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[0:00] So that the Lord might be pleased to help us to look at his holy word in Acts chapter 16 and verses 29 and the two following verses.

[0:19] 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?

[0:53] And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house.

[1:06] 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?

[1:35] And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house.

[1:48] What a wonderful word this is, friends. How we see the power of God set forth and how we see that God moves in a mysterious way.

[2:10] His wonders to perform. Who would have thought that the Lord would be mindful of the jailer? But he was.

[2:26] But how God moves in a mysterious way. How he brought it to pass. Paul and Silas were his servants.

[2:44] And the Lord used them. Most wondrously. But look at the pathway. They had to walk in.

[2:57] That it should be brought to pass. Friends, there is a pathway that his children have to walk in.

[3:12] And nothing can alter it. By rights. Paul and Silas should not have been treated like that.

[3:25] Being Romans. We don't hear they pleaded that they were Romans until it was all over.

[3:41] They had to suffer. They were beaten. They were put in the prison. And the jailer.

[3:55] Was commanded to keep them. Safe. Which he did. Yet. There was that earthquake.

[4:11] You see, friends. When the Lord works. He works. There's nothing can prevent him. The jailer couldn't prevent the earthquake coming, could he?

[4:30] We read he was asleep. We read also. There we see. There we see.

[4:51] That they had. And felt. The presence of their God. That makes amends for all friends.

[5:07] Do we not know it? Have we not been that way? Has not the dear Lord blessed us with his presence at times?

[5:18] Have we not proved that it has made the crooked things straight and the rough places plain when he has come?

[5:29] So it was with Paul and Silas. Though they were sore and had been beaten, yet they could sing praises to God.

[5:42] All was well. Because the Lord was with them. Oh, the wonders of these things.

[5:55] But that wasn't the end. There's one that must be poor called amongst, in that prison.

[6:07] Even the jailer. Ah, the jailer was wrought upon by the Spirit of God.

[6:22] We read that the keeper of the prison, awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open.

[6:40] You see, friends, the prison doors should not be open. But they were by God's command.

[6:54] He had caused the earthquake and the tremors to open the doors. And he had caused the prisoners to be released.

[7:13] Their bands were loosed. But the jailer, he, I believe, had come to the end.

[7:29] He saw the doors opened. He assumed the prisoners had gone. But it would seem that we can see by what we have read together, that the Lord was working in the heart of that jailer.

[7:51] How he responded. How he responded. He awoke out of his sleep.

[8:01] He saw the doors open. He sprang in. He sprang in. The keeper of the prisoner, waking out of his sleep, seeing the prison doors open.

[8:17] He drew out his sword. He drew out his sword to kill himself. He could take no more.

[8:29] He could take no more. Everything, it seemed, had gone wrong. The prisoners, he thought, had escaped, without doubt, because all the doors were opened.

[8:46] And coupled with it, he was a lost sinner. And he knew it. We know by the language that came from him.

[9:01] He drew out his sword. And would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul, Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here.

[9:20] We're all here. I thought, friends, what a wonderful spirit. Paul showed to the jailer.

[9:35] Friends, some of us left to ourselves would have looked on.

[9:52] We may have been glad. We may have said, you know, serves you right, and so on.

[10:03] But not Paul. He cries out immediately, quickly, do thyself no harm.

[10:15] We're all here. We're all safe. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul, and silence.

[10:40] And, what an amazing thing. What an amazing thing. This is the jailer. The chief of the prison.

[10:51] He comes in, trembling, and falls down before two of his prisoners.

[11:07] This is where we see the power of God. The grace of God. The grace of God. He was, in his own eyes, I believe, a poor, lost sinner.

[11:22] We know so by what he said. We know so by what he said. Paul, trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved.

[11:46] It's amazing, isn't it? Isn't it wonderful? The humility. The grace. The respect the jailer had for Paul and Silas.

[12:02] He respected them. He called them sirs, two of his prisoners. Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

[12:19] And, friends, this is where we clearly see the work of the grace of God in a poor sinner's heart.

[12:37] And 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.

[13:00] What a wonderful thing, isn't it? The jailer was blessed. He was delivered and blessed. And so was his household.

[13:19] Friends, it's not always the same. There are many parents, I believe, that are sorely troubled by their families, because they've not all been blessed and saved.

[13:40] But the jailer's family was. But, friends, it is not a general pattern.

[13:59] The Lord has made it quite clear that there are many cases that are different to that. One of the family.

[14:10] One here, one there. The Lord is a sovereign.

[14:23] There were, remember, the twins, Jacob and Esau. The Lord only loved one of them.

[14:35] He loved Jacob, but not Esau. They were both brought up under the sound of the word of God.

[14:53] But, friends, the Lord is a sovereign. He has a people, a chosen people, and they shall come. They shall come unto him.

[15:05] They shall fall down before him. They will come to that place where they are lost and ruined. The jailer came there.

[15:18] So did the dying thief. He came there. He had to acknowledge his sin and his uncleanness.

[15:34] He had to acknowledge that he was lost and ruined, and that he deserved to be cast into a never-ending hell. Yet, he pleaded for mercy.

[15:50] He was one of the Lord's children. The Lord cared for him. The Lord loved him. The thief cried unto the Lord Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

[16:11] And the dear Lord said unto him this day, This day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

[16:24] Friends, nothing can alter God's election. God's chosen people.

[16:37] Those whom he loves with an everlasting love. Nothing can reverse it. Nothing can cause it to fail. Nothing.

[16:49] The jailer could not be left to kill himself.

[17:01] Oh, the mercy of God. The means he uses.

[17:13] There's no doubt about it. He used his servants, Paul and Soch. They were used to keep him from, to keep the jailer from killing himself.

[17:35] And they were used. That the jailer might be raised up to a hope in his mercy.

[17:51] They preached Jesus. And we read, do we not, that the jailer took them. He washed their stripes.

[18:05] And we read that they preached the word to the jailer and his household.

[18:23] And the Spirit of God was there. What a wonderful, wonderful thing. And the circumstances and everything that took place.

[18:36] Oh, how favoured they were. Friends, we gather in very much different circumstances than they did then.

[18:55] We are in the house of God. We seek the Lord.

[19:06] We want his presence. We want to hear his voice. Oh, that we might hear it.

[19:18] Oh, that the Lord might be pleased to come in our midst. That there might be a purpose in our gathering here.

[19:37] I'm sure, friends, if we're rightly exercised, we're concerned about gathering together in the house of God. Concerned about the presence of the Lord.

[19:52] We know in our hearts that unless he is in our midst, there won't be anything. It will just be a formality.

[20:05] It may be the truth that we read and hear and speak. But we want more than that.

[20:18] We want the power of God. Ah, friends, I'm sure of this.

[20:29] There was the power of God in those things that Paul and Silas spoke.

[20:40] And he said, He said, But he couldn't. He couldn't.

[20:52] He could not be left to kill himself. Because that would be the end. Hell would have been his portion.

[21:05] But, friends, those whom the Lord has chosen, those whom he has laughed, he will deliver them from going down into the pit.

[21:22] It doesn't matter what trap might be set for them. It doesn't matter what Satan might endeavor to do to destroy one of the Lord's children.

[21:39] He never will. Because, friends, our God is almighty. And he has said, I will work, and who shall let it?

[21:56] There's no one, no man, no devils, that can prevent the Lord working.

[22:09] I will work, and who shall let it? He has paid the price already to deliver his dear children from going down into the pit.

[22:28] He has shed his blood. He has suffered many things. Many things.

[22:41] Then he called for a light and sprang in, and came trembling and fell down before Paul, and silence.

[22:55] Friends, this is the way, the pathway, the experience that the jailer had to pass through.

[23:06] Here we see the work of grace. Here we see the wonders of God's salvation.

[23:23] Do we know anything of these things? Friends, every child of God is an individual before God.

[23:35] Every one of his dear children will be brought to this place. They'll come to the end, where they can go no farther.

[23:47] Their language will be, give me Christ, or else I die. They will be brought to that place where they will cry for mercy.

[24:10] The jailer was brought to that place where they will be. The jailer was brought there. What, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Here I am. My case is desperate.

[24:21] I'm at the end. I can go no further. I need mercy. his name disciple. Take a shout based prayer. So everything seemed to have gone wrong. Leanna know.' prisoners had gone, he thought.

[24:47] And so, friends, his children, they come into these paths where it seems everything's gone wrong at times. They've failed.

[25:07] They seem to be unlike the children of God. They read the promises in the Word of God.

[25:20] They go to the house of God from time to time. But there doesn't seem to be anything for them. I know it's not always like this, but there are those times with us.

[25:41] But at least there has been with me and I'm sure there has with you when we've come up to the house of God and we have sought the Lord.

[25:52] We've been looking for something. We have wanted the Lord to come and have mercy on us. But oh, there's been so many times when we haven't found him.

[26:07] So many times as it was even with that man by Bethesda's Paul. He came year after year seeking for mercy, seeking for mercy, wanting to get into the pool, but he couldn't get in.

[26:35] In the Psalms, I think it is somewhere, we read, and no man cared for my soul. That may be just where that poor man come, because he hoped some man would help him get into that pool.

[26:53] But he never found any help. But he wasn't left to despair.

[27:05] The time came when the dear Lord came right where he was. And he had mercy on him. He delivered him.

[27:16] Friends, how often it is so with the children of God, they come to that place where they're brought to despair.

[27:32] They're brought to the end. They can't go any further. But the Lord will never leave his dear children to despair.

[27:52] We even have that wonderful account of Lazarus who died. He actually died. He was laid in the tomb.

[28:08] He had been in there four days. that, friends, the Lord came.

[28:22] He came in his own time. Remember, he had been sent for days before. Whilst Lazarus was still alive.

[28:39] But the Lord Jesus knew what he would do. He held back. He tarried.

[28:53] He waited until Lazarus was dead. Then he returned. Doesn't it show to us, friends, there is no case that he's too hard for our God.

[29:13] He could raise and did raise Lazarus from the dead. He's the same God to die. There is nothing too hard for him.

[29:26] There is no poor sinner that has gone beyond his reach. It may be that you and I are walking in the path of sorrow from time to time.

[29:51] We do from time to time. We may be there today. I don't know where you are but the Lord knows.

[30:07] Yes, he knows where you and I are. And I'm sure of this, that if we cannot feel the sacred presence of our God, there will be sorrow.

[30:26] There will be sorrow felt in our hearts. But we shall still have to seek him.

[30:41] But the Lord says, ye have now therefore sorrow. But I will see you again and your hearts shall rejoice.

[30:54] Friends, there is hope. There's hope for the living, the child of God. There is God's promise.

[31:07] Yes, it's his promise. The hymn writer, puts it so beautiful in one hymn where he says, once in him, in him forever.

[31:27] That's not to say we're going to feel and realize his sacred presence forever, not whilst we are in this body of sin and death, because it will not be so.

[31:43] It will be so in eternity. When we, if we are taken into glory to be forever with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, then we shall enjoy his sacred presence forever and ever.

[32:03] but not here below. It is through much tribulation that ye shall enter the kingdom of heaven.

[32:20] Much tribulation. tribulation, wasn't it, that Paul and Silas had to pass through and they were beaten and entrusted into the prison.

[32:40] But all the wonders of it, they'd got to go in where the jailer was. You might say, I might say, well, the Lord could have worked another way.

[32:56] He could have brought them in. He could have brought them face to face with the jailer, even outside the prison house. But, friends, that was the way that the Lord judged.

[33:12] The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. and so it was. The bud did have a bitter taste.

[33:29] They had to suffer, but they were brought in to the prison, thrust into the prison, that God's purposes might be brought to pass.

[33:51] Friends, he's still the same today. There's so much you and I don't understand regarding ourselves, our own personal selves, and our religion.

[34:07] We don't understand why we have to walk in the path that we do. We don't understand why the Lord withholds so many times, yet at other times all we can see is our sin and uncleanness.

[34:26] and we know that we deserve his wrath. But friends, there's also others that we look upon.

[34:40] There are our loved ones. There are some of the family we look on. We're often dismayed.

[34:54] nothing we can do. We try and pray for them. But we want to see, we want to see what God has brought.

[35:10] We want him to see, we want to see him work in our hearts, turn their feet round, bring them to his feet.

[35:22] Oh, friends, who would have thought that that giant would have come and fell down before two of his prisoners?

[35:39] Who would have thought that he would come and draw them, bring them out, bring them out into his home, bathe their stripes, who would have thought that he would fall down a poor lost sinner and plead with them, what shall I do to be saved?

[36:10] I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He did, he believed, he was given faith to believe, he believed.

[36:21] He was saved, his household also. What a wonderful case. Ah, friends, the Lord works.

[36:40] God 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?

[37:03] God this is the pathway that every child of God will walk in. They will be brought to that place where they will fall down before God, where they will have to confess tremblingly that they are poor lost sinners.

[37:31] they will plead for mercy. Ah, friends, and what a mercy the Lord has mercy on his dear children.

[37:52] He does hear their cries. it's very trying and very troubling to the child of God, but he has to be brought to that place where he's helpless, where he realises he's got no strength, where he realises he has failed, failed in his walk, failed in his profession.

[38:31] Everything has failed. But friends, that dying, that jiler was brought to the place where he proved that God didn't fail him.

[38:58] If thou believest on the Lord Jesus, thou shalt be saved. Friends, who is there of us that can believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?

[39:12] Who is there? There is none of ourselves that can believe. God is revealed to us, then we shall believe.

[39:34] We can't possibly believe unless faith is given us. Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith.

[39:51] And that's what that jailer was blessed with. And that's what the dying thief was blessed with. And that's what every child of God is blessed with.

[40:02] Sooner or later, it is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are brought to trust in the Lord.

[40:16] They are brought to declare that they are lost and ruined in their selves.

[40:29] Give me Christ or else I die. There's no other hope, no other way that we can be saved for he has the words of eternal life.

[40:49] Dear Job, he knew the blessed Saviour, didn't he? Though he was sorely tried and distressed, yet he cried out, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.

[41:07] You see, Jesus God had given him faith, faith to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[41:21] Oh, that we might have that same faith, because if we are given that faith by God, then I believe it will, it must endure unto the end.

[41:38] and we read, he that endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved. May the Lord bless the few things for his name's sake.

[41:50]  Amen. Amen.