I. THE DUTY OF THE CHURCH.

1. To encourage and develop Christian talent. When Paul went to Lystra he found the Church there speaking well of a young disciple, Timotheus. This convert was "well reported of by the brethren" (ver. 2), and "him Paul would have to go forth with him" (ver. 3). The Church praised him who was praiseworthy; and the minister trusted and encouraged him who was trustworthy, leading him on to higher things, and placing him in a position in which his consecrated powers would have freer range and extended usefulness. The Church of Christ seldom does better than when it nourishes youthful piety, and paves the way for the exercise and development of growing talent.

2. To make timely concession. "Him Paul took and circumcised because of the Jews" (ver. 3). Paul thought these men wrong in their views, but he consulted their sensibilities for the sake of concord and progress. The true triumph is, not to work well with those with whom we are in full sympathy, but to co-operate, without friction, with those between whom and ourselves there is variance of view or difference of disposition. There is no possibility of rendering any considerable service in the cause of Church organization, without a large measure of the conciliatory spirit, and without a considerable amount of actual concession. Not the man who carries his point by obstinate persistency, but he who yields at the right time and in the right spirit is commended of his Lord.

3. To be faithful to all compacts. (Ver. 4.) Probably Paul and Silas might have safely said nothing about the decision at Jerusalem; the people of Asia Minor would have heard nothing about that. But they were scrupulous to carry out the compromise in all its particulars. Fidelity to an undertaking is a clear and urgent Christian duty; the Church or the minister who should slight it would be doing something which is not only unworthy but discreditable, displeasing to Christ, injurious to itself or himself.

4. To keep in view consolidation and extension: to preserve a fair and wise proportion between these different branches of Christian work. Under the hand of Paul and Silas the Chinches of Asia "were established in the faith, and increased in number" (ver. 5). The missionaries were not more desirous of extending the line of active evangelization than of securing the ground which they had taken. This is Christian wisdom. The two complementary works should always go together; one will minister to the other; one cannot shine without the other.

II. THE REWARD OF THE CHURCH. This is twofold.

1. To glean individual results. True and keen must have been Paul's gratification to find such a disciple as Timothy at Lystra. Well was he recompensed for the cruel stoning he received in that town by gaining such a "beloved son" and valuable helper in his work of faith and love. And it is the individual results of the Christian teacher's labor which are his most appreciated reward now. The recovery of that lost one; the decision of that vacillating one; the consecration of that promising one; - these are his joy and crown.

2. To witness general progress. To find that "the Churches are established," and that they are "increasing in number;" to know that the cause of Christ is advancing, that his kingdom is coming, that his name is being honored, and his praises sung by those who had been ignorant of his dying love; - what joy, what intense and pure satisfaction, is this! Other sources of delight may pass, or they may leave a stain rather than a tint behind them; but this is a gladness that abides, and which purifies and ennobles the heart of him who is made happier thereby. - O.

I. CHRIST'S SERVANTS WILL USE WHATEVER POWER THEY POSSESS TO SET THE SLAVES OF SATAN FREE. Paul did not act from mere impulse, but upon the principle of compassion with which all true Christians are animated, he was miraculously endowed, it is true, while we have only the power of influence and persuasion. But when a country is invaded, what patriot will draw back because he has not a rifle of the most approved pattern? Let us then do what we can to exorcise the demons of intemperance, etc.

II. CHRIST'S SERVANTS ARE NOT TO EXPECT THAT THEIR EFFORTS WILL WIN EARTHLY REWARDS. This ought to be the result; but connected with all evils are vested interests which resist all efforts to diminish their gains. The owners of this damsel looked not at her benefit, but at their loss. For the same reason all reformers have been hated; and they must not be surprised at it (John 15:19-21).

III. CHRIST SECURES FOR HIS SERVANTS NOT EXEMPTION FROM SORROW, BUT A SUSTAINING JOY. All power is given to Christ, and He sometimes uses it to disappoint the enemies of His servants; but more frequently He leaves them, as here, to suffer for His name's sake. But it is then that He gives then the sweetest assurances of His presence and love; and makes them more than conquerors (Acts 5:41).

IV. BY THEIR CONDUCT TOWARDS THEIR PERSECUTORS CHRIST'S SERVANTS SHOW THAT THEY ARE HIS. That can be no merely human religion which enables men to conquer the natural desire for revenge, and to do good to those by whom they have been despitefully used.

V. BY THEIR FIDELITY TO CONVICTION AND THE BEAUTY OF THEIR CHARACTER CHRIST'S SERVANTS WILL ULTIMATELY WIN THE RESPECT OF THOSE WHO HAVE WRONGED THEM. The behaviour of Paul and Silas impressed the jailer quite as much as the earthquake. That might have been a natural occurrence, but the cheerfulness and kindness of the missionaries under the circumstances were obviously supernatural. So it is that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church."

VI. TURNING TO THE JAILER, we learn —

1. That the worst of men may become the servants of Christ.

2. That they may become so instantly. How long does it take to enlist a recruit? The resolve may be the fruit of long consideration, and it may take months of drill to make him an efficient soldier; but the act of enlistment is instantaneous.

3. The proof that men have become servants of Christ consists not in emotion but in conduct.

(R. A. Bertram.)

I. THE PREPARATION FOR GOD'S SPIRITUAL WORK. The rebuke of the evil spirit in the girl, the anger of the crowd, the imprisonment, seemed to form a series of events complete in itself and existing for itself, if we may say so. But these things were but the preparation for something more important.

1. The preparation for God's work was by affliction. The disciples found themselves cast down, but the sequel showed it was in order that they might be exalted, by being used as a means of glorying God. A man's best work comes sometimes after he has ceased to be able to work at all. God works through our afflictions even when we do not know it. Well may we then count it joy when we are honoured by falling upon them.

2. The affliction of the apostles was certain, sooner or later, because of the ever persisting antagonism between the gospel and the world. And is it not forever so to the end of time? Must not the gospel always find opposition from the world? Surely this vile world is not a friend to grace to help us on to God.

3. Paul's understanding of this made him careless of being unpopular. He had counted the cost of his service and was willing to pay it.

4. The affliction of the apostles was relieved by faith. They trusted God to give them strength to endure it, to lead them out of it into safety, and beyond these, to use the affliction itself as an instrument of his own purposes.

5. God is with His children in times of trial.

6. Such faith makes one thoughtful for others. Paul was not so absorbed in his own rapture as to forget the jailer. "Do thyself no harm; for we are all here." Forgetfulness of others is no part of the soul's deepest joy.

7. In Paul's joy in God there was involved forgiveness to those who injured him.

II. THE WORK OF GOD. God by His permission of the apostles' affliction had made ready for the first soul-ingathering among the heathen of Europe.

1. The first element that appears in the experience of the Philippian jailer is fear. He was trembling when he sprang into the cell (ver. 29). John Bunyan had an awful experience of his own sinfulness before he was converted. If all have sinned, all are entitled to a guilty fearful conscience.

2. This dread of conscience was immediately accompanied by a consciousness of the supernatural.

3. With fear went desire. "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" What it was to be saved he knew in a most undefined way. Wants do not have to be defined in order to be genuine. A child knows that it feels bad but cannot always tell where or why, yet its suffering is most real. And to want the gospel comes with complete satisfaction. But it does not come except to the want.

4. The jailer was willing to do anything necessary for salvation. "Sirs, what must I do?"

5. The answer has well been called classic. It sums up once for all the ages everything that is required of man in order to be saved.

(1)Do nothing. Salvation is not of works.

(2)Believe.

(3)Make Christ the object of faith.

6. This faith has its social bearing. It is recognised as an influential element in the family, which is here shown to be the God-constituted unit of human life.

7. True faith will not be ignorant. It recognises its imperfection and is ever seeking to learn more of the truth of God, that it may appropriate it by faith (ver. 32).

8. As soon as faith had entered the jailer's heart, it emerged again in a deed of kindness; he washed the apostles' wounds. So by a beautiful spiritual chemistry faith is ever transmuting the love of God as it comes into our upward-opened hearts into love for our fellow men (1 John 4:12).

9. Immediately there came an open recognition of Christian faith in the form of baptism. Wherever there is faith there should be frank, manly avowal of it.

10. No wonder the jailer when he had brought them into his house rejoiced (ver. 34). It was the happiest time he had ever known in his life. No wonder the jailer rejoiced. Blessed beyond words are all those who come to know Christ and His salvation.

III. LESSONS ABOUT CONVERSION.

1. Providence often prepares for it, sometimes by suffering and sorrow.

2. There are many ways of being led to Christ, and all are valid. Lydia came one way, the jailer another. No one need try to force himself into another's experience.

3. Faith is the same for all. All are sinners. All need the atoning blood. All must trust without any merit of their own.

4. Salvation is free to all. What Paul said to the jailer he said to the whole world. Whosoever will may come.

(D. J. Burrell, D. D.)

1. If you destroy a man's hope of gain you are very apt to make him your enemy.

2. When you are hindering a man's business, he will charge you with precipitating a general business panic.

3. When you drive prosperity from a bad man's door, you may be inviting adversity to enter your own.

4. When you help some afflicted one, when you free some oppressed one, the affliction or the oppression may be transferred to yourself.

5. When you do a good deed, and are put in prison for it, wait for God's deliverance — it will come.

6. The night is not all dark, nor the stocks hard, nor the imprisonment bitter, to those who, in the consciousness that they are suffering for Christ, wait for the breaking fetters and the earthquake shock.

(S. S. Times.)

So long as the preaching of the gospel does not interfere with bad men's money making, bad men are disposed to let it alone, as "none of their business." But when the work of these temperance people interferes with liquor selling; when the work of these law and order people stops the selling of vile books and pictures, and closes Sunday concert saloons; when the religious sentiment of the community rises up against lotteries and raffles; when the political reform movements propose to stop stealing in the city institutions — then it is evident to every servant of the devil whose supply of gain is thereby cut off, that "these men do exceedingly trouble our city," and the same feeling against the gospel is aroused in them as showed itself in the impoverished hog raisers of the Gadarenes. This is one of the sure hindrances in the path of all zealous Christian workers.

(H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)

The priesthood in all its branches, Flamens, Augurs, Hornspices, contemplated the advance of Christianity with dismay. It emptied their temples, curtailed their sacrifices, reduced their profits, exposed their frauds.

(J. J. Blunt, D. D.)

The words imply a punishment of more than usual severity, such as would leave their backs lacerated and bleeding. So in 1 Thessalonians 2:2, St. Paul speaks of having been "shamefully entreated" at Philippi. Those who have seen anything of the prisons of the Roman empire, as e.g., Mamertine dungeon at Rome itself, can picture to themselves the darkness and foulness of the den into which St. Paul and his friend were now thrust: the dark cavern-like cell, below the ground, the damp and reeking walls, the companionship of the vilest outcasts. And, as if this were not enough, they were fastened in the "stocks." St. Luke used the Greek term xylon, the same as is used sometimes for the cross (Acts 5:30; Acts 13:29). The technical Latin word was nervus. Like the English stocks, it was a wooden frame with five holes, into which head and feet and arms were thrust, and the prisoner left in an attitude of "little ease." Here, however, it would seem, the feet only were fastened, the rest of the body being left lying on the ground. If the received version of Job 13:37; 33:11, which follows the LXX and the Vulgate, be correct, the punishment was common at a very early period in the East (compare Jeremiah 29:26).

(Dean Plumptre.)

When Catherine Evans, a Quaker heroine of the seventeenth century, was imprisoned within the gloomy walls of the Inquisition, in the Island of Malta, for obeying what she regarded as a call from God to preach the gospel in the East, she was put into an inner room of the Inquisition, which had only two little holes in it for light and air, and which was so exceedingly hot that it seemed to be the intention to stifle her. On one occasion Friar Malachi told her unless she abandoned her religion she should never go out of that room alive. To this she fearlessly replied, "The Lord is sufficient to deliver me, but whether He will or no, I will not forsake the living fountain to drink at a broken cistern." In like manner Paul and Silas, when apprehended and thrust into the inner prison of Philippi, were not debarred thereby from praising and preaching Christ. To such men, indeed,

Stone walls do not a prison make,

Nor iron bars a cage.

Some years ago three Primitive Methodist preachers went to mission a town in Worcestershire, and when they commenced the service, there was a magistrate, a clergyman, and a constable. The constable was ordered to take the preacher down, and he took him down and put him in prison; but there was immediately a second one up preaching away. The magistrate ordered the constable to take the second one, and then the third one was up preaching away. He bad orders to take the third, and he put all three together into the prison and they made a noise there. The magistrate went to the constable, and he said, "What a noise those men are making; go and separate them, and do not let them make a noise like that." So the man went in and separated them, and he put two of them in a cell with a robber, and they preached the gospel to the robber. They preached to him, and they prayed with him, and he got converted. More noise than ever now. The magistrate said, "I told you to separate those men." "Well," he said, "I have separated them." "Separate them again, then." "Well," he said, "if I separate them again they will all get it. That robber is as bad as they are now."

I. THE MEN ENGAGED WERE EMINENTLY GOOD. "Paul and Silas."

1. They were employed in the highest service.

2. They were the truest benefactors of society.

3. They were successful opponents of evil.

4. They were martyrs to religious fidelity.

II. THE PLACE WAS NOTORIOUSLY WICKED. "Prison."

1. Circumstances are no criterion of character.

2. Doing good does not necessarily produce its equivalent.

3. The world is ignorant of the nature of true religion.

4. The good are non-resistant in their method of meeting persecution.

5. The ungodly are permitted great freedom.

III. THE TIME was extremely unusual. "Midnight." It was neither of the usual "hours" of devotion. The heart of man on earth and the ear of God in heaven are not regulated by our chronometers. Midnight, as well as midday, is the "accepted" time.

1. It was singular time. The world asleep.

2. It was sacred time. David and other eminent servants of God often worshipped them.

3. It was suitable time. Silence reigned. Quietness favourable to devotion.

IV. THE SERVICE WAS MARVELLOUS IN ITS NATURE. They had been stopped serving God by preaching. In the circumstances they did what they could.

1. There was supplication.

(1)Probably for pardon of enemies.

(2)Probably for success of mission.

(3)Probably for guidance in difficulties.

(4)Probably for preservation of converts.

2. There was song.

(1)Consciousness of Divine favour.

(2)Acknowledgment of Divine favour.

(3)Enjoyment of Divine favour.

3. There was sublimity. Such conduct in such a place was unique — marvellous.

V. THE RESULTS WERE EXTRAORDINARILY GREAT.

1. Shaking of the prison.

(1)Proof of the Divine presence.

(2)Illustration of the Divine power.

(3)Sign of the Divine indignation.

(4)Symbol of the Divine goodness. Open doors and broken chains. Moral freedom.

2. Conversion of the prison keeper.

(1)Fear.

(2)Inquiry.

(3)Instruction.

(4)Faith.

(5)Obedience.

(6)Courtesy.

(7)Joy.

3. Liberation of the prisoners.

(1)Infringement of rights.

(2)Assertion of claims.

(3)Acknowledgment of wrong.

(4)Freedom.Conclusion:

1. God cares for the good.

2. Fidelity to God rewarded.

3. Ultimate triumph of the gospel.

4. Worship God.

(B. D. Johns.)

Like the nightingale, which warbles forth its beautiful notes in the night time, and when other birds are quietly asleep, so these two apostles sang praises to God at unconventional hours, for they were in unusual circumstances, and in an unconventional place. Many people will go some distance to hear the nightingale, and do not soon forget its notes; so all this prisoners in the jail at Philippi heard the apostles sing that night, and, it is hoped, they never forgot it. The other day, when the wind was furiously swaying the trees, when the heavy hailstones rattled against the window panes, and the darkened skies poured down the rain in torrents amid lightning flashes, until our hearts were quaking with fear, a beautiful little bird sat upon one of our sheltered rose bushes and sang its clear and beautiful notes, as though it knew God would not suffer the storm to hurt it. So, when the storm of persecution burst over the apostles at Philippi, though the excitement of their situation and the soreness of their stripes kept them awake, as some think, yet they sang praises to God, believing not only that their situation would be a furtherance to the gospel, but that God would not suffer them to be hurt.

I. THE UNUSUAL HOUR OF PRAYER — midnight.

II. THE SINGULAR TEMPLE — a prison.

III. The remarkable conductors of THE SERVICE. — Paul and Silas in the stocks.

IV. THE STRANGE CONGREGATION — the prisoners in their cells.

(K. Gerok.)

It is always easy to have an excellent prayer meeting when the heart is right. There were three persons attending this one there in the jail. The ancient Jews had a saying, "Where two persons meet, there is ever a third." Paul and Silas and Jesus Christ spent the night together (Matthew 18:19, 20). It was a most unusual —

I. TIME — "midnight." The Jews were strict as to their stated seasons of supplication; but this was the hour of neither the evening nor the morning oblation. But God never slumbers, He is alive to His children's wants even in "the dead of night."

II. PLACE. This was the first time the voice of Christian devotion was heard in those precincts — the earliest dungeon in Europe which held a mercy seat, although it has had many successors.

III. POSTURE. It was neither standing, nor kneeling, nor lying on one's face. What a poor time they would have had, if they had been compelled to use a formula or work themselves into an attitude. God does not care for attitudes when only the heart is right, and the spirit true, and the want pressing.

IV. KIND OF PRAYER. "Praying, they sang." They set their petitions to music. True prayer is praise, and genuine praise is prayer.

V. EXPRESSION OF PRAYER — by tones of old Hebrew melodies such as one hears now in the synagogue: wild, pathetic, plaintive, and fascinating. Match one of David's psalms or Isaiah's anthems to it, and it will move one's heart like a strain from the sky. He who has at command psalm after psalm has wonderful resources of comfort in his times of trouble.

VI. REACH OF PRAYER. No doubt God heard it, but "the prisoners" also heard it. These were the "songs in the night" that Elihu told Job about; perhaps the psalm was that where David told of the good his singing did him (Psalm 42:8). And we can have no sort of doubt that the jailer heard everything that was going on.

VII. FORCE OF PRAYER. The Lord sent the earthquake in answer, and converted the jailer.

VIII. DIRECTION OF PRAYER. Imagine a triangle. The perpendicular line represents the direction of a Christian man's petition: it goes up straight towards God. The horizontal line represents the level pressure of the same force, going out towards those within range. That jailer, no doubt, heard the singing and the praying; it was not addressed to him, but it swept out toward him with lateral force. It is not safe to calculate deliberately upon affecting a bystander by our supplication; preaching in prayers is never to be commended; but a life of prayer, and an unconscious fervour of prayer in an individual instance, may be useful to one who watches it.

(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

Wondrous power of music! When prayers give out, when all is dark, the mystic waves of sweet melody have still force to lift us out of ourselves, and upon their golden tides our souls seem to float away and leave far behind them the sad life of tears and strife. I note that Jesus is recorded as singing but once. It was when His soul was exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death — when the gloom and foreboding was deepest — when His disciples could not speak or pray, and hardly dared to think. Then, after supper, when they had sung a hymn, they went out into Gethsemane. In our own homes, in times of deep trouble — after the death or burial of a beloved one — in the midst of some great pain or loss — when the children look blankly at each other, and sit talking in whispers, and father and mother scarce know how to speak without weeping — a sister or friend will go to the piano or harmonium, and presently there shall arise such a sweet hymn as shall draw the voices of the sorrowing little company together, and the cloud will be lifted, something like a tender serenity and peace coming over the oppressed and darkened hearts as the pulses of the music rise and fall. Indeed there have been times in the history of the Church when music, hymn singing, chanting, have done duty for almost the whole of religion. What a part did hymn singing play in the life of Luther — in the Lollard movement — in Wesleyan prayer meetings — in the Salvation Armies — past and present.

(H. R. Haweis, M. A.)

The agonies of Germany in the Thirty Years' War and other conflicts was productive of a vast number of patriotic and Christian songs. At the end of the seventeenth century, Councillor Faankenau made a collection of 32,712, which he presented in three hundred volumes to the University library at Copenhagen; while in 1718 another collector, Wetzel, reckoned 55,000 printed German hymns.

(J. FB. Tinling, B. A.)

A lamp, when lighted, may burn by day, but it is only at night that it is seen by the neighbourhood. The darkness does not kindle or cause the light, but the darkness reveals it and spreads it around. It is thus that consistent joy in the Lord, when believers attain it, in a time of trouble becomes an effective testimony for Christ. Not a few owe their conversion instrumentally to the light that streamed from a saint in the hour of his departure — to the song that rose from the pilgrim when he was traversing the valley of the shadow of death.

(W. Arnot, D. D.)

No man has more religion than he can show in time of adversity. The jail was a test of the Christian character of Paul and Silas. The way they stood the test, not only exalts them as Christian heroes, but also shows what power there is in the religion of Jesus.

I. A GREAT EARTHQUAKE.

1. The prisoners rejoicing (ver. 25). They were praying — for they needed comfort. They sang praises — for comfort was given. Their hymns were unto God alone; but "the prisoners were listening unto them." The Christian often exerts an influence of which he is unaware. What must have been the feelings of the listeners? Probably —(1) Wonder. Songs from that inner prison was an unheard of thing. From there usually came groans, curses, wails of despair.(2) A conviction that the two men were sustained by the God whom they were praising.(3) A desire to partake of the same peace and joy. When a disciple has sunshine in trial, then men say, "If religion can do that for us, then we want it." Songs in the night are better than sermons in the daytime.

2. The prisoners loosed. God now endorses the singers. The earthquake was natural in its character; but it happened at a time that shows that God was in it, using it, as He can use any force of nature, to accomplish His will.

II. A GREAT CHANGE.

1. The keeper despairing (ver. 27). His life depended upon the keeping of the prisoners. Awakened by the shock his first thought was of fidelity to his office, and, when he beheld the open doors, his instant conclusion was that the prisoners had escaped.

2. The keeper saved.(1) From self-destruction (ver. 28). There are two interesting questions in connection with this.(a) How did Paul know that the keeper was intending suicide? He was in the "inner" prison, where he could have seen nothing.(b) Why did none of the prisoners attempt to escape? It would seem as if the songs of the two missionaries, and the marvel which followed, had held them spellbound.(2) From eternal destruction. Why did the keeper tremble? He was in no danger; for not a prisoner had escaped. He had rightly connected the earthquake with God and the presence of the servants of God. His fear was of Him who is the Judge of all. How was he saved? "Believe," etc. Note how much larger the promise was than the question — "thou and thy house." He had asked for himself only, but ha obtained assurance for those whose salvation was of as much consequence as his own.

3. The keeper changed. How was the change shown?(1) In washing their stripes. His occupation had made him indifferent to the sufferings of others. But now that he had learned to love the Saviour his heart was touched with pity.(2) "Was baptized, he and all his immediately." Thus he and they expressed at once their faith in Christ.(3) "Set meat before them." He did not forget any of their physical wants in his own great joy. Those who have been fed with the Bread of Life should not be oblivious to the fact that the minister by whom they are fed has a body that needs to be fed also.(4) "Rejoiced greatly," etc. Now he was the possessor of the same joy that had caused those songs in the night.

III. A GREAT HUMILIATION.

1. The magistrate's permission to depart.(1) Given (ver. 35). They realised that they had acted hastily, and without warrant, and desired to get rid of the men as quietly as possible.(2) Refused. Paul did not stand upon a point of order as a matter of pride. If they departed without vindication, their influence as preachers of the gospel would be gone. For the honour of the Master, they refused to go.

2. The magistrates' humiliation (ver. 37). And the magistrates were made to come. They did not feel safe until they had gone where they would not again hear from them. The missionaries went out of prison with their innocence as publicly declared as their punishment. And thus they strengthened the hold of the gospel in Philippi.

3. The missionaries' departure (ver. 40). Having suffered so much, one would think that they needed comforting by the brethren instead. But God had comforted them with so great a comfort, that they still were the richer, and could afford to give. They went away, but they left brethren behind them. The Church was established at Philippi, and that could not be driven out.

(M. C. Hazard.)

The Christian looks beyond this world for complete happiness. Yet while here on earth he has something which the world can neither give nor take away. Deprive him of all that which ministers to the happiness of worldly men, and still he is happy. We have a striking example of this in the text. What then can make us happy in any condition, or under any circumstances? We answer — that which made Paul and Silas so happy in the prison at Philippi. The same sources of support and joy are open to every real Christian. Let us, then, examine them.

I. THEIR COMPARATIVE ESTIMATE OF WHAT THEY GAINED, WITH WHAT THEY LOST. It is by such comparisons that we form our estimate of almost every condition in human life. In this world, that is reasonably esteemed an eligible condition in which the good to be enjoyed far outweighs the evil to be endured. What then was the case of these prisoners? Were they in prison — it was not the prison of death. Were they in chains — they still possessed the liberty of the sons of God. Did they endure the pains of the lash — they had peace which passeth all understanding. Had they no hopes from the world — they had the hope of eternal glory. Who that possessed millions would grieve at the loss of a penny? When, therefore, we hear them say, "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as having nothing, yet possessing all things," their language is intelligible.

II. THE ASSURANCE THAT THEIR SUFFERINGS WERE THE MEANS OF GREAT GOOD. They regarded suffering not only as inseparably connected with the crown of glory, but as the appointed means of the preparation to wear it. They, therefore, "gloried in tribulation because tribulation worketh patience," etc. They rejoiced in the darkness of the dungeon, because there every Christian grace shone purer and brighter.

III. LOVE TO HIM FOR WHOM THEY SUFFERED. Love is the strongest passion of the human heart. It is delight in the object loved. With what cheerfulness and pleasure does it lead us to act or suffer! As intimately connected with their love to Christ, I ought to mention the great object of these men — the honour of Christ. Ease, pleasure, honour, interest, life were nothing in their view, and Christ was all in all. Conclusion:

1. Godliness hath the promise of the life that now is. Real religion in its nature is a rich source of support and joy in every condition.

2. Religion is as good a thing now as in the days of the apostles. The same sources of enjoyment are open to us as to them. Why then should not religion bless the Christian under the little crosses of this tranquil age, as well as under the terrors which the annals of persecution record? Alas t here is the defect. They have not as much religion as they ought to have and might have.

(N. W. Taylor, D. D.)

We gather from this narrative —

1. That good men are persecuted notwithstanding the most evident signs that they are the servants of God. The presumption of evildoers.

2. That the beneficent ministries of good men incur the hatred of unrighteous traffickers.

3. That religious persecutions are generally promoted by men who have the least regard for religion.

4. That religion often has to endure the blame of tumults raised by evildoers.

I. THE POWER OF TRUE PIETY TO GIVE MEN JOY AMIDST CIRCUMSTANCES OF SORROW. Paul and Silas —

1. Their patient endurance.

2. Their fervent devotion.(1) Devotion superior to physical pain. They had been beaten. Song stronger than sorrow.(2) Devotion superior to the suggestion of mental association. Prison a suggestive place.(3) Devotion superior to the habitual needs of human life. Midnight — time of sleep.

3. Their unique conduct. The masters with gains lost were in despair; the jailer in earthquake was about to commit suicide. Paul and Silas worshipped. Piety is supreme judged by results.

II. THE POWER OF TRUE PIETY TO GIVE MEN CALMNESS IN PHYSICAL DISTURBANCE.

1. God takes care of His persecuted servants.

2. The moral significance of the physical occurrences on the earth. Newspapers can only record the earthquake, not its hidden providences.

III. THE POWER OF TRUE PIETY TO ENABLE MEN TO GIVE GUIDANCE AMIDST MORAL PERPLEXITY. See how the providence of God has in view the awakening of the souls of men. "Believe," etc.

1. This advice was willing.

2. Wise.

3. Practicable.

4. Inspiring.

5. Accepted.

IV. THE POWER OF TRUE PIETY TO GIVE MEN DIGNITY IN THE HUMILIATING EMERGENCIES OF LIFE. "Let them come," etc.

1. Not the language of proud self-assertion.

2. The language of self-vindication.

(J. S. Exell, M. A.)

I. THE PREACHERS.

1. Their punishment.

(1)"Many stripes."

(2)"In the inner prison."

(3)"Their feet fast in the stocks." Cell windowless and damp; stocks irritating and painful.

2. Their piety. "Prayed and sang." Only heroes of the highest type could have prayed in such a place.

3. Their noise. "The prisoners heard them." They will have all the more attentive audience by the place and time. Noise was no new thing in the old prison. Groans, curses, threats had often echoed through those gloomy corridors; but never until now prayer and praise.

4. Their deliverance.

(1)It was supernatural. "A great earthquake."

(2)It was instantaneous. "Immediately the doors were opened."

(3)It was complete. "Every man's bands were loosed."

II. THE PENITENT. The exciting scenes of the afternoon and evening had passed, and "at midnight" the jailer is fast asleep.

1. His surprise ("waking out of his sleep") at the swaying of the prison, the open doors, and the supernatural aspect of things generally.

2. His fear. "That the prisoners had fled." Nothing was more reasonable. Prisoners have not much conscience when the alternative of bondage or freedom is before them.

3. His desperation. "Would have killed himself." Believing his own life to be forfeited, his first thought was that of suicide. That was the highest point to which heathen culture could rise. The advice of Seneca was, "If life is pleasant, live; if not, you have a right to return whence you came."

4. His instructions. "Do thyself no harm." How did Paul know he was going to do himself harm?

5. His encouragement. "We are all here." How, then, could Paul vouch for this?

6. His penitence. "Came trembling." The marvels he had witnessed had aroused his conscience, and smitten him with an awful sense of guilt and alarm.

7. His humility. "Fell down before Paul." There are earthquake crises in life when God's despised people are appreciated — crises when they only can allay the troubled spirit, and answer the momentous questions which agitate and alarm the human heart.

8. His inquiry. "What must I do to be saved?" The danger implied in this question is not that which prompted him to suicide. The presence of all the prisoners saved him from that. The inquiry involves a conviction —

(1)Of danger. "Saved."

(2)Of the importance of action or effort. "Must."

(3)Anxiety to do what may be required. "What must I do?"

(4)Personal responsibility. "What must I do?" We lose ourselves in the crowd. True penitence individualises the man.

III. THE PARDON.

1. Its condition — "Believe."

2. Its object — "Jesus Christ."

3. Its certainty — "Thou shalt be saved."

4. Its effects.

(1)Sympathetic — "Washed their stripes." A man should doubt his conversion if he does not seek to undo the wrongs of yesterday.

(2)Hospitality — Into his house.

(3)Liberality — Set meat before them.

(4)Public and prompt confession — Baptised straightway.

(5)Influence — "And all his." One saved man has a tendency to produce another.The jailer, though a heathen, had some manhood and character about him, or his family would not have been so ready to follow him with such confidence.

(T. Kelly.)

It is a great disgrace to humanity that its greatest benefactors have been ill-treated. Next to the Saviour, the world has known no truer benefactor than Paul. And yet he was cast into prison. We feel ashamed of our complaining as we think of this God's true hero singing songs of praise unto the Lord.

I. A GOOD MAN RADIATES HIS INFLUENCE. He cannot help it.

1. Silas was benefited by his connection with Paul. Silas was a man of mark, but he became more remarkable from his identification with Paul. We may not get earthly greatness or riches, but we must be better in a moral sense by allowing ourselves to be touched by a good man's influence. "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise."

2. Paul and Silas together exerted a good influence —(1) On the prisoners, who listened to the sweet singing.(2) On the jailer, whom they rescued from death. It has been so ever since. "The path of the just is as the shining light." A bird will sing in a cage; a preacher has spoken through the grating of his cell.

II. A GOOD MAN'S CHARACTER IS NOT DAMAGED BY OUTWARD CONDITIONS. His reputation may be affected by them; for a man may have a good character and a bad reputation. Paul and Silas had a bad reputation. But a change is soon brought about. The very jailer acknowledges them as messengers of God. Today the world delights to honour those men who sat in that cell. If we suffer as evil-doers, we have reason to be ashamed; but if we suffer as Christians, let us glorify God on this behalf.

III. GOOD MEN ARE TRUE TO THEIR PRINCIPLES, THOUGH THEY HAVE BEEN THE CAUSES OF DISASTER. If the world were morally right, correct principles would never bring a man into trouble. If the apostles had been brought up in the school of worldly prudence, and had sat at the feet of Professors Pliable and Worldly Wiseman, they would not have had a sore back that night, though they might have had the worse evil of an uneasy conscience. But they were brought up in the school of Christ. The lesson impressed upon their mind was, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." It was theirs to dare to do the right, and leave consequences. Throw the mere professor into prison, and he soon recants. But when Paul and Silas are thrown into prison, they pray and sing praises unto God. They do not change their mode of procedure.

IV. GOOD MEN ARE SUSTAINED AND ENCOURAGED IN THEIR SUFFERINGS.

1. The consciousness of having done right is a sustaining power. Paul and Silas had songs given to them in the night time of their confinement, while the poor jailer was in agonies, and the magistrates who condemned were sadly troubled.

2. The consciousness of a helper in heaven is a sustaining power. Paul without prayer would have been Paul without his lofty heroism. Prayer nerved his arm for the conflict, and brought down heavenly blessings.

(W. Burrows, B. A.)

John Bunyan, the immortal dreamer, speaking on one occasion of the cell on Bedford Bridge, where for twelve long years he was confined, said, "So, being again delivered up to the jailer's hands, I was had home to prison." When Madame Guyon was imprisoned in the Castle of Vincennes, in 1695, she not only sang, but wrote songs of praise to her God. "It sometimes seemed to me," she said, "as if I were a little bird whom the Lord had placed in a cage, and that I had nothing now to do but to sing. The joy of my heart gave a brightness to the objects around me. The stones of my prison looked in my eyes like rubies. I esteemed them more than all the gaudy brilliancies of a vain world. My heart was full of that joy which Thou givest to them that love Thee in the midst of their greatest crosses" — a sentiment which she embodied, during one of her imprisonments, in a touching little poem, which begins thus —

"A little bird I am,

Shut from the fields of air;

And in my songs I sit and sing

To Him who placed me there:

Well pleased a prisoner to be,

Because, my God, it pleaseth Thee."Bass Rock, a lonely island cliff in the Firth of Forth, off Haddingtonshire, two miles from land, was once used by the English Government as a fortress and State prison. Here, in the seventeenth century, many good ministers, persecuted for conscience' sake, suffered confinement; and one of their number, Mr. Fraser, of Brea, wrote an account of their prison hardships. They were alternately chilled through with cold and half suffocated with smoke, fed with unwholesome food, and scarcely fed at all. "Many contracted diseases there which embittered and shortened their lives. But from within those walls the voice of praise and prayer might be often heard, mingled with the laughter, oaths, and songs of the reckless sentinels; and the souls of the captives were borne, on the wings of holy meditation, far aloft and away from the dreary rock within which their bodies were pent." "Every day," continues Fraser, "I read the Scriptures, exhorted and taught therefrom, did sing psalms and prayed with such of our society as our masters did permit to worship together, and this two times a day. I studied Hebrew and Greek, and I likewise read some divinity, and wrote a Treatise on Faith."

I. THE PRAYER (ver. 25). It is night. All are buried in slumber. A dark building — a lodging for the night, a prison. But light is in one of the cells — internal light, the light of faith. Therefore prayer and praise.

II. THE SHOCK (vers. 26-28). Not only were the walls shaken, but the jailer's heart. Certainly at first a shock of anguish and despair. But eternal love watches and prevails. The comforting word. "We are all here." Hope returns; but he wishes to see his fortune and to grasp it with his hands (ver. 29).

III. THE GREAT QUESTION (vers. 30-82). It is not entirely unpremeditated. Already the praying apostles have caused the presentiment of something higher to rise in him. Perhaps also earlier experiences in his dismal employment. The earthquake has ripened the slumbering seed. The apostles have not fled. How secure and happy they must be! What must I do that I may be the same? The great life question finds also a great life answer. There is one answer. Without Christ no one is saved; through Him all may be saved.

IV. THE FIRST LOVE (vers. 33, 34). What is it? The attempt to make a return for what has been received — to do good to Christ in His servants.

(Lisco.)

I. A QUIET CHAPEL OF PRAYER (ver. 25).

II. AN ALARMING PLACE OF JUDGMENT (vers. 26-29).

III. A WHOLESOME SCHOOL OF REPENTANCE (vers. 30, 31).

IV. A BROTHERLY HOUSE OF CHRISTIAN LOVE AND COMPASSION (vers. 32, 33).

V. A BLESSED BIRTHPLACE OF THE NEW LIFE (ver. 34).

(K. Gerok.)

I. STRANGE PLACES MAY BE CHANGED INTO CHURCHES. If in many cases desecration has taken place, many surprising instances of consecration have also occurred. We might turn every place into a praying ground. The teaching of this immediate lesson is that distressing, harmful, and threatening circumstances may be turned into ladders up to heaven. What are you doing in your unusual circumstances — moaning, groaning, complaining? Paul and Silas "sang praises." Such men, therefore, never could be in prison. Christians ought never to be in any circumstances which they cannot turn into sacramental occasions.

II. CHRISTIAN WORKERS AND WORSHIPPERS MAY HAVE UNEXPECTED OBSERVERS AND LISTENERS. It is always exactly so.

1. You do not speak without being listened to; you do not go to church without being observed. The preacher speaks to his immediate congregation, but he knows not who is listening in the vestibule. "And the prisoners were listening." They never heard such music before! They had been accustomed to profane language; to violent and complaining exclamations; but here is a new spirit in the house. It is so at home. Passing the room door, we pause a moment to hear some sweet voice in prayer or praise, and it follows the life like a pleading angel.

2. What is true on the one side is true on the other. The unjust judgment you passed was listened to by your children, and they will grow up to repeat your cynicism.

III. IT IS POSSIBLE QUIETLY AND EVEN THANKFULLY, TO ACCEPT ALL THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF LIFE. Nothing must interfere with the religious sacrifice. Are we in prison? We may have to alter the hour of worship, but not the worship itself. Are we in an uncongenial atmosphere? We may have to wait until the company has broken up before communion with the Father; but it is only waiting. Show me a Christian who does not complain. Where is the ancient joy? May the old days come again! When they come Christians will accept poverty or wealth, life or death, bleak March or warm June, with thankfulness, saying, "This is the best for me; I live not in circumstance, but in faith."

IV. THIS IS A FULL RELIGIOUS SERVICE. "But there was no preaching," you say. Yes, there was; for we may preach by singing. But, even in a more direct and literal sense, preaching was added to prayer and praise. The earthquake took place, and the jailer, with his house, became a congregation to which Paul and Silas did, in the literal sense of the term, preach. So that night they had a full service — prayer, praise, preaching, and conversion.

V. Look at THIS CONVERSION OF THE JAILER.

1. It took place under circumstances which may well be described as "exciting." Have we not been unjust to what is called "religious excitement"? But are the circumstances to blame, or ourselves? We like quietness — deadness; we do not like to be "excited," because the devil has chloroformed us into a state of insensibility. Jesus Christ did not rebuke the excitement which followed His ministry; when others would have had Him rebuke them, He said, "I tell you that if these held their peace, the very stones would cry out."

2. Happily the incident does not end here. To excitement was added the necessary element of instruction (ver. 32). Tears in the eyes that are not followed by activities in the hand harden the very heart which for the moment they softened. We shall be the worse for every revival that ends in itself. Times of revival must be followed by times of study. We might get up such services as these almost every day in the week. If we prayed and praised in every prison into which our life is thrust, we should be heard by strange listeners, we should be interrogated by strange inquirers, and doors of usefulness would be opened in the very granite which apparently shuts us in.

(J. Parker, D. D.)

Here we see it —

I. ELEVATING THE SPIRIT ABOVE THE GREATEST TRIALS (ver. 25). What gives religion this power.

1. Faith in the Divine superintendence. The apostles knew that they were not here by accident or chance, but that the whole was under the wise and kind control of the Eternal Father. This is consoling. Job felt this. "He knoweth the way that I take," etc.

2. Consciousness of God's approval. The "well done" of Heaven echoed within, and set all to music. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God," etc.

3. The thought of Christ's trials in comparison with their own.

4. Assurance of a glorious deliverance. "Our light afflictions, which are but for a moment," etc. "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared," etc. He who has this religion can find a paradise in a dungeon.

II. ENSURING THE INTERPOSITION OF GOD (ver. 26). While caring for all God takes special care of the good.

1. Reason would suggest this, viz., that the Eternal Spirit would feel a greater interest in mind than in matter; that the Eternal Father in His offspring than in His mere workmanship; that the Source of love and holiness in those who participate in His own moral attributes than in those who do not.

2. The Bible teaches this.(1) In explicit declarations. "To that man will I look," etc. "As a father pitieth his children," etc. "Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field," etc.(2) In the biography of the good. Did He not specially interpose on behalf of the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles? If necessary He will make the heavens rain bread, and the rock out-pour refreshing streams. He will divide the sea, and stop the mouth of lions.

III. CAPACITATING THE SOUL FOR THE HIGHEST USEFULNESS. The Philippian jailer —

1. Was prevented from self-destruction. The voice of Christianity to man is, "Do thyself no harm" of any kind. The good are ever useful in preventing evil.

2. Was directed to true safety. His question indicates a complex state of mind. He had regard not only to material and civil deliverance, but to spiritual and eternal. The question implies a sense of peril, and a sense of the necessity of individual effort. Something must be done. Paul, without circumlocution and delay, answers, "Believe," etc. Believe on Him as the Representative of God's love for the sinner, as the Atoner to God's character, as the Guide to God's heaven.

3. Experienced a delightful change (vers. 33, 34). The ruffian who "thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks," now tenderly washes their "stripes," and entertains them with pious hospitality. The terror-struck soul who sprang in, in utmost horror, is now full of joy and faith (ver. 34).

IV. INVESTING THE SOUL WITH THE TRUEST INDEPENDENCY (ver. 35, etc.). This is seen —

1. In their superiority to the fear of man. As soon as they were miraculously delivered from prison, they might have hurried away from such a scene of enemies; but they remained, although the magistrates gave them liberty to depart. They were not afraid. They could chant the 46th psalm.

2. In refusing great benefits, because offered on improper grounds. We will not accept as a favour what we demand as a right. A good man will refuse liberty, social influence, wealth, unless they can be honourably and righteously obtained.

3. In triumphing over their enemies. The tyrants became fawning suppliants at the feet of their prisoners. Such is Christian piety at first displayed in Europe, and in a prison. Piety is not that weak, simpering thing which often passes for it. It is the mightiest force on earth. True Christians have not received "the spirit of fear, but of love, power, and of a sound mind."

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

On losing a battle in that neighbourhood, Cassius, "the last of the Romans," hid himself in his tent, and bade his freedmen strike, while Brutus, in his sullen desperation, fell upon his sword. But, so far from drooping and murmuring, and calling God to account, who had beckoned them to Europe, and yet had permitted them to be so "shamefully entreated"; so far from resolving to desert a Master who had not protected them, or deeming the vision at Troas a lure to draw them on to stripes and a dungeon, "Paul and Silas" prayed, and not only poured out their hearts in supplication, but "sang praises unto God," and that in no whispered melody, for "the prisoners heard them."

(Prof. Eadie.)

Though the speakers were bound, the Word was free; not only the Word that went upward to the throne of God, but also the echo of the Word, that pierced the gloomy partition walls and sank into the startled ears of wretched prisoners. It seemed a roundabout road that the gospel took to reach these Gentiles; but it did not miss its way. There was a dead wall between the apostles and their audience, and therefore they did not preach that night. But there was no wall between them and the Father of their spirits: praying they hymned God, and the prayer sent upward fell down again on the other side of the partition, falling there on listening ears. In this circuitous method the gospel reached some needy souls. It is thus that in modern warfare they often overcome a fortress which is too strong to be taken by direct assault. The wall frowns thick and high between the defenders and the assailants. No missile sent in a direct line can touch the protected garrison. The besiegers in such a case throw their balls high into the heavens; these fall within the enclosure and do their work. When a good soldier of Jesus Christ cannot by direct preaching reach men, he may by prayer and praise. Christians travelling in Romish or otherwise darkened districts, might in this way scatter blessings in their track. And so might those who live in benighted neighbourhoods.

(W. Arnot, D. D.)

Lydia, Paul, Silas, Timotheus, TimothyAsia, Bithynia, Derbe, Galatia, Iconium, Jerusalem, Lystra, Macedonia, Mysia, Neapolis, Philippi, Phrygia, Samothrace, Thyatira, TroasBrethren, Brothers, Iconium, Ico'nium, Lystra, Opinion, Reported, Spoke, Spoken, Testified, Testimony, Timothy1. Paul and Silas are Joined by Timothy,
7. and being called by the Spirit from one country to another,
14. convert Lydia,
16. and cast out a spirit of divination;
19. for which cause they are whipped and imprisoned.
25. The prison doors are opened.
31. The jailor is converted,
35. and they are delivered.

Acts 16:2

     5661   brothers

Acts 16:1-2

     8332   reputation

Acts 16:1-3

     7535   Greeks

Paul at Philippi
'And on the sabbath day we went forth without the gate, by a river side, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which were come together.' --ACTS xvi. 13 (R.V.). This is the first record of the preaching of the Gospel in Europe, and probably the first instance of it. The fact that the vision of the man of Macedonia was needed in order to draw the Apostle across the straits into Macedonia, and the great length at which the incidents at Philippi are …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

How to Secure a Prosperous Voyage
'And after [Paul] had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. 11. Therefore ... we came with a straight course.'--ACTS xvi. 10, 11. This book of the Acts is careful to point out how each fresh step in the extension of the Church's work was directed and commanded by Jesus Christ Himself. Thus Philip was sent by specific injunction to 'join himself' to the chariot of the Ethiopian statesman. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

The Riot at Philippi
'And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, 20. And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, 21. And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. 22. And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. 23. And when they had laid many …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

The Great Question and the Plain Answer
'He 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 shall be saved.'--ACTS xvi. 30, 31. The keeper of a Macedonian jail was not likely to be a very nervous or susceptible person. And so the extraordinary state of agitation and panic into which this rough jailer was cast needs some kind of explanation. There had been, as you will all remember, an earthquake of a strange kind, for it not only opened the prison doors, but shook …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Household Salvation
To allure and encourage you to long for family religion, I have selected this text this morning. God grant it may answer the purpose designed. May many here have a spiritual hunger and thirst, that they may receive the blessing which so largely rested upon the Philippian jailer. Note in our text five things. We have a whole household hearing the word, a whole household believing it, a whole household baptized, a whole household working for God, and then, a whole household rejoicing. I. Observe, first, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

Lydia, the First European Convert
WE MAY LAUDABLY EXERCISE CURIOSITY with regard to the first proclamation of the gospel in our own quarter of the globe. We are happy that history so accurately tells us, by the pen of Luke, when first the gospel was preached in Europe, and by whom, and who was the first convert brought by that preaching to the Savior's feet. I half envy Lydia that she should be the leader of the European band; yet I feel right glad that a woman led the van, and that her household followed so closely in the rear. …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891

The Cry of the Heathen
And now, beloved, having thus prefaced our discourse, we have another observation to make before we proceed to a full discussion of the text. What an instance of Divine sovereignty we have in our text! He who is wise can see sovereignty everywhere in the work of salvation, but how clearly is it present here. Bithynia must not hear the gospel; the apostle desires to go and preach it there; but as yet, it seems, God does not intend that Bithynia should be evangelised. He desires to tarry in Asia, and …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

The Heavenly Father
ACTS xvi. 24-28. God that made the world, and all that therein is, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands . . . For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. I told you last Sunday of the meaning of the days of the week; but one day I left out--namely, Tuesday. I did so on purpose. I wish to speak of that day by itself in this sermon. I told you how our forefathers worshipped …
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

Note
THERE is a passage in an old writer which throws so much light on some points mentioned in this paper, that I make no excuse for giving it to the reader in its entirety. It comes from a work which is little known and less read. It has done me good, and I think it may do good to others. "When a man is awakened, and brought to that, that all must be brought to, or to worse,' What shall I do to be saved!' (Acts 16:30-31), we have the apostolic answer to it: ' Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou …
John Charles Ryle—The Upper Room: Being a Few Truths for the Times

Saving Faith.
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.--ACTS xvi. 30,31. This is one of the most abused texts in the Bible, and one which, perhaps, has been made to do quite as much work for the devil as for God. Let every saint present, ask in faith for the light of the Holy Ghost, while we try rightly to apply it. Let us enquire:-- 1. Who are to believe? 2. When are they to believe? 3. How are …
Catherine Booth—Godliness

Directions to Sinners.
Text--What shall I do to be saved.--Acts xvi. 30. THESE are the words of the jailor at Philippi, the question which he put to Paul and Silas, who were then under his care as prisoners. Satan had, in many ways, opposed these servants of God in their work of preaching the Gospel, and had been as often defeated and disgraced. But here, at Philippi, he devised a new and peculiar project for frustrating their labors. There was a certain woman at Philippi, who was possessed with a spirit of divination, …
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion

Measures to Promote Revivals.
Text.--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.--Acts xvi. 20, 21. "THESE men," here spoken of, were Paul and Silas, who went to Philippi to preach the Gospel, and very much disturbed the people of that city, because they supposed the preaching would interfere with their worldly gains. And so they arranged the preachers of the Gospel before the magistrates of the city, as culprits, and charged …
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion

The Missionary on the Sea Shore.
"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."--Acts 16:9. "Wei schaumt so feierlich zu unsern Fuessen." [65]F. de la Motte Fouque. transl., Jane Borthwick, 1858 Dark mighty Ocean, rolling to our feet! In thy low murmur many voices meet, The sound of distant lands brought strangely near To Fancy's ear. From shores unknown comes the sweet Sabbath bell, New languages the old glad tidings tell, We hear the …
Jane Borthwick—Hymns from the Land of Luther

Chrysostom Evades Election to a Bishopric, and Writes his Work on the Priesthood.
About this time several bishoprics were vacant in Syria, and frequent depositions took place with the changing fortunes of orthodoxy and Arianism, and the interference of the court. The attention of the clergy and the people turned to Chrysostom and his friend Basil as suitable candidates for the episcopal office, although they had not the canonical age of thirty. Chrysostom shrunk from the responsibilities and avoided an election by a pious fraud. He apparently assented to an agreement with Basil …
St. Chrysostom—On the Priesthood

The Christian's Peace and the Christian's Consistency
PHILIPPIANS i. 21-30 He will be spared to them--Spiritual wealth of the paragraph--Adolphe Monod's exposition--Charles Simeon's testimony--The equilibrium and its secret--The intermediate bliss--He longs for their full consistency--The "gift" of suffering Ver. 21. +For to me, to live is Christ+; the consciousness and experiences of living, in the body, are so full of Christ, my supreme Interest, that CHRIST sums them all up; +and to die+, the act of dying,[1] +is gain+, for it will usher me in …
Handley C. G. Moule—Philippian Studies

The Martyrs of Lyons and vienne (Ad 177)
Many other martyrs suffered in various parts of the empire under the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Among the most famous of these are the martyrs of Lyons and Vienne, in the south of France (or Gaul, as it was then called), where a company of missionaries from Asia Minor had settled with a bishop named Pothinus at their head. The persecution at Lyons and Vienne was begun by the mob of those towns, who insulted the Christians in the streets, broke into their houses, and committed other such outrages against …
J. C. Roberston—Sketches of Church History, from AD 33 to the Reformation

Scotland and Ireland
The only thing which seems to be settled as to the religious history of Scotland in these times, is that a bishop named Ninian preached among the Southern Picts between the years 412 and 432, and established a see at Whithorn, in Galloway. But in the Year of St. Ninian's death, a far more famous missionary, St. Patrick, who is called "the Apostle of Ireland," began his labours in that island. It is a question whether Patrick was born in Scotland, at a place called Kirkpatrick, near the river Clyde, …
J. C. Roberston—Sketches of Church History, from AD 33 to the Reformation

Whether Since Christ's Passion the Legal Ceremonies Can be Observed Without Committing Mortal Sin?
Objection 1: It would seem that since Christ's Passion the legal ceremonies can be observed without committing mortal sin. For we must not believe that the apostles committed mortal sin after receiving the Holy Ghost: since by His fulness they were "endued with power from on high" (Lk. 24:49). But the apostles observed the legal ceremonies after the coming of the Holy Ghost: for it is stated (Acts 16:3) that Paul circumcised Timothy: and (Acts 21:26) that Paul, at the advice of James, "took the men, …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Pædobaptism. Its Accordance with the Institution of Christ, and the Nature of the Sign.
1. Pædobaptism. The consideration of the question necessary and useful. Pædobaptism of divine origin. 2. This demonstrated from a consideration of the promises. These explain the nature and validity of Pædobaptism. 3. Promises annexed to the symbol of water cannot be better seen than in the institution of circumcision. 4. The promise and thing figured in circumcision and baptism one and the same. The only difference in the external ceremony. 5. Hence the baptism of the children …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Children Devoted to God. Gen. 17:7,10; Acts 16:14,15,33.
Children devoted to God. Gen. 17:7,10; Acts 16:14,15,33. [For those who practise infant Baptism.] Thus saith the mercy of the Lord, "I'll be a God to thee; I'll bless thy num'rous race, and they Shall be a seed for me." Abram believed the promised grace, And gave his sons to God; But water seals the blessing now, That once was sealed with blood. Thus Lydia sanctified her house, When she received the word; Thus the believing jailer gave His household to the Lord. Thus later saints, eternal King! …
Isaac Watts—The Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts

Acts 17:16-17. Athens.
[9] "Now, while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry." Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him." --Acts 17:16-17. PERHAPS the reader of this paper lives in a town or city, and sees more of bricks and mortar than of green fields. Perhaps you have some relative or friend living in a town, about whom you naturally feel a deep interest. …
John Charles Ryle—The Upper Room: Being a Few Truths for the Times

Conversion, Its Nature and Necessity.
Closely related to the doctrine of the power, or efficacy, of the divine Word--as considered in the last chapter--is the doctrine of conversion. It is the subject of conversion, therefore, that we now purpose to examine. It is an important subject. It deserves a prominent place in treating of the Way of Salvation. It is also an intensely personal subject. Each one who desires to be in the Way of Salvation is personally interested in it. The eternal destiny of every one who reads these pages is closely …
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church

The Law Established through Faith
Discourse I "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: Yea, we establish the law." Romans 3:31. 1. St. Paul, having the beginning of this Epistle laid down his general proposition, namely, that "the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;" -- the powerful means, whereby God makes every believer a partaker of present and eternal salvation; -- goes on to show, that there is no other way under heaven whereby men can be saved. He speaks particularly …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

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