EVEN THOUGH - Midnight in Philippi

love connecting with you guys is amazing to be together as one house today and two different locations in the city kicking off a new series in the heart behind these next few weeks together is that God would forge in you and in me a more defiant faith that God would Forge in our lives in these next few weeks a more defiant faith now why do we want to ask God to do that because life is gonna deal us a hand we didn't see coming anybody already had that hand dealt to you anybody in this gathering Cumberland or here 5:15 has had a hand dealt to you that you did maybe you saw it coming but didn't want it but you got a hand dealt to you it was difficult it was hard to explain it was hard to understand it was hard to comprehend it was hard to see God it was hard to have joy it was hard to hang on to your faith in the midst of it and you know I hear so many stories of people and the reason why they're not at church today it's because a moment came in their life where the night was dark and long and they didn't see what God was doing and their conclusion was if that's God I'll never darken the door of a church again but I think there are a lot of layers below that where circumstances and situations deflate our faith it's one thing to come in a daylight today and say god you're so good because I'm blessed and I am called and I am healed and I am a whole and I am saved in Jesus name I'm highly favored I'm anointed I am filled with your power for the glory of your name and then someone smashes into the side of our lives and we go God where are you what are you doing how can this be I thought you were loving God and in that moment have you noticed how often our faith deflates in that moment and I believe God wants us to rise into those moments with a defiant faith and I think it's possible for us to live above the moment and I believe that through that God wants to use us to reach people on the fringes who honestly are not coming into the story of God unless like a diamond when the pressure in the temperature of life come comes it changes us into a more beautiful and a more brilliant story of the goodness and the faithfulness of God in our lives I I wrote down a goal for these next few weeks because I'm in it and you're in it when the goal is this the goal is that we would become a people who move from the rows of the auditorium's the two respective places were sitting in today into a relationship with the almighty that emblazoned us with a heaven-born confidence that anchors our lives in the mighty Gale in radiates hope in the darkest of nights that's defiant faith that's the kind of faith that indoors under trial when Moses saw the bush burn it continued to burn but it wasn't consumed and I believe that if God puts you in a trial he doesn't want to destroy you in that trial he actually wants to make you stronger in the midst of it and that's defiant faith I I've been noticing so many times in the text of Scripture where you have an even though followed by an I will do you know what I'm talking about it's like even though the bottom fell out guess what I'm gonna do I'm still gonna praise Almighty God and I'm gonna lift up a song to him and you're like whoa how did that happen even though the circumstance was unjust God is still faithful and I'm still gonna have confidence in him Jobe is a great example the guy lost it all really in the fire of testing at the hands of God and his friends just said to him here's that here's the way out for you just curse God and die just get it over with just send up a flare into heaven that says if that's who you are I'm out if that's the way you work I'm done if that's the way you're gonna treat me and here's the way I'm gonna treat you talk to the hand you'll never see me and never hear from me again all the days of my life joke just cursed God get it over with and die in jobs response in a nutshell this is what he says in job 13 he says even though you slay me I will still trust in you even though you put me in the fire I will still believe in you God even though I'm under pressure I'm still gonna trust in you and I look at that even though I will and I say how does job have defiant faith like that how does he have faith it doesn't deflate in that moment but actually inflates in that moment and holds his life anchors his life if you will in the mighty Gale and radiates hope in the darkest of nights and that's the even though I want to talk about today I don't know who is in a storm in this place today but I know a lot of people are I don't who know who's facing up against the collapse of a family some kind of internal pressure a phone call that you got just within the last 72 hours that everything on the landscape of your life is different than it was before and you didn't see it coming and did not think that hand was gonna be dealt to you but I want you to know God knew that you were coming today and actually and I won't give you the whole backstory changed this whole series around in the last two weeks from what it was gonna be to what it is now and I believe he did that because he knew somebody was going to be sitting in this place today in the middle of the fire and he wanted to breathe into you hope and I believe he knew all of us in this place today at some point we're going to be in a trial and he wanted us to get busy today preparing for the trial that we are not yet in so when the moment comes our faith would rise and not fall and God's glory would be seen in our lives and the people all around us yeah I thinking we can give God a little bit of praise that he knows what's going on in our lives so today we're talking about even though the night is long anybody in a long night in here today even though the night is long like I thought it might be for a weekend or maybe this was going to be a two-week deal or this was going to get resolved by the end of February but it's a longer night than you anticipated even though the night is long I will worship the Lord and that's why we're calling this talk today the title of this message is midnight in Philip I midnight in Philip I if you've got scripture today we're gonna dig in to the book of Acts chapter 16 and if you're new to church and new to the Bible new to faith Acts is the story of the message of Jesus being spread to the known world Jesus had died for the sins of the world he'd been raised from the dead by the power of God he'd appeared to hundreds of people and then he had ascended back into heaven the Spirit of God had come to empower his followers to take the message of grace and the message of truth in the message of life to the whole known world and one of those ambassadors was the Apostle Paul and Paul now is on his second trip out around the known world of Asia Minor and Europe and he's now going city to city as God's leading him proclaiming this story in in Acts chapter 6 he ends up in the town of Philippi it's in modern-day Greece an important city in the time of Jesus before and after by a few centuries and an important city in the time of Paul he comes to Philip I with his companions he's Silas's with him Timothy is with him Luke who's narrating and giving us the story in the book of Acts is with him and there's think I do amazing things in fact when they came to Philip I they had seen a group of women who were seeking after God they weren't Jesus followers yet but they were looking they were searching for spiritual truth Paul saw were they gathered he went and met them shared the story of Jesus a woman named Lydia had her eyes open that day and came to faith in Jesus Christ now come on I'm just telling you today we got to get out of I've been around this a lot and get back into what would it be like to walk into environments where people had no idea what they were searching for tell them who they're searching for see God's Spirit opened their eyes and then put their faith in Jesus she was the first convert in Philippi she was a wealthy businesswoman in that city had huge influence in Phillipi and she had the gift of hospitality so immediately she invited Paul and his traveling team to come and stay at her house and then we see not long after that her home was filled with new believers in Jesus it's likely that the very first Christian Church was the church that started in Lydia's house in Philippi so things are going good and then we see an interesting turn of events beginning in verse 16 this story is going to unfold in a few different acts so in Acts we've got a story with a few acts and I think you're gonna identify with the Acts in this story act number one we see in verse sixteen once when we were going it 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 this 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 now that all sounds pretty good and a little bit weird at the same time can we just pause for a minute so be careful who's telling you your fortune a because there are evil spirits who apparently have the capacity in the spirit realm to know some things about life so just because somebody tells you something about your future don't assume it's the right spirit it might be another spirit that's telling you that I would lock on to God's Word and I would yield my life to the authority of Jesus and the Holy Spirit these spirits actually were telling the truth what they were saying was true this spirit is not of God we're going to see that in a moment but the Spirit is telling the truth these men are servants of the Most High God and they're here to proclaim the way to be saved but as Paul and his team are moving around and they're getting an unwelcome and unwanted announcement from the girl and so it says a little bit later that in verse 18 she kept us up for many days anybody got something going on for too many days right now like one day was fine two days you were like a little bit annoying third day you're like this got to stop right now so there's somewhere into that process and so for many days she has been at this and so Paulette says became troubled another translation says he became annoyed so that he turned around and said to the spirit in the name of Jesus Christ I command you combat out of her and look what happened at that moment the spirit left her now that is a good start to a day right there now I don't know about you and maybe you've heard this text before but there's a lot of crazy in this act number one which we're calling good intentions good intentions I see a situation I want to call out on God I want to try to help slave girl and I want to help out our cause so I'm gonna try in the name of Jesus to do something good now if you if you're not looking at this through the right lens and it doesn't really make sense to you it makes sense to me I've never been in the shoes of Paul and I've never lived what he has lived but I do understand this I remember flying one time on a long flight across country and you know I've said this to you many many times but people have I know it's shocking different viewpoints of pastors and churches and so for me to lead off every conversation with hi I'm a pastor which is you know when you talk to another man that's what you got to get to real fast sometimes it can go a little bit crazy got on this plane I'm sitting down in business class because I fly a lot I get upgraded praise God and some benefit to flying a lot I'm sitting there and this guy comes on he's got the slickest briefcase he is decked out looks like Armani you know like suited this guy up he sits down he is like looks like a million bucks or maybe a hundred million bucks I mean he sits down and he says hi how you doing some people just sit down and it was like you're not there and I'm not here let's ignore each other and pretend like there is no other human being in my space but he says hi how are you want to say I'm doing great how are you doing he and he tells me his name and I my name and then as men would do he says and what do you do this is how men rank themselves instantly when they meet other men so what do you do oh you're a plumber great I'm better than you because I'm not a plumber you know or I own a plumbing business or I have a whole franchise a plumbing business says my name is actually plumber my name's Bob plumber you know so men immediately just size people up based on what they do and that's problematic for me because when I meet someone oftentimes I don't know what's in their head when you say the word pastor so that can be problematic and so if I don't want to talk to people on a long flight across the country and they sit down in their Armani suit and say how are you I say great hi I'm so-and-so hi I'm Louie and what do you do I say I am a servant of the Most High God and I am here to proclaim the way to be saved if I excuse me just a minute would you say yes oh yes yeah we can do it at three percent on how sure fine let's close it by the 31st can you do that all right great get back to me excuse me I've got another call coming in right now excuse me I'll get back to you in five hours after this flight lands but I didn't say that to him and so we started talking and we and he said what do you do and and I just dodged it to be really honest with you I'm not ashamed of you and I'm not ashamed of of the gospel I just said I'd do a whole lot of things right now what do you do real fast you know it's true answer and so we started talking and turns out he was flying to see his father who was in the hospital and immediately we had common ground didn't matter what he did what I did where he lived where I lived who he was who I was we both had been down that road and his father was close to death and I've said I know this flight I've been on this flight many times like you today and we started talking and eventually I was able to say to him truthfully the thing that got me through all of that was my faith in God and he's like yeah you know what I'm not really a church person and I'm not really into all that he said my ex-wife really was into that but I'm really not into all that and I was I didn't say anything he just kept talking and we were really building like some rapport and and I felt like gosh this this could go somewhere and not no kidding and please knoweth no knock on the person from the back of the plane but a guy comes up a person comes up I'll just leave it at that it was a guy but let's just go back and pretend I didn't say that a person comes up and so that this person comes up I guess like sort of moves the net comes up three rows up and comes across to me and says it's some version of and I can't quote it exactly right now it's been a little while hey brother you're Louie Giglio no and I said I am and he said I I saw you get on the plane and I just wanted to tell you that you know I was sitting in the back and I was thinking man I I don't think I can sit back here I was going to just wait till we landed but I thought I don't know maybe you'll get off and I won't get off because I'm way in the back I just want to tell you brother you are an amazing preacher of the word of God and there is so no true story so much anointing on your life I mean you got a lie show you got a double portion brother and God is using you to break chains and change people's lives all across this world I'm telling you nobody preaches the Bible like you do you are a Bible preaching servant of the Almighty God and I just wanted to come and let you know that God loves you and this for you and he's got favor on your life and I want to tell you something don't you give in to the devil in any of his scheme because god it's working in your life so I just wanted to tell you that brother you hang in there and fight the good fight run that race finish that course hang on to that faith there's a crown laid up for you that the Lord has prepared for all of those who love you know and I'm just like wow it's like wow wow wow wow if there could ever be turbulence and the mess could come down this would be the moment I get right back to you well-meaning amazing humbling I wish it all's you know true I just was like love you brother and love you too and when he went away Armani he was like my go the restroom now and I'm not I'm not exaggerating our conversation kind of it was awkward from there on out because I had to translate all that that just means I'm a pastor you're a pastor what do you say you're a pastor what kind of pastor well let's get back to our conversation and and I think Paul got that you see that now Paul's trying to build relationships he's trying to impact a city he's trying to navigate conversations he's trying to follow the Holy Spirit into to be in season and I and he's trying to be all things to all people so that he can save some people and yet this girl is announcing every time he walks into a shop or every time he walks around a corner these are servants of the Most High God and they are here to tell you the way to be saved is like yes we are service almost like God but hey I'm Paul this is Silas this is Timothy and this is Luke we're just we'd love to just these are surface of the Most High God right here and Paul's like I know it's not God's Spirit because God's spirits leading me and that spirit is wrecking what we're trying to do right now so a few days into it he finally goes enough in the name of Jesus Christ come out instantly her complexion changes the grip of hell is lifted from her life light comes in her eyes and peace comes over this girl and a spirit vows to the name of Jesus Silas and Timothy and Polaroid right yes act 1 good intentions have you ever done something just because you had good intentions you tried to help somebody because you had good intentions you went the extra mile because you had good intentions you intervene out of a good heart you spoke into it because you thought God had encouraged you to be a part of the solution in somebody's life but then act 2 comes right on the heels of that and it often works in our lives this way good intentions were immediately followed by ungrateful opposition look what happens immediately in verse 19 when 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 they brought them before the magistrates and said these men are Jews now remember Philip is a Roman colony so now we're gonna play the us-versus-them card the insiders versus outsiders card and hey these guys are not a part of Roma they're not a part of the colony of Philippi in the in the citizenship of the Roman Empire they're Outsiders come here they're Jewish people who've come into our world and here's what they're doing they are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice now is that what were they they were doing or had they just delivered a girl from the the spirit of the enemy and now she's walking around like with a whole new thing going on in her life but yet it's interpreted quickly as a plot against the city because why we don't care about this slave girl we just care about the bottom line we couldn't care less if she gets free or not we just want the cash to keep flowing and so let's drag him into the marketplace because that's where our best sympathy is going to come from from other market owners who say well you know see what happened to us profits are down and if you don't join with us might happen to you and all of a sudden now there is a collective insurrection against these and good intentions go immediately to ungrateful opposition and they're dragged before the authorities anybody seen this happen the best of times in the worst of times it's like yeah we're expecting a baby in our family and then the very next thing that happens next week is that the phone rings and we've got a diagnosis in our story we're on our way to a wedding and then we get a text and now we're going to have to detour to a funeral just got promoted and got the position I've been hoping and working towards and when we did that we found out that our kids are getting separated and it's the best and the worst for them it was these good intentions in this high moment of God working and the power of God setting a girl free in the very next thing they're all in the middle of a mob drag before the authorities and things are gonna change in a heartbeat act 3 we see all that go down in act 3 there is a swift turnaround of fortunes have you ever had that day we're in the morning it was like it couldn't be better and by the time you went to bed that night it could not be worse and that's what happened to Paul and their team it says verse 22 Act number three the crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas and the magistrates these people who had Authority ordered them to be stripped and beaten the text your text may say they were beaten with rods and so they stripped them down they took these these cane poles if you will and they began to just beat their bodies with sticks I mean there's a lot of things that can happen that are terrible but being beat with with rods is is pretty far up the list and they didn't just get whacked a time or two the text says that after they were severely flogged so now there's a lot going on here in the text after they were severely flogged or severely beaten they were thrown into prison and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully so upon receiving such orders he put them in the inner cell and he fastened their feet in the stocks dam in the name of Jesus come out of her yes amen praise God that is the kingdom we are a part of turn the corner a crowd has appeared there drag before the authorities and before you know it the magic magistrate says ok let's punish him strip him down beat him with rods lock him in the jail keep him secure I've heard rumors about these guys from the town before put them in an inner cell make sure their feet are locked in the stocks and we'll deal with them tomorrow act 3 we all get act 1 we've all tried with good intentions we all get act 2 that's our good intentions being met with ungrateful opposition and we all get act 3 and that is a quick turnabout of our Fortunes but I'm telling you what we must get our hearts around is act 4 in the story because in act 4 things go crazy in the very best way look what it says in verse 25 about midnight can we say that together Cumberland can you join us about midnight now let's all say together about midnight I don't think there's any coincidence in the text not trying to read into the text but I don't think there's any coincidence here that it's not 2:30 in the afternoon Oh about quarter to 11:00 in the morning no it's about midnight and I think we all know what about midnight feels like it looks like in our lives but this is defiant faith on a display about midnight Paul and Silas were praying now I would be there after act one two and three I'd definitely be praying God what are you doing get us out of here this is crazy do something make it all you know work out but they were praying and something else they were praying and what what else were they doing they were singing hymns to God even though it was midnight in the middle of the jail still they said I will praise the Lord even though they beat us up with rods we are still going to sing our song even though we've been falsely accused and even though Paul could have said I am a Roman said it's then and you're gonna be shaking in your boots tomorrow when you figure that out even though I will in about midnight about midnight they were praying and they were singing hymns to God even though the night was long they said I will praise Him and then this this these next few words absolutely give me chills and this is a great conjunction and what and the other prisoners were listening to them now we'll get there in just a moment but I want you to know today that in every midnight you have a captive audience listening to you in every midnight there's a captive audience in all the prisoners we're listening to these two guys praying and singing hymns to God and then things changed I believe things had changed dramatically before that but then things changed even more after that it says verse 26 suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken at once the prison doors flew open in everybody's chains came loose in other words to men's prayer and worship didn't just do something to set their hearts on fire for God didn't just inflate their faith to be defiant in the darkest night but the chains broke off of their lives and the door swung open in their lives but hello everybody's prison door swung open and everybody's changed fell off in other words your praise in my praise in the midnight hour absolutely has the power not just to change our heart but to break the lives of freedom into freedom of all the people who are around us our worship changes us and it changes things around us all of the chains everybody's chains came loose and the jailer woke up and when he saw the prison doors open he drew his swords about to kill himself because he thought all the prisoners had escaped but Paul says hey don't hurt yourself we're all here we're all accounted for and then look how it unfolds the jailer called for lights it was so dark in there the jailer can even go in to see what was going on finally torches came he rushed in and trembling before Paul and Silas he fell down at their feet and he said what must I do to be saved in other words a revival just broke out prayer and worship sparked a revival at the midnight hour in stocks in a jail beaten up swollen up these two guys started a revival God moved things happen doors open chains fell off it was an atmosphere of revival so powerful that when the jailer came in he didn't say why are y'all still here he didn't say this is crazy why didn't he just run out when the doors open he said what must I do to be saved in other words their testimony of radiant hope in the dark night was enough to convict this man that God was alive and the God of heaven was on the scene and he said convicted of God what must I do to be saved what a powerful powerful turnabout of events and so Paul answered him what a clear answer they replied believe and this is for all of us today Cumberland here 5:15 anybody hearing this message a day for now a year from now ten years from now here's the answer if you've wondered about the question here's the answer believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved not just mentally I believe in Jesus but your confidence in him put your trust in what he's done put your eternal hope in the finished work of Jesus and you'll be saved and he says not only you but your whole household so they spoke the word of the Lord to him they unfolded that Gospel message they they shared with all the others in his house and at that hour of the night that jailor took them washed their wounds immediately he and all his family were baptized and then the jailer brought them into his house said a meal before him he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God he and his whole family so we went from midnight wipeout to a hang at the jailers house where who has gone man being saved is amazing believing in God are you kidding me I had no idea that I could come to know the Living God like I have there's no joy that's ever been in my life like this joy can you pass the bread thank you very much would you like more rice amazing can I pour you another glass of wine I mean they're having a hang at the jailers house because of the power of Almighty God midnight in Philip I even though the night is long I will praise God so how did they have defiant faith in the darkest hour how did they have that how did they not deflate and how did their faith inflate in that moment and how does ours do that I think a few things number one they were already in the story of God these men I think so many times when I talk to people and the bottom falls out they're not in the story of God they're just in their story they're just doing their thing live in their life cruising along yeah they got God over here on the side but that's not the focus that's not the purpose that's not the deal they don't feel called and they haven't leaned into God's purpose and plan for their life on planet Earth and then all of a sudden everything goes haywire and they're like wait a minute where is God in all of this and I believe the reason Paul and Silas didn't do that in the mean that midnight hour is because they knew that they were called by Almighty God to carry the story of the salvation message of Jesus to the entire world they were living life on purpose and they knew it was going to cost something but they knew it was worth it whatever it cost and when they arrived there they were probably thinking you know what we said we were going out on a missionary journey we said after the first trip we're gonna do that again we had some highs and some lows on that first one but we said hey let's do that again because this gospel needs to be heard and so they signed on they committed to the plan they leaned in to the purpose and off they went and I believe people who don't fold it when the fire comes our people who are in the will and purpose of God when the fire comes and that's the question today if this is training us for a trial not yet to come today is the day for you to get in the will of God you don't want to try to get in the will of God when the fire comes because your your your chances are going to be lower when the fire comes of getting in the will of God it's more likely that you're gonna walk away from God and not find a defiant faith in God the second thing I think that helped them to have defiant faith as they had tasted the grace of God now don't just let that blow by too fast they had tasted the grace of God the cross isn't a one-time thing that gets us into heaven right the cross isn't a prayer we pray when we're 13 years old at the summer camp and then we know we're not going to go to hell but we're gonna have eternal life that's not grace that's not the gospel that's not salvation the gospel is I didn't have a chance but look at me I'm fully alive I was completely out of it but God made me a son or a daughter of the king and I have a seat at the table the cross isn't a one-time thing it's an everyday thing because it is the greatest reminder to us that God takes the worst and turns it into the best that God loves us that he is for us that he has given to us his very best and when the darkness comes you gotta have something to hold on to and there's nothing better to hold on to than the same cross Jesus hung on when the sky turned black and darkness covered the face of the earth and he gave his life for you and me but I think Paul had this on a different level you know what Paul did before he's sort of preaching the gospel he put people in prisons like the cell in Philippi with the authority from the Jewish leaders and as a citizen of Rome he could move anywhere freely in attack beat up persecute and kill Christians trying to snuff out the gospel and I wonder I'm just wondering I can't get in Paul's mind if in those stocks and in that cell he said thanks be to God for your great and awesome mercy because I used to be the guy that put people in here oh I've beaten up a bunch of people with rods in my life we stoned Stephen to death and I held everybody's coat what we did it thank you God that you saved me thank you God that you restored me thank you God that you found me thank you God that you redeemed me thank you for such amazing grace amazing love such amazing blessing in favor that you poured out on my life that kind of grace that holds us when the world shakes us I think the third reason why they had to file is because they actually knew God Paul had a revelation of Jesus Christ it was an information that he sort of checked the box I've been around church enough times to know some of the facts about God he had a revelation of Jesus Christ and that changed him so now that he's in a jail cell he's in there with an eyeful of a great and glorious God who when he saw him it just stopped him in his tracks stunned him in his heart blinded him from the radiance of the person of Jesus Christ and he knew God was not some 5 foot 8 inch dude you know who was a little bit better than him he knew God was glorious and mighty and filled with power and I want to encourage you today if there's a trial coming what you're gonna need most is a real vibrant relationship understanding in a deep knowledge of Almighty God and you just start working on that today not when the trial comes you need to start today saying God I really need to have a revelation of who you are not a shallow understanding not I'm occasionally at church not I have a very limited scriptural intelligence not I have a very me centered theology which is everything God's doing he's always doing it to make my life better no that's not going to work for you in the fire game they face I'm gonna work for you in the fire your mama's faith it's not going to work for you in the fire Jesus faith with a revelation of how great he is is the only things gonna help you in the fire and these guys knew who God was the fourth reason I believe they had defiant faith and will close and wrap around this is that they had witnessed the power of Almighty God think about if you're in a in a midnight moment you want to have some memories of God doing the extraordinary in the supernatural and they didn't have to think back very far they didn't have to go oh man remember who was it back in oh maybe so three years ago or five years ago when God answered that prayer for us they were like hey man things have been crazy this whole thing and it still turned around they beat us up and all that and then it's kind of little bit hectic for that we haven't even had a chance to talk about Lydia how cool was that Silas is like I know unbelievable you should have seen it Paul when you were teaching the Spirit of God fell on her I saw her face change and it was if just light appeared in every question she had was answered and I don't know if you saw it or not but that lady's sitting right behind her that lady in like the that the pan shawl did you see her and when Lydia said oh you got to be kidding me Liddy was like wait a minute wait a minute this is what I've been looking for hello I get what you're saying I understand what you're talking about God is helping me connect all the dots today this is it Jesus it's the one I've been looking for I want Jesus I want to know Jesus I want to believe in Jesus that lady behind her she was like I do too did you see her she's like I do too and all of a sudden things change and they're sitting there go man I'm telling you this is amazing I knew when we walked by there we should stop and I felt the Holy Spirit saying hey these are the people and when we did I was like well I don't know and then you get started and it's kind of rough there that first opening thing I would do that illustration next time by the way but I'd use that other one but it's a little bit you know we weren't sure where it was going and then BAM Lydia's just like and then we were in our house we were a house I thought this guy Thaddius guy at her house unbelievable he comes up to me he says man listen I'll tell you one thing if there's a guy in Phillipi that wasn't gonna put his faith in Jesus it was me I had no desire to have anything to do with anything about that but you know Lydia is my business partner I've been try with her in the dyeing industry for years she's the most respected businesswoman in this town she's amazing when she said she found Jesus eyes okay I'm gonna give it a chase if Lydia believed in Jesus maybe I should believe in Jesus and so I started listening and it took me a couple of times with that second meeting I said whoa something's happening in my heart and then I gave my life to Jesus and Paul's like I didn't know that that was amazing which guy was he the guy that the guy with the yeah Wow incredible oh and we didn't talk about that slave girl what in the world was that did you see her face when you called out the name of Jesus and that demon just shrank and hightailed it out of there at the authority of Jesus Wow if you're gonna think about this tonight by the way like why didn't they just do that the first day you're not thinking right now you just still with me and that's great but some point you're gonna go why didn't they just do that the first time she did it like not done by thank you all right we're good back to our conversation mr. Armani because I think Paul knew they'd already been on a journey they'd already been serving the Lord they'd already been following the spirit they were smart people Paul and Silas Paul as smart as anybody around and I think he knew the minute we cast this demon out of this girl all you know what's gonna break out in Phillip high and we're probably going to jail so today I want to I want to share the gospel of that guy and and I want to get to that market place tomorrow so we're gonna tolerate her for a little while I'll try to work around her here you go that way and I'm gonna go be this way you split up four ways and see which way she goes but finally after the fourth day I think about fourth day third day fifth day Paul is like okay here we go we get ready to go to jail guys in the name of Jesus come out yep all right probably going to jail pretty soon Silas get ready I think he knew translation sometimes you know the the way God's gonna work but you also got to know the timing that God wants to work in and in that moment here they are praying remembering and we're in the will of God we've tasted the grace of God we know God and we have seen the power of God oh yeah we see the power of the jailer but we've seen the power of God these are just stalks these are just changed these dudes I've done this before I had the power to beat people up with rods God has the power to deliver people from the power of Hell God has the power to open eyes to see the gospel God has the power to save lives our God is a universe creating God our God sitting on an unrivaled throne today our God is matchless above all creation today our God has all power and all authority in his hands today his name is a great name and then there's just like I don't know you want to sing I'd like to sing let's see well sing come on let's just sing I see why why because they had eyes of faith and they could see that a sovereign God sovereign God was above it all stocks yes chains absolutely dark yes whelps yes I closed yes God eternal Alpha and the Omega spiritual war raging all around us Heaven and Hell is at stake life and death is on the line darkness and light are colliding and we're a part of the light and we're a part of the heavenly kingdom yes this is a colony of Rome but we're citizens of heaven we are connected to the great king yes they've got a Caesar who thinks he has all authority but we're sons of a king of the universe who makes all the decrees in all the decisions for all times they had eyes of faith that allowed them to see a sovereign God above it all and they said let's worship Him oh god you're so good god you're so good god you're so good you're so good to me you take the bridge Silas I love this I am blessed I am called I am healed I am oh I am in Jesus name Thank You chief highly favored uh no idea mom Phil with my feet are in stock so I can still with my hands Jesus name [Music] I am saved Jesus name hi Li Fei no fear your power for that Jesus and all the prisms were like what the heck if that God yours they're like what do they say it what are they saying [Music] God's not good you're in jail it's midnight brothers we're all in Chains hello and then the ground started shaking and God started moving oh not to free them people do you understand they were already free they were already set free by a greater power they didn't need doors to open and they didn't need change to follow they were all ready free these men that God just applauded their praise and applauded their song and he said oh I like praise in the midnight hour he might if I arrived in their because they may have left you alone but listen to this God inhabits the praises of his people and when we build him a throne with our worship he shows up in a jail in a chemo ward at a cemetery in a divorce court in the darkness and depression he arrives on the scene and when he arrives on the scene things change so listen to this listen to this [Music] listen a jailer got saved in the midnight hour and I believe it's possible that yes God is gonna set your heart free from whatever it's got to hold on you as you choose to worship Him so even though I will like a package even though the fig tree does not budge and there are no grapes on the vine even though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no fruit even though there are no sheep in the pan and no cattle in the stall yet I will rejoice in the Lord I will be joyful in God my Savior why kisses sovereign Lord is my strength and he makes my feet like the feet of a deer to tread on the heights there is a jailer in your story right now waiting for a song in the darkest hour and you got a captive audience today so let's be defiant today in the midnight hour let's be defiant today in the longest night and let's say God I still believe and I will yet praise you because I believe you are good and I believe you are doing your best in and through my life we love you we bless you God you

Channel: Passion City Church

Views: 52,549

Rating: 4.7834587 out of 5

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Id: Nc3DbuAbCKc

Length: 47min 36sec (2856 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 24 2018