Burke was guilty of many armed robberies. The police searched for him cautiously, for he was a clever and dangerous criminal who had a special hatred for officers of the law.
But finally their net closed in on Burke, and he was thrown into jail. He took all his hatred and all his cleverness into jail with him. He had no fear of God’s judgment for his sins; his only ambition was to do whatever it took to get out of jail the very quickest way.
But God’s judgment against sin is real and no one can escape it. Even though God knew every thought of his wicked heart and every word of his vile mouth, He still loved Burke, and He sent one of His messengers to bring a newspaper into his cell.
One page reported a sermon preached by D. L. Moody the night before, and the title in big, black letters was, “How the Philippian Jailer Got Caught.”
Good, thought Burke, it was the jailer who got caught this time. Burke at once sat on his bench to read it. But the first sentence said that in order to understand the story he must read it in the Bible from Acts 16:1616And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: (Acts 16:16) to the end of the chapter. He didn’t know that the Bible said anything about a jailer getting caught, and he had no Bible. But when Burke wanted something, he did not sit down and wait for it. He made such a commotion in the jail that the Bible was soon brought to him, and with difficulty he found the place. (You would be wise to follow Burke’s example here. Get a Bible and find the story as he did, only do it more quietly.)
Two men locked in jail. Burke identified with them at once, and anger rose within him when he read of the beatings and the chains and the dungeon, and the jailer who could just go to sleep. Perhaps he liked the sound of groans.
But the two prisoners sang -sang praises to God! How could they? Then came the earthquake which flung open the prison doors, loosed the chains for total escape, and scared the jailer to attempt suicide. When he assumed the prisoners had escaped, he knew he would face the death penalty in the morning.
Then came the voice of one prisoner calling, “Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.”
This was beyond Burke’s understanding.
The jailer recognized that this was power greater than the earthquake. No wonder he trembled and called for a light and came to the inner prison and brought out the two prisoners. Suicide was his answer when he thought the prisoners had escaped, but he had no answer to this except to cry out, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
The answer was immediate. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
The Philippian jailer had been caught by earthquake and fear, but he was immediately set free by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, a faith which included his household too, and they were all baptized before morning. Nobody told that cruel jailer to show kindness to his prisoners, but the new life within him soon showed itself. The two prisoners were taken into his home and washed and fed by loving hands before the magistrates came in the morning to deal with the problem.
This was not like any crime story Burke had ever heard of, and he followed it right to the end. He found himself in need of salvation just as the jailer was, and he claimed the same promise, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” It is not just Jesus who lived long ago, but the Lord Jesus Christ who is alive today in heaven and in love offers you the very same salvation that the Philippian jailer and Burke both claimed as their very own.
Will you believe Him also, and claim His eternal salvation for your very own?
ML-10/02/1994