Paul loved to spread the good news about the Way of Jesus to people and places that had not yet heard about Jesus—the Light of Humanity. (Romans 15:20).

Therefore, after visiting a number of churches in modern-day Turkey, Paul struck out for new territory where there not yet any churches. He went into Macedonia—the northern part of modern-day Greece. (Acts 16:6-11).

Macedonia is famous as the birthplace and kingdom of Alexander the Great. He was arguably the greatest conqueror who ever lived. His military prowess enabled him to rule an empire stretching from Greece and Egypt to the frontiers of India—all before he died at age 33.

At first, all went well with Paul and his traveling companions, Timothy, Luke and Silas. They stayed in “Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia” (Acts 16:12). Their first convert was “a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth (Acts 16:14). After “[t]he Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message,” Paul and his traveling companions stayed at her house (Acts 16:14-15).

Then trouble began. Paul healed a slave girl from a spirit that made her a fortune teller.

Her owners were furious because “she earned a great deal of money for [them] by fortune-telling” (Acts 16:16). “When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities” (Acts 16:19).

Of course, the owners of the slave girl did not tell the magistrates the truth—that they were mad because Paul and Silas helped a girl who they were exploiting. Instead they cloaked their greed and lies behind hypocritical bigotry.

What kinds of hypocritical bigotry? Perverted religion. Perverted patriotism.

The men didn’t even try to defending their indefensible exploitation of this defenseless girl. Instead, they deflected attention from their deplorable exploitation of her. How? By appealing to religious bigotry and patriotic prejudice!

These slaveowners told the magistrates: “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice” (Acts 16:20-21).

These false charges whipped up a violent “crowd who joined in the attack against Paul and Silas” (Acts 16:22). The magistrates were convinced by the lies and intimidated by the mob. They “ordered [Paul and Silas] to be stripped and beaten” (Acts 16:22).

Paul and Silas were given no time to recover from such agony. “After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison . . .” (Acts 16:23). And since “the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks” (Acts 16:23-24).

If this were an action movie, Paul and Silas would now have resorted to violence to overcome this violent injustice caused by greed and lies. To show their might and their power, they would have escaped the chains, killed the jailer, slaughtered the magistrates, and wreaked havoc and revenge on the mob and the city. They would have capped off their night of fun by having sex with the slave girl as she told them their good fortune.

Paul and Silas did not resort to such might and power. Yet they were greater conquerors than Alexander the Great, even though he may have been the greatest military conqueror who ever lived.

Alexander the Great used armies to conquer an empire that only lasted a few years. His empire covered only a small percentage of the world’s surface.

But Paul and Silas used God’s Spirit to light the world forever. As Paul wrote:

[T]hough we live in the world we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world . . . . We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

This power of God’s Spirit manifested itself at midnight—when the powers of darkness and despair were at their height. “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25).

These prisoners must have wondered how Paul and Silas could be singing hymns despite the trauma of their day and the agony of their wounds.

And, as they listened to the prayers and hymns, these prisoners must have realized that the enemies of Paul and Silas were right about one thing. What thing? Paul and Silas did not follow the customs of the Romans!

Paul and Silas did not exploit slave girls for money. Paul and Silas did not heed greed!

Paul and Silas did not seek revenge on their foes. Paul and Silas did not feed violence with lies.

Paul and Silas did not seek an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth. Paul and Silas turned the other cheek! (Matthew 5:38-39).

Instead of following the customs of the Romans, they followed the customs of Jesus.

Paul and Silas followed the Way of Jesus, growing the fruit of the Holy Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Then came that moment that every prisoner dreams of. What moment? A chance to escape from whatever prison of despair he or she finds themself in.

“Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose” (Acts 16:26).

This moment of hope for the prisoners was a moment of despair for their jailer. “[W]hen he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners has escaped” (Acts 16:27).

The other prisoners remained silent. Perhaps out of confusion or apathy. Perhaps out of hatred—glad to see their jailer die.

“But Paul shouted, ‘Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!’” (Acts 16:28).

Despite the trauma of his day and the agony of his wounds, Paul did not suffer from confusion, apathy or hatred. Indeed, despite his personal trauma and agony, Paul turned the other cheek.

How? Paul helped the jailer escape from his prison of despair!

Fortunately, the jailer was already eager to escape from his personal prison of despair. His heart must have been touched by hearing the hymns and prayers of Paul and Silas, lighting the Darkness of the Prison.

The jailer could wait no longer. He was desperate to heal his personal Promised Land. He “called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas” (Acts 16:29).

As soon as the jailer brought Paul and Silas out of their physical prison, the jailer asked them how to escape from his spiritual prison. He “asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’” (Acts 16:30).

Paul and Silas did not waste time with lengthy, complicated explanations. “They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.’” (Acts 16:31). Despite the late hour, Paul and Silas “spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house” (Acts 16:32).

What was the first way that the jailer responded when he heard the word of the Lord? He responded by serving the needs of others. He began following the Way of Jesus by blessing others in the Promised Land.

The jailer took Paul and Silas and “washed their wounds” (Acts 16:33). After this practical expression of becoming a disciple of Jesus, came the symbolic expression of becoming a disciple of Jesus: “immediately he and all his family were baptized” (Acts 16:33).

Now there was time to celebrate! “The jailer brought [Paul and Silas] into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family” (Acts 16:34). This joy of the LORD gave him the strength to escape from his prison of despair.

I hope you and your homes will always be filled with such joy. Not the fleeting, fake “joy” that comes from customs that exploit others to display our might and power. But the lasting, true joy that comes when we escape spiritual prisons of despair by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because—when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ—we find the Promised Land where we worship the LORD in spirit and in truth!

Jesus heals our personal Promised Lands.

Jesus carries us across oceans of despair so that we can find joy by praying and singing hymns no matter how badly our day has gone and no matter how badly we are hurting.

Jesus carries us to the Promised Land where we find joy by “tak[ing] captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

In that Promised Land, we find the joy that comes from saving other people from spiritual prisons of despair.

And, in that Promised Land, we find the joy that comes from lighting the world with the fruit of the Holy Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

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This blog is based on pages 97-100 of my book, Lighting the World.

A note related to this blog is found in my book, Lighting the World.