11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.
19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. 21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.
Life rarely follows the path we expect, does it?
We make plans, set goals, and envision a life that is smooth, but somehow, we still find ourselves on unexpected detours.
A career takes a downturn, a relationship falls apart, or a long-held dream seems out of reach.
We face delays, roadblocks, and setbacks that challenge our faith and leave us wondering: God, what are You doing?
But the scriptures are full of stories where God’s people faced detours—Joseph’s journey from a pit to a prison before reaching a palace.
Moses and the children of Israel spending 40 years wandering in the wilderness before the Israelites were able to enter the promise land. Or, like we will see in our passage today with Paul and Silas being beaten and thrown into prison just as they are getting started on their missionary journey.
Each of these detours, though painful and confusing, was not without purpose.
I wonder if any of us feel like we are in a detour right now?
Maybe you’ve thought recently, Lord I’m doing the right thing, why has life turned out this way.
Maybe you feel stuck.
Stalled
Trapped
My hope for our time this morning is that we would be reminded that the setbacks we face are often God’s setups for something more. What feels like a delay or disappointment is often God working behind the scenes, preparing you for His perfect plan.
Let’s explore how God uses these unexpected detours to shape us, grow us, and ultimately lead us to where He wants us to be.”
CONTEXT
Before we do this, I want us to look briefly at the context of this passage.
As you know, next week Pastor Nate will be starting a new book study in the book of Philippians.
Acts 16 is the backstory of the letter to the Philippian church.
It’s here that we get to see the details on how the church in Philippi was founded. The church in Philippi was one of the most generous and supportive congregations in Paul’s ministry.
We just read through the three key encounters that Paul, Silas and Timothy faced during their time in Philippi that formed the foundation of the Philippian church.
Lydia
Lydia was a worshipper of God and was a person of prayer. She attended a prayer meeting that was held by the riverside Luke recounts. This was most likely because there weren’t enough men in Philippi to start a synagogue, since you needed at least 10 men to do so. She listened to Paul share about Jesus and responded to the gospel and was baptized.
Her generosity and hospitality is seen right away. Scholars believe that Lydia, a business woman was hugely instrumental in the founding of the church in Philippi. Another encounter involved a Demon-possessed Girl who would foretell the future, and as a result would make her owners lots of money.
She followed Paul and Silas around, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”
The right message, but the wrong messenger.
She kept doing it and Paul ended up getting very annoyed and cast the demon out of her and she was healed. Amazing!
But not for her masters, who lost a lot of their income as a result of her being healed and delivered.
The masters of the slave girl grabbed Paul and Silas and brought them before the rulers and accused them of preaching things contrary to their customs and laws.
So the crowds beat them and then they were thrown in prison.
We are going to focus on what happens next.
I want to look at three lessons we learn from Paul and Silas’ detour.
What was their response to facing this hardship.
The first lesson is found in verses 22-25
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Notice what Paul and Silas weren’t doing…they weren’t complaining…they weren’t stewing…they weren’t cursing the men that that put them in prison.
They were praying and singing hymns to God.
Not really a typical response after being unjustly beaten and thrown into prison.
One added detail that Luke gives us is that “The prisoners were listening to them”.
They weren’t just humming their favorite tune.
They were singing out.
They were praying to their God, and others heard their praises.
I think this is a beautiful portrait of the type of JOY that is available in the Christian life.
Joy:
A settled assurance, a quiet confidence, and a choice to trust God, no matter the circumstance. \
Isn’t this what we want?
To have that kind of joy?
The kind of joy that Paul and Silas demonstrated.
The kind of joy that when faced with a detour…instead of growing bitter or getting angry, we point our gaze upward.
C.S. Lewis wrote about joy in his autobiography about his life and conversion to Christianity.
The book is called Surprised by Joy. Isn’t that a great title?
“Joy points to something more…someone more. In other words, you don’t get joy by searching for it. It’s the byproduct of seeking something outside yourself.”
-C.S. Lewis
I love this idea that joy, true joy is a by-product of seeking something outside yourself.
It’s different than happiness, isn’t it?
We live in a culture that is fixated on personal happiness.
The happiest place on earth
“Why are you crying, this is the happiest place on earth”
Happiness is a temporary, fleeting feeling. It’s based on whether or not I am able to attain that thing that I am convinced would bring me happiness.
We’ve all had that experience before of thinking something would bring happiness, but then find out it first hand it failed to truly deliver.
A movie you have been anticipating.
But joy is categorically different.
Remember, Lewis says joy is the byproduct of seeking after something other than my own happiness.
As Christians, we are invited into seeking after the kingdom of God and His righteousness…to make His purposes and plans for our lives and others our main drive and ambition in this world.
Just like Paul and Silas were busy doing.
And just like Paul and Silas, as we seek first God and His kingdom, and live the way He desires us to live…we are not promised the absence of difficulty.
Setbacks will come
Detours will happen
Obstacles will come our way.
But that leads us to our first lesson that we learn from this passage.
What this kind of joy does, is that it causes us to look at an obstacle…not as an obstacle, but as an opportunity to praise.
#1 The obstacle is an opportunity to praise
If joy is the result of seeking God as the nonnegotiable good of our lives, then praise is the overflow of that joy.
I’d like to say something about praising in the prison.
There have been times in my life, where I encountered a detour.
Life took me in an unexpected direction. One that I wasn’t prepared for.
When my sister passed…the community of believers that surrounded them.
Singing in their living room.
“You never let go”
“You are good”
In that moment, I can’t that I was too deeply connected to what I was singing, but the more I declared the truth, the more that God was able to rest on my heart with His presence. We were praising in the prison.
Maybe you don’t see your obstacle as an opportunity for praise right now…but can I encourage you…one of best ways to chase out sorrow and despair is through worship!
David in Psalm 57 is facing a hardship.
Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.
“My heart, O God, is steadfast,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make music.
Awake, my soul!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Psalm 57:1,7-10
Paul and Silas didn’t praise because they knew what was coming next…they praised because they had a joy that was found in seeking after God as their ultimate.
Paul and Silas saw their obstacle as an opportunity for praise.
What was the result?
#2 The detour became a display for the supernatural power of God
Verses 26-28
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”
As Paul and Silas are praying and praising God, there is an earthquake.
The foundations of the prison were shaken
And all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. As the jailer woke, and saw the doors were opened he was about to kill himself. Under Roman law and custom, guards who allowed their prisoners to escape received the penalty of their escaped prisoners. Paul called out with a loud voice and let him know that they were all still there.
What a scene!
This isn’t the first time that God delivered his servants from a prison.
Remember Peter in Acts 12, is rescued from the prison by an angel.
And this was not a coincidence or random catastrophe.
This was a result of the supernatural work of God that freed Paul and Silas from their chains.
And the beauty is that the other prisoners and jailer became witnesses to God’s great power at work.
Imagine being one of those jailers.
First you get a front row seat to a worship concert and are a part of a prayer meeting.
The next thing you know there’s a huge earthquake and your chains are broken.
This leads us to the second lesson I want us to see from this passage.
For Paul and Silas, their detour became a display for the supernatural power of God.
The Detour became a Display of the Supernatural Power of God.
Friends, perhaps God wants to use your detour as a way to display His supernatural power in your life.
The scriptures teach us that God will take us through something unexpected & unplanned in order that His glory might be seen through our lives.
Here’s how Paul put it in II Corinthians 4:
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.
II Corinthians 4:7-10 NLT
Paul is saying it’s through our trials, setbacks and detours that Christ is seen more through our lives.
And I think how we face the setback, becomes an opportunity to display God’s glory and power to a watching world.
Our modern secular culture is not doing a very good job of preparing individuals to approach suffering well.
I think part of the reason is because of how suffering is viewed today in our western, radical individualistic culture. In other cultures and in times past, trials and suffering were seen as a way to grow, and better oneself, or even help one overcome and achieve to a higher level.
Suffering or pain was not as much an enemy to be fought, but as a tool to be embraced.
But our western culture, which places individual freedom and happiness as the ultimate good, see suffering as an enemy to my individual happiness. So, if suffering impedes upon my personal happiness, then I must do everything I can to avoid it and insulate myself from it.
This is what we see in our culture today isn’t it?
How do we do everything possible to minimize hardship and insulate ourselves from it.
Butterfly on the mantle
When facing our detours, God is working through them but God is also working in us at the same time.
This is why as Christians, we have a different approach to setbacks and suffering.
The reason we can approach suffering and not lose heart, is because our hope is not based on something temporal, it is based on something eternal.
Viktor Frankl
Victor Frankl was an Austrian psychiatrist that lived through the holocaust and later developed a field of psychology known as logotherapy. During this time at Auswhitz, Frankl observed the brutality and evil around him…even losing his mother and wife during this time. However, he made a poignant observation during his time in the natzi concentration camp: He noted that people in the death camps usually responded to trauma in one of three ways:
1-one group lost all principles and betrayed those closest to them
2-gave up and withered
3-became quietly heroic, manifested courage, and made sacrifices.
What distinguished these groups from one another was the source of their hope. If they had temporal hope in things of this earthly life like wealth, family, or career, there was nothing to lean on when those things were taken away. If they had a hope that extended beyond this life, they had something to live for and could envision an end to their sufferings.
Our hope is not based on achieving something in this life, it’s based on receiving the gift of salvation that has been given to us through Christ. This free gift that I didn’t deserve, but was a result of God’s love and grace. This means, once received, it can’t be taken away by life’s detours.
This is how Paul put it in Romans 5:
“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Romans 5:3-5
Christian hope is a hope that does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts.
I’ve seen this hope on display in the lives of believers.
One of the most profound experiences that I have had in my time as a pastor in ministry, is to be with people in their final days before stepping into eternity.
One of the greatest testimonies to the power of God is to see the courage and hope a Christian possesses in their last days. It really does encourage your walk.
Pours courage in.
To have that kind of hope is not natural.
And this is the kind of hope we can put on display for a world that is desperately searching for hope.
When the world asks about your detour…your setback…you being stuck in the way you didn’t know you would be stuck. You can testify of the hope that you have in the Lord. This is not an empty hope, this is a hope founded upon the cross of Christ.
Now, this doesn’t mean that if we hope in Him our every wish and dream will come to pass the way that we want. What it does mean is that we can trust our lives into the good, loving hand of God and His care in every circumstance and detail of life.
Because He is our treasure. If we have Him, we have everything that we need.
As Paul said in Philippians 3:8, “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
The last lesson I want us to see in this passage…
Their obstacle was an opportunity to praise
Their detour became a display for the supernatural power of God
I want us to see that the trial led to a testimony of Christs saving grace.
And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.
What a beautiful scene.
This jailer that was about to take his life, receives eternal life…and not just him, but also his household.
His decision not to take his life meant life for his family too. A great example for us Dads of how our decisions can bring life to our family, or death.
I love the question that the jailer asks, “what must I do to be saved”?
“The jailer was so impressed by Paul and Silas – by the love they showed to him, and from their ability to take joy even in misery – that he instantly wanted the kind of life that Paul and Silas have.”
Isn’t this what we want our lives to do to those who have yet to come to Christ.
Wouldn’t it be amazing for the world to see us Christians suffer well and that this would become a testimony to a doubting world that God’s grace is enough.
Our Christianity should make others want what we have with God.
Paul’s answer is simple and clear.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
It’s been said that notice Paul didn’t direct him to counseling…he didn’t give him a lecture on theology. He pointed an obviously repentant man to faith in Jesus.
By Paul saying You and your household, was not a suggestion that his family would be saved automatically if he trusted Christ. The meaning is that if he believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, he would be saved, and his household would be saved in the same way. “Believe … and you will be saved, and let your household do the same.”
And they did, as it says Paul and Silas spoke the Word to all that were in the household and they were baptized.
I think this shows us that sometimes God will allow setbacks and trials in order that they might lead to a testimony of His saving grace.
Jim and Elisabeth Elliot
Jim and Elisabeth Elliot were Christian missionaries best known for their work among the indigenous peoples of Ecuador. In 1956, Jim Elliot, along with four other missionaries, attempted to reach the remote Huaorani tribe, a group known for their violent resistance to outsiders. Tragically, Jim and his fellow missionaries were killed by members of the tribe. However, their sacrifice became a powerful story of faith and forgiveness.
After Jim’s death, Elisabeth Elliot, along with her young daughter, courageously returned to live among the very tribe that had killed her husband. She helped bring the message of the Gospel to the Huaorani people, was instrumental in helping translate the Bible into their language, and as a result, many of them became Christians.
Elisabeth later wrote several books, sharing the story of her husband’s legacy and the transformative power of God’s love, even in the face of tragedy.
The Elliots’ work became a symbol of unwavering faith, forgiveness, and the cost of discipleship in spreading the Gospel.
Elisabeth Elliot’s trial, led to a powerful testimony of God’s saving grace.
As I read through this biography on Elisabeth Elliot, I was struck by her insistence that the people that killed her husband, needed the gospel.
Her faith in the power of the gospel was inspiring.
Friends, do we believe in the power of the gospel to change lives?
For those of you that have family members that are struggling…that’s one of the hardest things to watch. Pray for God’s power to be at work in their lives…perhaps your trial will one day produce a testimony of God’s saving grace.
For those of you that are facing a detour…a road that you didn’t plan to walk down…and may even be a result of choosing to follow Jesus…you never know who’s watching…you never know if you courage is going to inspire someone to trust and believe the gospel.
Here’s the thing, for Paul and Silas, although they went to preach the gospel, they had no guarantee that a church would be planted. They had no idea that their trial would lead to the testimony of the jailer and his family being saved.
They had no idea Lydia and this group of newfound disciples of Jesus would start a church and that that church would take part in gospel partnership with Paul and he would write a letter that billions of other people would read and be encouraged by.
But God knew!
And this is what we need to remember.
God sees the outcome.
Not all stories end like this, but God can be trusted in the detours of life.
I don’t know how long God has you in the place you are in….I don’t know what the end will be.
However, there is purpose to what He is allowing you to go through.
We won’t always know this side of heaven.
But we can trust Him.
And we can know that for every obstacle, it is an opportunity to praise.
For every detour, asks Him to display His power in your life.
And for every trial, trust that it will lead to a testimony of His saving grace as a result of your hope being placed in Him.
Because He is good…He can be trusted…and He sees you and loves you and He promises to hold you through all the detours of life.
Crew falling asleep
Elisabeth Elliot opened up her radio program the same way every time with these words:
“You are loved with an everlasting love, that’s what the Bible says, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”
