God will Shake your Jailhouse
Acts 16:19-26
19. And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,
20. And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
21. And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.
22. And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
23. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely:
24. Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
25. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
26. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
We have a story that is quite familiar in our Christian circles.
It’s a story about a couple of preachers who got into trouble for messing up somebody’s fortune telling business, in the City of Philippi.
There seemed to be these people who owned a slave girl who was possessed with a spirit of divination, or in other words, she was a fortune-teller who possessed that ability by means of an evil influence.
As Paul was ministering there this slave girl began to follow them around saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”
She became quite a pest over the next several days. Everywhere Paul and Silas went she would follow them around saying the same thing over and over again, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”
Now there was nothing unusual about this demon possessed woman proclaiming the truth about these men.
For Satan knows who Jesus is, and they know who His true servants are.
(The demons in the deranged man who dwelt in the tombs knew whom Jesus was when he encountered him.)
The demonic power within this slave girl recognized that Paul and Silas were true men of God, and also knew what their purpose was in coming to Philippi.
But why did she proclaim it?
More probably, it was because she saw evident tokens of their being sent from God, and that their doctrine would prevail; and by proclaiming this she hoped to acquire more authority, and a higher reputation for being herself “inspired”.
But after so much of this continual aggravation, Paul became annoyed and cast the evil Spirit out of her.
When this happened she no longer had the power or ability to use her fortune-telling, thus she no longer was of use to her master who had used her to make money.
Upset with this, and seeing their little money game was over, her masters brought Paul and Silas before the magistrates, or the Roman civil rulers.
They said, “These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.”
Ac 16:22 And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
“Thrust them into the inner prison.” It was A damp interior cell from which all light was excluded.
The stocks was an instrument of torture as well as confinement. The feet, stretched wide apart, were thrust through holes in a wall or beam of wood, and the prisoner was fastened there. He could not move around, could not re-position his legs and feet, but was in agony and pain.
We look at this story and possibly say, “That’s awful! These preachers certainly didn’t do anything to deserve this kind of treatment!”
And I agree, but Satan isn’t in the business of treating people fairly!
He’s in the business of trying to destroy the works of Christ and His church, and trying to prevent the gospel from going forth.
Now here is where it gets good!
25. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
26. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
Now picture this; two Pentecostal preachers chained in a cold damp prison cell, their backs were bleeding from a whipping, and their feet were fastened in painful stocks.
They began to sing praises unto God!
They didn’t sing, “Gloom, despair, and agony on me, deep dark depression, excessive misery. If it were not for bad luck I’d have no luck at all. Gloom, despair, and agony on me.”
I don’t believe they sang, “Why me, Lord?”
I don’t know if what they sang even had a title, or if it was on the top charts of gospel music!
All I know is, they sang praises unto God!
In the midst of their pain, they sang praises!
In the midst of their agony, they sang praises!
In the midst of the darkness, they sang praises!
In the midst of the midnight hour, they sang praises!
They sang praises in spite of their feelings!
They sang praises in spite of the unpleasant circumstances.
They sang praises in spite of uncomfortable conditions.
Like David they “cried out in their distress and the Lord heard them.”
They didn’t let the chains stop them.
They didn’t let the stocks cramp their praises!
They didn’t let the darkness dim their joy!
But at the midnight hour:
When everything looked hopeless, they didn’t call their lawyer to get them out of jail.
They didn’t get a committee together to discuss all the injustices that had been done to them.
They prayed and sang praises unto God!
And then, there was a whole lot of shakin’ goin’ on!
Verse 26
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
This was no natural phenomenon. It was the miraculous, sensational, remarkable Power of God!
God shook that prison!
And the doors of the prison were miraculously opened! And every man’s shackles were loosed!
Have you ever heard the expression after someone had done a performance, “He brought the house down”!
The prayers and praises of Paul and Silas literally brought the jailhouse down.
Listen! I don’t know what you are facing this morning.
I don’t know what you are going through.
I don’t know what kind of trial you may be facing.
You may have been mistreated, humiliated, put-down, dejected, misunderstood, and used.
You may be going through a fiery furnace experience, a fiery trial.
Everything may look bleak and gloom and doom have become you daily companions.
You may feel you have no reason to pray or praise God.
You may feel you are in prison to your circumstances and situations and there is no way out!
But God is here this morning to shake your jailhouse!
He is here to bring deliverance, to set you free!
God is here today to open up your prison doors and break the shackles that hold you fast.
He is here this morning to tear down the strongholds in your life!
But you must begin to pray and give God praise!
Praise and prayer equals victory!
In the midst of your circumstance, sing praises unto the Lord.
In the midst of your trial, sing praise unto the Lord.
In the midst of your situation, sing praise unto the Lord.
In the midst of your darkness, sing praise unto the Lord.
And He will shake your jailhouse and set your free.
