March 16, 1952 PAUL CONVERTS HIS JAILOR Acts 16:25-34 God has a love for paradoxes. One of them is His delight in bringing good out of evil, making even the wrath of Satan to praise Him. The greatest instance of this was Calvary. There was exhibited to mankind the most terrible exhibition, of the hatred of evil towards God that the world has ever known and yet out of it came the greatest good for all mankind. The conversion of the Philip pian jailor is another instance of this same paradox. Out of the agony of the scourging and the affliction of imprison ment came the salvation of a soul. Paul Trusts Paul had every reason to be indignant and rebellious. They had trampled upon his rights as a Roman and wrongfully imprisoned him and apparently God had done nothing to stop them.' Instead he prayed and praised God. If he had ranted and fumed the jailor might never have been won. Not always does defeat turn to victory. It all depends on the attitude of the sufferer. It is not the force of the gale hut the cut of the sail that determines the way we go. Victory is assured when the eye of faith can recognize that God is working behind the scenes even in the presence of ap parent disaster. Let us remember that when people ridicule, persecute or wrong us because of our faith. Our peace then and our love will do more than a thousand sermons. God Intervenes The work of the gospel in Philippi had been abruptly halted by the im prisonment. But Paul was not upset. That was God’s business. It was his to wait and see God work. God intervened by sending an earthquake. It is good to remember that God is never in a quan dary in any dilemma. He always has infinite power at His disposal. When.we forget that we worry, and worry is sinful and silly. That should always be in the background of our minds in per sonal evangelism. Is our contact stub born, unyielding, hostile? Is he intel lectually blind? Is he chained by awful sins? What is- that to God? He can break every fetter and free every soul. He is not limited because of the sinner’s problems nor by the soul-winner’s limi tations. He loves to intervene. The Jailor Believes Paul’s faith and God’s intervention jolted the Roman’s soul to its very depths. In the presence of a God who gives personal victory amid disaster and manipulates the powers of the uni verse to His purposes, he was conscious only of terrible need which burst forth in the cry: What must I do to be saved? It does not take long to bring a soul to Christ once it becomes aware of its dire need. That need is shown in clear relief by comparison. Black is shown most un mistakably against a white background.
If the Christian can show victory in defeat like Paul, joy in sorrow, love amid hatred, content even with want, he will not need to do too much preach ing for everywhere there is a hunger for an experience like that. The Chris tian does not need to prove that God exists. It is enough to show God living through his members. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION Is there a difference between ultimate evil and immediate evil? How are God’s purposes dependent on the attitude of our hearts? What kind of miracles are most effec tive as evidences for God today? Why does not God always intervene? March 23, 1952 GROWING UP SPIRITUALLY Phil. 3:7-15; James 1:19-27 Conversion is often referred to as a spiritual birth and the subsequent spir itual progress as growth towards ma turity. But countless numbers of Chris tians do not grow. They remain at a stage of perpetual infancy (Heb. 5:11- 14). This is desirable to the natural man for it means no responsibility and no exertion but to the spiritual man it is a monstrosity for a soul full of years to be still a baby. Our Scripture read ings today show us the road to spiritual maturity. Renunciation At every stage of natural growth the child has to renounce the previous stage. He gives up crawling in order to walk. He abandons baby talk so as to speak. He leaves behind the toys that he loved at an earlier stage. Ultimately he leaves his parents’ home to set up one for him self. Paul tells how he renounced earthly prospects in order to become a Christian. Our Lord may not require this of you but He does require you to be willing to give up any earthly ad vantage if He should need you to do so. Your treasure must be in Heaven for where your treasure is there will your heart be also. Paul also renounced his original concept of righteousness which was that of earning it by adhering to a system of rules and regulations. What he could not earn he took as a free gift and then he expressed that new righteousness in everyday life. Under grace we have no rules to obey. Growth comes not that way but by the outwork ing of the law of love placed within us by the indwelling of Him who is love. Vision Another characteristic of maturing is vision. The child dreams of manhood, of success and of usefulness. Where there is no vision the people perish, says the Old Testament. Paul’s vision was to know Christ. Notice that it is not to know about Him but to know Him. There is a great deal of difference
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