Philippians - There is Someone Somewhere Waiting...

There is someone somewhere waiting for someone to tell them aboutJesus. That is exactly what we see happening in Acts of the Apostleschapters 15 and 16. Herein Acts chapter 16, when the Apostle Paul arrives at Philippi with hiscompanions—Silas, Timothy and Luke—they begin looking for a place where peoplemight be praying. Remember we said earlier that there was probably no synagoguein the city. So they went outside the city to a river, where a group hadgathered to pray. There they met a woman named Lydia. Lydia was probably a successful businesswoman. Butmost importantly, Lydia was seeking God. The Bible tells us about her wonderfulconversion in Acts 16:14. It says, “Whose heart the Lord opened, that sheattended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.” She believed themessage of the gospel. She was baptized.Soonafterward, Paul and his companions encountered a young slave girl who waspossessed by a spirit of divination. She made a great deal of money for hermasters by fortune-telling. For several days she followed Paul and hiscompanions, shouting, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, whoproclaim to us the way of salvation.” (Acts 16:17). After many days, Paulbecame troubled by this and turned to her and said, in the name of JesusChrist, for the demon to come out of her. Immediately she was delivered and setfree from that demonic power. Itappears that she too may have become another convert who came to know JesusChrist. However, this stirred up the local authorities. Her masters were angrybecause they had lost their source of income. So they seized Paul and Silas,had them beaten, and threw them into prison. I have often wondered about what thelocal jail there in Philippi was like—and I have also wondered where Luke andTimothy were when Paul and Silas were thrown into prison! But God was notfinished working. Insteadof complaining or feeling sorry for themselves because of their unjusttreatment, Paul and Silas were praying and singing praises to God at midnight.The other prisoners were listening to them. And apparently the jailer also. Thensuddenly, God sent a great earthquake. The prison shook, the doors opened, andeveryone’s chains were loosened. The jailer rushed in and, thinking theprisoners had escaped, was about to take his own life. But Paul cried out andstopped him, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” Thejailer then asked one of the most important questions anyone can ever ask: “Whatmust I do to be saved?” He must have been listening carefully as Paul hadbeen sharing the gospel. Paul then gave one of the clearest statements aboutsalvation in the entire New Testament. He said, “Believe on the LordJesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts16:31). Ohmy friend, what a wonderful question—and what a wonderful answer. So we seethat these three people helped form the early church at Philippi: a wealthybusinesswoman, a formerly demon-possessed slave girl, and a hardened Romanjailer. Three very different people—but the same gospel saved them all. Andhere is the point I want to emphasize. In Acts 15, while the church back inJerusalem was debating the question of circumcision with certain PharisaicalJudaizers who were trying to add something to salvation, there was a womansitting beside a river in a foreign country saying, in essence, “Please tell meabout Jesus.” My friend, I believe the same thing is true today. Thereis someone somewhere near you who is waiting for someone to tell them about thegospel of Jesus Christ. Their heart is ready. Their eyes are being opened. Theyare longing to hear the message that can release them from the power of sin andthe devil, set them free, and give them eternal life. That is the beauty of thegospel message. It reaches people from every culture, every background, andevery level of society.  Willyou be the “someone” who will tell “someone somewhere” about Jesus today?