Acts 16:25-40 - Infant Baptism and Chain-Breaking Praise

Podcast Transcript (Auto-Transcribed by Apple Podcasts)

Welcome back to Tabernacle Talk, and hope you are having a good day today. We are in Acts chapter 16, and when we last left our protagonists, Paul and Silas, they were in prison. They had gone to the city of Philippi.

God had seen many people saved there, and when we last left off, there was a demon possessed girl who Paul, upon becoming frustrated with her constant everyday declaration, that these men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell

you how to be saved, because she was saying that day after day after day, that it made it seem like they were connected with the occult people that she was in league with and that owned her. Paul commanded the demon to come out of her, and the demon

did so, and the men that owned the girl were so upset that their means of income, of that fortune telling, they were so mad that that income was gone, that they took Paul and Silas to the authorities. A mob formed against them.

The city officials had them stripped and beaten with wooden rods.

They were severely beaten and then thrown into prison, and they were thrown into jail, put in the stocks in the innermost prison, and last time we ended, around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns.

And it says the other prisoners were listening. I wonder what those praises, what those prayers might have been like. We talked about that a little bit yesterday.

But then we see today in verse number 26, Acts 16 and verse 26. Suddenly there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off.

The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. The punishment during those times for letting a prisoner escape was your life.

It was their life for yours. You could not let them escape. So he drew his sword to kill himself.

Better to go by your own hand, he must have thought, then, to have the authorities come up with some very painful way to do so. If you know anything about the Roman Empire, they were... It seems odd to say it.

They were wonderful at finding unique ways to kill and punish and hurt people. And so he thought it would be better to just draw his sword to kill himself. But Paul shouted to him, verse 28, stop, don't kill yourself.

We are all here. What a miracle that God does here. That it is an earthquake.

Something that to people during this time period would have been viewed as a judgment from the gods. It would be, oh no, the earth god must be angry at us for something that we did. We must have done something wrong.

We didn't offer enough sacrifices. We didn't pay enough money to this particular god. And here, an earthquake, something that would sometimes be thought of as judgment, is now used for deliverance.

That all of the chains fell off those that were praising the Lord. And in more of an allegorical sense, what a wonder it is when our praise to the Lord lifts off chains that have been holding us.

That when we see God for who He is, when we exalt Him as worthy of praise and obedience, that then our temptations seem less strong, because we have seen God for who He is. We've seen His goodness. We can trust His plan.

We don't have to follow our own way anymore. This Sunday, we're singing the song, Lord, I Need You. We're singing the song, Goodness of God.

We're going to declare together as a church body, all my life you have been faithful, and all my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God.

Man, that's convicting to the heart, that it says, man, I do want to use my breath, my words to praise the Lord. I don't want to use it to curse other people, demean other people, say, you know, spread gossip or slander about other people.

I want to use it to talk about the goodness of God. That's a worthwhile, that's a useful means of my time and my words. And it's a wonderful thing when the praises of our God dismantles the shackles of the enemy.

I can think back to, oh, 2020, and there was a song, Kings and Kingdoms, and it was a great encouragement that even though there was all the craziness happening with the pandemic and then all of the other things that happened that summer and then the

very turbulent election at the end of that year, that though everyone was angry and upset at everyone else about everything else declaring that song, when the nations rage, when there is no peace, when the cry of war is loud and strong, we will not

be moved, we will not be shaken. Kings and kingdoms fall, but the Lord our God will reign forever. Sovereign overall, the Lord our God will reign forevermore. That truth spoke such encouragement into my soul that it was okay.

I don't have to fear what other people fear. I don't have to have anger when other people have anger. Those shackles were torn off through praising God, through realizing what His Word says.

And that's why as someone that has been in music ministry for many years now, that's a huge reason why I pick the songs that I do. They are songs that are taken from Scripture, that communicate the truths of Scripture.

It's not just, hey, we feel real good, we're real pumped up. No, no, no, I want to go back to who is God? What has He done?

What has He promised that He will do? And then what's our response as a result of it? Because He's sovereign, okay, we can have trust.

We don't have to fear the future. One song that we sang, oh, maybe a week or two after my son was born, was the song Because He Lives.

The second verse of that, how sweet to hold a newborn baby and feel the pride and joy He gives, but greater still the calm assurance this child can face uncertain days because He lives.

And what an encouragement that is when praise breaks off the chains. So here, then Paul, he could have just let the jailer kill himself.

This jailer would have been one that was there specifically to help stop Paul and Silas from being able to encourage and disciple other people.

He was one, I doubt he had treated them with much kindness after their beatings and putting their feet in the stocks, like it mentions in verse number 24. He could have just let him do what he wanted to do, but he cared for him and he loved him.

He said, stop, don't kill yourself. We're all here. So verse 29, the jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.

Then he brought them out and asked, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And this is the question that many people have. Sometimes it's a question people don't know that they have, and they might think of it in some different ways.

But this is the most basic question in all of life. What must I do to be saved? But it's interesting in verse number 31, what they say you must do.

Is it money? Is it actions? Is it baptism?

Is it a certain number of days in church attendance? Verse number 31, they replied, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved along with everyone in your household.

They said, you can get saved, all your family can get saved, and all it takes is believing in the Lord Jesus.

Turn from the idols, turn from trust in your own way, turn from trust in your background, from your Roman citizenship, all of it, turn away from believing, building your life on those things, and build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse number 32, And they shared the word of the Lord with him, and with all who lived in his household. Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds.

Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced, because they all believed in God.

Some denominations have taken the specific phrase, the household. So his household said, Okay, this is why we need to baptize babies, because everyone in his household was baptized.

But I think in there, verse number 34 is enlightening as to, okay, how do we picture baptism? Who can be baptized? Is it babies?

Is it everyone that's maybe in a family? It says, He and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God. It is that personal belief in Christ, belief in him as the Lord.

Verse number 31, believe in the Lord Jesus. Nowadays, we just kind of view that as a title. It doesn't have a whole ton of meaning for us, but it is that central focus and declaration of the early church that Jesus was Lord.

He was the one to be obeyed. He was the one to be followed. He was the one to be worshiped.

He was the Lord. He was the ruler. And so there the entire household believed in God, that Jesus is God and they personally believed in him.

Can I encourage you, if you're a parent, don't rush your children into saying that they believe certain things. Children can be very easy to influence. They are very easy and eager to please.

They want to make you happy. They want to make pastor happy. They want to make their children's church workers happy.

But we have a responsibility as adults to make sure that someone actually genuinely believes in the Lord Jesus, that they could articulate that they are a sinner in need of a Savior, that Jesus paid the full price for sin, and that if they turn to

him wholeheartedly, if they repent of sin and turn to Jesus alone, that they can be saved. There are many people that because of maybe rushed confessions when they were three, four, six years old, they then struggle later in life because they go, Oh,

well, I know I'm only just now actually getting to understand what faith in Jesus is all about. I'm just now understanding that Jesus took my place. And then it causes some difficulties for them because they go, Okay, well, do I need to be saved?

Did I get saved then? Because Grandma Peg told me that I was saved. But was I really?

I'd encourage us, let's make sure that the children understand before any, before then we push, Okay, yeah, let's get you baptized. Or, Hey, I'm getting baptized. So all of you guys are getting baptized with me.

No, no, no, it is an individual choice. And we would be wise to follow this example in verse number 34 of their baptism because they believed in God. Verse number 35.

The next morning, the city officials sent the police to tell the jailer, let those men go. So the jailer told Paul, the city officials have said, you and Silas are free to leave. Go in peace.

How wonderful that they let them go. But Paul replied, verse number 37, they have publicly beaten us without a trial and put us in prison. And we are Roman citizens.

So now they want us to leave secretly? Certainly not. Let them come themselves to release us.

When the police reported this, the city officials were alarmed to learn that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. Not everyone that was in the Roman Empire was a Roman citizen. That was a very unique thing.

You either had to be born into it or you had to purchase your citizenship. So it was a big deal at that time, especially if you weren't in Italy and you were from some other area of the Empire.

Most of the time it was that you had to purchase your salvation, or purchase your citizenship rather. Verse number 39. So the city officials came to the jail and apologized to them.

Then they brought them out and begged them to leave the city. When Paul and Silas left the prison, they returned to the home of Lydia. There they met with the believers and encouraged them once more.

Then they left town. And what an incredible thing it is. God is not opposed to us using the citizenship of the nation that he has placed us in, in order to do good.

And here if they had just left town, Lydia and the others might not have known what happened to Paul and to Silas. But because they utilized their citizenship and they said, Hey, no, we're gonna, we're gonna take our own time on the way out.

And you guys are going to be sorry for what you did. What you did was against the law. And the punishment could be severe and swift for what they had done to Roman citizens.

And they utilized their citizenship in order to do the work of the Gospel, which in this case was continuing to make disciples and to teach the disciples all things that Jesus had commanded. They encouraged the believers there once more as it says.

And I think we need to, as American citizens, use the opportunities that we have while God has given them to us.

There's no guarantee that we will have all of the exact same rights that we have right now, all of the same blessings that we have as Americans right now for 5, 10, 15, 20 years into the future.

And so what I want to challenge you with is take advantage of the fact that we have a First Amendment today that says that you can freely share the Gospel.

And you don't have to worry about, okay, if I mention this or if I say this part of the Gospel, I could really get in trouble, I could get thrown in jail. That's not true. Nothing in the Gospel will get you in trouble in America at large.

And so I would encourage you share the Gospel with others. Take advantage of that.

While we are given the opportunity, I would encourage you to vote along the lines that God encourages you to, as you see from His Word, the values that He has, particularly those on human life, on care for others, on a variety of topics.

As you look at Scripture, I would encourage you, don't just allow pragmatism to dictate how you vote. Allow scriptural values to dictate what you do and how you vote, how you use your American citizenship as Paul here used his Roman citizenship.

Hope that today would be an encouragement to you and look forward to being with you tomorrow as we begin Acts 17. Remember, praise breaks chains.

Number two, love people, even those that have treated you poorly, just as Paul and Silas cared for the jailer. Number three, have a care to salvation. If you have not been scripturally baptized, I would encourage you, get that settled.

That is a wonderful first step of obedience, just like we see in the life of the Philippian jailer and his family. And then don't be afraid to use your citizenship for the work of the Gospel.

If you have time to be able to share the Gospel or to help disciple people, do so and it would be a wonderful thing. I hope today is an encouragement. Talk to you tomorrow.