The conversion of the jailor in Philippi is the last to be treated in this series on conversion. Paul went to Philippi in obedience to the command of Christ in the Great Commission. He did not set out with some idea of pleasing people enough to get just any response, but he wanted to see true conversions and as a sent one of Christ that is the only thing acceptable to him. The last two articles have been focused on the Great Commission in an effort to see that the biblical teaching on conversion is vital to the Great Commission and that the only way to keep the Great Commission is to seek to have biblical converts. Just because a person prays a prayer or asks Jesus into his or her heart does not mean that the person is converted. What it may mean is that they are terribly deceived.
22 The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household (Acts 16)
The context of this passage is the conversion of Lydia and the casting out of the demon in a girl who made her masters a lot of money by telling fortunes of some sort. The masters of the girl dragged Paul and Silas into court and the magistrates ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had been beaten with many blows, they were taken and thrown into jail. The jailer put them in stocks. So Paul and Silas had been beaten with rods with many blows and were now in jail and fastened with stocks. What a terrible situation to be in and one most would complain about.
Paul and Silas, however, stayed up late and were praying and singing hymns of praise to God. While the text tells us that the other prisoners were listening to them, we can be quite sure that the jailer had heard these before he went to sleep. What happened to Paul and Silas would throw virtually everyone else into some sort of despondency, but not them. They had the Spirit of God and Paul had written that he had learned to be content in all situations. As a matter of fact, he wrote that in Philippians 4:11. He also wrote in Philippians 4:13 that “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” In Philippians 2:17 he wrote that “even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.” What was Paul doing when he was singing praises to the Lord after being beaten and thrown into jail? He was simply practicing what he preached. He was content to be there and he was being strengthened by the Lord. He was also rejoicing and sharing his joy with those who were in jail with him. In other words, the glory of the Lord was shining in and through him.
So the glory of the Lord was shining in His temples of Paul and Silas. Then the glory of the Lord shone in an earthquake. Paul and Silas were in the inner prison and had their feet fastened in stocks of some kind. The text indicates that Paul and Silas were singing and praising God when the earthquake hit. The other prisoners were listening to them when the earthquake hit. The interesting thing about this earthquake is that while the foundations of the prison were shaken, immediately all the doors of the prison were opened. Not only that, but everyone’s chains were unfastened. These events must not just pass us by and give us information to read about. The earthquake and its results were from the hands of the living God. What so-called act of nature could cause all the doors to fly open and for the chains to fall off of all the prisoners? The hand of God was ungloved and His power shone forth in glory. God was intent on saving the jailer and his household. The earthquake was timed for that.
We must see that God Himself was working. This is not to say that His only plan for the earthquake was for the salvation of the jailer and his household, but it was at least part of that plan. It is also not the case that the salvation of the jailer and his household was the only reason that Paul and Silas went to jail. Perhaps many of the prisoners there were also converted. Let us also not forget that people are converted reading about the marvelous works of God in Scripture since then and even today. But if we have eyes to see and ears to hear we see the hand of the glory of God working. It worked through the trials of Paul and Silas in getting them to jail in the first place. It worked in the hearts of Paul and Silas for them to be singing praises to God who they knew put them there for His purposes. It worked in the earthquake and it worked in opening the doors of the prison. It worked in the loosening of the chains from all the prisoner’s so that anyone could have left. But there is one more thing. No one left the prison.
While it is hard to imagine things like this from the naturalists’ point of view, the prisoners were free from their chains and the doors of the prison were open. Yet no one left. What could have kept them there? We know that they were listening to Paul and Silas praying and singing praises to God. That had to have been something that they had not heard before. In our day virtually all the prisoners say that they are innocent or at least had a good reason to do what they did, and so they complain bitterly about some form of punishment. Yet Paul and Silas had been sent to prison for preaching the Gospel and casting out a demon, yet here they were (prisoner’s point of view) praying and singing praises to God as they were fastened with chains inside the prison. Either these men were completely nuts or God had converted them and His Spirit is in them overcoming the love the natural man has to comfort and the absence of pain. Who can pray and praise God in truth and love apart from God in them doing this?
One point that must be stressed here is the sovereignty of God in every detail of conversion. The normal way of thinking is that God just interrupts a person in their life with the Gospel. But in this text God is sovereign in all the details of life. Every person is in the hands of this same sovereign God. Every person has a history of events going on around him or her that is orchestrated by the sovereign hand of God. The message of the Gospel is not just to give a few words about Jesus all centered upon our present victim we have chosen to talk to, but the message of the Gospel is about the sovereign God who is in charge of all things in all places. The message of the Gospel is about a sovereign God who is in charge of all things in the life of that person. Earthquakes and all events do not happen by mere chance (whatever that may be), but instead all things and all events are ordered according to the plan of the living God who “works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph 1:11). People do not need to be rescued from events and circumstances so much as they need a new heart to submit to the plan of God rather than their own.
When the jailer awakened and went outside and saw that the doors of the prison were opened, he started to kill himself. The laws and practices of the time were such that being a jailer was a dangerous job. If a prisoner escaped from you, then you paid for it with your life. This is not just some historical thought, it is in Scripture. This is why the guards at the grave of Jesus were only too happy to have the Jews lie for them after the resurrection of Jesus. “Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ 14 “And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble” (Matthew 28:11-14). We rejoice when we hear of God answering the prayers of the people in Acts 12 and Peter being let out of prison by an angel. But the guards did not fare so well: “Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter. 19 When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution” (vv 18-19).
Each person is in a series of circumstances ordered by God. “And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,
27 that they would seek God” (Acts 17:26-27). God used many circumstances and events to bring this jailer to the point where he had no hope in anything or anyone. In his own mind he was doomed to death since (he thought) the prisoners were gone and he had no real excuse. A normal earthquake would not cause the chains to just fall off all the prisoners. When Paul told him not to kill himself because all the prisoners were there, this was a massive shock to him. He had heard Paul and Silas praying and singing praises to God. What this jailer wanted now was to be saved. It all came together as ordained by the sovereign hand of God. We must learn to approach people on this basis. The Christian alone can interpret events according to God’s sovereignty and show the hope of the Gospel.
God Loves... Himself 
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