When The Chains Come Off - Acts 16:16-34 - May 22, 2011
Folks, May 7th, in the year of our Lord 2044, will surely be a momentous day in my life. In fact it is certain to be a day like absolutely no other that has gone before. You see, that will be the day that I die. At least that’s what I’ve been told. I came across a health website last week. Based on information I provided, it projected the expected length of my life, and then determined the precise date that I could be expected to die. When it provides you with your expiry date it also displays on your screen a helpful clock counting down the remaining seconds of your life. So thanks to this website you can literally watch your life slip away. Now, the good news is this: if I eat right, get into shape, and lose about 35 lbs, I can gain 1 year and 1 day in this world.
Well, I don’t put much stock in such projections. Too many other factors that the computer can’t account for come into play - not the least of which is that my life is in the hands of Almighty God. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away and no website, no matter how sophisticated it might be, can take into account the mind and the plans of our God!
But the question was raised in my mind: Would you want to know the date of your death? Or even: Would you want to know what the immediate future held? That question has been asked many times, and in different ways over the years, hasn’t it? Most recently a form of it has appeared in the preaching of Harold Camping and his followers. As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, over the last several months they have traveled across the United States proclaiming that yesterday, May 21st, 2011, would be the day that Jesus would return and call the faithful to be with Him. This would usher in the beginning of the end and then the world as we know it would come to a sudden conclusion sometime in October of this year. May 21st has come and gone and yet we’re still here. Camping has attempted to delve into something Jesus confessed that only God the Father knows. We can admire the fervency of their belief but we must mourn their date setting for in his doing so he has made a mockery of the things of God in the eyes of the world.
But there are some who took his preaching to heart. They too longed to look into the unknowable and to see what the future held. And that shouldn’t surprise us because the polls would suggest that something like 1/3 of us would want to know what the future held, or how much longer we had left to live, if such things were, indeed, knowable. The rest of us don’t have any desire to know the answer to that question. The burden of knowing might be too much. I think of some of Camping’s followers, who, if I understand what I've been hearing rightly, in preparation for the end, have sold their houses and businesses and emptied out their bank accounts. Now they’re left to try to pick up the pieces of their lives.
So perhaps it’s just as well that we don’t know what lies ahead because in the knowing would be the temptation to do something differently; to avoid the hardships; to sidestep the trials; to pass by the difficult times. At first that sounds like a good thing but we would be doing everything we could to avoid the very things that God might be using to refine us, and to shape us, and to use our lives to build the kingdom.
Think back to our Scripture passage this morning. Can you imagine what might have happened if Paul and Silas had known what that day would bring? What if they could have seen what the next few hours held for them? I think that if they had known what awaited them that they may have faced a very real temptation to just pack their bags and get out of town while they could. And who could have blamed them? They were just hours away from being forcibly seized by an angry mob, hauled before the authorities, publicly humiliated, flogged within an inch of their lives and then imprisoned in the most secure cell that could be found. To add insult to injury, battered and bleeding, they were put into stocks so they couldn’t even move around and try to make themselves comfortable. It doesn’t get much lower than that.
Now I’ll be upfront with you - if I could have seen that in my own future I’m pretty sure it’s something I would have tried to avoid at almost any cost. But if Paul and Silas had known, and if they had taken the easy way out, they would have missed seeing the hand of God at work and an entire family may never have known the salvation that is found in Jesus Christ. Open up your Bibles to Acts 16, please. Acts 16 and we’re going to pick right up where ______________ left off a few moments ago. Acts 16 and we’ll begin reading in verse 25 …
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 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. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they 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. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family. (Acts 16:25-34)
Now, in the case of Paul and Silas, knowing the future, might have hampered the ministry. And the truth is, that as much as we might want to know it, we don’t need to know what the future holds. We just need to know who it is that holds the future in His hands. And that’s the first thing we notice about these verses. These two men, who have just suffered so much, aren’t cowering in the corner. Instead they are boldly worshipping God. Like Job, they confront adversity and trial, with worship and praise and so, battered and bruised, they are praying and singing hymns to God.
Because their faith is in God they know that their future rests in His hands. It may seem as though the world has got the better of them but there is a God who is greater still! And that’s something that we need to remember in our own trials as well. Things aren’t always as they seem. In the midst of our troubles it can get pretty, dark but we need to remember that there is no darkness that God cannot shine into; no trial that He cannot overcome; no valley of the shadow of death that He will not walk through with us.
Brothers and sisters, we must never lose sight of the God to whom we come. It is He who has called us, it is He who has set His Spirit within us, it is He who has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.
And know this: His love for you isn’t dependent on the circumstances you find yourself in. Hardship does not mean that God has abandoned you. Trial does not necessarily mean that God is punishing you. Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned for nothing more than speaking the truth. God was not pouring out His wrath against them. Instead it was the powers of this dark world that are in rebellion against God that rose up to afflict them. So don’t let your circumstances determine your view of God. Read the Word of God. Set it in your heart that you might know character of the God to whom you bow your knee. When you know the character of God, the heart of God for you will be revealed, and you will know the depth of His love for you – a love that extends both through, and beyond, your circumstances, and that endures throughout time!
That’s why Paul can declare: But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:7-10)
The second thing I notice about these verses is that when God’s people respond to trials, with praise and worship, the world takes notice. Now, we don’t know the set-up of the prison. We don’t know if the cells were made of bars, or if the walls were solid, so we have no idea if the other prisoners could actually see Paul and Silas where they lay in those stocks. We do know that it must have been very dark, because when the jailer rushes in, he can’t see well enough to know that the prisoners haven’t escaped. So perhaps we can imagine then that in the darkest hours of the night, that hour when the night is the deepest and our spirits are at their lowest, that the other prisoners began to hear a most unexpected sound. In fact Luke makes sure to let us know that as Paul and Silas sang and prayed that the other prisoners were listening. From a place of darkness and despair came the unexpected sounds of worship. And the world around them took notice. For Paul and Silas, their time of trouble became an opportunity for them to minister to others.
I want you to understand this morning that the world around you is watching as well. One of the top complaints we hear about Christians is that they’re hypocrites – they don’t live out what they claim to believe. And sometimes that’s true. But if the world recognizes that, it means that they are watching how we live our lives – which means there is an opportunity there to proclaim the wonders of God. They’re looking to see how we respond to the good and the bad. I think deep down they’re wondering if they are missing out on something. They want to know if what we claim to have is real because they want something real in their own lives as well. And so even though we might not be aware of it at the time, it turns out they are watching and they are listening. What will they see, what will they hear, in our lives?
And it’s important that they’re listening because God is going to do something that even Paul and Silas don’t expect. Verse 26 tells us that a violent earthquake struck the prison with such force that the very foundations on which it was built were shaken! The doors sprang open and the chains binding the prisoners fell loose. Now we have no record of how widespread that earthquake was. Luke makes no more mention of it in the rest of his account. It may be that the only building that was affected was the prison. I tend to think it was. Regardless of the extent of it though, there are many who would write that earthquake off as nothing more than a happy coincidence: that at the very moment that Paul and Silas are singing and praying it strikes and pops the doors open.
I hope you see more than a happy coincidence in these events. I hope you see the hand of your God at work! An earthquake could certainly account for the doors popping open as they were twisted off their hinges but an earthquake could in no way account for everybody’s chains coming loose. The earthquake and it’s effects are the work of God for ultimately it is only He who can set the prisoners free as He looses the chains that bind us.
In the book of Isaiah we read these words looking forward to the coming of the Messiah … “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” (Isaiah 42:6-7)
Luke tells us that the day came when Jesus stood up in the synagogue to read the Word of God. Someone handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled it and He found the verse He was looking for and then He read these words proclaiming … “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19 And then He looked upon the people who had gathered and He declared “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:21 Friends, this is the hope to which we come: that the spiritually blind are made to see, that those in bondage to sin are set free, that those oppressed by evil are released from the darkness!
Which leads us to our third point this morning. I’ve already said it once, let me say it again: Things aren’t always what they seem! The real prisoners weren’t necessarily Paul and Silas. The real prisoners were those like the jailer and his family who were bound with chains that could not be seen. There were real, but unseen, chains binding them to sin and to shame and to darkness. Like the rest of us they were dead in their transgressions and sins, and, until they were given eyes with which to see, and ears with which to hear, until someone proclaimed the truth to them, they remained in bondage.
The earthquake strikes. The doors pop open. In a panic the jailer awakes from a deep sleep. Trembling with fear at what he might find he rushes into the area of the inner cells where the special prisoners were held. All is darkness. Not much can be seen. His worst fears are realized - the doors are open. Surely the prisoners must have escaped! He hangs his head in shame knowing that his life will be forfeit when the authorities find out that Paul and Silas are gone. Better to end his own life. He draws his sword and as he prepares to use it on himself he hears Paul cry out, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
And suddenly, where there was despair, hope was born anew. Calling for lights he rushes into the cell to see it with his own eyes. Yes, they’re there. It’s true. These men who are so different from the other prisoners he’s guarded, their bonds have been loosed but they’re still there. And because they have not escaped he has received a new lease on life. Little does he know just how true that would be in ways that he couldn’t yet anticipate.
Now, he’d seen the shape they were in when he placed them in the cell. He’d heard the story of what they had done in commanding an evil spirit to come out of that slave girl. Against all expectations he had heard their singing and their prayers with his own ears before he had fallen asleep. And then came the earthquake and their bonds were loosed. Not understanding, yet somehow seeing the hand of God at work in it all, he falls to his knees before these two men who have been his prisoners, and trembling he asks them that deepest of all questions, “What must I do to be saved?”
This word, “saved,” is a powerful word! It carries the meaning of being “rescued from danger,” of being, “delivered over to salvation,” and of “being made healthy from an illness.” By divine grace the jailer was made aware of his need for salvation and so he cried out, “What must I do to be saved?”
Well let me ask you: How would you answer that question? … Over the years people have answered it in many different ways. Paul and Silas could have said to him, “If you want to be saved then pray this prayer after us.” They could have said, “You want to be saved? Good! Then go and do all the good works that you can and hope that when your time comes the good has outweighed the bad.” They could have said, “Find a church this Sunday and when they give an altar call make sure you go forward.” They could have said, “Let us lay hands on you and you will be saved!” Or, they could have said, “You want to be saved? Then be baptized.”
They could have said all those things and more. But they didn’t and they didn’t do it because none of those ways leads to salvation. Those are the works of man and nothing more. Yet millions of people within churches today are depending on those things for salvation not knowing that they are still bound to sin. The chains haven’t been broken, the darkness hasn’t been displaced by the light, and they are still dead in their sins and transgressions! They have a form of godliness in that they go through all the motions but they have not the reality of such godliness for they have never been born again of the Spirit!
So how will you respond when someone comes to you and asks, “What must I do to be saved?” Well look at how Paul and Silas answered that question … verse 31 … They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” (Acts 16:31) Now we need to understand that it is not enough to simply believe that God exists. To those to whom he writes, James says, You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. (James 2:19) Folks, it’s no great stretch to believe that God exists – all of creation testifies to His existence! And despite the fact that we hear so much about atheism in our society these days, the truth is that the vast majority of people – even here in North America – believe in a god of one sort or another even if it is not the God of the Bible.
The belief that leads to salvation must be centered upon Jesus and it must be a belief that goes beyond merely acknowledging that Jesus exists. The Greek word we translate as “believe” in this verse is defined in these ways: to “believe to the extent of complete trust,” and “to put something into the care of another.” (Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Greek (New Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.)
If we want to be saved that’s the type of belief that we must have. It reminds me of the refrain of that hymn, “I Know Whom I Have Believed.” You know that one, don’t you? The refrain goes like this: “But I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able, to keep that which I’ve committed, unto Him against that day.” That’s the very essence of belief. Job says it this way … I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:25-27) Again, we see that complete trust in the Lord.
Now notice what Paul and Silas did next. Scripture tells us that “they spoke the word of Lord to him and to all the others in his house.” They opened up the word of God to this man and his family. Why? Because they needed to know who Jesus was and is. Our faith is not based on empty suppositions. It’s based upon the person of Jesus and before they could believe they needed to know the one whom they were to put their trust in! I think that’s a lot of where our modern evangelism falls short. We tell people that if they don’t want to go to Hell they need to believe in Jesus, but we don’t do a very good job in helping them to know Jesus so that they can completely put their trust in Him!
In the book of Ephesians we read these words … For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9) The very faith by which we believe is a gift from God! How does that faith come? Turn with me to Romans 10 for a moment … Romans 10 beginning in verse 8 …
What does it say? It says, “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” (Romans 10:8-10)
And then down to verse 13 … “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:13-17)
The jailer and his family needed to hear the word of God because faith comes from hearing the message! That’s why Phillip, when he meets up with the Ethiopian Eunuch, explains the word of God to him. The Ethiopian heard, and God opened up his mind to understand and his heart to receive, and faith was born. The man believed, was saved and then was baptized in response to the word of God that he had heard. And so it is with the Philippian jailer and his family. Paul and Silas tell them who it is that they must completely put their trust in and then they began to tell them about Jesus so that a saving faith might be born within them.
Brothers and sisters do not ever discount the power of the Word of God. For as it says in the book of Hebrews, the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) The word of God lays bare our need! It declares our sin! It proclaims our Savior! This is what we need to be hearing for faith to be born!
So here’s the question for you: When someone asks you, “What must I do to be saved? What must happen for these chains that bind me to come off?” where will you take them in the Word of God? Where will you turn in the pages of your Bible? What verses will you have them read?
The truth is that I imagine there are some of us here today who would have no idea where to turn. Let that change beginning today. In the book of 1 Peter we are told to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. (1 Peter 3:15) If you don’t know where to turn, today is the day to start finding out. Get into the Word of God and began making note of the verses that proclaim the heart of the Gospel and which help us to know Jesus Christ.
Some people use the verses associated with the “Four Spiritual Laws.” Some use the “Roman Road,” so called because all the verses are taken from the book of Romans. I’ve got this great little Bible right here [hold up Bible for all to see] that I’ve carried around for years. Inside the front pages I’ve got the Scripture references and verses from the “Roman Road” printed out. I have the first passage marked and when you go there in my Bible it has the page number and Scripture reference that the next verse in the “Road” will be found on as well in order to make it as easy as possible for someone to follow along. This Bible here also includes it’s own list of verses, written out in the opening pages, that reveal God’s plan for how we must be saved. There is no 1 set of verses in particular that you need to be using – just be sure you’re turning people to God’s Word.
That’s what Paul and Silas did. And I want you to notice that when the jailer and his family heard the word of God that they responded immediately! Life began to change for that family right then and there! They are baptized as a sign of the new life that they have been born into and that new life is evidenced in their deeds. The jailer washes the wounds of his prisoners and invites these men into his home and sets a meal before them. He and his family were filled with great joy because they had believed!
That’s they way it ought to be for us as well. There should be an immediate response to the Word of God. There should be great joy in the awareness of our salvation. Our worship should be a response to God’s mercy in our lives for only He can loose the chains that bind us in sin for as it says in Acts 4:12, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
Let’s pray … (Pray that the chains that bind people today would be broken …)
