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Word from Scotland
by Sandy Shaw
Acts 16:25. In a way Paul and Silas appear to be in a mess. In that Philippian prison they are hurting and scarred and sore, yet they are singing - "Jesus is Lord - Thou art worthy - Hallelujah, Hallelujah, give thanks to the risen Lord - Exalt the Lord our God - How great thou art!" And God joined in and shook everything!
Suddenly there was a great earthquake. The foundations of the prison were shaken - all the doors flew open - everybody's chains fell off - and nobody ran away.
Here we see the greatness of the power of God. It shakes the whole jail - opens doors - loosens chains. No-one is hurt by the power of God. Not one life is lost. Everything was under God's control.
When the senior prison officer saw what was happening, he drew out his sword, and was prepared to take his own life. Senior jailers were normally hard tough men, and if the jailer lost one prisoner, the jailer served the sentence.
It was at this point Paul shouted - "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"
Paul appears to be in control of all that is going on too. God was in all this and his chosen servant was co-operating.
The jailer was filled with fear - terrified and trembling he called for lights - "light the lamps". He was afraid of man - now he became afraid of God. The jailer knew something very unusual was occurring. Some kinds of fear are good. Fear often drives people to call upon God. Sickness - tragedy - trouble can all make a man call upon God. For him this call was real.
The jailer knew - the girl with the spirit of a python who had been involved in the occult knew - and Lydia certainly knew - as soon as Paul began to speak - there is something different about this man, Paul! Do people sense that when we speak? "There is something different about that person. I cannot put my finger on it. I just cannot explain it - but he is just different from anyone else I have met!"
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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