SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/22/2018
5:05 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 Intro
to Acts 16:19-40
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
16:19-40
Message of the
verses: “19 But when her masters saw
that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them
into the market place before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them
to the chief magistrates, they said, "These men are throwing our city into
confusion, being Jews, 21 and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful
for us to accept or to observe, being Romans." 22 The crowd rose up
together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and
proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them
with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard
them securely; 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the
inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 But about midnight Paul and
Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were
listening to them; 26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so
that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the
doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer
awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill
himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice,
saying, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!" 29 And he called
for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and
Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31 They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and
your household." 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together
with all who were in his
house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their
wounds, and immediately he
was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his
house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God
with his whole household. 35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent
their policemen, saying, "Release those men." 36 And the jailer
reported these words to Paul, saying, "The chief magistrates have sent to
release you. Therefore come
out now and go in peace." 37 But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us
in public without trial, men
who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending
us away secretly? No
indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out." 38 The
policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. They were afraid when
they heard that they were
Romans, 39 and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought
them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. 40 They went out of the
prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they
encouraged them and departed.”
John MacArthur entitles this chapter in his commentary “Turning
Persecution into Production.” As we read
through this section we can understand why he chose this name for this chapter
as there is unwarranted persecution found, and yet we also see production as we
read towards the end of this 16th chapter of Acts.
As I look at these verses it reminds me of what Paul
wrote to the Romans in chapter eight and verse twenty-eight: “28 And
we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love
God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” John MacArthur writes “A very reassuring
aspect of God’s sovereign rule over the universe is His ability to bring good
results out of bad circumstances. That
is especially true when His people undergo persecution.”
I now want to quote Genesis 45:5-8 “5 "Now do not be grieved or angry with
yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
6 “For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still
five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 “God sent
me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive
by a great deliverance. 8 “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has
made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all
the land of Egypt.” This passage speaks
of how the bad thing that happened to Joseph was turned into a good thing for
the children of Jacob, God causing something seemingly bad to be worked out for
good and for His glory.
We will look now at what is the most heinous crime ever
committed and that was the murder of God’s Son, and yet out of that evil act
God brought salvation. Peter speaks of
this in his sermon that we looked at very early in our study of Acts. “22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words:
Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and
signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves
know- 23 this Man,
delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the
hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end
to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”
We will continue to look at other examples in our next SD
from this section of verse.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “In Shunem” (2 Kings 4:8-10).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who was the sister of Moses?”
Answer in our next SD.
4/22/2018 5:27 PM
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