October 5, 2025

God called Paul to preach the gospel to the people in Philippi (which sounds like “Fill up pie!” and rhymes with “Silly Tie”). There Paul preached Jesus, and by God’s power Lydia came to faith: “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention” (Acts 16:14). She was so excited by the gospel that she believed, was baptized, and invited the apostles to her house.

But God didn’t just rescue wealthy women. While they were in Philippi, a slave girl with demonic powers (who knew things others didn’t) was also rescued. After days of following Paul and crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation” (16:17), Paul cast out her demon: “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her” (16:18). The demon immediately left her, which was great for her, but bad for her owners. She no longer made them lots of money with her demonic powers. “No demon, no money, no good,” her slave masters thought. They were so mad that they had Paul and Silas captured, stripped, beaten, and thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they wouldn’t escape, so he put them in the middle cell and chained their feet between heavy blocks of wood. They were cold (without clothing), injured (from the beatings), and likely scared (it was dark). So what did they do? Lose hope? No! They prayed and sang psalms. Wow! (This is something you can do if you’re ever feeling alone or scared.) Then around midnight, as their prayers and songs filled the prison, “suddenly there was a great earthquake,” and “the foundations of the prison were shaken” (16:26). As the floor started to crack, the cell doors opened and the chains snapped. All the prisoners were freed! Double wow!

When the jailer saw this, he drew his sword. He was going to kill himself because he figured the warden would kill him when the prisoners escaped. Paul cried out just in time, “No, don’t! We’re all here.” The jailer rushed to see. Sure enough, Paul and the others were there. The man trembled with fear (because he now knew how powerful Paul’s God was). He fell before Paul and asked, “What must I do to be saved?” (16:30). Paul said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your whole family” (see 16:31). Sure enough, he and his family believed and were baptized. Triple wow! Everyone rejoiced in God’s remarkable rescue.