All right, we are continuing a sermon series in the New Testament Book of Acts, today reading in Acts chapter 16. We're going to start at verse 19, which is actually in the middle of a story. but it really is the middle of a whole lot of stories. This is that point in the book of Acts which is referred to as the second missionary journey of Paul. And it's gonna be a lot like the first missionary journey, a lot of exciting things, a lot of challenges and difficulties. But earlier in Acts chapter 16, Paul has had a vision, a man from Macedonia. in the land of Europe, actually, that beckoned him in the dream to come and to help him. Paul and his traveling companions at that time, Saul, Luke, who is the human author of the Book of Acts, and Timothy had planned to go east to Asia. But in response to that call, they turned and head west into Europe. And then we heard the story of the first convert in all of Europe, a wealthy woman named Lydia. We looked at that last week along with the second convert in Europe, and that was another woman who remained nameless. She's referred to as a slave girl, and she was controlled by an evil spirit, Paul. passed out that spirit. And as we begin our passage today, we see what is going to be the effect and the consequence of that act of liberating her, freeing her from the misuse that she had experienced and the suffering that she had experienced. So let's give attention to God's word. from Acts chapter 16 beginning at verse, what should I say, verse 19. But when her owners, this is the owners of the slave girl who had prophesied and gotten them much money, when the owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas, 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 them orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted 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 foundation 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. The jailer called for lights, rushed in. 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. 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 the 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 on condemned 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. Police reported these words to the magistrates and they were afraid when they heard they were Roman citizens. So they came and apologized to them. 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. And may the living God today impress upon our hearts and our minds the truth of his word. Amen. There's an old saying that goes, if these walls could only talk, if the walls of the prison where Paul and Silas had been thrown could talk, what do you think they would say? What had they heard through all their many years? They no doubt had heard cries of anguish. They probably heard shouts of anger. cursing of God and man, threats for vengeance to get back at someone. You know, this night should have been no different. If you and I were there, maybe it wouldn't have been. Paul and Silas had suffered injustice. They were not even given the basic rights of a trial for anyone, much less Roman citizens. They had been beaten and mocked publicly. Again, from our passage, the crowd Verses 22 and 23, the crowd joined in attacking them. The magistrates tore the garments off them, gave them orders to beat them with rods. When they inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. You know the words spoken by Jesus concerning Paul when Paul was first converted? I wonder if many times Paul began to think, it's coming true. In Acts 9 verses 15 and 16, the Lord said, Go for he is a chosen instrument. Speaking of Paul to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel, for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. This is Paul's story. Paul knew this is this is his life. Well, the abuse continues at the hand of the jailer, verse 24. Having received this order, he, the jailer, put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. The inner prison, you know, not like the outer prison was really nice. The outer prison wasn't very good and the inner prison was worse. It was dark, no water to tend to their wounds, nothing for any hygiene purpose. likely all kinds of filth and disease. The smell alone would have probably stopped people in their tracks. Stocks were put on their feet and that was designed not only to keep a prisoner from escaping, but to make them incredibly uncomfortable, would force their legs apart so their muscles would cramp. You just think of Paul and Silas and how their minds and their bodies would just be absorbed with what they've gone through, this physical suffering from the beating and now in stocks. And Paul is going to one day look back at his time in Philippi and he's gonna not think of this situation, or if he is, he's gonna think of it in a way you and I hardly could even imagine. Remember what he said years later when he wrote to the Philippians. Chapter one, verses three and five of Philippians. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. Isn't that incredible? He doesn't say, you know, when I think of being there with you, yeah, there were some rough times, but we had some good times too. He says, I thank my God in all my remembrance, everything that has happened. Friends, this is the power and the mystery of what's gonna come about next in this story. In every prayer of mine for you, making my prayer with joy. We think of Philippians as the letter of joy. But all we know about what Paul did in that city is filled with these challenges and these difficulties. But there's joy. How can that be? How can it be that there can be joy in a person's life when the circumstances are so difficult? Have you asked that? Have you wondered that? Paul and Silas, in the dark, horrid space, wrack with pain. And what are the walls going to hear? What are the other prisoners here? Something maybe never hardly heard before, maybe ever in that prison walls. They hear singing and their songs of praise to God. Verse 25, about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. This is really the first miracle of the story. Songs of praise to God in the midst of suffering. We're going to see this is going to be the witness to the power of God and to that joy that only the Lord can bring. It's true for people of faith. David sang songs of praise to God when he was running for his life. Psalm 34, verses one and two. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord. Let the humble hear and be glad. And Jesus sang, do you know that? Jesus sang in the face of his greatest suffering. The night before, the night of his arrest. had the last supper with the disciples, and in Matthew 26, verses 29 and 30, it follows this follows. I tell you, Jesus said, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. He's completing not only the Passover celebration, but what would become for us the celebration of the Lord's Supper. And notice what comes next. They sung a hymn. and went out to the Mount of Olives, our singing savior. Oh, how beautiful. Leading you, his children, in songs of praise in the midst of suffering. And the question for us, the question I have to ask myself is, is what song am I singing? Can you think of that today? What song are you singing? There are songs of lament. There are songs of searching in the Bible. They're part of the songbook. The people of faith have sung through the ages and we can sing those songs as well. But dear friend, is there a song of praise as well? A song of praise even in the face of suffering. Paul knew his sufferings had a purpose. He had responded to the call and a vision to go to this land, this region, a rough and tumble area called Europe. He knew God had called him to share with the Gentiles and that it would be difficult. And he knew God worked in all situations of all types. You see, that's the foundation of hope that gives joy that can create a song of praise. Well, the second miracle of the story is this earthquake, at least the result of the earthquake. After the earthquake, the prison door is open and everyone's chains of all the prisoners there fall off. And for this jailer, suddenly, suddenly his world has turned upside down. When he understands the prisoners are freed, the first realization is doors are open, chains are off, prisoners are gonna get loose. What's his first reaction? It's to kill himself, right? Well, why would a person do that? Why would a prison guard do that, the jailer? Well, typically in this era, especially for Romans, the jailer would face the same sentence as the person he was guarding. So there was no doubt people that had life sentence were about to be at some point executed. So he, the jailer, was gonna die in their place. But not only the fact that he would die but the great shame that now would be upon him. You see, he's a soldier. He'd based his life on things like strength and accomplishments, right? He'd seen the darkest of things, the hardest of things, but his world was built on being in control. If he saw an adversary, his response was to defeat it, right? That was his honor, and he had achievements and accomplishments in life. This is what built him up. And in an instant, it came crashing down. We all have to think about, what are we building our lives on? What kind of foundation? Could it, too, come crashing down? Maybe not as a soldier. Maybe in terms of other accomplishments, maybe in terms of other things that you put your hope in, that give you your identity. So this man suddenly is not strong. He's about to end his life, and Paul cries out to stop him, right? And the thing that he dreaded the most didn't come to pass. The prisoners are there, and guess what? Right? He's free. He's off the hook. Not at all. Not at all. Here comes the real earthquake, right? Here is what's going to really shake his foundations. This is the moment where he is exposed of the things that he doesn't have. Now think about this, right? This is what he doesn't have. This is where his power is revealed as weakness. This jailer does not have an answer for suffering. He's faced all kinds of problems before, but really he sees now he doesn't have an answer for suffering. His life was to avoid suffering or overcome suffering, but in the witness of Paul and Silas, what did he see? He saw people suffering with purpose. He didn't have that. He couldn't get that. It was an earthquake. He had no category or rationale for sacrificial kindness. He couldn't do that. He had mistreated Paul and Silas, and these very ones, these very ones, unlike he would ever do in his life, unlike anything he'd probably ever seen in his world, these mistreated ones abused by his own hand, now show him kindness, sacrificial kindness. They could have bolted, right? They could have hightailed it out of there, but what did they do? They turn and they show him kindness, and this is an earthquake that unsettles everything his life and his understanding of how life works is built upon. He had no power to face injustice, right? His life was limited to what can happen in this world. People are frustrated with injustice as we should be, but when we take matters into our own hands, when we let injustice rot us from within, make us angry, it's because we have no bigger framework. All we have is what can happen in this world, and that's what this soldier-turned-jailer had. But Paul, Paul and Silas had a foundation and a framework of life that was beyond this world. And they could seek justice in this world, but they also knew there was something beyond this world. You know, very interesting at the end of the story, isn't it? Paul and Silas never play this Roman citizen card until the end. You know why I think they did that? They didn't do it to protect themselves, but they knew there needed to be justice for who? They're leaving town, right? What do they care? They care about that dear flock, right? They care about Lydia. They care about the slave girl. They care about the other people coming to faith. They care about the jailer and his family, right? So they do, they seek justice, but not just justice as it serves them. The jailer had no categories for this. He didn't have the ability to get there. You see this, and what he sees is this. Who had the true power? Who had the power in this story? Paul and Silas. Who had freedom? Think about this. Who had freedom in this story? Paul and Silas. So the earthquake that rocks his world is he sees how limited he is. He sees that he desperately needs something beyond himself and so he cries out with the greatest question and the most appropriate question, verse 30, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Think about that. What must I do to be saved? It's urgent. It's a command. What must? You know, he's not thinking about theories. He's not thinking about philosophies, although faith does give us great perspectives on theories and philosophies. But at this moment, it's a calling and it's urgent. What must I do? This is personal. This isn't about my neighbor, this isn't about loved ones, this isn't about humanity, this is a personal call. It's urgent, it's personal, and it's desperate. What must I do to be saved? And notice, he doesn't say, what can I do to save myself? What can I do to earn some better standing before this wonderful God? No, he knows he needs help from outside of himself. And Paul and Silas respond, To the great question with a great answer, verses 31 and 32, 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. The main thing to do is to believe. That's the same message Jesus gave in John chapter six, verses 28 and 29. Religious leaders had asked him, questioning him, really threatening him almost. They said, what must we do to be doing the works of God? Jesus answered, this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. The only work needed to be saved is to believe. We call this justification by faith. And this is why the, Council in Acts 15 was so important. They were careful not to add to, not to confuse any other obligation or requirement, but to believe. To believe in the Lord, Paul and Silas said. Believe in the Lord. The Lord is the idea that he is the ruler, he is supreme, he is the one to whom we owe our life's allegiance, that we obey. He is God and he is one with the Father. In John 3, verses 35 and 36, Jesus said, the Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. You know, to believe in the Lord because he is God, he is one with the Father, means that when you believe, you are brought into the most amazing relationship in all of history and in all of the universe. When you believe in the Lord, you are brought into that relationship of God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And that's where you belong. What a blessing. What a foundation and identity. Believe in the Lord Jesus. The name Jesus means Savior, so to believe means to have one's sins forgiven. It means to have life. This is the path before the jailer. He's seen the emptiness of his life, maybe like you. He's realized he's weaker than he ever thought. Have you ever come to that point? He has greater fears, appropriate fears that he had never feared, and yet the hope is better and sweeter than he could have ever dared dream. Believe, believe, and that's not the only words they spoke. Verse 32 says, they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. So they gave the foundation that would lead him to make the right response to believe, but they also shared the word of God. They gave other truths and foundations, right? This wasn't the finish line, this was the starting gate for them. And he responds in faith. He's blessed. And notice how the impact is immediately on his household. Verses 33 and 34. He, the jailer, took them the same hour of the night, washed their wounds. He was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house, set food before them, and he rejoiced, there's our joy again, rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God. Do you see the connection? A changed heart leads to a changed home. We hear it in the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus, a tax collector who had swindled so many people, but then came to trust and believe in the Lord. Luke 18, verses eight and nine, Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. If I've defrauded anyone of anything, I will restore it fourfold. And Jesus said to him, listen to this, Jesus said, today, salvation has come to this house since he is a son of Abraham. What does it mean that salvation has come to a house? I'd like you to think about that this week. Take some time. How does salvation come to a house? That's what we saw in the passage. Jesus said it, we saw it in Acts, but we also heard about it in our Old Testament passage from Joshua. Remember the great statement from Joshua 24, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. He didn't say as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord. meant that and included family members, but he's saying much more. He's saying that all that happens in my house, all my interactions with people, any business connections that I have, every time I buy something that's part of my household, every time I have an interaction with another person that's part of my household, the things that are done under my roof are part of my household. And Joshua said it. And Zacchaeus said it. And now we hear it again in Acts, how God has ordained the household to be a place to know Him and to love Him and to experience the blessings of fruitfulness. Does it mean that everyone in the family is going to bend the knee, confess with the tongue, Jesus is Lord? We pray that. We hope that. But our vision and our commitment to that which God has entrusted to us as for me and my household, as for me and all my interactions and my responsibilities, we are going to be true to the Lord. And whether you're a family of one or a family of 21, 100, whatever size, this is our call. And how encouraging that is for all of us in whatever stage of life we might find ourselves, right? caring for elderly family members, raising grandkids, being single, being a single parent, being, you know, all kinds of dynamics give us the same calling to be responsible for that which God has entrusted to us. And you see through it all, there's this foundation, there's this hope, and there's this joy, joy, in the Philippian jailer's heart and in his household. God used Paul and Silas. He magnified the witness of all that they'd been through. You realize nothing was lost, everything that they endured. They didn't have to seek some kind of human, physical, immediate reconciling. They knew a mighty and gracious God was using everything, magnifying everything, especially the suffering to accomplish the purpose of God. There's one other. There's one other person God used in this story to bring the jailer to faith. Why was it that when his world was falling apart, the jailer was realizing everything he'd based his life upon was crumbling? He didn't have the resources to do what was really important in life. Why was it that he would frame the question exactly the way he did? You know, people throughout history have come to that point all the time. And they might have said, you know, is there a God? They might have said, you know, maybe I didn't look at the tree the right way. Maybe I didn't raise crops the right way. Why would he say, what must I do to be saved? There's a very good explanation for that. Because he had heard it. Do you know where he heard it? The slave girl. The slave girl. Acts 16, we looked at this last week, verse 17, she, the slave girl, who was controlled by an evil spirit, says, 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 she said it over and over again. And the very one who was overlooked, The very one whose life story was a story of suffering and abuse, of being used by others, even being used by religion. God was able to make beautiful and purposeful of her suffering. Of course the jailer would say, what must I do to be saved? He'd heard that echoing in his ears hauntingly. And he knew that these men had the answer. Love, hope, joy are flowing into this baby church. We've heard of three converts and a few others. And by the grace of God, Paul could write to them years later words that became part of their story If you believe in Jesus as your Savior today, this is your story. This is the hope that has flown into your hearts. Again, from Philippians chapter 4. Rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything. By prayer and supplication, let your request be made known to God and the peace, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. May that peace and that joy be ours as we look to Jesus our Savior today, amen.