Acts 16:25-34

                                                                       Acts 16:25-34

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 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. 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. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And 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 and to all who were in his house. 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. 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.

It is always an amazing thing to see how God works to bring people into His family through salvation.  This passage gives us the testimony of how this happened in a family at Philippi.  We don’t know what happens to this family after this conversion, but I suspect they were key members and perhaps even leaders in the church that God was planting in this city.  Perhaps this night in prison, though not part of Paul’s strategy, was exactly what God wanted to us to plant this church.  I would like to focus on what the passages reveals about God in His dealings with men.

 

PAUL AND SILAS EXPRESS THE PEACE OF GOD: The day started with Paul and Silas looking to evangelize and disciple near the place of prayer in Philippi.  This typical day of ministry took a turn to the unusual with the expulsion of the demon from the servant girl and the false accusations and attack of the mob that followed.  By the end of the day, Paul and Silas had been flogged and placed in stocks in Roman prison.  We would expect these missionaries to cry out to God for relief from suffering and for answers to the questions about why they were suffering.  Instead, Paul and Silas are singing and prying in a way that all the prisoners hear.  They are demonstrating that the peace of God has filled their hearts and minds.  This peace does not depend on circumstances.  No matter how difficult our situation seems, God’s Spirit is equipping us to have peace and to worship the Lord.

 

THE PRISON EXERIENCES THE POWER OF GOD: The power of God was on display in that prison in Philippi.  Only by God’s transforming power could two men who had been severely beaten and imprisoned be heard praying and singing throughout the night.  When an earthquake shakes the building and the doors open and stocks are broken, the power of God is unmistakably on display.  It is a comfort to know that in any circumstance of life, the power of God is available to us and He is able to provide relief according to His sovereign will.  We can serve Him with confidence in any circumstance and in the face of any threats because the God who shakes buildings and shapes hearts is always with us.

 

PAUL AND SILAS EXPLAIN THE GRACE OF GOD: The grace of God is an astounding blessing.  None of us are worthy of this blessing or it wouldn’t be grace.  The prison guard assumed the prisoners had all escaped when he saw the doors open.  He was about to take his own life to avoid the humiliation and execution that was sure to be the consequence of the prisoners escaping on his watch.  Paul prevents him from taking his life and the man instantly realizes that he has been in the presence of men who know God.  He instantly knows he is not worthy of a relationship with this God and so he asks Paul and Silas how he can get what they have.  Paul and Silas explain the Gospel and the man is saved because of God’s grace.  Suffering in the life of a believer is simply an opportunity to demonstrate the peace and power of God as a means of attracting those who desperately need what we have.  When the testimony of our lives causes others to ask us how they can be saved, it is a demonstration of God’s grace in us.

 

THE PRISON GUARD EXPRESSES THE LOVE OF GOD: The prison guard who was on the brink of suicide trusts Christ and then takes Paul and Silas home with him in the middle of the night to share with his family, prepare a meal for, and clean the wounds of the missionaries who were in his charge as prisoners and were now his brothers in Christ.  It is an amazing testimony of what the love of Christ does when He enters our hearts and changes everything about us.  When we become believers, we join a family of people from all nations, ethnicities, economic status, educational backgrounds, and political affiliations.  None of those differences matter.  We are brothers and sisters in Christ and love one another.  How we might have offended one another in the past is forgiven in the light of the cross and all we have been forgiven.  God calls us to love in this way.

 

APPLICATION: Know that the peace of God is available to us not matter how dire our circumstances might be.  Trust that the power of God can deliver us from any problem.  Rejoice that the grace of God is able to set sinners free.  Practice the love of God with our brothers and sisters in Christ no matter who they are or what they have done in the past.  Peace, love, and forgiveness must be the marks of our lives.