If you would, please turn to
Acts chapter 16. Acts chapter 16. I want to read verse 30, but before
I do that, I've got something here from John Newton that I
want to read. This was written in 1775. I don't
give these things to you because I look at these men to understand
God's scripture. This is what we have to go by.
This is the rule book. But we're not the only ones that
believe certain truths from this scripture. This is John Newton writing to
a man who didn't necessarily agree with him, at least to begin
with, didn't agree with everything he was talking to him about. I am far from supposing that
God will guide every sincere person exactly to adopt all my
sentiments. But there are some sentiments
which I believe essential to the very state and character
of a true Christian. And these make him a Christian,
not merely by being his acknowledged sentiments, but by a certain
peculiar manner in which he possesses them. There is a certain important
change takes place in the heart by the operation of the Spirit
of God before the soundest and most orthodox sentiments can
have their proper influence upon us. It is sometimes called a
new birth, sometimes a new creature or new creation, sometimes the
causing light to shine out of darkness, sometimes the opening
the eyes of the blind, sometimes the raising the dead to life.
Till a person has experienced this change, he will be at a
loss to form a right conception of it. But it means not being
proselyted to an opinion, but receiving a principle of divine
life and light in the soul. Until this is received, the things
of God, the truths of the gospel, cannot be rightly discerned or
understood. By the utmost powers of fallen
man, who with all his wisdom, reason, and talents is still,
but what the apostle calls the natural man, till the power of
God visits his heart. 1 Corinthians 2.14. This work
is sometimes wrought suddenly as in the case of Lydia, Acts
16.14. at other times very gradually. A person who before was a stranger
even to the form of godliness, or at best content with a mere
form, finds new thoughts arising in his mind, feels some concern
about his sins, some desire to please God, some suspicions that
all is not right. He examines his views of religion,
hopes the best of them, and yet cannot rest satisfied in them.
Today, perhaps he thinks himself fixed. Tomorrow, he will be all
uncertainty. That I agree with in this book. What I'm going to go through
today does not necessarily specifically speak to this, but it does include
the things that he was talking about. Acts 16 in verse 30. And brought them out and said,
sirs, what must I do to be saved? I don't expect anybody to answer
this out loud anyway, but has anyone ever been arrested by
the police? I've never been arrested by the
police. But I think I have an idea about what happens. The
first thing that has to happen is you have to be suspected of
doing something wrong or have a warrant for your arrest or
something to that effect. And then the officer with that
warrant or who suspects you of doing something must apprehend
you. When this happens, generally you're bound in some way, usually
with handcuffs, then you're taken in. As a child of God, there
will be a time when you will be arrested by God. He has not
only the indictment against you, but the sentence against you
is already leveled. His law has already condemned
you to death and found you guilty of nonconformance to his law.
Your disobedience, your capital crime against God has made it
necessary that someone must be put to death. You will have time
to think about this because God will bind you and lock you up.
There is no question that we are guilty before God. He is
the lawgiver and the judge. He is the attorney who prosecutes
you and the executioner. We have not kept the law of God,
it is evident, the scripture says. Galatians 3.11 reads, but
that no man is justified by the law and the sight of God, it
is evident. For the just shall live by faith.
Not only that, but we are guilty of not loving his son, bowing
down to his son, not glorifying his son as God. It is our very
sins that have put his son in the place of dying on a tree.
We, as we are born in Adam, are not seeking God. We are actually
hiding from God. Just as our daddy Adam did in
the garden, so do we. Isaiah 53, 3 says, he is despised
and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces
from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. We have here in our text, not
a type of believer, but we have an account of a believer being
brought to God. But with what we see happening
to this believer, we can glean some things that happen to all
believers, even though some of the circumstances may be different. In the account that we have here,
let's notice a few things. God's people, those who believe
him, will be put in certain places to be part of God bringing another
one of his into the fold. The one being brought in may
not treat these believers very well at first, but God will shake
up your world. You will see imminent death coming,
and light will come and bow you down into the dust, begging for
mercy. So first, God's people that believe
him will be put in certain places. Paul and Silas were beaten with
many stripes, These two men had to be in pain, and then they
were forcefully shoved into this prison. But not just the prison,
the inner prison. Some say this was the dungeon
in verses 23 and 24. And when they had laid many stripes
upon them, 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. This was, I'm sure, the darkest
part of the prison, the coldest, the wettest, the worst of everything
as far as the prison was concerned. But God put these men through
this, and there was at least one reason he did this. He had
a sinner he was going to bring to himself. And this was how
he was pleased to go about doing this. I complain when my Wi-Fi goes
down. I'm sure Paul and Silas did not
enjoy this beating and imprisonment. But they were still able to rejoice
in Christ as it says they prayed and sang praises unto God in
verse 25. And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises
unto God, and the prisoners heard them. I pray I am able to do
that even in circumstances I might think are not favorable for me.
Maybe, just maybe, God has one of his that he is bringing to
himself amidst my circumstances. Oh, but sometimes what God's
people have to go through, what we sometimes have to suffer,
may just be because God has purpose to bring about the salvation
of another sinner. I know in the midst of these
things, this is a hard thing to see. It's hard to understand.
But we must remember the pit from which we were digged. What
kind of headache, heartache, trouble did I cause people when
God was bringing me to himself? Even this man, this keeper of
the prison, did not treat Paul and Silas, at least to begin
with, with soft treatment. He threw them into the prison.
He also made their feet fast in the stocks or chains. In fact,
it's quite possible that it was him that put the stripes on their
back. These chosen ones of God, although they endured a great
many things, did not complain. At least we're not given any
details about them complaining. What did they do? At midnight,
we've read it, in the midst of darkness, they prayed and sang
praises unto God. How often I have complained about
trivial things. I know we are where God has placed
us, but would I pray to God and sing praises unto God if I were
beaten for the name of Christ? Would I honor his name in the
midst of trouble? I don't know. However, scripture
does teach us that he will give us strength to make it through
these things. He might in times like this be
doing it because he has someone else in mind that he is going
to visit in grace, power, mercy, and might. Oh, may he use me
in such a way. We should count it a privilege
to suffer for the name of Christ. Paul did. We are told that we
will suffer tribulation, that is pressure, affliction, anguish,
or burden. We will suffer persecution, that
is being pursued or someone ensuing us for the gospel's sake. You
can find that in 2 Timothy 3.2, Acts 14 and 22, and Romans 5
and verse 3. Next, the one being brought in
may not treat these believer very well at first. These jailers
in those time were responsible for prisoners they had been charged
to keep. And it tells us in here that
he was charged with keeping them safely. They may have went home
from time to time, but it was their responsibility to make
sure when they had prisoners that they were specifically charged
with keeping, that they keep them securely and safely. That
means they don't get away. If something happened and the
prisoners got out on their watch, it would cost them their life.
So they stayed at the prison. As those whom God has chosen,
he that is God begin, that is God begins to start causing things
to happen around us to bring us to himself. We often find
that we join in with others to push away from the things of
God. We start saying things like, if that is who God is, I don't
want a God like that. Or that cannot be the truth.
We first hate the truth, our flesh rising up. We try to squash
the very thought of Jesus Christ. By nature, we always do this
kind of thing, just as they did with the gathering demoniac in
Mark 5. We bind things up. But binding never works, as Joe
so ably pointed out when he preached that message on Mark 5. We bind,
then we break. We bind, then we break. We cannot
bind to any avail for ourselves because we break that binding
all the time. But our problem is we are already
in prison. We are bound already with no
way to get out. We do not want to get out because
we have the law telling us we must keep these in prison. I
mean, here in our text, it was this man's responsibility to
keep these men locked up. He was told this by those over
him. If they got away, he would more
than likely die. We are the jellers of our own
heart because that is what we are. We bind ourselves with this
world having to keep doing, doing, doing, and disresisting the Holy
Spirit of God. I'm talking about believers now,
those for whom God is working on to bring them to himself.
We feel in doing this, we will live. But binding up never works. These men were severely dealt
with by all those involved here. They had many stripes laid on
them. I'm not sure if there were any of us who have personally
witnessed someone getting a lashing, but I cannot even imagine someone
taking a whip and continuously striking me until my back was
laid open. This jailer may have witnessed
it and may even, as I said before, may even been the one doing the
striking. So not only were they beat, but they were shoved into
prison forcefully. They were also put in chains,
and this is in addition to being in a cell, if you will, with
the door locked tight. They did not want these men to
get out, in other words. But on top of this, they were
placed in the dungeon, the inner part of the prison, as we read
in verse 24. who having received such a charge
thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the
stocks. God will shake up your world
if you're one of his. If you're like this jailer here,
there comes a time when things start to change. First of all,
you hear sounds from God's people, something that all those in the
prison heard, prayers and singing to God, God being praised, Suddenly
there comes an earthquake. This earthquake hits you in your
sleep while you think things are safe and quiet. You thought
it was time for you to get some rest, but God has other plans. 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. I am sleeping. I am in a place of peace and
safety, expecting everything else to be locked up tight. Having
all things in check so that none will be lost. In my flesh, I
think I have done everything that is needed to keep myself
secure and safe. However, something happens that
we were not expecting. Something we were not planning
for. Something that does not happen to everyone. something
out of our control. God sends an earthquake to shake
our world. Now in our text, this was something
that physically happened. We may not have an actual earthquake
come, but God will no doubt shake your walls of rebellion against
him. The prison doors we shut and
locked tight are now opened wide. The chains we used to bind up
those things of God are now loosed. Those things by the works of
our hands, which we thought would keep us safe from harm, are now
shown to be of no value. What we have done is not been
able to keep us secure. God's earthquake has just brought
our world down around us. He has brought such a shaking
that it shakes our frame, crumbling us to the dust, Joe, that we
are. God has just arrested us. placing us in the handcuffs ready
to cart us off to the executioner. You might think you keep the
prison of God, prison, but God will come and shake that which
you think you are keeping and bind you and put you in his prison,
feeding you the bread and water of affliction until he returns
in peace. This is that time of bondage
to fear. You know you have heard the prayers
and praises of his saints and know where this is coming from.
So you begin to fear God. You will be like the Shulamite
who has been asked by those of this world to keep the vineyards.
Now you're beginning to realize you have not even kept your own
vineyard. Song of Solomon one verse six says, look not upon
me because I am black. Because the son hath looked upon
me. My mother's children were angry
with me. They made me keeper of the vineyards.
but mine own vineyard have I not kept. He now knows I have no
control of anything, and with what just happened, I will surely
die, verse 27. And the keeper of the prison,
awaking 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. you will see imminent death coming.
What I thought was keeping me safe, as I said, was now nowhere
to be found. Others had charged me that I
should keep these safely or securely, but I'm now unable to do that. I have no ability to prevent
what is about to happen next. I will surely lose my life because
I'm not able to keep that which I was commanded to do, to keep
these things securely. That which I have been charged
to do has now been made manifest to be something I could not do.
Something greater than me has put me in a certain death situation. Something I knew was my job to
do, and I took every step to make sure it was done, checked
and double checked things, kept going over things. But then this
happens, something out of my control and something I cannot
stop. As I've said, we may not experience
an actual earthquake from God, but he will shake your world
in some way to cause you to fear and tremble, just as this jailer
did. We will be going along doing
what we think is our duty to do, asleep in our own depravity
thinking we have it all handled and secured, and then God will
show us that we are incapable of doing it because we lack the
power and the ability to do it. The walls will shake, the doors
will open, the chains will fall off, leaving us exposed as failures
before God. We will be utterly at the end
of our ropes. What we once thought we could
handle, we at some point come to see we are unable to perform. We know our life as we thought
it will end because the punishment for our inability is death. We
may even come to the point where we want to end our own life.
What you were charged to keep, you will see that you have failed
to keep. What is it that you feel? You feel in God's sight
you are a dead man. You might as well kill yourself.
If you do not do it, it will be done anyway. My life is gone
because I've sinned against God and the consequences of that,
the payment for that, the penalty for that is death. What is going
to save me? I'm a goner once it is found
out that I was not able to do that, which I was commanded to
do. But God be thanked. If it is he that brings the earthquakes,
all the bands will be loosed and it will leave you trembling
to know all that you have kept locked up has been loosed. But
he will send you someone to tell you something. Do no harm to thyself. Everything
is still in its place. The one that brought this earthquake
is the one who has all the power. He will bring these things to
pass to bring all your works down to the ground. There are
no more locked doors, no more bindings, and everything is all
safe. Verse 28. But Paul cried with
a loud voice saying, do thyself no harm, for we are all here. What you thought was a death
sentence to you, you begin to find out was a loosing. A loosing
that is going to set you free. It is going to make you free
indeed. Light will come and bow you down
into the dust, begging for mercy. We read a wonderful account of
the might, love, and grace of God on a poor, wretched sinner.
Just as you think death is about to come, you hear a voice, a
voice sent by God. Oh, a voice which you did not
expect to hear. A voice from one of those who
in the past you had not treated kindly. This voice says, I have
good news for you. Do thyself no harm. We are all
still here. What happens next? You beg for
a light. God gives you the light. He then
directs your steps to those whom you persecuted previously, who
now you are glad to see. You know these men praised God
and prayed to God. God sent these men to you and
you know it is them that you must hear. They are the ones
that can tell you the answer to the question that is now burning
in your mind, that which is a life and death question. Now God has
made it so that maybe, just maybe, there might be hope for you.
Your prison is of the flesh. His prison is of the spirit.
I know people do not like this, but he will force you to come
to him. Binding you in his prison house.
What is it that happens when God comes to you in power? He
is making all these things happen around you, these circumstances,
these providential reckonings. And that's what this was, this
earthquake, it's a providential reckoning. It wasn't the truth
of God coming to him. But it will direct your steps
to where you will hear things of Jesus Christ. What this will
do is cause you, yes, force you to cry out, what must I do to
be saved? God in his sovereignty will put
you in a place to where you think you are safe and then take everything
out from underneath you to show you that you are naked before
him. Showing you that certain death
is your lot should no one do something for you. He will then
send you word and light to you showing you that Jesus Christ
you had bound up never to be seen again was the very one who
was your salvation because he became the prisoner in your place. Oh, what a moment of grace when
life and immortality are brought to light, the prisoner being
let free. Psalm 142 7 reads this way. Bring my soul out of prison,
that I may praise thy name. The righteous shall come pass
me about, for thou shalt deal bountifully with me. And Isaiah
42 verse 7 reads this. to open the blind eyes, to bring
out the prisoners from the prison and them that sit in darkness
out of the prison house. Now God has brought all this
around about us. God has done something in us
where we now want light. He has forced us into a place
where we know we need mercy. Now those who at one time we
were persecuting, we now look to them for answers. Those that
God sends to us, whoever they may be. Now we are at that place
where we cry, what must I do to be saved? I hope God brings
you to this place. Because if he does not, everything
may go very well for you in this world. But if you do not bow
down to God, if you do not bow down to his son now in time,
then you will die in your sins and forever perish. So what is
it that this man was told when he asked the question, what must
I do to be saved? Did he hear, hear the gospel
and thou shalt be saved? Is that what they tell him? Many
people hear the gospel all over this state, this nation and this
world. What do they tell him? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. So do they
leave it there? What good would it be if someone
tells me I must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but they never
tell me who Jesus Christ is? Paul and Silas actually tell
him, this jailer, who the Lord Jesus Christ is and what he has
done in verse 32. And they spake unto him the word
of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. Every child
of God will be brought through an earthquake of their own. The
end of this earthquake will always result in believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ, or it was not an earthquake sent by God. We see
many today who have had their foundation shaken, but yet they
do not turn to Jesus Christ. But those who are God's children
will turn to Christ. They continue to look to Christ.
When someone who is God's has been shaken by God and they hear
the gospel and these men spoken to them, they will believe. But
it's not just an empty belief. They will begin to obey God.
They will minister unto those of which they once held captive.
They will begin to care for God's people and they will perform
those ordinances of God. Verses 33 and 34. And he took
them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and
was baptized he in all his straight way. And when he had brought
them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing
in God with all his house. As a believer, God will send
his earthquake, which will shake your very foundation. It will
shake your very foundation. It will actually shake your very
frame into dust, as I've already said. It will be such a shaking
in your soul that the only thing you will be able to do is cry,
what must I do to be saved? Meaning you will know that you
will have to be saved and not get saved. You will not come to that place
where you know you cannot, you will come to that place where
you cannot save yourself, that someone else must save you. In
the hearing of the word of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ the
Lord and him crucified, seeing that light, you then know your
salvation is in another. You will come to gladly bow down
to this one who is your salvation. Believe the Lord Jesus Christ.
He has already completed salvation for his people and appeased the
wrath of God against him. God's word does not say, hear
and be saved, although you must hear his gospel proclaimed. It
says, even here in our passage, believe the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. That is, you will then come to
see and know you have peace with God, because seeing Jesus Christ
the Lord, you see that He is our peace with God. He is our
righteousness before God. He is our salvation unto God. God in His wise design will call
someone to cross your path with the joyous news of a great God
who is able to save. You will hear them praising this
God in word. God will at some point send you
an earthquake in some form or another. It will make you uncomfortable. It will make you comfortless.
It will make you naked and ashamed. It will cause you to fall on
your face before him. But those whom he has done this
for, those he calls, those for whom he Whom do this he will
bring nine to himself because he delighteth to show mercy Psalm
69 33 reads this way for the Lord heareth the poor and Despises
not his prisoners. Oh I hope God sends you an earthquake
today. I hope God calls everything around
you to crumble if it means he is bringing you to himself and
This is how God works. You will not be found until you're
first lost. You will not see until you're
first blind. You will not be made clean until
you are despicably wretched and unclean. God, if he is pleased,
and only if he is pleased, will do this to you. You will come
to him willing in the day of his power. Are you in a place
of need today? Are the walls crumbling around
you today, crying to God? He is the one that has brought
the earthquake. I pray you listen to him. He
is the only one with the power to save. All he says to do is
believe. Can you believe? Amen. Thank you, dear Lord, for allowing
us to gather together to hear your word. Open our hearts, dear
Lord, because if you don't open, it won't be opened. show us Christ, be with Walter
as he stands here to speak, and to just show us the glorious
wonders of Jesus Christ our Lord. All these things we ask in Christ's
name. Amen.