"And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them." [Acts 16:25]
In Ephesians Paul glorifies God, saying,
“Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” [Eph 3:20-21]
Notice in Paul’s exclamation what He says of God’s power. It is not just that The Lord possesses great power; no, but exceedingly great power. It is not just that His strength and dominion are high, above all others; no, but they are exceedingly so. For we read that God’s power is even “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.” In all the billions of lives that exist and have existed and will exist, not one of them was able, nor is able, nor ever shall be able to imagine something greater than God can perform. There is absolutely no limit to what our King can do. Jesus Christ and His power are infinite. He can do far, far above all that we can dream up or imagine, let alone ask. If we can think of it – and let us see that every circumstance in our lives thus far and heretofore has been thought of by our minds – God can do far more. Therefore, there is not one circumstance, not one trial or affliction, which our wonderful Christ cannot conquer nor offer solution to. Nor yet is there an enemy which He cannot overcome. His power knows no limits. Long ago “Asa cried unto The LORD His God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power.” [2 Ch 14:11] As Asa prayed, so it is true: “it is nothing with [God] to help.” Whether we have much or little; yea, even nothing – it is nothing with God to help. No matter what problem ails you, dear Christian, see this clearly: the amount of energy, strength, and power necessary to complete it, answer it, fix it, or whatsoever else is needed, is so miniscule, so infinitely small in the scope of God’s capacity, that it is as of nothing, as but one speck of dust in the universe.
Truly, our God is great. As it says rhetorically, “who is like unto The LORD our God? Who dwelleth on high[?]” [Psa 113:5] Yes, and again, “O LORD God of Hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee?” [Psa 89:8] To these things we must humbly, gloriously confess as many saints of old have before us – “There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and His excellency on the sky;” and, “all my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?” [Deut 33:26, Psa 35:10] Our God is strong; therefore, let us do as The Spirit writes, “trust ye in The LORD forever: for in The LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.” [Isa 26:4] And let us trust too because there is no other source of strength but God, as it is written, “God hath spoken once; twice I have heard this; that power belongeth unto God.” [Psa 62:11] We have spoken of and seen the mighty strength of The God of Jacob, and thus of Christ and His Spirit, and I pray each heart might be pricked to greater devotion through this truth. But let us ponder also what has been written in Ephesians chapter three, “according to the power that worketh in us.”
The power that we have seen here works in us! That power of God, present in His Holy Spirit works in and through us. Again, Paul writes earlier in the same epistle, praying that we all might know “what is the exceeding greatness of His power which is for the benefit of the believing, according to the working of His mighty power.” [Eph 1:19] God’s power, present in His Spirit, and thus in us, is for our benefit: for our overcoming of sin, for our evangelism, for our being a witness of His resurrection. As Jesus said to the disciples before He ascended to God’s right hand, “behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be clothed with power from on high;” and speaking to them regarding the selfsame thing, He said, “but ye shall receive power, after that The Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses.” [Lk 24:49, Acts 1:8] May we clearly perceive this truth: it is through The Holy Spirit given of Jesus alone that we have power. All our ability comes from Him. As Paul says, “I can do all things through Christ which is empowering me;” [Phil 4:13] and as the prophet speaks, “not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith The LORD of Hosts.” [Zech 4:6]
Having therefore seen that God is powerful, even above all else, far above what we can perceive; and having seen that this selfsame power has been graciously gifted unto us by Christ for His glory and good purposes, let us remark upon our verse for today and see one example of this power in action. Let us read again from Acts,
“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.” [Acts 16:25]
To fully appreciate the magnitude of this praise, let us remember briefly where Paul and Silas resided that midnight. When they went “to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony,” [Acts 16:12] there was “a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination…which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.” [Acts 16:16] This woman was following them and crying out, saying, “these men are the servants of the Most High God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.” [Acts 16:17] Evidently grieved in his spirit by the source, and not so much the message, Paul rebuked the evil spirit, “and he came out of her the same hour.” [Acts 16:18] When the masters of this certain woman found out, they were troubled, for the possessed woman was bringing them gain and wealth. In response therefore, we read,
“And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.” [Acts 16:22-24]
It is in this doleful state that we do read, “and at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God.” In that wicked prison, bruised and beaten, suffering miserably, these two men, full of The Holy Spirit, did sing unto God, giving their Lord thanksgiving for His glory and His name and His care. What a testimony of God’s power and God’s love! Not in that they were imprisoned and beaten, but their response; for their response was not of men, nor in themselves, but of God. Let us see that the life and love of Jesus Christ is what motivated and empowered these brave men; as Paul once wrote by The Spirit, “the love of Christ constraineth us.” [2 Cor 5:14] And let us see too that it was the power of The Holy Spirit which provoked them to such things; for, “the fruit of The Spirit is…joy.” [Gal 5:22] The fruit of the flesh is complaining and bitterness, but the fruit of The Spirit includes joy. That deep joy which spurred on this praise was no doubt of The Holy Spirit, coinciding with what Paul once prayed for the Roman believers,
“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of The Holy Spirit.” [Rom 15:13]
And it is the same Spirit which resided in Christ when He was on earth, which though He fared even far worse than Paul and Silas, upon the cross, exclaimed in the Spirit through David,
“I foresaw The Lord always before my face, for He is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” [Acts 2:25-27]
May we praise and thank God for the exceeding great power He holds, and which is available for us to lay hold of, for it is offered to us and present in The Holy Spirit who has taken up residence in our hearts. May we see this strong example, from Paul, Silas, and above-all Christ Jesus, and follow suit, “for this God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death.” [Psa 48:14]
Click here to see more posts in Daily Meditations on Jesus’ Glory, Vol III