In The Word
Read: Acts 16:16-40
16 It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” 18 She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.
19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, 21 and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.”
Paul and Silas Imprisoned
22 The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
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?”
The Jailer Converted
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.
35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, “Release those men.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out.” 38 The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. 40 They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
After already making an impact in one family (Lydia’s family), Paul and Silas entered the city to preach the Word to others. Paul must have thought, “If God has called us to this city, He must have big plans for us here!” But as Paul walked through the city, a young woman revealed whom they were, and precisely so. Paul, knowing she had a spirit, confronted the young woman and rebuked the spirit of divination. Little did he know that this action caused her owners to lose much income. Because of the men’s anger, Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown in jail. How can this be? Paul and Silas were probably thinking, “God, you told us to come here, how could this all go wrong?” Remember: God always has a plan! Nothing surprises God. God never thinks, “Oh my, what shall We do now?”
As Paul and Silas were worshipping after midnight—worshipping not complaining—there was a great earthquake that not only made the doors open, but also made the chains fall from the prisoners! The jailer who was personally responsible for each prisoner, if anyone escaped he had to give his life also, raised his sword to do just that. Paul, in his compassion, told him that no one had left, and not to kill himself. The jailer asked, “What must I do to be saved?” How did he know to ask that? The Holy Spirit was drawing! Again another conversion, and similar to what we read yesterday, a conversion so strong it lead the family to be saved also. Because of the move of God and His plan, the church at Philippi began with a conversion of a business woman and a jailer!