If you would, turn with me to
Acts chapter 16. You know this story well, the
story of the Philippian jailer. Paul and Silas were thrown into
prison for preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder
if you and I would be willing to go to prison for the gospel
that we believe. I would like to think that we
would. And before us in these verses, we have the story of
a man who, as I said, was a jailer, a prison guard in the city of
Philippi, a man whom God saved. There are many lessons, I believe,
that we can learn from this man and his story. And I'll begin
by first asking, what sort of man was this jailer? By his first
birth and by his nature, he's just like you and me. He was
full of iniquity, full of sin, was far from God and dead in
sin. That's all of us by nature. Now in verse 23 here of Acts
chapter 16, we see that this jailer first was a man who had
great respect for authority. Verse 23, and when they had laid
many stripes upon them, speaking of Paul and Silas, they cast
them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely, who
having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison
and made their feet fast in the stocks. Now that word thrust
there insinuates that this jailer put Paul and Silas in prison
with some force. He took his job very seriously. How many times in the movies
have we seen men who are thrown into prison cry and weep in terror
when they're first locked away? I've seen many movies where the
man goes into prison and the first night he just cries and
weeps, scared. I probably would too. But that
wasn't the case with Paul and Silas. Notice in verse 25, here
we see, and at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises
unto God. And the prisoners heard them.
Paul and Silas prayed and they sang praises unto God because
they knew that it was God who put them there. You see, the
child of God knows that God is behind everything that comes
our way. They knew that this was God's
will, and this was God's purpose for them. When good things happen
to us, we don't have any problem believing that God's behind those
things. But how about when hard and difficult
things come our way? Do we sing praises unto the Lord
then? We should, we should, because
He's behind them all. The prisoners heard Paul and
Silas pray. They heard them sing praises
unto their God, but the jailer didn't. You see, the jailer had
already gone to bed. But then look what happens next,
verse 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 bands were
loosed. Now, let me ask you a question. Was this an act of chance or
an act of luck? Every timber and every stone
in that prison began to tremble. And it was God that sent this
earthquake. When we read about earthquakes
in faraway places or even in our country, and we hear their
devastation, our minds should immediately go to the fact that
God sent that earthquake. He sent it on purpose. And he
sent it for a reason. God is the first cause of everything. Now, in times past, in underwriting
insurance, the insurance company would make stipulations in a
policy for an act of God. They spoke of any event that
occurred outside of human control. Well, that's pretty much everything.
We don't have control over anything, do we? But our God controls everything. Things like earthquakes and severe
weather and floods, and most insurance policies today don't
attribute such things to an act of God at all. They attribute
them to an act of nature. Such things in our day are accredited
to, as I have often said, three ladies of chance, misfortune,
lady luck, and mother nature. But here in Acts chapter 16,
it was God that sent this earthquake. The prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah
chapter 29, verse six, thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts
with thunder and with earthquake and great noise with storm and
tempest and the flame of devouring fire. When God utters his voice,
there's a multitude of waters in the heavens and he causes
the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth and he makes
lightnings and he brings forth the wind of his treasuries. Jeremiah
10, 13. God is in control of everything. But this is the amazing thing
about this earthquake here. God sent this earthquake as a
means to save one of His elect. Isn't that amazing? Verse 27,
and the keeper of the prison, awakening out of his sleep and
seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword and would
have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
Now this Philippian jailer awoke out of his sleep. He doesn't
seem to have any fear for himself or his family, but he immediately
rushes from his quarters to check on the prison and the prisoners.
Seeing the prison doors open, he's greatly disturbed and alarmed,
and he is bound by an oath to keep his prisoners safe. But
he now fears that they have fled. Knowing this would bring about
certain death for himself from his opposing authority over him,
he decides to kill himself. After all, what prisoner would
stay if the cell doors had been opened? What prisoner would remain
bound if their iron bands had been broken? Well, the answer
is simple, really. Those whom the Lord keeps. Every
prisoner was kept by the Lord and they were kept of the Lord
as a token of mercy and grace to this man, the jailer. This
day, this man would not die. This day, this man would be forever
saved. And it was all according to the
will and purpose of God. It always is. We can learn several
things concerning our own salvation from the Philippian jailer. First,
as we just mentioned, this man experienced and he witnessed
the miracle working power of God. Before a sinner can confess
Christ and trust in his finished work as the only means of salvation,
God reveals to them something of his sovereignty. It's not
always by an earthquake in the earth. Many times it's by an
earthquake in the heart. It shakes a sinner. It wakes
them up to a sovereign God who has mercy on whom He'll have
mercy. All my life I was told about
a God who wanted to save everybody. A Christ who died for everyone.
Who needed for me to lend Him my will in order to be saved. But when God saved me, He showed
me that our God's on the throne and He works all things according
to His will and purpose. that He is in control of everything
and everyone, and He has mercy on whom He'll have mercy. And
immediately I saw, as I heard the gospel preached, that God
has a right to do what He will with His own. All souls belong
to Him. He can do what he wills with
his own. Only a sovereign God could cause
these prisoners to remain in their cells as if they were still
bound. And when a sinner is faced with
the sovereign power of God, they'll do one of two things. They'll
run from the sovereign God, or they'll run to him. This man,
by the mercy and grace of God, ran to him. The Lord, by his
sovereign power and grace, is bringing this man to himself. This man is being drawn by the
sovereign cords of love, mercy, and grace. That's how God saves
sinners. He gives them life. He draws
them to Himself. Those who would not come, God
makes willing to come. When does He make them willing?
In the day of His sovereign power. Is that not your story, child
of God? God crosses this man's path with
a gospel preacher. Dear believer, is that not what
God did for you? Oh, what a miracle of grace and
power that was shown to me the day that God crossed my path
and sent me a preacher who told me what Paul told this man. Look
at verse 28. But Paul cried with a loud voice
saying, do thyself no harm, for we are all here. And you know,
all God's people are in the same place. Sin caused us to harm
ourselves. And God put away the sin that
so easily besets and harms us. And secondly, we see that this
man was deeply stirred. Why, to the point of despair
and even suicide, had God not intervened? I remember the deep
despair I was in. Had no hope without God in this
world. God brings every chosen and called
sinner to the same place. And you know where that is? That's
to the end of themselves. God is going to bring every blood-bought
sinner to the end of themselves where they see they can do nothing
in and of themselves to be saved. God wounds before He heals. God
brings down before He lifts up. God kills before He makes alive. God shows us our helplessness
and God shows us our hopelessness before giving us His help and
hope in Christ. God showed this man that the
earthquake, the cell doors being open, the chains being broken,
the prisoners being stayed, He showed him that it was all the
doing of deity. Has God shown you that? Anytime
God gives us a glimpse of His deity, we immediately see something
of our own great shortcomings and sin. This man had been obedient
to an earthly king, but not to the heavenly one. And this man
had been faithful to an earthly Lord, but not to the Lord of
Lord. And it was for this reason that
he cried for illumination. And that brings me to the third
thing. This man felt the need of illumination. Look at verse
29. Then he called for a light. In order to be saved, men and
women must see things in the light of truth. Jesus Christ
is the light, and he is the life of men. The sinner God saves
will desire to be illuminated, and if the sinner is made to
desire it, you can be assured that they'll have it. If you
want to be saved, you can be. God has never turned down a seeking
sinner. Not one time, can't find it in
this book. Let him that heareth come, and
let him that is a thirst come, and whosoever will, you know,
that's not a bad word. Whosoever, not a bad word at
all. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. Who takes this water freely?
Whosoever will. That's what God says. Whosoever
God wills is whosoever wills. Our Lord said this. He said,
if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. Well, I thought
it was only for the elect. If any man thirst. And you'll
find that if you thirst, and if you come and drink, that you
were one of God's elect before the foundation of the world.
Who can drink freely? Any man that's thirsty. Any man
or woman that wants to drink can drink freely from the well
of living water, which is Christ Jesus, our Lord. Fourth, notice
that this man had no self complacency. In verse 29, we see him come
trembling. We see him come believing. He
came in humiliation. He was humbled under the mighty
hand of God and God exalted him. Any and all who humble themselves
under the mighty hand of God, God exalts in due time. He didn't
tremble because of the earthquake. He didn't tremble for fear of
another earthquake. He trembled because of his dreadful
sense of sin. He saw God high and lifted up
on his throne. Why a God who could simply send
an earthquake and open sail doors and knock the chains off men's
feet has to be the God of the Bible. Oh, he trembled at the
lost estate of his soul. He trembled at the law of God
that he had broken. He trembled at the holy justice
of God that he had offended. He trembled at the wrath of God
that he deserved. Oh, it's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. Fifth, the Philippian jailer
took his proper place before God in the dust, and he fell
before Paul and Silas. What an example and an illustration
he is to God's people whom God saves. That's where every blood-bought
sinner is found, at the feet of their master. And no sinner
will perish there, not a one. That's the place that help is
found. At His feet. That's the place
that mercy is given. At His feet. Where do we find
that woman of the city who was a great sinner? We find her at
the feet of Christ, washing them with her tears, wiping them with
her hair, and anointing His feet with ointment. We dare not stand
at Moses' feet. We dare not kneel at the feet
of the law. There's no mercy or forgiveness
there. We bow at the feet of Christ
where mercy is always found. Judas betrayed our Lord with
a kiss on his cheek. This woman was saved by kissing
his feet. We've got to come down. We've
got to come down. Where was that possessed man
of Gadara when the Lord cast out those legion of devils? He
was sitting at the feet of Jesus. Where was Jairus? He fell down
at the feet of the Lord Jesus. The woman with the issue of blood,
she said, if I could but touch the hem of his garment, I'll
be made whole. Where's the hem of a garment?
It's at the feet, isn't it? She fell at his feet. That's
where she came. Where did that leper find mercy? At the feet of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's also where this jailer
finds redemption. He bowed before Paul and Silas,
but he wasn't bowing to them. He was bowing to their God. Six,
did you notice that the jailer showed great respect and consideration
for God's servants? Verse 30 says, and he brought
them out. They'd been thrown into the inner
prison But he brought them out of that inner prison and he brought
them into his own house. He showed great kindness to Paul
and Silas. He washed their stripes, according
to verse 33. He fed them with meat from his
own table, in verse 34. The child of God loves the ones
who preaches the gospel to them. Well, they love all God's children
for that matter. And that's how we know that we've
passed from death to life, isn't it? By our love for the brethren,
by our love for those who not only preach, but believe the
same gospel that we do. And the seventh thing we see
concerning this man, he was given a deep concern for his soul. You know, that's God given. It comes in no other way. That's
not something we work up, is it? This man was given a deep
concern for his soul and he cried, sirs, what must I do to be saved? You know, there's only one thing
we can do in order to be saved, and that's to believe. Verse
31, and they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. and thou
shalt be saved, and thy house." And it was then that they preached
the gospel to him. You know, God gives us the message
that we are to believe, and God shows us the one in whom we are
to trust. That's what preaching does. It
points us to Christ. It shows us that we're saved
by grace through faith, that it's not of ourselves. It's a
gift of God, not by works, lest any man should boast. How can
one be saved if they don't know what salvation is? How can one
be saved if they don't know where salvation is found? Friends,
salvation is of the Lord. We say that all the time. Sometimes
I wonder if we really believe it. That's what Jonah said. Salvation's
of the Lord. Salvation is a work of God. Salvation is something God does
for us. It's not something we do for
God. It's not something that we cooperate with God on. Salvation's
of the Lord. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord. Psalm 3 verse 8. He that is our
God is the God of salvation. And unto God, the Lord, belong
the issues from death. That means life everlasting.
Paul told this man to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, there's a song I've
heard Shelly play it. I used to sing it years ago.
There's something about that name. And there really is. He
said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. When is a sinner saved? That's a good question. When
it pleases God. That's the answer scripture gives.
When it pleased God who separated me. God does the separating,
doesn't he? It's God who separates us and
makes us to differ. When is a sinner saved and given
life? When it pleased God to call them
by His grace. When it pleased God to reveal
His Son in them. That's when. When? When it pleased
God. For by grace are you saved. That's
talking about God's grace. Paul said, for we are His workmanship. Men today, they fashion a God
of their own imagination with their own hands, but he's not
our workmanship. We're his workmanship. Salvation
is the work of God. When was Abraham saved? When
God called him out. When God called him out of the
land of the earth, Chaldees. When was Zacchaeus saved? When
God called him down from that tree. When was Matthew saved? When God said, follow me. When
was Paul saved? When God knocked him off his
high horse on the way to Damascus. God's gonna take you down to
his feet. Philippians 1.6 says, being confident
of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you
will perform it, will finish it until the day of Jesus Christ. Who's going to finish this work
in the believer? The same one that started it.
God started this work and God's gonna finish it. and the work
is finished. Salvation is not made possible. Salvation is made certain by
divine intervention. Earthquake came. The prison was
shaken. The door sails opened. The chains
fell off. That sounds like salvations of
the Lord to me. Secondly, salvation is for the
lost. The Lord said, Zacchaeus, this
day salvation's come to this house. For as much as you are
a son of Abraham, for the son of man has come to seek and to
save that which is lost. Are you lost? Zacchaeus was a
publican. He was a tax collector. He was
considered a traitor. They always took more than what
was due. They were just legal thieves
for lack of a better term. And he was lost. When's a person
saved? When they become lost. You may
ask me, how can I know I'm saved? Well, let me ask you, have you
been lost? If you've never been lost, then
you've never been found. You can't come back from somewhere
that you've never been. You may ask, who is it that God
saves? Well, scripture says that Christ
came into the world to save sinners. May I ask you, are you a sinner? Christ voluntarily died to save
sinners. Christ laid down His life to
save sinners. Those that hated Him without
a cause. Those that had broken His holy
law. Those who shook their fist at His holy justice. That's who
Christ came to save. Sinners. Paul said, of whom I
am chief. Oh, I think about if Paul considered
himself the chief of sinners, what must I be? The publican
in the temple. You remember what he said? Well,
he didn't say much. He wouldn't even lift his eyes
into heaven, but his head was down as though as he was looking
to his heart, and he beat upon his chest as to say, Lord, this
heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things. Who
can know it? And then he said, Lord, be merciful
to me, the sinner. I'm the worst of the worst. And
you know what? That man went down to his house,
justified. Not the Pharisee that said, Lord,
I thank you. I'm not like other men. What
about that repentant thief? Got two thieves on a cross, one
on each side of the Lord Jesus. They both reviled him in the
beginning, but something happened to one. What happened to him? The Lord revealed himself to
him. Now he's hanging on a cross. He's nailed to a cross. He didn't
do anything that would merit his own salvation. God, in an
act of mercy and grace, revealed himself to that man. And he said
to the other unrepentant thief, don't you fear God. I believe
that's what happened to the Philippian jailer. He saw these things and
he began to fear God. That repentant thief said to
the unrepentant one, we're in the same condemnation, but we
are there justly. This is what we deserve. We deserve
what we're getting. But this man, speaking of Christ,
has done nothing amiss. You know what he did, Shelley?
He took sides with God against himself. That's what we have
to do. We have to take sides with God
against ourselves. Do you see that you justly deserve
God's judgment? If you do, then God's mercy is
available to you. Because Christ came to the world
to save sinners. Salvation is to be in the Kingdom
of Christ. Christ is the King of His Kingdom. Is Christ your King? Are you
in His Kingdom? That repentant thief said, Lord,
remember me, the sinner that I am. Remember me when you come
into your kingdom. And what did the Lord say? Today,
you shall be with me in paradise. I know His kingdom is a paradise.
The Lord said, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom
were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should
not be delivered unto the Jews. But now is my kingdom, not from
hence. Christ's kingdom is not an earthly
kingdom. Christ's kingdom is not of this
world, friends. His kingdom is in the world to
come. Christ is the King and the Lord of His kingdom, and
His subjects worship and obey Him. Salvation is to have peace
and rest and contentment. I'm trying to show you what salvation
is. Salvation is to have peace and
to have rest and to have contentment. That's something this world knows
nothing about. That's something that many believers
know little about. May God be pleased to give us
peace, give us rest, and give us contentment. Being justified
by faith, we have peace with God. This peace is through the
Lord Jesus Christ. Without Christ, we'll never experience
this peace. Why? Our Lord Himself said, come
unto Me and I'll give you what? Rest. There's no rest apart from
coming to Christ. None. We must cease from our
works and enter into rest. That's the only way we can. A
man that is trying and working and doing all he can to be safe
will never ever rest. Never. For he that has entered
into his rest, he has also ceased from his own works as God did
from his. We rest only when the work is
finished. Then rest, rest. You know why? Because the work is finished.
It really is. Peace, rest, and contentment
is in Christ alone, and you'll find it nowhere else. Nowhere
else. Fifthly, salvation is being perfectly
conformed to the image of Christ. Isn't that a wonderful thought?
When I see Him, I'll see Him as He is, and hey, dear, I'll
be just like Him. Now, that boggles our minds because
we see what we are in and of ourselves, and those around us
see it. But when we see Him, Those that
love Him and trust Him and rest in Him will be just like Him.
I hear preachers say, Believe! Believe! Believe! And they never
tell sinners what to believe or who to believe. It's not just to believe that
there's one God. The devils believe that in truth.
You ask someone, how do you know you're saved? Well, I believe
that Christ lived on earth and He died on a cross and He was
buried in a tomb and He rose from the grave. There's a lot
of people that believe that. Salvation is to know how Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures. The Old Testament
Scriptures, the writing of Moses and the prophets declare how
that Christ healed would be bruised in order to put away sin. He
must suffer to put away sin. How did Christ die? He suffered.
He suffered the wrath and the judgment of God that you and
I should have suffered. He died. He was stricken. He
was cut off in a judicial way for sins, not His own. He knew
no sin, but for the sins of His people. He was made to be sin
for you, that you might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
And that's what conforms you to His image. He died to procure
pardon for those that God gave Him. He died to put away the
sins of His elect. He died to make an end of those
sins. He died the just for the unjust, to put their sin away. Christ died according to the
Scriptures that He might accomplish and finish what all the Old Testament
sacrifices typified and pictured as we saw in the first time.
and that he, Christ, was buried and that he rose again the third
day according to the scriptures that he might be seen of all.
What's the significance of our Lord's resurrection? What's the
significance of him being seen after he died? Well, his resurrection
proves that God has accepted his sacrifice, his offering,
and his work of redemption. God has accepted Christ's finished
work. That's why death and the grave
could not hold Him. And let me give you some good
news. It can't hold you either that are in Him. One day, this
corruptible is going to put on incorruption, and this mortal
is going to put on immortality. And what are we going to say?
We're going to say, death, where is your sting? Grave, where is
your victory? Romans 8, 29, you know it well. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called. Them he also drew,
like he did this jailer. And whom he called, them he also
justified, just like he did this man. and whom He justified, then
He also glorified. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, all who believe, how shall He
not with Him also freely give us all things? That's good news. That's the gospel. Salvation
is not to believe on Jesus. You know, there are many who
have that name. Salvation is to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is to believe on Him. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Jesus Christ is Lord. He's not
a Lord. He's not some Lord, but He's
the Lord. There's only one Lord. Christ
said, you call me Lord. You say, well, for as I am, that
if thou shall confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus, and shall
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shall be saved. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore
the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall
conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. Behold,
a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son,
and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted
is God with us. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. There's something about that
name. John said, these things have I written unto you, that
you believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know
that you have eternal life. What is it to believe on the
name of the Son of God? It's to believe that Jesus is
the Lord. It's to believe that the Lord
Jesus is the Christ. Christ is not His name. Christ
is His office. Our Lord asks, what think ye
of Christ? Whose Son is He? And they said,
oh, He's the seed of woman. He's the seed of Abraham. He's
the root of Jesse. He's the Lion of the tribe of
Judah. He's the Son of David. Right. But He's also David's
Lord. He's the Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Jesus Christ is the Redeemer.
The Lord Jesus is the Christ. He's the way, the truth, and
the life, and no man cometh to the Father but by Him. Do these
things excite your soul? Oh, they do my heart. And it's
only because God has revealed the Lord Jesus Christ to me and
He's affectionately calls me to desire Him more than anything
else. Not my doing, not my doing. The angels of God announced His
birth this way, unto you is born this day in the city of David,
a Savior who is Christ the Lord. The angels announced His resurrection.
They said, He's not here. He's risen. They said, this same
Jesus who is Lord, this same Jesus who is the Christ, this
same Jesus will come again. Moses didn't make himself a prophet. Aaron didn't make himself high
priest. David didn't make himself king. Jesus Christ is prophet,
priest, and king, and it was God who made Himself. You and
I bow to it. You and I say amen, so be it. It's so. Is this the Lord Jesus
whom you believe? Is this the Christ, the Messiah
that you trust? Now this is how a sinner believes.
Look at verse 32. I'm almost finished. And they,
speaking of Paul and Silas, spake unto him the word of the Lord
and to all that were in his house. They preached to him. That's
what preaching is. It's speaking the word of the
Lord. God uses the means of preaching
to save them that believe. That's the way God ordained it.
That's just the way it is. And what was the result of Paul
and Silas' preaching? Verse 34, and they rejoiced,
believing in God with all his house. You know, I was thinking
yesterday as I looked over this, how wonderful it is that God
saved us. And it is wonderful. Didn't have
to. Could have left us to ourselves.
But how wonderful would it be if God saved all in our house? That's one of the greatest desires
and prayers in my heart, that God would save my children that
God will save my love. Well, I know it's the same with
many of you. To those who think their case
to be helpless and hopeless, I want you to think about this.
In the matter of a very short time, I don't know, maybe an
hour, maybe two hours, maybe a few hours at most, but in a
very short time, this Philippian jailer, who was without God and
without hope in this world, he was spared from death. He heard
from God. He believed what God said. He
was baptized. He served God's service. He rejoiced
and fellowshiped in the Lord. And God saved everyone in his
house, just within a matter of a short time. Oh, our God is
able to do exceeding and abundantly above all that we could think
or ask. Is that not right? The God of
this Bible came. Now, the little pygmy Jesus of
this world can't, but our God can. I say, what a God. I say, what a Savior. And I say,
what a Gospel. May God enable you to believe
this Gospel. It's the only Gospel there is.
Just one Gospel. Just as there's only one Savior,
one God, one Spirit, one mediator between God and man, the man
Christ Jesus. May God enable you to believe
this Gospel. Bow to this God. and trust in
this cry. Amen.