Paul in the name of Jesus Christ cast the spirit out of the slave girl who was a fortune teller. She was helped, but her owners were not happy. They had Paul and Silas put into prison. However, when Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs in the middle of the night, all at once there was a huge earthquake. The doors of the prison opened and the prisoner’s chains all fell off. The conversation between Paul and the guards is very interesting because in the conversation the way to be saved is asked and the answer is given. Today let’s look at their conversation and what is necessary for salvation.
I. Singing and praying in the middle of the night (vs.19-26)
After Paul cast out the evil spirit from the girl slave fortune teller, “the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone”. (19) Therefore, “they seized Paul and Silas” (19) and “brought them before the magistrates.” (20) When we share the Gospel, the way it is done maybe different, but we always face such opposition. The natural man thinks of only himself. He wants to gain profit for himself only. It is the gospel that can change a person from a self centered person to someone who can love others as they love themselves. In reality the more self centered a person is the less he is open to the Gospel. This is true of the girl slave fortune teller’s owners too. When Paul cast out the evil spirit from the girl slave fortune teller, the owners of the slave girl realized that she could no longer tell the future and “that their hope of making money was gone”. (19) Therefore they began to see Paul as an enemy. A girl was set free from an evil spirit, but they didn’t rejoice, but complained to Paul. For them the casting out of the evil spirit was ruining their business. “Was gone” means “left”. Therefore, when the evil spirit left the girl their hope of making money also left. Therefore the owners brought Paul and Silas “before the magistrates and said, ‘These Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice. The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten.” (20-22)
To be treated that way Paul and Silas must have felt terrible. They must have felt uncertain about their future. However, they didn’t complain. They also didn’t give excuses for themselves. In the midst of these painful and inconvenient circumstances “Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God”. (25) Suddenly there was a huge earthquake. Miraculously “all the prison doors flew open.” (26) More miraculous was that Paul and Silas could pray and sing in the midst of these circumstances. They came to Macedonia by the leading of the Holy Spirit so they probably anticipated that God was going to do a great work there. Therefore when in reality it wasn’t so you would expect them to have uncertainties and to complain. However, they didn’t complain, but sang and praised the Lord with thankfulness. They were able to do this because they trusted in God. No matter what circumstances they found themselves. They believed that God would work for their good.
Their prayer must have been a prayer of trust and obedience. If not, their prayer would not have naturally led to singing. Hymns can be sung no matter what circumstances we are in. No matter if we are in the pits of life we can sing hymns to God. Gospel, the Christian songs of the blacks are an example of this. When the blacks were struggling in slavery they sang Gospel songs. The Gospel songs were songs of the soul so the songs were able to lift up the depths of their hearts. Even in the depths of struggles their slave owners were not able to put chains on their souls. Through Gospel songs they were able to praise God and have freedom in their souls. Paul and Silas who were in chains in prison were the same. No matter how strong a prison, they weren’t able to shut out the joy of Christ in Paul and Silas’ life. Even if not a ray of light entered the prison cell, there was no way they could make Paul and Silas’ heart dark. By their prayer and singing they made the prison a heavenly place of worship. The light that filled their hearts shone in the “midnight” darkness of the prison. The prison full of curses and uneasiness rang with joyful voices of praises to God and the other prisoners listened quietly to them. A special characteristic of Christians is that they are not controlled by circumstances, but control the circumstances and have the power to change things. Christians can experience that much joy.
Romans 8:35-39
There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. There is nothing that can take away our hope. We are victorious no matter what circumstances we are in. Even if we are in the darkness of a prison, those who believe in and live in Christ always have the love of God flowing in their hearts. We have the power to change the pain and struggles in the deep parts of our soul to prayer and hymns. Let’s remember this and at all times look to heaven and pray and sing.
II. Believe in the Lord Jesus (vs.27-32)
Next let’s look at what we must do to be saved. While Paul and Silas were praying and singing to God, “suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.” (26) The jailer who saw this thought that all the prisoners had escaped and drew his sword to commit suicide. According to Roman law, if a prisoner escaped the jailor was given the same sentence as the escapee had. Therefore if he was going to be sentenced to death, he thought it was better to commit suicide. Therefore, “he drew his sword and was about to kill himself”. (27) But Paul shouted to him, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” (28)
It is amazing that even though the prison doors opened and the chains fell off the prisoners, not one prisoner escaped. Probably the other prisoners looked at Paul and Silas’ attitude and realized there was some king of amazing power at work. The jailor shone his light on the prisoners and all their chains were off and they could easily escape, but not one prisoner had run away. He was so shocked that he “rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.” (29) Then the jailer brought Paul and Silas out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (30)
Paul and Silas answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-you and your household.” (31)
The jailer addresses Paul and Silas, “Sirs”, a very respectable title and one definitely not used towards prisoners. Through these 2 evangelists the jailor felt God and was amazed that they could stop the prisoner’s desire to escape. For most people the desire to be saved comes from the respect and trust the person has towards the person who is sharing the Gospel.
Then the jailer asks Paul and Silas, “what must I do to be saved? (30) By this question we don’t know how much the jailer wanted to be saved spiritually and how much he wanted to be saved from the situation that he was in. However, Paul and Silas answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-you and your household.” (31)
Paul and Silas’ answer was something that they had real confidence in daily. That is that by believing in Jesus Christ that you will be saved. Even if the jailor wanted to be saved from the present situation, Paul and Silas are answering about what he needed to do to be saved spiritually. By believing in Christ you are saved spiritually and set free from all sin which is the root of all problems that we face in life. The way to salvation is through believing in Jesus Christ. The problems that the jailor was facing were very difficult ones that seemed like there was no answer for them. However, by believing in Jesus Christ not only would the jailor receive spiritual salvation, but believing in Jesus Christ is also the basic solution for solving the problems that we face in daily life. If we believe in Jesus Christ then we are saved. This is salvation from sin, the salvation of our soul, but also is the solution for each individual problem that we face in life.
To “Believe in the Lord Jesus” means to leave everything in His hands. The words “Believe in the Lord Jesus” actually mean “Believe on the Lord Jesus”. In other words, we are to put ourselves on top of our Lord Jesus and let Him carry us through life. We leave everything up to the Lord.
If we make a decision to believe in Christ, but we can’t leave everything up to Jesus, then we won’t really be able to experience salvation. To be really saved we need to believe “on” the Lord Jesus, ride on His shoulders, and leave everything in His hands. If we believe in Christ, we are saved spiritually and we are given strength to be victorious in all areas of our lives. No matter what comes our way unexpectantly we are able to stand firmly without being shaken. That is because we have been saved spiritually and because of our faith.
III. The happiness and joy of believing in God as result of the whole family believing in God (vs.33-34)
Finally let’s look at the result of the jailor’s conversation with Paul and Silas over what he needed to do in order to be saved. Paul and Silas told the jailor, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-you and your household.” (31) Then Paul and Silas “spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.” (32, 33) Then the jailer brought Paul and Silas to his home and fed them. The jailor “was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God-he and his whole family.” (34) It happened as Paul said it would. If you “Believe in the Lord Jesus,” then “you will be saved-you and your household.” (31)
Just as Paul said, when the jailor believed in Jesus, both the jailor and his family were saved. From this we get the idea that if one person in the family is saved then automatically everyone in the family will be saved. However, that isn’t what this passage is teaching. It is said that this passage’s translation is not clear. The NIV translation of verse 31 is “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-you and your household.” (31) A literal translation of this verse is, “Believe in the Lord, Jesus. Then you will be saved. You also. Your family also.” Any one who believes will be saved. However, if you don’t believe then you won’t be saved. If someone in your family is saved and you do nothing else, then everyone will not be automatically saved. In verse 32 we can see that the jailor’s family as well as the jailor listened to the Word of God. Then both the jailor and his household were baptized. Then the jailor was filled with joy because his family as well has himself had believed and were saved. However, when one person in the family is saved, that salvation influences the whole family.
This should challenge the way we live out our faith. In other words, our faith shouldn’t be one fishing pole, but a net in which the whole family should be saved. We should pray that not only we will be saved, but that our whole family will be saved.
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-you and your household.” (31) To be saved the only thing we need to do is believe in our Lord Jesus. We don’t have to study anything. Of course studying the Bible is important, but the most important thing is believing。God’s son who became man, Jesus Christ died on the cross to forgive us of our sins. Three days later he rose and completed the way to salvation. What is important is whether we have accepted this salvation or not.
John 6:47
Do you believe in Jesus Christ? If there is anyone here who doesn’t believe, this morning please believe in Jesus Christ. Is there any one here that has family members who have not saved? Let’s pray for their salvation. And then like the jailor let’s have joy because our whole family is saved.