Saved! (Philippian Jailer's Conversion)

Introduction

Read Acts 16:22-40

From Mission Field to Mission Cell

The change in scenery didn’t change either mission or motives of Paul and Silas.

v.23-25

Missions is dangerous. Jesus said so. Paul knew more than anybody. Both Paul and Silas had already weighed the cost and were all in. They’d determined it was worth it. Jesus was worth it! (Rom 5:3, Jas 1:2, 1 Pet 5:6)

v.22-23 - They’d been illegally stripped and beaten by the police in the midst of the crowd. Then they were locked in a cell in the inner prison and secured by their feet to wooden stocks.

Circumstances - I fear that many of us would be so affected by our own circumstances that we would immediately take our eyes off of Jesus and be derailed from the mission. At least I know one of us would, as it all too often seems to happen to me.

Ex. 2014 - “Missionary to Dixon” - Van accident and activities ceased

Ex. Men’s Fellowship - gaining ground and then BOOM - COVID-19 wipes our family out and others for weeks.

Maybe because I’m so easily distracted and my spiritual focus tends drive to wax and wane like the phases of the moon. Does anyone else struggle with this? Please pray for me! For each other! Let’s keep each other accountable and support each other that we may all be strengthened in our weakness.

Safety - Others today would sense that there is danger and simply refuse to take the risk

Ex. Missionary goes to the field, they often feel the push-back from people who fail to see the importance of their work.

“Is it safe where you are going?” etc. Many of the questions they get, boil down to “What about your safety, your comfort, and your security?”

So worried about safety, and yet many of the same people will use a chainsaw, or drive a vehicle, or eat in unhealthy ways.

So few questions about the condition of those who live there every day. So little concern about their need, their safety, the condition of their souls.

We must be wise, and certainly safety of the missionary and those they are ministering to are important to consider and plan for. Yet, the missionary - and on some level every Christian - must understand that Jesus is worth everything, and that God will bring us through what He calls us to. Paul and Silas knew this.

They kept their eyes on the prize. What was their goal? To depend upon and rejoice in Jesus their Lord and to stay ready to witness about Him.

They depended on the Lord Jesus - Though certainly tired and in pain, with no way to rest comfortably they made the most of their time by engaging in worship.

v.25 - (Midnight) Prayed - we don’t know what they prayed, but they were apparently doing so out loud. It could have been for deliverance from prison, it could have been for the souls of the lost around them, it could have been thanksgiving for what God had done for them and through them. We don’t know, but we get a sense of their contentment and even joy as they depended upon the Lord in prayer.

They rejoiced in the Him - they gave praise to God through singing hymns.

Sang “hymneō” - hymns of praise. Can you imagine it being midnight in the middle of a Roman prison and two guys who were all beat up and bound, sitting their praying and singing their hearts out to God?

By the way, God is worth singing to - and about! When we sing we aren’t performing, but we are giving ourselves. We aren’t just saying words to melody, but we’re reminding ourselves of and our fellow Christians of the truths about Christ. It changes the state of our hearts, primes us spiritually and draws us closer to our King. He’s worthy of us singing His praise!

Strangely enough, the other prisoners weren’t simply yelling at them to be quiet so they could rest. No, they “were listening to them” (Maybe they’d heard of them, maybe the quality of such worship had them enthralled...)

Paul and Silas were depending upon Him in prayer, and praising Him in song. They trusted God. And they were ready to be His witness, even now.

They understood and were practicing what the Holy Spirit gave us through Peter in 1 Peter 5:6-7

1 Peter 5:6–7 NASB95

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

No matter what the circumstance, He is with You. He hasn’t left. Hasn’t forsaken. While we all often wander from Him, doesn’t wander from us. You must but humble yourself again, trust Him, and lean into His care, knowing that He will one day lift you to heights you’d never imagined.

Paul and Silas knew they were with God. He was with them, and He was about to show it once again.

God’s Supernatural Deliverance

God acted supernaturally to bring deliverance to many, but it wasn’t the prisoners.

26-34

As in answer to their, God sent an earthquake.

“great earthquake” that shook the foundations of the prison. Either supernaturally or by way of the earthquake itself, the doors were all opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.

This is obviously the deliverance they’d been looking for, praying for, right? (After all, an angel supernaturally walked Peter out of prison earlier in Acts.)

No. There was to be a rescue but not how you and I would have guessed. We don’t know how much time passed between v.26 and v.27. We don’t have any words from Paul or Silas, or the other prisoners. All we know is that for some reason, they all stayed put.

No doubt they could have escaped. Why else would the jailer have assumed that they had?

But they hadn’t. Maybe it was because Paul and Silas didn’t and they were following the lead of these men who had real power from God.

The one person who had been free, suddenly found himself condemned. (v.27)

First, in error. He assumed his life was over and was prepared to commit suicide.

Friends, no matter how dire the circumstances seem to you, no matter how hopeless - know this - you don’t see the whole picture! There is light ahead. There is hope, even when it seems impossible for you to see. Cast your trust in the One who sees it all, knows it all. Trust, as hard as it may be in His Wisdom, His goodness, His love and care.

His life wasn’t over. This event was just the beginning of something far greater.

Paul cried out with words that changed everything (v.28)- “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here”

Paul, in that moment showed a sort of love that is exceedingly rare. He put that jailer’s need above his own. He sacrificed the opportunity of escape for that man’s life. Paul trusted God. And He knew someone who had done the same for Him.

Paul was giving what he’d been given. God had shown him a love that was rare as He gave His Son for Paul’s sins - though he persecuted believers. He sacrificed for one who didn’t deserve it. He spared, not only Paul’s life - but his eternal soul and recruited Him into His service.

Paul knew the value of Jesus and what He had done. His focus on the truth and mission had him prepared to sacrifice. It also had him ready for the question that came next.

Before we go there. Let me ask this question: On a scale of 1 to 10, how is your focus on the truth of God’s Word? On the mission and witness? Are we spending time with God regularly, renewing our mind in His Word and depending on Him in prayer? Is your heart filled with songs of praise and the posture of your life one of worship and witness? Or is He an after-thought, brought out only at appointed times and places? Is He your life?

No doubt the Holy Spirit was especially with Paul and Silas in that prison, but we have the same Spirit in us! We’ve been saved! We’ve been delivered and know the same hope that they did! Praise be to God!

May we be inspired to greater commitment today.

Read Phil 3:7-15

Let’s be so filled with hope in Christ that our soul is ready to sacrifice, and that hope spills out into the lives of others around us, for there are many who, like this jailer feel hopeless and in need!

The first sense of condemnation was in error, as his life had great potential. But now he had a sense of the condemnation of his soul, and his need for forgiveness by the One True God.

“What must I do to be saved?” - He understood that these men were from God and that the things they’d been talking about, singing about, and praying about were real. This was different than all those other gods and the religions he was used to. This God was powerful. This God could truly forgive. Under the weight of his own guilt He cries out.

Paul had the key to this man’s freedom. A simple message and invitation. It is the same key offered to everyone.

The key is belief - “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

John 3:16 - “whoever believes in Him shall not perish...”

Romans 1:16 - “gospel....is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes”

The object of belief is just as important. Just any old belief won’t do. You must believe in Jesus

Only one Son of God died for human sins. Only one was raised from the dead and ascended to heaven. Only one is Messiah and Lord and will one day judge the living and the dead. Jesus!

Imagine you are drowning in an ocean, and you begin to tire. Suddenly you see a mirage of a boat and a life-raft floating just a few feet away.

Will this life-raft save you? No, it is in your mind, and is not real. Too often people believe in something they made up in their own mind, trusting that it will save them.

Now imagine you are drowning in an ocean and a boat really pulls up, and a life-raft is within reach. This raft is yellow with black rope. You’ve never liked yellow, and would prefer a red or even purple raft.

How many people reject their only hope of salvation for a stubborn preference that they are unwilling to let go of? “I prefer to think that God _________”...

Jesus alone can save. There is no other raft, no other color. His blood alone was shed for your sins. We must believe in HIM!

Now look at the particular quality of Jesus embraced. We must believe in the Lord Jesus.

Lord - kyrios - this is someone who has supreme authority.

Saving belief is a belief that leads to commitment to follow Jesus as the authority in your life. Yes, it is an acceptance of the facts of his death, burial and resurrection. Yes, it involves receiving Him as your personal Savior, but it is more. One commentator said it this way:

Jesus is Saviour to those to whom he is Lord (1)

Is Jesus your Savior? Is He the supreme authority in your life?

Romans 10:9 NASB95

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

Note how that Paul extends the call of invitation to the rest of his house.

“You and your household.” No doubt the jailer had authority in his home. Certainly if he chose to worship God and follow Jesus, he could impose certain aspects of this on his home. However, this would not, and could not save them - apart from their own personal faith in Jesus Christ.

No one is saved by virtue of another’s faith. Paul here was simply extending the invitation to his household who had also apparently come out to see what had happened (v.31-33).

Kids - this truth is for you! Our study, our discussions, the questions ask - they pertain to you! You are invited to believe! You matter to God! Your sin, like ours, must be atoned for. Is Jesus your savior? Is He your Lord?

v.32 tells us Paul and Silas then “spoke the word of the Lord to them together with all who were in his house.” and they were baptized.

They needed to know what and whom to believe in. Paul and Silas shared about Jesus. They told them who He was and what He’d done for them. They told them of His power and of His humble sacrifice. Of the great love of God and the fact of His return to gather up His people. We don’t have the words they used, but they shared the gospel.

Once they’d heard the gospel, they apparently believed as they found water in the prison for baptism.

Note the humility and Christian love shown by the jailer as he waits, and first washes Paul and Silas’s Wounds.

Then, he and all His household were baptized, having believed in the Lord Jesus.

Early Christian Chrysostom (c.347-407) described the scene like this, speaking of the jailer:

“He washed and was washed; he washed them from their stripes and was himself washed from his sins” (Homilies on Acts 36.2)

Baptism didn’t save them. Only faith could. Yet they were immediately baptised as a demonstration of their faith.

Have you been baptised as a demonstration of faith in Jesus Christ? If not, why not? Were you baptised as a believer - that is, were you baptised after coming to faith in the Lord? If not, you should be as that is the pattern in Scripture.

I believe we even see that pattern in this text. There is nothing here that would lead us to think otherwise.

God gave a great, supernatural deliverance through the witness of these two missionaries and an earthquake. So much so, that they stayed up most of the night celebrating, eating together and rejoicing in God. The jailer - and his household, indeed that entire city - would never be the same.

(We’ll look closer at the end of the passage in our midweek study)

Conclusion

Paul and Silas knew that a change in scenery or circumstance didn’t change anything.

Friend, do you value Jesus such that you would suffer for Him?

Have you wandered? He is now calling you back. He hasn’t left. His love is sure and you can run back to Him! Do it now, in your heart! Come to the alter, kneel at your seat - whatever He’s calling you to do - please don’t delay.

Depend upon Him, trust in Him, praise Him. He’s worthy!

Are you ready to answer the question posed in this passage? Is our conduct such that someone would think we might know the answer? Are you ready to spend time instructing others about Jesus?

Let’s get serious about Jesus. Let’s continually remind ourselves of what is true by digging regularly into His Word. Let’s bring the hardship and suffering to Him every day in prayer. Let’s take every opportunity to get together with our Christian brothers and sisters to rejoice and to worship that we may be built up and ready as His witnesses on this earth!

Do you need to be saved? If so - the same call is for you - believe in the Lord Jesus!

Believe in His righeousness,

Believe in His sacrifice for your sins,

Believe He is the Savior, the Son of God and the Supreme Authority and commit yourself to follow Him!

Finally, if there is anyone here who is saved by faith in Jesus Christ and has not demonstrated that faith by a public profession and baptism - why wait? Let’s do it! Please come see me and we’ll rejoice together as you take a step of faith and obedience to our Lord!

For Wednesday...

Paul Demands Justice

Paul exercises his rights and shows the importance of holding authorities accountable.

v.35-40

1 Marshall, I. H. (1980). Acts: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 5, p. 289). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.