The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 2 — Section 42

of the church, but behind the barred doors of the dungeon I ~:weet are "songs in th~ night" t It is suffering which wrings the very soul of music from the heart; and to the pmyers thus uttered, o. deep Amen echoes in heaven. III. D1VINl!I POWER MADE MANIFEST TO SENSE AND BPIRrr. 1. The w;rthq1mke. ThiH Wrt8 the outwar.-1 auswer to the prayer o.nd song. Hmwen and earth ;ire moved at the prayer of the holy. As it trembled awfully through the prison, openin" .-loors nnrl loosenin_g bnnde, bcnrts also were smitten anrl flew open at the trmch of G':'i,J. 2. The ayitation of the soul. The jnilor wakes, at first to angui~h and despair. The prisoncr8 have escaped; he is a lost man I There is a sudden temptation to snicirl,i, and at the eleventh hour crime is averted and salvation received. "D,, thy,elf no harm: for we are all here I" Those who love allegorical treatment of texts may find matter here, Duty and the will of God are firmer bonds than h:mdcuff, and the stocks. "We are all here" cry the servants of God, with the witness of our word, the pattern of our life, the intercessory prayer of our love. But a new fear, more awful than the former, seizes on the jailor's soul: " What must I do to be saved'?" When it comes to this question in earnest, the soul is ripe for salvation. One such cry brings all the mercy of Heaven down. 3. 'I'he great question. It is not unprep·,red for. He had heard the apostles praying. Doubtless seeds of tmth, dropped into his mind on some former occasion, now germinated and swiftly broke into life. As the earth breaks forth into greenness after a thunderstorm, so was new life born in the man's soul in the midst of the dread earthquake. 4. The great answer. Believe I "'Faith' is all your wisdom," said the sceptical emperor Julian. True I and let us abide by it. Aflhnce in the Holiest and Divinest, for time and for eternity; this and this alone is wisdom. Faith in the ever-blessed One makes blessed. In him we obtain a Divine Friend in the home; a holy domestic order; sweet domestic peace; assured domestic stahility; a portion in the heavenly home, 5. The great decisicm. It is rather implied than expressed; shown by practical results than by words. Faith works in the jailor's heart by love. His thankfulness to Christ is shown by attentions of thoughtful kindness to his servant.s. 'l'he stern keeper of the stocks is transformed by the magic of love into the physician and the host. The jailor has become 11 "prisoner of Jesus Christ." Having washed his now honoured guests from the stains of outward defilement, he receives at their hands the baptism of spiritual purity. The scene closes amidst purest joy, Thus do the darkest places and most repulsive associations become glorified and idealized by the Spirit of the living and loving God. The prison becomes a chapel ; a dread place of judgment ; a school of penitence and faith; a home of love and kindness ; a place of new birth and new life.--J. Vera. 35-40.-Une:z;pected deliverance. I. THE SECRET WORKING OP THE BE.!R'l' UNDER DIVINE POWER. The decision of the maO'istrates to let the apostles cro free is not explained. Paul and Silas had given no acco~nt of themselves. But the c~n,cieuce of the magistrates had been smitten. While his servants suffer in silence, God conducts ~heir affairs. The coincidence must have struck the jailor, and filled his hea.t with Joy. Sore would have been the trial to the jailor's new faith had he receiveJ corum,mcl to throw his now honoured guests into stricter confinement. Such coinciJenccs, although nothing can be demonstrated from them, may nevertheless well convey to the believing heart the sense of an ever-working Divine love. . _II. THE PRO'l'EST OF THE APOSTLES. To slink out of prison at the bidding of the Jailor, as if they were escaped convict.s, was not agreeable to Paul's sense of right. They were Roman citizens. Cicero, in eloquent words, had said thl\t it was a crime to flog a R?man. In this case they had been beaten, imprisoned, thrust into the stocks, treated with every harshness and indignity. Paul stands upon his rights as a Roman citizen: "Let them •.. fetch us out I" Christian meekness requires us to reserve our strength, to su_bdue our an~er, and to prefer the good of another to our own pleasure; but not to conu1ve at injustice and submit to wrong. The Christian ought to maintain bis ~~nour and insist upon his rights, when his reason is not wounde,l self-love, but lDJured sense of right and zeal for God's honour; whem his course is not that of a rude lndopendenco, but that of right and calm self-vindication; and if his object is not the overthrow of the oppressor, but his conviction and improvement. III. THE HONOURABLE DISMISSAL. Alarmed at the attitude of Paul. the magistrates  THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLEa