Acts 16 part 4 The Philippian Jailor
Here we come to our final source of meaning. Jesus Christ.
16 As we were going to prayer, a certain girl having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by fortune telling. 17 Following Paul and us, she cried out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us a way of salvation!” 18 She was doing this for many days.
But Paul, becoming greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” It came out that very hour. 19 But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 When they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men, being Jews, are agitating our city 21 and advocate customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.”
22 The multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates tore their clothes from them, then commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely, 24 who, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison, and secured their feet in the stocks.
25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were loosened. 27 The jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, “Don’t harm yourself, for we are all here!”
29 He called for lights, sprang in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, 30 brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house.
33 He took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household. 34 He brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in God.
What must I do to be saved? Have you ever noticed how focused life becomes when someone gets a frightening diagnosis? It might be cancer or some other terminal disease. Then suddenly all other priorities take a back seat. Career, money, etc, are all set aside, and all of that person’s life is laser focused on, “How do I beat this thing?” “What must I do to be saved?” People get that way when their lives are in danger. If you were caught in a robbery, all of a sudden, you’re willing to hand over your wallet, whatever is demanded, “what must I do to be saved?” In a fire, or tornado, it becomes, how do I get to safety? What must I do to be saved?
Well we’ve been talking about the meaning of life. People invest their lives in power, politics, money, religion, health—well today we meet a man who had all of that stripped away. And he is left with only one question, “What must I do to be saved?”
So today we want to answer that question; steps to being saved
1. Acknowledge you need to be saved. 2. Believe the Word of God 3. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ 4. Act on your faith
I. Acknowledge that you need to be saved
22 The multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates tore their clothes from them, then commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely, 24 who, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison, and secured their feet in the stocks.
Everything about this is designed to lead this jailor to acknowledge his need for salvation. Even Paul and Silas’ beating and imprisonment.
All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purposes. Well what good could come out of their being beaten and imprisoned? The Philippian jailor being saved.
So, they are broken, bloody and bruised, they’ve been beaten with many stripes, the magistrates were afraid of them. So they turned them over to the jailor.
Who is this guy? And What would he be like? Well he was likely a retired Roman soldier. Since Philippi was a Roman colony with citizenship privileges, Roman soldiers saw these colonies as good places to retire. This job was likely an appointment. Rome needed someone who was trustworthy and proven in battle. So, the Philippian jailor was probably an older battle-tested soldier. And he is just doing his job. A couple of prisoners are brought in, bloodied and bruised from the beating they received from the lictors. To him they were nothing more than bodies to be guarded.
So what did this man think of his job? A filthy dungeon assaults the nostrils of both prisoner and guard alike. He likely had to get physical with prisoners, and he probably had become jaded to the pain that they were inflicting. He had to listen to prisoners beg for mercy and plead their innocence.
God is working on this man.
What was he told about Paul and Silas?
And one has to wonder what he knew about them. I’m sure that the arresting officers filled him in on what had happened. Can you imagine the wonder it would create in town, that this man Paul had cast a demonic spirit out of a priestess who was supposed to be the mouthpiece for a god? And with just a few words, Paul had destroyed the soothsaying business of her masters. Had this jailor ever paid to get a prophetic word from her? What did it say about that whole belief system if this itinerant preacher so easily undermined her supposed supernatural power. And here these men are brought in, carrying themselves with dignity. They didn’t curse or spit at the officers, or jailor.
What did he see from Paul and Silas? Well later they are praying and singing, most prisoners are cursing and weeping. They all have the demeanor of Jesus Christ.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid
But these two, Paul and Silas, were different. I suspect that they, like the Lord Jesus Christ, took this disgrace and physical abuse with dignity. They didn’t act like the common thieves, violent criminals that he was used to.
But he does his duty
24 who, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison, and secured their feet in the stocks.
Now, if Paul and Silas’s demeanor didn’t unsettle the jailor before now, what they did next would.
25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Well, God is about to rock this jailor’s world.
I think this means that this man’s world was crumbling. God was tearing down all that he had built his life on. Why would God tear down this man’s life? Because it gets him to the place where h needs to be—laid bare—so he can acknowledge his need.
II. Believe the Word of God.
25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were loosened.
Now that’s a very localized earthquake! How specific can you get. An earthquake hits, and the only recorded damage is the doors of the dungeon were opened and the prisoners shackles come undone.
27 The jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
So, the jailor is wakened by the earthquake, and runs into the jail, and all he sees are all the jail doors open. And it says that he took out his dagger, and was going to kill himself. You see Roman law for a soldier was, that if they were put in charge of a prisoner, and they lost them, their life was to replace the life of the prisoner. He would have been put to death. He just thought, “I’m a dead man!”
And all of his purposes, his life meaning was wrecked in that moment. Maybe his thoughts on spirituality, his quest for wealth, his political position, all gone. So, he just wanted to kill himself.
God brought him to despair, so he would acknowledge his only hope.
28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, “Don’t harm yourself, for we are all here!”
Why were they still there? Paul and Silas were in no hurry. The other prisoners wanted to hear more praying and singing.
29 He called for lights, sprang in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, 30 brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
He’s trembling—just been through an earthquake—of his soul. Like the disciples when Jesus calmed the storm.
30 brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house.
He has to believe the Word of God. I noticed something in these verses that I hadn’t noticed before. I had always noted that the Philippian jailor was instructed to “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. But I didn’t pay much attention to the next phrase.
Notice in verse 32, “They spoke the Word of the Lord to him.”
In other words, they didn’t just say, “Believe in Jesus,” and get him to pray a little prayer. They explained who this “Lord Jesus Christ” is.
I want you to take note of that. They had a ripe soul here. This man came to them asking how to be saved. But did you note what they didn’t do? They didn’t whip out their little gospel tract, spend 10 minutes explaining the Roman Road, get him to recite a little prayer, and sign a decision form on the back of the tract.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are some who are ready for that. But most of the people who are ready for that already have a rich history of understanding the Bible and Christianity. The Jews, for example, already believed in the one true God, the 10 commandments, judgment, the coming Messiah, etc, etc. So, it didn’t take long to get them to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
But this man was a Gentile in a pagan culture. He probably had believed in many gods. His moral code was far removed from God’s standards. He didn’t know the Old Testament history, the fall of man, the promise of a Messiah. He didn’t know anything about Jesus, the cross and the resurrection.
So what happened? Well it appears to me, by the way this is worded, that they spent some time in explaining the Word, before he was ever baptized. So, when he was baptized, he would understand that there is only one God, and that He created the world. He would understand the story of Adam and Eve, and their fall into sin, and how that fall brought the curse, and sin nature on all humankind. He would understand the origins of the Jewish nation, and how from them God prophesied a Messiah to save all the world from sin. He would understand the story of Jesus, His origin as God, His virgin conception, His miracles, His atoning death and resurrection, and His promised return.
Now I’m not saying that the Philippian jailor had to have a full understanding of all of that in order to be saved. But he had to believe. We have people today who claim to be Christian who will not believe. They deny the story of creation, the curse of sin, the special place of Israel, the fulfilled prophecies, the virgin conception, Jesus’ miracles, and some even deny the resurrection. But they call themselves “Christian.” Because they believe in some idea that they call “Jesus.”
You cannot be saved if you refuse to believe. Well look at what else he is asked to do.
III. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
The Greek word that we translate “believe,” here, (pisteuson) takes in more than just knowledge. It also implies trust. Paul is saying, “Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.
There’s another place where this exact Greek word is used. It is in Luke 8:50. Remember the story of the ruler of the synagogue who came to Jesus because his daughter was very sick, ready to die. And Jesus consented to come and heal her. But on the way there, some from his house meet them with bad news. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore, she’s already dead.” But Jesus looks this man in the eye, and tells him, “Do not fear, only believe, and she will be saved.”
That’s very interesting. Because the word for “saved” is the same in both verses as well. Paul says to the Philippian jailor, “Believe” and you will be “saved.” Jesus said to the Ruler of the synagogue, “Believe, and your daughter will be saved.”
And the illustration is this; Jesus is saying to that man, “Trust me.” “Trust me, and your daughter will be made whole from her illness. The sickness that brought her to death, I’ll take it away, and bring back her life.
Now that would take a lot of trust on this man’s part. His daughter is dead, and Jesus is asking him to trust in His power to raise the dead. And that also means that this man has to trust that Jesus comes from God, and represents God.
That is exactly what Paul is asking this Philippian jailor to believe, to trust. He is saying, “Trust that Jesus can raise the spiritually dead. Trust that Jesus comes from God.” Put your full faith in Him.
Now he does add some additional content to that belief, and trust. He says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let’s look at those words.
The Lord: The word here for Lord is Kurion. And it was used in three ways in the 1st century world. The first way could be translated “Sir.” A man or woman might address someone who is of higher rank as “lord.” It tells us that Sarah addressed her husband Abraham as “lord.” I’m still trying to get my wife to address me that way.
But it was a title of respect, indicating that you were a subordinate. Like I say, it is kind of like our word “sir.” But not exactly. It’s more like the military use of “sir.” I mean, we can use the word, and have no connotation that we are the subordinate of the one we say it to. For example, I could approach a stranger at Walmart, and say, “sir, you dropped your wallet.” And I am not saying anything about his being in a higher rank than me. But if a soldier sees the brigadier general in the commissary, and says, “sir, you dropped your wallet.” He is implying a superior rank.
And the same was true in the 1st century when they might use the word “lord (kurios).” But then there was another way that the word was used. It was used of a master, or owner. A slave would call his owner “lord.” And then there was a third way that it was used. It was used by the Jews as a title for God. In fact, when the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek, the Jewish scholars used the word kurios as a replacement for YHWH, or Jehovah, the name of God.
And he says, believe in “the Lord.” Not “a” Lord. The Philippian jailor would have been very familiar with the idea of someone being Lord. Caesar himself was called “Lord” as a title of divinity.
So when Paul said that he needed to believe in Jesus as “the Lord” it meant a lot. Jesus is God, Jesus is Master, He is the one and only true King. He deserves our supreme respect and reverence.
“Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”
This was a call to the Philippian jailor to express and undivided loyalty and trust in Jesus Christ as God.
Jesus Christ
He also said that he must believe in Jesus Christ. That would include all the details about the earthly life of Jesus. Jesus is not just an idea. He is not a fanciful notion that the disciples came up with. He lived a real life chronicled in Scripture.
And He is the Christ. The Messiah, sent to take away the sin of the world. That takes in His atoning death on the cross.
He had to take all of who Jesus was. And he did
IV. If you are saved, you will show evidence of that salvation.
33 He took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household. 34 He brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in God.
Just like Lydia, the very first thing he does is serve. He takes them out of that dungeon, and washes their stripes. He administers the care they need because of the beating they endured. He brings them into his house, and feeds them.
And he, and his whole family are immediately baptized. This is astounding. He is being baptized, identifying with a crucified Christ, and a couple of beaten and bedraggled prisoners. Why? Because all that he had built his life on had slipped away. And he saw clearly the One Solid Rock of Jesus Christ.
Now this was a pretty risky move for him. This decision could cause him to lose everything he had. But you see, he suddenly saw its real value. And he counted all of his life to be garbage compared to Christ. And he was willing to trade it all to have Christ.