After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. -Acts 16:23-25
Historians and scholars, even secular ones, will agree that no one has ever spread the gospel of Christ with more zeal and determination than Paul the Apostle. To say that he was a tireless worker is indeed an understatement. Paul was a man who never stopped; he worked for the gospel of Christ constantly. A year or two ago I read a wonderful book by John Maxwell entitled “Today Matters.” I recall John Maxwell saying in his book that he could spend a day with someone and afterward tell if the person was using his or her time wisely and accomplishing God's will and purposes. When I first read that I confess that I was intimidated at the prospect of John Maxwell, a man I have admired from a distance for many years, spending a day with me and just observing me. Do you know something? I no longer feel that way. Brother Maxwell is welcome to come and spend a day with me any time he wants, and I am no longer intimidated by that prospect. But here’s something else; how would I have felt about Paul the Apostle spending some time with me? While that would be great, I am indeed a little intimidated by that thought. Paul was a man who I am thinking only slept when he had to because the rest of the time he was doing the work of the gospel.
Acts 16 describes how that Paul and Silas were conducting missions work in the city of Philippi. While there they saw a true movement of the Holy Spirit. On one occasion Paul drove a demon from a servant girl thus rendering her useless to her owners for the purpose of fortune telling. The men were arrested, brutally whipped, and cast into the city prison, which would have been little more than a dungeon. Go to www.bibleplaces.com and search for Philippi. You will find some wonderful pictures of the ancient city as well as a picture of what may have been the ruins of the actual jail where this event happened. I looked at those pictures and I shuddered at the thought of being chained in that dark underground dungeon. Try to imagine the scene: Paul and Silas were probably still bleeding from their wounds, they were in chains, and they began to sing hymns of praise to God (v 25). This is faith that is truly living, active, and real. They had made up their minds to trust in the Lord regardless of the circumstances. I wonder if I could be that upbeat in the midst of such circumstances. Could any of us? I believe that the answer is yes, because the same faith Paul and Silas possessed is available to you and me through faith in the Lord Jesus.
Whatever circumstances you are facing today, trust the Lord, look to Him, and hold fast to the Lord's stong and mighty hand.
