Today's passage shows that God's people should be about His mission regardless of their circumstances. It is natural to think very differently from Paul and Silas: our captors are our enemies; as captives, we don't need to worry about doing God's work, let alone seeking the wellbeing of our captors; that an earthquake that opened the prison's gates and loosed restraints were clearly signs from God for us to leave and be free. But Christ died for captors, oppressors, and all other kinds of sinners. God's mission is redeeming them. Prisons of the body do not limit our abilities to pray, worship, and spread the Gospel. Likewise, physical freedom is not the highest good to attain. When we look through the view of these fellow believers, Paul and Silas knew they were free from sin and thus truly free in spite of whether the chains were on or off. They saw another enslaved to sin, unable to see the salvation already made available to him by the work of Jesus. This enabled them to see the open gates and fallen chains as part of the tools they could use to share the gospel, not a means of physical escape.

We will also see Paul and Silas use their status as Roman citizens to rectify the defamation of their character that could have negatively impacted the recounting of these events to others in the city that needed to hear the Good News. As Romans, Paul and Silas should have been tried by Roman law prior to being stripped, beaten, and imprisoned. Treating Roman citizens the way the magistrates did could have caused significant Roman retribution against the magistrates. By showing them their error, Paul and Silas showed the magistrates and any onlookers how they could be forgiving even when not deserved, just as God had been with them.

God has placed each of us in a time and place, and given us various statuses and gifts, to use us in different ways for His glory. May the word of God give us the wisdom and discernment to see the world and ourselves as God does, and an unquenchable desire to be active disciples, spreading the Gospel to all around us

[Acts 16.25-40]

16.25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. 40 So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

[ WHAT ] is this passage saying and what is a key truth or thought that we learn?

+ What were Paul and Silas doing as this passage opens? [v. 25]

+ Who was hearing them? [v. 25]

+ Why didn't Paul and Silas leave after the earthquake? [v. 27]

+ What happened because Paul and Silas stayed? [vv. 29-34]

+ Why did Paul and Silas not initially leave when the police said they could go? [v. 37]

+ What happened after the magistrates heard they were Roman citizens? [vv. 38-40]

[ HOW ] is the Lord calling me to action/obedience?

+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?

+ Is there an oppressor in your life that doesn't deserve forgiveness, but for whom Jesus died? How can you share this message with them in a way that glorifies God?

+ Are there times when your fleshly freedom and wellbeing overshadow your spiritual freedom and wellbeing? How can you rectify this?

+ What traits has God given you? How can you use these to spread the Good News and reach others with God's love?

[ WHO ] am I walking with and praying for to discover Jesus?

+ What is my next step?