I am going to say some things here in this Tidbit you may
have never heard but I think the Lord showed me these things many years
ago. It is about Paul and Silas, while
they were in Philippi, a leading city of Macedonia. I have never heard this preached this way, the
emphases has always been on the praise time that Paul and Silas were having which
I think was very important and I don’t mean to take anything away from the praise
time; God’s Word says that God inhabits the praise of his people so it is so
important to praise Him for He is worthy of our praise!! I talked to a well-known pastor that had never
preached this portion of scripture the way I explained it to him, and he had
never heard it preached that way either, but he said it was biblical.
What I am talking about is found in Acts 16, where Paul and
Silas were beaten and thrown into prison for setting a lady free who had a
spirit of divination and her masters were making a lot of money on her
fortunetelling. These men became very
angry when they lost their means of making money and dragged Paul and Silas
into the marketplace before the authorities.
Read what happened in Acts 16:20-24, “And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, ‘These men, being
Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful
for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.’ Then the multitude rose up
together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded
them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they
threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having
received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their
feet in the stocks.”
Now this is what I felt the Lord showed me. If you notice in these passages Paul never mentioned
that they were Roman citizens until it was time to leave the prison; if he did,
they would not have been thrown into prison because they could not have put
them in prison without a trial because they were Roman citizens. It seemed to me this is why Paul or Silas didn’t
mention it, it was because they were willing to suffer for Christ and because
Paul and Silas were willing to suffer for Christ, the Lord showed them many
miracles. I realize Paul suffered for
Christ many times but keep an open mind and please keep reading. One of the miracles
was the great earthquake, no one was hurt, and all the chains fell off the
prisoners and the doors were unlocked, but none of the prisoners left.
Read what happened next in verses 27-34, “And the keeper of the prison, awaking from
sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew
his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice,
saying, ‘Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.’ Then he called for a light,
ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out
and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ So, they said, ‘Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ Then they
spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and
washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now
when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he
rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.” The
Lord showed them all these miracles then they were told they could leave.
Now read what their response was in verses, 35-40, “And when it was day, the magistrates sent
the officers, saying, ‘Let those men go. So, the keeper of the prison reported
these words to Paul, saying, ‘The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now
therefore depart and go in peace.’ But Paul said to them, ‘They have beaten us
openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put
us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out.’ And the
officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they
heard that they were Romans. Then they came and pleaded with them and brought
them out and asked them to depart from the city. So, they went out of the
prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren,
they encouraged them and departed.”
If you read Acts 22:21-30 Paul responded differently when
talking to these people, please read, “Then
He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’ And
they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and
said, ‘Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!’
Then, as they cried out and tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air,
the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he
should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so
against him. And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who
stood by, ‘Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and
uncondemned?’ When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander,
saying, ‘Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman.’ Then the commander
came and said to him, ‘Tell me, are you a Roman?’ He said, Yes.’ The commander
answered, ‘With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.’ And Paul said, ‘But I
was born a citizen.’ Then immediately those who were about to examine him
withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he
was a Roman, and because he had bound him. The next day, because he wanted to
know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his
bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear and
brought Paul down and set him before them.”
I will let you judge for yourselves whether I may be right
or wrong or what I am saying is biblical or not. If you don’t agree with me that’s fine I can’t
prove it, that is just what I feel I was being shown. May the good Lord bless you and yours and may
you all have a super day!!
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