Alan Lewis
Elon, North Carolina
March 2026
Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.
19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.
33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.
35 When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” 36 The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”
37 But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”
38 The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. 39 They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left. (Acts 16:16-40 NIV)
Everyone who has come to faith has some kind of conversion story. They are all inspiring. They are encouraging. They are powerful. They are all very different, because we all have a different background.
Conversion Stories in Acts
Acts is a book of conversions. It is a book about God completely transforming people’s lives, as different individuals, different groups, different genders, different races, and people from different countries all encounter the gospel.
Let’s think about some of the conversion stories in Acts. Who does the gospel reach in Acts?
It reached religious Jews, like those who attended a Jewish festival (Pentecost) in Acts 2 and those who attended the synagogue in Acts 13. We would call church goers today.
It reached religious and moral Gentiles (Acts 10). Cornelius was not just a moral Gentile but a Roman soldier.
It reached a wealthy and successful businesswoman named Lydia (Acts 16).
It reached someone who held political office, a governor (Acts 13).
It reached different racial groups and skin colors (Samaritans, Romans, Africans).
It reached someone who worked for the local government, a jailer or what we would call today a corrections officer (Acts 16).
It reached a high-ranking government official from another country (Ethiopia).
It reached outcasts, like eunuchs, who were stigmatized and excluded from certain activities in Judaism. They had restricted access to the Temple.
It reached deep thinkers, philosophers in Athens, Greece (Acts 17).
It reached a violent persecutor or what we would call today a terrorist (Acts 9).
What is interesting about them is that they are all very different. Some are very dramatic with blinding bright lights appearing in the sky, and an audible voice from heaven calling you by name
Others are very normal and ordinary with no vision and no appearance of Jesus. Some involved supernatural sign gifts (speaking in tongues) and some did not involve any sign gifts.
They just involved someone talking to someone else sharing the gospel, like Philip talking to the Ethiopian Eunuch in his chariot, opening the Scriptures or Paul talking to the Philippian Jailer, although the last one was preceded by a miraculous earthquake.
Today, we come to one of the most famous stories in the Bible. It is the conversion of the Philippian Jailer. A jailer becomes a Christian. It is one of the most dramatic conversion stories in Scripture. Church Swindoll called it “an earth-shaking conversion.”[1]
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. God’s grace penetrating a hardened pagan jailer. It can penetrate the harshest environments. A filthy Roman prison becomes a place of salvation.
It can happen at any time. This man’s life was turned upside down in a single night. The hour of decision for the Philippian Jailer happened to be at midnight when most people are asleep.
The Philippian Jailer Story
There are nine parts to the Philippian Jailer story. Let’s look at the nine elements of the story.
1. Exorcism of a Demon
That is how the story began. We saw that last time. A slave girl followed Paul wherever he went and disrupted his ministry. Paul had the discernment to know that this disruption did not come from the girl but from a demon inside her.
The slave girl was possessed of an evil spirt and we are even told the name of that spirit. Paul did not ignore the situation. He was confrontational. He went directly to the source of the problem. He did not confront the slave girl. He spoke to the spirit inside her.
Paul commanded the spirit to leave her. He did not ask it to leave. He told it to leave but not based on his authority. He said, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” and “at that moment the spirit left her.”
2. Unjust Treatment
Christians should not be surprised when things get hard for them. Jesus said it would happen. He said in this world you will have tribulation. That goes about prosperity theology.
The exorcism led to unjust treatment. Paul cast a demon out of a girl. He was seized by a mob, dragged to the authorities, falsely charged with a crime.
We can be slandered today. Christians are dangerous. They are intolerant. They are enemies of the state. Paul and Silas were slandered, publicly beaten, arrested, and thrown into a maximum-security prison and tortured.
No good deed goes unpunished. Paul does a good deed and is punished for it. Have you ever been punished for doing good? Paul was a persecutor of Christians and now he is persecuted for doing good.
Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. (I Peter 3:13-14 NIV)
If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. (I Peter 4:15-16 NIV). That is what Paul and Silas did.
3. Midnight Worship
Paul and Silas were stripped and beaten with rods. They were thrown into a dark, smelly prison. They have open wounds. They were in throbbing pain. They had dried blood on their backs. Their feet were placed in stocks. What happens next?
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. (Acts 16:25 NIV)
That tells us two important things. First, it tells us that you can worship God in the midst of pain and suffering. It is easy to sing when things are going great but you can have joy even in a jail cell.
How would you respond in that situation? Most of us would not respond the way Paul and Silas did. Most of us would complain. Some of us would be mad at God. They just used the prison as their mission field.
They worshipped. They prayed. They sang in the dark at midnight. That is a strange time to be singing. They weren’t singing top forty hits.
They sang spiritual songs. They sang songs about God. They sang hymns. They turned this dark prison cell into a praise and worship service, and they did it at midnight.
They had joy in suffering. If they complained and lashed out at God in this situation, the miracle might not have come. It was prayer and praise that opened the prison doors.
Do you respond to injustice with praise and worship? Do you sing in the midst of pain or complain?
The second thing we notice about this is that the world watches Christians. They watch us even when we don’t know about it. Your joy in a bad situation is a witness to the world. A modern example of that is how Erika Kirk responded to the murder of her husband. The world cannot respond that way. Only a Christian can.
4. Divine Intervention
Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. (Acts 16:26 NIV)
Paul and Silas were in completely desperate situation. They were in the inner stocks. There was no way out of it. God stepped into their situation. He intervened.
God can intervene in any situation. He intervened in an unusual way here. He sent an earthquake. God moved the ground to reach a soul. It was not an ordinary earthquake. There had been other earthquakes in Philippi.
It was a supernatural earthquake. The earthquake didn’t just open doors. It loosed chains. It did not just open doors, it opened hearts. The foundations of the prison were opened and the foundations of this man’s life were about to be opened.
God uses different things to open people’s hearts. He used the preaching of Paul to open Lydia’s heart. He used an earthquake to open the Philippian Jailer’s heart. The earthquake didn’t just break the prison doors; it broke the Philippian Jailer.
5. Personal Crisis
Salvation came to the Philippian Jailer after a personal crisis. We have all kinds of different problems (fired from our job, divorced by our spouse, death of a loved one, sick with cancer).
There are two different responses you can have. They are completely opposite responses when bad things happen to you. You can turn to God, or you can turn away from Him. Many get mad and blame God. Some give up their faith and throw it away. They stop going to church. Some stop believing in God.
Others turn to God in this situation. Some get saved. That is what happened to the Philippian Jailer. He has a conversion through crisis.
Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” (Acts 16:26-28 NIV)
As a result of this earthquake, the Philippian Jailer faced a huge crisis. His life was over. Guards were personally responsible for prisoners. If prisoners escaped, guards could be executed. They were held accountable under Roman law.
That already happened once in the Book of Acts under Herod Agrippa I. When an angel let Peter out of prison in Acts 12, the guards were executed (Acts 12:19)
The jailer knows he is going to die, so he would rather kill himself than be tortured and killed for not doing his job. He would rather die honorably, so he pulls his sword out and is ready to commit suicide. He is second away from killing himself and Paul stops him. He says, “Do yourself no harm.”
This is God’s word to anyone who ever wants to harm themself. God’s Word says, “Do yourself no harm.” Others may harm you, but you have no right to harm yourself.
Paul is ministered to a man who mistreated him. The jailer tortured Paul and now Paul saves the life of the jailer. He protected the life of the very man who oversaw his suffering. He helps the man who hurt him. That is loving your enemies. The prisoners freed their captor.
6. The Ultimate Question
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
The Philippian Jailer asks the ultimate question. He asks life’s most important question: What must I do to be saved? What do I need to go to heaven? It is the million-dollar question.
The Philippian Jailer is the only one in the Bible that anyone asks that question. Everyone wants to know the answer. There are many different answers to that question.
Different religions answer in different ways. Today, we will see how the Bible answers it. There is man’s attempt to answer it and there is God’s answer in Scripture.
7. Gospel Presentation
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” (Acts 16:31 NIV)
Paul and Silas have a jail ministry. They give a gospel presentation, and it leads to a jailhouse conversion. Acts 16:31 is one of the clearest statements of the gospel in Scripture.
It is the gospel in one sentence. It has three basic parts. There are three things in this verse.
First, there is a QUESTION: “What must I do to be saved?”
He wanted to be saved. Salvation is the greatest need that everyone has. The Philippian Jailer was trembling when asked the most important question found in the Word of God. What must I do to be saved?
This man had two fears. He had the fear of Roman punishment if any of the prisoners escaped. His life would have been over. He would have been killed.
He also had the fear of dying and standing before a holy God. He had death on his mind. He was ready to kill himself. He faced both a physical and a spiritual crisis.
Second, there is an ANSWER: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Philippian Jailer asked what he could DO to be saved. Paul did not give him a list of rituals or rules to follow. That is the answer found in world religions today. They all give a list of different works to do.
They all teach works salvation and none of them offer any assurance. Islam, for example, teaches you have to do good deeds to be saved but no one will know whether they get in until God judges them on the last day.
Paul says something completely different. Salvation is NOT earned through effort. There was nothing the jailor needed to do other than believe. Believe in who? Jesus. Jesus was crucified by the Romans twenty years earlier and Paul told him to believe on Him. This was no ordinary man. This man rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.
Was Paul right that the only thing that the man had to do was to believe? Is this all that the jailor had to do to be saved? Is belief in Jesus enough for salvation?
The answer is yes but what does it mean to believe? That is where we have problems today. Many say they believe who do not really believe. Saving faith is not just an intellectual assent to a set of doctrines. Biblical faith completely transforms your whole life.
Third, there is a PROMISE: “You will be saved—you and your household”.
Notice that Paul does not say that you might be saved. Maybe you will be saved. He says, “You will be saved.” It is a promise. Paul said that to a sinner. This man had just tortured some innocent missionaries and yet he could be saved if he believed. Jesus can save anyone, even a rotten jailer.[2]
But it does not stop there. He says, “You will be saved—you and your household.” Salvation is not just open to the jailer but to every member of his household.
A Misunderstood DoctrineThat brings us to one of the most misunderstood doctrines, the doctrine of household salvation. It is a doctrine taught in certain covenant theology or Reformed traditions. This verse is not teaching If one family member gets saved, the entire household is automatically guaranteed salvation. The Bible makes no such promise. Just because a mom or dad gets saved is no guarantee that all the children will be saved. Salvation is not transferred through the belief of another person. Salvation is individual. You cannot believe for someone else. That is not what happened here. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household. (Acts 16:32-34 NIV) Notice that Paul preached to the whole household and the whole household responded. They believed and were baptized. |
8. Radical Transformation
The gospel transforms people. This Philippian Jailer was completely transformed in the middle of the night. Here we see it transforming not just an individual but an entire household. These changes were visible.
This man went from a complete pagan to a believer in Christ. He went from putting their feet in stocks to washing their wounds. He now felt terrible about these wounds that he was responsible for.
He washed them. Paul washed him in baptism. He showed hospitality. He becomes like Lydia. He invited them to his home and fed them. He lived above the jail.
He went from being a captor to a caregiver. He became a host, a healer, and a brother in Christ.
9. Public Vindication
The chapter ends with public vindication of these two missionaries.
When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” 36 The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”
37 But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”
38 The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. 39 They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.
That is how the chapter ends. This passage is often taken as a verse of the need to stand up for your civil rights. Is it always right to stand up for your rights? We have rights as American citizens.
We have rights as Americans. We are big on our rights. We emphasize them. We march for them. We stand up for them. We take people to court when people violate them. Sometimes it is right to stand up for your rights and sometimes it is not.
The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. (I Corinthians 6:7-8 NIV)
Paul had rights as a Roman citizen. One of the most sacred rights of a citizen was the exemption from scourging and torture, unless they were convicted of a crime. That was against Roman law.
A Roman citizen could not be punished without a formal trial. His rights were violated and yet Paul said nothing when it happened. He did not insist on his rights. He did not even insist that the person who ordered this punishment be punished.
When he left, he did make sure everyone knew that his rights were violated. When they asked him to leave, he said “No.” There is a time to stand up for your rights and to take a stand. There is another time to accept injustice. Before Paul left, he went back and encouraged those in the church of Philippi, a brand-new church.
[1] Charles R. Swindoll, Paul, 188.
[2] John G. Butler, Sermon Starters, vol. 3 (Clinton, IA: LBC Publications, 2014), 156–157.
