DEVOTIONAL
THE REFUGE
Not much is known about the jailer we meet in Philippi, other than, he was a common working class man who was under authority. He had to be a reliable and a dependable man who showed up at the appointed time to govern the prison, otherwise the chief magistrates would not have put him is such a position. He had to be a very confident man in his ability, for the Roman law required that a guard who let his prisoners escape is liable to face the penalty of the prisoner who escaped. He was also a man who had a family, who felt the weight of bearing the responsibility of providing the necessities of food, shelter, and clothing for them. But just as every other individual he was born into this fallen world, bound in iniquity and sin with no hope of ever knowing God in and of himself. His eyes were blinded to the reality that divine justice was upon him, and that apart from being awakened from his dead estate he was destined for hell, where eternal justice would be poured out on him without measure.
The day and the hour of this event, that is recorded in holy scripture, is not known, but it was a day just like every other day. But little did he know that this day would not be a common day for him, for providence was set in motion from the foundations of the world that on this day, he would meet the Lord Jesus Christ. As the events of the day began to unfold there came a pivotal moment that would alter the jailer’s life forever, and it all began with two men, Paul and Silas. The apostle Paul and his companion Silas were arrested for doing the work of God and they were ordered to be beaten with rods. The chief magistrates then ordered this jailer to throw these two men of God into the inner prison and fasten their feet in the stocks. Then about midnight while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, 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. 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. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” And he called for the lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Through the singing and prayers of God’s servants, while locked in chains, echoing throughout the jail, this man’s heart was being prepared to be summoned into the throne room of the Almighty. Then at the appointed time, in the midst of sheer desperation, hell and death were halted, the sword that would take his life was put back into the sheath, and God’s grace arrested this man’s heart. The Lord’s two servants, Paul and Silas, seized the moment. They told him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household,” and they led him and his family to Christ. Maybe today you are like this jailer. You get up every day, you go to work, and then you come home. You do not contemplate the last day of your life. You are blinded by the sins and the passions of this world. Just maybe, by divine grace, The Lord will use this small devotion, from the hands of a feeble man, to lead you into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ where you can be saved. May the Grace of God come to you today as it did the jailer, and you cry out in desperation, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, surrender your life to Him, repent, turn from your sin, trust in Him, and you will be saved.