Chapel 3 from Acts 16:25-34
He had the knife in his hand, and he was about to kill himself. All was lost. He was a walking dead man. It was time to end it. He was in charge of a prison, and there had been an earthquake, and all the doors of the prison had opened up. The prisoners must have all ran off - who wouldn't? It was time to die, and meet God. What will it be like? If I don't kill myself now, he thought, my superiors will kill me in the morning. You can't be a prison warden, let prisoners escape, and live to tell about it, if you work for the Roman government. The jailer at Philppi took the sword with both hands, closed his eyes, here we go.
But then someone shouted, "Don't harm yourself, we are all here!" It was that prisoner named Paul, the one he had put into the dungeon, into the wooden stocks. The one that had been singing about God and salvation at midnight. None of the prisoners had run away - what a miracle.
The jailer put down his sword, too Paul and Silas aside, and asked them, "What must I do to be saved?" You see, the jailer was as close to meeting God as you could get. At the last minute, he was pulled back from the edge. He knew he wasn't ready to meet God. He knew that Paul and Silas were servants of God - how else do you explain all the singing and the earthquake and no prisoners escaping? And so the jailer asked the most important question anyone could ever ask, "What must I do to be saved?"
How would you have answered him? Paul's answer was pretty simple: "Believe." Believe what? Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. Believe what about the Lord Jesus? Then, the Bible says, Paul and Silas spoke the Word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house." That night, at about 1:00 in the morning, the jailer learned who Jesus was - the Son of God. He learned how Jesus had died on the cross for all of his sins, and how God had pardoned him. He learned how Jesus rose from the dead, defeating the power of death.
That night, the jailer became a Christian, just as much a Christian as you are today. He was baptized with the same baptism that was given to you. And someday, he'll welcome you into heaven.
What must I do to be saved? Do you know the answer to that question? The whole world thinks that you have to do something. No one answers the question right, except for those who say: Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.
You see, this is why your parents sent you here to this high school. Yes, they want you to get a good education, to excel, to grow, to mature. And during your high school career, you'll be asked a million questions about all kinds of subjects. And you won't get all the answers right. But there's one question you have to get right: What must I do to be saved? Do you know the answer? Do you have any doubts about what the answer is? Of all the answers to learn during your high school career, there is no answer more important than this one. Your eternal life depends on it.
Believe in the Lord Jesus, his life, his death, and his resurrection - all for you - believe - and you will be saved. That's the answer. Let's pray:
Dear Lord Jesus, You are my salvation. Help me to always believe in you. Amen.
