Praise and Thanksgiving
Acts 16:16-25

This message is about praise and thanksgiving. In our poor economy, thousands have found themselves in the ranks of the unemployed. We have had our share of natural disasters and many of us struggle or know someone who is struggling to make it from one day to the next. As a result, for many of us praise is one of the last things we think of doing. But God requires our praise during the good times and the not-so-good times. As my friend, David Kumura, often says, “Every day that the Lord has made is a good day.” Then he pauses and says, “But some are a little lesser good than others.” We’ve all had some of those days and some of you might be having one right now.
 
In Acts 16:9, we find that Paul sees a vision where a man stands before him beckoning him to come over to Macedonia to help them. Sure that this was the leading of the Lord, Paul and Silas immediately prepared to go to Macedonia. You know there is nothing better than when you move in the direction that the Lord is leading and you see the blessings flow. Things were going great. They were seeing the fruit of their labor and God was doing great things in their ministry. One of the businesswomen in the city of Thyatira even got saved. What’s more, she invited them to her house and her household received the gospel. In verse 15, we are told that she was baptized and her household. This was a praise time! This was a time of thanksgiving!

It’s always exciting when we see the ministry being blessed. Folks were being saved and the power of the Lord was seen in the hearts of the people. It was a great time and a great place to be. I remember a pastor in North Chicago who opened the doors to his basement to young people who came in on Saturday nights as we ministered to them with the Word of the Lord. They were coming in multitudes. They were getting saved. They were going back and telling others so that the numbers grew and eventually we barely had standing room. Sometimes we would not get home until late on Saturday night, even though it meant we would still have to get up early Sunday morning for church. But we were excited and it seemed like the Holy Spirit kept us energized so that we kept going.  This was a praise time! This was a time of great thanksgiving!

And so I can imagine how Paul and Silas must have felt.  But you know, regardless of how many people are excited about what the Lord is doing, there will always be at least one, the devil, who will stand in opposition.  And so in verse 16 there is the introduction of a certain damsel who was possessed with a spirit of divination.  Her masters had used her to make money telling fortunes. As a result people went to her for hope that . . .

• their desires would be fulfilled
• their futures would be good
• their confidence would be restored
• their fortunes would be at hand
• their lost items would be found
• their past would be unraveled
• their mysteries would be solved.

It almost sounds like the message of some televangelists!

As she noticed Paul and Silas minister to the people. She began to follow them and she would shout out, “These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation.”

Now what she said was true, but the message was not given to her by God but from the devil. We must be careful when we receive the admiration of men. Sometimes even the devil will allow others to speak well of us. But I’ve learned the truth of Psalm 118:9 which simply says, “It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man.” You see, men will elevate you today and de-elevate you tomorrow. The greatest of men will let you down! Yet too many times we become more concerned about the endorsement of men than we do the endorsement of God.

We live in a time where many people find it easier to trust fortune tellers, palm readers, the stars, and the horror of the horoscopes than the Word of God.  This is why God’s people must study and know the Word of God! When we do, God gives us discernment. Paul was able to discern that the young woman’s words did not come from the Lord. You see, there are many who will testify in His name and will do great things in the name of our Lord and yet not know Him. Here is what the Lord Himself said, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:22-23)

After having heard this woman for many days, Paul realized this spirit was not of God. So he commanded the evil spirit to come out of her. Now you would think everyone would be happy about seeing a new joy in the woman. You would think they’d be happy to see a changed life, but instead, those who had made money off her wicked practices saw their revenue stop. They saw the derailment of their gravy train with biscuit wheels. And so they had Paul and Silas thrown in jail. They went from ministering in the streets of Macedonia to being locked up in the four walls of a jail. Some of you understand. It’s like being a witness on the job demonstrating what it’s like having Christ in your workplace, only to find that the individual who doesn’t work as hard as you gets the promotion. You know—the person who always comes in late, never misses using all his sick days, and always adds an extra 30 minutes to his lunch break. You’re angry! You feel it is unfair! You even have to fight the feelings of bitterness as you try to go into that same job with a smile while deep inside, you’re crying “unfair!” This may not seemingly be a praise time for you!

If anything, this was a great time for Paul and Silas to make a vow to never return to ministry again. This was seemingly not a praise time, for their payback for ministering to the people was a jail cell. The payback for souls being led to Christ was the fetters that held their arms. The payback for following what they believed to be the leading of the Lord was the shackles that held their legs. Who would have guessed at this low point that maybe it was God’s leading?

In retrospect, maybe the call to Macedonia was only related to the bad pizza that they had the night before.  But we are told that none of these things entered their minds. Instead, they began to sing praises unto their God. As they sang, there was power in their praises. The Bible tells us in verse 26, “And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loose.”

Now if you lost a prisoner in those days, it would be equivalent to losing your life. And so when the prison doors were opened, the jailor knew that the prisoners were going to make a dash towards the exit. So he pulled out his sword and would have taken his life. But he heard Paul cry out and said, “Do thyself no harm; for we are all here!” In other words, “Things are still cool. Chill, it’s OK.”

Now the story doesn’t end here. I know some of you are probably saying, “That’s all right for Paul and Silas; but for me, I’ll take the exit.” However, the story continues. Amidst this seemingly bad situation, something started happening to the jailor. Through this unlikely incident, something started working on the heart of this man. He noticed that these men, Paul and Silas, were not like any other prisoners. They really believed in the God that they were singing praises to. For some reason, they had something that he didn’t have.

You see, our problem in the body of Christ is that too many times, we drag, mope, groan, and emulate the world instead of creating in the world a desire to emulate us. The jailor couldn’t contain himself, and so he asked the question, “What must I do to be saved?”  Not only was he led to faith in Christ, but we are told in verse 32, “And they spake unto him the Word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.”

Maybe you are having a jailhouse experience and this year has proven to be one of discouragement. Maybe you’re still trying to get a job. Maybe you’re still recovering from the cost of a broken relationship. Maybe your spouse has even walked out on you—but let me challenge you to do something that doesn’t make sense. Let me suggest to you that you do something that has no rhyme or reason this Thanksgiving Day. Instead of a complaint, exalt the Lord with praise. In Psalm 34:1, the Psalmist said, “I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

And I must confess there are times when life just seems hard and we just don’t feel like praising the Lord. But during those times, we have to talk to ourselves and choose to praise the Lord anyhow. The Psalmist had one of those moments in Psalm 42:11. As he spoke to himself, he asked the question, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me?  Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”

There will always be times when we don’t feel like praising God; there will be times when we will not always feel thankful. And maybe amidst all the events that have taken place globally and personally in your life, you’re doing all you can just to get up every morning. Like the Psalmist, put your hope in God, and make the commitment to yet praise Him!