The Word Made Plain

Guest (Female): Welcome to The Word Made Plain with senior pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Tony is teaching a study in the book of Acts. Please open your Bible to Acts chapter 16, verses 35 through 40.

Tony Clark: All right, let’s dive into the word of God together. Turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 16. We’re going to be looking at verses 35 to 40 as we continue our verse-by-verse study of the book of Acts on Sunday mornings and going through 1 Samuel on Wednesdays. I just love going through the word of God, but most importantly, I love when that word goes through us.

And Father, we are so grateful that you have given us a word to lead us, to guide us into all truth. We pray, God, that you would unclog our ears, that you would remove any distractions that would keep us from hearing what you have to say to us today. So, God, speak into our hearts by your spirit in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Acts chapter 16, looking at verses 35 to 40. The title of this message is "Why God Allows Suffering." Why does God allow suffering? I mean, why does God allow suffering? That’s a good question. Why is it that God allows for his people to suffer? To go through tough times and hardships and heartaches? Why is that? Especially when Ephesians 3:19 says that God’s love for us surpasses knowledge? In other words, God’s love for us cannot even be comprehended. So if that is the case, why is it that God allows for his people to suffer if he loves us so much? This is the subject of these verses.

Now let me bring us up to date and give you the background. Paul and Silas were put in prison for casting a demon out of a slave girl and for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. The masters of this slave girl were highly upset because, according to verse 19, they saw that their hope of profit was gone. So they made a citizen's arrest and brought them to the judges in verse 20. They tore their clothes off of them and beat them with rods in verse 22.

However, at midnight, as they were praying and singing hymns to God, an earthquake shook the prison in verse 26. The jailer ran in with a light, inquiring how to be saved, and Paul led him to the Lord. He ended up taking Paul and Silas to his house in verse 33 and washed their wounds as they were received from being beaten, and Paul and Silas led his whole family into a relationship with Jesus Christ, according to verse 34. Now we pick it up in verses 35 and 36. Look what it says there.

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." In verse 35, we see that the magistrates, who were the judges, had a change of heart. Why is that? Maybe they thought about how they let the mob sway their actions toward these men. Or maybe they thought that they were a little too harsh on Paul and Silas when the only charge against them is listed for us in verse 20, which says these men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city.

Or maybe the earthquake shook some sense into them. All we know is that the magistrates sent the officers. These officers were called lictors, who were the carriers of the rods used to beat Paul and Silas. So they came and said to the jailer, the keeper of the prison, "Let those men go." Now this says a lot about Paul and Silas because the earthquake opened up all of the doors of the prison in verse 26. They were taken to the jailer's home, and they could have easily left town, but they didn't.

Why is it that they didn't leave town? Because they didn’t want to get this newborn-again jailer into trouble. Because when the word got back that they allowed for Paul and Silas to escape or to get away, that would have been the death sentence to this jailer. And so Paul and Silas came back to the prison, and the next day is when the officer came with the news of letting them go. So the keeper of the prison, who is now a believer and no doubt was pleased and excited to bring this good news to Paul and Silas in verse 36, said, "Good news, the magistrates have sent to let you go. Now, therefore, depart and go in peace."

Now I have a question. God knew that these magistrates would allow Paul and Silas to leave the next day after they were beaten. Then what was the purpose of the earthquake in verse 26? The earthquake had absolutely nothing to do with setting Paul and Silas free, but it had everything to do with saving this Philippian jailer and his whole household. It had everything to do with those prisoners as well, who were listening to Paul and Silas praying and singing hymns in verse 25.

So often we wonder why God allows for us to go through tough times and why we go through sufferings. The reason why is because there is a Philippian jailer in the form of a boss, or prisoners in the form of coworkers and family members, who are watching and listening to us as we are unjustly put in prison. To see if we can still praise the Lord in the midnight hour of our lives. Can we still sing God's praises when we're put in stocks? When we’re put in maximum security, so to speak, and when things are dark in our lives?

Can we say we’re still too blessed to be stressed and all that other jargon we use when we’re in the prison of our lives? Surely Paul and Silas were thrilled to hear that they could depart in peace, right? Well, look at verse 37. I love this verse. But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison, and now do they want to put us out secretly? No indeed. Let them come themselves and get us out." I just love Paul. He’s one of the ones I can’t wait to talk to when I get to heaven. What a great guy that is.

Paul pointed out the serious error of the magistrates. They assumed because Paul and Silas were Jews that they were not Roman citizens, which they were. Later on, talking to another Roman soldier in Acts 22 and verses 27 and 28, a commander asked Paul whether he was a Roman citizen, and he said yes. The commander responded by saying, "I paid for my citizenship," and Paul said, "I was born one." Now Paul had been beaten, he had been mistreated, he had been stoned previously in other cities in Lystra that we saw previously.

And he said nothing in light of his Roman citizenship. But this time, he decided to speak up. Why? For the sake of the young Philippian church being formed in the city there. Paul and Silas being escorted out of prison by the magistrates who beat them with rods and now they are found innocent would send a huge message to the city of Philippi that Christians were not to be poorly treated, especially if they were Roman citizens. So Paul tells them to go back and tell the magistrates to come themselves and get us out.

I love this. Why? Because this is the other side of the coin of turning the other cheek that a lot of people love to quote in Matthew 5 and verse 39. Yes, there are times when we have to endure hardship as a good soldier, like 2 Timothy 2:3 teaches us. But in some situations like we see here, we must stand up for our rights as citizens in this country. I’m so glad I heard about the verdict that took place the other day where the LGBTQ community constantly kept taking this one Christian baker to court because they refused to make a same-sex wedding cake.

So they kept taking them to court. Well, the next court said, "Christian baker, you owe them $135,000 for your discrimination." And the Christian baker said, "Oh really? That ain’t happening here." Took it to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court said, "You don’t have to pay a dime. You’re innocent. Stop fooling around with this Christian baker. Quit discriminating against them." And I said yes. About time someone stood up against that sort of onslaught of tomfoolery. So I love it. There are times that you have to do that. Stand up for your rights as citizens in this country.

However, we need God’s wisdom on when it is time to do one or the other. In other words, when to submit to the hardship and when to hold people accountable for their actions. One way is to see if me going through this hardship would bring salvation to the Philippian jailer in my life. If so, then we submit to the hardship because the other prisoners are watching and it could mean that the other coworkers will end up getting saved as well.

So you have to ask yourself, "If I submit to this hardship, will it bring salvation to maybe the Philippian jailer or boss in my life? Or will it bring salvation to the other coworkers?" Then I endure hardship as a good soldier. But if it doesn’t, then there’s times by which you have to pull out your Roman citizenship and say as an American citizen, I have rights to say that ain’t happening. And so you’ve got to have the wisdom because don’t be pulling out your rights when God wants you to endure hardship. You’ve got to have the wisdom to know the difference.

Now let’s see what happened next. Look at verses 38 and 39. It says, "And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman. Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out and asked them to depart from the city." So the officers went back and told the magistrates what Paul said, and they were afraid in verse 38. Why? Because to inflict corporal punishment on a Roman citizen, especially without a trial, was a serious violation of Roman law.

The consequences were not only on the magistrates, but on the entire city. It was very serious. The magistrates could have been removed from office, and the Emperor could have taken away their privileges as a Roman colony, which could mean death to that city. And this is why they were afraid. Did they come? Oh, you better believe they did. They tried to diffuse the situation and pleaded with them in verse 39 and brought them out and asked them politely to depart from the city.

The phrase "brought them out" in Greek is *exago*, and it means to bring forth, to lead out, or to escort. What a great scene this was. The very people who arrested, beat, and put in prison are now politely escorting Paul and Silas not only out of prison, but also out of town. This sent a huge message to the rest of the citizens and to the Christians there. Let’s see what else happened. Look at verse 40. It says, "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."

Luke, the author of the book of Acts, starts off this verse by referring to Paul and his team with the pronoun "they." And he ended by saying "they encouraged them and departed." Now when Luke joined Paul and his team back in chapter 16, verse 10, the pronouns changed from "they" to "we" and "us." Now he goes back to using "they." Why? Many scholars suggest and believe that Luke stayed behind to help the young Philippian church.

As you remember, Luke possibly went to medical school in this particular area, and he wanted to stay a little longer to help the church out. The pronouns go back to "we" in chapter 20, verse 5, as Luke joined back up with the team. Now let’s go back to the original question: Why does God allow for us to suffer? It’s seen in verse 40. It says that Paul and Silas entered the house of Lydia and, watch this, encouraged them. The Greek word for encourage is *parakaleo*, and it means to come alongside to help or comfort.

See, when we go through dark times or go through the midnight hour like Paul and Silas, it enables us to encourage or comfort others. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 confirms this. It says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our tribulation." Why, God? "That we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." Now why did I put emphasis on comfort and comforted? Because the Greek word for comfort or comforted is *parakaleo*.

It means to come alongside of to comfort. The same Greek word that is used in verse 40 here. Now this means profound meaning for us. That this is what Paul and Silas were doing. They came alongside of to comfort the believers in the area. In other words, God allows us to go through suffering so we can come alongside of and comfort those around us going through suffering and tough times with the same comfort by which God comforted us. Oh my goodness. I reject that teaching. God doesn’t want us to be sick. He wants us to be wealthy and in health.

He doesn’t want us to go through tough times, but he just wants us to go through just good times. Baloney. Baloney. God allows for us to go through tough times and suffering so we can comfort those around us that are going through the same thing with the comfort we have been comforted ourselves. If I believe that teaching, and I don’t, that God never wants us to go through anything tough, anything hard, anything difficult, anything being sick, if I believe that, then everybody around us, the whole entire world is suffering.

They’re sick. They’re going through tough times, they’re going through hardship. And they’ll say, "Hey, what’s going with you?" "Oh, everything’s good with me. I serve God, so nothing is wrong with me." Watch this. God allows for us to go through tough times and suffering so we can be relatable to the people all around us who are going through suffering. Let me tell you something. Because there’s a reason we’re called earthlings. Because we’re subject to this earth. Our bodies came from the dirt of the ground.

We’re of this earth, meaning that we’re subject to the fallenness of this earth like everybody else is. We get sick like everybody else, our folks, and we get cancer like everybody else. Why? Because we’re of this earth. We’re on this earth. We’re not of it, but we’re here on it. So we’re subject to these types of things. The greatest miracle worker in the Old Testament is Elisha. He asks for a double portion of the spirit that was upon Elijah.

Therefore, all the miracles Elijah did, if you look at the miracles that Elisha did, they were twice the amount that Elijah did. He asked for a double portion, and God did just that. Then we read Elisha got sick with the sickness by which he was going to die. It happens to all of us. I get a cold just like you get a cold. I stump my foot, my foot hurts just like everybody else’s foot hurt. God allows these things so we can be relatable to the world around us. Oh, we’ve got to see this.

This is why God allows us so we can comfort others with the same comfort that we have been comforted ourselves. See, there are Philippian jailers that we all have in our lives. And there are prisoners in the form of coworkers, family members, and friends. They suffer. They go through tough times. They’re in the prison of some sin. And this is why God allows for us to go through the stuff we go through. Now here’s the thing. The generation under me, my children and my children’s children under me, I’ve heard this.

I just heard this. That many of them claim they can’t relate to me because I always tell you, you’ve heard me say many times, before I was a Christian I never did smoke, drink, or do drugs. I was an athlete and I wanted to be the best I can be. I didn’t want anything. Smoke, that means my lungs. I need my lungs to do what I was doing, baseball, basketball, whatever. I needed my lungs. So I didn’t want anything. My dad used to smoke. It was horrible going in the house.

So I didn’t want to do that. My dad drank. No. We had a bar in the basement in my day in the Midwest. Fooling around with that stuff. Dad used to come home and wanted to box and hit. I never did do drugs because I wanted to be the best I can be. Now I heard that the generation under me, "Oh, I can’t relate to Pastor Tony. He’s never gone through anything." Oh, watch this. But I thought I was God’s gift to the little honeys and I chased the little honeys.

Now here’s the thing. Whatever it is, because there are other prisoners, there are people in the prison of their sin. And what happens is that God will send whatever it is your background. God will send other prisoners to you that can relate to what you used to be shackled to. And therefore, God will send people to me. "I’m just struggling with the little honeys." "Come on over here, I can talk to you." No, I don’t know what it means to be high. I don’t know what it is to be drunk, and I don’t care to know.

I didn’t want anything to take my wits. I always wanted to have my wits about me. And I didn’t want anything to take that from me. That’s just my thing. The other things that I was shackled to. So whatever it is that you used to be in prison to, and some of you still in prison. The things you used to be in prison to, God will send other prisoners your way and say, "Look, you know, I’m just struggling. I’m going through this." "Oh, let me tell you about my prison experience."

And then you can comfort them with the same comfort you’ve been comforted and introduce them to your God. See, that’s what it's all about. This is why God allows for us to go through the things we go through. It makes us relatable to the world around us. I wish it was like, okay, we accept Christ, we accept the Lord as our personal Lord and Savior, I wish it was like, okay, from that moment on we’re never sick, we never go through tough times, we never go through hardships, we never go through sorrow, everything is just great.

Let me tell you something. That’s heaven. That’s when we get to heaven. That’s not here. We go through stuff. We have family members get sick, we have family members that die. We get sick, we struggle. Everybody. We go through this stuff because God wants us to comfort other prisoners that we are connected to. And God will send them your way, he’ll send some my way and all that kind of stuff. God wants us to be relatable. So Paul and Silas encouraged and comforted those new believers in Philippi, and then he departed and headed to the city of Thessalonica or Thessalonika, depending upon who you talk to.

Now let me conclude with this. Why does God allow us to suffer? Sometimes we suffer as a result of our sin. Please understand that. Sometimes we suffer as a consequence of our sin. Let’s not rule that out now. That’s there. But other times he wants to use us to reach some Philippian jailer or others who are in the prison of their sin. God brings them our way so we can comfort them with the same comfort we have been comforted by God.

So if you’re in the prison of some sin, God has shaken up the prison of your life. The purpose is to set you free and because down the road he will use you to bring comfort to someone who is in some prison situation. So if you’re here today and you’re still in the prison of some sin, come today and let some folks pray with you.

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