Words of Grace – Sept, 4, 2014

The apostle Paul saw in a night vision a man from the region of Macedonia begging him for help. Paul concluded from his words, “Come over into Macedonia and help us,” that the Lord was calling him to go there.

So Paul and Silas went to Philippi, the chief city of Macedonia, “to preach the gospel unto them.” They were arrested however, for preaching the gospel, and were thrown into prison.

How did these men of God react to this persecution? “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them” (Acts 16:25).

The jail-keeper also heard them. When the Lord sent a great earthquake, and the prison doors were opened, he asked Paul and Silas: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

And they answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” He did believe, along with his family, and became a part of the family of God.

This scripture had an impact on Ruth Calkin, who wrote the following:

“Lord, just today I read that Paul and Silas were stripped and beaten with wooden whips. Again and again the rods slashed across their bared backs. But in their desolate dungeon, their feet clamped in stocks, they prayed, they sang, they praised.

“In this musty midnight of my life, imprisoned in a dungeon of confusion, bound by chains of anguish, help me, please help me, to pray, to sing, to praise, until I am free to share the Good News with other chain-bound prisoners.”