Beaten, bloody, and unjustly imprisoned, Paul and Silas spent their night in the Philippian jail “praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25 NKJV). “Suddenly there was a great earthquake…and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed” (Acts 16:26 NKVJ). Fearing that all the prisoners had escaped, the jailer prepares to kill himself to avoid certain crucifixion, but Paul stops him – “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here” (Acts 16:28 NKJV). Trembling before Paul and Silas, the jailer asks them how to be saved, takes them into his house, and treats their wounds. The jailer and all in his house believe and are baptized.
Leaving the city, Paul and his companions travel to Thessalonica and spent three Sabbaths in the synagogue “explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ’” (Acts 17:3 NKJV). As a result, some of the Jews and many Gentiles including “not a few of the leading women” came to faith in Jesus.
Pastor Kevin corrects a common misunderstanding that Acts 16:31 teaches that an entire family is automatically saved when the husband / father believes in Jesus; shows how this passage reinforces the importance of knowing Bible prophecy in our day; demonstrates the radical nature of the gospel as equally available to all persons – Jews and Gentiles, men and women, slaves and free; and exhorts believers to be bold in our witness because we never know who might be eavesdropping on our conversation!
Maranatha!
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Open in new tab Listen Pastor Kevin witnessing to a Shiite mosque in Seattle here.