"THE CONVERSION OF THE JAILOR." (Acts 16:1-34)
June 1st, 08
Int. This jailer must gone to bed thinking what the apostle Paul had told him about the grace of God in salvation. When he awoke, it was the first thought expressed in words. Note some vital things about this question.
In a book entitled: "Night Scenes in the Bible" By Daniel March
THE POWER OF PRAISE AND PRAYER
Their backs were torn with cruel wounds,
The prison chains were strong
Yet in that midnight hour of gloom
They filled the place with song.
Instead of sighing they rejoiced,
they knew the Lord was there.
And prison doors were opened wide
By fervent praise and prayer.
God shook the shackles from their hands;
He set the prisoners free.
He made them triumph over pain
And deepest misery.
If Paul and Silas had rebelled
That night so long ago,
The Jailor would have never known
The Christ who loved him so.
Lord, we are weak. We need Thy help
To keep faith clear and strong
That in our midnight grief and pain
We, too, may voice a song.
Forbid that we should grieve Thee then
Whate're the test may be.
But by our heartfelt prayer and praise,
Exalt and honor Thee.
Albert Simpson Reitz
1. LET US CONSIDER THIS AS A PRACTICAL QUESTION
A. CONSIDER THE QUESTION THAT MOST FOLK PROPOSE TODAY:
1. What must I do to be wealthy, or beautiful, or popular, or powerful?
2. (Ps 10:4) “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.”
3. But the question, "What must I do to be saved?" is seldom asked.
With melting heart and weeping eyes,
My guilty soul for mercy cries;
What shall I do, or whither flee,
To escape the vengeance due to me?
4. In one way or another, everyone is asking the jailer's question.
5. Pagan savages have burned their children alive hoping that such sacrifices will win the favor of their gods.
6. Some, like the young rich ruler: (Mt 19:16) “...What good thing shall I do that I might inherit eternal life?”
7. Rolfe Barnard: “The fundamental question that men face today, yesterday and tomorrow is, What must I do to be S-A-V-E-D saved?
B. PREACHERS TODAY ARE MORE AFTER NUMBERS; PAUL WAS INTERESTED IN THEIR SALVATION.
1. (Acts 13:26) "Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the Word of this Salvation sent. "
2. (Rom 1:15-16) "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. {16} For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."
3. (Eph 1:13) "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. "
4. Rolfe Barnard: “We need to get us a Bible and go on our faces before God crying to the Holy Spirit to show us the Truth of the Bible. And frankly recognize that if what passes for salvation in our day is so, then the Bible is not so.
5. “Trembling” (Vr.29) is one of the missing ingredients in today’s Churches.
II. CONSIDER THAT THIS WAS A PERSONAL QUESTION
A. SALVATION IS A PERSONAL MATTER.
1. William Jay: “I want a Mediator between God and myself, but I don’t want a Mediator between Christ and myself.”
B. CONSIDER WHAT IT MEANS TO BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
1. “It means knowing oneself to be a sinner, and Christ to have died for sinners; abandoning all self righteousness and self-confidence, and casting oneself wholly upon Him for pardon and peace; and exchanging one’s natural enmity and rebellion against God for a spirit of grateful submission to the will of Christ through the renewing of one’s heart by the Holy Ghost.”
2. (John 10:1) "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber."
III. CONSIDER THAT THIS WAS A PAINFUL QUESTION
A. TO REALIZE ONE’S SELF AS BEING LOST IS A PAINFUL EXPERIENCE.
1. The jailer was in agony, as any lost soul is when he realizes his lost condition before a Holy God.
2. David trembled when he realized his sin before the Lord.
3. Even Judas showed great remorse and went out and hanged himself.
3. Three thousand at Pentecost felt the same agony of soul. (Acts 2:37)
4. Saul of Tarsus cried out: “Lord, what wilt Thou have me do?”
B. THIS WAS A QUESTION THAT MANY TODAY DON’T HAVE THE ANSWER FOR.
1. What could the heathen philosophers have done with this question?
2. What would the scribes and Pharisees who sat in Moses' chair done with this question?
3. What would a modern infidel’s answer for this question be?
4. How would the liberal preachers of this day answer this question?
IV. CONSIDER THAT THIS PROVED TO BE A PROMISING QUESTION
A. CONSIDER THAT THERE IS HOPE WHEN STIRS A MAN’S HEART INTO FEAR OF GOD.
1. Many call Jesus Lord where there has been no change of heart.
a. (Lk 6:46) “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
b. A Lord is a master, someone who deserves unconditional obedience.
Ill. A young boy inquired after a storekeeper had placed a sign stating "Boy Wanted" in his store window. The storekeeper, doubting the boy's ability, asked him "What can you do?" The boy replied, "I can do what I am told, sir." He hired the boy on the spot.
2. (Mt. 7:21) "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."
B. THE SALVATION THAT PAUL WAS TALKING ABOUT CHANGES A MAN.
1 (Col 1:13-14) "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son.”
V. CONSIDER THAT THIS WAS A VERY POINTED QUESTION
A. CONSIDER THAT A CONVICTED AND QUICKENED SINNERS DESIRES A REAL ANSWER "WHAT MUST I DO?”
1. Francis Spira: "Man knows the beginning of sin, but who can fathom the results of sin! It is easy to do mischief, but who can undo it? To sin is natural; but to escape from it requires atoning blood, and the supernatural agency of God's Spirit.”
2. John Bunyan: “When I was awakened, nothing so astonished me as to see how my fellow-creatures were affected with their outward troubles; I had many of these, but I could only cry, How shall I escape the damnation of hell?
B. CONSIDER PAUL’S SIMPLE ANSWER.... “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
1. The Prodical son understood the gravity of this question,
a. “I will arise and go to my father....”(Lk 15:)
2. Thank God, there is a balm in Gilead. There is a “Great Physician”
VI. CONSIDER THAT THIS WAS A PROVIDENTIAL QUESTION.
A. GOD IN HIS PROVIDENCE ARRANGED THE SETTING FOR THIS QUESTION.
1. God brought about the circumstances that night to accomplish His purposes.
2. This jailor assumed that the prisoners had fled and was ready to commit suicide because of a distorted sense of honor.
3. When he realized that the prisoners had not escaped he trembled before Paul and Silas asking, "What must I
do to be saved?"
William Jay in his evening Devotions: “The earthquake had roused the jailor's dread of the power and anger of God. Perhaps he had heard Paul and Silas singing in the stocks. Perhaps they had dropped something while he was misusing them that had impressed his mind. Perhaps he had been informed of their preaching, and doubtless he had been told of the language of the Pythoness, who for many days had cried, "These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto men the way of salvation." To which we may well add, how soon the Spirit of God can reach the heart, and enter the conscience like a conqueror at the head of an army. No wonder his apprehension made him cry. " What must I do to be saved?"
4. The Titantic and John Harper’s last convert. God providentially allowed this drowning passenger to win to men
to Christ that fatal night.
Ill. A young man came forward in a Gospel meeting, earnestly asking, "What can I do to be saved?" Knowing the man thought he had to accomplish something by his own efforts to gain redemption, the Christian worker responded to the anxious inquirer, "You're too late!" "Oh, don't say that," exclaimed the distressed seeker, "I really want salvation; I'd do anything or go anywhere to obtain it." "I'm sorry," replied the other, "you're too late for that. Your salvation was completed many hundreds of years ago at Calvary. It's finished work! All you have to do is simply receive Christ. Then the blessed gift He offers will become yours through His merits. Realizing his great debt was paid, the young man found peace by looking to the Savior and resting his all upon the grace of God."
HAVE YOU BELIEVED ON CHRIST?
What must I do to be saved?
Cried the jailer at Phillippi;
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, said Paul,
As he looked him in the eye.
But it can't be as simple as that,
I hear someone exclaim;
Surely there are things I must do,
Ere salvation I can attain.
Nothing! No, nothing can we do,
For our righteousness is as filthy rags;
Salvation is a gift, so full and free,
Tis not of works, lest man should boast, or brag.