Eternity [Mark 8 v36-37]

Continuing on at Paul experience at Philippi[Acts 16],we have seen how God has been moving, saving, and delivering people,grand ,but then things become difficult. Of course the enemy of souls was not happy, nor were those who owned the slave, The result Paul and Silas were set upon and arrested, brought before the magistrate, who ordered them to be stripped and beaten, and thrown into prison, with their feet put into stocks. The owners of that slave girl had lost out financially, when peoples financial interests is effected by Christians ,one can expect trouble. They only considered the loss of their money, Paul and Silas interest ,was souls of the lost, what is more important? No amount of money will ever compensate for the loss of peoples souls, even if a person could gain the whole world[ Mark 8 v36].What is vital that we weigh up the true worth of our soul, which is eternal, or that which is temporal. It is W. Barclay who writes,'' We would be saved from all sorts of mistakes if we always looked at things in the light of eternity''.
                                
                       I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold,
                       I'd rather be His than have riches untold;
                       I'd rather have Jesus than houses or lands,
                       I'd rather be laid by His nail-pierced hands.

                       Than to be the king of a vast domain,
                       and be held in sin's dread sway;
                       I'd rather have Jesus than anything,
                       this world affords today.
                        [ Words by R.F.Miller]

Free at last [John 8 v36]

Whatever one may think about demon possession and of course it is real, and it was real for that slave girl in Philippi ,[Acts 16 v16-18 ]but we must be careful to not become unbalanced . Every soul needs to be forgiven and set free, because as Jesus said,'' everyone who sins is a slave of sin''[John 8 v34].While being possessed by an evil spirit is awful, we must see the awful bondage of all mankind. A bondage to so many things, pride, sex possessions, drugs, idolatry of all  sorts, envy, hate, filthily mind, filthy language, covertness, need I go on. The wonderful thing about Jesus when we trust him as our Saviour, He forgives us all our sins, I stress all, no matter what sins we have committed, Jesus will forgive us. But it does not stop there, for he tells us,'' if the Son [Jesus] sets you free you shall be free indeed.[John 8 v36].Now that's a wonderful reality , that millions upon millions have and are experiencing, and so can you.
                                              
                                            A  prayer.
                          
                            Out of my bondage sorrow and night,
                            Jesus I come, Jesus I come.
                            Into Thy freedom, gladness and light,
                            Jesus I come to Thee.
                                  Amen.
                           [Words  W.T.Sleeper]

Angels of light [ 2 John v 7]

Next we come to a young slave girl, who was demon possessed, we read about demon possession, but many of us are not sure  how to approach it.
But let  us accept that it can be a reality, we can say a lot about Satan, he is called the god of this world, or of this age[ 2 Corinthians 4 v4],our Saviour called him the prince of this world[John 12 v31 ] He and his forces are
powerful, as in the case of this slave girl in Phillippi,he possessed her,and
controlled her [ Acts 16 v16],she was a fortune teller, and made a lot of money for her owners. But as Paul and Silas were going to the place of
prayer ,she followed them, shouting,'' These men are servants of the most
High God, are telling you the way to be saved''. She continued to do this day after day, this grieved Paul, and in the name of  Jesus commanded
the evil spirit to leave her[16 V18],which it did. Now what she had cried out
was right,but Paul knew ,it might be said that he was in alliance with her.
Like Paul we must be clear in our stand for truth, and not have alliances with those who are not true followers of Christ. I have read Mormon literature that appears to be Christian, but a Mormon is not a Christian, remember the Bible tells us that Satan can come to us as an angel of light [2 Corinthians 11 v14].That great theologian Hodge said this,'' Satan does  not come to us as Satan; neither does sin present itself as sin, but in the guise of virtue; and the teachers of error set themselves forth as the special advocates of truth''.
                                          A  prayer.
Dear God deliver us from false religion, no matter how it appears, help us  to stand for your truth even if we have to stand alone for our Saviours
sake, we pray this Amen.

Our loved ones. [ 1 Peter 3 v 1-6 ]

So Lydia became a Christian, but it did not stop there for we read, members of her household also became Christians[Acts 16 v15]It is wonderful when a family receive salvation, I am sure that someone reading this, and they are
saved, but their family is not. I would encourage you to keep praying, and live out the Christian life before them, it is Peter who instructs saved wives
who are married to an unsaved husband ,how they should live ,the result is
they may be won over for Christ[1 Peter 3 v 1-6]. I remember a dear friend of mine,he was and is a lovely Christian, his father was a very violent man
especially to his wife. There was a dread every Saturday night ,when the husband would come in drunk, and be violent to his wife. She remained  with him, then the time came and he became seriously ill. It was then he asked to see his son ,my friend, who told him how to be saved, when he had finished telling him, his father said I will will do what you 've said son. My friends brother also became a Christian, a godly life, I believe will have an influence,that is why it is vital, not just to talk the  talk, but also to walk the walk.
                                         A  prayer.
Dear Lord you know how we desire our  loved ones and friends, to know you  as Saviour, in your mercy may we see it happen ,Amen.

I confess. [Romans 10 v 10]

The Lord opened the heart of  Lydia ,she became a believer, and she speaks to Paul and friends. She says ,''If you consider me to be a believer in the Lord'' ,I wonder if we said this to someone ,what  would they think or reply?.In  John 12 v42,-43 ,we read, how many Jewish leaders believed in Jesus,''but because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue ,for they loved praise from men more than praise from God''. There are to aspects as to why they were silent
,one was fear of man,secondly they loved the praise of men. They gave more thought as to what they would loose, if they openly confessed Christ.
As William Barclay writes, ''It would have meant an end to their place,their
profit,and their prestige. They would have been ostracised from society,and
banished from orthodox religion. It was too high a price to pay. So they lived a lie because they were not big enough to stand up for the truth'' Bruce
Milne points out,'' Those who expect the Lord to own their names on the day of judgement,he expects to own His name now before a watching world'',[ Mark 8 v38 ]
                                        
                                  I'm not ashamed to own my Lord
                                  Or to defend His cause,
                                  Maintain the honour of His word,
                                  The glory of His cross.
                                     [Words by Isaac Watts ]

Our greatest need. [Mark 2 v 1-12 ]

In Phillippi the first convert mentioned was a lady named Lydia ,a business lady, a woman of means. We read this about her conversion, the Lord opened her heart, to respond to Gods word[Acts 16 v14].John Stott comments on this ,he wrote, ''The Lord opened her inner eyes to see and to believe in the Jesus Paul proclaimed. We note that the message was Paul's, the saving initiative was God's. Paul preaching was not effective in itself; the Lord worked through it''. Let us accept these word by faith we may not fully understand them, let us pray, and witness with a deep love and concern for the lost, and trust God . People are so effected by sin it takes a miracle to save them, and only God can work miracles, we can't. The greatest miracle
is the salvation of a soul, and mans greatest need is salvation, let's never loose sight of this truth. People restrict miracles to healing, providing, deliverance yes they can be classed as miracles, but without the miracle of salvation,we will go to a lost eternity. When four friends brought a man who was paralysed to Jesus, He appeared to ignore the mans physical condition, and spoke the words,'' Son your sins are forgiven''. Why? because it was his ,as it is ours, greatest need, to have our sins forgiven.
                                            A  prayer.
Dear Lord Jesus help to see that our greatest need is to have our sins
forgiven by you, Amen .

                                 

A place of prayer. [John 3 v 7]

In response to a vision Paul ,and his companions set forth,and sailed to the
Philippi the leading city in the area called Macedonia. Although the city had
Greek name, it was named after Alexander the Greats father, it was a Roman city. A city that was in fact a Rome in miniature, all things were Roman, they enjoyed freedom from scourging and arrest, and the right to appeal to Caesar, The coins bore Latin inscriptions, there did not appear to
be a Jewish Synagogue there so the local Jews met for worship by a river, We read that the place was a place of prayer, and as Alec Motyer  puts it,
''the church was quite literally born in the place of prayer' '.It was there that Paul and his companions told them about Christ, let us remember, although people pray and attend a place of worship, they still need a Saviour,that  Saviour is Jesus. As Jesus told a very religious person, he needed to be born again, that new birth comes about by trusting Jesus[John 1 v12 ]
                                   
                                Ye children of men attend to the word
                                 So solemnly uttered by Jesus, the Lord
                                 And let not this message to you be in vain,
                                 ''Ye must be born again''
                                      [ Words by W.T.Sleeper]