The Philippian Jailer

What must I do? to be saved. And what does Paul say?

Well, from this day forth, you have to be a good boy.

Now. Rather, Paul said. You need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's all. That is, if you trust in Christ and in Christ alone.

Never again do you have to fear. The Wrath of God the wrath that most certainly will come. Have you ever asked that question? What must I do to be saved? On the brink of taking his own life, the Philippian jailer did.

And the answer was the best news that he could hear. Welcome to the Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind. I'm Nathan W. Bingham. We're getting a glimpse into the ministry of the Apostle Paul.

as recorded for us in the book of Acts on Sundays. And this week, he will find himself imprisoned. And what do you do if you're locked away? You sing praises to God. and preach the good news of the gospel.

Before we get to today's sermon, If you'd like to walk through Acts line by line, I encourage you to request RC Swirl's commentary on Acts. Simply give a donation in support of Renewing Your Mind at renewingyourmind.org, and we'll send you a hardcover copy to add to your library as our way of saying thank you.

Well, here's Dr. Sprawl on Paul and Silas and the Philippian Jayla. Therefore, sailing from Troas. We ran a straight course to Samothrace and the next day came to Neapolis. And from there to Philippi.

which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia A colony And we were staying in that city for some days. And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made And we sat down and spoke to the women, Who met there?

Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us She was a seller of purple. From the city of Thyratira, Who worship God? The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, She begged us, saying, If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, Come to my house and stay. And so she persuaded us, Now it happened as we went to prayer.

That a certain slave girl possessed with the spirit of divination met us. who brought her masters much profit by fortune telling. This girl followed Paul and us. And cried out, saying, These men are the servants of the Most High God. who proclaim to us the way of salvation.

And she did this for many days. But Paul Greatly annoyed. turned and said to the Spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ. To come out of her. And he came out that very hour.

But when her master saw that their hope of profit was gone. They seized Paul and Silas. and dragged them into the market place to the authorities. And they brought them to the magistrates and said, These men being Jews exceedingly trouble our city. And they teach customs which are not lawful for us.

being Romans to receive or observe. Then the multitude rose up together against them, The magistrates tore off their clothes, and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, They threw them into prison, Commanding the jailer to keep them securely. And having received such a charge, He put them into the inner prison, and fastened their feet in the stocks. But at 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 every one's chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, Suppose the prisoners had fled. And he drew his sword. and was about to kill himself. McCall called with a loud voice.

saying do yourself no harm For we are all here. And then he called for a light and ran in and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, Sirs, What must I do to be saved? And so they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 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 wash their stripes And immediately he and all his family were baptized. And when he had brought them into his house he set food before them, And he rejoiced. Having believed in God, With all of his household, Paul and Silas and Timothy and Luke.

We're wondering Where to go? When Paul received a vision of a man from Macedonia. Crying in this vision, saying Come over. To Macedonia. And help us.

And so with that vision. They set sail. And they went from Troas and they went ultimately to. to Philippi in Macedonia. and Philippi was one of the largest and most important cities in the region of Macedonia.

Paul and Silas now come to Philippi, and there they go out on the Sabbath day. By the river. Obviously, there was no synagogue yet. Nevertheless, there were Gentiles who were God-fears. Who joined for prayer along the river, which was the custom in the ancient world, because part of the Jewish prayers required.

Ritual forms of cleansing. And so they would assemble. By some source of water, such as a river or an oasis or a well or whatever. And so Paul and Silas come now down by the riverside, and they begin to talk to these women that are gathered for prayer. And among these women is this woman named Lydia.

who's identified As a seller, of purple. Which of course was a precious dye in the ancient world. And Paul begins to preach to her. And notice what the Bible says in terms of her response. I don't want to miss this.

The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. I want you to notice all the way through the book of Acts. But Luke is a consistent. Calvinist He doesn't say anything here. about Lydia opening her own heart.

or changing her own disposition of her own soul, But Luke gives credit. Where the credit is always due for conversion, that it is God who opens the heart. It is God who changes the soul. It is God who, through His supernatural intervention, changes the direction and disposition of our heart, which by nature is disinclined towards the things of God. and creates in the soul now a hunger and thirst For the things of God by nature.

Our hearts are made out of stone. Until the Holy Ghost changes that heart. and gives it life, then it begins to pulsate and beat for the things of God. And that's what happens to Lydia. And she's converted.

And she's the first convert in the continent of Europe mentioned. in the Bible. And in her response. She is so excited. About her new life, that she says to Paul and Silas and their entourage, Come, come to my house.

Stay there. which they did and probably started a house church there. But it wasn't long. Until Paul in his ministry began to be harassed. By this slave girl That the scripture teaches us.

was possessed by a devil. And notice what it says about her. That she follows Paul and Silas around. It's really She's stalking them. The force of the language here in the text is that she doesn't leave them out of their sight.

Wherever they go, she's going, and she keeps saying over and over. And over again. These men are the servants of the world. Of the Most High God. Who proclaimed to us the way of salvation.

Now you would think. If you had somebody who was esteemed to have supernatural gifts and powers in a pagan world, if they were screaming to the public, that these preachers were Speaking the word of the Most High God, and was giving to them the news of salvation, that that would be an occasion of great comfort to these missionaries. But it's obvious from the context here That this woman was saying these words In a scornful mocking manner, which is typical of the demonic world. Remember in the Gospels that the first ones During Jesus' earthly ministry, to recognize him for who he was. were the demons, Who called him the Holy One of Israel, which indeed he was.

I said, What do you have to do with us, O Holy One? Have you come to torment us before? Our time. Yeah. And Jesus rebuked them.

Because though they gave testimony. to the truth of Jesus And the truth of the message here of the Apostle Paul It was done in acrimony. It was done scornfully through clenched teeth, trying to make fun of what the apostles were proclaiming. And finally, Paul gets sick of it. It says he's not just annoyed.

But he gets greatly annoyed. And you know, one of the most dangerous things you could do in the ancient world was to annoy the Apostle Paul. That was not a good idea. But they greatly vexed and annoyed the Apostle Paul until finally. He becomes involved.

in the act of exorcism and commands the spirit that possessed this slave girl To come out of her. And the moment of the command. The demon is loosed. And the woman is set free.

Now anybody with any compassion including our owners. Would have rejoiced. that this woman had been delivered. From a devil Instead, they were outraged. Because they were in danger of losing.

the source of income that she so richly provided For them. And so they grab a hold of Paul and Silas and they drag him into the Agora, into the marketplace.

Now, in the marketplace is not only the place where business is transacted. But it's also the place where often trials are heard, hearings are set forth, and the magistrates will come and hear testimony against criminals.

So they drag Paul and Silas before the magistrates. And they lie. They bear false witness. They don't come and say, oh, these guys are guilty of liberating this woman from a devil. Rather, He said these guys are stirring up exceedingly great trouble.

in our town. And not only that, they're trying to encourage us to acts of sedition. They're telling us to practice religion and customs of the Jews, which are not legal. Among the Romans. Tell all these lies.

And as a result, the magistrates Sides with the crowd. And the multitude, and an act of frenzy, come and they start to tear the clothes off of Paul and Silas.

Now, Luke doesn't tell us to what degree They stripped them of their garments. It wasn't unusual in circumstances like this for the prisoners to be stripped totally nude. Because part of their punishment would be to be exposed to humility. And the shame. But that didn't necessarily happen here.

At least they were stripped to the waist. For a utilitarian purpose, that they may feel the full measure. of the beating they were about to receive. And so Paul and Silas were beaten with sticks like canes. And on the Jewish punishment in their code, There was a limited number of times in which a lash or a stick could be.

could be applied to a prisoner. Under Roman penal code, there was no such limit.

So we have no idea. How long or how severely Paul and Silas were subjected to to this merciless beating. All that we are told is that they were given so many stripes that their backs were laid bare. They were brutally beaten. And then, to add insult to injury, were dragged.

in their bloody pain, and thrown into the prison. And not just into the prison. But according to the directive given to the jailer, They were taken to the innermost part of the prison. which may have even been a subterranean part.

Now below the level of the ground. and in the dankest part of the prison, and not only be held there in the most secure part of the prison, but they were to be put in the stocks.

Now you've seen pictures of the old Puritans in New England when they would put somebody in the stocks with their hands and their feet and they'd be held out there for public humiliation.

Well, the purpose of the stocks here was twofold. In the first place, the stocks were there to bind their feet so securely that it would make it impossible for them to escape. And secondly, the stocks themselves were fitted in such a way as to inflict a kind of torture on the prisoners. Anytime they tried to move their feet, more pressure would be applied to them. To increase their pain.

So here they are. In humiliation, Isolation having been beaten within an inch of their lives. thrown into the midst of the prison. and secured there by the stocks. For all intents and purposes in a hopeless Situation.

And then we get that merciful word. that I thank God almost every time I see it in the New Testament. That word that's so important to me and to my salvation, that I had a lady once. embroider it so I could hang it in my office. It's that three letter word But It signifies Something's going to change here.

In this case, we read. But at midnight Paul and Silas were crying. And complaining out to God? No. It's not what it says.

But at midnight Paul and Silas We're praying. And singing hymns to God. In the midst of their affliction, In the midst of their misery, The apostles are singing praises. to their God. And every prisoner In that prison Heard it.

Can you imagine what they were thinking? What's wrong with these nuts? Listen to them. Look at them. You can hardly recognize them as human beings.

They're so raw from their torture. And what are they doing? But singing. To their God. And suddenly There was a great earthquake.

So the foundations of the prison were shaken. Notice this. It doesn't say that there's a mild tremor. A two on the Richter scale. This is a great earthquake.

Not just the kind that shakes the building and shakes the doorways and causes the jars to fall on the floor and break. But the earthquake is so great that the very foundation of this prison. is moved. And immediately All the doors sprang open. And everyone's chains.

We're loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking from sleep. seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, did the only thing a jailer could do under the Roman system. He took out his sword. and was about to fall upon it.

Among the Romans If they fails to keep their duty. Suicide is not seen as an act of cowardice. Or as a sin. But it's seen as a virtue. that you accept your lot and the consequences of your failure.

Bye. Falling upon Your sword. Nature wakes up and he sees the condition of the prison. The doors are open. The chains are gone.

He doesn't see any of the prisoners. And the assumption he makes is that they've all already fled. He's lost their prison. He knows the Roman law that if he loses somebody who's there in a capital offense, he has to replace that person. And so to save his honor.

He takes the knife. And he begins to plunge it into his heart. And if he accomplished that task, ladies and gentlemen, One more second. That man would have been in hell. Forever.

But just as he's ready to stab himself, he hears the Apostle Paul crying in a loud voice. Stop! Don't kill yourself. We're all here. What?

What? You gotta be kidding me. You're all here, and he starts looking around 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, starts counting the numbers.

So the jeweler called for a light and he gets a torch and he runs in and he falls down trembling in front of Paul and Silas. And then he brought them out of the prison, and he said, Sirs, What must I do? To be saved. And what does Paul say?

Well, from this day forth, you have to be a good boy.

You have to stop torturing your prisoners. You have to give them enough to eat. You can't tie 'em up too tightly in the stocks. I want you to go out and collect money on Christmas Day for the poor. Want you to become a deacon in the church.

Now. Rather, Paul said. What must you do to be saved? You need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's all.

You believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you'll be saved. Your wife will be saved, your household will be saved, and anybody that puts their faith in Christ. anywhere in this world. will be saved. That is, if you trust in Christ and in Christ alone.

Never again do you have to fear. The wrath of God The wrath that most certainly will come.

Now, in one sense. Looking back on his life. The thing that occasioned his conversion The great earthquake. and the near escape of the prisoners, So obviously the most terrifying thing that ever happened to the Philippian jailer. And yet this was his lucky day.

Because this was the day. But the façade was removed. His psychological defenses were destroyed. He fell on his face. And said, what must I do to be saved?

And he was offered Christ. And he went to Christ as fast as he could. He trusted in Christ and in Christ alone. For his salvation. And he went to his home, we are told.

Exceedingly glad. And he showed his gratitude. Paul, Silas, come here. Let me bathe your wounds. How could I have participated in these things?

Let me feed you from my table. That's a man who's tasted. of the sweetness of Christ. and has experienced for the first time What it means to be saved. I lose sleep worrying.

About any who come to this church on Sunday morning. In the choir and the strings. And the brass Visitors, members. Regular attenders. Who come to church?

But have never received him. You need to ask the question: what must I do? be saved. Because the answer is not esoteric, it's plain. Put your trust in Christ.

Trust Him. Not yourself. And you. will be saved. Now and forevermore.

Trust him. not yourself. That's a truth we need to preach to ourselves often, isn't it? That was R. C.

Sproul on this Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind. How refreshing it is to hear once again the gospel clearly proclaimed. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound. Today's sermon was preached at St.

Andrew's Chapel. And Dr. Sproll's entire sermon series in the book of Acts formed the basis for his expositional commentary. and we'll send you the hardcover edition of that commentary as our way of saying thank you for your donation in support of Renewing Your Mind and the gospel outreach of Ligonier Ministries at renewingyourmind.org. You can also find a link in the podcast show notes.

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Next time, we conclude this glimpse into the ministry of the Apostle Paul.

So please make plans to join us next Sunday here on Renewing Your Mind.