The Tapestry Acts 16:16-40 (Paul and Silas in Prison)

Transcription

1 The Tapestry Acts 16:16-40 (Paul and Silas in Prison) 16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved. 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her! At that moment the spirit left her. 19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice. 22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, Don t harm yourself! We are all here! 29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 They replied, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved you and your household. 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God he and his whole household. 35 When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: Release those men. 36 The jailer told Paul, The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.

2 37 But Paul said to the officers: They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out. 38 The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. 39 They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left. Sometimes God is doing something in your life which He wants other people to see. Your life is part of a bigger story, a tapestry that God is weaving in your life, part of a bigger picture. Joni Eareckson Tada often uses this illustration but I think the first person to use it was Corrie Ten Boom. Corrie wrote a poem called The Master Weaver s Plan which includes these words:- Oft times He weaveth sorrow; And I in foolish pride Forget He sees the upper And I the underside. Have you ever compared the front and back of a tapestry? The front of a tapestry is art. In the hands of a skilled weaver it displays incredible artistry and fine detail. The world s best art museums collect the world s best tapestries and display them there as examples of a rare but beautiful form of art. The back of a tapestry is a mess. A tapestry is made by weaving together different-coloured threads, and the images and designs are created by the interplay between the different colours and textures. What is clear on the front is a mess on the back. The back shows something of the image, but it looks more like a child s attempt than a master s it lacks nuance and clarity and detail. Where the front is smooth, the back is covered in knots and loose ends. We are meant to see and admire the front of the tapestry, not the back, and this has often served as an illustration of the truths of Romans 8:28: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. A tapestry serves as an effective illustration for the truth that for now we only get to see the underside of all that God is weaving together in this world, while at the same time clinging to the promise that someday we will see the front side and marvel at what God has been doing. Every strand in our lives - both the darker and the lighter ones - weave together to form a beautiful, harmonious, ordered pattern. All of our 'why' questions are answered. We see the big picture of God's plan for our lives clearly. This is the heavenly perspective we will have one day. Sometimes the things that are happening in our life are not just for our own lessons and experience but for those around us. God uses our lives to demonstrate His reality and grace.

3 "The point of your life is to point to God. Whatever you are doing, God wants to be glorified, because this whole thing is His. It is His movie, His world, His gift." - Francis Chan (American Pastor / Teacher / Preacher) For example, Jesus said to his disciples Lazarus is dead and for your sake I am glad so that you may believe. At the tomb entrance Jesus prayed "I have said this for the benefit of the people standing here, so that they may believe you sent me" John 11:14 (NIV) Our goal, our life s challenge, is to know Jesus and to make Him known, and we can do that through any and all of life s challenges that we face and the experiences that we go through. A great example is in Acts 16 in our reading. In the prison, where Paul and Silas were chained and singing, (v25) the other prisoners were listening. Paul and Silas' captivity just wasn t about them but it was part of a bigger picture. And don t forget they were being punished for delivering a woman from demons doing a good thing from God s point of view. And the result (v30) Sirs, what must I do to be saved? So what does this say about God? It says that God is at work in all circumstances of my life, in your life, in all of our lives. It says that He knows what is going on and that He is the master weaver of the story of my/your/our life. He is God which means that He knows all the plot twists. Isaiah 55:8-9 says For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways. God is good. All the time. And all the time. God is Good. We say that, almost as a catch phrase. Nike, just do it. Coke, it s the real thing. We pray for 30 seconds and walk away. May the force be with you. God is good. All the time. But it's not just a catch phrase. There is a reality there that sometimes we dismiss. Sometimes our heart says God is good when life is good. Full stop. We don t allow the phrase to stretch over into other, more painful areas, of our life. Job had a sort of catch phrase Though he slay me, I will trust Him" (Job 13:15.) In Job 1 I was blown away by Job's response and actions when he heard that his sheep were dead, his camels were dead, his children were dead etc. At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.' (Job 1:21) We often paint God in the same way that people are painted. Some people have bad intentions. Some (all) people have grumpy days. People mess with you. People dump their own negative emotions over you. Their motivations are one-sided they are living for number one. But God is good, all the time. He doesn't have bad intentions. He doesn't have bad hair days. His motivations are pure. He isn't messing with your life. Everything He does is filled with goodness.

4 Everything He does comes from a heart of goodness. Everything He does is right. God does nothing by accident. He is an on purpose God. The things of God are so deep, so involved, an so complex that we forget those simple things that drew us to Him. We should spend quality time meditating on God s goodness. Just allowing it to fill our thoughts, just dwelling on His goodness. It should be easy because well it s EVERYWHERE! If we let our thoughts settle on the goodness of God, we will find ourselves with positive thought patterns, holier ideas, cleaner thinking and it will draw us all much closer to Jesus! Our God is SO good! And you know what s great about Him? God doesn t stop being God just because we stop being good. He s always good. God is Good, all the time. And all the time, God is good. Some churches / Christians chant this every Sunday morning during their service, and then walk out the doors and some shun the world for not having fellowshipped with them. But God is good to the churched, and the unchurched among us. He is good to the beggar and He is good to the billionaire. He is good to the sinner and He is good to the saint. Whether our bank accounts read in the six-figures or whether we just lost our bank account, it does not prevent God s goodness from being all over our lives! It is liberating to rejoice in the Lord when the world says you should be complaining to Him! Next time, tell your situation that God is still good, He s still Jehovah Jireh which means The LORD Will Provide (Genesis 22:14) God is good to all creation, he provides rain to trees, sunlight to flowers. Flowing rivers and streams, oceans, lakes, and the tiniest puddles are a testimony to the goodness of God. The winds that cause trees to sway in worship, and cause waves to crash to the shore are proof of God s goodness. The dirt beneath us, and all its little inhabitants know, like the birds that glide with the wind, that God is GREAT! God has granted mercy to the sinners because He is good. He has given restoration to the weak because He is good. God is good in the midst of sickness, pain, and death. He is still good! In the words of a downtrodden Job, though he slay me, yet will I hope in Him! Job knew that God was good, but he also knew that God was bigger than himself. God has plans bigger than ours, thoughts higher than ours, and sees the end from the beginning. God has given us Himself. Better yet, a separation from Himself to show us how Holy He is and yet, He is so close we can feel His heartbeat. When we are broken, we should rest near to the heart of our Father, knowing that He has given healing to our souls. When we have sinned, we should not run from God in guilt, but we should run into his arms in order to feel loved and restored for greatness in Him. He corrects those He loves! I could go on and on about His goodness. I challenge you to marvel at God s goodness as often as it comes to your heart. It will stir your spirit and give you a new appreciation of all He has done, and all that He is, and make you appreciate the fact that He knows you by name and is totally trustworthy! But now, this is what the LORD says- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. Isaiah 43:1

5 Did Jesus suffer? Was he sometimes lonely? Was he tempted to be discouraged? Was he misunderstood, badmouthed, and criticized unjustly? Of course! None of us are exempt from suffering, loneliness, discouragement, or unjust criticism. God is developing within us the character of Jesus, and, in order to do this, He takes us through all of the circumstances in life through which he took Jesus. Does this mean God causes tragedies? No. God is good, and He will not cause evil or do evil. But God can use dark and stressful times for good. He'll use them to teach us to trust Him, to show us how to help others, and to draw us closer to other believers. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:8b-9, We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead (NLT). So, what should you do when you re going through difficult times? First, refuse to be discouraged. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9) Secondly, this same verse should help us to remember that God is with you. Finally, rely on God for protection and guidance. Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. We all go through difficult times. The difference for those who believe in Jesus is not the absence of the darkness but the presence of the Light. Questions to ponder What stressful or difficult experiences in your life have you seen God use for good? How have you learned to rely on God through the difficult times of your life? Someday God will show us His tapestry, we will see how God has woven each of these little deeds together for His own glory, and we will rejoice. Here is Corrie Ten Boom s poem: My life is but a weaving Between my God and me. I cannot choose the colours He weaveth steadily.

6 Oft times He weaveth sorrow; And I in foolish pride Forget He sees the upper And I the underside. Not til the loom is silent And the shuttles cease to fly Will God unroll the canvas And reveal the reason why. The dark threads are as needful In the weaver s skilful hand As the threads of gold and silver In the pattern He has planned He knows, He loves, He cares; Nothing this truth can dim. He gives the very best to those Who leave the choice to Him. Remember that God can use our tapestry to changes other people s lives.