About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them;
7 sermons cite this verse
… and clapped their feet in the stocks. Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. And the other prisoners were listening. Verse 26, suddenly there was a great earthquake and the prison was shaken at its foundations and the doors flew open and the chains of every prisoner fell off. The jailer woke up to see the prison doors open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped and he drew his sword to kill himself. Paul shouted to him, don't do it. We're all here. Trembling with fear, the jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down before Paul and Silas and he brought them out and asked, sirs, what must I do to be saved? They replied, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved along with your entire household. Then they shared the word of the Lord with him and all who lived in his household. the same hour the jailer washed their wounds. He and everyone in his household were immediately baptized and he brought them into his house and set a meal before them. …
… he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight, y'all know this story? About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly, there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once, all the prison doors flew open, and everyone's chains came loose. It's amazing what happens when you call on the name of Jesus. Chains start breaking. Doors start opening. The jailer woke up. And when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword. And he was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, don't harm yourself. We are all here. The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, sirs, what must I do to be saved? They replied, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. you and your household. Amen. Amen. All right. Now, Psalm 77, verse six, Psalm 77, verse six, the psalmist wrote, I remembered my songs in the night. I remembered my songs in the night. …
… and clapped their feet in the stocks. Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the other prisoners were listening. Underline that. Singing hymns to God and the other prisoners were listening. Verse 26, suddenly there was a great earthquake and the prison was shaken at its foundations and the doors flew open and the chains of every prisoner fell off. The jailer woke up to see the prison doors open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped and he drew his sword to kill himself. Paul shouted to him, don't do it. We're all here. trembling with fear. The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and asked, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They replied, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved along with your entire household. Then they shared the word of the Lord with him and all who lived in his household. The same hour the jailer washed their wounds. …
… and set a meal before them. He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God, he and his whole family. What an incredible story. How did it start? Look at Acts chapter 16, verse 25. About midnight, Paul and Silas were doing what? They were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Every major breakthrough in the book of Acts is coming after the people of God are in prayer. They were utterly dependent on the power of God, and it drove them to their knees because they knew, they knew they would never see the power of God apart from dependent prayer before Him. You know why they knew that? Because Jesus had told them that. John chapter 15, verse 5, apart from me, you can do nothing. Church at Brook Hills, apart from the power of God, we can do nothing. and if we believe that, it will drive us to our knees in prayer. They were utterly dependent on the power of God. …
… themselves in uh verse 25 but at midnight oh I like verse 25 Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. This is a profound verse right here. It's powerful. Here's what I love about this verse. At midnight, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the darkest moment, before it's midnight, the Bible says that Paul and Silas weren't complaining, weren't crying, not sad because they're in jail. See, if that was you in jail, you'd be crying and complaining. And why I joined the First Baptist Church of Glen Arden, and now I find myself out here trying to do whatever, and I'm in jail or whatever, but that's not what they're doing. At midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. Oh, that's so important. I'm just wondering what your attitude is going to be when you find yourself in a troubling situation and circumstance, and that's the situation. Here he was. Paul and Silas were at midnight praying and singing. They trusted God. By the way, your present circumstance is never an indication of what your future is going to be. I wish I had a prayer crowd. It doesn't matter what your right now looks like. It doesn't matter what the situation is right now. Always keep in mind that whatever I'm going through right now, God is using it to prepare me for what my future is going to be. That's something that I …
… It says, around midnight, Paul and Silas were praising and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them. You realize that what they were doing is they're making their hearts firm. What they were doing is they're learning how to wait. Well, they had no idea what was happening the next day. They had no idea if God was gonna release them or if he's gonna lead them to the gallows. But they did know that, okay, this is where God wants me to be. I have what I need. And so what I can choose to do is I can choose to praise God. And it did not just strengthen them. It did not just make their hearts firm. It made the hearts of the prisoners around them firm. We know this because Paul and Silas aren't the only people who ever praised God. In fact, in our era, there's this incredible saint. His name is St. Maximilian Kolbe, who did the exact same thing. St. Maximilian Kolbe was born at the end slash beginning, the end of the 1800s, the beginning of the 1900s. …
Verse 25. But at midnight. Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prisons were shaken and immediately all the doors were open and everyone's chains were loose. And the keeper of the prison awakening from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice saying, do yourself no harm for we are all here. Then he called for a light, ran in and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Amen. So they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and immediately he and all his household were baptized. …