Introduction: Paul and Silas had been beaten, and then taken to the inner part of Philippi’s prison. The jailer had placed their feet in stocks and left them—Luke says nothing about a trial, examination, or anything Paul and Silas could do. These men did the best thing possible, by praying and praising God! These men had been delivered to bondage, now God was going to deliver them back to freedom!
1 Paul and Silas are released from prison
A The earthquake
Text: Acts 16:25-28, KJV: 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. 27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
Thoughts:
--One question is how they knew it was midnight? The Jews divided the 12 hours of night into three four-hour periods. Sometimes these were called the first watch, second watch, and so forth (e.g., “fourth watch”, Mark 6:48 and Luke 12:38 for other such watches).
--Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises. What a concert that must have been! Many years ago, a preacher made a comment on this text, saying Paul sang lead; Silas, tenor; then God Himself joined in and sang bass! He went on to say those low notes brought down the house!
--Earthquakes are mentioned eight times in Scripture, this being the last. Nave’s Topical Bible lists the other occasions in a simple table. Two quakes took place just a few days apart, when Jesus was crucified and also when He rose from the dead (compare Matthew 27:51 and 28:2). The last quake mentioned before this took place in Uzziah’s reign (Amos 1:1), over 600 years before this one.
--This earthquake was called a “great earthquake”, so much that the foundations were shaken, the doors flung open, and all the prisoners’ bonds “were loosed”. One wonders how this quake would have measured on the Richter ™ scale.
--As a result, the jailer was terrified. As several Bible teachers and other resources have explained, if a prisoner escaped, the jailer paid with his life. He would rather have killed himself rather than suffer any punishment from the government.
--And just as we often read in the OT, “a prophet of the LORD was there”, Paul was there, and he exclaimed, “We’re all here, so don’t hurt yourself (paraphrased).”
--The earthquake had opened doors in more ways than one!
B The evangelism
Text, Acts 16:29-34, KJV: 29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. 34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
Thoughts:
A His concern
--The jailer called for a light, probably a hand-held torch of some kind. According to the Bible Study Tools website, “light” comes from a Greek word meaning anything emitting light; torches and lamps are included (https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/kjv/phos.html). Contrast this search for the preachers, asking for a “light”, with the group who came to arrest Jesus carrying “lanterns and torches and weapons (John 18:3)”!
--The jailer was trembling (terrified, see https://www.biblestudytools.com/interlinear-bible/passage/?q=acts+16:29&t=kjv).This is not the same word James used of demons who “tremble” before God). He then fell down before Paul and Silas. What a change from just a short time before, when he had taken them to “the inner prison”, locking their feet in stocks and leaving them. Something or Someone had changed his mind, and now he’s concerned.
--Several things, in summary, seem to have led this jailer to ask “What must I do to be saved?” Some, incredibly, have taught he simply meant “How can I be saved from Roman punishment or judgment” but that hardly seems the case here. It’s possible that some of the women who had become believers, plus others, and the demon-possessed slave girl who had been delivered, plus the singing, praise and the earthquake itself, all combined to make this man ask the question.
B His conversion
--Paul and Silas replied with one simple phrase: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”. Believe here certainly means more than “yes, I believe there is a God or Supreme Being”, and certainly more than “yes, I believe a person named Jesus Christ existed, that He died, and so on (Tacitus, the Roman historian said as much in his “Annals” years after this, according to various sources). To “believe”, here, meant something else.
--The concept of “believe”, here, is more than just agreeing with the mind. One example is that of John Wesley, who had sailed from England to the Georgia colony as a missionary. His “Journal” entry for October 23, 1735 records his conversation with a German pastor named Spangenberg. The pastor asked John Wesley if he knew he was “saved” and Wesley replied he did, “but”, he added, “they were vain words.” Head belief is not the same as heart belief.
--Wesley is reported to have exclaimed “I came to convert Indians but who shall convert me? (from his ‘Journal’ entry for January 13, 1738)” This indicates Wesley had not yet believed the Gospel himself, and he was around 35 years of age at this point. Note: Wesley’s “Journal” is on-line at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library site at https://ccel.org/ccel/wesley/journal (use the arrows at the top right corner to go to the next or previous page). Many other works from various authors are available there as well.
--Paul and Silas spoke the Word of God to the jailer, and all in his house. Those who believed the Gospel took the next step soon after this. But there was something the jailer did first.
C His compassion
--The jailer now did a “complete 180”, slang or a figure of speech for making a complete turn-a-round from what he had done before. Whoever had beaten Paul and Silas had laid many “stripes” on their bodies and apparently had done nothing to stop the bleeding, if any, or even relieve the pain. The jailer, we recall, had taken Paul and Silas, fastened their feet in stocks in “the inner prison” and left them there. Who knows for how long they might have been there.
--Now the jailer proves he’s a changed man. He washed the wounds; how or what he did is not the important thing at this point. An illustration from years ago spoke of how people are all too quick to wound others but too slow to wash these wounds.
--The jailer and all those who had believed were promptly baptized. Luke says this “was the same hour of the night”, which would have been midnight. That didn’t matter, water was close by (Paul, Silas and the others had met Lydia and other women by the river side) and those who believed were baptized. Except for the case of Simon the magician of Samaria (Acts 8), no one who wanted to be baptized was an unbeliever.
--The jailer continued his compassion by providing food for Paul and Silas (he “set meat before them”) and rejoiced. This man and others had become believers in Jesus!
--How long this lasted is not known, but Paul and Silas were not yet done with Philippi.
2 Paul and Silas Are Requested to Leave Philippi
Text, Acts 16:35-40, KJV: 35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go. 36 And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. 37 But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. 38 And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans. 39 And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city. 40 And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.
Thoughts:
--The earthquake, salvation of the jailer and others, and the baptism seem to have taken place in the very early hours of the morning. Now, when “day” came—maybe sunrise?—the same magistrates or rulers who had Paul and Silas beaten and thrown into prison sent the “serjeants” to the prison to tell them, “You can go now.” Note that they apparently told the ‘keeper of the prison”, who may be another person than the jailer, and he told Paul and Silas.
--“Serjeants” is translated as “officers”, “policemen”, and with similar terms in other versions. Nothing implies they were active duty military. They were the messengers, so to speak, who relayed the message from the rulers to the “keeper of the prison”.
--Paul and Silas had a message for the rulers, though! They replied, “They beat us openly (in public), un-condemned (no trial or any defense was allowed), and we’re Roman citizens! They had us put in the prison, and now they’re saying we can leave, privately? Nothing doing! Let them come and do this properly (paraphrased).” This made an impact on the rulers, all right!
--The serjeants came back with Paul’s message and these rulers were terrified. Several commentators describe how Rome protected the citizens (only a few who lived then had Roman citizenship). If a Roman citizen received ill treatment of any kind, those who did it to the citizen would face severe punishment.
--After the rulers heard Paul’s reply, they didn’t seem to waste any time in coming to the prison and personally brought Paul and Silas out of the prison. The rulers “desired” or wanted Paul, Silas, and the rest to leave. Commentators offer various opinions why but one thought might be that if Paul was out of sight, they might be out of mind—Paul’s mind, that is.
--And leave they did, but first went to Lydia’s house (did these folks ever see each other again on this earth?) and then they saw the brethren. Ben Haden, on a “Changed Lives” radio message from many years ago observed, “Paul took his own sweet time leaving Philippi”.
--They left Philippi but their work was far from over. The next few chapters of Acts describe more of Paul’s travels and travails as he and others served the Lord in Europe,
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
