Series: Biblical Principles for Success Series
Message 1, Series I: “Turning Downturns Into Upturns”
Acts 16:16-34 (New International Version)
Paul and Silas in Prison
16Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17This girl 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.”18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled 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.
19When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
22The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. 27The 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. 28But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34The 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 family.
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You have only one life. What are you going to do with it? To answer this basic but utterly important question it is necessary for you to know who you are and where you are right now. If you’re not happy with what you are and where you are today, know that you can be a better you, that you can do what God really wants you to do, and that you can be in a better situation tomorrow.
The trouble with some people is that they are “content” with who they are and where they are right now when they can be a better person, do what they really love to do, and live a better life. I believe it when people say they have learned to be content in whatever situation. But I also believe that deep within their hearts they’d rather be in a good situation than in bad. But why is it that some people’s lives are not changed for the better? Let me tell you a story that may show why.
One day Jesus says to his disciples, “Take a rock and carry it. We’re going up the hill.” The disciples each take a regular-sized rock and carry it up the hill. But Judas, being lazy, picks the smallest rock—a mere pebble! When they get to the top, Jesus does a miraculous thing—he turns their rocks into gold! Judas loses.
The next day, Jesus again says to his disciples, “Take a rock and carry it. We’re going up the hill.” Again, the disciples take regular-sized rock and carry it up the hill. Judas may be lazy but he got envious of the other disciples. So, not to be outdone this time, he hugs the biggest rock, wrestles with it for a while, and when he’s finally taken hold of it, he laboriously carries it up the hill. When they got to the top, Jesus says, “Let’s play. Whoever throws his rock the farthest will win and will get a free lunch!” His rock being the heaviest, all that Judas can manage to do is to drop his rock in front of him, almost hitting his toes! Judas loses again.
Finally, the next day, Jesus again says to his disciples, “Take two rocks and carry them. We’re going up the hill.” So again, the disciples took similarly-sized regular rocks and carry them up the hill. Judas may be lazy but he’s clever. So he took two rocks—one big, one small. When they get to the top, Jesus says “Whatever the size of your rocks will become the size of your ears!” The disciples laugh at Judas’ funny look—his left ear is so teeny tin, you could hardly see it, but his right looks like the ear of an elephant! Judas loses again and is miserable. As the laughing and teasing subside, Jesus says to them, “He who has ears, let him hear.”
Some people are not living to their full potential perhaps because, like Judas in our story, they’re just plain lazy. Or, they just try to be clever when they can be smart. But how does one become smart? Jesus said, “He who has ears, let him hear!” And he said that quite a number of times in the Gospels. On ther hand, people who live to their full potential do so not necessarily because they have bigger brains or more intelligent than the mediocre ones. As you’ve probably noticed, there are sharp guys who live dull lives! Why? Because they think they’re so intelligent they don’t need to listen to anyone else! A key to becoming smart is having the ability to listen. By that I mean the ability to take in good and helpful things and put them into practice.
In a world that appears to be dominated by hostile, if not evil forces, how can we succeed as believers? This story in Acts, with its different characters, provides us with principles that will guide us in our quest to fulfill our God-given missions and be a success! These are principles or truths you need to know to be what God wants you to be and for you to successfully do what God wants you to do.
Know that God can set you free
As the story begins, Paul and Silas were confronted by a certain situation. On their way to the prayer meeting they were met by this girl who predicts the future. Now she’s just a girl but she’s already amassed a fortune by fortune telling. The bad news is, she made money not for herself but for her owners. You see, she was a slave. She annoyed Paul because she kept on following him and shouting. Paul couldn’t take it anymore, so he exorcised the evil spirit. Now that’s a different motivation for doing the ministry—Paul got rid of the evil spirit because he got annoyed by it—but it worked. The girl was set free not only from this oppressive spirit but also from her owners who exploited her. Now we don’t know what happened to this girl after this, but I’m sure that she had a brand new start. She was free to be her true self. She was free to do whatever she wanted to do.
You may not be possessed by an evil spirit. God forbid! You may not be a slave. But are you free to be the kind of person that God wants you to be? Are you free to do what God wants you to do? If your answer is no, then like this girl you, too, need to be set free. The good news is, Jesus can set you free! So what is it that enslaves you? An addiction that makes you feel powerless and useless? A relationship that is not approved by God? A job that you hate? What a terrible thing to spend your waking hours living in misery. So don’t make it linger any longer. Jesus can set you free! But you need to trust in Jesus. Believe in him as your Savior. Obey him as your Lord. Follow him as your Shepherd. Then you “shall not be in want…. Surely goodness and love will follow you all the days of your life” (Psalm 23:1, 6).
Know that God has a mission for you
Once you’re free from anything that may prevent you from becoming a better you, the second step is to find out what your mission in the world is. The girl who was demon-possessed declared that Paul and Silas were “servants of the Most High God, who are telling people the way to be saved” (v. 17). The source of such statement may not be what we like it to be, nevertheless the information is true. I’m sure Paul and Silas had also issues of their own before they believed in Jesus. They, too, had been enslaved. But they, too, had been set free from whatever things that may have enslaved them and now they had become servants of Christ.
In truth, anyone who is in Christ becomes a servant God. The good thing about being a servant of God is that by obeying God you actually do the things a free person would. You are free to do the things that you are gifted to do. You do the things that you truly enjoy doing. I think no one has put this truth more succinctly than hymn writer George Matheson. He wrote,
Make me a captive, Lord,
and then I shall be free.
Force me to render up my sword,
and I shall conqueror be.
I sink in life’s alarms
when by myself I stand;
Imprison me within Thine arms,
and strong shall be my hand.
It was this freedom to do God’s will that Paul and Silas had so that even in prison they felt free to witness to other prisoners through praying and singing of hymns to God. Like Paul and Silas you, too, in your own way need to tell people or sing, if you please, about the way to be saved. But other than that, I believe that God has called you to do at least one thing that you’ve been gifted by God to do. And so it is important for you to discover your spiritual gift or gifts and talents. Is it preaching? Is it teaching? Is it serving? Is it leading? Is it managing? Is it entrepreneurship? God has given you those gifts and talents and abilities so that you may use them for your personal development and for the development of other believers in the community of faith. And God has gifted each one of us with spiritual gifts, talents, and abilities so that together we may serve God in the world proclaiming the good news of eternal life—abundant and free—in Jesus Christ through words and deeds.
Know that God will carry you
Now that we know what our common mission is as a community… now that we know that each one of us has a special mission or missions to do, each one should operate according to the gifts and abilities God has given each one. The question we may ask is this: Can we actually accomplish our missions in the world? If you’re a preacher can you effectively deliver God’s message? If you’re a teacher can you teach with clarity? If you’re a businessman, can you grow your business and make a profit? In other words, can you and I become successful in our God-given missions? Can we accomplish our goals? Can we make our dreams a reality? The answer to these questions is this: Just by ourselves we cannot, but with God we can! Know that when you put your faith in God and do the will of God, God will carry you!
Now who is this God that you and I believe in? He is the same God that the jailer believed in. We are told that the jailer was “filled with joy because he had come to believe in God….” Now being filled with joy doesn’t sound like much until we hear this encouragement from Bible: “Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” What a better way of living compared to those who grieve and those that are imprisoned by sin and the things that enslave them! Freedom in the Lord brings joy. And the joy of the Lord is our strength. With God’s enthusing strength we have the strength to do God’s purposes for our lives!
Who is the God that you and I serve? The God we serve is the same God that Paul and Silas served. Who is this God? The Most High God! Since our God is the Most High God, who or what then can be higher than God? No one! Nothing! “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8: 31b-32). With God, we can be on our way to accomplishing God’s missions for us. With our Most High God, we can be on our way to success!
Now that we know these things, we’re off to a good start. Now that we know what we can be and what we can do, with God, we can begin dreaming again. In fact, I have a dream. Today we are a small congregation. But I have a dream that one day we will be one of the largest in the desert of Sin City. I have a dream that Oasis will impact our community and the world in a way that is in keeping with the city’s reputation as a top tourist destination in the world. I have a dream that Oasis will be a community of believers who will love one another in a concrete way—helping one another to reach our full potential as individuals and members of the Oasis Christian community. I have a dream that we will be a community of winners! Not losers.
I dream that one day we will have our own resort-like eco-village within the valley. In our village we will help not only one another to reach our full potential but we will also reach out to the rest of the Las Vegas community … to people who may realize their need to be set free from whatever form of enslavement and live a free life in Jesus Christ. I envision a village that will provide shelter for people who are down and out: the homeless, the addicts, and all “the widows and orphans” of our society. I envision a village where the elderly can be productive. That instead of them sitting idly or playing Bingo all day long, they can serve and be fruitful while having fun with other jolly-good-fellows! I envision a center for learning where people with insatiable thirst for knowledge can learn or teach others about what they have learned. I envision a place where believers and atheists alike can get together and talk about things with intellectual honesty and humility and help sharpen each other in the quest for truth.
In the middle of our village, will be a huge Chapel where people from all over the city and the world will gather together to worship and celebrate life. It will be such an attraction that the Las Vegas experience will not be complete without the Oasis Experience! Look at it this way: churches send missionaries all over the world to preach the Gospel. At Oasis people will be coming from all over the world to hear the Gospel preach to them! And some of these people who will believe will in turn take the Good News of Life to their country and their own people. Think of the possibilities! This is my dream. Is it also your dream? This is my dream. What is your dream?
"In the world, but not of the world."