Latest / Desoto Hills Baptist Church / SUNDAY - FEBRUARY 8, 2026 "I'm Gonna End It"

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SUNDAY - FEBRUARY 8, 2026 "I'm Gonna End It" · Desoto Hills Baptist Church

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to DeSoto Hills Baptist Church.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Our Sunday morning services are weekly at 9 and 10 30 a.m.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: You're listening to an audio recast of this past week's service.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: We hope you enjoy.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: God bless.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: Acts chapter 16.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to start reading in verse 19 this morning as you turn there and tell you as I was thinking through this message and thing at things this week, the last couple weeks, a saying of my dad's just kept coming back.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: It was when when Clay, my brother, and I would get into an argument, we'd get in some kind of kind of fight, dad would always come in there, and you know the typical question is, what's going on?
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: To which immediately our response is not what's happening, but whose fault it is.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: He started it.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: No, he started it.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know that.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: And my dad always, I don't care if Ronald Reagan started it, I'm gonna end it.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Almost every time.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: Now it wasn't always Ronald Reagan.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: Most of the time it was.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: Look, if you want to use this at some time, feel free.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: But I used it at one point with some kids, and I said, Ronald Reagan, and they said, Who?
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: So you might want to update the name a little bit.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: But as we as we come to this passage today, and as we as we look here, understand this, and we're gonna see this.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: And our salvation from beginning to end, it's God.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: God begins our salvation, and He's gonna complete it.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: He's gonna carry it out to the very end.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: He's gonna end it.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: He's gonna bring it to completion.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: And what we're gonna we're gonna see that in our passage today.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Now let's remember what's happening in Acts at this point.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: Last week we looked at two ladies, a lady named Lydia, and then a young slave lady who was demon-possessed.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: Lydia, we talked about how God opened her heart and she heard the message of the gospel and God opened her heart and she believed in him.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: And then we see in this young demon-possessed lady who had a spirit of divination, which means she was a fortune teller.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: We saw when Paul finally got annoyed enough through the power of Jesus, we saw him cast, Jesus cast the demon out through using Paul.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: And we saw how her life was dramatically changed.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this is not the point today, but just let me let me chase a rabbit for just a second at the beginning of this.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: Man, it is a sad situation when we see this young lady who is possessed by a demon and then is freed, and people become angry because she has been freed and can no longer make her money, make them money.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: So what happens?
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: Her owners are gonna get upset because she can't make them money anymore, and they become so angry.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: And listen, when we become so focused on our own prosperity and our own things, where we lose sight of people who are created in the image of God and God's justice and God's righteousness being carried out, and we we are so focused on instead of people, we're focused on prospering.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: It is a sad day.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's where they found themselves.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: So what they're gonna see, we're gonna see in this passage today.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: But as we move on, we we see that Paul and Silas in this passage are gonna suffer persecution.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: But all the while that they are suffering persecution, God is sovereignly at work.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: And while we may not suffer the same kinds of persecution that Paul and Silas faced, we all have to admit that we go through difficult times.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: We go through times that are hard and straining and strenuous and taxing.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: We go through those times and hopefully as we go through those, we will recognize that regardless of our circumstance, God is sovereignly at work.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: So the challenge for us today as we read this passage is this believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: Now listen, that salvation that we're talking about here is not just a salvation from our sins and death.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: It is salvation from that.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely it is that, but it is also a continual salvation that brings us into a right and proper relationship with God.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: In Romans chapter 8, in Romans 8, verses 28 through 30, Paul says this, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers, and those whom he predestined, he also called, and those whom he called, he also justified, and those whom he justified, he also glorified.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: Here, God is conforming us to the image of his son, and that is salvation.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: And he is working sovereignly in our lives to conform us to that image of him, and what we need to do is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the challenge.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: So the question that we seek to answer this morning is how do we see God at work?
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: If he is sovereignly working, in this passage, how do we see him at work?
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna invite you to stand with me if you are able as we read Acts chapter 16.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna begin in verse 19 and read through the end of the chapter.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: And when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into the prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in stocks.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: 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, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing the prisoners had escaped.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: But Paul cried with a loud voice, Do not harm yourself, we are for we are all here.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: The jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: Then he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: And they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: 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 was baptized at once, he and all his family.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: Then he brought them up into the house and set food before them, and he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, Let those men go.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, The magistrates have sent to let you go, therefore come out now and go in peace.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: But Paul said to them, They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison, and do not and they and do they now throw us out secretly?
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: Let them come themselves and take us out.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: So they came and apologized to them, and they took them out and asked them to leave the city.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia, visited Lydia, and when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: Dear God, we thank you for your word.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: We thank you how you have chosen to reveal yourself through it.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so, God, we pray that now we will see you.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: See you sovereignly at work in our lives and believe.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: God, help us as only you can.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus is in your wonderful name that we pray.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: You may be seated.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: So again, we seek to answer how do we see God at work?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: Well, if we're going to see him at work, let's first see the persecution that Paul and Silas faced, and let's try to understand that a little bit better.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: What we what we find is Paul and Silas, they just Jesus cast this demon out of this slave girl at Paul's word, and so now the owners, they're they're mad, they're upset, that they can profit no longer from this girl.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: So they grabbed, they seized Paul and Silas, and they dragged them to court.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: Now, court was a little bit different.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: The court that you see is a little bit different than what we have today.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: Typically, this is how what it would look like in a Roman city.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: They would go kind of to the courtyard there, and there would be two magistrates.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh in verse 19, they they call them rulers.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's probably the same thing in verse 20 when they call them magistrates.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: There would be two there who would try, who would hear civil cases throughout the day, and their goal, their call was to keep the peace.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so they would come and hear these things, and Paul and Silas are dragged before these men.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: Now there's two other, there's one other kind of person that we need to see here in our passage.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: They call them police.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: You hear them later.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's the police who went and told them to let Paul and Silas go, and it was the police that went back to the magistrates with Paul's word.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's probably these same police.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: They're kind of the enforcers of the civil court.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: It was probably those same guys who flogged Paul and Silas that we're going to get to in just a moment.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: So they are brought before these men, and they're really brought three charges against them.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: Now they're circumstantial at best, but there's three charges.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: The first charge is that they were Jewish.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this is true.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, they were Jewish, but it wasn't illegal at that point to be a Jew.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: Now, there comes a time in the Roman Empire where the Jews have to disperse and they're disbanded and it becomes illegal, but at this point it's not.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: So the first charge of being a Jew, there's nothing to it.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: But but the guys who brought Paul and Silas, they knew what they were doing because here's what they knew.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: They knew if they claimed that they were Jews, what it would bring is it would bring from the crowd who was gathering around them, it would bring some racial racial tension into the mix.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: Because while it wasn't illegal to be a Jew, there were many who did not like the Jews in the Roman Empire.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: So what's happening is they're stirring up this crowd.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: The second charge they bring is that they are disturbing the city.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: Now, to this point, here's what Paul and Silas have done.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: They came into Philippi, they found ladies, women who had been meeting by the riverside to pray, and they began to have conversations with them about Jesus Christ, to which Lydia last week we saw that God opened her heart and she believed.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: The only other interaction that they've had that we've seen besides that is they cast this demon out of this young lady, which really hasn't affected or disturbed the city.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's only affected and disturbed her owners.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: She's really the only people who have been affected by this, other than the lady, doesn't have, isn't demon-possessed anymore.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: But again, what these gentlemen are trying to, I don't know if we could call them gentlemen, these men are trying to do is stir up the crowd.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: And they're doing it.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: The crowd is, oh, they're Jews.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: No, they're stuck, they're disturbing the city.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's just stirring them up.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then the third charge is he they charge them of advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: That is not a charge.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: There's nothing at this point that the Jews believed in the Roman Empire that was unlawful, that went against any teaching of the Roman Empire, other than they just didn't like that the Jews were monotheistic instead of polytheistic.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: They couldn't understand why the Jews had only one God.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so at this point, there's really been nothing illegal but what is happening.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: See the picture.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: As the magistrates are standing in court, what is happening is crowds have begun to gather around and they are becoming riotous.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: So what the magistrates, remember, their job is to keep law and order, is to keep the peace.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: So as they see what's happening, it says that they rip their clothes off, rip the clothes off of Paul and Silas and order them to be flogged.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this looks, what this would look like is these police, they would have rods.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: It would be a bunch of rods that were tied with a ribbon or some way.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: Paul probably, it's probably one of the times in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 25, he talks about, he tells the Corinthians, there are three times I was beaten with rods.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: This is this is probably one of those times that he is beaten.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: Then they take Paul and Silas and they go to the jailer and they say, they they tell the jailer to keep them safely.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: Let me let me get back to Acts.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: He they tell them to inflict many blows upon them.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: They threw them in a prison, order the jailer to keep them safely.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's what he means.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: You better not let them escape.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: So the jailer, under that compulsion, takes them to the innermost cell and puts them in stocks.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the stocks are things that were used, could have been used uh throughout the Roman Empire for torture.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: They use them for that sometimes to stretch people's legs.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's a wooden thing.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: They're not really, we don't really think they're using them for torture in Paul and Silas here.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: He just doesn't want them to escape.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: So he puts them in the stocks that are probably attached to these walls.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: And they're beaten, hurting, in stocks, in prison, for doing nothing wrong.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: But hear their heart.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: It tells us about midnight.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine that peace?
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine that confidence?
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: Not confidence in themselves, not confidence in what they were doing, but confidence that God was sovereignly working.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Later in the book of Philippians.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: In Philippians chapter 4, remember they are in Philippi here.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's where they are.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: And in Philippians chapter 4, verses 4 through 7, Paul pins these words.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: He's left Philippi and he's writing back to them.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: And he pins these words in verse 4 through 7.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: Rejoice in the Lord always.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I will say, rejoice.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: The Lord is at hand.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: Do not be anxious about anything.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: But in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: Now imagine you are a member of the congregation at Philippi.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: And you know the story.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: You saw Paul and Barnabas, Paul and Silas be stripped of their clothes.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: You saw them flogged with rods.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: You saw them cast into prison.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: And you heard the stories how at midnight they were praying and they were singing praises to God in the midst of their persecution.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: Why were they able?
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: How were they able?
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: Paul pins and tells them how he was able.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Rejoice in the Lord always.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I will say, rejoice.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: The Lord is at hand.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: Now listen, they're in prison, they're in stocks, they've been beaten.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: Do not be anxious about anything, but by everything.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: With prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, which is what they are doing.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: They are praying and singing praises to God.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: And hear what happens.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: And the God of peace, which surpasses understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: What's happening in that prison is even though they are suffering major persecution, the peace of God is guarding their hearts and their minds.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because they are believing in the Lord Jesus.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: So we see the persecution.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: So let's move on then and see how is God working here?
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: How is God working in this persecution?
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, at the end of verse 25, we, as they are praying and singing, there's a little phrase that I don't want us to miss.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: It says, and the prisoners were listening to them.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: Now, that doesn't sound like much.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you you have you ever been in a place let me give you an example.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: I love to sing.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: I don't do it well, but I love to do it.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: To the point that I come in a lot of mornings singing.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Singing.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: I was given a shirt this year by the ladies in the office for Christmas that said, just because I can't sing doesn't mean I won't.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: Love to sing.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: And listen, bless their hearts.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: When I start singing here in the office, it's not that big.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: Not many places to go to get away from it.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: They're going to hear it.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: But it doesn't mean they're listening.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: We have seen in Scripture God working through listening ears.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: Just last week in Lydia.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: Go back to chapter 16, verse 14.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: It says, and one who heard us was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: And the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: She was listening.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: God opened her heart.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: She believed.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm not advocating that they became believers.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: I have no idea scripture doesn't tell us.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: But I believe they were listening because something is about to happen.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get there in just a moment.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: But as Paul and Silas were singing, and as the prisoners were listening, God sent an earthquake.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: An earthquake that made the whole foundations of the prison tremble to the point that the doors to the all the cells came open.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: The jailer comes down and sees all the doors open, and he's literally about to fall on his sword because he knows it would be better to kill himself than to suffer the punishment that he would have to suffer for all the prisoners escaping under his watch.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: So he's about to fall on the sword, and Paul stops him and says, Hey, stop.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: We're all here.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: Not just Paul and Silas.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: Doesn't that seem strange?
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I know all of y'all are good people and you wouldn't wind up in prison.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: Fingers crossed.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: But imagine you did.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: And something happened, and the cell door came open.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: You're probably not staying.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: Now I don't know exactly why they stayed.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: Scripture doesn't really tell us.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: But I have to believe.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: And God was working in their life.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: So the jailer, seeing this, seeing what was happening, he calls for lights.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: They come in and he sees all the prisoners there and in their prison, and he falls down at the feet of Paul and Silas and says, What must I do to be saved?
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: Now there's debate about exactly what he meant by this question.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: He could have meant, What must I do to be saved from being killed by the government because y'all stayed here?
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: What can I do to keep you here?
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think that's what he's asking, though.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: Because he falls down at his feet and says, What must I do to be saved?
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: And Paul and Silas respond with, believe.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: You and your household.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: Salvation is such a simple thing.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's not a simple thing that happened, but it is a simple thing for us to take part in.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Listen, let's break it down.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: Scripture tells us that we are sinners, that we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: Scripture tells us in Romans 6.23 that because we are sinners, what we deserve, the wages of our sin, what we deserve is death.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: He's not talking about just physical death here because guess what?
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's all going to happen to us.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: He is talking about something bigger than physical death.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: He is talking about spiritual death where we are separated from God.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because we are sinners, that's what we deserve.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: But the verse 23 doesn't end with what we deserve is death.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: What he goes on to say is, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: What he gives us, what he offers us, is eternal life.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: We are sinners bound for hell, bound to be separated from God.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: And what Jesus does is he comes and he lives a perfect life and he dies on the cross, taking the punishment of our sin, taking what we deserve.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: He takes it upon himself.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: He is buried.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: He arises three days later and defeating our sin, defeating the death that we deserve, and then places on us his righteousness when we believe.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: Not when we turn over a new leaf and get our life in line.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Not when we've gone to Sunday school for so many years, not when we've been a member of a church for so many years, not when we've helped so many poor people, not when we've given so much money, not when we've done anything other than believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: He tells us in Romans 10, all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: We simply have to give our life to him, believing that he did die, that he did rise, and he does give us his righteousness.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: Believe, and you will be saved.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: And the jailer did.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then this morning we quickly see at the end here how that God was working in this too to protect the church.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: You may say, Grant, how is he protecting the church in this?
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: Don't miss that last part.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of times when we hear this story, we read about the jailer and we start celebrating so much that we miss the last.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: Don't miss it.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: The magistrates the next morning, they get up and said, okay, let's let them go.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they probably hadn't done anything wrong, actually.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: Let's just let them go.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: So they send the police to say, hey, just just quietly let them go.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: Just release them.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: So the jailer comes to Paul and Silas and says, Hey, you can you can go.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: Just get out.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: And Paul says, Are you kidding me?
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh-uh.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: We are Roman citizens.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, what?
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_01: Because to be a Roman citizen carried a big thing.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: It was a big weight.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: If you were actually a Roman citizen, there were laws made to protect you as a Roman citizen.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: And guess what?
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: The magistrates just broke about every one of them.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: He says, We are Roman citizens.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_01: You threw us in jail publicly when we had done nothing wrong.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: Now we're not leaving quietly.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: You go tell them to come come here.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: So the magistrates come, listen, with hat in hand.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: There is nothing they can do but say, guys, I we are sorry.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: We didn't realize.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_01: You say, how is this protecting the church?
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, here's how it's protecting the church.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: See what Paul and Silas actually do when they leave.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: They go to Lydia's house and encourage the believers.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: I promise you, people are watching where they go.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: And now this young church, who is really a fledgling church, just starting, you have to believe, and every commentator that I read pointed to this, you have to believe that now those magistrates are going to proceed and handle those people very carefully in fear that Paul and Silas would come back and press the issue.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: This young church is going to have at least a little bit of time where they can grow, where they can evangelize, where they can share the gospel unhindered by the civil government because of the mistake, and because Paul and Silas were treated so harshly.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: Even through their persecution, God protected the church.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: He was working.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, this jailer believed.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: Lydia and this young slave girl believed and they were saved.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: And Paul and Silas were put in jail.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: And because they were thrown in jail, this jailer believed.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: And because now they were thrown in jail unrighteously, this church is going to be protected.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: But what does this mean for me?
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: How can I take this?
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: And what can I do with this?
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: If we turn back to Paul's letter in Philippians.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: Again, he's writing back to them after all of this happened.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: In chapter one, starting in verse 3, hear what Paul writes.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_01: I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: Always in every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy because of your partnership with the gospel.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: Hear this, from the first day, Lydia, the young slave girl who had been, the demon had been cast out of.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: This jailer and his household, from the first day they have been partners with Paul.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: They have moved with him and they have worked with him and they have spread the gospel with him, and he is thanking God for them.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: Now look at verse 6.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure of this: that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_01: See, salvation is a work of God from beginning to end.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_01: If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, listen.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: As He opens, as He opens your heart, oh you open your heart and believe and be saved.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_01: And if you are a believer, hear the message.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_01: You're continuing in this salvation.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_01: You're growing in your salvation.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: You're becoming conformed to the image of Jesus Christ is not a work of you.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_01: It is a work of God.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_01: And he's going to bring it to completion.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_01: So what do we need to do?
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: Simply obey.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: And let him work.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: Simply do what he's called us to do.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: And watch him work.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: Watch him bring it to completion.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: Understanding that everything that happens is him working to conform us to his image.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_01: He is moving.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_01: We need to believe and be saved.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: So we enter this time of invitation.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_01: If you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, I pray that today will be the day.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_01: If you have, but for the moment you've tried to pull it back and wrestle it away from him, which we do all the time and say, hey, no, God, I'm going to conform myself to the image of Christ.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: No, you're not.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_01: Not going to happen.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_01: Stop.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_01: Believe.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and let him save you.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: Conform you to the image of Jesus.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: Just simply obey.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe this morning you need to come and kneel at these steps and relinquish that.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe just from your prayer, a prayer at your seat, you need to relinquish that.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_01: If you're looking for a church home, we would love to have you here.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: However, God is moving and working in your life.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: Let him move and work and answer his call in just a moment as we stand and sing our hymn of invitation.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_01: Let's pray together.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: God, we love you.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_01: We thank you for today, and we thank you for this opportunity that we have now to respond to your word.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_01: God, open our hearts.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_01: Give us listening ears.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_01: Help us to respond to you.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_01: However, you are calling us.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: We love you.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus is in your name we pray.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to this week's sermon.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions for our pastor, feel free to reach out at DeSotoHills.com.