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"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. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, 'Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.'"
(Acts 16:27-28)
Acts 16 is one of those truly great narratives in the Bible. It contains a riveting plot, conflict, characters, and resolution. This chapter records for us how God saved a businesswoman named Lydia, a demon-possessed girl with the spirit of Python, an unnamed jailer and those in his house, and probably a bunch of prisoners as well. Kent Hughes writes, "The rich and the poor, the slave and the free, male and female were all one in Christ. The flag of the gospel was unfurled on a continent that needed it desperately." ( The Church Afire, p. 210) The first church at Philippi had quite a history, and Paul eventually wrote a letter to this great church about ten years later--the wonderful book of the Bible known as Philippians.
We do not know his name, but this Philippian jailer is very well known. Paul and Silas were thrown into prison, and the jailhouse rocked with a seismos, an earthquake so powerful that all the prison doors were opened, and all the chains of the prisoners were loosed. But Paul and Silas and the other inmates stayed in prison, and Paul and Silas led the jailer to Christ. The jailer went from imminent suicide to liberating salvation through Jesus Christ! What a story indeed, but moreover, what a Savior! There is no one, no matter what he or she has done, who is outside the long reach of God's grace!
Do you know someone that you are tempted to think could never be saved? Well, the truth of the matter is, that person does not exist! God can save all who call upon Him in faith. I read on Twitter recently a testimony of someone who said if you told him a year ago that he would become a follower of Jesus, he would have ridiculed you. But now he is a follower of Jesus and awaiting baptism!
Do not give up praying for people to give their lives to Jesus Christ. God specializes in what we deem impossibilities.
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