[The Liberation of the Holy Spirit]
Acts 16:35-40
Its Easter Sunday. The Holy Spirit liberates us for our mission. Let us think of the liberation of the Holy Spirit.
1. There are timely 'daylights'. 'When it was daylight' does not only mean the morning. It means that there was a change. Paul and Silas were imprisoned without being questioned last night, and now that the prison became the origin of the earthquake, the magistrates let them go. The daylight might come timely and continuously or it could come whenever we are ready. This cannot be brought by our strength it is about Gods timing. If one faces a daylight without meeting Jesus, he has lost the best time to meet Jesus.
My husband had surveilled me, imprisoned me, chained me, and even beat me like a jailer. I was born to a Christian family, but I could not see my sin even through hardships. My mother locked up and humbled herself doing all the hard and dirty works at the church she voluntarily served others. On the other hand, I had ignored her living such a life. I only was reminded of my pride when I was locked up by my mother-in-law. I met Jesus when it was bright, and I was free from sin this is different from condemnation. Without the effective help of the Holy Spirit, we cannot find our sin. Our sin will be our namecard to forgive and save others. We can write up our sin on the cross by sharing it with the small groups always. My husband was diligent and righteous in his own way, and I had heard my praises and prayers for his salvation as the jailer had listened to Pauls praises. As the jailer suddenly met an incident that would kill him, my husband suddenly was put in ICU with a respirator and blood fusion machine on. He asked me when would a pastor come to visit him just as the jailer asked Paul how to be saved. He confessed his sin of operating abortion surgeries in front of everyone after he heard the Gospel: 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be savedampmdashyou and your household.' Then he accepted Jesus and went to heaven.
2. The liberation of the Holy Spirit lets you put down the elitism. Paul came back to the prison for the sake of future believers in Philippi. And the jailer told him to go in peace, using Christian terms. But Paul refused to leave pointing out that they had beaten and imprisoned Paul and Silas, the Roman citizens, without a trial. According to the Valerian law, the Roman citizens had the right to be tried legally, not to be put to shame even after they were found guilty, and not to be tortured or flogged for a forced confession. Therefore, the ones who handled Paul and Silas as felons now became the very felons. Paul had been eager to destroy Jewish Christians even though they were his people, and he always visited the Jewish synagogues first to evangelize because he felt he owed the Gospel to the Jews. But if he had claimed his Roman citizenship just to avoid trouble, the Jews who were under Roman authority would have felt betrayed. So he put down his privilege and got beaten for the salvation of one soul. This act of paying price was the liberation of the Holy Spirit. Even Jesus, the Son of God, became perfect through learning obedience in suffering. He was flawless, but he went through the pain with us together and was crucified for our sin. This makes us fall down before the cross. After he paid his price, Paul mentioned his rights and revealed the illegal acts of those who beat people only based on regionalism and annihilate ones dignity. There was another intention of Paul: if he had not revealed that he was a Roman citizen, he might have become a fugitive. So he made sure that everything was in order so that nothing would hinder evangelizing. He left a message that a Roman citizen had spread the Gospel for those who became Christians through him. Both hiding and revealing were done for the salvation of one soul. We should be able to reveal any shame for salvation. People mocked and called Jesus 'the King of the Jews'. We should be able to put down any privilege of ours for salvation. If we make applications and lock ourselves up for the salvation of one soul, the Lord will take the responsibility.
3. The liberation of the Holy Spirit makes one to teach the Word to the end. The magistrates requested Paul and Silas to leave. They had many things in their possessions, and they were afraid that they would lose them. When we put down our privilege for salvation, God lifts us up on the earth. The liberation of the Holy Spirit is not about being free from the environment, but being bound to God and the Word. Once we experience death and life with Jesus, we can be free from all the fear, obsessions, and peer pressure. The opposite of faith is aggressive zeal. Apostle Paul had killed Stephen with the same zeal, too. Paul visited Lydias house before he left, and the brothers and sisters who gathered there could not have been one before, but through the Gospel they became brothers and sisters, starting the church in Philippa. Those weak and small people became the edge of a sword of the Gospel towards Rome, and they walked with Paul to the end. Here, the word encouraged was used to describe the act of teaching on Gods Word throughout the Bible. We are bound to sickness, spouses, and children, and we have to listen to the Word to be freed. This word consists of para and kaleampoacute, and the word parakletos, meaning the Advocate and the Holy Spirit of the Word, comes from this word. Paul kept comforting others, spreading the Gospel, teaching the Word, and saving lives even after going through many sufferings. Simple things such as meditating the Word and teaching it are the keys to be liberated from all our surroundings. The true liberation of the Holy Spirit is not about to be away from all the sufferings, but to be bound in the same way as we have been, grieving for the salvation of others around us. Then the earthly rulers and heavenly authorities will come to us requesting to let go of them.
