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Bible Baptist Church
Series: God Sings | Choose the Hard
Welcome home...
Locations & Times
Bible Baptist Church
3915 E 400 S, Knox, IN 46534, USA
Sunday 9:00 AM
Tracy Spears quotes from one of her social media streams, and I would like to share it with you.
Marriage is hard;
Divorce is hard.
Choose your hard.
Obesity is hard;
Being fit is hard.
Choose your hard.
Being in debt is hard;
Being financially disciplined is hard.
Choose your hard.
Starting a business is hard;
Working 9-5 is hard.
Choose your hard.
Life will never be easy. It will often be hard. But we can choose our hard. Choose wisely.
Marriage is hard;
Divorce is hard.
Choose your hard.
Obesity is hard;
Being fit is hard.
Choose your hard.
Being in debt is hard;
Being financially disciplined is hard.
Choose your hard.
Starting a business is hard;
Working 9-5 is hard.
Choose your hard.
Life will never be easy. It will often be hard. But we can choose our hard. Choose wisely.
Please make your way to Acts 16 with me. In this chapter we are introduced to Paul's second missionary journey. There are a lot of hard things that had to be decided.
- Fight with Barnabas
- Desiring Timothy to join
- Circumcising Timothy
- Shared the apostles decisions (cf. Acts 16:5)
- Holy Spirit denied certain directions
- Sailed from Troas
- Slave girl causes trouble
- Arrested and beaten with rods
- Placed in prison
Question: when unfair things take place in your life what is your response?
- Fight with Barnabas
- Desiring Timothy to join
- Circumcising Timothy
- Shared the apostles decisions (cf. Acts 16:5)
- Holy Spirit denied certain directions
- Sailed from Troas
- Slave girl causes trouble
- Arrested and beaten with rods
- Placed in prison
Question: when unfair things take place in your life what is your response?
When life is unfair and throws you into the inner prison Acts 16 shares with us that we can choose the hard of songs and prayers. Like Paul and Silas in Acts 16, you may not be able to choose your circumstances, but you can choose your posture. The prison did not create their worship - it exposed it.
Let me share with you the posture of Paul and Silas.
Let me share with you the posture of Paul and Silas.
Choose To Sing From the Inner Prison
Acts 16:23, 24 tells us that Paul and Silas were beaten badly and placed in the inner prison. Vic Coleman shares on his podcast the three types of Roman imprisonment.
A word about Roman prisons...there were usually three types of imprisonment. The "barracks" is where people were confined for light offenses. The "prison" was used to lock up people behind bars, but they still had access to light and fresh air. But the "inner prison" was the worst, designed for maximum security and punishment. Prisoners were typically lowered by rope into a chamber beneath a building. No light, no fresh air, no food, no sanitation - lice, rats, human waste, dead or dying bodies, disease.
https://viccoleman.com/2025/10/28/choosing-to-sing-from-the-inner-prison/A word about Roman prisons...there were usually three types of imprisonment. The "barracks" is where people were confined for light offenses. The "prison" was used to lock up people behind bars, but they still had access to light and fresh air. But the "inner prison" was the worst, designed for maximum security and punishment. Prisoners were typically lowered by rope into a chamber beneath a building. No light, no fresh air, no food, no sanitation - lice, rats, human waste, dead or dying bodies, disease.
I quote once again from the poem we started the message with, "Life will never be easy. It will often be hard. But we can choose the hard. Choose wisely." In stocks designed for pain and discomfort, Paul and Silas chose the hard — they prayed and sang to the Lord.
Ever wonder what Paul and Silas sang? I wonder if they remembered the cross of Jesus Christ, and thought their current status was no comparison to the suffering Jesus endured. I wonder if they sang and praised the LORD, because He chose them for this opportunity. Whatever the reasons, we know their songs and prayers were tied to the LORD by their faith.
This wasn’t Paul’s first experience with suffering. He had already written that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope (Romans 5). That hope is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The prison did not create his worship — it revealed the hope already inside him.
The inner prison only revealed what the LORD already knew about their hearts.
Prisoners who likely could not see Paul and Silas, but they could hear them. There wasn't cursing or complaining from these guys, but sweet songs and prayers that were being lifted up. Paul and Silas show us that in our darkest hour we can chose the hard by prayer and singing praises to the LORD.
Question: what is the hard you are going to choose?
Okay, you are not sitting in a rat infested prison this morning. But you are sitting in the sorrows and depths of your pain. Although it is the morning hour right now, it may feel to you as it is your darkest hour. I have just one question for you, what is the hard you are going to choose?
1. The hard of complaining?
2. The hard of praise and prayers?
This wasn’t Paul’s first experience with suffering. He had already written that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope (Romans 5). That hope is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The prison did not create his worship — it revealed the hope already inside him.
The inner prison only revealed what the LORD already knew about their hearts.
Prisoners who likely could not see Paul and Silas, but they could hear them. There wasn't cursing or complaining from these guys, but sweet songs and prayers that were being lifted up. Paul and Silas show us that in our darkest hour we can chose the hard by prayer and singing praises to the LORD.
Question: what is the hard you are going to choose?
Okay, you are not sitting in a rat infested prison this morning. But you are sitting in the sorrows and depths of your pain. Although it is the morning hour right now, it may feel to you as it is your darkest hour. I have just one question for you, what is the hard you are going to choose?
1. The hard of complaining?
2. The hard of praise and prayers?
Allow me to share with you the power of choosing to sing and pray through your pains:
1. You never know who is listening:
If the inner prison was secure enough to keep natural light in it is very possible Paul and Silas had no idea who was in the prison. They were not singing and praying to put on a show, but decided in the pain of the situation to lift up their voices in song and prayer. They likely had no idea whether the other prisoners were listening or not.
1. You never know who is listening:
If the inner prison was secure enough to keep natural light in it is very possible Paul and Silas had no idea who was in the prison. They were not singing and praying to put on a show, but decided in the pain of the situation to lift up their voices in song and prayer. They likely had no idea whether the other prisoners were listening or not.
2. God moves through the songs and prayers:
God moved in a miraculous way. The scriptures tell us the "great earthquake" shook the prison's foundation (cf. Acts 16:26). These hardened criminals were given open doors and broken stocks, but no one moved. What kept them in the inner prison? No one ran.
God moved in a miraculous way. The scriptures tell us the "great earthquake" shook the prison's foundation (cf. Acts 16:26). These hardened criminals were given open doors and broken stocks, but no one moved. What kept them in the inner prison? No one ran.
3. You never know who's life you will touch:
When the doors were opened you'd assume people would seize the opportunity to escape, but they didn't. They remained in their place listening to the songs and prayers of Paul and Silas.
The jailer realizes the prison doors were open, he immediately assumes everyone has escaped. By Roman law he would have been executed for losing the prisoners so he decides to go ahead and do it himself (cf. Acts 16:27).
When the doors were opened you'd assume people would seize the opportunity to escape, but they didn't. They remained in their place listening to the songs and prayers of Paul and Silas.
The jailer realizes the prison doors were open, he immediately assumes everyone has escaped. By Roman law he would have been executed for losing the prisoners so he decides to go ahead and do it himself (cf. Acts 16:27).
Paul aware of Roman law immediately tells the jailer to not take his life, because no one has escaped.
I would like to think like the prisoners the jailer also heard the songs and prayers of Paul and Silas. These two were not acting like the typical criminal he was used to dealing with. These guys were praising God in song and praying to Him as if he was in the inner prison with them.
He responded in the only way he could, how can I be saved? How can I have what you guys have? The jailer takes Paul and Silas home to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that night not only does he receive Jesus Christ but his family does too (cf. Acts 16:33).
I would like to think like the prisoners the jailer also heard the songs and prayers of Paul and Silas. These two were not acting like the typical criminal he was used to dealing with. These guys were praising God in song and praying to Him as if he was in the inner prison with them.
He responded in the only way he could, how can I be saved? How can I have what you guys have? The jailer takes Paul and Silas home to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that night not only does he receive Jesus Christ but his family does too (cf. Acts 16:33).
I know the Bible is silent on this, but I wonder if after the decision for salvation, the baptisms, and the meal shared with Paul and Silas if the songs of praise and prayer continued. I just think if Paul and Silas sang in the darkest hour of their pain how much more would they have sung when the Philippian jailer and his family came to the LORD (cf. Acts 16:34).
I don't know what you are facing or the pain you are enduring, but I do know your faith can shine in the bleakest of times and darkest hours. There's a tendency to justify, excuse and complain about our pain, but what we learn from Paul and Silas is God can really show up in a magnificent way when we decide to sing and pray.
When the earthquake shakes around your life what will it reveal about your heart? When the chaos of life came crashing around Paul and Silas it revealed two hearts that were in unison in their faith to the LORD. It became evident when they began to sing and pray. What will your heart reveal when it is all said and done?
I remind you, when it comes to choosing the hard of song and prayer you have to understand...
1. The prison did not create their worship — it revealed it.
2. The earthquake did not create their faith — it exposed it.
Ending question, "When your life is shaken, what will be revealed in you?"
When the earthquake shakes around your life what will it reveal about your heart? When the chaos of life came crashing around Paul and Silas it revealed two hearts that were in unison in their faith to the LORD. It became evident when they began to sing and pray. What will your heart reveal when it is all said and done?
I remind you, when it comes to choosing the hard of song and prayer you have to understand...
1. The prison did not create their worship — it revealed it.
2. The earthquake did not create their faith — it exposed it.
Ending question, "When your life is shaken, what will be revealed in you?"