God's Miracles in the Midst of Persecution
Theme: Living by Faith in Christ Alone
Theme Verse: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20 NIV
Readings: Acts 16:16-40
Memory Verse: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household." Acts 16:30b-31
One of the themes of this lesson is people being set free by God. Paul and Silas went regularly to the place of prayer by the river (Acts 16:16) and one day they encountered a slave girl with an evil spirit of fortune telling/telling the future. This is occult and the source of this power is Satan. The girl was a captive to this evil spirit. What she kept shouting day after was true but its intent was to draw people into the power of evil.
STAY AWAY from the occult. Satan often pretends to offer something good -- like a worm on a fish hook -- to catch people. (If you have ever, even innocently tried out one of Satan's ploys (see note) you need to renounce it in the name of Jesus and ask Jesus' forgiveness and to be set free by him.)
The girl keeps shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved," day after day and it really upset Paul to have the true message of God mixed in with evil. Jesus would never let the evil spirits he cast out tell who he was. He didn't want their infected witness. (Perhaps Paul was waiting to hear from the Lord just as Jesus only did what his Father showed him.) Paul is so upset that he orders the evil spirit to come out of her in the name of Jesus (Acts 16:18) and it did immediately. In so doing God -- through Paul -- set the slave girl free from this evil she was a prisoner to. Satan has power but God is stronger and he can free people from the bondage of the occult and Satan.
Of course her owners were furious. They made a lot of money off of her "abilities." So they take revenge on Paul and Silas. They seize them and drag them into the market place to the magistrates and basically start a riot with accusations against them. The owners said, "These men are Jews and throwing our city into an uproar [it was actually the owners who were causing the uproar] by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." Note that the crowd doesn't really know what happened and is easily swayed by an appeal to what seemed to be right. There is an appeal to a sense of pride (even though they are breaking that same law). A lot of people who participate in causing trouble are under the impression they are doing something noble.
Not everyone welcomes people being set free! Paul and Silas are punished because they freed a young girl from spiritual bondage. Their clothes are ripped off and they are beaten with rods many times and then they are thrown into jail. The authorities charge the jailer to keep them safe. So Paul and Silas are put in the inner-most cell (probably no windows and little air). A word received: There is no prison, no lock-up where I cannot come by my Holy Spirit. Your security is with me. Notice how free Paul and Silas were in spite of being in prison. That freedom was a work of God in their lives. A word received: Your heart can be free when your feet are bound.
Look at Paul and Silas' responses: They are really suffering from a lot of physical pain and injustice. Surely they must have had a sense of the Lord's presence with them! "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the other prisoners were listening to them (Acts 16:25). A word received: My light can shine forth in any darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. Look at their fellow prisoners hearing their singing -- knowing that these prisoners were different. I can work through you in any difficult circumstance to help others. A word received: Don't look at you circumstances, look at me. That is what Paul and Silas did. Remember this attitude the next time someone hurts you or treats you with injustice! Notice that Paul lives what he preaches. He praises God in ALL circumstances.
God's Deliverance And Opportunity.
Next God causes a violent earthquake that shakes the foundations of the prison, the locked doors fly open and the chains drop off! What would your first thought have been? I'm pretty sure mine would have been, "Great! God has provided a way to escape!" Paul and Silas do not. God must have told them what to do. A word received: I will show you what to do in each situation that you find yourself in. Don't be afraid. I will direct you. Ask God what to do. Don't be so ready to escape a difficult situation that you don't ask.
The earthquake woke up the jailer and when he saw all the doors open was going to kill himself (since the law held the jailer responsible for his prisoners with his life.) In the dark Paul somehow knows what's going on and shouts out to the jailer that they are all there and not to kill himself. The fact that Paul and Silas (and the other prisoners) did not escape brought the jailer and his family to Jesus! Paul's concern was for the jailer, not himself. (See Acts 16:26.) A word received: I can shake the foundations of prisons today and loose the chains of sin from the prisoners. Let me minister through you.
The jailer is badly shaken up by all this, calls for light and falls trembling in front of Paul and Silas and asks, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" These men are different. What did he know about them to ask such a question? What an opening the jailer gives Paul and Silas! "Men, what must I do to be saved?" Prayer: Lord, make my words and actions a testimony to your grace, that people will notice a difference in me and want to ask me questions. [Rachel Scott's father at Excel talked about how she wanted people to see Jesus' light in her.] If someone in crisis were to ask us a similar question, do we have a brief answer ready like Paul did? Stop and say out loud to a person on your left or right, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household." [Verses like this are part of the basis for infant baptism of children of believers.]
Then Paul and Silas "spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. Paul "unpacked" the brief statement and told them all about Jesus and salvation. We don't know how much the other prisoners heard but they heard at least the short version. Then the jailer washed their wounds. He humbled himself to do this. Remember Jesus washing the disciples' feet and how upset Peter was. He and his family were baptized that very night ("immediately"). Then he fed them. Spiritual food first! The whole family was filled with JOY! Paul has his priorities straight. He speaks first of the Kingdom of God and then tends to his own needs.
Paul does not accept the magistrates desire to quietly get them out of town. He claims his and Silas' Roman citizenship and and reminded them that what the authorities did to them was illegal: "No, let them come to themselves and escort us out"!! Now Paul is free to stand up for himself and protest the injustice. As Christians we are still entitled to justice. But sometimes God asks us to set aside our rights for his purposes.
Paul and Silas take their time leaving town and go visit the "brothers" at Lydia's house and encourage them. (Maybe the jailer went with them to meet his new "brothers" in the Lord. He would immediately have Christian fellowship.) Paul and Silas would have been strengthened and encouraged also.
How to teach word for SS teachers: Pray that I will loose the chains in your life.
Note on the occult: comment briefly on things available in our society that they should stay away from, like tarot cards, fortune telling and palm reading, witchcraft, dungeons & dragons, crystals, etc.
Teaching Ideas for Lesson 19
Please read the Study Guide first. Go over Memory Verse to make sure the children understand it and then if they have memorized it.
Remind them their parents need to sign a report slip monthly if they have read the lessons, so they will get credit at the end of the year.
Make sure they know what happened in the story. Get them to tell you.
Basic points of the lesson for little ones:
1.Because God loves us so much, He wants to free us from anything that is evil and will hurt us. Sin is like a prison.
2. The people didn't like what Paul and Silas did, so they put them in prison. But Paul and Silas were able to praise God even in the hardest circumstances.
3. God wants us to give Him praise like Paul and Silas did and look to Jesus in every situation.
4. Paul and Silas's hearts were open to God. The Lord performed a miracle and that miracle helped bring others to know Jesus.
5. God wants to work through you and me in any situation. Don't be afraid. Just ask Jesus for directions.
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