The Mississippi enterprise. (Jackson, Miss.) 1938-current, 1960-01-23

given him to keep the prison.
ers safely. In this case the life
OF the jailer would have to
go for that of his prisoners;
his solution to the problem
was to take his own life before
the higher authorities could
take it.
CONVERSION OF THE
| PHILIPPIAN JAILER: But
Paul cried with a loud voice,
saying. Do thyself no harm:
for we are all here" - Paul
was aware of the jailer's at
tempt to take his own life and
without any malice toward
him for the way he had treat
ed them earlier, tried to stop
him. "And he called for a
light, and sprang in, and came
trembling, and fell down be
fore Paul and SilaS' The
keeper of the prison had two
good reasons to tremble and
be upset. He had been awak-
ened out of his sleep by ter
rifle JOLT and crash caused by
the earthquake. Then he dis
covered that his prison had
been opened, making it pos
sible for his prisoners to es-
cape, and that would possibly
cause him to loose his own
life. "And brought them out
and said, Sirs, what do l do to
be saved" Now that these
men had saved him from TAX
ing his own life, what answer
did they have for him to pre-
vent his life from being taken
by the authorities? Paul took
advantage of this situation and
preached to the jailer how
he could be saved spiritually,
and that would be the supreme
salvation, the remedy offered
was faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. "And they said be-
lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved, and
thy house" - To be saved
from eternal damnation was
more important than being de
livered out of the hands of his
superiors.
And they spake unto him
the word of the Lord, and to
all that were in his house,
If the whole house was to bC
saved everyone had to heal
the gospel. So Paul and Silas
explained the gospel to every
one there.
"And he took them the same
hour of the night, and washed
their stripes; and was baptized
he and all his straightway"-
AS an act of penance the jaileI
treated the whip wounds that
had been made upon the apos.
ties. There ought to be genu-
inc signs of real repentance
if one accepts the faith.
THE JAILER'S HOSPITAL
ITY:
'And when he had brought
them into his house, he set
meat before them, and re-
joiced, believing in God with
all his house" - John the Bap-
fist preached that converted
persons should bring forth
fruit meet for repentance
that is do something that is
worthy evidence that the con-
vert has really repented. The
jailer did this by expressing
profound hospitality. He first
treated the wounds that the
apostles had received from be-
ing flogged, and then he set
them down to meal and Serv-
ed them. Thus it was that
men who a few hours ago were
his prisoners were now his
honored guests and he who
was formerly a pagan had be-
come their brother in Christ.
PRACTICAL POINTS ON
THE LESSON:
Paul had only one thing to
offer during his missionary
journeys. This one thing was
the gospel. He said that he
was not ashamed of it for it
was the power of God unto
salvation, to all who believed.
Every believer must have
faith, believe and obey the
gospel. Acceptance of the
gospel brings about changed
lives. We do not know when
the opportunity will come to
preach Christ, but we must al
ways be ready to give an ac-
count of our stewardship.