Bible tonight to the book of Acts. And we're gonna take a look at Acts chapter 16, begin verse 25. Acts chapter 16, verse 25 of very familiar passages of scripture. I'm sure you've heard it preached through a good number of times. I had a different message actually for tonight, more on missions back in the book of Matthew. But as I was reading over this, Lord just spoke to my heart about something just in particular. concerning Paul and Silas as they was here in the Philippian jailer and something that of course I've preached through a good number of times and I've talked about Paul and Silas and talked about a number of different things here, but just one thing that I think in particular just kind of caught, just kind of tugged at my heart a little bit as I was preaching through, as I was going through this and I wanted to preach on it tonight. I've entitled this message, Why Are You Still Here? Why are you still here? We understand that the apostle Paul and Silas, of course, they was on their missionary journeys that we're going through. And we talked this morning, a number of different things. And of course, over the last week or so, a couple of weeks, the difficulties that missionaries face whenever they go out, so many different types of things. And as we look at here in the book of Acts, and we can get down to verse 25, of course, we see that Paul and Silas, they had, had a tremendous encounter there in the city with the people. And then here they encountered a woman that was walking around possessed by a devil. And of course they cast that demon out of this woman. Everybody got upset about it because they was making money off of her divination. And so they ended up being taken to jail. And so we find themselves here in verse 25, Paul and Silas, and they're sitting in prison. Something that I want to bring out to you a little bit that just kind of what kind of tugged at my heart as I was looking through this, and I'll show it to you here in a moment. But we see that Paul and Silas, as they were going about their missionary journey, they were facing, of course, a lot. They faced all different types of things. But here in verse 25, we see them at a place where things are one of those difficult moments. They find themselves, they're in prison, the Bible says it's midnight, and the Bible says in verse 25, at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them. And there in that verse, there in verse 25, we see it is very dark, here they are, they're bound in chains, they're in this prison, not like prisons today. This prison they were in is a very uncomfortable place. three hots in the cot and AC and all that that you would get today. This is a very uncomfortable place without the added amenities of the things that we would have today. And so here they are, they're in a very uncomfortable place, it's midnight, and here they are, they find themselves praying and singing praises to the Lord. Now I tell you what, what a blessing it is to see these men who find themselves in a very dark place, bound in chains, but yet here they are praying and singing praises to God. What a testimony that that is. that these men being found in such a place, guilty of nothing but doing the Lord's work, and now here they find themselves in prison, they find themselves in a very uncomfortable situation, and these men, we see them, they're praying, and they're singing praises to the Lord in the darkness. Now I begin to think about these men, the Bible says there in the very first verse, the Bible says that the prisoners heard them. And I just began to think to myself, wow, what a blessing it is that these men, even in some dark moments in their life, that they were still being a blessing to the people that were around them, instead of how we can be sometimes. When we're facing difficult situations, we can kind of get maybe perhaps angry, or we can perhaps maybe withdraw ourselves and get alone. or maybe we can blame God for the situation that we're in and just kind of be a little hateful, but we see these men, here they were, they were in a place that was very uncomfortable, it's dark, they are bound in chains, but yet we find them here in this moment and they're singing praises to the Lord and they're praying and I just thought, man, what a blessing that we see these men here in such a place where they are honoring God. And the Bible says in that text that the prisoners heard them. Now I don't know what all they heard. I don't know what songs they sang. I don't know what prayers they prayed. The Bible doesn't give us any of that. But obviously the songs that they sang and the prayers that they prayed had an impact on the men that were there. And I just began thinking to myself, I thought, you know, how and how it is the same thing in our life. You know, we go through difficult times and and how even in the midst of these difficulties, we can still be a blessing to other people and how we manage those difficulties that come in our life. And I'm not saying that it's easy to do so. But what I am saying is this, is that they were in a very uncomfortable position and they didn't do anything wrong. And yet while they were there, they were praying and praising God. And while they were there doing that, people around them that were in prison themselves, why they were there, I don't know. I don't know why these other men were in prison. I don't know the things that they had done. I mean, it could be some real, some terrible atrocities. I don't know what they did. I do know that Paul and Silas were only there for doing the Lord's work. Why these other men were there, I have no idea. But Paul and Silas, even in the midst of this dark time in their life, were there and they were being a blessing to these other folks that were there in prison. The Bible says the prisoners heard them. How many of you know sometimes, listen, you never know, you ever heard this? You never know who's listening. And you never know who's watching. And here we are, we see these guys, they're in prison. They are bound just like all these other men. And the Bible says that the prisoners heard them. We see that Paul and Silas, even this uncomfortable situation in life, they were still praising God and they were still men of prayer. There in verse 26, the Bible says, and suddenly, there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately, and all the doors were opened, and everyone's bands were loose. Now, I preached on Paul and Silas and this, I preached on the earthquake, and I preached on the jail, and I preached on the Philippian jailer, and I've done all of those things, but as I was studying through this, there was just something that just kind of grabbed a hold of my heart that I think that God just wanted me to take notice of, and what it was was is in this verse that we see Well, not only do we see Paul and Silas there in verse 26, that they are in bonds and in chains, but the Bible also tells me there in verse 26, the very last part of it, the Bible says that everyone's bands were loosed. Everybody was set free. Now I've read through that and I've, you know, and talked about Paul and Silas and how they were free, but I never really thought, I guess, never really examined and never really, I guess, allowed it to really find that lodge in place in my heart where I really just studied on that one particular phrase and thought, man, it wasn't just Paul and Silas that were free, but everybody was set free. I mean, here they are, all these men. I don't know the things that they've done. I have no idea the things that they've done. But man, God came through that night. Paul and Silas, they were praying and they were praising God. They were praying. And we see that God moved in in the middle of the night, in the dark time of the night. And we see that God began to shake the place, the Bible says, with a great earthquake. And when that earthquake moved in, the Bible says that everybody's chains fell off. It wasn't just Paul and Silas, but it was everybody. And I began to think to myself, and I thought, well, why did God set all these people free? Why did the Lord set all of these men free? I mean, I don't know what they've done. Obviously, it seems like perhaps they were there because they were criminals or had done some things that they needed to be in jail for. I don't know what all they've done, but I just thought about it and I thought, you know what, Lord? I mean, you could have very easily just have set Paul and Silas free and been done with it. The Bible says this earthquake came in and everyone's bands were loosed. Everybody was set free. And that little part of it right there just spoke to my heart and I began to think to myself and I thought, man, Lord, how great that is that not only were you concerned about the bonds that Paul and Silas were in, but you were also concerned about the bonds that everybody was in, not just the people that had a name, not just these men right here, but every single person that was there. And I just thought, well, that isn't that just like my God, that because God's no respecter of persons, that he cares about everybody's life. He cares about everybody's situation. He cares about what everybody's going through. Does not the Bible say, cast all your care upon me because I careth for you. Listen, God cares about everything that we're going through. The song, the chain breaker song a little while ago. That's exactly what's taking place here. God set everybody free. God broke their chains. God set them free from what had bound them to that place. And I'm so thankful that I serve a God that is able to set everybody free. and God was good to every single one of them. As I said, I don't know who these men are. I don't know nothing about their life. I know nothing about the crimes that they committed, but I do know this. I do know that God, not only did he set Paul and Silas free, men who loved the Lord and men who were called to be on the mission field and men that were building churches and leading people to Christ and preaching the gospel, not only did God set them free, but God set everybody in jail free. And I just thought, man, how tremendous that that is. That God not only would he just let loose at Paul and Silas, but he cared about every single one of the bands that these men were holding by. Everyone's bands were loosed. in the keeper of the prison there in verse 27, waking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled, but Paul cried with a loud voice saying, do thyself no harm, for we are all here. Now I preached on the Philippian jailer, and I've done messages on him, but as I began to think about verse 26, that everyone's bands were loosed, and then I began to look at verse 28, and Paul says, do thyself no harm, for we are all here, I begin to think to myself, what are you still doing here? Why are you here? Why did these men stay? I mean, why did these men stay in prison? And I don't know about you, but if I was in prison and the door opened and I had a chance to skedaddle, I might want to take that opportunity. But these men, we see them there in the middle of the night. the chains fall off of them. They have an opportunity to leave, but nobody left. And I thought, why is that? Why is it that nobody left, but everybody stayed where they were? And I'm not sure, and I don't particularly think the Bible gives a definite answer on it, but I began to wonder if it's because of verse 25. I began to wonder if as all these men were sitting there, in darkness, as all these men were sitting there in chains, as all these men were sitting there, maybe perhaps some of them facing death, as all these men were sitting there as criminals, not sure maybe exactly what was ahead of them, maybe some of them were gonna be there for a long time, for the rest of their life, I don't know. But here they are, they had this opportunity to leave, but yet all these men, the Bible says, all their bands were loosed, and every single one of them stayed where they were. And to be honest, that doesn't make any sense, because I think in a modern day society, if we've seen something like that happen on the news, and everybody was, all the doors just opened up, I guarantee you, most of them would probably leave. Most of them would probably run for their life. but that didn't happen here. And I just thought it was very strange and I thought to myself, Lord, why did these men stay here in prison? Why did they sit in that cell that night when things was dark? Why did they sit there knowing that they could leave and run out that door? Why did they just stay there? And I began to wonder if it's because of verse 25. And I began to think to myself, maybe it's because of the prayers that they heard that night. Maybe it's because that night as these men were all sitting around and they were bound in chains and they were in darkness, that they heard Paul and Silas lifting up their voices to God and praying that God would maybe perhaps set them free. Who knows what they were praying for? I have no idea. But whatever it is that they were praying for, I begin to wonder if the prayers that they were praying, the Bible says that these people heard them, And so I began to wonder if the prayers that they were praying, that these men that were sitting in prison were just like, wow, who are these men talking to? Man, they got something I ain't got. They're talking to somebody I ain't never met before. The Bible says the prisoners heard them. And so I just began to think to myself, you know, here we got these guys, it seems like they have nothing left, maybe perhaps to live for, here they are in prison, maybe some of them about to face death, and they have the gates wide open, they can leave, they can run for their life, but yet instead of leaving, they say, what would keep a man sitting right there whenever he could leave? Only if something that was so great had caught his attention. that he had no desire to leave and he wanted to hear some more. You ever heard something that was so good, you said, man, I don't even want to leave. Kind of like how I'm preaching right now, or even on something, man, that's so good, I don't even want to leave out of here. I'm just kidding. But you heard something that was just so good, or you saw something that was so great, you just wanted to see it a little longer, or you wanted to hear it a little longer. These men right here, they could have left. They could have left at any time. They could have run out and enjoyed their freedom, but yet something was grabbing ahold of them to where they would sit there and it's almost like they wanted to sit there because they weren't full. They wanted to hear some more when they could have just walked right out and left. But everyone's bands were loosed. And so I began to wonder, is it because of the prayers Is it because the prayers that they heard from Paul and Silas? We said a little while ago, we never know who's listening. Man, I tell you what, when these men began to pray, I imagine they was almost like Elijah calling fire down from heaven. They were getting in touch with God. They were getting the very throne room of the Lord. And I imagine it was so impressive to these men. As they sat there in darkness, probably most of them had never heard the truth before, had never had the light of the gospel shined in their life before. And here they are, perhaps hearing the word of God for the very first time, seeing some men who are trusting God despite the situation that they're in, praising God despite the situation that they're in. And it was so different to them that they didn't even want to leave. It was so, so different to them that instead of just running right out and trying to save themselves, that they decided, you know what, I just wanna sit here and I wanna hear a little bit more about this. I wanna hear more about this Jesus that you're talking about. I wanna know more about this God that you're talking about. I wanna know more about this salvation. I wanna know more about this journey that you're on. And they began to sing and they began to pray to God and these men who could have just easily just walked right out, just sat there. And what would keep these men from leaving? Unless there was something happening that was so good, they said, I don't wanna go anywhere. The Bible says they heard. They heard Paul and Silas. There in verse 25, the Bible says the prisoners heard them. And I wonder if it was the prayers that they were praying. I wonder if it was the praises that they were giving. As they were shouting praises to God, I imagine it probably caught them by surprise. Why in the world would these men want to praise the Lord considering they're serving him and here they are in jail, in the dark, bound in chains? Why would these men do such a thing? It don't even make any sense. Why would they do that? And I'm sure that to the natural man, these men that were probably not saved, that were probably lost, is they were sitting there listening and watching Paul and Silas. as they were listening to their prayers and listening to them praise God and listening to them lifting up their voices to the Lord in song. I imagine it was something that probably just melted their heart and they perhaps maybe thought within themselves, man, I wanna know more about this. I gotta hear some more about this. Listen, if these men If these men really enjoyed the songs of the world that much, would they not have just got up and run out there to it? Listen, they've already been out there. They've already heard what the world has to say. They've already heard the world's songs. They've already heard the world's opinion. They've already heard what this man has to say. They've already heard what this man has to say. They've already heard all of that. They've already lived the life that they lived and now here they are, they're sitting in prison and they hear something they've never heard before. And when they hear something they've never heard before, it grabs a hold of their heart to such a degree that instead of leaving and running out the prison, they just sit there. because it's something they perhaps never heard before. And what would keep a man? And so I was examining everything and I thought, man, why are you guys still here? Why are you still sitting in prison when the door's wide open, the chains have fell off? but yet you chose to sit there, every single one of them, every single one. So I begin to wonder if it was their praying that they did. I begin to wonder if it was the praises that they were lifting up. I tell you what, I've seen some people praise God in some pretty difficult situations, and it was very impressive to me how they can praise a mighty God going through some difficult times. I've seen some people going through some difficult moments in their life, and instead of getting bitter, and instead of getting mad, and instead of, you know, hating people and hating God and all these different types of things, they just lift up their hands and they just praise God, magnify God, and they stay the course, and they continue to be what God's called them to be despite the things they're going through, despite the things that they're facing in their life. They stay the course, they honor God, they honor the Lord Jesus and what he's called them to do and the calling in their life. And how impressive that was to me to see that. When you see people going through difficult situation instead of them getting bitter at God, you see them lift up their hands and praise the Lord. How amazing. And so I was looking at this and I thought to myself, I preached on every area of this section, but I never really thought about why these men stayed where they were at. What was so good? What was so good about sitting in a dark, dungy, uncomfortable prison that would keep you there when the door is wide open and you don't have any chains on you anymore? What would keep you there in such a dark place? Unless you heard something you've never heard before. And it had grabbed your heart to such a degree. that you said the world ain't got nothing out there like this. I'm gonna sit right here and listen to the rest of it. The world don't have a story that compares to what I'm hearing in this jail cell. The world don't have songs that compare to what I'm hearing in this prison. The world has none of that. And while these men are sitting here in this prison that is uncomfortable, that is dark, and who knows what's about to happen to them in their life. Some of them may be on death row, I don't know. Some of them may be in there for the rest of their life. I have no idea. But what would keep every single one of these men in such an uncomfortable, terrible place when the door was wide open and their hands were set free? It would only be, I think, because they was hearing things they had never heard before. And because these men were praising God and praying to God and the people in the prison were hearing the things that they were saying and saw the behavior of these men of God and the position that they were in, I believe it just grabbed a hold of their heart to such a degree that they understood within themselves that there's nothing outside that jail cell that can compare to what these men are giving us right here. And that just really kind of grabbed a hold of me. And I just thought, wow, what a message. That you hear something so good that you just sit there. That you hear something so good you can escape for your life right now. You can run right out the gate. You can run right out right now. Maybe perhaps no one would ever find you. Maybe. But I may never hear this again. I may never hear this again. I believe these men, they heard the prayers of Paul and Silas. I believe they heard the praises of Paul and Silas. So was it the prayers, was it the praises, the people, Paul and Silas themselves? The Bible says in verse 26 that, the Bible says, and suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors, that's every single one of them, all the doors were opened and everyone's bands were loosed. Everybody was set free, but isn't that how our Lord is? Isn't that how our Lord is? Whenever God moves in, he's saying, listen, my offer to set everyone free is on the table. No matter what you've done, no matter what sins you've committed, where sin abounds, grace much more abounds, and here you are, you're in prison, you are bound and chained, but I am setting you free. And they had the chance to leave, but they wanted more. Wow, amazing. that these guys didn't take advantage of the freedom they can have out there in the world and instead chose the bonds of change probably once again just to hear some more singing and praying by the apostle Paul and Silas. Chose to stay in bonds and have Jesus rather than live their life out there in that world. The Bible shows us here, everyone's bands were loosed. In verse 27, the keeper of the prison, awaking out of his sleep, seeing the prison doors was open, drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners has been fled. You know what verse 27 shows us? Verse 27 shows us that the keeper of the prison automatically would assume that all the people would leave, because that's what normal people would probably do. But these men had grabbed a hold of something. These men had heard something that wasn't quite so normal. These men had heard something that had really spoke to their hearts. They had heard some praying they've never heard before. They've heard some praising they've never heard before. They've heard some singing that they've never heard before. They've heard about a Jesus that they've never heard about. They've heard about a God that now loves them, and they're looking, baby, perhaps outside that prison door, and they're thinking, you know what, there ain't nothing out there for me. I've heard all the songs, and I've heard everything out there, and I tell you what, it's brought me nothing, but here I am, I'm hearing something that I've never heard before, and I wanna stay right here, and I wanna listen, I wanna hear some more, I don't wanna go, I wanna stay right here and hear it. And these men, wow, just stayed when they could've left. The keeper of the prison, he comes out expecting everybody to be gone because that's what would normally happen. That's what he would normally think would take place, but these men didn't leave. And so we can see here that he was even kind of mind-blowing to the Philippian jailer that was right here. I imagine he was probably scratching his head when Paul said, listen, do not self no harm, for we are all here. He was probably amazed within himself. Why didn't y'all leave? I wonder if he said within himself, what are y'all doing here? If it was me, I'd run right out that door. But you know what? He was asleep the whole time. He didn't hear nothing. He was asleep. He didn't hear the praying. He didn't hear the praising. He didn't hear the singing. Perhaps if he did, and he wasn't sleeping, and he had heard the same things that they heard, he would know why they never left. But see, he was asleep the whole time. And there's people today, there's a lot of singing, and there's a lot of praising. And there's people that are lifting up their hands to God, and they're praising God in their hearts. And man, they're just joyful in their spirit. And man, they're serving God, giving everything they got to God. And there are other people sleeping right through it. Sleeping right through it. And these men, here they are, The Philippian jailer, I imagine, scratching his head, thinking, why in the world didn't you guys leave? What are y'all still doing here? It makes no sense why you would even be here. Paul says, don't do yourself any harm. We're all still here. And I imagine he thinks to himself, that's amazing. Why didn't y'all leave? Well, the reason why we're here is because you didn't hear what we heard. If you'd have heard what we heard, you would know why we're all here. We heard something so good, we didn't even want to leave. We heard some singing that was so good about a man that was so great, we didn't even want to walk out that door, even though we knew we could be free. I'm already free. Amen? I'm already free. Y'all can put the chains on me. You can shut the door and lock it and throw away the key. I'm already free. I got in touch with the people. I got in touch with the man that these men right here are praying about. I got in touch with the man that these people right here are praising about. I got in touch with the man that can set me free and break the bondage of my sin. Why do I need to walk out that door when I'm already free? The Philippian jailer was amazed. the men hadn't left. And what would keep these men here unless they had heard something so magnificent, something so great and so tremendous that they would rather sit there in prison and maybe face whatever's coming their way just so they can hear a little bit more of that. That's good. So the Apostle Paul, The Bible says in verse 28, he cried with a loud voice, do thyself no harm, for we are all here because the jailer was responsible for the prisoners. And so the Bible says in verse 29, he called for a light, he sprang in, he came trembling and he fell down before Paul and Silas. And brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Man, we will have a revival in the prison house. Everybody's turning to God. Listen, you're in prison, nobody wants to leave. You tell me how much of a miracle that is. To be in prison and the doors are open and the shackles are gone and nobody's leaving, that is a miracle. The only reason why you would stay is because you're seeing and hearing things that are so great that it would keep you right in your seat. In such a dungeony place, in such a evil place, in such an uncomfortable place, What would keep all these men there? The love of God, the forgiveness of God, the cross of Christ, the forgiveness of sin, heaven preached. The Bible says in verse 30 that the Philippians, the Bible says, he brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house. If this Philippian jailer never heard the singing, the praising there in verse 25, why did he ask Paul and Silas, what can I do to be saved? If he never heard it. And I began thinking to myself, these are parts of the story that are just not there. But I just began thinking to myself, I wonder, as he comes out, He's responsible for all those prisoners. If they get away, he has to pay his life for theirs. And Paul says, listen, do thyself no harm. The Bible says he cries out, do thyself no harm, we're all here. And I imagine, as I said, he scratches his head thinking, what are you all still doing here? If it was me, I'd have left, but you're all here. Why are you still here? And so he's all excited, you know, and he runs to Paul and he says, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Why would he say that? Unless maybe some of the prisoners were sitting over here thinking, let me tell you why we're still here. This man right here is holding the word of truth. This man right here is shedding light. This man right here is telling us about this man that can save us who died on an old rugged cross that forgive us of our sins, and he'll forgive you of your sins, and he'll cleanse your heart, and God will write your name down in the Lamb's Book of Life, and you can know when you die that you're on your way to heaven too, and you can be free from the bonds of sin that you're in too, and I don't know what all transpired. I don't know what all happened. But I begin to wonder, did some sort of conversation begin to take place, maybe perhaps Paul and Silas, or between the prisoners and the Philippian jailer, that the Philippian jailer comes out and says, what must I do to be saved? Because I don't see where nobody had witnessed to him. He was asleep during the whole time. So something transpired, something happened. Something happened. to where I'm just supposing that maybe these prisoners, as they were, as the Philippian jailer's scratching his head trying to figure out why they're all still there, he says, let me tell you why I'm still here. We heard things we've never heard about a savior that can save, a blood that can cleanse, a power that can set us free, a God in heaven that cares about all of our, cares about our soul, that cares about our needs. That's why none of us is left. And I imagine the Philippian jailer turns around and thinks to himself, what can I do to be saved? Then what can I do to be saved? I mean, how amazing all of this is. I believe God said maybe perhaps he set all those men free to be a witness maybe to the Philippian jailer. So the Philippian jailer would see that even though these men could be free out in the world, they were still bound in sin until they decided within themselves, decided within themselves to hear more about Jesus and less about the world. And it changed, I believe, maybe the Philippian jailer's life. And then he looks around and says, well, how can I have this if all these criminals can be saved and God can change their life? What can God do for me? And Paul says, God can save you too, and your whole house. You know what happened? He got saved. He got baptized, him and his whole house. What a tremendous story. Father, we thank you for this day. Lord, I pray that you'd help us, Lord, tonight God, just to be the men and women that you need us to be in life. Lord, help us to be an effective witness, such as these men. Father, they were in a difficult situation in life, but yet despite what they were in, they still sang and prayed and praised you. And how effective that that was on all the prisoners that were there, that even though they could have left, they still stayed. because they heard things they'd never heard before and it changed their life to such a degree that maybe perhaps the prisoners were a witness to the prison officer. Lord, we see such a beautiful story here of how you work. Lord, I pray that you'd help all of us here tonight to be just as an effective witness in our life as Paul and Silas were here in this time. but not just Paul and Silas, but also these prisoners. What an effective witness these prisoners were. Lord, I pray that you would bless us tonight, keep us safe as we get ready to leave, as we go to work and do the different things that we have to do throughout the week. Lord, I pray that you'd just build a hedge of protection about all of us. Lord, you'd bring us back here to our next appointed time on Wednesday night. We love you and thank you for it all, and this we pray in Jesus' name, amen.