Power Displayed

In our JH ministry, our study has brought us to Acts 16.16-40. We took the past 2 weeks to break down this story.

We looked at 3 Miracles that Demonstrate God's Power

Miracle #1: An Exorcisim - Demonstrates God's Power Over the Spirit World
~ Paul is on the 2nd missionary Journey in the city of Philippi. After the conversion of Lydia, Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke are ministering in the city. A demon possessed girl follows them around for a number of days, apparently she was abrasive and annoying. She is a slave girl who has the ability to predict the future. Her owners had leveraged this ability to make some money off of her. She must have been accurate, or else she wouldn't have been popular.

Miracle #2: An Earthquake - Demonstrates God's Power Over the Physical World
~ After Paul cast this demon out, the girl loses her ability to predict the future. Her masters have now lost their earning power and they drag Paul and Silas to the center of the city where they incite the crowd and Paul and Silas are beaten.

~ They are tossed into the innermost part of the prison, bound hand and foot. Their reaction to this must have been so different from the typical hardned prisoner. They are singing praise to God and praying in the middle of the night after this horrible abuse. The other prisoners listen to them. What a grace filled sound their song must have made in such a dark environment.

~ Then God looses all the prisoners. They are freed, hand and foot. The miracle doesn't seem to be so much the earthquake as it was freeing them from prison. God just decided to shake the ground while he did it.

Miracle #3: A Conversion - Demonstrates God's Power Over the Human Heart
~Upon seeing that all the prisoners are still there, the guard stops his suicide attempt. With fear and trembling, he falls at the feet of Paul and Silas and asks the most important question in life, "What must I do to be saved." Paul answers that Christ is the way of salvation.

~ The miracle of the new birth is the most amazing of all the miracles. It is amazing because of the sinfulness of natural man. Man would never desire God, God must take the initiative.

If you're looking for something to read, check out Edwards sermon on this text.