Synopsis of Sermon 06.21.24
Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

Acts 16:25-26 NKJV 
But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 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 chains were loosed.

I.            INTRODUCTION 

1. It is important to understand that we are dealing with the duality of two kingdoms. We are dealing with the spiritual kingdom and natural kingdom. Satan governs the natural kingdom.
   1. The natural kingdom includes all things fleshly and satanic. All immortal and spiritual things is governed by God.
   2. Heaven responds to us through God by dispatching angels and heavenly host. They aid in our spiritual journey.
2. God employs human agents to do his bidding. Satan’s job is to prevent the kingdom of light from advancing and to keep what we are supposed to do, from coming to fruition.
3. The adversity we experience comes from hell to prevent that thing you are supposed to do from coming to fruition. When all hell breaks out, it often means that you are getting close to your blessing. This makes hell to unleash all of its fury on us.
   1. Understanding this helps us realize that God will make sure what He has assigned to our life, is going to come to pass!
4. Your life, your gift, and your presence matters. It matters for the fulfillment of the kingdom.
5. Stop looking for affirmation from the kingdom of darkness. When you walk in with your spiritual gift, carnal people can’t process what God is doing in your life.
6. You were chosen for this. You will fulfill what God has chosen for your life.
7. In today’s sermon, the backdrop comes when Paul and Silas were on their second missionary journey. Rome has taken over most of the world at this point. In essence, Rome is in charge.
8. We have key characters in the text.
   1. First is a Paul. At first he was called Saul. God found him on his way to kill Christians. The Lord would convert him on Damascus Road and then his name would be changed to Paul.
      1. Paul spends the rest of his life uplifting and building the kingdom of God.
      2. Paul went on to write a 3^rd of the New Testament. Paul was both Holy and hood.
   2. The second character is Silas. Silas was Paul’s Road dog.
   3. The 3^rd character is Timothy. Timothy becomes a mentee of Paul. Paul circumcises him, because he was a Gentile.
9. Lydia was a woman who was in incredibly wealthy. She sold purple cloth. She was the first convert to Christianity in all of Europe. When she heard Paul preach, she got baptized and so did her whole family. She allowed Paul to stay with them when he needed to.
10. There is also a Philippian jailer. He is an unnamed Roman officer that gets converted.
11. Paul has his missionary journey charted out. At midnight, he had a vision come to him which instructed him to come to some people. He then pivots to Philippi, the capital of Macedonia. Often you don’t choose your assignment, it chooses you.
12. They encounter something on their way to Philippi. There was a long line of people with money in their hands. There was a young girl, scripture calls her a damsel. She has the spirit of divination which is fortune telling. Note that Prophecy shouldn’t cost anything.
13. People were paying money to get their fortunes told by this damsel. Her masters decided to exploit her gift for gain. Paul and Silas cast the spirit out of the damsel and they we’re jailed for it. At midnight they sang songs of praise and they were released from their chains.

II.            COURAGE TO CONFRONT THE DEVIL 

• When there is an assignment on your life, you have to confront opposition. The young girl made her master’s much gain.
• Paul and Silas could have walked off and not worried about it, but Paul was too annoyed. When you have the holy spirit inside of you, it grieves you when something is not right.
• Don’t downplay being annoyed.
  
  

A.     If It Troubles Your Spirit, Deal With It 

1. John Lewis coined the phrase, “good trouble”. God will not trouble your spirit for you to just walk by. He troubles your spirit to deal with it.
2. Jesus did not play with demons, He confronted demons. Demons know who you are when you show up. When you walk in places, you disrupt what the demons are trying to do.
3. When the demon inside the girl saw Paul and Silas, the demon tried to call Paul and Silas out. The Demon tried to draw attention to them. Paul knew that this was a spirit, it wasn’t too the Holy Spirit, so Paul said, “come out of her thou unclean spirt”! Paul casted the spirit out of the damsel.
4. This teaches us:

B.     Don’t Compromise Your Convictions 

1. Standing On The Word – If I’m the only one, I will stand on his word.
2. Submitting To His Will – Whatever God tells me to do I will do. I am committed totally to what he says do.
3. Strong Witness – People respect you because they see God in your life.

• The masters got upset, because Paul cast the demon out. To them, Paul was costing them money.

III.            CONSPIRACY TO CONTAIN YOUR DESTINY 

A.   The Enemy Will Attempt To Discredit You 

1. If the enemy can discredit you, then he can discredit your influence.
2. The damsel’s masters were no longer able to exploit this girl.
3. Things the enemy will do to discredit you.

1. Labeled you Incorrectly – They will try to make people think poorly of you.
2. They Stripped Them Of Their Possessions – The tried took Paul and Silas’ clothes. This was an attempt to strip their morale.
3. Lashes Out Because They Are Intimidated – The enemy gets defensive when you show up. They know exactly who you are in the kingdom.
4. Limited You Through Incarceration – They thought if they locked Paul and Silas up, then they would no longer be able to spread God’s word.

B.   The Enemy Will Incarcerate What It Cannot Control 

1. The children of Israel was enslaved because of one man’s inability to accept the growth of a people.
2. Slavery is not always physical. It can also be a system. When you are anointed, what’s inside of you is always bigger than what tries to hold you.

IV.            CONNECTED WHEN THE CRISIS GOES DOWN 

• Paul and Silas were tied together and went through everything together.
• You can’t fall apart. You have to keep yourself together. God promised to keep us in perfect peace. You can’t keep anyone else together, if you are not together yourself.

A.   Attacks Expose Your Real Allies 

1. If you really want to know who’s with you, it will happen when the bottom falls out. We classify people as friends, and when they show you they really aren’t, we realize that they were never your friend.
2. Example: Bishop explains how he used to start everyone at 100% and allow them to work down their credibility with him. He found himself disappointed a lot. Now he starts everyone at 0% and they have to work themselves up. This way, he is never disappointed.
3. A friend loves at all times and a brother is built for adversity.

B.   There Is Strength In Unity 

1. We focus a lot on Paul and Silas staying together. They were together before this situation happened. If you were together before the storm, you will be together during the storm.
   1. The funeral doesn’t have to be the place where we finally come together.
2. The enemy spends a lot of time trying to divide us. A house divided cannot stand!
3. On the day of Pentecost, everyone was in one place and on one accord, and that’s when the Holy Spirit came. When we come together, the devil can’t divide us.

V.            CREATIVE CHURCH WILL BRING DELIVERANCE 

• They took Paul and Silas and put them in a jail cell. They thought this would stop them from spreading the word.
• The Church is not a building. The church is in us. Wherever we go, is church.
• What you proclaim in church, has to be portable out in the world.
• Paul and Silas didn’t stay in a permanent lament. They taught us that :

A.   Maturity Knows How To Pray Under Pressure 

1. When you have a prayer life, it shows up like this: You know everything you have is the result of prayer.
2. You don’t have to pray in the KJV version. God hears you when you talk regular.
3. Sometimes you wonder if God hears you. God’s signal and His coverage is better than Verizon!
   1. Story: Bishop explains being somewhere and there was dead spot. He was unable to get any cell coverage. After trying in multiple areas, failing to get any coverage, he discovered that he could get a signal when he held his phone down low.
4. As a result he got on his knees. Next thing you know, he was in a corner on his knees, talking on the phone. Someone wanted to know what doing. Bishop told them that the signal gets better, when he got on his knees.
5. Songs were important to Israel. Songs tell stories. Paul and Silas sang hymns at midnight. It is the lyrics of the songs that make the song.
   1. Old songs had lyrics that meant something like, “Love and happiness” by Al Green. We need a song that has some lyrics and tells a story.
6. When Paul and Silas sang the song, the Bible says the prisoners heard them. Then the Bible says suddenly there was an earthquake and the prisoners chains came off.

B.     There Is A Sound That Releases The Supernatural 

1. When Paul and Silas sang, God disrupted what the enemy was trying to do. The earthquake was evidence that God was doing something in response to their praise.
2. If you ever learn the power of opening up your mouth, things will happen! Remember when the Children of Israel shouted the walls of Jericho fell down! Remember that when all hell breaks out, you are anointed for the attack.