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That Jesus was crucified, buried and raised to life again should be spoken of generations after and believed by millions of people around the world – this is the Mystery of Godliness. Indeed a real mystery and miracle – God’s miracle of drawing people of the world who are under the control of the evil one (1 John 5:19) to believe in Jesus. In Acts 16, we see how God through the Holy Spirit brings different people to believe in Jesus. Apostle Paul was specifically led by the Holy Spirit to Macedonia, to the city of Philippi. There, notably, three people were touched by God.
Lydia, already a worshipper of God and a seller of purple cloth, heard Paul speak about Jesus. God opened her heart to receive the message of salvation, and she believed. She and her household were baptised. Her inner faith was also outwardly demonstrated in hospitality – she opened her house to Paul and his team.
An unnamed girl, possessed of a spirit of divination, followed Paul wherever he went in Philippi. She brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. She proclaimed that Paul and his team were servants of the Most High God, who proclaimed the way of salvation. This was a true statement, but spoken under a foreign spirit, not of God. Paul rebuked the spirit to come out of her, and she was freed from demon-possession.
The third person who came into contact with God’s salvation was the jailer who was given charge over Paul and Silas in prison. God’s ways are indeed marvellous! Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God at midnight. God sent an earthquake and the cell doors opened. The Philippian jailer realised his need for salvation and asked Paul, “What must I do to be saved?” He recognised he had no power over the elements, even though he was in charge of the jail. God’s miracle of salvation transformed the jailer and his family, and they were baptised. He opened his home and gave food to Paul and Silas, and rejoiced, having believed in God with his household.
The world is very much under the control of the devil. However, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God for salvation of everyone who believes. Just like these three Philippians, God leads people of this world to believe in His message of salvation. We must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s prompting and be the instrument of God to preach the gospel of salvation to people in season and out of season.
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile ( Rom. 1:16-17).
