You know, most people think salvation
is based upon what I do. Notice what Paul says. Paul didn't
tell him anything to do. He declared this, verse 31. He
says, Verse 31. It's not due. He corrected him. What must I
do? Paul corrects him, but he does
it gently. He said, Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. It's not what you must
do. Salvation is already done. It's done. Salvation is done. The Lord Jesus Christ said, It
is finished. There's nothing for me to do.
Salvation is not received by doing. Salvation is received
by believing God. And that's the gift of grace.
It is who you must believe. Salvation, Christ, is received
by believing on Him. Turn back just a couple pages.
Acts 13. Look over here. Acts 13, verse
39. Acts 13, 39. And by Him, all that... What's
that word there? By Him, all that walk an aisle,
pray through. By Him, all that make a decision. By Him, all that are baptized. By Him, all that join the church.
That's not what that says. What does it say there? By Him,
all that believe are justified from all things. which you cannot
be justified by works." Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith
alone is God's method to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. Why does
God choose faith alone? Because it gives Him all the
glory. It shuts out all creature merit. That's right. Salvation
is received by believing. Let me show you a scripture here
that will help us on this. I want you to find Romans chapter
4. Faith alone is God's method to
receive the Lord Jesus Christ. How do we receive Christ? By
faith. He is salvation. Now notice this. Abraham believed God, Romans
4. Now look at verse 13. For the promise that he should
be the heir of the world, Romans 4, 13, was not to Abraham or
to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness
of faith. You see, saving faith has an
object. Saving faith looks to what? Who? Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. This is the righteousness of
faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is
made void, and the promise of none effect. Because the law
worketh wrath. Where there is no law, there
would be no sin, no transgression. Look at verse 16. Therefore it
is of faith, salvation, righteousness, justification is by faith, that
it might be by grace to the end for this purpose the promise
might be sure to all God's seed. Not only the Jew, but also the
Gentile. But to that which is of the faith
of Abraham, who is the father of us all. Abraham was strong
in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded what God
had promised, God is able to perform. Saving faith, as it
says in Romans 4.20, was strong in faith, giving glory to God.
Saving faith honors God by believing God. Now think with me. If you tell me something, and
I believe you, You know, I honor you by believing you. Saving
faith honors God by believing what He says. It is true. His Word is true. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now, I want you
to follow me in this. Turn to John chapter 3. You know,
this is the message of Scripture. Believe on Christ. Trust Him. John chapter 3. Let's see if
I can make good on this. John chapter 3, verse 35. The Father loveth the Son, giving
all things into His hand. All things are in His hand now. All things in salvation are in
His hand. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. I'd say faith is pretty important,
wouldn't you? I know faith is not born of this
flesh. Faith is a gift of God. And that's how God determined
for us to receive Him. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall never see life. The wrath of God. The wrath of
God abides on the unbeliever. Now turn to Romans 5.24. Notice
this. What did Paul say to the jailer?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Romans...
John chapter 5. Verse 24, John 5, 24, Verily,
verily, which means truly, truly, I say unto you, He that heareth
my word, and believeth on him that sent me has everlasting
life, shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death to life. John 6, turn over there. Look at verse 40, John 6, verse
40, And this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone would
see it, the Son, and believeth on Him. Well, preacher, what
must I do? Lay your deadly doing down. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on Him. Whosoever believeth
on Him may have everlasting life. I'll raise him up at the last
day. John 6, verse 47, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that
believeth on me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life.
Turn to John 11. John chapter 11. John chapter 11, verse 25. I am the resurrection and the
life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall
he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never
die. Do you believe this? I believe Him. I believe Him. Now look back at the story. This
man heard the gospel, this jailer, notice verse 32, Acts 16, 32. And they spake unto him the word
of the Lord. They preached to him the gospel
showing salvation in Christ Jesus, not only to him, but to all his
house, all that would hear. And God saved this man by grace,
through faith. Look what it says, and he took
in the same hour of the night, and this man, this old jailer,
washed their body, mended their wounds, washed their stripes,
and he confessed Christ in believer's baptism. Now, was he baptized
to be saved? Nope. He was baptized because
he believed God. Baptisms for believers. He and
all his house. All his. Right away. Some think there was a pool in
that prison. And they went in that pool and
all confessed Christ in believer's baptism. Is baptism essential to salvation? Nope. Is it essential to obedience? Absolutely. Verse 34, And when
he brought him into his house, he set meat, he prepared dinner
for them, he rejoiced, believing in God. God saved this jailer. Just like He saved Lydia, He
opened his heart. Just like He saved this young
girl, demon-possessed. And here's the beginnings of
this church in Philippi. Notice what it says in verse
34. He said, "...meet before them, rejoice, believing God
with all His house." With all His house. A glorious, glorious
conversion by the grace of God. with all his house. May God grant
it to be so today. Today. May God give us and you
and all of us here faith to believe the Lord Jesus Christ. Who believes
in Him, trusts Him. That man's already been saved
by God's grace. Well, I pray the Lord will bless
that to your heart.