from Acts chapter 16 verses 25 through 34 today And as I began considering this passage of scripture, I remembered that back in the early days of my ministry, I had a sermon outline that I preached from this passage. And so I got my old sermon outlines out, and I started looking through them, and lo and behold, there it was, torn and tattered and so forth. And the first time I preached this sermon was at the Corrine Baptist Church outside of Jacksonville, Texas, probably in the spring of 1956. So I've brought it out of the archives and I'm going to share it with you today. We don't have a lot of time, but the theme of this message that I've given is The Power of Praying and Praising. Would you stand with me as we read this important passage from the Word of God? Acts 16, verses 25-34. But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 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. 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 yours no harm, for we are all here. Then he called for a lion in and said, I do to be saved. So they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house, and he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now, when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them, and rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household." Let's pray. Father, thank you for this great word from your scripture, and Lord, the fact that you send your servants to all the ends of the earth to preach your word so that people may believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and receive eternal life. So we commit this time to pray for the leadership of your Holy Spirit in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. Now, very quickly, we're going to have to go through this, and as you will see, as a young 19-year-old preacher, I looked at this verse of Scripture, and I found, first of all, the evidence of the laborers' witnessing. In verse 25, it says, At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners heard them or were listening to them. And so Paul that great missionary had been called of God. We know about his salvation on the road to Damascus. We know that God called him to be the apostle to the Gentiles. And God said to him, I'm sending you far hence unto the Gentiles. And so Paul went to the far reaches of the Roman Empire, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and established churches. And so as we consider Paul and Silas, these two great servants of God, as they were laboring for him and witnessing, you remember the story how they had gone to Philippi. They were preaching the gospel, and because of their preaching the gospel, they were arrested, they were beaten, they were placed in prison, their hands and feet placed in the stocks. They were in the very darkest, innermost part of that prison. But at midnight, the Bible says, Paul and Silas were praying and singing praises unto God. And so we find here that as Christians, God wants us to witness for Him in all circumstances. Whether it's in the midst of persecution, whether it's in the midst of suffering, God opens doors for us in those very trying times to be His witnesses. And so we see Paul and Silas here, despite being beaten, arrested, and abused, they were praying and singing praises to God. They prayed to God. They called on Him. And they understood that God is a God who hears and answers prayer. God said in Jeremiah 33, And they called unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. And I thank you that a few weeks ago when I had to go to the hospital, they were shocked that I was even able to walk into the hospital with multiple blood clots in my lung. And I know that this church cried out to God for me. And so, therefore, God hears and answers prayer, and I'm thankful that I can be standing in the pulpit today to declare the power of God and the salvation and the glory of God. And so Paul and Silas prayed, and as they prayed, their prayer and their worship was one of rejoicing. It says they prayed and sang praises unto God. Now anytime you're singing praise to God, you have a heart of rejoicing. You're rejoicing in the greatness of God, the goodness of God, the blessings of God. And so Paul and Sinus could see beyond that prison cell. They could see beyond the bonds that held them and all the discomfort, physical discomfort they had because they understood the goodness and greatness of God and that God was a faithful God who would deliver them from their troubles. So in the spite of all this, they witnessed for the Lord Jesus Christ. And, you know, the purpose of witnessing is so that others can hear. And the Bible says that the prisoners were heard them. The prisoners were listening to them. They were taking notice of here these two men who had been beaten, placed in their hands and feet, placed in stocks. And yet they were praying and singing praises to God. And these prisoners had to know that there was something special about these two men. So we see the laborers witnessing. And then, second of all, in verse 26, we see the Lord working. 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. So the Lord was working. It says, suddenly, The Lord works suddenly. And I'm glad that He does work suddenly. You know, sometimes we get a little impatient. But God has His perfect timing. And when God is ready to work suddenly, He will come into our midst and He will move and He will work. On Pentecost, the Bible says, and suddenly there was a great wind from heaven, and as it were, tons of fire sitting upon their heads. And so God came down in power suddenly upon them. And I know that you and I have all experienced the greatness of God and we've known and seen how God, in our darkest hour, when God can come to us suddenly and he can reveal his power. God works suddenly and he works powerfully. There are so many examples in the Bible that we could give. Back in 1956 when I first did this outline, I used the example of Gideon. God called Gideon to raise him up to be a judge over Israel and to deliver Israel from the bondage of the Midianites and the Amalekites and other peoples. And so Gideon raised an army, 32,000 people. God said, too many. And so all whose hearts were fearful, God said, go home. Well, still left 20,000 people. God said, still too many. So they went down to the water to drink, and all the men who got water in their hands and lapped the water like a dog, those were the men that God chose. 300 of them. going against a mighty army of thousands upon thousands, and yet God in his power was with him and he brought a great victory to Israel that day. And over and over again we can see that example of the power of God as he has worked down through history. The very fact that there is still a nation of Israel over in the Middle East today is evidence of the power of God, that God could preserve his people down through the centuries. For 2,000 years, Israel was a nation. The Jews were a people who had no land of their own, and it is unprecedented in human history that a nation like this could be preserved, and yet God has preserved Israel because if you read the Bible and you understand the Bible, God is not through with Israel yet. God is going to work his power and his might and his glory in the life of Israel so we can understand that God works in power, but he also works successfully. You know, I'm thankful we could look at the life of the Apostle Paul. He was the greatest enemy of Jesus Christ. God saved him and God made him the Apostle to the Gentiles. He's probably the greatest preacher and the greatest missionary in the history of the church. He was a successful man by the grace and power of God. And you and I understand and know today that these young people who are baptized and saved by the grace of God, God is going to pour his love and his spirit and his power upon them as we pray for them, as we teach and guide them, and they are going to grow up to be faithful, successful, servants of Jesus Christ, and that is the thing that we rejoice in today. So the Lord works successfully. There's so many examples I could give in the Bible. I don't have time this morning to give all the examples I used back in 1956, but God works successfully, and we know that He does. And then the next thing, as I look at this story that we've read this morning, not only is the Lord working, but we see the lost waking. Look at verse 27. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoner had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. You see, we had a jailer there. The keeper of that prison was a Roman citizen. He was probably a man who had never heard the gospel. He was probably one who was filled with all of the teachings of the false religions of his day. And yet, as God shook the foundations of that prison and all the prison doors were opened, this prison keeper, he assumed that all the prisoners had escaped. And you understand that in his day, if he allowed the prisoners to escape, it would mean his life. The jailer, the prison keeper, had already drawn his sword and was going to take his own life, commit suicide, because he assumed that the prisoners had already escaped. And rather than face the wrath of the authorities, he was going to take his own life. But Paul, at that very moment, cried out and said, do yourself no harm. We are all here. And that prison keeper called for a light and sprang in, the Bible says, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and he said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? What a great thing it is when we see God working in a life. You see, sometimes we have so little faith as Christians, we sometimes forget the greatness of the God that we serve. He is able to do wonders and marvelous things, and as we faithfully witness for him. And so this jailer who had never heard the gospel, God woke him to his need of the gospel. And I've got three points here. Waking, the lost waking, According to John 16, verse 8, when the Holy Spirit has come, he will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. And this is three things that we have to be aware of when we confront our need of salvation. And that is that we are sinners. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not one. Wherefore, is it by one man's sin entered into the world, and death by sin? So death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. And so we must come to understand, as these four young people understand, that they are sinners before God. And the second thing, we must be convicted of righteousness. The Bible says, Be found in him not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. We come to understand that I am a sinner and that God is the holy God. Then only in him can righteousness be found. And so the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, Be found in him not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. That's probably not 2 Corinthians 5.41, but it'll do. makes us understand that we need Jesus Christ because He was the perfect Son of God. And He died on the cross for our sins. In Him was the perfect righteousness of God. And when I believe in Him as my Savior, God imputes the righteousness of Jesus Christ to me and covers my sin. And so when God looks at me today because I have believed in Jesus Christ, He does not see the sin in my life, but he sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And so we must confront that fact. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our need of the righteousness and then judgment. You see, we all understand that this life is short. We can live to 70 years, maybe to 80 years. God gives some of us the privilege of living to 90 years. Meemaw, is that right? And so God blesses us, and yet we all understand that this life is still short. It is appointed unto man once to die, the Bible says, and after that, the judgment. And so today, These young people have confronted the truth that they're sinners. They've been confronted with the truth that Jesus Christ is the righteous one. We believe in him. And they have been confronted with the fact that judgment is coming for all. Paul said in Romans 14, 12, all of us will stand and be judged before the judgment seat of Christ. And so we will all stand before that judgment. the lost waking, and then the lost willing. You see, here's a man who had never heard the gospel. And yet, when he saw the evidence of the power of God, and when he heard the message of Paul, now, the Bible only gives us here, and if we read these verses of Scripture, Then he called for a light, ran in and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, and he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? So they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved and your household. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. Now you say, It only gives us the first part of that message, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. But Paul preached a sermon to him and to his family and explained to him all of these things about Jesus Christ coming and being the Messiah, dying on the cross for our sins and believing in him we can be saved. And that night, that jailer, he had called for a light. And he came in and he fell trembling before Paul and Silas. And he said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? He came inquiring. You say. This is the evidence of the scriptures, we can turn and give you other examples where men, when they were confronted with the reality of God's service, preaching the gospel boldly. And they come inquiring and say, what must we do to be saved? So this is the wonderful part, that God's Holy Spirit, as he convicts and he draws us, he makes us willing, as he made this jailer willing. If it had been you and I looking at that crowd in the city of Philippi, we would not have considered that jailer a good candidate to be a Christian. But God, looked down, brought him and drew him, woke up that darkened heart of his to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. And then last of all we see the lost one. Paul told him what he must do to be saved. Simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. And so this jailer that day Even though it was the first time probably that he had ever heard the gospel, he opened up his heart. God the Holy Spirit came in and convicted him and drew him and brought him to the place where he could believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, him and all of his household. What a great joy. What a great testimony that is. You know, as we were missionaries all those years in Taiwan, And you'll understand that only 2% of the population of Taiwan are Christians, members of evangelical churches. And you often had people in the church who were saved by the grace of God. And they would be the only member of their family who were saved. And yet, many of them would claim this scripture. that God was going to be faithful, not only in saving them, but in saving all of their household. And we've seen evidence of that in many cases where families were brought to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so this is the wonderful part. He told him what he must do to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He told him what he must believe, in whom he must believe. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. That is the message that Paul preached, the message of Jesus Christ, the message that Jesus Christ was the only way of eternal salvation. What a joy it is that we have to worship him, to serve him here in our church. And then we say the blessed results. We say the blessed results. The Bible says immediately, this man, the keeper of that prison and all of his household were banished. It's a story in the lesson that Jesus Christ died for our sins and that he was buried as we are buried in those waters of baptism. And we picture so beautifully what Jesus Christ has done for us. And then as We are raised out of those waters of baptism. It pictures how Jesus Christ was in that grave for three days and three nights, and then he rose from the dead by the power of God. And so, this jailer and his family were baptized. And as they were baptized, they rose, as the scriptures say, to walk in newness of life. They rose from those baptismal waters to live for Jesus, to follow him, to be his servants. And so, as I like to think, the jailer was the third member that we know of, of the church that fell apart. Perhaps there were others. But he and his household were saved by the grace of God. And so this is the joy. He was baptized and followed the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we celebrate here today and we rejoice over God's great blessings upon our church in sending these five, I'm praying that this year they will just be the first fruits that we will see many others coming as they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and desiring to follow him and to serve him. And God is going to use our church. You know, we talk about God working. You know, a little over a year ago, this church was a small, struggling church. And if we had 20 or 25 in Sunday morning worship, we were doing good. But God is faithful. And God suddenly began to work. And he's worked powerfully to bring so many families into our fellowship. And as we see God working in the lives of these families, we rejoice. It's good for us to be here to rejoice in. Brother Richard's going to come and lead us in hymn of invitation. And if for any reason you have a need, you want to come and publicly profess Jesus Christ as your personal savior. We've still got water in the baptistry and it's still warm. And we'd be delighted for you to come if you'd like to come and place your membership in our church and join us in serving God, be partners with us. We would delight to have you to come this morning as we stand together and sing this hymn of invitations.