WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:08.720 Well, a few years before Zach Williams became a well-known Christian singer, uh, he and his wife were helping to launch a new church. 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:19.039 And because of what God had done in their lives, specifically, you know, freeing Zach from addiction while he was on the road playing with the band, uh, they would often go and share their testimonies. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:25.519 Well, one day his wife went out on a preach of the ministry trip, and when she came home, she couldn't stop talking about it. 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:31.120 She looked at Zach and told him, The next time that we go, you're coming with me. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:36.159 And so, right around that time, Zach had just begun writing Christian music. 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:41.840 He had left his former band, started focusing this direction, but he was still wondering if he'd made the right direction. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:45.119 Was this really what God had called him to do? 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:49.920 And so when the opportunity opened up to go with his wife to the women's prison, he went. 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:54.240 He and a friend led worship there, and he and his wife shared their testimonies. 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:58.880 That night, dozens of women surrendered their lives to Jesus. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:08.959 And Zach will go on to say that he became so overwhelmed by the presence of God that he had to close his eyes just because tears couldn't stop streaming down his face. 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:15.200 He later said, if I had any doubt about what I was supposed to be doing with my life, God erased it that night. 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:17.040 That experience stayed with him. 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:27.280 On later prison visits, he kept seeing the same thing: people who had been bound by addiction, guilt, shame, and sin, discovering the freedom that only comes in Jesus. 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:33.200 And so not long afterwards, he was in a songwriting session with friends Mia Fields and Jonathan Smith. 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:41.680 And as he talked about those prison experiences and everything he had seen Jesus do, somebody said, We need to write a song called Chainbreaker. 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:48.239 And the song, Chainbreaker, that you have no doubt heard, was not inspired by prison walls. 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:52.560 It was it, it was really inspired by what happened inside those prison walls. 00:01:52.879 --> 00:02:03.680 Because while those ladies, those inmates, were physically in prison, through Jesus, they discovered a freedom that people, even outside the walls, many of them will never find. 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:10.159 And you know, that's the truth of the gospel, that Jesus doesn't just open doors for us, but he breaks chains. 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:13.360 And that's where that song, Chainbreaker, came from. 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:16.000 If you've got chains, he's a chainbreaker. 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:23.840 But this isn't the first time that we see the gospel breaking chains inside of prison walls. 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:26.479 That's actually something we see in scripture as well. 00:02:26.639 --> 00:02:35.919 And so what I want to do today as we wind the series down is take you to Acts chapter 16 and look at the story of Paul and Silas in prison. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:38.319 So if you got your Bibles, go to Acts chapter 16. 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:42.400 While you're turning there, let me give you a little bit of background on what's happening. 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:46.000 Paul is now on his second missionary journey. 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:52.800 And what he's doing is he's going around and visiting a lot of churches that he had already planted on his first missionary journey. 00:02:53.039 --> 00:03:05.759 He was attempting to go into Asia, but he received a vision from God in the night with a man from Europe saying, Come over to Macedonia and bring the gospel to us. 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:08.639 And so Paul begins to be obedient to the Lord. 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:10.240 He doesn't go into Asia. 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:15.120 He goes over to Europe and he begins ministry in the city of Philippi. 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:18.159 Now, there in Philippi, he saw God do some amazing things. 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:27.599 They met a merchant, a woman named Lydia, and immediately she and her household are baptized and began to host the church there in Philippi. 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:32.879 Later on, Paul uh leads this slave girl to Christ. 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:35.520 But the slave girl is not an ordinary slave girl. 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:44.800 She was kind of famous in town because before she had trusted Christ, she had a spirit of divination, like a demonic spirit. 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:49.360 And that spirit helped her owners profit in business. 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:58.560 And when she got saved and that spirit was driven out, and the Holy Spirit indwelled her, the owners became furious because they lost all that income. 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:06.560 And so they incited a mob to go after Paul and to go after Silas and those with him, trying to drive them out of town. 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:11.599 And that's kind of where we pick up the story in Acts chapter 16, starting in verse 22. 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:16.879 Here's what we read: It said, The crowd joined in the attack against them. 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:18.319 That's Paul and Silas. 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:23.680 And the chief magistrate stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:28.959 After they had severely flogged them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailer to guard them carefully. 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:34.160 Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet and stocks. 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:40.399 About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying, singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:46.079 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken. 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:51.519 And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's chains came loose. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:05:00.240 And when the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison standing open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped. 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:04.240 But Paul called out in a loud voice, Don't harm yourself. 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:05.680 We're all here. 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:11.600 The jailer called for lights, and he rushed in and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:16.480 He escorted them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:23.199 And they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:27.360 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him along with everyone in his house. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:31.199 He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:34.000 Right away he and all his family were baptized. 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:43.360 He brought them into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had come to believe in God with his entire household. 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:46.000 Now, this is an amazing story, right? 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:56.639 It's probably one of the most remarkable miracles we see in Acts when we see God through an earthquake shake this prison and lead to the conversion of the Philippian jailer. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:01.759 So here Paul and Silas are following the will of God, leading them towards Europe. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:02.959 Things are going well. 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:09.199 Lydia gets saved, the slave girl gets saved, and then all of a sudden things start to go sideways. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:13.759 They're attacked by a mob, they're beaten, arrested, thrown in prison. 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:22.959 And man, it's a good reminder that sometimes we can be following God's will, and things not always work out the way that we want them to. 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:30.639 Paul and Silas were stripped down, beaten, thrown into the deepest part of the prison. 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:45.759 The stocks that jailer had them put in, that we see there in the text, they were a form of torture that was reserved for certain criminals, that their legs were put in these stocks to stretch their bodies and put pain in their torso. 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:50.879 And yet, while in this torture device, Paul and Silas begin to sing. 00:06:51.120 --> 00:07:02.639 The prisoners listen to them, the guards listen to them, and then God sends this big earthquake that miraculously frees the prisoners by opening the doors and freeing the chains. 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:05.360 And again, if you say, well, how's an earthquake free the chains? 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:07.120 Number one, well, it was miraculous. 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:11.040 Number two, don't think they're wearing handcuffs and the handcuffs fell off. 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:18.160 Think about the scenes that you've seen of like a cave stone wall type of prison where the chains are mounted into the stone. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:25.360 What probably happened is those chains broke loose out of that wall, and so they weren't held by the chains anymore. 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:41.839 Now, when all that happens, the guard wakes up, he sees the prison door open, he can't tell if anybody's inside, and immediately he freaks out and begins to uh attempt to kill himself because he knew the punishment that was coming his way for allowing these prisoners to escape. 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:46.160 At best, he would receive the same punishment that they deserved. 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:49.120 Most likely he would have been put to death anyway. 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:52.879 But Paul sees this and he calls out and he stops him. 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:57.839 He calls out and stops this man who put him in stocks, this man who threw him in prison. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:00.319 He stops him and says, Hey man, don't do that. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:01.519 We're all here. 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:04.639 And the jailer is overwhelmed. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:12.959 He comes in trembling, falls at the feet of Paul and Silas, and he comes to trust Jesus as his Savior. 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:16.959 And then he takes the message with Paul and Silas to his family. 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:19.920 His family believes, and then they get baptized. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:21.360 It's a crazy story. 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:22.879 But here's my question for you. 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:24.800 I want you to think about today. 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:30.800 What do you think is the greatest miracle in this passage, right? 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:36.320 And you know, it may seem obvious to you, but the truth is we got a few options. 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:47.039 I think the first and most obvious of what might the greatest miracle be was the earthquake in the prison, the doors opening and the chains coming loose, right? 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:50.639 The walls came down, the chains were broken. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:56.480 And man, what a great picture that man's chains can never stop God's power. 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:00.320 He truly is a chainbreaker. 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:16.000 And the truth is, while you and I may not be imprisoned physically like Paul and Silas were, oftentimes we are chained by circumstances in our life, uh, the decisions of others, health challenges, financial challenges, whatever. 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:23.519 And the truth is that God can and often does deliver us from difficult circumstances. 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:26.000 But he doesn't always. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:34.240 And I think part of the reason why is because this miracle is not the greatest miracle that we see. 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:38.480 I think this is maybe the least of the miracles that we see in this passage. 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:43.519 Matter of fact, sometimes there's more at play in our lives than we first realize. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:49.600 We are immediately drawn to the physical, to the immediate, to those chains that chain our bodies. 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:55.120 But yet that's not really the most important thing happening in our lives. 00:09:55.360 --> 00:10:02.159 Paul and Silas realized that though their chains were loose, the doors were open and they could have ran, they stayed. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:02.960 Why? 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:10.159 Because Paul and Silas understood that the jailer was more of a prisoner than they were. 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:12.559 And so they stayed. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:17.919 I think the second miracle that we see is related to that, right? 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:22.399 We see Paul and Silas singing and staying. 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:29.840 Now, at first glance, you may say, Chip, I'm not sure that's a miracle, but if you stop to think about it, I think it's pretty easy to see. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:39.279 It's pretty easy to see that the way Paul and Silas acted while they were imprisoned, while they were in stocks, was nothing short of miraculous. 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:42.240 And I think it was more miraculous than the earthquake. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:42.879 Why? 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:45.440 It's like Charles Spurgeon, my favorite pastor. 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:49.519 Charles Spurgeon says it like this Any fool can sing in the day. 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:58.399 It's easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight, but the skillful singer is he who can sing when there's not a ray of light to read by. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:02.240 Songs in the night come only from God. 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:05.759 They are not in the power of men. 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:15.519 The reason this is miraculous is because no doubt Paul and Silas in their flesh would feel what most of us feel. 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:18.159 We would feel anger, we would feel frustration. 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:21.440 We would say, God, why am I here if I'm following your will? 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:33.759 We would not want to sing, but through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they lifted their voices in praise and worship to God, confident they were where they needed to be. 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:36.000 Don't miss that. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:49.360 It was only through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit that Paul and Silas were able to live and act in opposition to what their flesh would naturally pull them to do. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:56.480 Not only did they sing, but when the doors came open, they stayed. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:01.919 You think that there wasn't a part of their flesh that wanted to run and go and get out of Dodge? 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:03.600 But they stayed. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:10.399 Because, like we already said, they understood that the jailer was more in prison than they were. 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:28.799 And so that Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, just as much God as God can be, the Holy Spirit indwelling them, empowered them to be obedient to Jesus and to live in opposition to their flesh. 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:32.399 And I think you need to know that the same is true for us today. 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:43.039 Through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are able to be free from addictions, strongholds, and other chains that bind us. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:44.879 Maybe you're struggling with sin. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:46.559 Maybe you're struggling with addiction. 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:56.559 Maybe you're struggling with mental health or financial, whatever they are, what you need to know is that Jesus still breaks those chains. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:13:07.919 I do think what's interesting though is though Jesus broke the chains so that they were not held by Paul and Silas anymore, or so they didn't hold Paul and Silas anymore. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:10.399 I don't think that means that the chains necessarily fell off. 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:16.399 Remember, we don't think handcuffs falling off, chains chained to the wall, they came loose, so they weren't held by them anymore. 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:19.840 But they, if they had left, they'd probably still carry those chains with them. 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:23.600 You know, I think that's probably a good illustration for a lot of people today. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:26.639 You have come to trust Jesus as your savior. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:34.240 You've been freed from the penalty of sin, and you have been freed from the power of sin, but yet through your own choices, you still live in it. 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:41.840 So I think you need to trust Jesus and walk in the freedom that He's already purchased for you. 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:49.519 But even here, I still don't think that Paul and Silas singing and staying is the greatest miracle that we see in this passage. 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:51.360 What is the greatest miracle? 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:55.120 I think it's the salvation of the jailer and his family. 00:13:55.360 --> 00:13:56.399 I think that's it. 00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:58.559 That's the biggest thing that happens. 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:11.440 Not because he was a Philippian jailer, not because he was a pagan Gentile, but because he was a sinner that was washed clean and made righteous by the blood of Jesus. 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:20.399 Don't miss that that's the greatest miracle that's ever happened in history to anybody anywhere. 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:27.679 The chains of sin and unbelief cannot stop the power of the gospel to save. 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:46.399 The fact that we can be raised from spiritual death to spiritual life, the fact that we can go from enemies to God, to family of God, the fact that we can go to an eternity separated from God in hell, to an eternity with him in heaven, that is the greatest miracle that any of us will ever know. 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:51.279 The chains of sin and unbelief will never stop the gospel. 00:14:52.159 --> 00:15:00.159 No one is too good, they don't need it, and no one is too bad, they can't receive it. 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:11.759 When we look at this passage in Acts chapter 16, I think for me at least it's fairly obvious the greatest miracle wasn't the prison where Jesus broke those chains that held their bodies. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:19.200 It wasn't even that they stayed and that they sung, and he broke the chains that held their hearts and their hands. 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:28.399 I think the greatest miracle is that Jesus broke the chains that held that jailer's soul and he came to new life in Christ. 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:31.840 When I look at that passage, I think it's pretty obvious. 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:33.759 God didn't just shape the prison. 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:37.279 I mean, he did, but he didn't just shake the prison. 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:40.960 He shook everything that the prison was trying to accomplish. 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:44.399 The prison couldn't stop God's power. 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:49.360 Paul and Silas's suffering couldn't stop their worship and sin. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.720 Brother, it had no chance of ever stopping the gospel. 00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:56.799 So here's what I want you to know. 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:01.279 There is no chain that Jesus can't break. 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:06.159 There is no chain in your life that Jesus cannot break. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:12.879 Maybe you are in some difficult circumstances and you are crying out to him to free you from those circumstances. 00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:21.759 I believe he can, and I believe that he very well might, but you need to know that if he doesn't, that's because there's more at play that we can't see. 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:37.919 So it's more important instead of him just breaking the chains that hold our bodies, we want him to break the chains that hold our hearts and our hands, that he would help us to live in the power of the Holy Spirit, to live contrary to our flesh, to live and to love like he does. 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:43.600 We want him to break those chains, and sometimes our circumstances are the means by which that happens. 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:59.840 Or then maybe you're listening to this today and you've never trusted Jesus as your Savior, and you need him to break the chains of sin and unbelief in your life, the chains that hold your soul, so that you can find forgiveness and be made righteous in him. 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:05.200 Just like the flipping jailer, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:08.240 Believe on Jesus. 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:10.160 Turn from your sin. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:12.000 Turn to him. 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:20.480 You know, the way that we experience being imprisoned in contemporary life in contemporary life, uh, it comes in a lot of forms. 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:25.359 Could be physical chains, emotional chains, social chains, spiritual chains. 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:28.880 Look, all these chains are real and they can be very powerful. 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:34.000 But I want you to know that there's no chain that has the ultimate word in our life. 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:56.640 That ultimate word is reserved for Jesus, the one who answers our prayers, the one who we worship in times that are good and times that are bad, the Jesus that is revealed to us in the scriptures, that died on the cross for our sins and rose from the grave for our justification. 00:17:57.200 --> 00:18:10.079 And that ultimate word that Jesus speaks is like an earthquake reminding us of our calling to love our neighbors and our enemies because of our love for Him. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:18.559 And that as we love Him and are formed in His image, we can walk in the freedom that He's purchased for us. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:24.720 So, whatever your chain is, just know this morning there's no chain that Jesus can't break. 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:26.799 Let me pray for you right now. 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:37.279 God, thank you for the time to look at your word, and I pray that you would take your word and use it to break the chains that are holding many this morning. 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:50.319 Whether it be circumstances, whether it be habits, addictions, or maybe this morning, the chains of sin and unbelief that have kept them from trusting you as Savior. 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:52.880 God, would you work in each individual life? 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:54.640 Would you raise dead hearts to life? 00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:56.880 Would you free hearts from bondage? 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:01.920 God, would you bring healing and recovery in difficult situations? 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:05.680 We're asking that you would because we believe that you can. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:17.119 But God, even when you don't, especially when you don't take us out of those circumstances, I pray that you would help us to see your goodness and never let our trust in you waver. 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:20.880 God, we're thankful that you are still the chainbreaker today. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:22.559 We thank you in Jesus' name. 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:23.519 Amen.