We Speak, God Saves

And we will continue our worship with the reading and preaching of God's Word.

It's so good to see.

A lot of people are, I think, away for Labor Day weekend and other things,

but it's also good to see some faces we haven't seen in a really long time

that have come back from break and long extended COVID break

and for some students, grad students and whatnot.

And it's such a joy to worship with you.

My name is Sean. For those of you who are new, I'm one of the pastors of Trinity Cambridge Church.

It's my joy and privilege to preach God's Word to you this evening.

Please turn with me to Acts chapter 16, verses 11 to 40.

Acts 16:11–40

Acts chapter 16, verses 11 to 40.

Acts 16:11–40

This is when Paul and his missionary companions are in Philippi.

After seeing the vision of the man of Macedonia, they are heading over there.

And let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.

Heavenly Father,

we know that your Word is living and active,

that your Word

never fails to accomplish its purposes.

It never returns void.

Your Word is truth.

And so we

quiet our hearts

and incline our ears before your Word this evening.

Address us.

We are your people.

You are our God,

our King.

Shape us with your Word.

Fill us with faith, hope, and love.

Make us more like your Son, Jesus.

Exalt your Son

and captivate our hearts with Him.

We ask in His precious name.

Amen.

Acts chapter 16, verses 11 to 40.

Acts 16:11–40

So setting sail from Troas,

we made a direct voyage to Samothrace,

and the following day to Neapolis,

and from there to Philippi,

which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia

and a Roman colony.

We remained in this city some days,

and on the Sabbath day,

we went outside the gate to the riverside,

where we supposed there was a place of prayer.

And we sat down and spoke to the woman who had come together.

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia

from the city of Thyatira,

a seller of purple goods,

who was a worshiper of God.

The Lord opened her heart to pay attention

to what was said by Paul.

And after she was baptized,

and her household as well,

she urged us, saying,

If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord,

come to my house and stay.

And she prevailed upon us.

As we were going to the place of prayer,

we were met by a slave girl

who had a spirit of divination

and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.

She followed Paul and us,

crying out,

These men are servants of the Most High God

who proclaim to you the way of salvation.

And this she kept doing for many days.

And Paul, having become greatly annoyed,

turned and said to the spirit,

I command you,

in the name of Jesus Christ,

to come out of her.

And it came out that very hour.

But when our owners saw that their hope of gain was gone,

they seized Paul and Silas

and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

And when they had brought them to the magistrates,

they said,

These men are Jews,

and they are disturbing our city.

They advocate customs that are not lawful for us

as Romans to accept or practice.

The crowd joined in attacking them,

and the magistrates tore the garments off them

and gave orders to beat them with rods.

And when they had afflicted many blows upon them,

they threw them into prison,

ordering the jailer to keep them safely.

Having received this order,

he put them into the inner prison

and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight,

Paul and Silas were praying

and singing hymns to God.

And the prisoners were listening to them.

And suddenly there was a great earthquake,

so that the foundations of the prison were shaken.

And immediately all the doors were opened,

and everyone's bonds were unfastened.

When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open,

he drew his sword and was about to kill himself,

supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

But Paul cried with a loud voice,

Do not harm yourself,

for we are all here.

And the jailer called for lights and rushed in.

And trembling with fear,

he fell down before Paul and Silas.

Then he brought them out and said,

Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

And they said,

Believe in the Lord Jesus,

and you will be saved,

you and your household.

And they spoke the word of the Lord to him

and to all who were in his house.

And he took them the same hour of the night

and washed their wounds,

and he was baptized at once,

he and all his family.

Then he brought them up into his house

and set food before them,

and he rejoiced along with his entire household

that he had believed in God.

But when it was day,

the magistrates sent the police,

saying,

Let those men go.

And the jailer reported these words to Paul,

saying,

The magistrates have sent to let you go.

Therefore, come out now and go in peace.

But Paul said to them,

They have beaten us publicly uncondemned.

Men who are Roman citizens

and have thrown us into prison.

And do they now throw us out secretly?

No.

Let them come themselves and take us out.

The police reported these words to the magistrates,

and they were afraid when they heard

that they were Roman citizens.

So they came and apologized to them,

and they took them out and asked them to leave the city.

So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia.

And when they had seen the brothers,

they encouraged them and departed.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

If you look around yourself,

you'll notice that church is a ragtag bunch of people

from all kinds of backgrounds and experiences.

And we are, as a group,

we might have never been friends otherwise,

apart from the fact that we've been brought together

by our common brotherhood

and by the blood of Jesus Christ.

That's because God has ordained to save a people

from every tribe, nation, and tongue.

And so in this passage, missionary work takes Paul and Silas

and his companions to all kinds of people,

to a wealthy female merchant who was a Gentile God-fearer,

to a demonized slave girl,

and also to a Philippian jailer.

But despite their wildly different socioeconomic,

religious, and likely even ethnic backgrounds,

Paul proclaims the same message of salvation to them all.

And from this, we learn that as we faithfully speak

the word of the Lord,

God powerfully acts to save.

That's the main point of this passage.

We're going to look at the profiles

of the three different people we encounter.

In turn, first, the seller of purple goods.

Second, a demonized slave girl.

And third, a jailer of the inner cell.

Following God's redirection from the preceding passage,

Paul and his companions sail into Philippi,

which is described in verse 12

as a leading city of the district of Macedonia

and a Roman colony.

In every city Paul visits,

it's his custom, if you look at the book of Acts,

it's his custom to enter into the city

and then to go first to the Jewish synagogue

where he'd encounter Jews

who are already familiar with the Old Testament

and he'd proclaim the gospel to them,

tell them that the promised Messiah has come.

However, his routine in Philippi

is a little bit different.

In those days,

a Jewish community was required

to have a minimum of 10 Jewish men

to constitute a synagogue.

And in places that did not have an official synagogue,

Jewish people and Gentile God-fearers

preferred to meet near a body of water

where they could ritually cleanse themselves

before prayer.

So here it seems that

there weren't enough Jewish heads of household

to constitute a synagogue,

and so the women met on their own

outside the city gate by the riverside

so that they might pray.

And so Paul and his companions,

supposing that there is a place of prayer there,

go and indeed they find a group of women praying

and they begin to teach that gathering

about Jesus and his good news.

Verse 14 says this,

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia

from the city of Thyatira,

a seller of purple goods

who was a worshiper of God.

Lydia was a seller of purple goods,

which was a luxury good in the ancient days.

And since, as verse 15 tells us,

that Lydia was wealthy enough

to host Paul and his companions

as a patroness, a hostess,

she was likely a well-to-do woman.

But even more relevantly,

Lydia was a worshiper of God.

We are not told that she was a Jew,

they would have told us that,

but we're told that she is a worshiper of God,

which is another way of saying

that she is a Gentile God-fearer.

Someone who was sympathetic to Judaism

and prayed to Israel's God

but was not yet a full Jewish convert.

And verse 14 tells us that

the Lord opened her heart

to pay attention to what was said by Paul.

We see both Lydia's human response

and God's sovereign grace

at work here in what's happening with Lydia.

Verse 14 tells us that Lydia heard Paul.

She's the one who gave Paul a hearing.

But it also says,

the Lord opened her heart to pay attention.

People would never believe in Jesus

apart from God opening up their hearts to believe.

But in order for them to believe,

someone also must speak

the good news of Jesus Christ to them.

As we faithfully speak the word of the Lord,

God powerfully acts to save.

So Paul spoke the good news of Jesus

and God opened Lydia's heart to believe.

Lydia had been learning about Israel's God,

but she was not yet aware

that the promised Messiah had come.

She thought that she needed to become Jewish

in order to be saved.

But Apostle Paul declared the good news

that by Jesus' death on the cross for our sins

and by His resurrection,

the dividing wall of hostility

between Jews and Gentiles

has been torn down,

and that now all people

who repent of their sins

and believe in Jesus

for forgiveness of sins

may be saved

by grace through faith alone.

Some of you here may not yet be a follower of Jesus.

Maybe you are like Lydia.

You've been searching for the truth.

You've been seeking God.

And God is opening your heart

to pay attention to the good news of Jesus Christ

that you are hearing even now.

And if that's the case,

you must respond by believing in Jesus

for salvation

and by getting baptized.

That's what Lydia did.

It says in verse 15,

and after she was baptized

and her household as well,

she urged us saying,

if you have judged me

to be faithful to the Lord,

come to my house and stay.

And she prevailed upon us.

Lydia, along with her household,

was baptized.

And later the Philippian jailer,

along with his family,

will also come to faith in Jesus

and get baptized.

Baptism is an outward profession

of an inward faith.

It's the initiatory right

by which we attest to the faith

that we have in Jesus.

It's a public profession of that faith.

So then, as a newly initiated Christian,

Lydia jumps right into serving God's people.

She will not be denied the opportunity

to show hospitality to God's servants.

So it says she urges them.

She insists on serving them,

hosting them.

She prevails upon them.

And in doing so,

she becomes not only

the first European convert to Christianity,

but also the hostess of the first church in Europe,

as we see in verse 40.

Especially as we move into our new location next week,

and as we relaunch community groups

and children's ministry next week as well,

there will be a lot of opportunities for us

to serve God and His saints.

But I pray that God will give all of us

Lydia's heart to serve,

to see it as a privilege and a blessing to serve,

for it's better to give than to receive.

And then verse 16 transitions us to a new scene.

It says,

The phrase,

A spirit of divination,

in Greek,

is literally a spirit of Python,

or a Pythian spirit.

In Greek mythology,

Python was an enormous female snake

that the god Apollo

repeatedly killed near Delphi.

And Apollo is the god of prophecy,

among other things.

And it was believed that the priestess

of the temple of Apollo at Delphi was,

the priestess was known as a Pythoness,

and that it was believed

that she would inhale the fumes

that were coming out of the decomposing corpse

of the Python,

and as she was doing that,

she would be possessed by Apollo himself

and start to prophesy.

That woman came to be known as,

famously,

the Oracle of Delphi.

She was one of the most powerful women

in the classical world,

and her divinations were considered

to be the most prestigious

and authoritative

among all kinds of divinations

for the Greeks.

And this slave girl

had a Pythian spirit,

which suggests a powerful evil spirit

that enabled her to practice divination,

much like the Oracle at Delphi.

And this brought her owners

much gain by fortune-telling.

The girl is not unlike the psychics,

mediums,

and witch doctors

that still proliferate

throughout our country

and throughout the world.

Some of those people

are also possessed

by evil spirits

at different times.

And verse 17 says

that this demon-possessed girl

followed Paul

and his fellow missionaries

around,

saying,

These men are servants

of the Most High God

who proclaim to you

the way of salvation.

Now,

on the surface,

what the Spirit is saying

through this slave girl

is true,

isn't it?

These men are servants

of the Most High God.

They are proclaiming

the way of salvation.

So you might think

that Paul would have welcomed

such free publicity,

right?

They're new to the town.

This girl is well-known

in the area.

Come on,

keep going.

But eventually,

it says in verse 18,

Paul became greatly annoyed

and he casts out the Spirit

from the slave girl.

There may be several reasons

for Paul's annoyance.

First,

while for Jews

the expression

Most High God

would have referred

unambiguously

to the one true God,

to the Gentiles,

it would have

not been so clear.

The phrase

Most High God

was commonly used

by the Greeks

to refer to Zeus

as the highest deity

in the Greek pantheon.

Second,

in the original Greek,

the phrase

the way of salvation

is actually indefinite.

So it is better translated

as a way of salvation,

which is exactly

how the New American Standard Bible

and the Common Standard Bible.

That's not Common Standard,

but CSB.

What does that stand for?

It might be the Common Standard Bible.

Translated.

So that's the,

moreover,

the Greeks often understood

the term salvation

in material ways

and not in terms of

that's described in Scripture

as forgiveness of sins

and eternal life.

And so for these reasons,

even though

what the slave girl

is saying is true,

it's also misleading.

It's not wholly true

in light of the context.

Who is this Most High God?

Is it the God

that the Jews worship?

Or is it Zeus?

And are Paul and Silas

proclaiming only

a way of salvation?

Or are they proclaiming

the way of salvation?

And what is this salvation after all?

Is this just some good fortune?

Or is it forgiveness of sin

and eternal life?

Not only that,

the medium affects the message,

doesn't it?

Even if the demonized slave girl

did speak fully truthfully,

not everyone is a suitable messenger

for the gospel.

Think about it this way.

In 2020, last year,

when Joe Biden was running for president,

Richard Spencer,

a prominent neo-Nazi,

endorsed him.

But the Biden campaign

quickly tweeted out saying,

quote,

what you stand for

is absolutely repugnant.

Your support is 10,000%

unwelcome here.

10,000%.

So why did they repudiate

his endorsement?

Because there are some endorsements

that you just don't want.

Because it actually paints

your reputation.

It hurts your credibility.

It compromises your message.

Paul didn't want the gospel

of Jesus Christ

to be associated

with a pagan psychic medium.

If Paul legitimized

this slave girl's pronouncements,

then people may continue

to listen to her

after they are long gone.

So he had to make it

abundantly clear

that they had nothing

at all to do

with this slave girl

and the demon that possessed her.

So Paul speaks this spirit

in verse 18.

I command you

in the name of Jesus Christ

to come out of her.

This teaches us several things.

First, the evil spirit

is inside the slave girl,

which is why Paul must

command it to come out.

Second, the slave girl

is controlled

or possessed

by this spirit,

which is why Paul speaks

to the spirit

and not to the girl.

Third, Paul commands

the demon

in the name

of Jesus Christ.

You can't exercise

a spirit unless you have

higher authority

than that spirit.

And to speak

in the name

of Jesus Christ

is to speak

with His almighty authority.

Ephesians 1, 20-21

tell us that

because Jesus was raised

from the dead

and has ascended

to the right hand

of God the Father,

He is, quote,

far above all rule

and authority

and power and dominion

and above every name

that is named,

not only in this age,

but also in the one to come.

In exorcism,

back in those days,

they would always name

something in order

to exercise a spirit,

name another God

or another more powerful spirit.

But there is one

who has a name

that is higher

than every other name

in past, present,

and future

and that is

the Lord Jesus Christ.

So with that authority,

Paul commands

the spirit of Python

and the serpentine spirit

has no choice

but to obey.

In many human civilizations,

there are mythologies

of snake deities

or monsters

that embody evil

which are then slayed

by a hero god

or a demigod.

For example,

Norse mythology

has the thunder god Thor

slaying Jormungandr,

the monster serpent

that wraps around

the entire world

with its tail.

Hinduism has Brahma

banishing the serpent deity Naga.

The original Chinese legend

of the white snake

before it evolved

into a romance story

was a story

of good and evil

with the white snake demon

an embodiment of evil

ensnaring a human

and then a Buddhist monk

Fahai

saving his soul

by defeating the serpent.

Greek mythology

has Perseus

slaying Medusa,

Zeus slaying

the serpent monsters

Typhon and Echidna,

Hercules killing

the snake monster Hydra

and as I already mentioned,

Apollo killing Python.

But all of these

are but faint

distorted echoes

of the truth.

The Bible in various places

calls the devil

and Satan

the great dragon

or the ancient serpent.

He's the original snake

in the Garden of Eden

who lured Adam and Eve

to rebel against God

and cause the fall

of humanity.

And in Genesis chapter 3

Genesis 3:15

verse 15,

God said to this serpent,

I will put enmity

between you and the woman

and between your offspring

and her offspring.

He shall bruise your head

and you shall bruise his heel.

This promise

is fulfilled by Jesus,

the promised son of man,

the offspring of the woman.

The serpent bruises

Jesus' heel.

Jesus dies on the cross

but little does the serpent know

that it is by his death

that Jesus destroys

the one who has

the power of death

that is the devil.

He says in Hebrews 2.14,

Jesus by his death

and resurrection

lands a fatal blow

on the serpent's head.

It's Jesus,

not Apollo,

who is the one

who crushes the python's head.

And he alone

for that reason

can offer us

eternal life,

resurrection life,

and as Christians

who have been baptized

in the name of Jesus

therefore have authority

over the python

and over all other

evil spirits under him.

Paul spoke in Jesus' name

and it's the authority

of Jesus

that cast the demon out.

We don't know

if the slave girl

became a Christian or not,

it doesn't tell us,

but she was certainly

delivered from the bondage

and control

of this evil spirit.

So as we faithfully

speak the word of the Lord,

God powerfully acts

to deliver.

Some of you may be

like this slave girl

or her owners

who are enmeshed

in occult practices.

Maybe you have also

dabbled in other religions.

You may not have done it

for financial gain

like they did,

but you still got

something out of it.

Maybe you're seeking

moments of euphoria

or transcendence

or peace

or power.

Maybe you're just

trying to make sense

of things

or understand the world.

Maybe you,

like Paul's Greek audience,

think that there are

many ways of salvation.

You see Christianity

as just one option

among many.

Or maybe you conceive

of salvation

in an entirely different way.

For you,

salvation is not

being forgiven the sins

and being reconciled to God

and having eternal life.

For you,

salvation is

getting rich

or famous,

getting loved

and married

and enlightenment,

a career breakthrough,

leaving a mark

for progeny.

Whatever the case

might be,

the Word of God

teaches us here

that what you need most,

what all of us

need most

is to be saved

from sin

and its unavoidable

consequence,

death.

There's only one

Savior who is up

to that task

and His name

is Jesus.

If you want to

escape the deadly grip

of that ancient serpent,

you must throw

your lot in

with Jesus.

The casting out

of the spirit

of divination

starts a chain reaction

that will eventually

land Paul and Silas

in prison

where God has ordained

that they will meet

and minister to

a jailer.

The owners

of the slave girl,

recognizing that

a lucrative

revenue stream

has been cut off

by Paul's exorcism,

forcefully seize

Paul and Silas

and drag them

into the marketplace

before the rulers.

But notice the charges

that the owners

bring against

Paul and Silas.

So Luke,

the narrator,

tells us the reason

why they were upset

because they lost

some income,

potential income.

That's the real reason.

But they bring

these charges

in verses 20 to 21.

These men are Jews.

They are disturbing

our city.

They advocate customs

that are not lawful

for us as Romans

to accept or practice.

their charges

have nothing

to do

with the actual

reason

for them

bringing this trial,

bringing this lawsuit.

This was not

the first time,

nor would it be

the last time,

that pursuit

of material gain

would be couched

in terms of

patriotism,

anti-Semitism,

and xenophobia.

They are Jews.

Oh, but we are

the Romans.

They're advocating

unlawful customs

that are unacceptable

for us Romans.

They're disrupting

our way of life.

If you let them alone,

they will overrun

our city

and everything we know

and hold dear.

These,

the owners of the

slave girl were shrewd.

They knew exactly

what buttons to push.

The result was

popular outrage.

It says in verse 22,

the crowd joined

in attacking them

and the magistrates

tore the garments

off them

and gave orders

to beat them

with rods.

The crowd is now

also inveighing

against the missionaries

and the magistrates

undoubtedly motivated

in part by their

fear of the mob,

by the throw justice

by the wayside

and order them

to be beaten

with rods.

We learn later

in verse 37

that it was actually

illegal for them

to publicly beat

and imprison Roman

citizens

before their

condemnation

under due process.

After their release,

Paul demands

that the magistrates

personally come

and escort them

out of the prison

likely as a way

of public vindication

and rehabilitation

so that the church

in Philippi

might be shielded

from the shame

and dangerous precedent

that was set

by them being

imprisoned

and beaten

without due process.

But at this point

of the story,

Paul and Silas

don't appeal

to their Roman citizenship

in order to get out

of this predicament.

It's possible

that everything

just happened

too quickly,

but it's also possible

that Paul and Silas

didn't want

to legitimize

the Philippians'

Roman civic pride

and their anti-Jewish

sentiments

by appealing

to their Roman citizenship.

Doing so

would have undermined

their proclamation

of the Jewish Messiah

who brings salvation

to all peoples.

So they instead

endured the pain

and shame

of being stripped

of their clothes

and being flogged

in public.

And after this,

it says in verses

23 to 24,

the magistrates

threw them into prison

ordering the jailer

to keep them safely.

Having received

this order,

he put them

into the inner prison

and fastened

their feet

in the stocks.

The inner prison

in modern terms

would be the maximum

security cell.

that's where

you put people

you really don't

want to get out.

And they were bound

with wooden stocks

on their feet

so they can't even

move around the prison.

Try to put yourself,

pause for a moment

and put yourself

in Paul and Silas'

shoes here.

I mean,

they haven't done

anything wrong.

All they were doing

was faithfully proclaiming

the gospel

in the power

of Jesus' name

and here they are

beaten,

now in prison,

under trumped up charges.

Their backs are flayed

and bleeding

so they probably

can't even lie down

to sleep

because it hurts.

That's probably why

they're awake

at midnight

even though they had

a really long day.

In the darkest,

dankest part

of the prison

with not only

their freedom

but their mobility

taken away,

they're surrounded

by the suffocating

smell of blood

and sweat

with the pain

of fresh wounds

on their backs

and the pain

of wounded pride

on their hearts.

they're facing

an uncertain future

not knowing

what awaits them

the next day.

They don't even know

if they'll live

past the next day.

What do you think

was going through

Paul and Silas' minds?

Paul and Silas

were men of faith

to be sure

but they were not

stoic robots.

They were going

through some serious

pain and heartache here.

They must have had

questions on their minds

too.

What went wrong?

Could we have done

something differently?

But Paul and Silas

decide that they

can't hang their heads

in despair.

Perhaps they remember

Psalm 42.

Why are you

cast down

O my soul?

Why are you

in turmoil

within me?

Hope in God

for I shall again

praise Him

my salvation

and my God.

And so though

they are physically

exhausted

and emotionally drained

it says in verse 25

about midnight

Paul and Silas

were praying

and singing hymns

to God

and the prisoners

were listening

to them.

Brothers and sisters

you know well

that Christians

are not immune

to sin and suffering.

God will preserve us

till the end

and we who persevere

in faith and obedience

will be saved

in the end.

We will share

in the glory of God

forever

but here on earth

we will have

our share of tribulations.

but in the midst

of that

let us not

languish

like those

who have no hope.

Whether you have

a terminal cancer

diagnosis

or crippling anxiety

whether you're

dealing with

unemployment

or family drama

or religious persecution

if you're going

to be beaten down

if we're going

to be beaten down

let's go down

praying

and singing

hymns to God.

look at what it says

at the end of verse 25

and the prisoners

were listening

to them.

When you pray

and sing to God

in the midst

of your suffering

I assure you

brothers and sisters

your unbelieving

family members

friends

and neighbors

they are

listening to you.

You're bearing

witness to Jesus

and the

inextinguishable

hope

that we have

in him.

Now in the book

of Acts

whenever you see

mentioned a prayer

that's when you

should start

grabbing

holding onto

your seats

because you should

expect to see

God move

in response

in a powerful way.

That's the pattern

we see

throughout this book

and throughout

this passage

in verse 13

it's at the place

of prayer

that Paul meets

Lydia

whom God saves.

Her house

then becomes

the gathering place

for the church

in Philippi

and in verse 16

it was on

one of Paul's

regular journeys

to the place

of prayer

that he exercised

the slave girl

who had a spirit

of divination

and finally

here in verse 25

it says

Paul and Silas

were praying

and singing hymns

to God

that God intervenes.

It says in verse 26

and suddenly

there was a great

earthquake

so the foundations

of the prison

were shaken

and immediately

all the doors

were opened

and everyone's

bonds were unfastened.

The jailer's

living quarters

was apparently

connected to the prison

we see that

in verses 32

and 34

the commotion

caused by the earthquake

wakes up the jailer

and then he

rushes in

to see what's happened

and then the prison doors

are wide open

and so it says

in verse 27

he drew his sword

and was about to kill himself

supposing that

the prisoners

had escaped.

If the prisoners

whom he had been

specifically charged

to guard

safely

in verse 23

have escaped

the jailer

would have been

punished severely

perhaps even executed.

We saw earlier

in Acts chapter 12

Acts 12 · chapter mention

that the guards

under whose watch

Peter,

Apostle Peter

escaped prison

were executed

by Herod.

But Paul

interrupts

him

with a loud voice

in verse 28

do not harm yourself

for we are all here.

Paul has been

in the dark

lightless prison

so his eyes

are already adjusted

to the dark

so he can see

everything that's going on

but the guard

wasn't able to see it

and so he calls them

calls for the lights

to come in

and they rush in

and then he says

in verse 29

trembling with fear

he fell down

before Paul

and Silas.

It's not hard

to imagine

why the jailer

is trembling

with fear.

He was literally

seconds away

from taking

his own life.

Many nights

have gone by

uneventfully

at the prison

on his job

but who are

these new

prisoners

Paul and Silas

that heaven

would move

earth

to break

them out?

Who are

these prisoners

who instead

of scrambling

to escape

as the doors

are open

remain calm

and collected

concerned not

for their own

welfare

but for the life

of the jailer

that put the

stocks on their feet?

Who are

these people?

the jailer

is overwhelmed

and is trembling

with fear

and falls down

before Paul

and Silas.

Perhaps the jailer

had heard of

what the demonized

slave girl

was saying

about Paul

and Silas

that they are

servants of the

Most High God

proclaiming to you

the way of salvation.

It says in verse 30

the jailer

brought them out

and said

sirs what must

I do

to be saved?

Maybe he's

concerned that

he

the just jailed

men who clearly

have the power

of a deity

behind them

the jailer

knows that

he is not

saved

and that

he needs

salvation

and there's

something that

Paul and

Silas know

something that

Paul and

Silas have

that he does

not know

and he does

not have

and so he

implores them

sirs what

must I do

to be saved?

This is likely

a typical

Roman pagan

expectation

behind the

jailer's question

what must

I do

to be saved?

Should I

make a

sacrifice

to this

God

to appease

him?

Should I

become a

Jew

like you?

Paul and

Silas' answer

in verse 31

would have

totally upended

the jailer's

expectations

believe

in the

Lord Jesus

and you

will be

saved

you and

your household

this salvation

that we

offer

is not

what you

must do

it is about

believing in

who Jesus

is

and what

he has

already done

the lordship

of Jesus

entails

the death

and resurrection

of Jesus

because it is

by his

resurrection

that Jesus

was proclaimed

to be

the Lord

Paul says

in Philippians

2

7-11

that because

Jesus

obeyed his

father unto

death

even death

on the

cross

that God

highly

exalted

him

and bestowed

on him

the name

that is

above

every name

so that

at the

name

of

Jesus

every knee

should bow

in heaven

and on earth

and under

the earth

and every

tongue

confess

that Jesus

Christ

is

Lord

to the

glory of

God the

father

Jesus

is Lord

because

he is

the only

son of

God

exalted

at the

right hand

of God

Jesus

is Lord

because

he is

the only

person

who has

defeated

sin and

death

on the

cross

Jesus

is Lord

because

he is

the only

one

who has

been

raised

from

the

dead

forever

believe

in

the

Lord

Jesus

and you

will be

saved

that is

the one

thing

you must

do

in order

to be

saved

salvation

is not

something

you attain

by accumulating

enough good

works

or karma

points

salvation

is not

found in

any other

philosopher

or religious

teacher

Jesus

is

the way

the truth

and the

life

and no

one comes

to the

father

except

through

him

it is

by pledging

our allegiance

to Jesus

alone

by trusting

in him

alone

for the

forgiveness

of sins

that we

are

saved

let me

ask you

how would

you

answer

that

question

sirs

ma'am

what

must

I do

to be

saved

John

Taylor

Smith

was a

20th

century

Anglican

bishop

and military

chaplain

he served

as the

chaplain

general

of the

British

army

during

World

War

I

and as

chaplain

general

it was

his

responsibility

to interview

candidates

for

chaplaincy

and he

would ask

all of

them

this

all

important

question

quote

now I

want you

to show

me how

you

would

deal

with

a

man

we

will

suppose

I

am

a

soldier

who

has

been

wounded

on

the

field

of

battle

I

have

three

minutes

to

live

and

I

am

afraid

to

die

because

I

do

not

know

Christ

tell

me

how

may

I

be

saved

and

die

with

the

assurance

that

all

is

well

if

the

applicant

began

to

beat

around

the

bush

and

talk

about

the

true

church

and

ordinances

and so

on

the

good

bishop

would

say

that

will

not

do

I

have

only

three

minutes

to

live

tell

me

what

I

must

do

and

as

long

as

bishop

smith

was

chaplain

general

unless

a

candidate

could

answer

that

question

he

could

not

become

a

chaplain

in

the

army

a

message

of

salvation

that

cannot

help

a

dying

man

is

no

good

news

at

all

but

our

Lord

Jesus

is

able

to

save

to

the

uttermost

believe

in

him

entrust

yourself

to

him

and

you

will

be

saved

verse

32

tells

us

that

Paul

and

Silas

went

on

teaching

at

length

they

spoke

the

word

of

the

Lord

to

him

and

to

all

who

were

in

his

house

it's

not

only

the

jailer

but

his

entire

household

that

hears

the

good

news

of

Jesus

Christ

earlier

in

verse

31

Paul

and

Silas

told

the

jailer

believe

in

the

Lord

Jesus

and

you

will

be

saved

you

and

your

household

this

does

not

mean

that

the

family

members

of

the

jailer

will

be

saved

through

the

jailer's

faith

there's

no

such

thing

as

a

proxy

faith

you

cannot

be

saved

by

your

parents

faith

no

one

can

believe

in

Jesus

for

you

but

Paul

and

Silas

were

exhorting

not

only

the

jailer

but

his

entire

household

to

believe

and

the

fact

that

they

did

come

to

believe

is

seen

in

their

response

in

verses

33

to

34

and

he

took

them

the

same

hour

of

the

night

and

washed

their

wounds

and

he

was

baptized

at

once

he

and

all

his

family

then

he

brought

them

up

into

his

house

and

set

food

before

them

and

he

rejoiced

along

with

his

entire

household

that

he

had

believed

in

God

when

God

acts

in

power

there

is

immediate

effect

we

saw

that

with

Lydia

God

opening

her

heart

we

saw

that