I please Almighty God to bless
us together as we conclude our meditation, the 16th chapter
of the Acts of the Apostles, and the commencing of verse 25.
You will remember that we finished
last week with the situation that Paul and Silas had been
taken captive for preaching the Gospel, and they'd been beaten
very savagely with stripes upon them and they'd been thrust into
prison and their feet made fast in the stocks. So here we have
this time and here it is as we begin this 25th verse we realise
it's night time, it's midnight, it's darkness and you're here
in this prison house is to be a time of wonderful blessing
and wonderful favour. A time which would indeed so
change, no doubt, the apostles' thoughts of the situation as
to why they were here in this prison, having heard of the command
of God to go into Macedonia, go to Philippi, and they'd been
blessed with that conversion of Lydia and her household. And
now that in Dyrdal is opposition, and so we find them here in prison. And we read, and at midnight,
Paul and Silas prayed. Well, we can understand that.
I'm sure in a situation we would, I hope, pray under those most
adverse conditions, praying that we might be perhaps freed from
the prison. that our wounds might be healed and perhaps that the
jailers and those who had beaten us might indeed be converted
and be blessed. So we can understand perhaps
the concern and the grace of God coming upon Paul and Silas
to do these things. But then we read that which is
really quite amazing. and sing praises unto God in
their afflicted condition, to think that the Spirit of God
so moved them to sing praises unto God. No doubt they would
have been able to remember the blessing which they received
when Lydia and her household had been converted, but now it
seems so very different and so very dark And yet here we see
the Apostles singing, born of Sinai, singing phrases unto their
God. Praises unto God, and it's a
wonderful testimony, and it's a wonderful example for us today
to think that when we might face adversity and difficult conditions,
to be found in that great and glorious attitude of singing
praises to our God. It's a wonderful sign of the
grace of God, isn't it? And so, was it a benefit? Well, We don't really know, but
what we do know is this, the prisoners heard them. We don't
know how many prisoners there were in the prison, but we are
told the prisoners heard them. So it wasn't just singing praises
to God for their own benefit, no doubt it was, but also the
prisoners were able to hear them. And so they didn't know what
benefit this would be. And we don't know in our lives
what benefit we shall be in a dark age, in a dark place, perhaps
in a prison house, perhaps in captivity, to remember that maybe
those who may be listening and those who may hear, and those
who may be blessed in their souls." Well, we then come to this statement,
and suddenly, order being peace, no doubt, midnight, middle of
the night, suddenly, there was a great earthquake. It doesn't
say it was a little earthquake, not a little tremble, but a great
earthquake. So that the foundation of the
prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors
were opened, and everyone's bands were loose. Well, we can imagine,
can't we, an earthquake producing such an effect to shake the foundations
of a building. But it's more difficult to understand
all the doors being flung open, and it's more difficult still
to realise that the power of God loosed the bands of the prisoners. You can't think it was just the
earthquake. It was no doubt the power of
God that loosed the prisoners' bands. And so we see then, we
begin to see now, God's gracious and glorious work. God does work. He works in unthought of ways. Paul and Silas, I'm sure we never
thought there would have been an earthquake that God would
use to deliver them, to free them, and to grant great blessings. And so we see here there was
this situation then. What was the result? Remember
it was night time and they were all apparently supposed to be
sleeping. We know the Jailer was, and therefore
there's probably little or no light. And we read, and the keeper
of the prison, awaking out of his sleep, said, seeing the prison
doors open, he drew out his sword. and would have killed himself
supposing that the prisoners had been fled. Well, he was the
keeper. He was the prison keeper. His
duty was to keep the prisoners. It wasn't to let them go. And
he'd woken up and he'd seen the prison doors open. And his obvious
conclusion was that the prisoners had escaped. And he knew, of
course, that if that had been so, then what would be the result? No doubt he would be put to death.
for not keeping his charge. And so, therefore, rather than
face an inquiry, he decided to kill himself. Well, we see the
great work of God. Here, as it were, in the 11th
hour, this man preparing to destroy himself. And if he'd done so,
we know he would have been a murderer and would have gone to hell.
But Paul cries out with a loud voice. And often in the Word
of God we do hear the saints and the preachers crying out
with a loud voice. It's not a whisper. There's something
to be heard. There's a message to be understood. And so he says,
Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. They were all here
still. They hadn't tried to escape,
none of the prisoners. And so then he called for a light. It was dark, he couldn't see.
He called for a light and sprang in. He sprang in to the middle
of the prison where Paul and Silas were. And he came trembling
and fell down before Paul and Silas. Surely this was the blessed
work of the Holy Spirit of God, causing this man to come in and
to tremble. Now whether he'd heard the preaching
of the Gospel before, we don't know. He may have done, but the
truth is we don't know. But anyway, he came in and he
was trembling as he came and fell down before Paul and Silas. And then he brought them out,
out of the prison, and then he asked them a question, a vital
question, a most important question, a question that all of us need
to have asked or do ask And what is that? Says, what must I do
to be saved? Saved from his sins, saved from
eternal wrath, delivered from that which is due to him. He
prays and he cries out, what must I do to be saved? And what does the apostle say
to him? Very simply, very simple words. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved and thy house. Now, we know that that
was not the only words that the Apostle spoke, but it was most
important words, because it is essential that everyone who is
saved by the grace of God believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that
He is that One who has come into the world to save sinners, that
One who has come into the world to save us. And it comes to this
to save me. It's a very personal situation
that we're blessed with and that we may come to this to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. To not believe about the Lord
Jesus Christ. Many people may believe about
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a figure in history. Many
people would acknowledge it and would believe there was such
a person. But this is very different. They are told to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, on what He had done, on what He has said,
on His promises. So that's the great issue for
you and me today. to be blessed with this wondrous
grace, and it is a grace indeed, and it is that which we so much
need to be found amongst those who have believed on the Lord
Jesus Christ, because the promise is, if that is so, and thou shalt
be saved. Well, how true it was, how true
it will be. we shall be saved and he says
and thy house well of course that refers to those who did
believe those who heard what the apostle was to speak and
they spake unto them unto him the word of the lord and to all
that were in his house we don't know how long he spoke for but
very clearly he declared to them the great truths of the Gospel,
those things that the Apostle had experienced, the wonderful
work of God in his soul, the wonderful revelation that he
received from God himself, the wonderful things that he'd been
led to understand of the truth of the Gospel, and he's therefore
able to come and to speak these words and speak unto him the
word of the Lord and to all that were in his house. Now, were
these words in vain? No, this was a blessed time. This was a favoured day. This
was a glorious night. This was a time when the Spirit's
work was to be so wonderfully displayed. And so we read, and
the Jada took them the same hour of the night and washed their
stripes and was baptised. He anointed straightway. Now
the effect of the gospel was, he desired to do good, good works. There he'd been beating them,
and now what a change. What a change! And the Gospel
does make a great change in our lives. He passed from darkness
to light, from death to life. And therefore the Apostle had
declared unto him the truth of God, declared unto him the way
of God, and had clearly told him about the need to be baptised. So the immediate response was
that he was baptised. and all in his house, and was
baptised, he and all in his house, straightway. There wasn't any
delay. There wasn't any need for any
delay, because he had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. The
word of God had been opened, his understanding, his spiritual
eyes had been opened, and he realised that which the apostle
had spoken, given the example, no doubt, of the Saviour who
was baptised in Jordan. And therefore, again, perhaps
spoken of that wonderful day at Pentecost, when those 3,000
were born again in the Spirit and were baptised. And so here
we see the wonderful act, this wonderful occasion, when this
jailer was so gloriously blessed, moved by the Holy Spirit of God,
So that not only did he wash the wounds, but he was baptized
his and all his straight way. Well, we can imagine, can we
not, such a scene at night time. We're not sure where it was,
whether it was a pond or such in the prison, or whether it
was a nearby river, we're not told. But we do know that he
was baptized straight way. And when he had brought them
into his house, out of prison, he brought them into his house,
and he set meat before them and rejoiced, believing in God with
all his house. And so when the work of God comes
into our hearts, what is that? It's a time of rejoicing, a time
to bless God because we have the evidence that He has been
mindful of us, He's touched our heart, He's brought us to know
what it is to confess our sins and to call upon His name and
to follow Him and to be baptised. And so we see this wonderful
evidence here and this joy that it brought into the jailer and
his household's heart And my friends, it's the answer of a
good conscience, isn't it? To be a true follower of our
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And so we see here these blessed
people joining together and rejoicing and believing in God with all
their house. What a night it was. What a night
of blessing. It didn't start off very well,
did it? but he ended up in a glorious time of amazing blessing. And so, when it was day, the
magistrate sent the sergeant saying, let these men go. And the keeper of the prison
told this saying to Paul, so he hadn't wandered away, he hadn't
said, well, let's get going, let's escape, no. He stayed where
he was, he was in the hand of God. And so the magistrate sent
to let you go. Now therefore depart in going
in peace. But Paul said unto them, They
have beaten us openly, uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us
into prison. And now do they thrust us out
privily? Nay, verily, but let them come
themselves and fetch us out. Now there was good reason for
this, because if they came themselves and fetched them out, they would
have seen what had happened. They would have observed, no
doubt, the wonderful deliverance. The prison foundation has been
shoken and the gates open. They wouldn't have been able
to deny it was the work of Almighty God. And the sergeants told these
words unto the magistrates. And they feared when they heard
that they were Romans. And they came and besought them
and brought them out and delivered them to depart out of the city. There's no more condemnation.
They did come. They did bring them out. They
did deliver them. And they urged them, desired
them to depart out of the city. Well, what did these men do?
They returned to the house of Lydia. That was a welcome place. That was a place where they could
rest. That was a place of acceptance. And they entered into the house
of Lydia. And when they had seen the brethren, they comforted
them and departed. I'm sure we can thank God for
such an account, an amazing account. And surely it should strengthen
our faith to know and to believe that we today worship that same
almighty God. And we can say, with men, things
which are impossible, they are possible with God. And the result,
his honour and his glory. Amen.