Title: People who glorified in the night
(When the masters of the servants saw that the hope of their own profit had been cut off, they took Paul and Silas and took them away.
and brought him to the rulers as the author, and brought him before the superiors, and said, This
They are Jews, and they have greatly disturbed our city, so that we, the Romans, cannot receive it.
It is said that they are spreading customs and customs that cannot be practiced, but the crowds all stood up at once and sued the superiors.
After tearing this clothes off and hitting them with rods, they put them in prison and ordered the jailer to beat them.
and keep them secure.” When he received this spirit, he imprisoned them in a deep prison,
After we had our feet fully loaded in the shed, about midnight Paul and Silas prayed and prayed to God.
They sang praises, and the prisoners listened) (Acts 16:19-25)
A pastor in the United States is going by bus, and a fat woman like a giant gives birth to all the children.
I took five of them and sat next to them.
But the next moment I remembered the words of the Bible.
The saying 'Give thanks in everything' came to mind.
What can I be thankful for in this case?
I thought and prayed like this.
'Thank God. I'm thankful that this woman next to me isn't my wife'
say that.
Everyone!
What do you think?
In any case, you can be grateful if you find a condition to be grateful for.
If you are grateful, you will find vitality in your life, and if you find vitality, you will be able to solve problems.
will develop wisdom and experience the wonderful hand of God.
I have experienced this many times in my ministry.
Gratitude is on the contrary, if you find the conditions to be grateful for when it is difficult, you will be able to be grateful.
Will we be able to sing in the middle of the night too?
When something pleasant happens, it automatically hums,
When something difficult happens, can a song come out with a grumbling about dying?
I can't help but question it.
Today's text is what happened during Paul's second missionary journey.
1. Paul and his companions were imprisoned for healing a demon-possessed man.
It happened in Philippi, the first city of Macedonia.
While evangelizing in this city, I met a man possessed by a demon.
The owner made a lot of money by using the demon-possessed man.
This demon-possessed man cried out to Paul and his companions, "These people are
is the servant of God, who proclaims to you the way of salvation."
said to have done so.
I mean, that was the right thing to say.
But Paul said he was very distressed.
So he said to the possessed man, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you
Come out of Esau!" and immediately a demon came out and he became a healthy person.
This has become a problem.
The owner, who was making money through him, ran out of money.
So they took Paul and Silas and brought them to the court.
“These men are Jews, and they have caused a great disturbance in our city, so that we, Romans,
I am conveying customs that cannot be received and practiced without ignorance."
The officials caught Paul and Silas, stripped them, beat them with rods, and put them in prison.
According to the text, “They were told to be beaten with rods, and after being beaten a lot, they put them in prison and commanded the jailer to
Keep it strong."
According to strict orders, he was imprisoned in a deep prison and put his feet in a locker.
About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and praising God.
Prisoners in prison have heard all this.
But something strange happened.
Suddenly, a great earthquake occurred, and the prison ground shook and moved, all the prison doors opened,
All the chains of all men were broken.
When the jailer woke up from his sleep, he saw that the prison door was open and that all the prisoners had escaped.
As he was about to commit suicide, Paul cried out in a loud voice, "Here we are, your body.
Don't hurt me," he said.
When the jailer came in with a lamp, he was afraid because Paul and Silas were still there.
Seo "Teachers, how can I survive?" When you beg, "Believe in the Lord Jesus
Then you and your household will be saved.” The jailer took Paul and Silas.
Healing all the wounds, I take him home to have a dinner, and all the family
They all believed, were baptized, and greatly glorified God.
This is the content of today's text.
The world suffers persecution for those who do what is right.
In other words, there are many cases where it is unfortunate.
The world's courts say it's for justice, but the verdict is distorted by false witnesses
There are many cases of dropping .
In a spiritual sense, there are many people around us who are possessed by demons.
There are many people whose values are not as perfect as they are.
However, there are many people who use such people to pursue their own interests.
Perhaps this is the widespread dishonesty phenomenon in our society.
It is these things that are the object of our reform.
Through mental confusion, and in a world where the evil will prevails over the good will
In other words, the object of reform is evil wills.
The reforms that politicians are talking about are self-assertions driven by the desire for power, but in a spiritual sense.
Reform is in the new person.
Evidence of being a new person is being able to sing even in the middle of the night.
All.
2. Even in the middle of the night, Paul and Shinra praised God.
How painful it must have been to have your clothes ripped, beaten and imprisoned!
Instead, they prayed to God and sang hymns in the middle of the night.
You can usually sing when you are happy, but not when you are sad.
This is the power of the believer.
People of faith, on the contrary, sing praises when they are in distress.
When things get more difficult, we pray and sing praises.
If you do not have faith, you will only think more injustice when you are in trouble.
So I fall into a deeper sadness.
If you look at people who drink, you can see that they drink more when they are in distress.
However, if we are people of faith, we will be able to sing praises when we are in pain and when the night is deepening.
Truly, this is an amazing power.
When you are in trouble, do not become discouraged and praise.
Lena Maria was born in Sweden in 1968 without arms and left leg.
Born short and severely disabled.
The hospital recommended that the child be taken to a shelter, but the parents said that God gave the child to him.
I am convinced that I am a child of God and raised with love.
As a result, he is unable to do things with one right foot, such as swimming, cross-stitching, cooking, piano, driving, and choral conducting.
there was nothing.
Swimming, which started at the age of three, won four gold medals at the Para Swimming Championships.
is.
And after majoring in contemporary music at the Stockholm College of Music, he is now spreading the gospel around the world.
I am working as a singer.
They also performed in our country.
Everyone!
If it had not been for the faith of her parents, would she have become the Mary she is today?
Would you have been able to see this kind of fruit if your parents had raised you with resentment?
Among the songs he sang, 'Amazing Grace' is a song that makes a great impression.
Because we are praising God's amazing grace with our bodies, no one can call
is a hymn that is more moving than a hymn.
Pastor Spurgeon, a great preacher in England, said:
“Any fool can sing during the day.
It's easy to sing when we can read sheet music in the sun,
A talented singer is one who can sing when there is not a single ray of light."
I did.
What do you mean?
Singing at night is not a human ability, but a power that comes from God.
Everyone works well and is happy and joyful during the day, but at night it is dark and overcast.
It's just boring, boring, and frustrating.
But the power of faith is that we sing on these nights.
3. If you can sing in the middle of the night, then you will experience the work of God.
In the text, it is said that an earthquake occurred during the hymn, the chains were loosed, and the prison doors were opened.
is.
When the jailer who was guarding felt his responsibility and was about to commit suicide, Paul and Shinra were on the contrary.
reassured.
Because of this, the jailer's house was saved, and instead the pain was changed to joy.
It was.
Suffering turned into gratitude.
This is God's work.
This is the mystery of suffering.
In all areas of human history, God's work is done in this way.
It is the realm of God to be able to sing even in the middle of the night.
It is also the work of God that allows us to taste new emotions through that song.
Even if our environment is like the night, we can pray and praise God.
hopefully it will be
We should also experience the mystery of God's suffering that makes us glorify in the middle of the night.
Because God works there.
The night that Job was struck was very deep.
I lost 10 siblings at once, and all of my wealth flew away in an instant.
And the whole body was covered with pus, and I experienced a night of extreme pain.
At that time, Job said on the contrary, 'The Lord gave,
It is the Lord who has found it, and the name of the Lord will be praised.”
All.
The night Daniel met was also a very deep night.
Because of his faith that feared only God, he had to be imprisoned in a deep prison.
It was a desperate night of being thrown into the den of lions and even into the furnace of fire.
But even on such a night they sang hymns.
It is because their relationship with God was not cut off even on the night they met.
Because the line of hope toward God was still there.
As long as there is a line of hope, we can sing praises.
On the other hand, when the line of hope is broken, the song you sing will also disappear.
Dear saints!
What is my night tonight?
If there was a night I hit, what would it be?
material night? sick night? Or a night of unemployment?
Or a night of failure?...
What night is it?
Looking at the forefathers of faith adored in the night, by the power of God, we too
I sincerely hope that all the saints can sing praises even in the middle of the night. ♣