What should we learn from the account of Paul and Silas?

Let us, however, pause to consider the effect upon the apostles of the brutal treatment they had received. Some hours must have passed between their sentence and the middle of the night; but of their thoughts and feelings during this time we have no record. "At midnight," however, we read, "Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God." Suffering for Christ, and for His testimony, they were so abundantly sustained, that, superior to their bodily pain and circumstances, and filled with the sense of God's grace and love, they rejoiced, like the other apostles, that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ, and they poured out their souls in prayer and praise before God. Defeated? No; they were the victors, by the grace of God, in the conflict into which they had been precipitated. The power of God was with them, and their Lord, for whom they were suffering, so revealed Himself to them that their hearts could not contain the gladness with which they had been filled. Prayer and praise under such circumstances could only be the fruit of the mighty working of the Spirit of God in their souls.

The passionate or time-serving concession to unjust clamour had now passed away, and word was dispatched next morning to dismiss the abused prisoners of the day before. The jailer naturally repeated his orders, glad doubtless to release them. But Paul was now as firm in a dignified way for the vindication of the gospel, and even of the law, of which they were the unworthy administrators, as he and his companion before in uncomplaining meekness had borne their lawless violence. If there is a time to keep silent, there is a time to speak; and the Spirit alone can guide as to either, for which the word alone suffices, for it warrants both, each in its due season. Here we see the two injunctions carried out in the same transaction, and both turning to the glory of the Lord.

It was not invariably so even with such honoured servants. Their own spirit might, and occasionally did, act without the sure guidance of God; as when the high priest was rebuked and Caesar was appealed to, each time with consequences less or more serious, as it may be shown when the history comes before us. Here beyond controversy the silent suffering of Paul and Silas was a mighty and striking testimony to the practical grace which our Lord would have to characterize His own. 'For what glory is it,' says another apostle, 'if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable [lit., grace] with God' (1 Peter 2:20). To this saints, as such, are called. Peculiarly does it become those to practise it who teach it, as did the blessed pair then at Philippi. They were reproached for the name of Christ, and were partakers of His sufferings without a murmur, nay, with prayers and hymns of joy that they were counted worthy to bear wrong and shame for His Name.

But now that they had thus endured, it was fitting that it should be proved that Paul and Silas were not evildoers punished justly with scourging and prison and the stocks, but that the guardians of the law had been guilty of flagrant, manifest, and inexcusable unrighteousness against the preachers of the gospel. The time was come when the praetors sent to let them go, and Paul saw this, not at first the jailer. Therefore said the apostle to them, 'They beat us openly, uncondemned, men being Romans, and cast us into prison; and do they cast us out privily? No, indeed; but let themselves come and bring us out.' Their exposure was complete, though only the officials and their victims might know it. There was not the semblance of resentment, not the least desire to injure them, and exact from men who lay absolutely in the power of those they had wantonly injured. But it was unanswerably demonstrated, that, in the conflict between the officials of Roman law at Philippi and the ministers of the gospel, the latter were no less honoured by the gracious power of God than the former had utterly failed to repress the mob, and had even become the ringleaders in cruel infraction of that law they were bound to enforce.

The apostles are thrust into the inner prison, and their feet are put in the stocks. The jailor seems to take a brutal pleasure in his treatment of them. He does not say, "Come along; I am sorry I must lock you up;" but apparently serving his then master gleefully, he "thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks." Then, clearly, he went to get a sleep. "And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises to God: and the prisoners heard them" (ver. 25). What a wonderful thing is faith! Look at the faith and energy of these servants of God. Think of their condition with bleeding backs, and cramped limbs, in that damp, miserable, wretched dungeon of a prison. The prisons which the Romans prepared for their prisoners were awful places. And yet, if you had been passing by that old prison, I think you would have stopped, with the question, What is that I hear? Why, they are having a really good time of it in there! Singing, do I hear? They seem to be very happy! What has happened? They seem uncommonly well off in that prison. True, they were profoundly happy, hence they "prayed and sang praises." Ah! you cannot crush or shut up the heart of a man that has Christ in it. You cannot spoil his joy. Do not you see that the Holy Ghost always brings joy to the heart of the persecuted? Persecution does not damp joy: the very contrary, the more men persecute you, the brighter will you get. A little persecution would brighten us up wonderfully, my friends. I could not find a better illustration of that than is found here.

Now what do you think was the burden of those midnight prayers? I do not think their prayer was, "Lord, let us out." I believe their prayer to God was, "Lord, turn this to Thy glory; turn this to the salvation of souls; turn this to the blessing of precious souls in this prison; and, O Lord! keep those who have believed, and especially Lydia, keep them firm." Besides they sang. Songs ascended to God in the night seasons. Had it been you and me, my friend, I am not sure we should have been like Paul and Silas. We should probably have turned to each other, and said:" This is a very blue look-out indeed. Instead of going on with the preaching, here we are in prison." Indeed, we are very wishy-washy Christians nowadays, I fear; but look at the sturdiness of these men; look at their boldness and confidence in God. It is lovely.

This is followed by prayer at midnight, or prayer in predicament. Paul and Silas had been beaten with rods and received ‘many stripes’ on their backs and found themselves in the inner prison, their feet fastened in the stocks. It does not say that they prayed straightaway. Perhaps it took some time for them to come to terms with this turn of events. But at midnight they lifted up their souls to God in prayer, which could not be held back by prison walls or doors (which, for that matter, turned out to give way not only for prayers but for anyone who would have liked to escape). And the gospel made inroads into the jailor’s heart and house (vs. 19–34).

After Paul freed the girl from the demons, she was no longer useful to her masters as a way to make money, which led to the arrest of Paul and Silas. They were cast into the inner prison, and their feet put in the stocks. What might have gone through their minds! After following the Lord’s guidance and seeing initial success they had landed in prison. Was that the end? We do not know what they were thinking but we know what they did at midnight: ‘And at midnight Paul and Silas, in praying, were praising God with singing, and the prisoners listened to them’ (v. 25). The Lord’s plans for Philippi were not finished yet. He not only rescued His servants from prison but also saved the jailer and his household. This man was of a different calibre to Lydia. Before his heart was opened, he had to experience an earthquake and to come to the brink of committing suicide.

Here a deeper purpose was in hand, and a great earthquake heralded it; and Paul and Silas, who had been praying to God in hymns, remained in the prison to declare His wonderful works; yea, those whose naturally strongest desire had otherwise been to make their escape and renew their lawless life were so overawed that not one stirred from the opened prison. It was the God of all grace, Who answered the prayers and praises of His prisoners, Who knew how to control the wicked, and Who was guiding His servants for His glory. For He was now about to do more, and most worthily of the name of His Son; and to do this so as to win to Himself as hardened a heart as beat within the prison walls.

Let us too hear. 'And the jailer, being roused out of sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. And he called for lights, and sprang in, and trembling for fear fell down before Paul and Silas, and led them forth, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus,1 and thou shalt be saved, and thy house' (vers. 27-31). {1 The mass of witnesses adds 'Christ' as in Text. Rec., but the most ancient with some good cursives, the Vulg., et al., do not accredit it.}

What a night had that been for those inside the prison! Morning came, and with it the lictors, the officers of the magistrates, who had inflicted the punishment the previous day. They came with a command from their superiors to let the prisoners go. In zeal for the law those magistrates had inflicted corporal punishment and imprisonment. Now they were to learn that they were the law-breakers, having beaten uncondemned two who had the right of Roman citizenship. Jealously was that right guarded by the Romans, and to act in contravention of it was no light matter for the offender. The magistrates had thereby laid themselves open to prosecution. At the mercy therefore of their victims, they now cringed before them, and, as Paul had insisted, came themselves in person, brought them out of the prison, and asked them to leave the city. This, after entering Lydia's house, seeing the brethren, and comforting them, they prepared to do.

A night memorable for all concerned it had indeed been. Did Lydia and those with her think that a blow had been struck at them all by the arrest, ill-treatment, and imprisonment of Paul and Silas? Very likely there was sadness in her house that livelong night. Well could she now understand that "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (Psalm 30:5), as Paul and Silas recrossed her threshold, and announced the addition of another household to the newly formed Christian community. Divine guidance, all must have felt, had been again displayed. What seemed so detrimental to the cause had really furthered it. Completely was the enemy again outwitted. He sought to stop the work by the arrest and imprisonment of the evangelists. That only furthered it, and increased the number of the disciples.

When, in desperation, that jailer was about to take his own life a loud voice fell upon his ear "Do thyself no harm." That voice revealed to him the fact that there was someone who cared for him. The care and interest which Paul and Silas showed for their cruel keeper was the echo of the interest and love of God Himself. It was a revelation of God's goodness to the man's soul, and it broke him down and wrung from his lips the cry of a repentant sinner, "What must I do to be saved?" Repentance was there; all that was needed now was that he should be pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ as the One whom he might trust for salvation.

Awakened in a moment by the earthquake, the jailer's first thoughts were of his prisoners. Alarmed at seeing the prison doors open, and supposing that the prisoners were fled, he drew his sword and would have killed himself. "But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here." These words of love broke the jailer's heart. The calm serenity of Paul and Silas — their refusing to avail themselves of the opportunity to escape — their tender concern for him — all combined to make them appear in the eyes of the astonished jailer, as beings of a higher order. He laid aside his sword, called for a light, sprang into the prison; and, trembling, fell down at the apostle's feet. His conscience was now reached, his heart was broken, and there was something like the violence of an earthquake agitating his whole soul. He takes the place of a lost sinner, and cries "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" He does not say, like the lawyer in Luke 10, "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" It was no question with the jailer of doing something for life, but of salvation for the lost. The lawyer, like many others, did not know himself as a lost sinner, therefore he does not speak about salvation.

In reply to the most important inquiry that human lips can ever make, "What must I do to be saved?" the apostle directs the mind of the jailer to Christ — "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." God gave the blessing, and the whole house believed, rejoiced, and were baptized. And now all is changed; the jailer takes the prisoners into his own house — his cruelty is changed into love, sympathy, and hospitality. In the same hour of the night he washed their stripes — set meat before them — rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. What an eventful night! What a change in a few hours! and what a joyful morning dawned on that happy house! The Lord be praised!

Like Darius of old, the magistrates appear to have been disturbed during the night. The news of the earthquake might have reached them, or that Paul and Silas were Romans. But as soon as it was day, they sent word to the jailer to "let those men go." He immediately made known the order to Paul and Silas, and wished them to depart in peace. But Paul refused to accept his liberty without some public acknowledgement of the wrong he had suffered. He also now made known the fact that he and Silas were Roman citizens. The famous words of Cicero had passed into a proverb, and had immense weight everywhere: "To bind a Roman citizen is an outrage, to scourge him is a crime." The magistrates had evidently violated the Roman laws; but Paul only demanded that, as they had been publicly treated as guilty, the magistrates should come and publicly declare that they were innocent. This they readily did, seeing what wrong they had done. "And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city." The apostles readily complied with the magistrates' request, left the prison, and openly entered the house of Lydia, and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them and departed.*

They are thrust then into the inner prison, and there sing praises to God, and the prisoners hear them. Suddenly there is a great earthquake, the doors of the prison are opened, and every one's bands are loosed. God intervenes for His own, and to bear testimony to His word. When persecution is allowed, the wickedness of man can do much, but he cannot hold against the power of God those who fall into his hands. The jailor wishes to kill himself; but Paul crying out that they were all there, prevents him from doing so. Leading out Paul and Silas, he asks them what he must do to be saved. The answer is simple, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." The word is then announced to him and his, and he is baptised with his house. He then cares for his prisoners, and washes their stripes, being filled with joy and peace with all his house.