Free to praise and praise to free

Acts 16  Paul and Silas Imprisoned

²² The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. ²³ When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; ²⁴ and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵ But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; ²⁶ and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. ²⁷ When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” ²⁹ And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, ³⁰ and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

The Jailer Converted

³¹ They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³² And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. ³⁴ And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.

The first thing we see in this passage is that Paul and Silas were beaten then imprisoned for preaching the gospel. Not too many years before this Paul was on the other side of this. He was the one seeking out followers of Christ to have them punished and jailed. But Paul had a personal encounter with the risen Christ and he was forever changed. Paul was so singularly focused on serving and worshiping the Lord that his circumstances didn't matter. So we see Paul and Silas praising God in the midst of their circumstance. God is still God. The circumstance doesn't change that.

Psalm 22 gives us some incite to what happens next as Paul and Silas praise God. It says God inhabits the praise of His people. Let me tell you this, when God inhabits a thing it's going to change. That prison was changed by the inhabitation of God. The jailer was also changed by the presence of God. He became aware of his need for salvation. Paul had not been witnessing to him of his sinfulness and need to repent. An encounter with God made him aware of his need. In verse 31 when we see the answer to the jailers question what must I do to be saved, we see how much Paul has changed. Paul was once the expert and gaurdian of the law. Now he shares the simple truth of salvation. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.  Too often we tend to add our requirements to this simple message. We add the things that we believe people need to change. The truth is salvation comes at believing that Jesus is Lord' and accepting what He has done for us.

The revelation of Christ and the conviction of the Holy Spirit brings salvation. Each person needs an encounter with the risen savior. Salvation occurs in an instant. The rest of the change in our lives is a continuing work.

 Praise changes things. It changes us. It changes circumstances and it changes the atmosphere. God inhabits the praise of His people and wherever God's habitation is everything will change.

Today, if you want to see change. Try praise.