The Apostle Paul had been directed by God to the city of Philippi to give those people the gospel of Christ. Like so many other cities, the Devil believed Philippi belonged to him, so he did what he could to try to disrupt the work of the missionaries. An unfortunate creature, possessed by a demon, was used by Satan to stir things up. For several days she followed Paul and the others, croaking and shrieking, “These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.” When Paul could stand it no longer, he took the offensive. With the authority of the Son of God, he ordered the demon to leave the woman. “And he came out the same hour.” Whether the poor young woman understood it or not, this was a blessing of the highest order. But Paul and Silas were rewarded by being arrested, severely beaten and jailed.
In this Paul was driven from the shallow waters into the depths where the bigger fish could be found. It could be that the only way this jailor of Philippi was ever going to be touched with the gospel was through the painful suffering of Paul and his friend Silas. This man wasn’t going come to the church house or prayer meeting of the Christians. He had no friends among the Christians, there were no saints in the Philippian mission. He was a Roman, and so he thought that it was not lawful for him to receive or to observe such things. And he certainly didn’t have any interest in the malefactor named “Jesus.”
Some commentaries paint this jailor in the darkest of possible colors. I’m not so sure that he deserves to be treated badly. In some ways he was very admirable. We see that he was obedient and dutiful; he carried out his orders promptly and explicitly: “And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.” We note that when things deteriorated he took his responsibilities personally, even though they were completely beyond his control. When the earthquake struck, he knew that his primary responsibility lay in the prison and the prisoners – he didn’t run home to check on his own property or even his family. In other words, he was faithful to his employers or his superiors. And, right or wrong, he preferred death to any kind of dishonour. “The keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.” Suicide is not Christian behaviour, but in this case, at the very least, it displayed the man’s seriousness. By the words of the text it appears that the jailor was a man of few words. He was a hard, all-business sort of person. He was a man of action, decision and precision. These may be admirable characteristics for life, but they don’t impress the holy God, and he knew it.
This man of action and decision asked the most important question that any human can utter: “What must I do to be saved?” I wish that I knew how this man came to know and use that word “saved.” And what exactly did he mean when he said it?
The word “saved” generally implies two things: to be healed, or to be made safe. The word “saved” generally talks about deliverance from disease or from some other sort of danger. But in religion it speaks about deliverance from the penalty of sin. It is unlikely the man knew he was a sinner dead in trespasses and sins or that he would spend eternity in Hell. So it maybe he was referring to deliverance from some other kind of danger. But it was not the danger of death, because he was willing to die and even to take his own life. He had no more fear of death than an car fears a mouse that is running across the road. Unfortunately he had no fear of death, because he was so ignorant of his sin. It might have been that he was thinking about his punishment if any of the prisoners had escaped, but he had just been told that no prisoners were missing. No, I think that his fear was over the fact that for first time in his life he had come face to face with God – intensified by the earthquake.
This man had likely heard the stories of the what the demon-possessed woman had been saying in the streets of Philippi: “These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.” It was probably through her that he had been introduced to the strange, new use of the word “salvation.” At first he didn’t care about that word, about the arrest of these men, or their “most high God.” But then after the earthquake, he had seen and felt the power of that God. It was not so much in the earthquake itself, which have always been common in that part of world. Rather it was in the effect of the earthquake within his prison: Doors were thrown wide open, and he heard the sound of broken chains. There may have been some yelling, but there were no shrieks of pain or agonized moaning. More than these – he heard that every prisoner was still there; none had escaped or left.
This was not a common earthquake; there was a divine tint to it. This was a miracle of an exceptional order, and he knew it. This man of insight and decision could see the hand of the unseen Jehovah. He also came within an inch of eternity without any hope in his soul. Only the most blind or carefree of people deny that they are some sort of eternal, spiritual entity. The sword was placed against his chest only half an inch above his heart. He knew that the was only a moment away from releasing his soul – but into what?
The Bible says that our lives are “as a vapour that appeareth for a little time and the vanisheth away.” Our days on earth are as a shadow. The circumstances forced this man into the consideration of things and beings beyond the every day. With emotion and the utmost respect, this man said to his prisoners, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
How would you answer that question? How would the average priest answer? How would the atheist? The Muslim? “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
The answer to the man’s question is condensed and recorded for us in six short words. I’m sure that there was more to the answer, perhaps before and certainly after. But it is my joy to tell you that the Holy Spirit summarized the answer to the question of salvation – in a teaspoon. What must you do to be saved? “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Anyone can understand these words, if they have been given a heart to turn to God.
“Believe.”
The Bible says that sinful souls are saved by God’s grace, understood, received and appreciated by faith. That word “faith” describes what is meant by “believe” on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is far more than a simple understanding that Jesus Christ once lived and that He died by crucifixion. The words “believe on Christ” speak about a dependence and reliance upon Him.
Two weeks ago, in accord with the will of the church, I sent some money to a preacher Siberia, Russia. About the only way to do that successfully is to use the services of Western Union. Although I’ve done this twice, it has been a few years, and I was just a bit nervous. The clerk saw that I was prepared to give her a check. She told me that the company only accepts cash, credit card or direct debit, so I handed her my personal debit card. I filled out a form with Brother Sergey’s full name, his address, phone number and other bits of information. The woman took my money and gave me a receipt with a code number on it. I knew that the system was supposed to work, but I was still just a bit concerned. I just barely had enough money in my bank account, and I knew that I was going to have to go straight to my bank to make sure that I had enough funds. Then I went home and emailed to Siberia the code number I was given. Our money was instantly available half way around the world. The plan was that he would go to some facility in Irkutsk, give the clerk the number and walk out with 68,800 rubles. The trust I put in the system did exactly what it was supposed to do, and the money reached Russia just fine. The entire transaction was carried out by faith on my part, but the details were carried out by others.
Similarly, the method of approach of a sinner to God is through trust in Lord Jesus Christ. We must commit and trust to Him the care and keeping of his eternal soul. The thought might be scarey, and some people might try to make it sound complicated, but it is very simple. Humbly give your soul to the Lord Jesus Christ, and let Him take care of all the details. Give up any attempt at carrying your soul to Heaven by yourself – it is impossible. Trust the system. Christ has put that system in place; He has paid the price and taken all the “risk.” All that is left to us is to “BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ” – which obviously is more than an acknowledgment of His historical or Heavenly existence. Believing on Christ is essentially trusting Him to do what is necessary to complete the transaction.
The second word within this tried and tested formula is even more simple – “ON.”
Amazing as it seems, this is for some people the key word to understanding this verse. How old does a child have to be to understand the little word “on”? You are sitting “on” a pew. I am standing “on” this pulpit. “On” is different from “in,” and it’s not the same thing as “under” or “over.” “On” is simply to be in contact with something, being supported by it.
Believing in the ability of Western Union to send money to Russia, is not the same thing as actually giving that money to the Western Union lady and asking her to electronically transmit for us. And similarly, it is one thing to believe “in” the ability of Christ to save us from our sins. But it’s something else to put our soul “into” the hands of the Saviour; or to rest our soul “on” Christ. Understanding the words themselves may be easy, but putting them into practice may be something else.
If that jailor had heard and believed the message of the demon-possessed girl – If he heard that Paul and Silas were servants of the most high God – If he had somehow learned that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of sinners – Those absolutely true facts would have done him no good whatsoever. It was essential for him, as it is for each of us, to cast himself in dependence “on,” or “upon” the Saviour. We must trust the Lord Jesus Christ.
You see we are all vile sinners in the sight of that Most High God. “There is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not.” “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” But Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners like us; that was the purpose for His incarnation. “The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Deliverance comes only to those who not only believe the facts, but who trust themselves to God’s promise. Those who don’t give up their pride, their goodness and their service to God and country – Those who don’t put their eternal souls into the hands of Christ have no claim in the promise that the Lord was giving to this man.
Following “on” there is the simple article “THE.”
This reminds us that Jesus Christ is unique – He is the Lord Jesus Christ. “Never man spake like this man;” no man preached like Him, and no man died like Him. He was, and is, the eternal God in human flesh. “The word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the old begotten, full of grace and truth.” This One we must trust is the Creator of the universe, Who came to His creation in a humble form. “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” This Jesus is Jehovah, the light of the world, the king of kings and Lord of Lords.
And He is the only one who can save sinners like this jailor, or you and me. “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under Heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.” The people of Philippi might have talked about their god Apollos, but they would never have spoken about Him as their saviour. Other people might talk Buddha, Mohammed, or Krishna, but their followers wouldn’t talk about them as their saviour. Then there are others who do talk about salvation from sin but through ordinary people, but not Christ. They talk about Mary, the mother of Jesus; they talk about the leaders of their various churches. But those poor people are terribly, terribly deceived and confused. In Christ alone “we have redemption, through His blood and the forgiveness of sin.” And only by him alone “all that believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” It is impossible to reach heaven holding Mary’s hand, Peter’s, or mine. And this verse certainly says nothing about baptism, church membership, service to God, or anything other than faith in Christ. Without the Lord Jesus Christ we are helpless and hopeless with an eternity in Hell looming over us.
And then we come specifically to the Saviour Himself: “THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.”
Jesus once said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.” Who is this one who is “made unto us, wisdom, and righteousness, sanctification and redemption”?
He is the CHRIST, the anointed of God. This is His office, His eternally ordained task – His job you might say. “He was delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” for this purpose. He was ordained and anointed for this responsibility. He was set apart from before the Creation to be the sacrifice and to become the salvation of sinners.
“Jesus” is His name, and it literally means “Jehovah saves.” He is the only means of salvation.
And when you go to him remember that He is LORD. “All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made.” Jesus is the eternal God. As the Apostle Thomas said when looked at the risen Christ, he said “My Lord and my God.”
If the Holy Spirit has put in your heart a desire for salvation from sin, like this military man in Philipi, then you must come to the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Saviour. And you must completely entrust your soul to Him. You must repent before God and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Come to Him in the way that He has commanded, and I can assure you: “Thou shalt be saved.”