"A SPIRITUAL JOLT"

        "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" So they said, "Believe on the

        Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household"

                                            A C T 16:30b-31

        With their bodies aching and their feet uncomfortably held in the stocks, Paul and Silas cannot sleep in their prison cell. But they neither surrender to despair nor lament their sufferings. Instead, they go to God with there pettions and praises, bolstering their faith by reminding themselves of their and loving God.

         Earlier in Acts, we twice saw apostles free from jail by angels. Now, however, God intervenes in another way he sends a violent earthquake that causes the doors to swing open and the chain to come loose from the walls, although the prison all miraculously escape injury, none makes a break for freedom; perhaps they understand that these events are somehow connected to Paul and Silas, and they stay near them For protection. The jailer, however, waking in response to the jolt of the earthquake and seeing the open doors, assumes that all the prisoners have fled. That means his life is forfeit, so in despair he prepares to commit suicide. But while he cannot see the prisoners inside the dark jail, whose eyes are well adjusted to the darkness of the prison, can see him, and he calls out to tell jailer that he need not die, for all the priisoners are still present.

       In response, the jailer rushes into the prison , and falls before paul and Silas in humble submission  He then leads them out and asks them the most important question any human being can ask: """Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"' He has recognized the spiritual power in these men and wishes to know of salvation.

        The missionaires answer is simple: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ """ they are telling him to "place his complete confidence and trust in Jesus and to acknowledge Him as his Lord," Dr. Simon

 Kistemaker says, they also attach a promise: if the jailers believer, he and his household will be saved. Paul and Silas are not promising salvation for the entire household if the jailer alone believers; in fact, they preach christ to his family and servants in verse 32. They are simply saying that the offer of salvation is open to all of them. In God's grace, they that accept that offer and undergo baptism that very night. And this man who only hours  before had roughly incarcerated Paul and

Silas as their jailer, now washes their wounds and feeds them as their new brother in Christ. And he rejoices over his family's salvation.