SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Sermons from the Way Church KC, a community of the citizen saints in Kansas City, following the way of Jesus and pushing back darkness together.
SPEAKER_00: Good morning, everybody.
SPEAKER_00: How are we doing?
SPEAKER_00: It's a rainy Sunday, so um are you all awake?
SPEAKER_00: I hope you are, because I'm really not.
SPEAKER_00: I just chugged the rest of my coffee in the back.
SPEAKER_00: And it's decaf, so I'm like barely awake at this point.
SPEAKER_00: But um, thank you very much.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to be reading Acts 16, 16 through 24.
SPEAKER_00: So if you could please stand with me for the reading of the word.
unknown: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Um, as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune telling.
SPEAKER_00: She followed Paul and us, crying out, These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: And this she kept doing for many days.
SPEAKER_00: Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.
SPEAKER_00: And it came out that very hour.
SPEAKER_00: But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.
SPEAKER_00: And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city.
SPEAKER_00: They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.
SPEAKER_00: The crowd joined in, attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.
SPEAKER_00: And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.
SPEAKER_00: Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
SPEAKER_00: This is the reading of the word.
SPEAKER_00: You may be seated.
SPEAKER_02: Amen, amen.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Madeline.
SPEAKER_02: Well, welcome everyone to the Way Church KC.
SPEAKER_02: Um, if we haven't gotten a chance to meet yet, my name is Zach.
SPEAKER_02: I have the privilege of being the lead pastor here, and we are about a two-year-old church plant, and our mission is to follow the way of Jesus and push back darkness together.
SPEAKER_02: That's the mission that the Lord has had us on since we launched right here in this neighborhood of Rosedale on Easter Sunday, 2024, and we're seeing God move in some incredible ways and build such a sweet church family.
SPEAKER_02: Um, and it's just a privilege to get to do this thing with you guys.
SPEAKER_02: Um before we dive into today's sermon, I wanted to give you a little recap of something that the Lord did last week.
SPEAKER_02: We had Sports Camp last week, if you didn't know, and it was an incredible success.
SPEAKER_02: We had um about 50 campers Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday right there on the front lawn.
SPEAKER_02: I think if we had any more, we wouldn't have had enough space.
SPEAKER_02: Um, so we might have outgrown our lawn for next year's sports camp.
SPEAKER_02: Um, had a bunch of people volunteering, had over 200 people at our neighborhood block party, and it was such a sweet, sweet time.
SPEAKER_02: Um we had here's the here's the coolest thing.
SPEAKER_02: We had six salvations from campers um on Wednesday morning.
SPEAKER_02: Um let's clap for that.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: So many of you served at sports camp.
SPEAKER_02: Um, some of our students and student men, um, some people that are newer to the church were serving faithfully.
SPEAKER_02: Um and the coolest part of sports camp for me was just one, seeing the gospel preached, but two, seeing so many of our church family serving together in order to pull this deal off.
SPEAKER_02: Because this isn't something that like one or two of us could pull off.
SPEAKER_02: No, it took all of us working together from Coach Dana to Coach Jerry to Coach Ajellon and everybody all down the line.
SPEAKER_02: Like, this was a we do it together thing, and we pulled it off.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm still recovering a little bit from just being tired from it, but it was a great, great time.
SPEAKER_02: So thank you to those who served.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you to those who uh sent their kiddos to be campers, all that.
SPEAKER_02: It was a sweet time.
SPEAKER_02: And I think we should do it next week.
SPEAKER_02: What do you think?
SPEAKER_02: I'm just kidding, but next summer, let's do it.
SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah.
SPEAKER_02: So if this is your first time here, welcome.
SPEAKER_02: We're glad you're here.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, we'd love to share more with you about our church's story and hear more about your story.
SPEAKER_02: Um, at the end of service during announcements, there'll be a time for you to fill out a connect card, and I would love for you to do that just so we can get to know you.
SPEAKER_02: And we got a gift for you.
SPEAKER_02: So that's that.
SPEAKER_02: So we've been in a sermon series through the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_02: This sermon series is entitled Living by the Spirit and Following the Way.
SPEAKER_02: So we have been walking through that um really probably uh almost for the past year.
SPEAKER_02: We're in Acts chapter 16.
SPEAKER_02: And if you remember, two weeks ago we looked at the conversion of Lydia.
SPEAKER_02: And what we highlighted was this is a moment where the gospel arrives quietly.
SPEAKER_02: You know, there are different instances of the gospel arriving like an explosion in the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_02: But what we saw two weeks ago is a woman named Lydia hearing the word by a riverbank, and the Lord opens her heart.
SPEAKER_02: And the author Luke puts today's story next to that story of Lydia for a purpose.
SPEAKER_02: Um, what we see today is this encounter that the gospel arrives more like a collision.
SPEAKER_02: It's not this quiet sort of arrival, it's this sort of cataclysmic sort of arrival.
SPEAKER_02: It's this sort of collision between light and darkness.
SPEAKER_02: So, what we're we're looking at, the gospel is marching into Philippi.
SPEAKER_02: Paul and Barnabas are on their second missionary journey and they're arriving in Philippi, which was a Roman colony that was proud of its power, that was proud of its prosperity, that was proud of its patriotism, and immediately the gospel arrives and collides with darkness.
SPEAKER_02: And what I want us to see is that this is not just spiritual darkness, but this is also economic darkness.
SPEAKER_02: There's cultural darkness that we see, there is social and societal darkness that the gospel encounters.
SPEAKER_02: And what I think the writer, the author, Luke is doing is he is intentionally tying all of these together.
SPEAKER_02: What we see is a demonized slave girl.
SPEAKER_02: We see greedy businessmen, we see corrupt civic leaders, and we see a crowd that is manipulated.
SPEAKER_02: So on the surface, upon first read, this may seem just like it's just a story of an exorcism.
SPEAKER_02: But what I believe we will see today is that this is a story of kingdoms colliding.
SPEAKER_02: The kingdom of Christ colliding with the kingdom of darkness.
SPEAKER_02: And what I hope that we see is that the kingdom of Christ advances despite these areas of darkness.
SPEAKER_02: The kingdom of Christ advances through conflicts with spiritual and economic powers.
SPEAKER_02: And I think that what we see in this passage is still true for us today.
SPEAKER_02: That the gospel still sets captives free, that the gospel still threatens idols, and that the gospel still provokes opposition.
SPEAKER_02: And what we see in Acts 16, and what is true today, is that Christ is still Lord over every chain which binds, and Christ still reigns over darkness.
SPEAKER_02: Here's our big idea this morning.
SPEAKER_02: Our big idea is this that the gospel confronts darkness with the authority and power of Christ, leading to both freedom and opportunities to witness his grace even through suffering.
SPEAKER_02: It's kind of a mouthful.
SPEAKER_02: We can summarize it this way.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel confronts darkness with the authority and power of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Boom.
SPEAKER_02: Let's keep it simple.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel confronts darkness with the authority and power of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: With that, there are three truths that I hope to encourage you with this morning.
SPEAKER_02: First, to trust Christ to break every chain.
SPEAKER_02: Secondly, to submit to every idol to Christ's Lordship.
SPEAKER_02: And thirdly, to follow Christ through every trial.
SPEAKER_02: I will pray and then let's dig in.
SPEAKER_02: Heavenly Father, we love you, we praise you, we thank you for bringing us here today to gather together under your preached word, to gather together and sing songs of worship, to gather together and pray.
SPEAKER_02: And Lord, I just ask that today you would move me out of the way, that you would speak through me, that you would let your words be made clear.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, do a work that only you can do.
SPEAKER_02: Holy Spirit, would you move through this place?
SPEAKER_02: Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.
SPEAKER_02: We love you, we praise you.
SPEAKER_02: And it's in the mighty name of Jesus we pray.
SPEAKER_02: And all God's people said, Amen, amen.
SPEAKER_02: So point number one this morning is trust Christ to break every chain.
SPEAKER_02: Trust Christ to break every chain.
SPEAKER_02: Acts chapter 16, verses 16 through 18 read.
SPEAKER_02: As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune telling.
SPEAKER_02: She followed Paul and us, crying out, These men are servants of the Most High God who proclaim to you the way of salvation.
SPEAKER_02: And this she kept doing for many days.
SPEAKER_02: Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the Spirits, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.
SPEAKER_02: And it came out that very hour.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: So Luke introduces us to a girl who is doubly enslaved.
SPEAKER_02: One, she is physically enslaved.
SPEAKER_02: It says she has owners who are profiting from her.
SPEAKER_02: And two, she is spiritually enslaved.
SPEAKER_02: So she is in double the chain.
SPEAKER_02: She's in chains to an owner, and she is in chains to the devil.
SPEAKER_02: And the text says that she had a spirit of divination.
SPEAKER_02: So the Greek phrase for this spirit of divination is fascinating.
SPEAKER_02: It's pneuma pythona.
SPEAKER_02: So this likely refers to the python spirit that was associated with the oracle of Delphi and the god Apollo.
SPEAKER_02: So in Greek culture, the python serpent was tied to prophecy and fortune telling.
SPEAKER_02: And so the author Luke is deliberately showing us something.
SPEAKER_02: He's showing us that the gospel is confronting pagan spiritual powers head on.
SPEAKER_02: The girl is being exploited both spiritually and economically.
SPEAKER_02: And her owners are making money off of her bondage.
SPEAKER_02: There are people that are profiting off of her bondage.
SPEAKER_02: And notice something important.
SPEAKER_02: Luke does not even tell us her name.
SPEAKER_02: Well, why is that?
SPEAKER_02: You might wonder.
SPEAKER_02: That's what I asked as I prepared for this message.
SPEAKER_02: Well, I think the answer is that because in Philippi nobody cared about her name.
SPEAKER_02: To her owner, she was a paycheck.
SPEAKER_02: To the crowd, she was entertainment.
SPEAKER_02: To the demon, she was but a vessel.
SPEAKER_02: But to Jesus Christ, she was a person.
SPEAKER_02: She was a person with a name and a name with a story.
SPEAKER_02: Everybody in Philippi saw what she could produce, but Jesus saw someone who needed to be rescued.
SPEAKER_02: And if you look back just a couple weeks ago to the story of Lydia, we remember Lydia was named.
SPEAKER_02: Lydia had dignity, she had identity, but this girl was anonymous.
SPEAKER_02: Lydia is wealthy and free.
SPEAKER_02: In this story, this unnamed girl is poor and enslaved.
SPEAKER_02: Lydia owned a business.
SPEAKER_02: This girl is owned by a business.
SPEAKER_02: Lydia's heart is opened to the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: The girl's bondage is shattered by the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: One needs conversion, the other needs deliverance.
SPEAKER_02: And what I hope that we see today is that the gospel is sufficient for both.
SPEAKER_02: And just as kind of an aside, can I just tell you that like Satan, that's how he works.
SPEAKER_02: The way we see him working on this unnamed girl, that's the way the enemy works.
SPEAKER_02: That's what he does.
SPEAKER_02: He dehumanizes, he enslaves, he erases our identity that the Lord has given us.
SPEAKER_02: He wants us to remain unknown.
SPEAKER_02: He does not want us to find our true identity in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus said in John chapter 10, verse 10 that the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.
SPEAKER_02: That's what the thief or Satan is doing to this girl.
SPEAKER_02: He is stealing, he is killing, and he is destroying her very life.
SPEAKER_02: She is living in darkness.
SPEAKER_02: But Christ comes to restore what darkness destroys.
SPEAKER_02: And what makes this scene so strange is that the demonized girl is actually speaking truth, right?
SPEAKER_02: She says, These men are servants of the Most High God who proclaim to you the way of salvation.
SPEAKER_02: That sounds accurate, right?
SPEAKER_02: But then we see Paul eventually rebuking the spirit.
SPEAKER_02: So why is that?
SPEAKER_02: Why did Paul cast out a demon that was technically telling the truth?
SPEAKER_02: Because what we know about the enemy, what the scriptures show us, is that Satan is never interested in promoting Christ.
SPEAKER_02: No, he's interested in confusing Christ.
SPEAKER_02: A half-truth is often more dangerous than a lie because it sounds trustworthy.
SPEAKER_02: Because the fact of the matter is, is that truth from the mouth of darkness still distorts the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: Satan, he doesn't always oppose the gospel by contradiction.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes he may oppose it by imitation.
SPEAKER_02: In the Roman world, in the context of this scripture in Acts, most high God, it could, that phrase could easily fit into their pagan polytheism.
SPEAKER_02: The crowd could have interpreted Paul as just another, as pointing to just another religious option among many gods.
SPEAKER_02: And I think that's what Satan does.
SPEAKER_02: He often prefers mixture over denial.
SPEAKER_02: He wants us to be spiritually confused, just like this unnamed girl.
SPEAKER_02: So the truth for us in this section is that discernment matters.
SPEAKER_02: Discernment matters, church.
SPEAKER_02: Not every spiritual voice is from God.
SPEAKER_02: Not every religious statement that you hear or you see when you're scrolling on TikTok is biblical.
SPEAKER_02: Not every inspirational message that you come across is truth.
SPEAKER_02: We need to filter what we're taking in through scripture.
SPEAKER_02: Because I think that the devil is perfectly comfortable sounding religious.
SPEAKER_02: The devil, he like, he comes and masquerades as light.
SPEAKER_02: But he is all, he is entirely, he is totally darkness.
SPEAKER_02: And that may sound discouraging, right?
SPEAKER_02: But family, can I just tell you that Jesus Christ has authority over all darkness?
SPEAKER_02: Finally, what we see, Paul, we see Paul turn and say to the demon spirit, says this, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.
SPEAKER_02: I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.
SPEAKER_02: And immediately the spirit leaves.
SPEAKER_02: There's no like ritualistic thing they do.
SPEAKER_02: You don't see this intense struggle.
SPEAKER_02: You don't see like it being contested.
SPEAKER_02: You see the spirit immediately leave because the authority belongs to Christ.
SPEAKER_02: John chapter 1, verse 15 says the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
SPEAKER_02: That's what we're seeing.
SPEAKER_02: We're seeing the light prevail over the darkness.
SPEAKER_02: And what this is, this is the first detailed exorcism account in Acts.
SPEAKER_02: And this intentionally parallels Jesus' ministry in Luke's gospel.
SPEAKER_02: So the same Christ who cast out demons in Galilee in the Gospels now reigns through his spirit in the church and is purifying his church right here in Acts 16 and still today.
SPEAKER_02: The battle is over before it begins, because darkness cannot withstand the authority of King Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Remember what we say often here is that we don't fight for victory, we fight from victory.
SPEAKER_02: That's what this text is showing us.
SPEAKER_02: We fight from victory because we know Jesus has authority over all darkness.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus was and is and will be victorious over the enemy.
SPEAKER_02: So how does this apply to us today?
SPEAKER_02: You may be sitting here thinking, well, I'm not, I don't have a spirit of divination like this unnamed girl.
SPEAKER_02: But what I would argue today is that some of us are still enslaved.
SPEAKER_02: Some of us are still bound in chains.
SPEAKER_02: And some of those chains may be obvious change.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's addiction, maybe it's sexual sin, maybe it's occult practices, maybe it's bitterness, maybe it's fear.
SPEAKER_02: Or maybe your bondage isn't as overt.
SPEAKER_02: It's something that's like, hey, this is relatively culturally acceptable.
SPEAKER_02: It's seemingly respectable change.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's pride.
SPEAKER_02: You know, it's something that's not as blatantly obvious at times.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's materialism, maybe it's self-righteousness.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's some secret, hidden unbelief.
SPEAKER_02: Whatever it is for you, whatever the Lord is impressing upon your heart right now is like, hey, that's what I gotta deal with.
SPEAKER_02: Those are the chains that are binding me.
SPEAKER_02: Whatever that may be, hear this clearly.
SPEAKER_02: Christ still breaks chains today.
SPEAKER_02: He hasn't changed.
SPEAKER_02: Christ still breaks chains today.
SPEAKER_02: There is no darkness that is stronger than the risen Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Because the truth of the gospel is that the gospel does not merely improve people.
SPEAKER_02: This isn't like some spiritual self-help book.
SPEAKER_02: No.
SPEAKER_02: This is a book about a man named Jesus who sets us free.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel sets us free.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus Christ sets us free.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel is sufficient to break every chain.
SPEAKER_02: So, what's our job?
SPEAKER_02: Our job is simply to trust the chain breaker.
SPEAKER_02: Our job is to trust the risen Christ to break every chain.
SPEAKER_02: Think about this for a second.
SPEAKER_02: Imagine a prisoner sitting in a dark cell for decades.
SPEAKER_02: One day the prison doors swing open, the chains are removed, freedom is offered, yet some hesitate to leave because bondage has become familiar.
SPEAKER_02: They know the prison, they understand the change.
SPEAKER_02: The darkness feels safer than the unknown.
SPEAKER_02: And that is humanity apart from Christ.
SPEAKER_02: But like thinking even just like physical chains, thinking of like the jails in our area, the prisons in our area, like we see these really high recidivism rates.
SPEAKER_02: That is, that is a prisoner returning to prison.
SPEAKER_02: And I would argue that a piece of it is because that's what's familiar.
SPEAKER_02: That's what they know.
SPEAKER_02: I know that's some of our stories in here, that like, hey, the Lord set us free, literally opens the prison doors for us in a real literal way, but he's also broken those spiritual chains.
SPEAKER_02: Man, I just think that like if we could get this part, that we could know that Christ sets us free, like, yes, we'd see freedom from the spiritual bondage, but we I think we would see, Ken, I think we'd see that recidivism rate decline.
SPEAKER_02: And that's why it's like what you're doing, brother, is such an important work.
SPEAKER_02: Doing prison ministry.
SPEAKER_02: May sin never become normal for us.
SPEAKER_02: May bondage never become comfortable for us.
SPEAKER_02: May we never become accustomed to our prisons.
SPEAKER_02: Be that the prison of pride, be that the prison of lust, be that the prison of bitterness, be that the prison of addiction.
SPEAKER_02: May we trust the one who enters into our chains, who enters into our prison and announces freedom to the captives.
SPEAKER_02: Recovery of sight to the blind.
SPEAKER_02: Good news to the poor.
SPEAKER_02: Because here's the tragedy.
SPEAKER_02: The tragedy of sin is this it's not merely that it enslaves us.
SPEAKER_02: But it is that it convinces us that slavery is freedom.
SPEAKER_02: The thing about the prodigal son story from the gospel, we walked through the gospel of Luke last year.
SPEAKER_02: The prodigal son thought that freedom was found in that faraway country where he went and squandered all his inheritance.
SPEAKER_02: Or look at the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_02: Israel often wanted to return to Egypt.
SPEAKER_02: And that's also like symbolic language for returning to bondage.
SPEAKER_02: The Pharisees claimed that they were free while standing in bondage to judgment and sin.
SPEAKER_02: You see how it's like this is in our like natural tendencies to love the bondage.
SPEAKER_02: Fallen humanity, we love our chains at times, if we're being honest.
SPEAKER_02: But Christ comes into this world announcing, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
SPEAKER_02: And that is good news.
SPEAKER_02: Which brings us to point number two.
SPEAKER_02: Submit every idol to Christ's lordship.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 19.
SPEAKER_02: They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.
SPEAKER_02: So verse 19, that's the crux of this point right here.
SPEAKER_02: It exposes the true problem.
SPEAKER_02: But when our owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, there is the real idol for these owners.
SPEAKER_02: It's not a form of spirituality they have, it isn't their Roman customs, it's money.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel had touched their wallets and they didn't like that.
SPEAKER_02: And before we sit here and condemn these men too quickly, saying, like, hey, I'm not a slave owner, I'm not profiting off of somebody's ill fortunes for my gain, like so on.
SPEAKER_02: Like before we say that to ourselves, we should ask ourselves, what happens when Jesus touches my source of security?
SPEAKER_02: What happens when obedience to Christ costs me money?
SPEAKER_02: What happens when faithfulness affects my comfort?
SPEAKER_02: What happens when Jesus threatens something that I don't want to surrender?
SPEAKER_02: That's what we should wrestle with this morning.
SPEAKER_02: Because I think so often when we read the scriptures, we want to like, hey, read ourselves into it and say, like, hey, we're the good guy in this.
SPEAKER_02: Like, that's not always how it works.
SPEAKER_02: A lot of times we have these sinful tendencies to operate like the bad guys in the scriptures.
SPEAKER_02: So these owners, they didn't care about the girl at all.
SPEAKER_02: They cared about their profit.
SPEAKER_02: And Luke, what he's doing, he's intentionally connecting spiritual darkness with economic exploitation.
SPEAKER_02: The girl's suffering, it was profitable for them.
SPEAKER_02: Her bondage funded someone else's comfort.
SPEAKER_02: And when the gospel sets her free, the system that they had built retaliated.
SPEAKER_02: Because the fact of the matter is, church, is that the gospel, it always threatens idols.
SPEAKER_02: And to put it simply for us today, an idol is anything that you elevate above God.
SPEAKER_02: An idol is anything that you put above God's rightful place.
SPEAKER_02: We see some economic idolatry.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus said in his gospels that you cannot serve both God and money.
SPEAKER_02: It disrupts greed, it disrupts exploitation, it disrupts oppression.
SPEAKER_02: That is why opposition arises right here in Acts 16.
SPEAKER_02: Because the idols, in a sense, they're fighting back.
SPEAKER_02: The slave owners, they drag Paul and Silas before the magistrates, and suddenly they frame the issue politically.
SPEAKER_02: They say, these men are Jews, they advocate customs that are unlawful for Romans.
SPEAKER_02: Do you see the progression here as we walk through this text?
SPEAKER_02: Personal greed becomes public outrage.
SPEAKER_02: Financial loss becomes cultural panic.
SPEAKER_02: And this is how the idols of their day are defending themselves.
SPEAKER_02: Philippia was a Roman colony, and they were the people that were deeply loyal to Rome.
SPEAKER_02: Roman colonies, they prided themselves, they prized order, patriotism, and what was known as the Pax Romana or the peace of Rome.
SPEAKER_02: So any disturbance was treated very seriously.
SPEAKER_02: So the accusations become they are disturbing society, they are ethnic outsiders, they are introducing dangerous customs into our culture.
SPEAKER_02: And so what Luke's showing us in those three things is this picture of civic corruption, of xenophobia, and mob manipulation all in one instance.
SPEAKER_02: And what I think this text will show us here today is that the gospel still confronts unjust systems today, be it human trafficking, maybe it's exploitation of the poor, maybe it's racism, maybe it's corrupt business practices, maybe it's predatory industries, maybe it's pornography, maybe it's systems that profit off of addiction.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel still speaks into those things today.
SPEAKER_02: And Christians should not be surprised when faithfulness, when our faithfulness provokes resistance and provokes opposition.
SPEAKER_02: Because if our Christianity never disrupts darkness, we may need to ask ourselves whether our gospel has become too comfortable.
SPEAKER_02: This statement may ruffle some feathers here.
SPEAKER_02: I'm okay with that.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel, it's not partisan.
SPEAKER_02: It is not aligned with one political party, but it is deeply disruptive.
SPEAKER_02: Because King Jesus claims authority over every sphere of life.
SPEAKER_02: Think about how shocking this must have been.
SPEAKER_02: A girl is set free, a human being is literally delivered from demonic oppression, and the result is not celebration, it's violence.
SPEAKER_02: And isn't that exactly what darkness does?
SPEAKER_02: Because darkness hates freedom.
SPEAKER_02: Let's continue on and look at point three, verses twenty-two through twenty four, the word says, The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.
SPEAKER_02: And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.
SPEAKER_02: Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
SPEAKER_02: So the crowd erupts.
SPEAKER_02: It's a mob.
SPEAKER_02: Paul and Silas are stripped, they are beaten with rods, and they are thrown into prison.
SPEAKER_02: There is no trial that happens, there's no justice being served, there's no mercy being offered to them.
SPEAKER_02: No, they're just simply punished for setting this girl free from her bondage.
SPEAKER_02: And in Roman beatings, they were brutal public humiliations.
SPEAKER_02: And all this happened because they freed a girl in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Think about it.
SPEAKER_02: Had they left her enslaved, none of this would have happened.
SPEAKER_02: They would not be being beaten by rods, they wouldn't be imprisoned, none of it would have happened had they left this girl enslaved.
SPEAKER_02: And I think what that shows us is that true gospel ministry values redemption more than comfort.
SPEAKER_02: You think Paul and Silas and the author Luke were thinking about their comfort in this story?
SPEAKER_02: No, they were thinking about the proclamation of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: Because the fact of the matter is, is that discipleship to Jesus, following the way of Jesus is costly.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus, nowhere in this book does Jesus promise easy discipleship.
SPEAKER_02: I've read it.
SPEAKER_02: I found, hey, discipleship's easy.
SPEAKER_02: Following the way of Jesus will be easy.
SPEAKER_02: No, he promised crosses.
SPEAKER_02: He promised that we would carry our cross as he carried it.
SPEAKER_02: And Paul and Silas, they are walking the same road as Christ Himself.
SPEAKER_02: And notice they do not compromise in order to avoid suffering.
SPEAKER_02: They remain faithful.
SPEAKER_02: So, church, what we see today is that obedience to Christ, obedience to the way of Jesus, may cost you.
SPEAKER_02: It may cost you your reputation, it may cost you relationships, it may cost you career advancement, it may cost you comfort, it may cost you security.
SPEAKER_02: But what I hope that you hear this morning is that no suffering for Christ is ever wasted.
SPEAKER_02: No suffering for Christ is ever wasted.
SPEAKER_02: Paul, he he later writes in his letter to the Philippians from another prison, and he says this.
SPEAKER_02: Church, what if that's the posture we had?
SPEAKER_02: What has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: I was before service, I was talking to a new brother, and he asked, Hey, how long, how how long have you been following the Lord?
SPEAKER_02: How did the Lord save you?
SPEAKER_02: And I share with him, like, hey, 11 and a half years ago, I was living in bondage to addiction, to sin, addiction, and the Lord set me free.
SPEAKER_02: And today I can stand before you and say that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: The addiction that I walk through has really served to advance the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: Because what we see from Paul is that the prison it becomes a pulpit.
SPEAKER_02: And I think the same can be true for us is that what we walk through, the suffering, the pain, the heartache, it can become a pulpit.
SPEAKER_02: And maybe right now you don't believe that yet, but what I can tell you as truth is that the Lord can work all things together for good.
SPEAKER_02: Even those things that may not seem like it.
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: So Luke, he introduces us to another anonymous figure here, and I'll just kind of give you a preview because we're going to cover it next week in the message.
SPEAKER_02: But we were introduced to the jailer.
SPEAKER_02: The jailer.
SPEAKER_02: And just to give you a little foreshadowing, this imprisonment of Paul and Silas, it looks like defeat, but it was actually divine strategy from the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Because this jailer is important to the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: God is already preparing another conversion story in the text.
SPEAKER_02: What looks like chains was actually divine providence.
SPEAKER_02: So, Christian brothers and sisters, never assume that suffering means that God has abandoned you.
SPEAKER_02: Suffering does not mean that God has abandoned you.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes the prison is the mission field.
SPEAKER_02: I love Rachel Mossman's testimony because that's like legit your story.
SPEAKER_02: Like physical prison walls.
SPEAKER_02: That became her mission field, and the Lord used it to radically change the lives of women in the jail cell.
SPEAKER_02: But maybe it's more in a spiritual sense for you.
SPEAKER_02: What I hope that we see is that those spiritual chains are not for nothing.
SPEAKER_02: They can be used to bring people to saving faith in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes it's like the hardship is and becomes the testimony.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes God does his deepest work in the darkest of places.
SPEAKER_02: She said this there is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna say that again.
SPEAKER_02: There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still.
SPEAKER_02: And Corey, this lady, she learned that in a concentration camp.
SPEAKER_02: Paul and Silas, they learned that in a Philippian jail.
SPEAKER_02: And what I believe is that many of us, many believers, still learn through suffering today.
SPEAKER_02: So, Ashton, you can come on up and begin to close us in song as we come to the end of this passage.
SPEAKER_02: Notice something remarkable.
SPEAKER_02: Everybody, everybody in Philippi, this town that they are in on their second missionary journey, everybody in Philippi is in chains.
SPEAKER_02: Everybody in Philippi is in some form of bondage.
SPEAKER_02: The slave girl is chained by a demon, the owners are chained by greed, the magistrates are chained by political pressure, the crowd is chained by public opinion.
SPEAKER_02: And by verse 24, even Paul and Silas are chained in a prison cell.
SPEAKER_02: Every person in this story is enslaved to something.
SPEAKER_02: And can we just be real here today?
SPEAKER_02: Like, one of the things that I feel makes our church different is that this is a place where we're real, raw, and authentic.
SPEAKER_02: Can we just be real and say that many of us are still in chains today?
SPEAKER_02: Some chains are obvious, right?
SPEAKER_02: Addiction, pornography, substance use disorder.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's uh like involvement in the occult.
SPEAKER_02: And some chains are harder to see.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's pride.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's the chains of pride that are binding you.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's bitterness.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe somebody did you dirty, like you have real reason, but the chains of bitterness are holding you back.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's fear.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's the chains of fear.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's fear of success, maybe it's fear of failure, maybe it's just fear.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's materialism.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's the approval of others.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you are bound by the chains of approval of others.
SPEAKER_02: Or maybe it's the pursuit of comfort.
SPEAKER_02: Or maybe it's even some chains that are binding you that are like, hey, these are kind of respectable in today's culture.
SPEAKER_02: Success.
SPEAKER_02: The chains of success are binding you.
SPEAKER_02: That's the only thing you're focused on.
SPEAKER_02: You've put success in God's place.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's reputation.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's how other people look at you.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's self-reliance, like, hey, I got this on my own.
SPEAKER_02: I could pick myself up by my bootstraps and do this deal on my own.
SPEAKER_02: But what I hope that we see today is that every chain has the same result.
SPEAKER_02: Every chain equals bondage.
SPEAKER_02: The slave girl was not the only captive in Philippi.
SPEAKER_02: She was simply the most obvious one.
SPEAKER_02: And the same, I think, is true in our world today.
SPEAKER_02: The question is not whether we have chains.
SPEAKER_02: The question is whether we know what they are.
SPEAKER_02: Because, family, the gospel, it does not merely expose our chains.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel, it breaks every chain.
SPEAKER_02: And that brings us to Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: We've looked at him throughout this passage, but I just want to make it plain and clear to you today because every every sermon that we preach to this church is Christ-centered.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus, he's the greater Paul.
SPEAKER_02: He confronted darkness directly.
SPEAKER_02: He cast out demons, he exposed idols, he challenged corrupt systems, he proclaimed liberty or freedom to the captives.
SPEAKER_02: And what happened to him?
SPEAKER_02: He was falsely accused, he was rejected by the crowd, he was stripped of his garments, he was beaten, he was arrested, he was condemned.
SPEAKER_02: And the world treated Jesus exactly as Philippi treated Paul and Silas in this story.
SPEAKER_02: But there's one major difference.
SPEAKER_02: Paul and Silas, they suffer because they freed a slave girl.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus suffered to free sinners.
SPEAKER_02: He walked willingly to the cross to carry our guilt, to carry our shame, and to carry our chains.
SPEAKER_02: At the cross of Calvary, Christ entered the prison house of sin and death.
SPEAKER_02: And when he rose from the grave, he shattered the locks from the inside.
SPEAKER_02: The resurrection of Jesus Christ declares that darkness does not win.
SPEAKER_02: That sin does not win.
SPEAKER_02: That Satan does not win, that death does not win.
SPEAKER_02: Christ wins.
SPEAKER_02: Point blake, period.
SPEAKER_02: And because Christ wins, captives can be set free, the blind can see.
SPEAKER_02: The lost can find freedom.
SPEAKER_02: The lost can be found.
SPEAKER_02: And I believe in my heart of hearts that the same is true today, the same can be true for you, that you can find true freedom, lasting freedom in the name of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: And so if that's something you want to talk about, I'll be down here at the front as I am every Sunday.
SPEAKER_02: And I'd love to talk to you about what it looks like and means to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
SPEAKER_02: So as we close this morning and Ashton closes us in song, I'm going to ask you three questions that I want you to ponder on, that I want you to meditate on, that I want you to consider.
SPEAKER_02: First, what chain needs to be broken in your life?
SPEAKER_02: Second, what idol needs to be brought under Christ's lordship?
SPEAKER_02: And third, what trial are you walking through that requires renewed faithfulness?
SPEAKER_02: Church, hear me this morning.
SPEAKER_02: The same Jesus who delivered the slave girl still delivers sinners.
SPEAKER_02: The same Jesus who sustains Paul and Silas still strengthens his people today.
SPEAKER_02: The same Jesus who conquered death still reigns today.
SPEAKER_02: So trust Christ to break every chain.
SPEAKER_02: Submit every idol to his lordship.
SPEAKER_02: Follow Christ through every trial.
SPEAKER_02: Because the gospel is not safe, but it is powerful and it is worth it.
SPEAKER_02: And it's the only place that I've been able to find freedom.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus is still setting captives free today.
SPEAKER_02: Let's close in worship.
SPEAKER_02: Heavenly Father, we love you, we praise you, we thank you for bringing us here today to consider the story of the demon-enslaved girl in the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, I praise you for the way that you worked through your early church and you are still working through your church today.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, I ask that you would move through this body here at the Way Church KC, that we would be a people who are fully devoted to following you, Jesus, to following your way, that we are devoted and committed to pushing back darkness in this city, in this neighborhood, and across the globe.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, will we live out these words that we read about today?
SPEAKER_02: Holy Spirit, do a work deep within us.
SPEAKER_02: We love you, we praise you.
SPEAKER_02: It's in the mighty name of Jesus I pray.
SPEAKER_02: And all God's people said, Amen.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening.
SPEAKER_01: Join us Sundays at 10 30 a.m.
SPEAKER_01: in the Rosedale neighborhood of Kansas City.
SPEAKER_01: Or find us anytime at the wakeac.church.