RESTORED

Eltham Baptist Church 9th Sept 2012

No. 388

"The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybodys chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, Dont harm yourself! We are all here! The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They replied, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be savedyou and your household. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in Godhe and his whole family. When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: Release those men. The jailer told Paul, The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace. But Paul said to the officers: They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out. The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydias house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left." Acts 16: 2240

In this 3rd week of Self Denial we cover the subject 'Restore' from Acts chapter 16:22-40.
restored means; 1. to return (something, especially a work of art or building) to an original or former condition. 2. to bring back to health, good spirits, etc. 3. to return (something lost, stolen, etc.) to its owner. 4. to reintroduce or reenforce to restore discipline. 5. to reconstruct.

As you read through Acts 16:22-40 you may think that it's Paul and Silas who were the restored ones, for they were restored to a position of freedom from jail, which was true, but there was a greater restoration that took place in the life of the Jailer who put them there in the first place. He may not have realised that he needed restoring until Paul and Silas came onto the scene. He didn't realise that he was in a spiritual prison himself bound by his sins. Most people don't realise their desperate need to have their relationship with their Heavenly Father restored. They don't know that Paradise has been lost through the fall but it can all be restored by understanding what Jesus did for us on the cross. If you lived in a village where everyone suffered from poor vision through inherent cataracts and you didn't know any different, then you would be quite content just living the way you were fumbling around. Things would change however if someone came to town who had had an operation to have them removed and could see everything clearly. Others would soon realise that the way they were wasn't right and it could be fixed. This was how it was for the Jailer when Paul and Silas came along. He then saw clearly through the ministry of Paul that he had something missing and that was a lost relationship with God and he then wanted it restored. Paul and Silas were thrown into prison for doing good and not bad. They hadn't stolen anything or done anyone any harm, all they were guilty of was setting a slave girl free from a demon of divination. They were convicted by the judges without a trial and could have contested the unfair verdict because they were Roman citizens. Again we see Paul only doing what he saw the Father doing, even if he lost on the deal. He only listened to the Spirit and so allowed the Big Picture to be revealed. He didn't interfere in what God was doing and that takes incredible courage. The Jailer was threatened with death if Paul and Silas escaped, so not only were they put in prison but the inner prison and then placed in the stocks as well. It was there they sang hymns and prayed to God at midnight and everyone in the prison heard them. Soon afterwards there was a great earthquake. Earthquakes are not uncommon in this region of the world but this particular one was different. No walls fell down, or roofs collapsed, only the jail doors swung open and chains fell off all the prisoners. The jailer came in and saw what had happened and was about to kill himself but Paul and Silas stopped him, saying that everyone was still there and no one had escaped. When he saw Paul and Silas he cried out those famous words;
Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

Have you ever wondered why he said that? Paul hadn't preached to him. You would have thought that the first thing he would have said was. "Thanks for not trying to escape." What convicted him to ask to be saved? The earthquake would have had something to do with it, but I think that Paul and Silas must have made quite an impression on him. They had been beaten and jailed and yet they said not a word. Most men would have been crying out. "I'm innocent." Pleading their cause to the Jailer. It was then that the Jailer realised what he was meant to be, what he had lost and how he wanted to be like Paul and Silas. He wanted to be saved. This word 'saved' in Greek is the word 'sozo' which means to save - preserve, do well, be (make) whole, deliver, save from sin and also from sickness. Paul went on to say; Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be savedyou and your household. This word 'believe' is more than just believing that there is a God. The Bible says that the Devil believes yet he is not saved, so it must mean more than that.
"You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder." James 2:19

We need to not only believe that He is God, but believe what He says as well. Believe you are a sinner and need to repent from your sins. Believe that you need your relationship with God restored - Paradise Regained. After the Jailer responded he was baptised along with his household. "At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and
all his family were baptized."

It was still the middle of the night, so talk about being keen. Not exactly aesthetically correct either. No organ music, lighting, warm water and white robes involved here. It was probably in some dark pool with a few lamps around and really cold as well. This family may still have had issues when they were baptised as well as not knowing anything about the bible and maybe never having prayed to Jehovah before, but they were eligible for baptism right away. What qualified them was the fact that they believed. This is a strong argument for us to get baptised once we believe and not keep putting it off until we've got it all together. Notice that there is no mention again of their injuries in the following verses. If it were us we would have loved to have told everyone about how badly we were treated or show off our wounds to all and sundry, but not Paul and Silas. We couldn't resist saying how we had been to A&E or a the Chemist. All the care these men had was to have their wounds washed. They believed Isaiah 53:4-5. They realised that healing was theirs through the cross and claimed it like they did the forgiveness of their sins. They also knew that the less you talk about this sort of thing the quicker the healing takes place. So often we make matters worse by glorifying our ailments instead of speaking about our healing through the cross. Paul wasn't into 'Organ Recitals'. There are some who talk about all the organs in their bodies that have been taken out or aren't up to scratch anymore and recite them over and over again. We need to look more to our Lord who was bruised and beaten for us at Calvary. The more we look to Him the more we shall live. 'Look and live.'
Numbers 21:8. "The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in Godhe and his whole family."

If Paul hadn't obeyed God and gone to prison instead of pleading his innocence, this family would not have come to know Christ. So often we seek the easy road and don't ask God what to do in trying circumstances. Sometimes He wants to lead us down hard paths or asks us to lose in order to win, to suffer that He may be glorified. The Jailer got saved and along with his whole family. From a recent survey, did you know that 75-90% of the people who come to the faith come through the influence of a family member, friend or relative? Far more than from a Crusade or Street evangelism. Through special needs it's 1-2%. People walking into church 2-3%. Pastors contacts 5-6%. Visitation 1-2%. Sunday School Contacts 4-5%. Evangelical Crusades 0.5%. Church Programs 2-3%. Here we see the restoration of the Jailers Spirit. He was set free from the bondage of sin. Our Spirit can't be healed or mended, but they can be re-birthed. Jesus does a work that recreates our Spirit to that which man used to have. Adam was sinless in his Spirit before the fall and so can we now through Christ's work on the cross. Jesus justifies us, (just as if I'd) never sinned. Now that's

the true restoration. http://hottersermons1.blogspot.com