Belief, Baptism, Blessing
(No. 2275)
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1892.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING.
FEBRUARY 9, 1890.
"And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes;
and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he bad brought
them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing
in God with all his house." Acts 16:33,34.
THE Gospel, attended by the Spirit of God, is always victorious, but it
is very pleasant to make notes of its victories. The Gospel came to
Lydia, a devout woman, who was one given to prayer, and who worshipped
God, although she did not know the Lord Jesus Christ. She was a woman
of tender heart and she was soon won. The Lord gently knocked at the
door of her heart and it was opened. She heard Paul's plain preaching,
she received the Truth of God, was baptized, and became the cornerstone
of the Church at Philippi. "Well," says one, "that is an instance of
what the Gospel does with delicate, tender, gentle natures."
Now, here is an old soldier. He has been in the wars, he has earned
distinction and has been appointed to the office of jailor at Philippi,
an office of some importance under the Roman Emperor. He is a man who
knows the sight of blood– he is of a coarse, though apparently honest,
disposition. He keeps prisoners and that is not an office that brings
much gentleness with it–and he is under very stern law. He carries out
strict discipline in the prison. He is as hard as a bit of the lower
millstone. What will the Gospel do with him? Brothers and Sisters, it
triumphed as much in the jailor at Philippi as it did in the lady from
Thyatira! And while it won its way into the heart of the dealer in
purple, it also worked its way into the heart of the dealer in crimson
who had often shed precious blood! The victory over the rough
Philippian jailor was as illustrious as the victory over the gentle and
devout Lydia.
I want especially to call your attention to this point–the Philippian
jailor stands before us as one who was converted, baptized and who
brought forth useful fruit all in the compass of an hour or so.
"Straightway," says my text. It also says, "The same hour of the
night." This man was brought from darkness into the marvelous Light of
God all of a sudden! He was so distinctly brought that he avowed his
conversion, then and there, and went on to prove its reality right
then, in his own house, by entertaining the men whom, a few hours
before, he had thrust into the inner prison and whose feet he had made
fast in the stocks.
In a great many cases, conversion may be said to be a slow work. I do
not think that it really is so, but it appears to be so. There is the
early training, there is the awakening of conscience, there is the
seeking to find Christ, the struggling, the little Light of God, the
dim hope, the faith like a grain of mustard seed and, by-and-by, a
little confidence– afterwards faith more clear and then, after a long
time, comes the public avowal of the joy and peace received through
believing! We have a great many people round us who are very slow. Why
it is, I do not know, for this is not a slow age. People are fast
enough about the things of this world. We cannot travel fast enough.
Everything must be done at express speed! But in the things of God
there are numbers of persons who are as slow as snails. I have often
wondered how the snail got into the ark–he must have started very
early to get in. I am thankful that he did get in, however, as
certainly as the hare or the gazelle. And many of our crawling friends,
I trust, will be found in Heaven, and will be really saved, although
they are a long while in coming to Christ. It takes a long time to get
some of them even a small distance on the road towards a comfortable
assurance of salvation.
I have no doubt that the work of Grace is very gradual in some people.
It is like the sunrise in this country. I am sure that you cannot tell,
on foggy mornings, when the sun rises. I have sometimes questioned
whether he ever does rise in England–I have seen very little of him
for the last few days. I believe that the sun has been seen in
England–I take it as
a matter of trust that that ruddy wafer that I saw the other day really
was the sun–although it is a great contrast to the king of day who
rules in the sunny South! Who can tell when he begins to shine upon the
earth? There is a little gray light, by-and-by a little more, and a
little more, and at last you can say that the sun has fairly risen. So
it is with some Christians. There is a tiny gleam of light and then a
little more light, and then a further ray of light–but it is only
after a considerable time that you can say that the full light has
really come into their souls.
Yet, mark you, there is a moment when the sun's disc first appears
above the horizon. There is a moment when the circle of the sun is
really first visible, just an instant, the smallest portion of time
and, in conversion, there must be a time in which death has gone and
life has come–and that must be as sharp a division as the razor's edge
could make. There really cannot be anything between life and death. The
man is either dead or alive–and there must be some point at which he
ceases to be dead and becomes living. A man cannot be somewhere between
condemnation and justification– there is no land in between. The man
is either condemned on account of sin, or he is justified through the
righteousness of Christ! He cannot be between those two states so that,
after all, in its essence, salvation must be an instantaneous thing. It
may be, it will be, surrounded by a good deal that seems to lead up to
it and makes it appear to be gradual. But, in reality, if you get to
the root of the matter, there is a turning point, well-defined and
sharp, and if not clear to you, it is clear to the Great Worker who has
worked in the heart that is changed from death to life, and from
condemnation through sin to justification through Jesus Christ!
I. In this Philippian jailor's case, everything is sharp, clear,
distinct. In considering it, I will first call your attention to the
fact that HERE IS A PERSON CONVERTED AT ONCE.
This man's conversion was worked at once. There was no previous
thought. There is nothing that I can imagine in his previous life that
led up to it. He had not been plied with sermons, instructions,
invitations, entreaties. Probably, up to that night he had never even
heard the name of Jesus Christ–and what he did hear was that these two
men, who had come to Philippi preaching Christ, were to be treated with
severity and kept safely. Therefore, he thrust them into the inner
dungeon and made their feet fast in the stocks. All his previous
education was un-Christian, if not anti-Christian. All his former life,
whatever may have been his Roman virtues, was quite clear of anything
like Christian virtue. He knew nothing about that. Nothing could be a
greater contrast than the ethics of Rome and the teachings of Christ.
This jailor was a good Roman, but he was nothing of a Christian when he
thrust the Apostles into prison. And yet, before the sun again rose,
there was not a better Christian anywhere than that man was! He had
passed from death unto life! He was resting on the Christian
foundation! He was the possessor of Christian Graces!
Hear this, you who have never thought of Christ–and let any man who
came in here, tonight, a total stranger to true religion, pray that the
same may be the case with him–that before the midnight bell shall
toll, he, too, may find the Savior!
What do you think impressed this man? I think, in part, it may have
been the behavior of Paul and Silas. They had no curses on their lips
when he made their feet fast in the stocks. They used no ribald
language when he thrust them into the innermost cell. They let fall
words, I do not doubt, the like of which he had never heard. And their
patience, their cheerfulness, their dauntless courage, their holy joy
must all have struck him. They belonged to a different order of
prisoners from any he had ever seen before. The jail at Philippi had
never held the like of these before and the jailor could not make them
out. He fell asleep that night with many thoughts of a new character.
Who were these men? Who was this Jesus of whom they spoke?
Then, in the middle of the night, an amazing miracle was worked. The
prison is shaken by an earthquake. The keeper rises. The prisoners must
have gone, for the doors are open. He had not carelessly left them
unbolted–he had fastened them before he went to bed–but they are all
open and the prisoners are without chains! They will get away and he
will have to suffer for it. He puts the sword to his own breast–he is
about to kill himself, when, just at that moment, he hears a loud voice
crying–"Do yourself no harm, for we are all here." What a surprise for
him! What a revulsion of feeling those words caused! "We are all here."
He thinks to himself, "Truly there is a God. It must be the God of Paul
and Silas who has worked this miracle." He begins to tremble. He has
lived without knowing this God. He has ill-treated the messengers of
this God. He brings them out. He respectfully addresses them, "Sirs,"
he earnestly cries to them, "What must I do to be saved?" The idea of
being lost has come over him. It is not that he is afraid to die, for
he was about to put himself
to death–but he is afraid of what is to follow after death! He is a
lost man and, therefore, he asks, "What must I do to be
saved?"
Now it is that he is plainly told the way of salvation. It was put with
great brevity, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be
saved, and your house." Probably he did not understand it when he heard
it, and so, "they spoke unto him the Word of the Lord and to all that
were in his house." His wife, his children, his servants, whoever made
up his household, all gathered round the two preachers–and they
explained the way of salvation, salvation by faith in Christ, salvation
by the atoning Sacrifice of Christ, salvation by faith in the precious
blood of Christ. Paul and Silas doubtless told the company that whoever
believed in Jesus should not perish, but have everlasting life. The
jailor believed it, believed every word of it, and he was, therefore,
saved, and saved at once!
If you have never heard the Gospel before and you hear it, tonight, and
believe in Christ, you will be saved at once! If you have been a total
stranger to all good things, yet, if you now receive the blessed
tidings of mercy through the Son of God, pardon through His shed blood,
you shall go out of this house justified, saved–saved in an
instant–saved by the simple act of faith! It is a happy circumstance
that the Gospel is so simple. There are certain preachers who seem as
if they must mystify it, like the preacher who said, "Brothers and
Sisters, I have read you a chapter, and now I will confound it." No
doubt there are many who are always making out the Gospel to be a very
difficult thing to understand– philosophical, deep and so on–but it
was meant for the common people, it was given not merely for the elite,
the learned, the instructed, but, "the poor have the Gospel preached to
them," and the Gospel is suitable to be preached to the poor. This is
the Gospel, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved,
and your house." Trust Christ– and if you do, you shall be saved!
II. Secondly, HERE IS A PERSON CONFESSING HIS FAITH AT ONCE. "He was
baptized, he and all his, straightway."
Should a person be baptized as soon as he believes? As a rule, yes, but
there may be good reasons why he cannot be. There was no good reason
for delay in this man's case, for, in the first place, his conversion
was clear as noonday. Paul had no question about it. The man was really
converted. Silas felt sure of it, too, and they did not hesitate to
baptize him and all his household, for they all believed in God.
Remember how it was with Philip and the eunuch? That Ethiopian nobleman
said, "Look, here is water: what does hinder me to be baptized?" Philip
replied, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." That being so,
they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he
baptized him then and there. If the baptizer believes that the
professor of faith in Christ is sincere, then he may not hesitate. If
he has any doubt about it–if he is afraid that the confession is made
in ignorance, or made without due thought–then it may be incumbent
upon him to wait a while. But otherwise, he must do as Ananias did to
Saul of Tarsus–he must baptize him upon profession of his faith, as
soon as he applies. The jailor's conversion, then, was clear.
In his case, also, there was no other reason for delay. In the case of
many young persons, there are reasons for delay. I remember, in my own
case, my parents not believing in the Baptism of Believers, and I,
being between 15 and 16 years of age, thought it my duty to consult my
father and mother, and ask their counsel and advice. I think I did
right. I did not expect them to agree with me, but I did expect them to
give me their loving concurrence, which they did, and I waited until I
had obtained it. Sometimes it will be right on the part of other young
people to do the same. There may be reasons, practical reasons for
delay, or physical, moral, spiritual–I cannot go into them all at this
time. A man may be excusable who, though a Believer, is not immediately
baptized, seeing that he intends to be as soon as it would be fitting
and right and decorous and, in connection with other duties, a right
thing. But there was no reason for delay in the jailor's case. The man
was his own master and his children and his servants had no difficulty
in gaining his consent to their Baptism, seeing that he, himself, was
about to lead the way in confessing Christ in the Scriptural fashion.
In this man's case, note, also, that he was not hindered by selfish
considerations. Had the jailor been like some people that I know, he
would have found plenty of reasons for delaying his Baptism. First, he
would have said, "Well, it is the middle of the night. Would you have
me baptized at this hour?" He would have said that he did not know that
there were conveniences for Baptism, for it is so easy to find it
inconvenient when you do not like it. He might also have said, "I do
not know how the magistrates will like it." He did not care about the
magistrates! Perhaps he would lose his employment. He did not take his
employment into consideration. Then what would the soldiers in the
Philippian colony say when they heard that the jailor had been baptized
into the name of Christ? Oh, the guffaws of the guard room, the jokes
that there would be all over Philippi! This brave man did not take
those things into consideration. Or if he did, he dismissed them in a
moment. It was right for him, now that he believed in Christ, to
confess his faith in Christ–and he would do it, and he would do it
"straightway."
Ah, dear Friends, there are some of you here who have never come out as
Christians! You are what I call the rats behind the wainscot, or the
black beetles that come out at night, when there is nobody about, to
get a bit of food and then go back again. You never say what you
are–you never come out on Christ's side! I am not going to condemn
you. I wish that you would condemn yourselves, however, for I think
that you ought to judge that you are acting a very mean part. The
promise of eternal life is not made to a faith which is never declared.
Allow me to say that over again. The promise of salvation is not made
to a faith which is never declared. "He that believes and is baptized
shall be saved." "With the heart man believes unto righteousness and
with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Our Lord's own words
are, "Whoever, therefore, shall confess Me before men, him will I
confess also before My Father which is in Heaven." And He also said, in
connection with this confession, "but whoever shall deny Me" (which
must mean, "whoever does not confess Me") "before men, him will I also
deny before My Father which is in Heaven." If you have not faith enough
in Christ to say that you believe in Him, I do not think that you have
faith enough in Christ to take you to Heaven, for it is written
concerning the place of doom, "the fearful," (that is, the cowardly),
and unbelieving, shall have their part in the lake which burns with
fire and brimstone."
The fact was this man was in downright earnest and, therefore, he would
not delay his Baptism. He had enlisted in the army of Christ and he
would wear Christ's regimentals straightway. I wish that some who
profess conversion, or who profess to desire to be converted, were as
much in earnest as this jailor was. "Well," says one, "do not be too
severe upon us. I hope that I am a Christian, although I have never
confessed Christ yet." Why do you not confess Christ if you belong to
Him? I spoke like this to a man who had been, according to his own
confession, 20 years a Christian. He had never joined the Church. He
had never made any open profession of religion. And when I spoke to
him, what do you think he said to me? He said, "He that believes shall
not make haste." "Well," I replied, "if you were to be baptized and to
join the Church tomorrow morning, I do not think that there would be
much haste in it as you have been a Believer 20 years! But a much more
suitable text for you would be this word of the Psalmist, 'I made
haste, and delayed not to keep Your Commandments.'"
"Well," says another, "I have put it off a little while, and …"–"A
little while!" Is that what you allow your boy to say to you? You say
to him, "John, go up into the city for me on an errand." In about an
hour afterwards you see him still at home and you ask why he has not
done your bidding, and he says, "Father, I have put it off a little
while." I think it is likely that you would make him recollect that
excuse and not repeat it! But if you were to see him still about the
house, hour after hour, and he said to you that he was not disobedient,
but he had some little things of his own that he wanted to see to
first, I fancy you would teach him what a son's duty is! A servant of
that kind would probably have to find a new master very quickly–and do
you call yourself a servant of Christ when you have been putting off
confessing him by being baptized, putting it off, and putting it off,
until, as far as I can see, you are as far off obedience to your Lord's
command as ever you were?
This jailor, "the same hour of the night" made confession of his faith,
"and was baptized, he and all his, straightway." And soon they were all
sitting down with Paul and Silas at a love feast, enjoying happy
fellowship with the people of God. Dear Friend, if you are converted,
do not stand back from confessing Christ! You rob your minister of his
wages, for it is his reward to hear that God has blessed your soul! You
are also robbing the Church. If you have a right to stand out and not
confess Christ, everybody else has the same right–and where would
there be any confession of Christ, or any visible Church, or any
ordinances, or any minister? If you have a right not to come to
Baptism, and the Lord's Supper, every other Christian has a right to
neglect these things, also. Then why were these ordinances instituted
at all? What is Christ in His own house? Is He Master, or are you the
master? And do you take liberty to do or not do just what you please?
Come along and let my text be true of all of you who believe–"He was
baptized, he and all his, straightway."
III. Now, thirdly, HERE IS A PERSON USEFUL AT ONCE. Useful? What could
he do?
Well, he did all he could. First, he performed an act of mercy–"He
took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes." Dear,
good men–they were covered all over with the marks of the Roman rods.
They had been beaten black and blue–and their blood had flowed freely.
I think I see how tenderly the jailor washed their stripes. It
was before he was baptized that he brought forth fruits meet for
repentance. The ill-used ministers needed washing– how could their
wounds be healed unless they were properly washed? With all the dust
and dirt of the street and the grit of the prison in the welts and the
wounds, how could they heal? "He washed their stripes." I like to read
these words. I am sure Paul and Silas must have enjoyed to have their
stripes washed by one who, a little while ago, had been so rough with
them. I do not know that he could have done anything better to show his
sincere repentance.
He washed their stripes and when he had done that, and had been
baptized, we read that he brought them into his house and set meat
before them. Thus, he exercised hospitality. He used his hands and his
bath in washing the disciples. Now he uses his table, his larder, and
his dining room to entertain them. What more could he do? Seeing that
it was the middle of the night, I cannot think of anything more that he
could do. So now, if you love the Lord. If you have only just believed
in Him, begin to do something for Him at once! It is a pity that we
have so many Christian people, so-called, who do nothing for
Christ–literally nothing! They have paid their pew rent, perhaps, and
that is all Christ is to have out of them! He dies for them, redeems
them with His precious blood–but they have done nothing for Him in
return.
"I do not know what I can do," says one. I know you could do something.
This jailor, within the boundaries of his prison, can do the most
necessary things for Paul and Silas. And you, within the boundaries of
this house, can do something for Jesus Christ. I would ask you, if you
have only tonight believed in Christ, do something for Him tonight. By
speaking to your wife, or children, or servants, or neighbors, do
something for Christ tonight! There is probably no minister shut up in
prison in any part of your house who needs to have his stripes washed.
If not, there may be some poor soul somewhere near you that needs a
little help. Do an act of charity for Christ's sake! Or there may be
some child of God whose heart you could cheer tonight. Do an act of
hospitality for some needy saint and so show your gratitude for what
the Lord has done for you. You must do something for Christ if you are
a real Christian.
We need to have a Church in which all the members do something, in
which all do all they can, in which all are always doing all they
can–for this is what our Lord deserves to have from a living, loving
people bought with His precious blood! If He has saved me, I will serve
Him forever and ever. And whatever lies in my power to do for His
Glory, that shall be my delight to do, and to do at once! Oh, if some
of you get saved, tonight, when you get home, there will be a
difference in your house! Ah, and within a day or two, even your cat
will know that there is a change in you! Everybody in the house will
know that you are different from what you were. When a man who has been
a drinker gets saved, or one who has been accustomed to use bad
language, or one who has given way to passion, or a Sabbath-breaker, or
a godless, Christless wretch–when he gets converted, it is as if Hell
were turned into Heaven and the devil transformed into an angel! God
make it so with any such who are here, by the working of Sovereign
Grace!
I seem, at this moment, to remember that morning when I found the
Savior. It was a cold snowy morning, and I remember standing before the
fire, leaning on the mantel, after I got home, and my mother spoke to
me, and I heard her say outside the door, "There is a change come over
Charles." She had not had half-a-dozen words with me, but she saw that
I was not what I had been! I had been dull, melancholy, sorrowful,
depressed–but when I had looked to Christ, the appearance of my face
was changed–I had a smile, a cheerful, happy, contented look at once,
and she could see it! And a few words let her know that her melancholy
boy had risen out of his despondency and had become bright and
cheerful. May some such change as that pass over you!
IV. Here is one thing more to finish with. Fourthly, HERE IS A PERSON
PERFECTLY HAPPY AT ONCE. When the jailor had brought Paul and Silas
into his house, "he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in
God with all his house."
Oh, that was a happy, happy time! "He rejoiced, believing in God with
all his house." He rejoiced that he was saved. His heart kept beating,
"Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" As he sat at that table with his
two strange guests, he had, indeed, cause for joy. His sin was
forgiven! His nature was changed! He had found a Savior! He had given
up his idol gods and he rejoiced, believing in God. He had been told to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He was no Unitarian. He believed
Jesus Christ to be God and he rejoiced, believing in God with all his
heart!
And then he rejoiced that all his household were saved. What a delight
it was to see all his household converted! There was his wife. If she
had not been converted, it would have been a very awkward thing for him
to have asked Paul and Silas in to that midnight meal. She would have
said, "I do not want prisoners coming into my best parlor and eating up
all the cold meat." She would not have liked it. As a prudent
housewife, she would have objected to it. But there was
Mrs. Jailor waiting on them all with a holy happiness, a new kind of
cheerfulness! I do not know whether they had any boys or girls. It may
be, or may not be–but however many there were in his household,
children or servants–they all believed, "believing in God with all his
house." They were all baptized, too, the sons and daughters and the
servants, also, for they were included in the household.
I do not like it when you count up your household and leave out Mary
Ann, the little servant girl, the last you have hired. You treat her as
a drudge, but if she has come into your family, reckon her to be a part
of your household. And pray God that they may all be converted–Jane
and Mary, your own children–and the other people's children who have
come into your houses to do necessary domestic work for you.
The jailor's rejoicing was also a seal of the Spirit upon his fidelity.
Would it not be delightful for him to sit down with the two preachers
of the Word in the middle of the night? Those two men must have had
good appetites. They had probably had nothing to eat for many hours and
they had been lying in their dreadful dungeon with their feet in the
stocks, after having been cruelly beaten. So they were prepared to eat,
whether it was the middle of the night or the middle of the day. And
the rest of the family came and sat down at the table with them–and
all rejoiced. Such a night in a prison had never been known before! The
jailor "rejoiced, believing in God with all his house."
I think I heard a friend over there fetch a deep sigh as I quoted those
last words of my text. I know what it meant–it meant that he has not
all his house converted. Ah, dear Brother, I cannot sympathize with you
by experience, for I thank God that I have had all my house brought to
Christ, but it must be a great sorrow to have that biggest boy of yours
acting as he does, or to have that dear girl, of whom you had such
bright hopes, turning aside to crooked ways! Let me ask you a
question–Have you had faith about your house? Remember that Paul said
to the jailor, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be
saved, and your house." May God give you faith about your house! You
have had faith about yourself and you are saved–exercise faith about
your children! Cry to God to give you faith about them! Pray
believ-ingly that they may be led to have faith for themselves and so
may be saved.
Oh, that all in this great assembly may meet in Heaven! You who have
heard the Word these many years, may you, tonight, believe in Christ
and live! You who have never listened to it before, may you also come
to Christ and believe in Him, as the jailor did. And like he, you shall
be saved! The Lord shall have all the praise and the glory, but oh,
that He would work this miracle of mercy tonight! Let us pray for it.
Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON ACTS16:9-34.
Verse 9. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man
of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and
help us. Our dreams often follow the leading thoughts of the day or, if
not of the day, yet the chief thoughts that are upon the mind. Paul
dreams about mission work, for his heart is in it. I should not wonder
if some before me, who are deeply engaged in earnest Christian work,
have often dreamt about their Sunday school, or their mission station.
Where the mind goes when we are awake, it often goes when we are
asleep. This vision that appeared to Paul was supernatural and was an
indication of what God wanted him to do.
10. And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go
into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us to
preach the Gospel unto them. In the vision, the man prayed, "Come over
into Macedonia, and help us." The best help that Paul could render to
the Macedonians was "to preach the Gospel unto them." The best help you
can give men socially is to help them religiously–and the best
religious help is to preach the Gospel to them.
11,12. Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to
Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis; and from there to Philippi,
which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we
were in that city abiding certain days. Waiting to know what they were
to do. In God's work, we are not to go on in blundering haste.
Sometimes, a little waiting may be good for us. And, by waiting, we may
find out the true path of success.
13. And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a riverside, where
prayer was known to be made. Some quiet corner, where good people were
known to gather by the brook to pray.
13. And we sat down, and spoke unto the women which resorted there.
This was probably the first religious meeting of Christians that was
ever held in Europe! It is remarkable that it was a Prayer Meeting–a
Prayer Meeting attended by women! A Prayer Meeting to which two
ministers came and preached the Gospel to the women who resorted there.
To be able to be present at a Prayer Meeting ought always to be
reckoned a great privilege to all of us who are Christians. In this way
the Gospel first came to us. In this way the Gospel will be best
preserved to us. And in this way we may best obtain guidance from God
as to how we may carry the Gospel to others.
14. 15. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the
city of Thyatira, who worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord
opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
And when she was baptized. She seems to have become a Believer in
Christ and to have been baptized at once.
15. And her household, she besought us, saying, If you have judged me
to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And
she constrained us. Lydia was evidently a woman of some property. The
purple which she sold was an expensive article. She seems to have been
engaged in business on her own account. And when Paul met with her, she
was far off from her workshop and her home. She had a house, therefore,
in the place to which she had come to sell her purple. And she
"constrained" the men of God to make use of her house and to tarry
there. Thus was Christianity brought into Europe, for which we praise
the name of the Lord!
16. And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel
possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters
much gain by soothsaying. She professed to tell fortunes and to speak
under inspiration. She was really "possessed" by an evil spirit.
17. 18. The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are
the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of
salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned
and said to the spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to
come out of her. And he came out the same hour. Here was an evil spirit
bearing witness to the Truth of God–and it grieved Paul. When you hear
a bad man ridiculing religion, do not be surprised–what else can you
expect from him? But if you heard the devil recommending Christ, then
you ought to be grieved, for the Lord Jesus does not need patronage or
praise from Satan! Men would begin to suspect that Christ was in league
with Satan if Satan began to speak well of Christ. Dread to be spoken
well of by ungodly men, for there is great danger in such praise! There
may be a motive at the bottom of the flattery which may be full of
mischief. Paul, being grieved, silenced the demon and cast him out of
the damsel. Like his Lord, he would not allow the devil to testify
concerning himself and his mission.
19, 20. And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone,
they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the market place unto
the rulers, and brought them to the magistrates. They dragged them into
the Forum, the place where the courts usually sat, and brought them
before the magistrates, "saying"–what?–"These men have cured a
demoniac, they have performed a miracle, and cast a devil out of a
young woman"? Oh no! There would have been no wrong in that, so they
must invent a charge. What do they say?
20,21. Saying, 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. They did not know that Paul was a Roman citizen,
or they surely would not have brought such a charge as that against
him.
22. And the multitude rose up together against them: and the
magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. They
beat them first and tried them afterwards. That is often the rule with
those who persecute God's people–"Let them be hanged out of the way
and then we will enquire what they teach."
23-25. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them
into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: who, having
received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison and made
their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed,
and sang praises unto God. Another Prayer Meeting–and a praise
meeting, too! There were only two persons at it, but they "prayed and
sang praises unto God."
26. And the prisoners heard them. Paul and Silas were in the lower
prison. The sound of their prayer and praise rose up through the
different tiers of cells where other prisoners were confined.
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 bands were loosed. This was no common earthquake! An
ordinary earthquake might have brought the prison down about their
ears–it would not have loosed the shackles of the prisoners!
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. For the law was
that if a jailer lost a prisoner, he was to suffer whatever penalty the
prisoner would have suffered. He therefore knew that, in all
probability, his own life would be taken and, strange to say, to save
his life he would kill himself! Suicide is always absurd and
unreasonable. The worst that could happen to him would be to die by the
sword of justice–and to escape from that, he tries to die by the sword
of a suicide!
28. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do yourself no harm: for
we are all here! Every prisoner was loosed from his shackles, but not
one had escaped, nor had any even attempted to escape–which was
another miracle–for men who see their bands broken and the prison
doors open, are pretty sure to run away! These men did not, for a
heavenly charm was upon them. They stayed in their cells, so that Paul
could cry out to the jailor–"Do yourself no harm: for we are all
here!"
29. Then he called for a light, and ran in, and came trembling.
Conscious of the supernatural, compelled to feel the hand which he had
never perceived, before, he hastened into the inner prison where he had
thrust the servants of Christ.
29. And fell down before Paul and Silas Whom he had handled so roughly.
30. And brought them out, and said, Sirs. What a word to address to
those who were still in his charge as prisoners! 30-34. What must I do
to be saved. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you
shall be saved, and your
house. And they spoke unto him the Word of the Lord, and to all that
were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and
washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them,
and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
May God give to many of us to know the happy experience of that
believing, baptized and blessed household!