November 8 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

Acts 16:16-34

¹⁶And 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:
¹⁷The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
¹⁸And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.
¹⁹And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,
²⁰And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
²¹And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.
²²And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
²³And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
²⁴Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
²⁵And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
²⁶And 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.
²⁷And 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.
²⁸But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
²⁹Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
³⁰And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
³¹And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
³²And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
³³And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
³⁴And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

Devotional:

Despite the placing of these prisoners in maximum security, they were escaping. The jailor was grasping his sword to take his own life rather than submit to execution for failure to fulfil his duty. But the prisoners assured him that they were not running away, so he must not take his life.

This jailor had seen enough of Paul and Silas to believe that they had something he needed. 'What must I do to be saved?' he asked them. He was given the message that would bring salvation not only for time but for eternity.

He brought Paul and Silas into his home, and he and all in his house listened to the gospel story. 'He was baptized, he and all his household' (16:33). He 'set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household' (16:34 NASB).

This section has been bandied about by Christians. Some assume from it that each member believed, so was entitled to baptism because of his personal faith. Some claim that it sets forth the right of the children of believers to baptism because of the covenant which God had made with Abraham to be a God to His people and to their children.

With no information concerning the ages of the members of the household we would not use this incident by itself to substantiate infant baptism. But it is one of several instances of household baptism. And it is consonant with God's dealing with men through the ages. He has worked in families in the past and He does so today! He includes our families in the covenant. Our young children enjoy the fellowship of God and His larger family. They experience the love and concern as well as the training and discipline of the church.

In the Old Testament, the sign of the covenant was circumcision, and male children were entitled to it. In the New Testament the sign is changed. Now it does not involve the shedding of blood. The Supreme Sacrifice has been made! Now it involves water, which is used in Scripture to typify cleansing by the Holy Spirit. Children of believers today are not less favored by God. They are included in His covenant and have a right to baptism, the outward sign of this inclusion. And now, in keeping with the enlarged privileges of the New Testament era, the covenant sign is one adapted to little girls as well as boys.

The whole family of the Philippian jailor rejoiced! Not only had God spared the father's life, He had provided eternal life for the father and all the household as well.