"25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 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. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!" 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31 They said, " Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household" (Acts 16:25-34).
Paul and Silas were beaten many times with rods and thrown into jail in the city of Philippi. Their crime? Proclaiming the Gospel and casting out a demon from a fortune telling from a slave girl.
Paul was no stranger to facing the wrath of Gospel haters. Already on his first missionary trip, the crowds in Lystra stoned him to within an inch of his life.
The Lord provided an earthquake that opened the jail doors and caused the chains to fall off all the prisoners. The jailer was about to fall on his own sword when he assumed all had escaped, since the penalty for him would have been execution anyway.
If "no good deed goes unpunished," as the saying goes, then certainly "no Gospel News goes unpunished" either. The Gospel is like fire that warms and cheers the hearts of believers, but burns and chafes the hearts of unbelievers.
As Paul puts it, Gospel speakers are an aroma of life to those being saved, but the aroma of death to those who are perishing (2 Cor 2: 14-16). The stench of that Gospel of salvation to unbelieving nostrils often leads to clenched fists and cursing mouths, as we see in Philippi.
Later, Paul would write to Timothy, "The Word of God is not bound" (2 Tim 2:9). The walls of the Philippian prison echoed with the liberating message of God's salvation as "Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God."
Only God knows how many of their fellow prisoners believed the Gospel that night. But the prisoners were listening. We do know that one whole family believed after Paul's conversation with the jailer, he and his whole household believed and were baptized.
Out of this seeming tragedy, God brought an occasion of great joy. Freedom came out of prison, life out of death. That's how Jesus works! He takes the worst of situations and brings good from it. His own crucifixion is an everlasting testimony to the good that comes from bearing a cross.
He brings into this world a peace that is not of this world (John 14:27). While outwardly we may be shackled in some type of prison, laughed at by peers, or stiff-armed by our own family, the peace of Christ sustains us inwardly. God the Holy Ghost pours this peace into us, forgiving us and strengthening us in Jesus.
Like Paul and Silas, we must keep the Gospel alive inside us and be ready to sing/speak it no matter the circumstances. Others are depending on us.
-Dale
