PAUL AND SILAS IN PRISON
MEMORY VERSE
Acts 16:31, ESV
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
DAY 1
Acts 16:16-18, NIrV
16 One day we were going to the place of prayer. On the way we were met by a female slave. She had a spirit that helped her tell people what was going to happen. She earned a lot of money for her owners by doing this. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us around. She shouted, “These men serve the Most High God. They are telling you how to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became upset. Turning around, he spoke to the spirit that was in her. “In the name of Jesus Christ,” he said, “I command you to come out of her!” At that very moment the spirit left the woman.
BIBLE STUDY
A year or more after his first missionary journey, Paul left to go on a second one, this time with a man named Silas. In a city called Philippi, they met a girl with a very sad life. Not only was she a slave, she was also bothered by a spirit (an evil angel). This devil gave her the power to tell people the hidden secrets about their lives. And her slave owners used this power to make themselves lots of cash! But when Paul and Silas came to town, the spirit stopped sharing secrets and started annoying the two men all day long! It was such a hassle, Paul ordered the spirit to leave the girl for good!
+ What did the evil spirit make the girl shout at Paul and Silas? (vs. 17)
+ When Paul spoke in the name of Jesus, what happened? (vs. 18)
DAY 2
Acts 16:19-23, NIrV
19 Her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone. So they grabbed Paul and Silas. They dragged them into the market place to face the authorities. 20 They brought them to the judges. “These men are Jews,” her owners said. “They are making trouble in our city. 21 They are suggesting practices that are against Roman law. These are practices we can’t accept or take part in.”
22 The crowd joined the attack against Paul and Silas. The judges ordered that Paul and Silas be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 They were whipped without mercy. Then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.
BIBLE STUDY
The slave owners had used their slave girl's secret-telling powers to make themselves rich. When the evil spirit left, their money-making scheme was through! Who did they blame for this problem? Paul and Silas, of course! After all, it was Paul who told the spirit to go away in Jesus' name! So they dragged the two missionaries in front of the city rulers to be punished for causing trouble. And before Paul and Silas even had a chance to say, “But we didn’t do anything wrong!”, the Philippian rulers made their decision. They ordered the two men to be beaten with sticks and locked in jail!
+ Why were the slave owners angry with Paul and Silas? (vs. 16 and 19)
+ What punishment did the rulers give to Paul and Silas? (vs. 22-23)
DAY 3
Acts 16:23-25, NIrV
23 They were whipped without mercy. Then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put Paul and Silas deep inside the prison. He fastened their feet so they couldn’t get away.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying. They were also singing hymns to God. The other prisoners were listening to them.
BIBLE STUDY
In the time of Paul and Silas (and today, too), jail cells weren't happy places. They were cold, dark, sad, and depressing! But you wouldn't have known that jail was supposed to be a dreadful place if you were in the prison cell with Paul and Silas that night. The two men weren't crying or complaining or even planning their escape; they were singing hymns. These were special poems set to music that talked about what God was like and the amazing things he had done. Though they had a lot of things to whine about, Paul and Silas chose to pray and sing praises to their awesome God!
+ What time of day was it? (vs. 25)
+ Who listened as Paul and Silas sang? (vs. 25)
DAY 4
Acts 16:25-26, NIRV
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying. They were also singing hymns to God. The other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a powerful earthquake. It shook the prison from top to bottom. All at once the prison doors flew open. Everyone’s chains came loose.
BIBLE STUDY
Being locked up in jail is such a miserable experience, I'm sure prisoners spend a lot of time thinking about escaping. “What if I dig a secret tunnel out of the jail? Or perhaps I can swipe the keys from the jail keeper when he’s not looking?” However, one thing they never plan on happening is an earthquake causing all of the prison doors to shake open and all the prisoners' chains to simply fall to the floor. But that's exactly the kind of thing that can happen when the God of the universe is the one busting you out of prison! I’m pretty sure this happened to be the very first earthquake jail break!
+ What things happened when the earthquake came? (vs. 26)
+ Were Paul and Silas just lucky that an earthquake opened the doors? Why or why not?
DAY 5
Acts 16:27-30, NIRV
27 The jailer woke up. He saw that the prison doors were open. He pulled out his sword and was going to kill himself. He thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 “Don’t harm yourself!” Paul shouted. “We are all here!”
29 The jailer called out for some lights. He rushed in, shaking with fear. He fell down in front of Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out. He asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
BIBLE STUDY
In Paul’s time, if a jailer let his prisoners escape, he could be given the punishments his escaped prisoners were supposed to get. When all the doors shook open, the jailer thought, “I’m doomed!” But before he could hurt himself, Paul shouted, “Everyone’s still here!” Relieved that none of his prisoners had escaped, the jailer went to Paul and Silas. All night, he listened as they sang songs about their God. And now, it looked like their God had answered their prayers with a door-opening earthquake! After seeing the power of Paul and Silas’ God, the jailer asked them, “What must I do to be saved?”
+ Why was the jailer scared and about to hurt himself? (vs. 27)
+ What is the answer to the jailer’s question, “What must I do to be saved?”
DAY 6
Acts 16:30-34, NIRV
30 Then he brought them out. He asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus. Then you and everyone living in your house will be saved.” 32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him. They also spoke to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night, the jailer took Paul and Silas and washed their wounds. Right away he and everyone who lived with him were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house. He set a meal in front of them. He and everyone who lived with him were filled with joy. They had become believers in God.
BIBLE STUDY
Paul and Silas’ journey had taken them a long, long way from home. The cold and dark jail cell in which they were chained was over seven hundred miles away from where they started. But that prison in Philippi was the perfect place for them to be. It gave them the chance to do what they’d traveled all this way to do: share the good news that Jesus had died for our sins and had risen from the dead!
If Paul and Silas had never ended up in jail, there wouldn’t have been a miraculous earthquake jail break! And without the earthquake jail break, they never would have met the Philippian jailer. And if they never met the Philippian jailer, they never would have had a chance to answer his question: “What must I do to be saved?”
The Bible doesn’t tell us exactly what the jailer wanted to be saved from. Maybe he was still worried about being punished for letting prisoners escape. Perhaps he thought the earthquake was a punishment from God. Or maybe he was thinking about all the things Paul and Silas had prayed and sang about as they sat in their cell.
Paul didn’t tell the jailer how he could be saved from earthquakes or the punishment of losing a prisoner. Instead, he told him how he could be saved from the punishment of his sins. And the answer he gave was the same answer he always gave: “Believe in Jesus and you will be saved!”
But that wasn’t all Paul told the jailer. Paul told him that the good news of Jesus was also for his entire household. That included all the members of the jailer’s family. If his wife, mom, dad, son, daughter, aunt, or uncle believed the good news about Jesus, they could all be saved, too! After hearing Paul’s answer, the jailer brought his whole family to hear the good news about Jesus straight from Paul and Silas’ mouths!
In the middle of that crazy night, the entire family of that Philippian jailer became believers. They brought Paul and Silas into their own home. The jailer washed all the painful wounds the two men had received from their beating the day before. And when they were washed up, Paul and Silas baptized every member of the jailer’s household in water, showing them that Jesus had washed away all of their sins!
Like Paul and Silas, none of us know the strange paths our lives will take. We don’t know exactly where we will end up or who we will meet. But we do know that our earthquake-jail-breaking God has a good plan. And we know that He will save anyone who believes the good news: grandmas and grandpas, moms and dads, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles and cousins... everyone!
+ What was Paul’s answer to the jailer’s question, “What must I do to be saved?” (vs. 31)
+ Why was the jailer rejoicing and filled with joy? (vs. 34)
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