This morning's message is taken
from Acts chapter 16, and I've titled the message this morning,
The Jailer's Conversion. The Jailer's Conversion. This is one of the many conversion
stories. Salvation's story. Conversion
stories that we read about all through the book of Acts. Several
years ago, was it been three or four years now that we did
a complete study through the book of Acts. We've been through
the whole book of Acts, not once, but two times. So these stories
here should be familiar to you. Some of the conversion stories
in the book of Acts don't give much detail unto us. For example,
in Acts chapter 2, when Paul stood there and preached to that
crowd on the day of Pentecost, it says that the Lord added 3,000 souls unto the church. What a miracle of grace. It says simply those 3,000 souls
they gladly received the word and were baptized. How did they baptize 3,000 people? They must have been busy. They
must have been busy. And then again in Acts chapter
4 we have the conversion of 5,000 people at one time. We don't have anything given
to us as far as who they were. No names are given, no circumstances
of God's providence, how He brought all these different... Here's
8,000 different people who all came together by the marvelous
providence of God, and it says of them in Acts chapter 4, many
heard the Word. Now that's key. They heard the
true Gospel. and believed. And the number
of them was 5,000 souls. But here in Acts chapter 16 and
in other places, the Lord is pleased to give us much detail
of the salvation of this pagan Roman jailer who lived in Philippi. You know, there's not any more
information given to us about his life down the road. We don't
know what kind of, I don't think that Paul mentions his name in
the book of the letter that's written to the church at Philippi,
but you can be assured, as it says there, he was rejoicing
in God, that he sought others who were rejoicing in the same
God that he worshipped, others who were granted faith in Christ
Jesus, such as Lydia and that little girl who was healed and
saved by God's grace, and they together came together, and others,
and God brought these believers together as an assembly of believers. Here again we see Paul and Silas
traveling and preaching the Gospel to all that would hear. God gave
a special vision to the Apostle Paul to go down to Macedonia
and to preach the Gospel to the city of Philippi. There were
many blessed to hear the truth, God, the truth of God's Gospel,
and many that were ordained to eternal life believed. the gospel, including this jailer,
including Lydia. And here we see the beginning
of the Lord establishing this gospel church in that city. What a blessing. What a blessing. My pastor used to tell us all
the time that the greatest thing God could do in any local community
is to raise up a gospel ministry. Not a successful oil refinery. Not a successful steel mill.
The greatest thing God can do in any community is to raise
up and establish a gospel witness. A gospel church. You know, we've
done that here and in other places. Oh, God help us not to despise
the day of small things. God will bless His people with
the Word. The Lord has promised that He
would bless His Word. He said it will not return unto
me void. He has instructed us to go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature. You say, well, am I to go to
Africa? Well, if God calls you there.
But how about, and how are you doing in the world in which you
live? Standing for the gospel and witnessing
for the gospel of God's grace. Go into all your world and preach
the gospel to every creature. We find the early church very
active and very engaged in fulfilling the Lord's command. We also see
how the Lord called out His elect through the means that He has
ordained. What is that? The preaching of the Word. The
preaching of the gospel. My prayer for us today is that
the Lord will continue to bless His Word among us. that He would
be pleased to reveal Himself to others here in our midst,
our children, our grandchildren, and even our
great-grandchildren. The Lord would be pleased to
use this ministry here and the preaching of the gospel here
to call out His You remember, Paul said to Timothy, Thou from
a child hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise
unto salvation. Let's subject our children unto
the preaching of the true gospel of God's grace. May Christ be
pleased to glorify Himself in them, in their salvation. Let's pray to our great God that
He would have mercy upon our friends, our family, Our children. You know, His glory is great
in the salvation of sinners. He gets great glory unto Himself
in saving sinners. In the story of Lydia, her conversion,
who gets the glory? God Almighty in Christ Jesus.
In Paul casting out the demon spirit out of that young, abused,
enslaved, demon-possessed girl, who gets the glory in that? Not
Paul. in the name of Christ come out. And that demon spirit left her.
In the conversion of this jailer, hard-hearted pagan, who gets
the glory in his salvation? Christ alone. God forbid we should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's
take a look at Let's take a closer look at this man's salvation,
this jailer. We don't even know his name.
He's just called the jailer of Philippi, the keeper of the prison. Let's see how the Lord brought
the gospel to him and how the Lord, in His sovereign purpose,
crossed his path, the path of this man and his household, and
how they were made new creatures in Christ Jesus. Now, here's
the first thing we see. Here's the first thing we see
is this. We see that the Lord was pleased to send him a gospel
preacher. The Lord was pleased to send
him a gospel preacher. In verse 9 and 10 of Acts 16,
A vision appeared to Paul in the night, and there stood a
man in Macedonia praying and asking, Come over and help us.
And immediately we endeavored to go, assuringly gathering that
the Lord had called us to preach the gospel unto them. God sent
a gospel preacher, a gospel minister. This is what our Lord has ordained
as a means to call out His people, the preaching of the Word. A
proper belief in sovereign grace does not discredit the means
that God has ordained to the salvation of His people. They
must hear the Word, the true gospel of God's grace. You see,
it pleased God through the preaching of the gospel to save them that
believe. Of His own will begat He us with
the Word, of truth. The word of truth. Lydia says
in verse 14, this business woman, God was working in her heart
and they were seeking the Lord and God sent them a gospel preacher. It says in verse 14, which worship
God heard us, whose heart the Lord opened. What did you hear?
What did you hear of Paul? What did Paul preach? He preached
salvation in Christ Jesus. He preached righteousness in
Christ Jesus. He preached remission of sin
in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. And God granted faith. And she
heard that message. And she believed the gospel of
God's grace. The jailer heard Paul and Silas
preach the Word, preach the gospel. It says that in verse 32. And
they spake unto him the word of the Lord. The word of the
Lord. His word. His truth. This demon-possessed woman said
of Paul and Silas that they were servants of the Most High God
and they were sent to show us the way of salvation. Turn back
just a couple of pages to Acts chapter 11. Let me show you a
verse here. When Peter is standing before his constituents and the four
others who ministered the gospel, telling how he preached the gospel
to Cornelius' house. In Acts chapter 11, it says here, when Peter is telling
the words that Cornelius had repeated to him, these men were
going to come and preach to you, verse 14, who shall tell thee
words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved." Words. Vehicles of thought. God's Word. God's Truth. He will bless the
preaching of the Gospel. Let us never forsake what God
has instructed His Church to do. Preach Christ. I've never heard a believer complain
that You know, you just brag too much on the Lord Jesus Christ.
You just give Him too much glory. You just say too much about who
He is. I've never heard a believer complain
about that. You see, you can't preach Christ too high, give
Him too much honor, too much glory, nor can you preach man
too low in the dust. Let us never forsake what the
Lord has instructed us to do. Preach Christ. Preach the Lord
Jesus Christ. Let us be determined as the Apostle
Paul to preach nothing but Christ and Him crucified. Christ and
Him crucified. May we take seriously the charge
of our Lord Jesus Christ when He said, go into all the world
and preach the Gospel. The Gospel of God concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel of God's grace in
Christ Jesus. I charge you before God and the
Lord Jesus Christ Preach the Word. Preach the Word. Our one
mission here at Zambian Baptist Church is to preach Christ, to
teach His Word. Our one aim, our one goal, our
one purpose, our one motivation is to preach Christ and Him crucified. God will bless it. God will honor
it to the salvation of His people. So the first thing we see in
this conversion story is God sent a gospel preacher. God sent
the truth of His Word. The Lord, by His sovereign providence,
brought the preacher and the gospel to the center. That's what happened. We see
that all through the book of Acts. Philip was in a successful
revival meeting in Acts chapter 8, and God sent him away from that
meeting, many conversions, and he sent him down to one lone
black man from Ethiopia to tell him the gospel of God's grace. He preached unto him Christ. God sent Peter to the house of
Cornelius a Gentile. And God has so worked in the
heart of Cornelius, when Peter showed up on his doorstep, he
said, we're all here to hear the things that are commanded
of God for you to speak unto us. We're all here to hear. Isn't that why we're here today?
We're all here to hear what thus saith the Lord from His Book,
His Word, His Truth. Here's the second thing we see
is this, that the Lord created an entrance. The Lord created
an interest in this sinner, in this jailer, that had no interest
in spiritual things before. God created an interest. When Paul and Silas had been
falsely accused of teaching Jewish tradition, and had arrested for
preaching the gospel, they were brutally beaten, sorely mistreated,
beaten under Roman law, Then they were given and committed
to the jailer who was ordered to take charge of them, to lock
them up, to chain them up, and to make sure they didn't escape. Little did that jailer know what Paul was doing in his prison.
Do you think he had any idea when he was beating another Jew,
I'm going to beat you to death and I'm going to lock you up. And he takes this man, God's
servant, and locks him up in his jail. And there's the gospel
right under his nose. And God uses that to create an
interest in this man. Notice verse 25. It says in verse
25, this jailer receives such a charge and thrusts him into
the inner prison. He threw them in there. They were probably so beaten
and mangled that they probably drug them in there, don't you
think? They probably dragged them in there. And then to make
sure they didn't get out, they said, we're going to chain you
to the floor. In verse 25, about midnight,
Paul and Silas prayed. He prayed. You reckon one of the things
he prayed for? God have mercy on that jailer. We're instructed to love our
enemies. Pray for those who despitefully use you. And here's Paul and
Silas praying for this sinner's salvation. I just know it so. They prayed and then they sang
praises unto God. And the prisoners heard them,
verse 25. Paul and Silas were in a bad
situation. They had just been falsely accused,
beaten to a pulp, black and blue, bloody, mangled, chained to the
floor, and yet by the grace of God, they were given grace for
the trial. They prayed and gave thanks. and praise the God of all grace
from whom all blessings flow. And they were heard by others.
The Apostle Paul in another epistle says this, In everything, in
everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. All things were working together
for good to them who love God, to them who are called according
to God's purpose. Remember what we read in Philippians
chapter 1? Paul said, the things that happen unto me have happened
unto me unto the furtherance of the gospel of God's grace. Now listen to this statement.
The believer's joy is the joy of faith in the Lord. Now Paul
wasn't rejoicing in the fact that he was suffering and in
pain. He hurt. The believer's joy is the joy
of faith in the Lord. Not in the circumstances. Now
our circumstances may be bleak. My mind goes back to a year ago.
About this time a year ago. I tell you, I wasn't rejoicing
in circumstances. It was rough. But we had that
flood water last year. But I tell you what, I was rejoicing
in the Lord. Not like I ought to. I was rejoicing
in the Lord. You see, the believer joys the
joy of faith, not in the circumstances. That flood mud, I dreaded every
shovel full, but I was rejoicing in the Lord. That's what it says
in the book of... You know, the book of Philippians,
it's interesting. In the whole book of Philippians, those four
chapters, you remember the theme that runs through every chapter
twelve or thirteen times through all the book of Philippians?
It says to, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice! Now Paul knew something about
difficulty, didn't he? These people here in Philippi,
no doubt they knew something about difficulty. No doubt when
this jailer took a stand for the gospel of God's grace, No
doubt he probably lost his job. They put him out of the jail
business. Oh, I tell you, to lose your job and to win Christ
and be found in Him, oh, what a blessing. What a blessing. Now notice verse 26 in our text. And suddenly there was a great
earthquake. And suddenly there was a great
earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and
immediately all the doors were opened. The chains fell off,
the locks were broken asunder, and everyone's bands were loosed. God set the prisoners free. What a testimony to the presence
and power of the Lord. What a testimony to the presence
and power of the Lord. God answered their prayer by
shaking the earth. He sent that great earthquake. I think everybody in Philippi
woke up that night. Some woke up in here. This jailer
did, in the heart. Much like the prayer of Elijah
on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18. when they poured that water over
the sacrifice. You remember the challenge? And
the God that answers by fire, He indeed is God! And Elijah
prayed that prayer. Lord, let it be known this day
that You are God! Beside Thee there is no other.
And fire fell and consumed the sacrifice. I do rejoice in our
great God who possesses all power in heaven and earth. Don't you?
Who can? shake not only the buildings,
but the earth, but also can shake the sinner to the ground, who
alone can strip us and put us in the dirt, in the dust before
His holy throne as a mercy beggar. That's what this man was brought
to. This man was brought down Here's a high, haughty, heady,
high-minded sinner, and he's now groveling in the dust before
God's servant, begging for mercy. He fell down and said, what must
I do to be saved? God alone can set the prisoner
free. God alone can cause the shackles
of sin to fall off. You see, reformation is not salvation. Paul didn't put up a set of rules
and say, now, Mr. Jailer, here's what you need
to do. Rule number one, make sure everybody in that jail is
taken care of. Rule number two, rule number
three, he didn't give him a bunch of rules. He said, believe on
Christ. Believe on Christ. My friend,
I tell you, no prison wall can shut the gospel out. No hard
heart, I don't care how hard the heart is, can shut the gospel
out. Nothing can hinder the gospel
from reaching the sheep of Christ and having that heart-wrenching,
heart-reaching consequence of Holy Spirit conviction. seeing Christ as everything in
salvation. Look at verse 27 in our story.
The keeper of the prison, awaking out of his sleep, God woke him
up. And seeing the prison doors open,
he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, thinking
or supposing that the prisoners had fled. But Paul cried out
and said, Stop, don't take your life. No need to do that, we're all
here. Don't do any harm, we're all here. Then he called for
a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before
Paul of Silas. And he brought him out and said,
Sir, what must I do? What must I do to be saved? Now
look at the effect that it had upon this jailer. The earthquake
not only shook the prison walls, but it shook the prisoner, the
keeper of the prison. He had an earthquake in his heart.
God woke him up from the deadness of sin to make him realize. Why would he say, what must I
do to be safe? God revealed unto him that he
was a sinner in need of salvation. This is what the Lord does in
conversion and regeneration. He destroys the old foundation
of works. He brings an earthquake and shakes
the foundation, the rotten false refuge that we've been hiding
in all our lives. He comes and He destroys that
foundation. And then He causes us to rest
upon the foundation that He had laid, which is Christ Himself. He destroys the old foundations
that were resting upon, works, merit, self-glory, self-righteousness,
and then He causes us to rest upon the foundation that He had
laid. He said, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation of stone,
a tribestone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. Those who
believe on that foundation, on Christ, rest on Him, will never
be forced to flee Christ. All other ground is sinking sand. On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand. Once this hard-hearted, ungodly,
pagan, soldier, now the feet of the servant of the Lord like
a whip-pup, like a whip-pup, inquiring about how he can obtained
mercy from the Lord. How can he secure pardon for
all his sin against God? There's no sinner, my friend,
too hardened by sin that the Lord Jesus Christ cannot conquer. You know, this man was a hardened
sinner, wasn't he? But there's no man too hardened
by sin that Christ cannot conquer. There's no not too hard for the
Lord Jesus Christ to crack. broken by God the Holy Spirit. He died in a broken heart. He
saved us such as be of a contrite spirit. Oh, Saul of Tarsus is
a good example of that, isn't he? Before he was the Apostle Paul,
you remember we read of him in Acts chapter 9, that he was at
one time breathing out threatening and slaughter against the Lord's
disciples? And then one day on his road
to Damascus, he met somebody, and he had an earthquake. God
sent an earthquake, and he fell to the ground, and he cried out
for mercy. Have mercy on me, the sinner.
And then in the next verses, in Acts chapter 9, it says of
this man who was converted by God's grace, made a new creature
in Christ Jesus, that he's now preaching the gospel that he
once sought to destroy. How did that happen? Well, you
know, he just reformed. He just turned over a new leaf.
Oh no. God invaded his heart. God convicted his heart and made
him a new creature in Christ Jesus. There is no sinner too
hard for God to overcome. He is able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him. Never despair of anyone's salvation.
That's what John Newton told his friend William Jay when William
Jay came to him. John Newton lived years ago back
in the 1700s. And his preacher friend William
Jay came to him. He said, did you hear about the
conversion of so-and-so, that old reprobate down in Bass County?
And William Jay said, I'll never despair of God's mercy saving
any sinner again. Remember what Newton said to
him? He said, I've never despaired
of God saving any sinner since He saved me. If God saved me,
He can save any sinner. That's right. Well, Paul declares
unto him the way of salvation. What must I do? Salvation done. He corrects him. He said, don't do anything. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Here's a
direct question and a direct answer from the lips of God's
Apostle. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
justified from all guilt. Isn't that what we read before?
Turn back to Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13, verse 38. Believe
on Christ. Believe on thee, Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 13, 38, Be it known unto
you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sin. By him all that believe are justified,
saved from all things which you could not be justified by the
law of Moses. Isn't it the same thing that
Peter declared in Acts 15, verse 11? But we believe through the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as I want
you to turn to John, the Gospel by John, recorded by John, chapter
6. And here's a similar question
that was asked of the Lord Jesus Christ. In John chapter 6, verse 26, John 6, 26, And verily,
verily, our Lord said, You seek Me not because you saw the miracle,
but because you did eat of the loaves and were filled. Labor
not for the meat which perishes, but for that meat which endures
unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto
you. For Him hath God the Father sealed. Then they said unto Him,
What shall we do? Same question, Nick. You know
what? You reckon there is going to
be a different answer? What shall we do that we might
work the works of God? And the Lord answered and said
unto them, This is the work of God, that you believe on him
who he sent. It's the work of God. You see,
faith is a gift of God. Faith is a gift of God. Stay
right here in the book of John. I want to show you some verses
here. John chapter 1. Turn there. John 1.11. Now, I
want you to follow and see this. Whoever believes that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God. Faith is the result of the new
birth. And here's what we see in John chapter 1. Look at verse
12. John 1 verse 12. He came unto
his own, his own received him not. Verse 12. John 1. But as
many as received him, to them gave he power to become sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name. Read on. Which were born. Why did they
believe on his name? Which were born. And born of
God. Born from above. And then it
gives a negative. Not of blood. Fleshly inheritance. Neither the will of the flesh.
Nor the will of man. They believed because they were
born of God. That's why we believe. Believe
on Christ. John chapter 3. Turn there. Verse
35. He that believeth. John 3, 35. The Father loveth
the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth
on the Son has everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Now I want
you to find John 5, 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that heareth my word," there it is again, hearing the word,
"...and believeth on him that sent me," John 5, 24, "...has
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is
passed from death unto life." If you believe on Christ, it's
because God has given you life from the dead. in Christ Jesus. One old preacher said, true saving
faith spies salvation in Christ and goes to Him for it and receives
it from Him. He said, come boldly unto the
throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in a time of need. Turn back to Acts 16. Old Rock Barnard used to say,
be careful what you say. Preacher, be careful what you
say. Somebody might believe you. This man believed the words of
Paul. Look at verse 32. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in your house.
They believed, hear the word, and they spake unto him the word
of the Lord unto all that were in the house. Paul continued
to preach the Word of the Lord unto him, the Gospel of Christ,
for his comfort and for his encouragement and for his instruction in the
way of salvation in Christ Jesus. He spake unto him the Word of
the Lord. You know, the Word of the Lord is
called the Word of Salvation. It's called the Word of Reconciliation.
It's called the Word of Peace. It's called the Word of Life.
It's called the Word of Salvation, the Word of Righteousness. It's
called the Word of Faith. He spake unto him the Word of
the Lord. Now, was this man converted?
I believe he was. Because here's the evidence.
Here's the fruit of salvation. Verse 33 and verse 34. He spake unto him the word of
salvation, the word of Christ, the gospel of Christ. And he
took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes,
and was baptized. They confessed Christ, he and
all his house, straightway. And when he brought him into
his own house, he said, Meet before them, and rejoice, believing
in God with all his house. Here is the fruit of salvation.
The jailer took Paul and Silas from the prison house to his
house. His faith was manifested to be genuine by His action that
followed. You see, faith without obedience
is not real. Faith without works, James says,
is dead. Faith without evidence is not
real. Verse 33 says, He tenderly cared for God's servants, washing
and cleaning out their wounds that He Himself had probably
inflicted. He and others were baptized confessing
Christ not to be forgiven or not to be saved, but rather because
God had by His grace saved them. Like Lydia, He opened up His
home and fed them from His own table. He said, Come home with
me. Come to my house. Look what it says in closing,
verse 34, And He brought them into His house, He set meat before
them, He fed them, and rejoiced, believing in God." Abraham believed
God. It was counted to him for righteousness. He rejoiced in believing God
with all of his house. He rejoiced in God. He was of that true Israel which
worshiped God in the Spirit, that rejoices in Christ Jesus,
that has no confidence in the flesh. His darkness and ignorance
had departed from his heart, and light and life had illuminated
his soul. Like it says of the black man
from Ethiopia, he went on his way rejoicing in the Lord. Behold, my friend, what the gospel
of God's grace in Christ can accomplish. Oh, what wonders! God does work in the hearts of
the sinners. For He came to seek and to save
that which is lost. He came not to call the righteous.
He came to call sinners unto salvation. And here we see that
demonstrated. Christ came to set us free from
the bondage of sin, from the curse of the law, and to give
us complete salvation in Him. May God be pleased to perform That here, salvation in our hearts,
in the hearts of God's people. Being confident, Paul said of
this very thing, that God who has begun a good work, whose
work is it? Salvation of the Lord. God who
has begun a good work, where does He work? In you, in your
heart. He will perform it. He will perfect
it. He will finish it in a day of
God's power.