TITLE: Father’s Day - LEADING IN MATTERS OF FAITH
TEXT:
Acts 16:15
When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.
Acts 16:31
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household."
INTRODUCTION:
As you may know the Gideon’s are business men who pass out Bibles.
We heard the story of a man who asked for a Gideon Bible …He said the paper is very fine and perfect for rolling his cigarettes. The Gideon gave him the Bible on the condition that he before using the pages that he read them front and back. The man proceeded to smoke his way through Matthew, Mark, Luke and a then came to John and stopped when he read chapter 3:16 – and he gave his heart to the Lord
Another story was of a young Colombian Girl who received a new testament in her school. She read the new testament until one day her father caught her reading it…and told her not to read it any more because it was full of lies and fantasy..
But the girl kept on reading until one day her father came home unexpectedly found her with the NT grabbed it from her hands and put it in his pocket.
The father went off to work where he was a mining engineer. Several hours later sirens went off in the community there had been a cave in at the mine. The father was trapped in the mine. The rescue workers took 5 days to finally reach the men, but it was too late. All 31 men died including the father of this little girl
Curiously, workers found the man clutching the NT between his praying hands.
When they opened the front cover they read a note
“To my daughter” Keep reading this NT, it is true and right, and I will see you one day in heaven.
Then they turned to the back page where the father had signed the commitment card after having said the sinner’s prayer.
But that was not the end of the story,
Turning the page there were signed the names of the other 30 workers.
These stories reminded me how powerful God’s Word is
Able to save - all who call upon the name of the Lord
As Paul said,
Romans 1:16
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
I want you to notice something important in that second story
The father was able to lead his child in her faith – even in his death
The message the Holy Spirit has for his church today is this
“Will you fulfill your God given responsibility to lead your family in matters of faith?”
In the ancient world the whole household followed the religion of its head; and the head lead their whole household in worship toward God.
As Joshua did in Joshua 24:15
… as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
What we are going to see this morning is that
Lydia
And the Philippian Jailer
Lead their families to the Lord
Why?
They had the responsibility
And they met the challenge
Will you fulfill your God given responsibility to lead your family in matters of faith?
PRAYER
Paul and his companions after having received direction from the Lord
Acts 16:11-12 says,
From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Sa mu thrayce, and the next day on to Nee apolis. [12] From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
There are in Acts 16 three Major incidents recorded during those days in Philippi
1. The encounter with the seller of Purple, Lydia
2. The encounter with the demonized slave girl
3. The encounter with the Philippian jailer.
What I want to do is describe these 3 incidents
And then conclude with one point
1. THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE SELLER OF PURPLE, LYDIA
From Verses 11-15 We see Paul and his band entering the city of Philippi
It is the Sabbath.
According to Acts 26 When God called Paul to preach the Gospel it was to the Jew first and then to the Greek
And you see this pattern throughout His Ministry
To the Jew first and then to the Greek
It is the Sabbath and usually Paul would be in the Synagogue preaching
But instead we see him heading to the river to pray
WHY?
When the Jews were carried off into exile they had no temple and they had no Synagogue.
Psalm 137:2
There on the poplars
we hung our harps,
What the Jews did during that time was worship God on the Sabbath at the edge of the rivers…
Why?
Because an important part of their worship was to wash and become ceremonial clean
Interestingly, This was the ancient practice that lead to our modern day baptism
So with no synagogue in Phillipi
According to rabbinical tradition their needed to be at least 10 Jewish men in Phillipi for their to be an established Jewish community
Apparently there was none…
The Bible says
Acts 16:13
On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.
AT this place of prayer were A bunch of women
Now These women were not washing their socks
They were ceremonially washing away their sins and praying to Jehovah
You know what they were praying for
AS was their custom….They were praying for the Messiah to come.
Acts 16:14
One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
Lydia was from Thyatira
“One of the Cities Mentioned in the revelation ch. 2
Further she was a seller of Purple
Which meant she was wealthy
Most important Lydia found Jesus as savior and messiah that day
The scripture says “The Lord Opened Her heart”
The wording here is similar to the incident in Luke 24:45
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
Paul prayed that a lot for people
Ephes. 1:18
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
It’s a wondrous thing when God opens your eyes
Psalm 119:18
Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law.
Acts 16:15
When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.
Here was Paul and his companions staying in a new city
They didn’t know anyone and their was not even a synagogue
But God provided
This new believer
This wealthy new believer
Became their Patron and took them in
Just as soon as she and her household were baptized
You might get the impression that she had to go back and get her household
But really they were right their with her
She was the matriarch and the other ladies their by the river that day were her daughters and servents and friends and employees
All of whom worshipped the God she worshipped
And all of whom came to Christ that day following her leadership
LYDIA WAS LIKE A SINGLE MOM OF TODAY
As such she was the head of her household
And she lead her household
In matters of Business
And life
But most importantly she lead her household in matters of faith
1 Cor. 11:3
Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
The Bible tells us in Genesis 18:19 that it is the responsibility of the Head of the Household to direct that household to keep the ways of the Lord
In this case where there was no man to lead
We see a women stepping up to the plate
Having made their first converts and having found a home base
2. THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE DEMONIZED SLAVE GIRL
The scripture says
Acts 16:16
Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.
As the story goes this young women kept following them around and saying
Acts 16:17
These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved."
Notice that the Devils in her could not lie
Why did a demon announce the truth about Paul,
and why did this annoy Paul?
The answer is simple really
If Paul accepted the demon’s words,
he would appear to be linking the gospel with demon-related activities.
This would damage his message about Christ.
Truth and evil do not mix.
According to Acts 16:18
he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!"
At that moment the spirit left her.
The owners of the slave girl got mad, because once being delivered she was useless as a fortune teller.
They brought false accusations against Paul and Silas
Paul and Silas were arrested and beaten and thrown in jail
3. THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER.
Acts 16:23-24
After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. [24] Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
There they were sitting in the jail
About midnight
Praise the Lord
Acts 16:26
Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.
The jailer was charged with keeping the prisoners in the prison
He had been sleeping
If they escaped
It meant his death
Acts 16:27
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.
The scene must have been terrifying…
But Paul shouted
“Hey don’t kill yourself” Were still here…
Acts 16:29
The jailer called for lights,
rushed in and
HE fell
Trembling
before Paul and Silas.
Whats that about
I have seen those old movies
Those jailer types would just as soon torture you as look at you
I don’t think he was tired
Maybe the Philipian Jail was like the Jail in Mayberry
The Jailer was kind of a reluctant jailer
Experts tell me that this guy was a Roman
A tough guy
Particularly hardened
“insensible as a rule and hardened by habit, and also disposed to despise the Jews,
WHats going on Here…
That he would ask “What must I do to be saved”
The answer is pretty clear
God came in that place
That jailer went smack under the power
And experienced the Living God
I tell you flesh and blood did not reveal to this man that he needed to be saved
But the same God Paul and Silas were praising
And the same God That caused an earthquake to rock that prison
Revealed to that man that he was lost and needed a savior
Acts 16:31
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household."
Acts 16:32-33
Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. [33] At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.
Here we see the head of the house
Again
Leading His family in matters of faith
CONCLUSION:
In the ancient world the whole household followed the religion of its head;
and the head would lead their whole household in worship toward God.
Will you fulfill your God given responsibility to lead your family in matters of faith?
As for me and my house we will serve the Lord
Let me end with a story about my brother
He was saved at about the same time as I, but he was married and had two children
His wife was Catholic and was raising her kids to be good catholics
My brother on the other hand had not
Even though he had been baptized as a Catholic in order to merry his wife
Once Jesus came into His life
And he realized the importance of salvation
He woke up one Sunday morning, got the kids ready and went to Sunday school
He had determined that he would see His kids saved and following the Lord he now served
My sister in law would have nothing to do with the protestant church
Week after week my brother showed up for church with his two kids
Week after week as head of His household His Kids drew closer and closer to Christ
I called my sister in law yesterday just to get the story down
I asked her how long it was before she came around
She said well at first I came because of all the guilt I was feeling
But Eventually I began to realize that I needed the Lord
And after 1 ½ years I began serving the Lord also
I told her that her husband was a good expel of a head of household.
She agrees with me
Why was he a good example
Because he led his family in matters of faith
Will you fulfill your God given responsibility to lead your family in matters of faith?
