Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ. Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church, located in Kernersville, North Carolina. I want you to look at Acts 16. Brother Jacob read our passage for today.
We're beginning a series that we tried to begin a couple weeks ago, and God thankfully had other plans. And I want to begin this. Um I don't know really how long I'm going to be in Acts chapter 16. It's surprising how the chapter begins to open up. We're going to basically start with what we're dealing with, kind of in verse 16.
And we're dealing primarily with the story of Paul and Silas. Obviously being locked up in The prison. You're familiar with that, and there's a whole series I'd like to do on this. Our title that we're beginning today is Christians That Create Change. I believe in our day and time, we need less Christians that are conceding to change.
and we need more Christians that create change. We need more thermostats than thermometers in churches nowadays. It seems that churches are kind of finding out how the culture is going, and that's the way they're changing. And I believe that God's Word's still the same. I believe that, listen, you can, there's a lot of ways to, well, my dad used to say there's a lot of ways to skin a cat, or whatever the case you want to be.
We certainly don't do that. But It was just. 1940s lingo, okay? But I believe God's word is God's word, and it's still the same. And, but.
This is what we're going to be dealing with, but I just got to tell you: if God allows me, Acts chapter 16, you talk about. A passage on revival and just. I don't have time to tell you all of it, but we'll just see what God allows us to do. But specifically, today we want to begin. At the beginning, lay some groundwork before we actually get to where Paul and Silas are in the jail.
Where we're heading to is the fact that this jailer Ends up receiving Jesus Christ as his Savior. And we, but we've got a lot of groundwork to cover before that. I'm thrilled today that is Christina able to be here? I think just Raul is able to be here today. But Raul and Christina Would like to join our church, the Salgados, and we just, they're part of our deaf ministry, and we just love and appreciate them.
And, you know, her father, Brother Burns, was able to be here, remember last week, and got robbed, and, you know, they robbed his car, took everything out of his car, and we were able as a church to help him out some. And thank you for the freedom to do that. But Raul and Christina would like to commit and join this church. And Raul believes down the road that God would have him in ministry. And we all believe there is a need for ministers in the deaf ministry and deaf culture and the deaf community.
But I believe that God can open the door to even reach further than just the deaf community. But for this season, God is going to grow and mature and train Raul. And we love and appreciate him. They have been saved and baptized, and they would like to join our church. Obviously, Christina just had a baby and went through some difficult sick days with this pregnancy.
Thank God everything's okay, but obviously still recovering from that. And so based on that, do I have a motion that we accept Raul?
Okay, there's a motion. There's a second. All in favor, say amen. Amen.
So we are, they are now members here at Kerwin. And listen, don't be intimidated because you don't know sign language. Let me explain. Deaf. Uh individuals.
are very appreciative when you make an effort. To communicate. They don't judge you because you don't know how to sign or different things. They just appreciate that you treat them. like they are normal.
Wonderful people. And so, if you get the chance, you know, give them a hug, shake their hand, just smile, whatever the case might be. But don't be standoffish because you don't know how to communicate. We want to make sure that they know how much we love them and appreciate them. And if you do, say amen.
Amen.
And so I'm thankful for that. But we're glad that they want to be part of our church membership, and we gladly welcome them here to Kerwin Baptist Church. Acts chapter 16 opens up with revival. And you say, well, what happens?
Well, Paul arrives at Philippi. And Philippi was a Roman colony. and that means that they didn't have a Jewish synagogue. And so, to have a Jewish synagogue, you needed at least 10 Jewish individuals. And so, because of this, Paul went outside of the city.
To a place that was by a river, and people would gather there for prayer. And so Paul. went out to speak and teach to these individuals. And there was a group of women praying there at that river. And Paul began to speak to the women that had gathered there to pray.
And there was a woman there named Lydia. And she hears the gospel.
Now, the Bible describes Lydia as, you've heard, a seller of purple. She was basically a wealthy merchant. And she dealt in what we would call today luxury clothing. And she was from Thyatira, a city that was known for dyeing fabrics and different things. But we find that she was desire to be a worshipper.
of God Um but she wasn't yet a believer. And you know, let me just say this. And if I can help you. You can come into a building and you can worship with everyone else. But that doesn't mean you're saved.
And I would hate for anyone to come to a wonderful place. And it's not that they don't want to, but you might think that just because I'm around believers makes me a believer. And I want you to know something today. Salvation is not something that can just be caught, okay? It can't just be transferred.
It's an individual decision that you have to make. And salvation is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It's not just the fact that you believe there is a God, it's the fact that you have put your total faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior. And so Paul comes, he begins to speak, and revival takes place. And this woman, Lydia, the Bible says that she received, verse 14 in chapter 16, if you have it there, the Bible says that God opened her heart.
To what Paul was saying, and that God, as he opened her heart and she heard the gospel, received the gospel, she became a believer. And then she gets baptized. And then immediately she invites Paul and those with him to come to her house. And what's interesting, her house becomes the first meeting place at the church at Philippi. And not only that, she becomes a great supporter of the church at Philippi.
And then we know down the road that Paul speaks about this church that ends up happening at Philippi and says that this church of all churches communicated with me. He says, you've communicated with me with all my struggles and all the things I've been through. And this all started at a riverside prayer meeting. And a woman gets saved, and God uses this. Her house becomes the first place that is literally the meeting place for the church.
And so she is the first member of this church. And guess who the second member is going to be of this congregation? A guy that she doesn't know, a guy that Paul doesn't know. In fact, he is as opposite from a seller of luxury clothing. as you could get.
He was a Jailkeeper. A keeper of the jail, the prison. Rough. Tough. Dirty.
Um Disrespectful, angry. And jail keepers were known this wasn't just a government job. You got this position because you earned it, and I don't mean earned it in the good way. I mean earned it in Um the bad way, I guess you would say. And so as we begin this story.
Paul and Silas, it begins with revival. They meet Lydia, this miraculous conversion. But I want you to look, if you would, at verse 16, okay? You got to agree this. Listen, I got to lay some groundwork today as we begin this series.
But what we know is ultimately this jailer was changed. And we believe he was changed. Because he had seen something in these Christians. and Paul and Silas. But it started before they ever really got to his jail.
I want you to notice in verse 16 it says, And it came to pass as we went to prayer. Wow. Revival, conversion, baptisms, going to a prayer meeting on our way to prayer, and you better mark it down. That's when Satan It's going to show up. Oh, God's doing some great things at Kirwan, yeah.
But you mark it down. That's when Satan is going to unleash. And Kerwin, he did this week. You have no mostly have no clue how. Satan fought this week.
And I am pleased to tell you, God always wins those battles. And he did this week too. God always wins these battles. You say, Preacher, where are we heading with this?
Well, notice this. They're on the way to a prayer meeting, and it says: A certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us. Which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. Preaching, miraculous conversion, baptism. Invited into a house on their way to a prayer meeting, and here comes a demon-possessed person.
Boy, it'll happen. This demon-possessed girl interrupts. Paul casts the spirit out. The crowd turns on him. The beating begins.
and before long they're in chains.
Now, before this jailer ever looked at Paul and Silas and said, What must I do to be saved? Before he ever said that, He watched. He listened. He watched two chained servants of God. that for some reason had unchanged spirits.
He saw Christianity under pressure. He even saw Christianity under persecution. And before he heard the gospel, listen to me, Kerwin, before he heard the gospel, he saw the gospel. People may never step into our church, but they step into your presence every day. The truth is, people in Greensboro, Walkertown, Kernersville, Winston-Salem, people at your job, people in your family, people in your neighborhood, they need to see the gospel.
Yeah, I think they're watching you. The jailer was changed because he encountered the right kind of Christians. He encountered Christians who were not changed by their circumstances, but they stayed the same. And in so doing, they were Christians that created change instead of being changed. And I want us to look at the kind of Christians that God used and still uses.
to change lives. I want you to notice, number one, and we're just doing groundwork today, but I want you to notice, number one. He encountered serving Christians.
Now look if you would at verse 17. The Bible says that this demon-possessed woman began to follow Paul and those who were with him, Silas and others, noticed this and cried saying, these men are the servants of the Most High God. Even a demon-possessed individual recognized that they were servants of God. The first thing recognized was not their rank, it was their role. They were servants.
This is not about ministry titles, this is about their identity. They weren't listen to me. They weren't just called The servants of God. Notice what she says here. These men are.
the servants. of God. They're not just called that. It's not just a title. It's literally their identity.
It's who they are. And the world noticed their identity before the world ever heard their message. And I am here to tell you that the community outside of this church needs to see our identity as servants of Christ before they even hear our message. I want you to notice first, they were servants, not celebrities. It says the same followed Paul and us crying, saying, These men.
Are the servants, not the star, the servant, not platform-driven, purpose-driven. Every Christian should be a servant. Romans 1:1, Paul, how does it describe Paul? His identity, a servant of Jesus Christ. Not Jew, not Roman, not man, not woman.
His identity was a servant of Jesus Christ. Before Paul was an apostle, he was a servant. Before Paul became a preacher, he was a servant. Before Paul became very widely known, and before Paul made a global impact, Paul was a servant. And the highest title that you can ever have in the kingdom of God is servant.
Let me put it this way: our co-workers might not know our theology. But they know our spirit. They might not know your history, but they can tell if you love them or not. You know, the measure of a man is not how many serve him. But how faithfully he served Christ.
They were servants, not celebrities. Notice secondly here, their identity had more impact than their ability. Their identity had more impact than their ability. And by the way, they're just walking around. And here is a demon-possessed woman that comes up and says, These men are the servants.
Of They're God. The servants of Jesus Christ. Their identity had more impact than their ability. Can I tell you something? Even a demon recognized who they belonged to.
If hell recognizes your allegiance, Heaven can use your influence. If hell recognizes your allegiance, if even demons know who you serve. Heaven can use your influence. If hell knows who you belong to, heaven can use who you are. Your identity in Christ is your greatest Witness.
You know what James 4, 7, submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Listen, Satan doesn't flee you because he's scared of you. He flees.
because he's scared of who you serve. People are not impressed by gifted Christians, they're influenced by serving Christians. If the world can't tell who you belong to, your witness is weakened. The jailer saw men who were not living for themselves. The jailer saw men Who were servants.
I want you to note a second, not just serving. Christians that this jailer ended up coming across, but second, He was influenced by shining Christians. What's finishing in verse 7 This demon-possessed woman says that these men are the servants of the Most High God. Notice this, which show unto us the way of salvation. Here's what's interesting.
She did not say they say unto us. The way of salvation. She said they show. unto us the way of salvation. It doesn't mean we're not to tell people how to be saved.
It means that. People need to see salvation before they hear about salvation. They didn't just say it, they showed it. This involved their words and their Walk. I want you to notice from this first, they had a life that displayed the gospel.
which show unto us Matthew 5, 16 says, Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and in so doing glorify your Father which is in heaven. Remember what I said just last week. This verse is abused. This verse is not about for you to show everybody your works so that you get the glory, so that they see you. Listen, what we ought to do, we ought to do out of love so that people can see Christ.
Notice what Matthew 5:16 says that. they may see. Not here. That they may see. your good works.
Listen to me, the gospel must be visible. before it becomes verbal. A life that displayed the gospel. Notice, secondly, we see a walk. that directs the lost.
The Bible says they show unto us, is what she said about Paul and Silas. The way of salvation. Philippians 2.15 says that ye may be blameless and harmless. The sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine. As lights In the world.
Now think about that phrase.
So we're told here That we are to shine as lights. In The world. Can I have an amen right there? Is that what the Bible says? Say amen.
Listen, you and I are to shine in the midst of darkness, not away from it. Say, Preacher, where are you going with this? Listen to me: a lighthouse doesn't avoid the dark, it shines in it. A lighthouse doesn't stop the storm, it shines through it. You see, the jailer saw consistency before he sought conversion.
What I'm saying is this: God's ideal for Christians isn't for us just to keep ourselves from everybody in the world. and associate with nobody. and isolate ourselves to this building. and say we love the world. And say we want to reach the world and we don't want to touch them, but we want to reach them.
Listen to me, we are to shine as lights. in the world. Our life should direct the lost. to salvation. Number three.
He was influenced by sensitive. Christians.
So you wanna what do you mean sensitive? I don't mean we walk around, our feelings are hurt by every little thing. Not that kind of sensitive. I'm talking about spiritually sensitive Christians. Look at verse 18.
Now I find this interesting. Verse 18: This demon-possessed woman is following them, saying, These men are the servants of the Most High God.
Now, that sounds like a compliment. They show unto us the way of salvation. Wait a minute. She is saying good things about them. You think that Paul would be pleased.
You think that Paul would be encouraged. You think that he would like that she is bragging on them. Look at verse 18.
And this did she many days.
So this has gone on for a few days. This demon-possessed woman is following them around. Notice what the verse says, but Paul being. Grieved. turned and said to the Spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.
And he came out the same hour. Notice she was complimenting She was saying good things. It seems odd that Paul was grieved by it. And it seems odd that Paul confronted her because of it, but listen to me this morning. She was speaking the truth, but from a wrong spirit.
That's right, too. That's good. Let's put our seat belts on just for a minute. Once you notice first, he was sensitive to spiritual discernment. That's right, it's good at the minutes.
Being grieved. Wait a minute. She said good things. She bragged on them. You know what I have found?
Not everything spiritual is from the Holy Spirit. First John 4:1 says, Beloved, believe not every spirit. But try the spirits. Whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. And I want to encourage you here at Kirwan Baptist Church: you better try the spirits of what people are saying to you.
Even your friends that you consider, I think they're spiritual people. Just because you come to church. Does it mean you're spiritual? Listen to me. Discernment is the difference between flattery and faithfulness.
Paul was grieved. You know why? Because he discerned the spirit behind the voice. What she kept telling everybody was a compliment, almost praising what they were doing. But discernment as a Christian is knowing when the right words come from the wrong spirit.
Not every person who praises you is on your side. Boy, did I learn that fast. as a pastor. They'll show up at church and I'll tell you what. Oh my word.
You go home thinking, man, they are really impressed. Apparently. By me. Boy, they love. My preaching.
Yeah, and six months later? They've done stabbed you in the back. People can come in here and say all the right things. Oh, they about prayer, about how they raise their family, about how they raise their kids. Yeah, but you can see in their spirit there's negativity, there's criticism.
Can I tell you something? You better be very careful. Just because people talk good on the outside, and just because they say spiritual things, doesn't mean it's coming from the right spirit. Be careful, Kirwan Baptist Church. This demon-possessed woman was saying all the right things.
She sounds like a wonderful, faithful churchgoer. But Paul was grieved. sensitive to spiritual discernment. Paul was able to realize when there was an agenda behind the accolades. Notice, secondly, he was sensitive to spiritual.
direction, not just to spiritual discernment. Galatians 5:16 says, This I say, then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Paul was grieved and he turned aside and he speaks to the spirit, not to the woman, but to the spirit. Paul did not react in irritation, he responded under inspiration. He didn't say something because he was mad about it.
He said something because God had led him. In fact, this woman did this for a few days. Paul never said anything. And I'm sure, by the way. He was agitated by now.
Paul wasn't guided, and here's what I get. Please, please get this. When I see here, Paul was not guided by what people said, he was guided by how the Spirit led. He didn't react to what this woman said until God led him. to react.
I encourage you, don't react by what people say. Or what people have said. You need to always react. By how the Spirit has led. I want you to notice, number four.
We see this man was changed by spirit-filled Christians. Look at verse 18.
Paul looks at this woman. That is demon-possessed, and he says, I command thee. In the name of Jesus Christ, come out of her.
Now let me just stop right there and say this. Just the average Christian... Needs to not try to cast out a demon from somebody.
Now, greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. That is absolutely true. But can I tell you something? It's not just, hey, I read my Bible once a month and I go to church every once in a while. You are in no condition to cast out a demon.
Now you're like, why are we even talking about this? Oh, can I tell you something? Demons are everywhere. That's correct. And I believe demon possession is rampant.
Rampant in our country. and in this world. I've told you before, you see a mass shooting, that's demon possession. Listen, I believe in my life just in the past three years. I know.
that I have faced demon-possessed people. I know it. And do you think I went around trying to cast them out? Are you kidding me? Here's what's interesting about this.
Paul did this. Because he was spirit Yeah. And let me make sure you understand what I'm saying by that. It means he was 100% totally submissive and led by the Spirit of God.
Now when you got saved you got all the Holy Spirit you're ever going to get by the way. Any doctrine or religion that teaches you different than that is not biblical.
Okay, you don't get more of the Holy Spirit, and you don't get to a level finally. No, no, no, no. You got all of the Holy Spirit the day you listen because He is God in the flesh, in us, God in us.
So you didn't get part of God in us. The Bible said it is God in us, the hope of glory. And that means this: when you got saved, you got all of the Holy Spirit you're ever going to get, but He might not have gotten all of you. I want you to notice first, Paul had authority in the name of Christ. He says, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ.
Paul had no personal authority, but he stood with divine authority. You and I are not here to show people our ability. We are to display to them God's authority. It's not about our ability, it's about God's authority. Thank you for listening today.
We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kerwin Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web. at Kerwin Baptist Church.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app.
Thank you for listening to the Kerwin Broadcast today. God bless you.
