“Around midnight Paul and Silas
were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and
the prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25).
It was a prayer and praise service going on
in a Roman prison! The other
prisoners were attentively listening to every word.
The effect of true Christianity
is still the same since the first century A.D.
These men “have turned the world upside
down.” They were guilty of
preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts
16:16-23). Those were the charges against them.
The world is still upside down.
It is self-centered, and it eyes the God-centered
person as eccentric. “These men have turned the
world upside down are come here.”
That is how the riot got started.
“The world is down-side up,”
said G. C. Morgan, “and therefore, the men who are
turning it right side up; and consequently, the men
who are living in the world will think they are
turning it upside down.”
That is always the case when
the true gospel of Jesus Christ clashes with the
cultures of the world.
Paul and Silas had no idea an
earthquake was coming that night. They weren’t
singing because they were going to be set free. They
were singing because prison didn’t really matter.
They were prisoners of Jesus Christ, and that was
all that mattered. Paul was in and out of prison on
many occasions for sharing Christ.
They were praying and singing
hymns. The opportunity would come in time for the
preaching (v.32). Preaching came
after the earthquake. God opened
the door because He had His chosen people ready to
serve Him.
They were singing from their
hearts. The two of them were gathered in the name of
Jesus, and He was there in their presence.
They were worshipping God!
The most significant thing for Paul and Silas was
the presence of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
“Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of
the age” (Matt. 28:20). That was
true then, and it is still true today.
Are you singing in your prison
cell? Are you worshipping Jesus
right where He has placed you today?
“Men who sing in prison are men who cannot be
imprisoned.” “You may put these
men within your stone walls, you may make their feet
fast in the wood of your brutal stocks, but they are
not there. They are sitting with
Christ in the heavenly places,” observed Campbell
Morgan. “As to bodily presence,
they are there in the prison, but as to spiritual
essence, they are with God.”
People who sing in their prison
have learned the secret, the method by which
spiritual growth and service takes place.
You sing in your prison, and
other prisoners will listen to you.
The earthquake does not always come, but God
does. Your prison doors may not fly open, but the
intimate, abiding presence of God in Jesus Christ
will set you free. Many thousands
of servants of Jesus Christ have died in literal
prisons, but they sang, and they continue to sing.
What are your circumstances?
Are you singing? God will
bless your “prison” experience if you will sing
praises unto Him, and the “prisoners” will listen
and be saved.
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB." "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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