Legacy Baptist Church

We come again to our study of Acts chapter 16 and the account of Paul and Silas’ experience in Philippi of Macedonia.  Our focus this morning will be on verses 25-28.  To review, our two missionaries have just been severely beaten by the “lictors” (bodyguards, as it were) assigned to the local magistrates, and they now find themselves in a dark and filthy Macedonian prison while suffering from what are probably rather serious injuries.  All this, as we mentioned, has come about as a result of their faithful testimony of the gospel, as heard in the indictment issued by their local accusers in verse 21: “These men are throwing our city into confusion…proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept”.

Resuming our exposition, we come now to verse 25 and a remarkable response from our two beaten and imprisoned missionaries.  As Luke records: “But about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”  So the response of these men to the circumstances confronting them is to turn to prayer in order to yield their circumstances to the Lord God; their “ever-present refuge and strength in time of trouble.”  Further, they endeavor to remind themselves of God’s intimate love for them by singing hymns that serve to saturate their minds with joyful reminders of the care and concern of God for His saints.  Again, this all very instructive for us. When trials or adversity confront you, is it your response to yield those circumstances to the Lord God in prayer and to issue a joyful song so as to remind yourself of His unfailing love for you?

Now, those of you who know me have come to know that I have great conviction as it relates to the fact that the church ought to be a singing church.  In Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians, he exhorts the believers there that a heart yielded and controlled by the indwelling Spirit of God cannot help but “…sing and make melody in his heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19).  In fact, verse 20 of Ephesians 5 goes onto say that the child of God ought to “…always [be] giving thanks for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God”.   As I said, this is the outworking of the Holy Spirit, which is why Paul states in verse 18 of the text: “But be filled with the Spirit”,

So there is an important point to make here.  The individual believer whose mind is saturated by the truth and promises of God’s word, and who comes under the control of the Holy Spirit by the sovereign working of the Holy Spirit through the word of God, will indeed manifest, in the midst of difficult circumstances, hymns, spiritual songs, and a melody in his heart to the Lord God with thanksgiving for all things.  “Rejoice in the Lord….when? ALWAYS”.  These are the things that will characterize the Spirit-controlled believer when confronted by adversity, and contemporary “lictors”, “rods”, and “inner prisons”…and even martyrdom.

It’s no surprise to us then to see the Apostle Paul and Silas “praying and singing hymns of praise to God” while suffering this imprisonment.  What’s more, these outward expressions of their faith, trust and joy in the Lord have captivated the other inmates, as verse 25 records: “And the prisoners were listening to them.”(V25).   You see, persecution only brings about greater opportunity for the expression and advancement of the gospel; and Paul and Silas are both opportunists to be sure.  This kind of perspective is very important for us so that when you find yourself in the thick of the world’s antagonism for the message you carry, don’t compromise your faith.  Rather, anticipate further opportunity…because doors all around will begin to open successively through which you may boldly herald the message of reconciliation, just as our two missionaries are discovering in this Macedonian prison.

Continuing our exposition, Verse 26 goes on to reveal, “and suddenly there came a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.”  Now let’s acknowledge this for what it is.  This is a localized, violent shaking of the earth epicentered directly under this prison and issued sovereignly by the Lord God as a demonstration of His power, who supernaturally issues this event as a means to bring about His purposes.  So violent (“great”), and so localized, and so pinpointed was this earthquake that the very foundations of the prison were shaken so to the extent that “…prison doors were opened, and everyone’s chains unfastened.”  This must have been an abrupt, intense earthquake to accomplish this.

So we realize, in light of this providential event, that Paul and Silas were…what?  Never alone!  God was not inattentive to their plight….rather, it was all part of sovereign, providential purpose.  Do you know what divine providence is? It is the Lord God’s supreme, limitless, all-conquering power by which His purposes always achieve His desired end.  It is the invisible, INVINCBLE divine purpose that cannot be thwarted or frustrated, and is made visible in the achievement and manifestation of its desired outcome.  In other words, what God sovereignly purposes to do He ALWAYS accomplishes it….always.  He never fails.  Isaiah 14:24 says: “The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, ‘Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned, so it will stand.’”

What an encouraging truth for God’s people!  It does not guarantee physical deliverance from our circumstances, but it does demonstrate that when we, by faith, entrust our circumstances to His purposes, we can joyfully anticipate that God’s purposes will always be brought to His intended fulfillment…and in a way that pleases Him.  It is difficult to still our anxious spirits and just rest, isn’t it? But in the circumstances of life we must patiently, confidently await the manifestation of God’s providence and purpose. As one theologian said “A silent tongue displays a holy heart”.  I believe that’s true. So too, a not-so-quite, praying, singing tongue in the midst of adversity reveals an expectant heart, contentedly yielded to the will of God and to any outcome that pleases Him.  It wouldn’t surprise me one bit to learn that Paul and Silas started recounting Isaiah’s words above the moment their singing and praying was interrupted by this divinely-issued earthquake: “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned, so it will stand.” Marvelous.

At any rate, as a result of the violent quake, verse 27 records:  “And when the jailer had been roused out of sleep and had seen the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself supposing that the prisoners had escaped.”

In order to appreciate what is going through this jailer’s mind, we must understand that the Roman leadership had a special way of incenting diligence in their soldiers. Their orders went something like this:  “Marticus (it was the only Roman sounding name I could think of), prisoners are expected to remain safely encased in their cells, and if anyone escapes while you’re on post, you lose your life – got it?”  That, of course, was a very effective way of developing some diligence among the ranks…but no soldier could have anticipated a localized violent earthquake that conveniently unshackled all of the prisoners under his watch.  So we find our jailer taking a bit of a siesta…confident that the prisoners are secure.  He’s probably in his own personal quarters at this point, adjacent to the prison. But suddenly this violent quakes rattles him out of his slumber, and his mind immediately begins to race, thinking… “go check the cells!” He knows that this event has very likely put him in some jeopardy.  So he rushes down to take a look and “seeing the prison doors opened he drew his sword and was about to kill himself supposing that the prisoners had escaped.”  You see, his mind is flooded with the horror of failed duty and the inescapable consequences of the prisoners’ likely escape.  And rather than bring that kind of shame upon he and his household, he decides that it’s better to take his own life than to have his Roman superiors do it for him.  So, he unsheathes his sword and proceeds to commit suicide.

Suddenly, out of his panic, he hears a man from somewhere within the very dim prison compassionately crying out to him.  Perhaps the jailer recognizes the voice as one of the prisoners that was praying earlier; as one that was singing praise to his God throughout the evening.  In any event, the call comes from none other than the Apostle Paul who knew of the Roman protocol for Roman jailers, and who immediately set his concern upon this hardened soldier, in haste, so as to “cry out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Do yourself no harm, for we are all here”.  I cannot help but think that that this Roman soldier’s heart must have begun to melt upon hearing this compassionate cry from a prisoner who so faithfully, joyfully demonstrated total entrustment of his circumstances to the Lord God’s providential care and purposes.  And with that context in mind, God, in His grace will bring this suicidal soldier to his knees, and place in his heart and mouth a plea for his own salvation, as we’ll see next week.

Grace to you,

Jeremy