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Paul in Philippi - Prison, Prayer and Praise

Published since 30. Sep. 2024
Bible passages:
Acts 16:16-34

16 Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” 18 And this she did for many days.

But Paul, greatly [d]annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. 19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.

20 And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; 21 and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” 22 Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23 And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”

29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. (Acts 16:16-34)

After arriving in the Roman colony of Philippi, Paul and his party went down to the river for a prayer meeting on the Sabbath. Prayer is extremely important in Acts 16; it’s mentioned in verses 13, 16, and 25. The lesson is clear: where there’s no prayer, there’s no power. But where there’s power and dependence on God, there will be a display of His power in our lives!

  • The liberation of the enslaved girl (v. 16–18)

Someone once said, “It’s not the praying sheep Satan fears, but the presence of the Shepherd.” This is true because true prayer acknowledges the presence of God in our midst. As Paul and those with him went to pray, Satan began to work even harder, sending a slave girl who was possessed by a spirit of divination. The Greek text tells us that this girl had a “python spirit.” She cried out, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation” (v. 17). It’s interesting to note that Luke uses this title for God more than any other New Testament writer (Lk 1:32, 35, 76, 6:35, 8:28; Acts 7:48, 16:17).

In the Old Testament, it meant “Possessor of heaven and earth” (Gen 14:19). This poor girl, who was demon-possessed, cried out to the One in control of heaven and earth. She did this for many days, and Paul was greatly annoyed by it. We might look at it and think, “What’s wrong with that? Wasn’t it all true?” What she said was true! The devil, the father of lies (Jn 8:44), will speak truth when it suits his purposes. He’ll disguise himself as an angel of light to masquerade his evil purposes (2 Cor 11:14–15), and Paul opposed such a strategy. Turning to the girl, he said to the spirit, “‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And he came out that very hour.” (v. 18). The demon had no choice but to obey, for Paul had spoken in the name of Jesus Christ, meaning in His authority.

  • The incarceration of the servants of God (v. 19–24)

The slave girl’s owners showed very clearly that they didn’t care for her well-being. Their only concern was their own profit. Because she’d been set free of the demon, their hope of profit was gone. The conflict between money and the ministry often appears in Acts (Acts 5:1–11, 8:18–24, 19:23–27, 20:33–34). The slave girl’s owners seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the magistrates in the public marketplace. They accused them of being troublesome Jews who were trying to upset the Roman way of life. This caused the mob to react so violently that the magistrates tore their clothes. They had the missionaries beaten with rods and thrown into prison. Satan’s first strategy was to come as an angel of light, but when that failed, he came as a roaring lion. Paul and Silas were not only beaten and locked up, but they were put in the inner prison, and their feet were fastened in the stocks. But these two men were the freest in prison!

  • The emancipation of a prison guard (v. 25–34)

Paul and Silas had been persecuted for obeying the Lord and standing for the truth of the gospel, but we don’t find them pouting. Instead, we hear them praising the Lord! We’re told it was midnight, giving us the idea that things were at their darkest, but these men, dependent on the Lord, were empowered by the Spirit of God as they raised their voices together to sing. Think of how their voices would bounce off the prison walls, penetrating the darkness of the night, perhaps rising above the wailing and moaning of the other prisoners. They didn’t see themselves as prisoners but as holy priests in the presence of their God, offering up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. Their songs were the sacrifice of praise to God, and out of the abundance of their hearts, their mouths spoke (1 Pet 2:5; Heb 13:15; Mt 12:34).

How good that they were so occupied with Christ and not with the circumstances that the Lord gave them songs in the night (Job 35:10; Ps 42:8). Charles Spurgeon once said: “Any fool can sing in the day. It is easy to sing when you can see the notes by daylight, but a skillful singer can sing when there is not a ray of light to read by… Songs in the night come only from the Lord; they are not in the power of men.” He also said, “He who sings a song to Christ in the night sings the best song in all the world; for he sings from the heart.”

These men were not rejoicing in their circumstances. They were rejoicing in the Lord, and He lifted them above their circumstances (Phil 4:4; 1 Th 5:16, 18).

It has often been said, “Prayer and praise are powerful weapons.” Paul and Silas didn’t base their theology on circumstances. They looked at their circumstances in the light of what they knew about their God. There’s a lovely example of this in 2 Chronicles 20:1–30 that’s worth reading. Time and space don’t allow us to go into it here, but take some time to read the passage.

As Paul and Silas lifted their voices in praise, the Lord let them know that He had heard them. There was a great earthquake: the foundations of the prison were shaken, the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were loosed! The power of God was on display! What caused the earthquake? The power of God! What caused the foundations of the prison to shake? The power of God! What caused the doors of the prison to fly open? The power of God! What caused everyone’s chains to fall off? The power of God! What kept all the prisoners from running free? The power of God! And what brought about the power of God? A praying and praising people!

The keeper of the prison awakened from his sleep in more ways than one. He had fallen asleep on duty, and if he had lost prisoners, he knew that meant certain death! But he was to awake from a spiritual sleep as well. Once he saw that the doors of the prison were open, his natural conclusion was that everyone had escaped. Notice that up to this point, he was still in the dark. He drew his sword and was about to kill himself when Paul cried out with a loud voice, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here” (v. 28). Paul shared this good news enthusiastically, with a loud voice! Then, the jailer called for a light. This is what he needed—a light in the darkness. He wasted no time; he ran in and fell down trembling. He knew there was a great power at work in what was going on in his life at that moment, and he was ready to submit to it. He brought them out where he could see them, and falling down before Paul and Silas; he asked one of the most important questions anyone can ask: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (v. 30). Isn’t it interesting that this man knew his need at that moment? No one had said anything about salvation, yet that was the question he asked! The power of God was at work!

Paul and Silas answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” (v. 31). How simple and how beautiful is the gospel! The truth of the gospel is found by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is first to believe He is who He claimed to be (Jn 20:31) and second to believe in what He did. “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3–4).

Paul took the opportunity to teach the word of the Lord to this man and his entire household. Like Lydia, he responded by taking Paul and Silas to his home. He and his household gave outward evidence of an inward work of God being done in them by getting baptized. The jailer set food before them. He ministered to their needs, even washing the very wounds that they had received as his prisoners. How good if we, too, could learn to wash one another’s wounds, even some that we have given one another!

Think of this: because Paul and Silas were determined to give praise in the midst of their circumstances, many souls were saved, and the newborn believers rejoiced and gave the Lord praise as well. Paul and Silas functioned not only as holy priests before their God but also as royal priests before men. This is what Peter instructed us to do as well: “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9).

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