3-23-25 (Jeremy Stewart) Faith As Allegiance

ACTS 16:25-34

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

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FROM THE LESSON

Rome demanded allegiance.

• Matthew 22:15-22
• Matthew 5:41

Philippi was a proud Roman colony.

The Philippian jailer had a deep allegiance to Rome.

3 FACETS OF FAITH

• Belief - intellectual agreement
• Confession - Belief acknowledges Jesus is THE king, Confession says “Jesus is MY king.”
• Allegiance - a shift in loyalty that is lived out

The way for early Christians to clear their name and regain their status in Roman culture was to proclaim “Caesar is Lord” rather than Jesus.

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Jeremy shared the story of Benedict Arnold. How do you feel about someone who betrays their allegiance?
2. Roman allegiance was a powerful force in its time. Do we have any parallels today?
3. We looked at 3 facets of faith: Belief, Confession, and Allegiance. What other facets of faith do you see present in scripture?
4. What are some other things we might give our ultimate allegiance to rather than Jesus? (examples: ourselves, job, someone we’re in love with, family, etc.)
5. What does it look like for you to live out a pledged allegiance to Jesus as your king? What shifts would you like to make?