Philippian Jailer

We are Doing a Series On Sunday Nights Called “Radical Change”

We are Looking at People From the Old and New Testaments…

Who Experienced Radical Change By God

God Wants to Radically Change Us

He Wants to Radically Change Our Circumstances

That is the Purpose of the Gospel

As We Continue this Series, We Will Continue to See God Bring About Radical Change…

To People and Their Circumstances in Many Different Ways

I Want This Series to Give Us More Faith, More Hope, and More Love in and for God

I Believe Seeing the Kind of Radical Change that God Does in the World and in People Can Do That

Tonight We are Looking at a Man Whose Name We Don’t Know…

But Whose Story Many of Us Have Heard a Thousand Times

We Know Him as:

The Philippian Jailer

We Meet the Philippian Jailer On Paul’s 2nd Missionary Journey

While in Philippi, Paul and Those with Him…

Were Being Followed By a Demon-Possessed Slave-Girl

Acts 16:16–17 (NASB95)

It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.”

After a Few Days, Paul was Fed Up and Cast the Demon Out

This Ended Up Causing an Up-Roar Because the Girl’s Masters Were Using Her to Make a Lot of Money

So They Lied, Saying Paul and Silas Were Causing Trouble and Teaching Unlawful Things

Acts 16:22–24 (NASB95)

The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

Without a Trial or Opportunity to Defend Themselves Against the False Allegations…

Paul and Silas Were Beating with Wooden Rods

This Would Be One of 3 Times that We Know of From 2 Corinthians 11

This was Not Only a Painful Thing to Endure, But it was Meant to Shame as Well

Such Quick and Unjust Treatment was Reserved Only for Non-Roman Citizens

But They Will Be Unhappy to Find Out Later that Paul and Silas are Both Roman Citizens

Then They Were Placed in the Inner Prison

This was the Place of Highest Security

And They Were to Be Guarded Securely, So There Would Be No Possibility of Escape

Their Feet Were Placed in Stocks

This Would Keep Them Locked in Their Cell

But Stocks Were Often Used to Torture Certain Prisoners as Well…

Placing Them in Very Uncomfortable Positions

We Aren’t Told if This was the Case for Paul and Silas

With All of This Information, Luke is Making Sure We Know…

There is No Possible Way of Escape for Paul and Silas

Acts 16:25 (NASB95)

But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

At Midnight, When People are Typically Asleep…

Paul and Silas are Busy Talking to and Praising Their God

That the Prisoners Were Listening to Their Prayers and Songs…

Is Such a Neat and Intentional Detail

How Many Prisoners Who Get Fasted in Stocks in the Inner Prison…

Spend Their Entire Night Praising Their God?

There Were Likely Many Prisoners Who Were Heard Pleading With Their Gods…

But Paul and Silas Aren’t Pleading, Their Praising

This is One of the Most Beautiful Scenes in Scripture

The Dark Philippian Prison is Filled with the Sound of Praise…

From the Beaten, Bleeding, Chained Up Servants of King Jesus

That’s the Beauty of Christianity

No Matter Where We are or What We are Going Through…

We Can Always Be Full of Hope and Gratitude

And Imagine All the Things These Other Prisoners are Learning About the One True God and Jesus Christ

Imagine the Curiosity They Must Have Had…

Hearing Men in Such a Terrible Situation, Praising God with So Much Love and Joy

Acts 16:26 (NASB95)

and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.

In the Midst of the Praising and the Praying…

There is an Earthquake

Earthquakes Were Pretty Common in this Region

But an Earthquake at Just This Moment…

That Just So Happened to Open All the Prison Doors and Cause Every Prisoners’ Chains to Fall Off

Maybe Coincidences Happen From Time to Time

But This Wasn’t One of Those Times

Acts 16:27 (NASB95)

When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

The Jailer Didn’t Even Check to See if the Prisoners Were Still There

Why Would They Stay?

No Prisoner Would Choose to Stay in Prison When Given the Opportunity to Escape Freely

With this Knowledge, the Jailer Saw Only One Option

“I Have to Kill Myself”

Whey His Superiors Find Out that All of the Prisoners Escaped Under His Watch…

He Will Likely Be Shamed and Severely Punished

Whether it Meant Serving His Own Prison Sentence…

Or Being Beaten and Humiliated…

Or Being Executed…

He Saw Suicide as the Better and More Noble Choice

As He Unsheathes His Sword, Preparing Do Something He Won’t Be Able to Undo

He Hears a Voice

Acts 16:28 (NASB95)

But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”

Somehow, Paul Knew What the Jailer was About to Do

After Stopping Him From Ending His Own Life…

He Informs Him that None of the Prisoners Had Escaped

Not Because They Couldn’t, But Because They Didn’t

But Why?

Why Did the Prisoners Not Take the Opportunity to Escape?

We Aren’t Told Why They Stayed

But I Think It’s Interesting to Notice that We Only Know 2 Things About These Prisoners

1.) They Didn’t Escape Prison When They Had the Chance

2.) They Listened to Paul and Silas Praying to and Praising Their God

Something that Night Led to These Prisoners Choosing to Remain Locked Up Rather Than Being Free

Can the Gospel Impact a Person to the Extent that They Willingly Choose Slavery Over Freedom?

We are Living Proof of that, are We Not?

That is the Choice All Christians Make

Acts 16:29–30 (NASB95)

And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Can You Imagine the Relief this Man Must Have Felt?

This Superior Ran in to Paul and Silas and Took the Position of an Inferior

And Then He Asked that Famous Question, “What Must I Do to Be Saved?”

His Situation Has Just Radically Changed

He Went From Pursuing Suicide to Pursuing Salvation

What Do You Think He Meant By “Saved”?

Some Believe He was Asking What He Needed to Do to Be Saved in a Non-Religious Way

But it Doesn’t Seem Like He Needed Non-Religious Salvation

All of the Prisoners Were Accounted for

I Believe He was Asking for Something Much More

But How Did He, a Roman, Even Know Anything About Christian Salvation?

Well, For Several Days, There was a Loud-Mouthed Demon Following Paul and Silas Around, Saying…

“These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.”

But He Possibly Fallen Asleep to Paul and Silas’ Prayers and Songs of Praise

And He Had Just Witnessed an Earthquake that was Unbelievably Helpful to These 2 Servants of God

And Yet They Stayed Behind to Save Him From Taking His Own Life

Either, or Possibly a Combination of All of These Things…

Led This Roman Jailer to Want to Know More About the Salvation Their God Offered…

And What He Needed to Do to Receive it

Acts 16:31–32 (NASB95)

They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house.

In Order for He and His Household to Be Saved/Rescued…

They Needed to Believe in the Lord Jesus

The Word “Lord” Here is Very Significant

To the Romans, Caesar was Lord

But to Receive the Salvation of God, Jesus Must Be Your Lord

Only He is Master/King

Only He Can Have Your Total Allegiance

After Telling Him Where He Must Place His Belief, Faith, and Allegiance…

They Spoke the Message of Lord Jesus/the Gospel to the Jailer and His Household

Acts 16:33 (NASB95)

And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.

For All of My Christian Life I Have Viewed This Passage in a Very Narrow Way

This is a Very Important Passage to Those of Us in Churches of Christ

We Use it to Show the Importance and Immediacy of Baptism into Christ

But We Miss Something So Very Important When We Do That

Read the Verse Again

After Hearing the Good News About King Jesus:

“He Took Them”

He Took Them From the Prison to Some Water

“That Hour of the Night and Washed Their Wounds”

The Jailer was Doing Something Extraordinary Here

The Message of Jesus was Already Radically Changing Him

He was Changing From Harsh Oppressor to Gentle Healer

Only After Hearing the Message of Jesus Do We See the Jailer’s Eyes Opened…

To the Pain and Suffering of Those Around Him

Can the Gospel Impact a Person to the Extent that They Willingly Choose to Serve Those Beneath Themselves?

Again, We are Living Proof, are We Not

That is the Choice Every Christian is to Make

Once the Jailer had Washed the Wounds of Paul and Silas…

They Baptized Him and His Entire Household

The 4th Century Preacher, John Chrysostom, Said it Like This:

“He washed and was washed, he washed them from their stripes, and was himself washed from his sins”

This Isn’t Just a Verse About the Importance of Baptism

This is Proof of How the Gospel Can Radically Change People

And the Radical Change Doesn’t Stop There

Acts 16:34 (NASB95)

And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.

Not Only Did the Jailer Wash the Wounds of the Prisoners

He Then Brought Them into His Own House and Fed Them at His Own Table

They Were No Longer His Prisoners, They Were His Brothers

Only the Gospel of Jesus Can Bring About that Kind of Radical Change

Just Moments Earlier, This Man Had Wrongfully Imprisoned Paul and Silas

But Now He is Showing Them Hospitality as Brothers in His Own Home

Just Moments Earlier, This Man was About to Commit Suicide

But Now He is Rejoicing in His Newfound Faith in and Salvation From the One True God

Only the Gospel of Jesus Can Bring About that Kind of Radical Change

A Miracle Happened that Night

An Earthquake that Opened Every Prison Door and Unlocked Every Shackle

But it Wasn’t to Release Paul and Silas From Prison

It was to Release This Philippian Jailer From His Sins

Paul Would Go On to Write a Letter to the Philippian Church

He Would Begin that Letter By Saying This:

Philippians 1:3 (NASB95)

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,

No Doubt, the Philippian Jailer was Included in that Remembrance

And the Night that He Experienced Radical Change By the Gospel of King Jesus