Acts (Quality: Very good, Quiet)

[0:00] The Lord may be pleased to help me again. I would ask your attention to Acts chapter 16 and verses 29 to 31.

[0:13] Acts chapter 16 verses 29 to 31. Then he called for a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas and 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.

[0:56] There is no doubt about it, friends, that the jailer was born again.

[1:12] He was being taught of the Spirit. Else he would have never come in such a way, trembling and falling down before Paul and Silas and saying, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

[1:40] This was the evidence of the work of grace in his heart. It was a reality. Friends, he was a jailer.

[1:51] He was a strong man. He was outwardly not afraid.

[2:06] But here we see a little, just a glimpse of his inward state, his inward condition. Real religion is inside.

[2:27] Something must be known and felt within. And it is. Some of us, I hope we all have in this chapel this afternoon, been that way.

[2:43] We know what it is to feel. We know what it is to mourn and sorrow and repent because of our sin.

[3:00] Because our sins testify against us. We have to declare before God that we are sinners.

[3:12] That we are lost and ruined in ourselves. This is just where the jailer came. I believe the jailer recognized Paul and Silas as servants of the living God.

[3:41] They were two prisoners in his hands. They had been severely dealt with, beaten with many strides.

[3:58] And friends, we know they were sinners.

[4:13] But they weren't criminals. You know what I mean. They weren't thrust into prison for sinful acts.

[4:29] They were thrust into prison because they had done good. Performed miracles through Jesus Christ.

[4:41] And it was the hatred of men that had brought them there. Men and devils. But they feared God.

[4:58] They loved the Lord. They didn't retaliate. No.

[5:11] Yet, friends, they showed mercy and compassion. Even to the jailer.

[5:28] Do thyself no harm. We're all here. The jailer.

[5:41] The jailer. The jailer. Was overcome. He was broken hearted. Because.

[5:53] His sins. He was a jailer. He no doubt was doing his job.

[6:05] To the best of his ability. Somebody had got to do it. But, friends. He was a jailer. He was a jailer. He was a jailer. He was a jailer. But, friends. Friends. The things of God.

[6:21] Will rise. There are times when the things of earth.

[6:31] And even our professions. will smother. Will smother. These things. These things. Yet.

[6:43] Yet. Yet the Lord reigns. And we see so clearly in this event. How the Lord reigns in his heart.

[6:54] And brought him to that place where. He takes that place. He falls down before. Paul and Silas.

[7:04] What must I do to be saved? And they. And they. And they.

[7:16] Said. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And thou shalt be saved. And thy house.

[7:27] It was a simple declaration. Wasn't it? But, friends.

[7:38] I believe we said this morning. How can we believe? We can't believe. In our flesh. The secret.

[7:52] Lies. Within. The chapter we read together. What was said unto Nicodemus. By Jesus. Ye. Must.

[8:03] Be born. Again. That holds the key. To. Poor sinners.

[8:18] Believing. On the Lord Jesus Christ. First. There must be. Repentance. And that is a painful pathway.

[8:33] To walk in. Where we have to be. Stopped. Corrected. Pricked. In our hearts.

[8:46] Where we are. Are brought to acknowledge. Our guilt. Before. God. What must I do.

[8:58] I do to be saved. There the jailer was brought. Yes. And friends.

[9:12] The Lord gave him. Gave him faith. To believe. To believe. And they said. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

[9:23] And thou shalt be saved. And thy house. that is image. To believe on us.

[9:37] And you. Amen. It's not only for the jailer. And you. That's of course. It is. Amen. And you. It's not only for the jailer. to everyone of the Lord's chosen ones.

[9:51] It is a word to everyone that is born again. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

[10:04] Friends, what a wonderful thing if the Lord has opened our eyes and given us a glimpse of this blessed man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

[10:21] What a wonderful thing it is if he has revealed to us that this blessed man is the Son of God.

[10:34] The Son of God. And that he is holy without sin. For these are essential things.

[10:48] For one to redeem the children of God, it must be one that is without sin and uncleanness, else they cannot possibly redeem poor sinners.

[11:11] But this man, the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, was without sin. He was holy. He was the Son of God.

[11:23] He suffered many things. Many things for his children. believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

[11:38] Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and die house. we must not take, I mentioned this this morning in a way, I said that this does not apply universally regarding those that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

[12:08] not all of their families are saved. In this case, yes, the family were saved.

[12:23] The word was given to the jailer that if he believed that he would be saved and his house. But we know that throughout the scriptures there are many who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ but all their house wasn't saved.

[12:50] We have one particularly outstanding case and that was David. the psalmist.

[13:03] Oh, my son, Absalom. What a solemn case that was.

[13:17] David was a child of God. David prayed. He prayed for his son, Absalom. We mentioned this morning of Jacob and Esau.

[13:36] And remember this, friends, Isaac was one of the prophets. He was one of the Lord.

[13:49] in a special way, perhaps, we might say. Yet, Jacob, have I loved, that Esau was hated.

[14:14] What solemn things. But, you see, friends, this is where we prove the solemn election of God. There are those of us who have families.

[14:33] There are times when we're torn. Torn. We cannot see it because we cannot see the grace of God in some of them.

[14:49] We cannot see it in their actions. We know something's missing. And yet, we have this word and left to ourselves, we're apt to think something's wrong.

[15:12] Either we're wrong and we're not one of his and we haven't got grace, or why is it that our house isn't saved?

[15:23] We know there's still hope while there's life. We hope we shall see a change.

[15:37] Some have a word, a promise to lean upon. Others haven't got anything.

[15:48] But, friends, the Lord knoweth them that are his and they shall come.

[16:04] They shall come. We know the Lord works in his own time and while.

[16:15] we perhaps have watched over many years and seen many years go by and still there seems no hope.

[16:35] We don't know, at least I don't think we know how old the dying thief was. but he must have been a man of fair age.

[16:55] He may have been an old man, I don't know. But he was near the end of his life because he was being crucified because of his sin.

[17:17] He was dying. But he was one of the Lords. The Lord had a love toward him.

[17:34] You might be astonished. It is astonishing when we look at characters such as that and then consider that the Lord had a love toward him.

[17:51] The same man, he thrust the same in the teeth of Jesus while he was on the cross to start with. God said, but the time came before he died when the Lord touched him, opened his eyes, brought him to repentance, brought him to cry for mercy.

[18:20] It wasn't too late, was it? No. it will never be too late for one of the Lord's children. They can't be lost.

[18:33] Blessed be the name of God. We want to see, we want to see those evidences that we and our loved ones are in the right way, the pathway that leads to eternal life.

[19:05] That's what we want to see, that's what we want to have some evidences that we are in that pathway. Well, as I've said, this man, this jailer, he was in the right pathway.

[19:28] He was brought into it. We don't know. I don't think we know how long he may have been exercised in his heart.

[19:45] There's not much spoken of the jailer. but he was called, there's no doubt about it. He was brought to repentance, brought to confess his sins, and brought to walk in the ways of the Lord, to keep his commandments.

[20:13] Friends, that's a sweet, blessed fruit. It is a sweet evidence. of the divine power of God, in calling a poor sinner, a poor lost ruined sinner, saving him from his sins.

[20:32] And he has to, by the constraining power of God, he has to walk in that way. Why? because he loves the Lord Jesus Christ, because the Lord Jesus has had mercy upon him, and pardoned his sins.

[20:57] Ah, you might say, but I haven't had my sins pardoned, I haven't been told. But friends, did the Lord say to the jailer, his sins were forgiven?

[21:12] We don't read so. He'd got to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It was the same with the eunuch.

[21:24] If thou believest, thou mayest. That was regarding to be baptized. Friends, it is not right for us to lay down various things and say that it is essential, that we should have this or that, and to have experienced it when the word of God doesn't say it.

[22:06] But the word of God does say that we should believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then there will be something that we have tasted, handled, and felt of the word of life, the word of God.

[22:27] I'm sure of it, because it's that what will move our hearts toward the Lord and make us willing.

[22:38] to walk in his ways, because he has loved us. He has shed his love abroad in our hearts, in such a way that it has drawn us toward him.

[22:57] And that's what happened with this jailer. That's what happened with Saul on the road to Damascus, remember.

[23:09] us. We know not all are cut down and blessed and delivered in a short time.

[23:22] It is often a period of many years that these things take place. But, friends, it is a solemn thing when we witness, as we do from time to time, various ones that have walked in the ways of the Lord, that is, outwardly, they have spoke the same language as the children of God in many ways.

[23:58] we have felt there has been grace in their hearts, but with some, they have never walked in that way, never kept his commands.

[24:13] We don't know what the stumbling blocks are, but there must be something. It may be unbelief, it may be the temptations of the devil, there is certainly something that stands in the way.

[24:35] But, friends, oh, how we need the Lord to come and to move our hearts and make us willing to leave all and follow him.

[24:50] You think, friends, that couldn't have been an easy matter for the jailer to openly profess the name of God and to walk in his ways and be baptized.

[25:07] But he was made faithful. The love of God constrained him. He was a poor, lost sinner.

[25:19] He didn't know what to do with himself. what must I do to be saved? Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[25:36] Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house. friends, when this takes place, by faith in the heart, this will move the love of God in a poor sinner's heart.

[26:02] Look how the jailer reacted. Paul and Silas had said to the jailer, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house.

[26:23] And they spake unto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour.

[26:37] This is the jailer. He took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized he and all his straight way.

[26:59] Friends, that is the pathway for poor sinners that are saved by grace.

[27:16] How is it with you and I? Do we know anything of this pathway? We know what it is to be a poor, lost, ruined sinners in ourselves.

[27:40] It can't be spoken of too much, you know, not to poor sinners who've walked that way, because they know the truth of it, the reality of it.

[27:52] But those that haven't walked that way will get fed up with it. That's not what they want to hear. but the poor, lost sinner, he knows.

[28:10] He's got nothing to stand on. His only hope is in the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Christ, and they are seeking for him.

[28:36] Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. that must have been a sweet gathering that night, as Paul and Silas were taken out of the prison, into the jailer's house, in the night, remember, no waiting till the morning.

[29:15] Friends, there is a word that says the king's business requires haste. There are times when this is the case.

[29:27] And it was so that night, the king's business required haste.

[29:42] It won't keep till the morning. I walked that pathway once myself, when the Lord came and blessed me in my soul, and showed me the pathway I got to take, and I hadn't taken it.

[30:03] And it was followed up at a prayer meeting by these words, Ye have, I can't quote it exactly right, but ye have good news.

[30:22] If ye tarry till the morning light, some evil, will be fallen. It had got to be done that night. And I knew it, because it went home with power.

[30:41] And I went that night. Such, friends, is the power of God, when he leads his children in his paths.

[30:58] And friends, it's a blessed pathway. The Lord takes care of everything. You and I have many fears about walking in those paths and following the Lord, God's world.

[31:16] And we have, we have, how can I put it, we have nothing to boast of in ourselves.

[31:28] we feel we've got very little religion, if any. We feel to be unlike the Lord's people, but here, God's word is telling us and compelling us to walk in his ways.

[31:44] if ye love me, keep my commandments. Oh, friends, what a wonderful, beautiful thing it is to feel and experience and know something of the love of God in our hearts.

[32:08] You know, poor sinners are blessed with it. When the dear Lord draws near unto his children, they can't do anything but love him.

[32:25] They're astonished. Astonished they are that the Lord should shed his love upon them, when they are such poor lost sinners as this jailer was.

[32:42] What must I do to be saved? You see, he was desperate. He got nothing. He was nothing but sin and uncleanness.

[32:57] But this blessed Lord Jesus Christ came to seek and save that which was lost. Friends, it's beautiful, isn't it?

[33:11] You see, it's all of grace. It doesn't rest with you and I coming to the Lord. I know we've got to come and will come when the Lord constrains us.

[33:29] But you see, the Lord's behind it. He is constraining us. Us we wouldn't go. The Lord works in the hearts of his children.

[33:48] He was working in this giant heart. Oh, friends, how is it with you and I?

[34:05] Has the Lord begun his work in our hearts? Is he leading us on in his path? How many times do we look back, perhaps at the end of the year, and say, what has God wrought?

[34:27] What has he done for me in this last year? What has he revealed to me? Friends, there's not only the end of the year, there are various anniversaries that we come to, annual ones.

[34:54] There is our age. We have birthdays. Do we look back over the last twelve months or more?

[35:07] What has God wrought? What has he revealed to me in the past year? Do I know any more of him?

[35:21] Has any more of his love been shed abroad in my heart? The Lord says this in his word, thou shalt remember all the way I have led thee, all the way I have led thee.

[35:41] Friends, there'll be, there'll be two things. It won't only be blessings that we are brought to remember, we shall remember our sins.

[36:00] I know there are times when the Lord says he will pardon our sins, he will cast them in the depths of the sea, and they'll be gone, and that's perfectly true.

[36:16] But, friends, there's many times, at least I find this, and I'm sure the Lord's children do, they have to remember, they're caused to remember, the pathway of sin that they have walked in from time to time.

[36:43] We have committed those sins, and they stand out. We can't lock them out. We have to confess them before our God.

[37:01] Isn't that where the jail are kind? What must I do to be saved? He was solemnly conscious of his sins, his filings, friends, we cannot know the blessings of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ without knowing our guilt and sin and uncleanness.

[37:37] Without repentance, there is no remission. how is it with your eyes?

[37:51] Is that the pathway we have come? Well, you may have to say, yes, my sins testify against me.

[38:05] they can damage. They still do, more and more, as we journey along. At least, that's the pathway I find, and I'm sure there are many others that know this pathway.

[38:24] how are we going to find mercy, forgiveness, peace, peace.

[38:38] Forgiveness will bring peace in our hearts. peace. The answer is in this world.

[38:53] And they said, Paul and Silas said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy hands believe.

[39:09] Oh, friends, do we not have to solemnly prove we can't believe, can we?

[39:20] We can't believe. It needs to be revealed to us. It needs to be spoken to us.

[39:33] We need the Spirit of God to come. You see, looking at it in another way, David, the psalmist, he sinned grievously.

[39:48] He never repented. He was a child of God, but he hadn't repented. So there's no remission until he does repent.

[40:01] The Lord dealt with it. He sent his servant to him. his servant spoke to him. He roused his spirit, as it were.

[40:17] He stirred it up. And then he charged him, and he said, thou art the man. He stirred David's spirit up and roused him concerning another.

[40:37] But then he reversed it. And he said, thou art the man. And it was spoken with power into his heart.

[40:52] He was broken down. I think it's Psalm 52, who, I'm not sure, that deals with that.

[41:05] You can see and read the effects that it had upon David's spirit when he was cut down, when he was charged with the guilt of it.

[41:21] I say, friends, we need these things, whether it is guilt and sin, or whether it is forgiveness and mercy from God.

[41:35] Whatever it is, friends, we need it to be through and by the power of God. That's the only way it will be revealed to us, and be effective.

[41:52] And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy hands.

[42:06] Oh, friends, oh, that the Lord would grant to you and I faith to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[42:22] We have so much unbelief in our hearts. But, friends, when the Lord grants a little face in our hearts to believe these things, then I believe we shall know what the hymn writer said.

[42:47] Why me? Why me? O gracious God, who must forever lie in hell, were not salvation free.

[43:02] It is free. It's without money. It's without price. Oh, that we could believe more.

[43:13] What did one man say? it said, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief.

[43:26] Sometimes we believe for a little while, but oh, how quickly doubts and fears will rise up in our hearts from time to time.

[43:40] but oh, for that grace, that we might believe.

[43:51] And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house. Friends, we feel to have come very short in speaking of these things.

[44:13] What are we to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? How has the Lord Jesus Christ delivered his children?

[44:23] How does he do it? It's what he has done. He came down.

[44:34] there's a beautiful little Sunday school hymnal hymn in Jesus came down to be a man and die.

[44:48] I don't know the number. I know it's in Gaius Gaspers little hymnal book. And friends, that's what happened.

[45:00] That's what took place. Jesus came down to be a man. He took a body of flesh and blood.

[45:17] But he was without sin. He was holy. He was still the son of God. he was crucified.

[45:27] And friends, oh, the many things he suffered. Oh, how he suffered. He was crucified.

[45:39] he was beaten. He was really killed.

[45:51] He was hated. And Jesus did nothing about God. But he was hated.

[46:04] God did. And friends, what's more, he came to that agonizing moment when he realized his father hid his face from him.

[46:26] my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?

[46:41] The Lord, the father, could not look upon sin. Jesus had the sins of his children.

[46:56] the whole church of God laid upon him. Thus, the father could not look upon him. He felt forsaken.

[47:10] Friends, these are the things, this is the pathway, the sufferings of God. This is what it cost him to redeem our souls.

[47:24] Lord, I feel we know so little of it. May the Lord enlighten us and lead us in those paths that lead unto eternal life.

[47:40] May he bless a few things for his name's sake. Amen. verse in May, verse