The Second Missionary Journey - Paul Preaching in the Philippian Prison

If you would, take your Bible, turn to Acts chapter 16. Tonight we're gonna be in verses 30 to 40, but when we do come to the time that we read our scripture, we will go back and get and read those verses that we covered the last time we were here in our study in Acts. So just have your Bible turn there. We'll get there in a few minutes. Now it has been quite a while since we've been here in our study through Acts because of Vacation Bible School and Vacation Bible School preparation. We took a necessary break, but back on June the 3rd, we covered verses 25 to 29 and what I called prayer and praise in prison.

Of course, this is all about Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke and Philippi during what we know as the second missionary journey. But since it has been a while, I think it would be good to refresh our memory as to where we are in our study of the book of Acts. We saw in verses 16 to 24 how Paul and Silas were persecuted and thrown into prison while they were there in Philippi. Of course, this is the second missionary journey. But think back about what took place before the missionary team of Paul and Silas had split up over their sharp disagreement as to whether to take John Mark along on the second missionary journey.

Barnabas had suggested taking John Mark, so they went one way, but Paul and Silas, they went another. After being commissioned and sent out by the church at Antioch, Paul and Silas went back into Derby and Lystra, strengthening the churches, but they were hindered by the Holy Spirit until Paul received what is commonly called the Macedonian call. We see these events in Acts 16, verses one to 10. And we have seen that their ministry in Macedonia started off great. I mean, it was wonderful, but things changed rather quickly because persecution broke out against Paul and Silas and the team.

Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke had made their way into Macedonia, into Philippi. There they saw the first recorded convert to Christ in Europe and the birth of the first church in Europe. A wealthy, respected woman named Lydia and others were converted to Christ and they began to gather in her home. As they continued to minister in Philippi, they encountered a slave girl who was demon possessed. She made her owners a lot of money by fortune telling through her demonic activity. And after many days of following Paul and the mission team around and crying out, these men are servants of the Most High God who proclaim to you the way of salvation.

Paul became greatly annoyed, the text says, and he cast the demon out of her. And that is when things changed fast. That is when things went south. Because the owners of the slave girl lost their profit, they stirred up the Roman officials to arrest Paul and Silas. The crowds joined in and they attacked them. And the Roman officials gave orders that they'd be beaten with rods and thrown into prison. So they were put in the inner prison with their feet put in stocks. We see these events in verse 11 to 24. And all those events led up to what we studied back on June the 3rd.

Paul and Silas were in prison there in Philippi, in the inner prison in Philippi. And we saw that they did not react the way we may have anticipated. Another way of saying it, they did not react the way we probably would react. They reacted by praying to God and praising God and simply trusting God. Now I do not have time to go back all that we studied in the message. I strongly suggest that you go and listen to that message if you missed it. But I did come up with a few big picture points of application and I include them in tonight's message because these are very timely. And I'll explain that after I give the lessons. The first lesson.

We do not allow circumstances to determine whether we will serve and praise God. I'll repeat it. We do not allow circumstances to determine whether we will serve and praise God. Paul and Silas show us that our devotion to God must never be dependent on circumstances. Though they had been beaten in prison and placed in stocks, they prayed, they sang praises to God because they trusted God. So we must not allow even the most difficult of circumstances to determine if we praise God and serve God. Second lesson. We learn to interpret our circumstances through the sovereignty of God. I'll repeat this one.

We have to learn to interpret our circumstances through the sovereignty of God. Paul and Silas endured persecution because they believed that God was in control of everything and especially their circumstances. Rather than allowing their circumstances to shake them or even shatter them, they rested in the sovereignty of God. I quoted John MacArthur here last time and I'll quote him again. He says, Christians rejoice in the glorious truth that the sovereign God controls every circumstance of life. Therefore, believers must trust that God causes all things to work together as his plan for our good according to his will, plan and purpose.

Now the third lesson. We must understand that suffering is God's tool or instrument for spiritual growth. I'll repeat that lesson. We must come to the place where we understand and accept that suffering is God's tool for spiritual growth. Paul and Silas' experience in prison reminds us that often God uses hardship and suffering to sanctify and strengthen his people. He even uses them in the midst of that suffering. For us, many times, the greatest works of strengthening and sanctification come from trial, even suffering not from ease and comfort. I mentioned this the last time we were in this message.

I repeated an old friend of mine said, and I'm loosely quoting him, years ago, "You show me a Christian who has not gone through trial "and I will show you an immature Christian." And I think he wasn't his right. The fourth lesson. We must pursue the spirit-filled life before trials come after they come upon us and after they have passed. The spirit-filled life is the key to it all, folks. I'll repeat that lesson. We must pursue the spirit-filled, spirit-controlled life before trials come, after they've come upon us, and after they passed.

Paul and Silas responded rightly because they were living the spirit-filled, spirit-guided, spirit-controlled life. Remember, trials reveal what control us. Let me restate that. Trials reveal what controls us. Think about how we have reacted to trials and suffering. These things show us, they reveal to us if we are spirit-controlled or flesh-controlled. Remember, trials reveal what is controlling us. The last lesson. We must recognize that how we live and suffering reveals what we truly believe about God. I'll repeat this one. We must recognize that how we live in trial and suffering reveals what we truly believe about God.

One of the central lessons of this passage and message is that our theology is revealed in adversity. I'll repeat that. One of the things that came out, one of the most central lessons that came out of that message in these passages is that our theology is revealed in adversity. Again, John MacArthur here, he says how Christians live is directly related to their concept of God. He went on to say Paul and Silas did not base their theology on their circumstances. Instead, they evaluated those circumstances in light of what they knew to be true about God.

And for us, again, think about how we have reacted to trial and suffering in the past, how we react and live in the trial, in the suffering, and even when it seems like things are unjust, unfair, that is reflective of our view of God much more than we know. Now, why do I take the time to pull some application out of that message from June the 3rd? That is because prayer and praise in prison really goes along with it compliment Sunday's message from Hebrews 12, three to eight, the encouragement of discipline. It all goes together, folks. Again, get Sunday's message if you missed it. Get prayer and praise in prison if you missed it.

Those two really do go together. Now, tonight we pick up with Paul and Silas in that Philippian prison. In here, we see what took place after the prayer and praise meeting. Let's read verses 25 to 29. Then we will pick up with our verses for tonight, which are verses 30 to 40. Verse 25. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. And suddenly, there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Now, that's an unusual prayer and praise meeting, isn't that right?

And immediately, all the doors were opened, and everyone's binds, that would be shackles, were unfastened. Remember, they were in stocks. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." And the jailer called for lights and rushed in. And trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, "and you will be saved.

"You and your household." And 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 wounds. And he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them into his house and sent food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God. But when it was day, that would be the next day, the magistrates sent the police saying, "Go let those men go." And the jailer reported these words to Paul saying, "The magistrates have sent to let you go.

"Therefore come, come out now and go in peace." But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us publicly, "uncondemned, men who were Roman citizens "and have thrown us into prison. "And do they now throw us out secretly? "No. "Let them come themselves and take us out." The police reported these things to the magistrates and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. So they came and apologized to them and they took them out and asked them to leave the city. So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia.

And when they had seen the brothers, and some translations will note at the bottom, brothers and sisters, this will be the church, they encouraged them and they departed, meaning they departed the city. Now tonight in our message, we will be looking at what I call Paul preaching in the Philippian prison. You can shorten it by saying Paul preaching in the prison. The full title is really this, the second missionary journey, Paul preaching in the Philippian prison. Now we will make four observations here. We won't spend much time on some of these. First, I want us to see how Paul preached the gospel in prison, verses 30 and 32.

Second, how God provided for Paul and Silas, verse 33 to 34. Third, how God provided for those who had believed, verse 33, and then last, how God protected them, in verse 35 to 40. So let's get started. Number one, we see Paul preaching in prison. Verses 30 to 32, Paul preaching in prison. Now here we have quite a lot going on and all that took place before the jailer asks this question that comes into play.

Now here we have quite a lot going on and a lot that took place before the jailer asks this question and it all comes into play from the salvation of Lydia, the slave girl being set free, the God ordained and supernatural events that took place in the prison that night. But as we unpack what we have here, I want to take the jailer's question and then I want to kind of work backwards. In verse 30, the jailer comes in and he asks, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" But with that question, we need to see what that reveals. This is a confession of sin. This is a confession of a need for salvation.

This is a confession of a realization of spiritual lostness, a need for salvation, and that he saw Paul and Silas as being from God. Simply the question reveals a work of God in saving a lost sinner, the jailer, and we will get to his salvation here in a moment. And behind that question and this work of God, there is another work that was going on. Let me explain. No doubt the jailer interpreted the earthquake, the release of the prisoners, and the fact that they did not escape is a work from God. And he did not see it as a natural event, but a supernatural event. Again, a work of God. And these men is being sent from God.

And we can safely speculate that the jailer knew what had taken place that put Paul and Silas in prison. I believe it's safe to speculate that he knew of the events that took place when the demonic slave girl was set free. And he may have known about the conversion of Lydia and those others who had believed. Some scholars make these assumptions. I think those assumptions are safe. Simply, God used those events to draw the jailer to the point of this question. He especially used the earthquake and the setting free of the prisoners that did not escape.

God was working in those events to bring the jailer to this conversion, to this conviction of his need for salvation as seen in the question. Now at this point, I wanna work the other way. I wanna make three observations that simply follow the verses. First, the jailer's confession. He confessed his need for salvation, verse 30. The question is simple. The English Standard Version says, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And in the original, the word for sirs is keros, which can be translated Lord. And this word speaks of a person or a thing that has power of deciding, such as a master or a Lord.

And it was a title commonly given to masters or owners of slaves. But a question I want us to ponder. Was the jailer calling them Lord as in God? Well, the answer to that is no. In addressing Paul and Silas in this way, he was revealing his great submission to them and his recognition that they were indeed sent from God. This was kind of a respect and kind of an honor. But notice what the question reveals. His question shows that he understood his great spiritual need, salvation, not a physical need. He had a great spiritual need. He needed salvation.

Now before we move on, we need to make sure we understand a critical life and death, heaven and hell truth here. This question must come before a true and genuine conversion to Christ and salvation. Let me repeat that. The question that we see here, what must I do to be saved? That must come before a true and genuine conversion to Christ. Simply a person cannot be saved unless they are convinced that they are lost.

To loosely quote what my old friend Ed Lacy would always say, "You can't get a man saved until you get the man lost." And I wanna take this lesson a little further by saying, in my opinion, the reason many lost people in many churches do not get saved is that they never see and understand themselves as being lost. Remember, a person can never be saved unless they are convinced by God that they are lost. I will be rather quick here. Many of you know, some of you may know, my wife came to faith in Christ after I was in the ministry. Now I met my wife at church and she was serving the Lord.

I mean, she was serving God, we got saved, she was a faithful minister's wife. But God began to work and reveal to her that she was lost. And the hardest thing for her to do is to come to the place where she realized, wait a minute, I am lost, all the stuff that I did before was just flesh. But when God got out of that place where she said, "I am lost, I understand that I'm lost." Boom, she got saved. Of course, that's the work of God. So the jailer's confession, he confessed to Paul in silence, his great need to be saved.

And he did that by asking, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Second Paul's response, he called the jailer to savingly believe. Verse 31, now notice what Paul did not do. I ran across this in some Jim Boyce material. It's very good, it really applies to us. I really made it my own. It's a little bit of him and a little bit of me. But notice that Paul did not suggest counseling for the jailer. Notice Paul did not give him a lecture on proper theology. Notice he did not dig into the meaning of the jailer's language and the words that he used. Paul did not talk to him about baptism or the Lord's Supper yet.

Paul did not talk to him about church and church membership. None of those things. Of course, those things are important and some of those things he needed in due time. But Paul knew the jailer was asking how to be saved or how to get or attain personal salvation. So Paul cut right to the chase and called him to savingly believe. What a question. What does it mean to savingly believe? Well, basically four things plus the magic ingredient. Let me restate the question and restate how I will answer it. What does it mean to savingly believe? Well, basically four things plus the magic ingredient. Let me explain.

First, one must have a right understanding of who Jesus is. He was and is God and the promised Messiah of God. John 3 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. Second, one must have a right understanding of what Jesus did on the cross. He went to the cross to provide salvation for men and man.

First Peter 3 18, for Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he thus Christ might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. Third, one must have a right understanding of who they are. All men, all mankind are sinners and all are in need of salvation. The greatest chapter that explains that, quoting some of the Old Testament is Romans chapter three. But I quote two verses Romans 3 11 and 12, they say no one understands, no one seeks God, speaking to the sinfulness of man. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless. No one does good, not even one.

Fourth, one must have a right understanding of what they need to be saved. All people are lost in need of salvation. So they need to savingly believe and be saved. Romans 10 nine and 10, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. For with the heart one believes it is justified and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. And then fifth, the magic ingredient. Anybody figured that one out? No one can savingly believe unless they are born again.

When one is born again or birthed into the kingdom of God, they can and they will savingly believe and they will express that saving belief. Let me restate that. The magic ingredient with it all is this, no person can savingly believe unless they're born again. When one is born again, birthed into the kingdom, they can and they will savingly believe they will express that saving belief. John three, verse three, Jesus answered him, speaking to Nicodemus, truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot even see the kingdom. That word see there speaks of perceive.

He's saying unless one is born again, born of the spirit of God, they can't even perceive the kingdom much less go into it. But before we move on, we have to ask a question. Paul told the jailer that if he believed in Jesus, he would be saved in all of his household. Look back at verse 31, look back at verse 31. And they said, Paul and Silas, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved and your household. Here is the question and a big one. Was Paul promising what has come to be known as household salvation?

Some in certain reform circles, some in certain Presbyterian circles, some in what are called covenantal traditions believe that this verse expresses God's covenantal dealings with families. They emphasize and believe that God often works through households and generations. They cite verses like Acts 2 39 and 1 Corinthians 7 14. They may encourage believing parents to trust God for the salvation of their children and family members. And that is really, it's kind of a guarantee. Well, was Paul promising that? Is that what he was saying? Well, the answer is no. It really is very simple here.

He, thus Paul was promising that those in his household, family members, servants, slaves, relatives, guests, we could say it like this. Paul was saying all those under his roof who first heard the gospel, second they savingly believed like the jailer did, third, they would be saved. And the lesson here is simple. The pattern seen all throughout the New Testament is clear. The pattern in the New Testament is simple. Men, women and children are saved when they hear the gospel, when they savingly believed. That is when one is saved, no matter who. But then notice they were baptized as a symbol of what had taken place spiritually.

You see, and then they identified with the believers, that's the local church, that's the pattern. So first people hear the gospel, second they savingly believed, then they're saved, third they're baptized, and then fourth they're identified with the local church. That's the pattern in the New Testament. So the jailer savingly believed and those in his household who could believe also did so. But a question, did he understand all of these things, the jailer? Well, the answer is no. But he did believe properly who Jesus was, who he was and the fact that he needed to be saved.

And he demonstrated that he believed that Jesus could give him salvation, the salvation that he needed. What he knew, we do not know. But he did know enough to be saved when he believed. Of course, this was a supernatural rebirthing work of the Spirit of God and we're gonna see that Paul and the brothers taught him more. But then third, the follow-up. They taught the word of God in the jailer's home. Go back to verse 32, 30 and 32.

Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus "and you will be saved, "you and your household." And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. Here we see what we would call as follow-up or discipleship. William McDonald calls this a teaching session with the jailer and all in his household. Now, this is simple. Paul and the missions team taught the jailer and all in his household who could understand the word of the Lord. A.T. Robertson says this was a fuller exposition of the way of life. This would be the gospel.

The old English Baptist John Gill says this was simply the gospel which comes from Christ. No doubt they explained more of the gospel and what had happened to the jailer and to them. No doubt they explained more of who Jesus was, what he did and what the salvation of Christ is and looks like. So in summary, notice what we have here in verses 30 to 32. It's quite a lot, but it's rather simple. By the supernatural work of the spirit of God in and around the jailer, he confessed to Paul and Silas that he needed salvation. He asked him what he needed to do to be saved.

Paul and Silas called him to believe in Jesus and he promised them him and they promised him that if he did, he would be saved and not only him, but others in his household as well. And they went with the jailer to his home and they continued to teach and explain the gospel to them. And notice how this applies today. This is very simple. This is what we need. Not people to be thrown in jail, but we need God to get people to the place where they'll cry out, "What must I do to be saved?" Now, one more thing in big picture observation here. Look at how the church at Philippi grew. Think about who was in that church before and after these events.

Lydia in some of her household had come to faith. The church was really headquartered in her house. Others who heard the gospel along with or alongside Lydia, they were there. The slave girl that the demon was cast out of, I believe she was saved. And then those who may have heard the gospel along with that event, I believe there were some who were saved. Then the jailer and some in his household, they were saved too. That was really an eclectic bunch, meaning interesting and diverse. Imagine a fellowship meal with that group. Now, let's keep going. Next, notice God's provision for the team. We see this in verse 33 to 34.

I won't read the verses because of time. But here we see that restitution was made. The jailer made things right. And not only did he make things right, he provided for the men. And I wanna point out two needs that were met. This is real simple and obvious. First, he cared for their wounds. The same man who hours earlier had thrown them into the inner prison and locked them in stocks, he's now washing their wounds like a nurse. As soon as he was saved and converted to Christ, he saw the men much differently. Instead of seeing them as deserving punishment, he saw them in need of care. Now, this may surprise you, but there's a lesson here.

When we come to faith in Christ, one of the first things that the Spirit of God will burden us to do is to right the wrongs we have committed against others. Question here, rhetorical. Before you came to Christ, did you wrong anyone you need to repent to now? I've seen people go the great lengths to make things right when they wrong people before they were saved. Second, he fed them. This is simple. And the next step in righting those wrongs, they had been in prison, they were hungry. So he fed them.

And look at the change here, before he threw them, before he threw them into the inner prison and he locked them in stocks, now they were eating together at the jailer's table in the jailer's home. And look, church, when we come to Christ, we find ourselves fellowshiping with and ministering to, ones we ridiculed and persecuted before. I have shared this before. I got saved on a Saturday night. I went to Sunday school Sunday. And when I walked in Sunday school, there was a young man sitting there that I went to high school with that lived for the Lord and I made fun of. We had great fellowship after, 'cause I got saved.

So, this is simple, but it needs to be seen. God provided for Paul, Silas, and the team. They had been beaten, persecuted, thrown in prison, even locked in stocks. They certainly would have had terrible wounds. So the jailer, after he was saved, he provided for their needs. Next, God's provision for those who were converted. Look at verse 33. God's provision for those who were converted. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. And he was baptized at once, he and his family. Here, we see that the jailer and all of his family who were converted were baptized.

Someone in the team provided baptism for those who'd been saved. Notice it doesn't say who did the baptizing. Now, this leads me to give one explanation and to ask one question. First, what is baptism? Now, the best place to explain what baptism is is from our church statement of faith. There are copies of that around our church. There's a copy of the statement of faith on our church website. Every one of you should have a copy if you don't make sure you get one. But in our statement of faith, it is clear what baptism means.

As a matter of fact, when I do baptismal counseling, I will refer to the statement of faith that often someone will say, I've studied it, I know it, I've studied it. So we know what baptism is. Second, who was baptized in the family? We kind of have covered this. Some questions to ponder. Were there any 16-year-olds baptized? Were there any nine-year-olds baptized? Were there any babies baptized? Who was baptized? To answer that question is really quite simple. Those who heard the gospel, understood the implications of the gospel, understood their need to be saved, and they had the ability to savingly believe and be saved.

That's who was baptized. Can babies here understand, believe, and confess and be saved? No. So there were no babies baptized here. Remember the biblical New Testament pattern. It is simple. Those that were baptized were able to do as the jailer did. So God provided baptism for those who had savingly believed. Grandparents, maybe. Other family members, I'm sure. Children, maybe so. Relatives, slaves, servants, we don't know. All who heard the gospel, understood the implications of the gospel, understood their need to be saved, and had the ability to savingly believe and be saved, they were baptized.

Now one thing that I want to say before I move on. To say that there were babies in this household who were baptized is inserting that into the text. Now I don't want to beat up our Presbyterian friends, but they believe that. Now you can be a Presbyterian and be a faithful Christian. I know that. That's a secondary matter. But it's just not in the text. Baptists traditionally have never believed that there were babies who were baptized here. We have traditionally believed and preached as Baptist historically the New Testament pattern that I clearly explain. And something very important.

To say there were babies who were baptized, that is a violation of that salvation pattern that we see all through the book of Acts and beyond. Really in the gospels too. From the gospels in the book of Acts all throughout the New Testament, the salvation pattern is clear. All who hear the gospel, understand the implications of the gospel, understand their need to be saved, and they have the ability to savingly believe and confess and be saved. They were saved and they were baptized. Of course this is all possible because of a work of grace. Last, number four. And I'll be rather quick here. God's protection for the missions team.

God's protection for the missions team. Verse 35 to 40. But when it was day, or the next day, the magistrates sent the police saying, let those men go. And the jailer reported these things to Paul saying, the magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace. But Paul said to them, they have beaten us publicly, un-condemned, men who are Roman citizens and have thrown us into prison. And do they now throw us out secretly? No. Let them come themselves and take us out. The police reported these words to the magistrates and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens.

So they came and apologized to them and they took them out and they asked them to leave the city. So they, that's Paul and the team, went out of the prison, they visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers and sisters, they encouraged them and they departed. Now I will be shorter here because of time, but honestly I spent more of my time with the other verses because of how serious and applicable those things are to us. But let me give us a brief explanation of what took place here. This will answer a question or two. The next morning the magistrates gave the orders, Paul and Silas were to be released.

Luke does not tell us why, just that they were to be released. But whatever the reason, we do know how Paul reacted and answered. Now I'm putting this in my words, we can easily see that Paul basically said, no way, I am not having this. He basically and truly said, we ain't getting out of prison and just slipping out of town. He pointed out to them that they had been condemned wrongly and unjustly because they had been beaten and thrown into prison without a proper trial. Simply, this was terribly wrong and criminal to do to a Roman citizen. They were Roman citizens. You see, Philippi was thoroughly Roman.

They prided themselves in being Roman. The city officials and people took very serious the observation of Roman law. Well, in this situation, they had broken Roman law and they were afraid as they should have been. So when Paul demanded that the same magistrates who condemned them come out and escort them out, they did, fearfully, sorrowfully. But a question, why did Paul do that? Why did Paul react like this? Well, we really cannot answer from the text, but we can speculate. One scholar I ran across this week suggests that Paul did this for the safety of the church. He suggested that Paul reacted like this to protect the church.

That's a good guess. I think we can say that Paul always put the cares and the concerns of the church first, even ahead of his own needs. And take a look at how these events conclude. Verse 40 says that Paul and the missions team left the prison safe and secure. The magistrates, the city officials were fearful and apologetic to the missionaries at this point. And we see they went back to Lydia's house and they met with the church and the brothers and sisters. And what did they do? They encouraged them before they left. Now think about this. Paul and Silas had been in prison. We would think they needed the encouraging.

But no, Paul and Silas and the others encouraged the brothers and sisters. Before we move on, look at the great example that we see in Paul and these men. When they were released from prison, they were still consumed with ministry. They continued to put the church and the work of the church first. Maybe when we are struggling with trial and difficulties and suffering, maybe we just die to ourself and serve. Maybe we just die to how we feel and our trial and our difficulty and say, "Lord, I'm just gonna serve." If Paul did, I can. So here in verses 35 to 40, we have God's provision for the missions team. God provided protection.

He provided safety. He provided them another day to continue to minister for him and others. Now in closing, look at what we have here in these two blocks of scripture and teaching that go together. It's all about the second missionary journey, prayer and praise in prison, and then Paul preaching in the Philippian prison. One more lesson here, one more point of application. Notice this church. God was in control of these events. These things happened according to his plan, his perfect will for these men and his church and this work.

And if God had ordained that Paul and these men would be stoned to death or stay in prison, God still would have been good and the work of the church still would have continued. Either way, well, how does that apply to us? Well, it's just the same. If we prosper, that's God's will. If we suffer, that's God's will. You see, God's in control. If we prosper, that's God's will. If we suffer, that's God's will. We just accept God's will. Again, Paul preaching in the Philippian prison. And then next week we will see how they made their way into Thessalonica, into Thessalonica.

Let's pray and commit these things to the Lord and we'll look at a few prayer needs.