Title: Hymns in Prison/Acts 16:19-31
Contents Hymns in Prison/Acts 16:19-31
You've never been in a prison, so you don't know what a prison is. However, as you see on TV or in movies, people are locked up in a cold room, blocked with iron bars to prevent them from going out, and then locked with a big padlock. And there's no such thing as freedom, with guards walking around with guns! So, a world without freedom is like a prison.
In our country, I have been living in a prison without freedom for 36 years. This is because the Japanese imperialists tried to take away all of our freedom and make them their slaves.
I wanted to sing a hymn, but I couldn't. Even popular songs couldn't be sung. They even banned me from using my Korean language. It was really like a prison.
Yesterday was just 3. It was verse 1. Many patriots and thousands of people died as grains of wheat while shouting "Long live Korea's independence" with their bare fists in front of the ruthless guns and swords of the Japanese imperialists for the freedom and liberation of the country. How precious was freedom to die for it? Perhaps, I wanted to give my descendants the freedom to enjoy, so I did not fear death so that my descendants would no longer be subjected to such shame and oppression.
First of all, all of our children should have a heart of gratitude for their grace and sacrifice. And I want to be all children who can love and care for our country, Korea.
You won't feel like singing a popular song let alone a hymn in prison. However, there are people who sang hymns happily in prison. They said who he was, and they were evangelists named Paul and Silas.
Paul and Silas were beaten innocently and put into prison. The reason was that the shopkeeper, possessed by a fortune-teller, cast the demon out of the girl. The shopkeeper girl must have been happy that she was freed from the demon, but the owner of this girl was angry because she couldn't make money for her because she couldn't do divination, so she went to the vineyard and sued Paul and Silas.
The police officers of the grape office rushed and took Paul and Silas, stripped them of their clothes, and started whipping them on the back. And he was put in chains and locked in prison.
They were hungry, their backs were covered in blood, and they were unbearably bitter, but for some reason Paul and Silas were excited and sang a hymn. At that time, the prison guard was sleeping. The other prisoners in the prison were looking at Paul and Silas with their eyes wide open. Everyone was like, "Ttttttt! How crazy would it have been if he was hit like that..." But at that moment, there was an earthquake, and the prison door rattled open, and the iron chains that bound Paul and Silas were cut off. Only then did the prisoners realize that Paul and Silas were not ordinary people and looked at them with respect.
The jailer, who woke up from an untimely earthquake, was stunned to see the prison door open.
"Oh! The prisoners have run away! I'm dead now! Let's kill ourselves!"
The jailer drew a knife and put it to his neck and was about to stab him. At this time, when Paul saw this appearance, he cried out.
"Honey! Don't die! We didn't run away!"
The jailer went to Paul and Silas and fell face down.
"Teachers! What must I do to be saved?"
"Believe in the Lord Jesus! Then you and your family will be saved!"
The jailer took Paul and Silas to his house, applied medicine to their wounds, served them well, and believed in Jesus that day.
But how strange it is! How could a man who was hungry and bloody on his back and imprisoned in iron shackles sing a hymn? If you were like me, you would have been crying or moaning in despair.
This is because the hearts of Paul and Silas were filled with the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit gives us courage, joy, and peace. Therefore, if you have the Holy Spirit in your heart, you will rejoice and overflow with thanksgiving and peace.
The devil discourages us, makes us sad, makes us anxious, scares us, and even tempts us to commit suicide.
However, when the Holy Spirit enters our hearts, we can give joy and peace even to those who are in despair.
(Example) A long time ago, when the Germans invaded Poland, the Germans imprisoned the Poles in a concentration camp, and if they didn't like it, they killed people like flies. Another law was made to put ten people to death in the room if one escaped.
The cruelest of all was to put people naked in cold dungeons and starve them to death.
One day, a man escaped from a room in the camp, and the camp commander pulled out ten people from the room, stripped them naked, and threw them into a dungeon.
Ten people cursed the Germans and sweared at them. And then, "You'd better kill him! You bastards!" he shouted.
In the cold dungeon that froze my entire body, the smell of rotting corpses and feces and urine here and there was so terrible that I couldn't even breathe.
After a few days, people were hungry and desperate, sobbing and crying, waiting to die.
But by this time, a man who had been sitting without a word began to sing a hymn. People started singing along to the hymn one by one. A new hope was opened to those who were in despair. It was my eternal hope in heaven. The hymn rang as if they were leaving the prison, and people's faces began to fill with joy. When the hymns did not stop even after ten days had passed, the angry German soldiers came in with poisoned injections and injected them to death one by one. But all the people died in peace rather than fear.
- Amen -
1. Believe in the Lord Jesus!
2. Receive the Holy Spirit!
3. Praise when you are in trouble!
4. Love our country!
Bible Stories Read in Prison