This month’s Sunday morning message series is titled “Purpose and Power.” We continue to focus on the subject of the SPIRIT-filled life.
We see great evidence of the SPIRIT-filled life in Acts 16: 16-40. In this text, Paul and Silas were “seized” and “dragged” to the authorities, and they were falsely accused of “exceedingly troubling our city.” As a result, they “had laid many stripes on them,” and they were thrown into prison.
Verse 25 states “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to GOD.” How could they, since they were savagely and unjustly beaten earlier in the day? The answer? They were filled with the SPIRIT. They experienced the supernatural enduement of GOD’s power in their lives. Through their intense pain, they could praise GOD because they were filled with the HOLY SPIRIT.
Because they were filled with the SPIRIT, they refused to escape from prison when a great earthquake shook the foundations of the prison, and “all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chain were loosed.” Why did they not seek to escape. If they did, the keeper of the prison would be executed for allowing prisoners to escape. As a result, the Philippian jailor was going to commit suicide rather than face public humiliation.
Paul and Silas, filled with the SPIRIT, stayed. “We are all here,” they declared the Philippian jailor. In other words, Paul and Silas were more concerned about the soul of the jailor than their own personal safety.
As a result, the Philippian jailor, who noticed a dramatic difference in Paul and Silas’s lives, “ran in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Through their adversity, Paul and Silas continued to experience the filling of the HOLY SPIRIT. As a result, their personal witness was powerful. They gained an audience of one.
Filled with the HOLY SPIRIT, Paul and Silas witnessed to the Philippian jailor. They said, “Believe on the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and you will be saved, you and your household.” In verse 32, GOD’s Word says, “Then they spoke the Word of the LORD to him and to all who were in his house.”
As a result of the witness of these two SPIRIT-filled men, Paul and Silas, the Philippian jailor and his family were all saved. Verse 33 says, “And immediately he and all his family were baptized.”
This story of the Philippian jailor in Acts 16 reminds us of the significance of being filled with the SPIRIT. When we are surrendered to JESUS and we are filled with GOD’s SPIRIT, we can experience victory over any and all adversity, and at the same time be a powerful witness for JESUS CHRIST.
Pastor Mike