May the mumbling commence!
I am a fan of classic rock and football. As I read the episode that put Paul and Silas into prison from Acts chapter sixteen, I couldn’t help but think of an old rock tune. And this old rock tune was featured in a wonderful movie called “Remember the Titans” that told a story based upon actual events in the southeastern United States when one of the first high schools was forced to integrate along with their football team. Here is the chorus:
“Cause baby, there ain’t no mountain high enough,
Ain’t no valley low enough, Ain’t no river wide enough,
to keep me from gettin’ to you, babe…”
It was first performed by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. It is an uplifting song. It is about the power of love.
And there is nothing stronger than the power of the love of God. God made those mountains and rivers and valleys. They will not separate us from His love for us. In fact, nothing can. Look at the obstacles that God overcame in this story of Paul and Silas from Acts chapter sixteen:
Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.
When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God – he and his whole family. (Verses 16-34)
Nothing is more frustrating than a heckler – even if the heckler is speaking the truth as this one was. She stood in the way of people hearing the Good News of Jesus Christ. Paul confronted the evil spirit, and it left the woman.
One problem was solved, but another came to the forefront. The woman’s owners railroaded a trial of Paul and Silas that sent them flogged and into the deepest dungeons of the prison – where they were chained hand and foot.
Their response: they sang hymns. Remarkable! It was a testimony to their fellow prisoners. And God moved – literally. An earthquake opened the jail and released all the prisoners. But Paul and Silas led the other prisoners to stay.
Because of the prisoners remaining, the jailer's immediate life was saved, which eventually led to the salvation of his eternal soul and those of his household.
Hecklers cannot stop the love of God. Floggings cannot stop it. Prison walls cannot stop it. The jailer-prisoner relationship could not stop it.
Indeed, nothing is more powerful.
Ain’t no prison dark and dank enough!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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