"What Is Our Greatest Need?"
[Acts 16:16-34]
February 6, 2008 Second Reformed Church
The sermon title this evening is, "What is Our Greatest Need?" How would you answer that? What is our greatest need? What do we need above everything else? Might it be food? Water? Oxygen? What is the one thing we cannot live without?
In our Scripture reading this evening, we find Paul and Silas in Macedonia -- Greece -- where the Holy Spirit had sent them. And as they were heading to the temple to pray, this young, slave girl started following them. Now this wasn't just any slave girl: she was possessed by a demon, and her owners would have her tell people's fortunes for pay.
This girl kept following Paul and Silas, and as they went, then demon prompted the girl to cry out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation." All throughout the town she cried, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation." Day after day like a car alarm, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation."
Paul became fed up. This was not the way he was accustomed to ministering, and he didn't want his ministry associated with demon-possession. So he did an exorcism: "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And the demon immediately came out of her, and the girl was whole again, and she could no longer tell fortunes.
Now this infuriated her owners, so they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace -- they wanted justice -- they had stolen their livelihood from them. And they held and impromptu court, accusing Paul and Silas of trying to get people to do things that were unlawful for Romans to do. These foreign Jews were teaching strange customs that Romans ought not do.
Let us understand from this that having other people believe us is not our greatest need. Certainly, we should live to be trustworthy people, like Paul and Silas lived, but they told the truth, did good for others, and they were not believed when they were accused. Having other people believe us is not our greatest need.
In fact, the people gathered up stones and rods, and they beat Paul and Silas over and over again, and then they were dragged to the prison, thrown in the door and their feet were locked in stocks so they couldn't move.
Let us understand here that being kept from being unjustly abused and imprisoned is not our greatest need. Surely, we should avoid getting into such circumstances if possible -- we should not desire to suffer, but as we have seen again and again, if we are follows of Christ, we will suffer, and some will suffer physically and may even be put to death. Being kept from unjust abuse and imprisonment is not our greatest need.
Paul and Silas were full of joy and hope; they had not lost the fulfillment of their greatest need. They had done the work of God, they had been merciful and delivered a possessed girl. They had been lied about, beaten, and thrown in prison. Yet, what do we find? Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns through the night. They weren't planning an escape. They weren't feeling sorry for themselves. The weren't blaming God for the situation they were in. They were lifting up they voices in prayer and singing hymns!
So, we understand that being free is not our greatest need. Having a comfortable home is not our greatest need. Having good food and water is not our greatest need.
Suddenly, there was a great earthquake, and every door in the jail unlocked, and all the chains and stocks unlocked -- the prisoners were free. The jailer knew that the prisoners could all escape. He knew that he could catch them all. He knew that no one would believe that and earthquake cause all the doors to unlock. He knew that he would be condemned to death for allowing all the prisoners to escape. So he drew his sword to commit suicide.
Suicide should not be encouraged or attempted, but let us remember something that we learned in I Peter -- being alive in this life is not our greatest need. Paul said "to live is Christ, to die is gain" -- we ought to live our lives, joyfully for Christ, but we ought to understand that to die in Christ and for Christ is gain. So, this life, and living it, are not our greatest need.
Paul cried out and told the jailer, "Don't kill yourself; we're all here."
And, suddenly, the jailer realized that keeping his job wasn't his greatest need. He ran into the cell and fell before Paul and Silas, not to worship them, but because he knew what had happened -- he knew how the slave girl had followed them around crying out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation." His eyes were opened, he knew these were servants of the Most High God, and he knew that their message was his greatest need, so he cried out, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" The jailer understood that his greatest need was salvation.
The theologian, R. C. Sproul, tells of a time when he was a visiting lecturer on a campus where there were a goodly number of students who hadn't heard of him. This was on a Christian college campus, and as he was walking across the campus, zealous young people would come up to him and ask, "Have you been saved?" Dr. Sproul said that, for awhile, he politely answered them so he could get to when he was going, but he finally had been asked so many times, "Have you been saved?", that he asked the student back, "Saved from what?" Dr. Sproul said the student hadn't expected the answer and couldn't quite pull himself together again.
It's an answer we all need to have. If we believe that our greatest need is salvation, then we need to know what it is we are being saved from. And perhaps many of us would say, "Well, we're saved from our sin." And while that is true, it doesn't get at the heart of the matter. Who cares if we sin -- sin is fun. Why do we need to be saved from it? Why is it our greatest need?
Would it surprise anyone if I were to say that our greatest need is to be saved from God? I didn't say that we need to be saved for God -- or by God -- I said our greatest need is to be saved from God.
Listen to Paul, "Since, therefore, we have now been justified by [Jesus'] blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God" (Romans 5:9). Yes, we are forgiven for our sin in salvation. Yes, the righteousness of Christ is imputed to our accounts in salvation. But the big picture answer is that in salvation, the Wrath of God against us is appeased through Jesus Christ. Our greatest need is to have God's Wrath taken away from us -- which includes forgiveness for sin and the imputation of Christ's Righteousness. This is our greatest need, because if the Wrath of God is not taken away from us, we will suffer at His Hand in body and soul for all of eternity.
The jailer understood this -- being executed for losing the prisoners, or committing suicide, was nothing compared with what God caused him to realize before Paul and Silas. That is why he cried out, "What must I do to be saved?" And they give him the lynch-pin of the Gospel: "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household."
After Peter preached his sermon on the day of Pentecost, we read, "Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?' And Peter said to them, 'Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself'" (Acts 2:37-39).
So, what happened to the jailer? He repented and believed in Jesus. He took Paul and Silas back to his home and cleaned their wounds and fed them. His whole household hear their words and believed, and they were all baptized. "And [the jailer] rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God." He had had his greatest need filled: He had been delivered from the Wrath of God.
Tonight is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. This is a period of time when we especially consider our sins and repent of them, turning and practicing what is good and true and holy, as we consider all that Jesus did to deliver us and bring us back to God.
We practicing anointing with ashes to remind us of the seriousness of sin, of our greatest need, and our need to avoid sin and always, quickly repent of it.
We also practice anointing with oil, not as a magic cure, but, as James wrote, "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord" (James 5:14). For He is mighty to heal.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for sending Jesus, Your Son, to take on Your Wrath for our sin, that we might be delivered and made righteous in Him. In this season of Lent, may we each consider Your Sacrifice and seek all the more diligently after holiness. For it is in Jesus' Name we pray, Amen.
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