Paul and Silas Escape

Saturday, November 14, 2015
Acts 16:25-40 KJV

25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard 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 every one's bands were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed [their] stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. 34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. 35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go. 36 And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. 37 But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast [us] into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. 38 And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans. 39 And they came and besought them, and brought [them] out, and desired [them] to depart out of the city. 40 And they went out of the prison, and entered into [the house of] Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did Paul and Silas do at midnight and what phenomenal things happened afterward? (v.25-26)
2) How did the keeper of the prison respond when he discovered that Paul and Silas were gone and what did the Apostle Paul say to him? (v.27-28)
3) What did the jailer do and ask the two servants of the Lord? What was their response to him? (v.29-32)
4) What did the jailer do next? (v.33-34)
5) What happened the next day? (v.35-40)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) Have you ever been miraculously delivered from an addiction, spiritual bondage, etc.? If so, briefly described what happened.
7) How do you typically respond when facing trials?

LIFE LESSONS
8) After the Lord has delivered us from our sins, it is His will that we share our testimonies of deliverance with others who need to know Him.
9) The people of the world have no hope during times of trouble. But, the people of God can place their hope in the Lord Jesus to deliver us during trying times.
10) Praising God during a test or trial will often secure our deliverance from that which concerns us.