How do you feel going back to your boss having to say that the client who was done an injustice does not want your attention as an employee … they want the boss! Some employees don’t give a hoot. I cancelled a travel insurance policy that benefited us with slightly over $200. This was, at the time, R3600 odd. Because I had cancelled my RSA Credit Card from which I initially paid for the cover, I emailed the policy provider requesting they pay the refund into my USA account. Even having received my email, they still refunded the money into a closed account, even though I told them not to. There was a chain of emails going back and forth between us, wherein each email I requested the name and phone number of a superior. Their emails remained the same … “we have to refund the account used.” They would not allow me access to their superior. They either ignored me, not giving a hoot … or they were scared of their superior and blocked me from getting to their boss. I wonder how the Roman Officers felt having to report what Paul said to their superiors … the magistrates. Read this part:
Ac 16:38 The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. 39 They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.
1) Reporting back to the magistrates. Do you recall the words of Paul from yesterday? He stated that the magistrates had conducted themselves outside of the scope of the laws of Rome! Rather than hold an official enquiry into who Paul and Silas were, what they are supposed to have done and whether the charges by the slave girl’s owners were accurate … they had the missionaries flogged (brutalized) and literally dragged to the prison house and secured in stocks as if they were enemies of the Roman Empire. Then as senior rulers in the City of Philippi, answerable only to Rome, had been caught up in the euphoria of the crowd and neglected their duty. They were decidedly not professional. Should the authorities in Rome find this out there would be serious consequences for the manner in which they treated certified citizens of the Roman Empire. We too report back to our superior … He is Almighty God. Like these officials, we need to give an accurate report back to God every time. Our reporting is done through prayer.
2) The alarm of the magistrates. The word “alarm” in verse 38 is at times translated as “fear”. The concept is being startled to the point of panic, fear and terror that the fright received is so great that the person wants to take flight … run away. The magistrates realized the serious wrong they had done. As the people of God we must be careful we do not get caught up in a moment! Take what the Economic Freedom Fighters want to do on Monday 20 March by shutting down the country. Their habit is to create euphoria. They work people up and these people get caught in the slip stream creating havoc and mayhem. The Bible’s teaching is that Christians need to exercise self-control and be disciplined servants of God and good citizens of the country. The magistrates were caught up in the fanaticism of the moment induced by the crowd as the slave girl’s owners provoked them. Christians behave differently. Their regret caused their fear!
3) Seeking to appease themselves. To appease acknowledges mistakes or wrongs have been done causing anger, unhappiness and possible revenge. Having said what was said above, one can understand the horror that filled these magistrates, for should Rome hear and discipline them for their negligent act, their families would also be in great danger. This is the reason they went to the missionaries and delivered them out of the prison, walking them away from the prison precinct. God appeased His anger by taking our sin against Him and placing it on His Son, Jesus, who satisfied God’s wrath through His substitutional sacrifice in our place.
4) Requesting the missionaries leave the city. If only we could have heard their squeamish pleas as they walked Paul and Silas away from the prison. The fact that Luke uses the word “appease” indicates how sorry they were for their dereliction of duty caused by bad judgement due to being swayed towards the popular side. They were embarrassed and to save face needed these missionaries to leave the city. How could they continue their duty as magistrates, serving Rome if these Roman citizens remained? The word “request” could mean demand … but in this case it was asking … almost a plea! We don’t know exactly what the missionaries told the magistrates … but leaving the city would have been agreed to on their terms … and not permanently. In Philippians chapter 1 we read of Paul indicating his intention to visit the Church again.
5) Meeting at Lydia’s house. Her house seems to have become the headquarters and Church meeting place. The missionaries needed to meet up with the Church people, provide information as to what happened and possibly how to prevent members being harassed. They also spent time in the Word and Prayer (encouraged), pointing them to Jesus and to trust Him when opposition came their way. The only true antidote for onslaughts against the Church and its people is more time and effort in the Bible and Prayer.
6) Moving on. They left and travelled to Thessalonica. Christians do not leave a place after ministry and stop serving. Paul and Silas show us that even though Philippi included hardship, the visit resulted in a Church plant. Then they went into other areas and ministered. Our work on earth is never done. I was saying to a men’s prayer group on a Friday at 6am that in South Africa, almost always when I left home to go somewhere, I was able to talk about Jesus. Since being in America, apart from Church people I have not yet had any opportunities to share the Gospel yet … I pray for it … I push for it … I try to create opportunities but these have not yet happened. However, like Paul and Silas we need to pray that God will give us appointments to talk about Jesus. Today I would like to end off by talking about the slave girl’s owners, the crowds and the magistrates on the one hand and Lydia and her household as well as the jailer and his household on the other hand. We never convert anyone to Jesus, nor do we turn anyone away from Jesus. The Gospel does that. All we are, are His spokesmen and women. This is how it works …
(1) The Gospel is Good News to some. Every soul saved by grace through faith responded to the Gospel. For them it was Good News … actually … great news … the best news ever! For such people the Gospel remains Good News to love, enjoy and share. They are like Lydia, her household, the jailer and his household.
Ro 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
(2) The Gospel is Bad News to some. Perhaps I ought to say many! Of the millions hearing the Gospel, only a small portion respond to it. Many hate it, reject it and want to end its progress. They are like the owners of the slave girl, the crowds and the magistrates. Something to pray about are Jesus’ Words:
Mt 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Lord, once we are certain about our salvation, please help us to boldly share the Gospel with others. Amen.