God’s Power Working From the Deepest Prison
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to 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 everyone’s bonds were unfastened.
27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.
30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
People!
Paul and Silas were stripped and beaten and thrown in the deepest part of the prison and put in stocks.
Nobody came to dress their wounds.
Nobody came and said, “Here’s a new shirt.”
Nobody said, “I’m sorry this happened to you. I’m going to start working to get you free right away.”
At midnight they were singing and praying. All of the other prisoners were listening to them. They were a holy nuisance!
At a moment where they had nothing left to lose, instead of being Eeyore Christians on Woe-Is-Me Lane, they were praying and singing to God.
When Jesus was sweating blood from extreme stress in the Garden of Gethsemane, He surrendered to the Father and prayed for all of us.
There was unity, they prayed, and God worked a miracle. He does it all the time in the book of Acts.
The jailer’s punishment would be execution if just one of the prisoners got free. That explains his desperation when he heard the earthquake, doors, and falling chains.
This was a show of power, God-style. Freedom and salvation for the prisoners.
Prisoners of sin.
Prisoners of wickedness.
Prisoners of hopelessness.
Earthquakes are loud, but a prison full of chains hitting the floor while Paul and Silas sing praise songs is louder.
When we sing from the deepest naked beaten shackled prison, God doesn’t just work salvation for us. He loves us and all of our hearers too. His salvation is wide, and He loves to work it out for all who will come.
29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.
30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
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