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[0:00] Let us turn now to consider words you will find in the portion we read in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 16, reading at verse 27.

[0:30] Acts 16, verse 27. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, threw out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing the prisoner had been fled.

[0:46] But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sir, what must I do to be saved?

[1:03] And they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.

[1:13] And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. Amen. It was in the course of the second missionary journey undertaken by Paul, that the gospel came across the seas to Europe.

[1:47] It came to Philippi, which, as we saw a fortnight ago, was colonized mainly by Italians.

[1:59] And it has been said that it is doubtful of any journey was undertaken in the history of mankind that was to have such far-reaching consequences as this journey undertaken by Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke, from Troas to Philippi, from Asia Minor to Europe.

[2:24] And the story that has been said is so simply told that we might fail to recognize that in that voyage was the making of Europe.

[2:36] In Philippi, three people in particular came under the influence of the gospel. The coup, at least, saving clean. Lydia, the slave girl fortune teller, and the jailer in the prison.

[2:57] And they formed the basis of the congregation that sprang up there, and a congregation that has become known for the depth and the fervor of its Christian love.

[3:11] But while they were there, and because of the hatred of the opposition, those who were opposed to the Christian faith that was preached by Paul and Silas, they were thrown into prison and left in the charge of this prison officer or jailer.

[3:35] And there, of course, their paths crossed with momentous consequences, particularly for this jailer.

[3:45] And it was to the spiritual condition in which he found himself quite suddenly that we turn to consider something of the lessons that we can derive from it here tonight.

[4:04] The conversion of the Philippian jailer. He sprang into the inner prison we'd here, and he cried to Paul, what must I do to be saved?

[4:21] And that question has been regarded as the most important question that has ever escaped the lips of an individual.

[4:32] Paul, it is a solemn inquiry, a very weighty inquiry, because it comes from a heart which has been deeply moved.

[4:48] His whole being has been stirred. And it is, as it were, out of that awful turmoil of mind and heart that this cry comes.

[5:05] And consequently, it ought to engage our interest and to have our attention. Because I think that you would agree that any question, any other question that you and I may care to ask, pales into insignificance when you compare it with this particular question.

[5:33] Because the Bible makes it quite clear that the most profound issue that confronts each one of us here tonight is the issue of salvation.

[5:49] Whatever our conception of it may be, whatever our awareness of our own need of it may be, that doesn't alter the fact that the most important question that you and I could ask tonight is this one.

[6:06] What must I do to be saved? And in trying to answer it, let us home in on this man here, and consider him as he is brought before us in the Scriptures, as a sinner, from three particular angles.

[6:26] A careless sinner, a convicted sinner, and a converted sinner. And then we will look at the means that God employed for his conversion.

[6:43] And see that that is always the means that God uses, because no one is ever converted but through the same means.

[6:55] however they may be brought to recognize their need of conversion. They are all brought to an awareness of it by the same means.

[7:07] And then finally we look at the evidences that this man produced that he was genuinely a converted individual. first of all then, this man brought before us as a careless sinner.

[7:25] We know the circumstances. While Paul and Silas prayed there at midnight and sang praises to God, suddenly there was a great earthquake. And the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bands were loosed.

[7:40] And the keeper of the prison was asleep at this time. Now, I think that this is written in to bring before us the fact that he ought not to have been asleep. These men had been committed to his charge.

[7:53] And he was going to discharge his duties correctly and honorably. he ought to have been looking after them. But he wasn't. He, as we would put it today, he fell down on the job.

[8:07] And he slept. But he wakened out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open he threw out his sword and would have killed himself. Supposing that the prisoner had been fled.

[8:20] Now it is said that no man in those days would have occupied this position unless he was some kind of a rough character. It wasn't the man who could produce the best references who would end up with this kind of job in Paul's day.

[8:37] Today, yes. To be a prison officer is a very responsible position today. And men like that aren't given these positions without the greatest and the closest scrutiny being addressed to their application.

[8:59] And I assume that anyone who would apply for this post today would have to produce the best references that he could lay his hands on. Not so in those days.

[9:12] The men who were entrusted with the responsibility of looking after what were very often the dregs of society were themselves pretty rough customers and tough at that.

[9:25] And all this what this man did is highlighted is I think it brings it out that when they were thrusted when they were given over to him the we read here verse 24 that when he received the charge look after them he thrust them into their possessor very that word itself indicates rough handling thrust them it wasn't just a case of leading them into their cells such as they were it was a case of actually pushing them into the cells that whatever consequence to themselves that didn't matter to him he didn't care very much about them and he made their feet fast in the stocks he saw to it that they were securely tied and that in itself doesn't give us too much insight into how careless and individual he was what tells us something of this man's character was the course of action that he tried to adopt when he woke in terror out of his sleep and discovered that the prison doors were open and the thought crossed his mind that the prisoners had all escaped now he had good reasons to think this the prison doors were opened and every man's bands or irons were loose the chains that bound them had been broken by the ferocity of the earthquake and you can imagine how terror stricken this man was they tell us those of us who have had experiences of earthquakes perhaps some of you here tonight have had experiences such of these in other parts of the world they say that though they last for only seconds that they strike terror into your very bones and though they may last only for seconds seemingly that time can it can seem very long for those who are caught up in that kind of catastrophe now understandably this man woke up in terror and you know what it is like when you're waking up all of a sudden especially if you're waking up gripped by fear you know the kind of things that you think there is no you're not rational at all in your thinking and this man thinking that the prisoners had escaped threw out a sword to commit suicide supposing that they had escaped now the interesting about this is that it wasn't fear of death that made him think of this actually it was the opposite it was fear of life it was fear of what would happen to him if he continued to live and it was discovered that those who were committed to his charge had escaped he was afraid of the consequence for himself he was afraid of the Roman authorities because not only would he have lost his job he might very well have lost his life so rather than leave it in the hands of others to take away his life he decided to make matters into his own hands and that gives us the uninsight into the carelessness of this man his seeming reckless abandon with which he viewed himself and the life that he lived eternity didn't matter to this man all that mattered to him was the present and it was the circumstances governing the present that demanded or that dictated to him the course of action that he was to take now I suggest to you that the majority of people are like this

[13:20] I'm not suggesting that the circumstances which they find themselves dictate that they take matters in their own hands to this awful extent but the careless sinner is a person who lives only for the present a person who is taken up only with the things of time today or perhaps even tomorrow and the things in life that govern the 24 hours of today or tomorrow or the holidays that he hopes to have in a week or two time nothing matters to him but the present eternal realities seldom break in upon that person's repose and if they do as happened in this case and I shall look at more particularly now if eternal realities do break in they break in to disturb his peace and his tranquility and that's exactly what happened to this man because from being a careless sinner in the twinkling of an eye he crossed the barrier into that realm in which he became a convicted sinner he was going to take his own life when Paul cried to him don't do it don't do it don't harm yourself we are all here and in that moment this man sprang in with a light and came trembling to the feet of

[14:51] Paul and Silas with this tremendous question what must I do to be saved now this happened as I said in the twinkling of an eye he was a man who before this had been taken up with apathy with careless indifference and from that moment from that he turned over to become a concerned sinner all of a sudden we are not told why he became a concerned sinner there are some people tell us that it was because of the witness of Paul and Silas he heard them singing psalms at midnight he saw them and he heard them praying while he was asleep so he might not have heard them singing psalms or praying others say that it was because he saw them that they were men of great peace and tranquillity people who were in prison and yet had this wonderful aura of resignation to their circumstances and it was the witness of their lives that confronted this man and was blessed to this man well we are not told that is mere conjecture and reading into the bible what is not in the bible we are simply not told why or what brought about the change from being a careless sinner to being a convicted sinner you see there were two things here there were the supernatural events of the night the earthquake and then there was this spiritual upheaval in his own life there was a supernatural upheaval out with him in the prison but there was also a spiritual upheaval in his own life and it happened right out of the blue one moment the matter that concerned him was his own life and he couldn't bear to live so he took it away the next moment the thing that concerns him is eternal realities my my own sins in the presence of god my own accountability to god before that he couldn't care less he never thought of that he was so careless he was prepared to enter eternity without giving a moment's thought to the fact that he would stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

[17:28] And all of a sudden, that thought grips him. And he cries, what can I do to be saved?

[17:44] And you know, there may be some people here tonight who don't know why there seems to be some kind of spiritual upheaval in their own lives.

[18:01] They don't know what brought it about, but it's there. They don't know why things should have changed like this, but the change has come. They don't know why all of a sudden they seem to be concerned about sin and salvation, about life and death, time and eternity, the Bible and the church, prayer and God's people, the past and the present, foreboding about the future.

[18:32] These things have all of a sudden invaded their hearts and their minds. And they don't know why. And they don't know how.

[18:44] But all they know is this, like this man. They need something that they don't have. And so he cried out, what must I do to be saved?

[18:56] This was a tremendous transformation. In the twinkling of an eye. And we're not, as I said already, it wasn't the earthquake that caused it.

[19:06] It wasn't the apparent escape, albeit unfounded fear, of the escape of the prisoners that caused it. It wasn't the psalms or the prayers that caused it.

[19:19] We're not told, but just that it happened. And I believe that that's a case in every conversion. It is God who brings conviction to the life of the individual.

[19:32] God can use means, I know. But God can also work without means. God isn't tied to any particular means. To bring about in your life a change from carelessness to conviction.

[19:47] A change from indifference and apathy to spiritual concern. A change from a sort of a couldn't care less attitude. To one in which you're beginning to care.

[19:57] And not before time. And you're beginning to care about this momentous question. What must I do to be saved? You're convinced now of your need.

[20:10] Whatever it was that brought the conviction into your life. It's there. And you can't get rid of it. And so with this concern he came here, we read.

[20:24] Trembling to the feet of Paul. This reckless individual. Changed to a concerned and anxious soul.

[20:39] And as I said, it was dramatic. Now, this question that he asked, what shall I do to be saved? Is a question that we have to look at most closely.

[20:54] And I must say myself that there are elements in this question that I find terribly difficult to explain to people. I'm sure I find it difficult to explain to you adequately.

[21:09] What was at the heart of this man's concern? What is he looking for? What does it mean to say, what shall I do to be saved? This strongly biblical word that we use so often and perhaps understand so little of.

[21:25] What must I do to be saved? Well, there are two things to be said about it. This man wanted deliverance from something. And he wanted to be brought into something else.

[21:39] Or I may put it like this. Salvation is to be thought of in these terms. As release or deliverance from a condition. And the power to be brought into another condition.

[21:51] I often wonder what people's conception of salvation is. What is your conception of salvation?

[22:02] What do you understand by that term? What must I do to be saved? What's at the heart of that question? Well, I think that this man was overcome with a sense of his own guilt and a sense of his own sin.

[22:18] He needed deliverance from this sin. Perhaps, as we know, he was certainly afraid of being detected because he had fallen down on the job.

[22:29] And there's that element in sin as well. There is always the fear of detection. You see this in criminal activity. You see it in vandalism and in juvenile delinquency.

[22:40] People get up to things that they have no right to be doing. And they do a thing and the immediate reaction when they've done what they shouldn't have done is, get out of here, get out of here quick. Escape detection.

[22:51] There's that at the heart of sin, you know. You do want to be found out that you're doing this particular thing.

[23:05] And this man linked his condition with his sin. What can I do to be saved? I am a sinner and I need to be saved from sin.

[23:16] And that involves something else. He had the foggiest idea of what to do. He didn't even know who to deal with. He came with the inquiry to these men. What can I do? He didn't pray to God.

[23:28] He came to them. And I've no doubt that though the text of Paul's address is the only it has given to us. I've no doubt that Paul explained to this man fully what he had to do to be saved.

[23:43] To be in an unsaved state is to be without a true knowledge of God. Without love for God. Without respect for God.

[23:54] Without submission of will and heart and life to God. It is to be without loyalty to God. It is to have no pleasure whatsoever in God.

[24:09] It is to have no desire after the things of God. That's to be in an unsaved state. All these things are true of the unsaved. It is to be cut off from him.

[24:21] From his favour and from his fellowship. To be alienated from the fellowship of those who love him. The unsaved is no one of the church of Jesus Christ. By that I mean he is not a member of the saved community.

[24:36] Worldwide. Those who love and respect and who honour the Lord Jesus Christ. To be unsaved is to be exposed to wrath. To be on the road to hell.

[24:48] That's to be unsaved. To be exposed to the wrath of God. To have no recovery. To have no feeling for God. And this man needed to be saved from that state.

[25:08] From that state. And he wanted to be brought into a state in which he would know the favour and the fellowship and the love of God.

[25:20] Into a condition in which he would know the forgiveness of sins. And the presence of God. And the power of God. He needed that.

[25:32] And notice this about him. These convictions that he had of his need. Brought him to the right place. He brought, it brought, these things brought him to people who could explain the position to him.

[25:49] He was not estranged by his convictions that some people are. And this is important. I don't think that every convicted sinner in stormy tonight is in a church. There are some convicted sinners in stormy tonight who are elsewhere trying to drown their convictions.

[26:06] Trying to get rid of their convictions. And the last place on earth that they would think of coming to would be a church. Because they want to get rid of these things. There's a classic example of a man in scripture.

[26:18] We'll deal with him later on in our studies and acts. A man who was shaken to his very foundations by the preaching of the gospel in his presence. Felix. Do you know what he did?

[26:28] He sent Paul away. And he said to him, I'll call for you when I have a convenient season. There's a classic example of a man in the conviction who doesn't want his convictions to come to anything.

[26:40] So what does he do? Well, he makes do without the gospel. He makes do without it. He doesn't want it. And that's why, as I said, there are plenty of people out in these streets tonight.

[26:52] Roaming the streets. And frequenting other places. Just because they don't want their convictions to come to fruition. Cowards, in other words. But this man.

[27:04] He had left his cowardice behind. He was a coward. A few minutes before this. Sleeping the sleep of the coward. But now he's awakened to a sense of his need.

[27:17] He needs to be saved. Now what does he do? What does he do with his conviction? He comes with it to the right place. Some of you are like that. We were all like that.

[27:28] Those of us who are here tonight as converted sinners. What did we do when the Lord convicted us of our sin? We came to the only place where we could get relief. As sinners.

[27:39] To the gospel of his grace. And I know that there are people. Just as there are people out in these streets tonight with convictions who are trying to get rid of them. And therefore they won't come to church.

[27:51] And they become the sworn enemies of the church. Just because they are convicted of the truth of the gospel. And they hide like cowards behind their great barricades.

[28:03] Convictions. They have no conviction. So they say about the truth. About the gospel. And that in itself is a lie. It is because they have conviction that they are hiding behind their barricades.

[28:14] And they refuse to come out. To the only place in which their convictions can be adequately dealt with. But this man. He came out from his hiding place.

[28:28] He cried to them as he trembled at their feet. Broken because he was a sinner. Exposed because he was a sinner. Empty and hell deserving as a sinner.

[28:42] Having been saved by Paul from hell a minute before. Now he cries to them. What can I do? To be saved into the fellowship and the favor of God.

[28:57] You see there are other people here tonight. They are not on the streets of Stornoway. Trying to get rid of their convictions. They are in this church and there are other churches. Desperately looking for something that will meet their needs.

[29:12] Has your life been thus altered by the spirit of God and the power of God to that extent? Are you now the kind of person who is coming to church. In a way that you never came to church before.

[29:23] Are you now reading the Bible perhaps on your own afraid that someone may see you. But you are searching desperately through these pages. For relief. For your soul concern and for your emptiness of heart and life.

[29:39] Are you assembling with people who are praying and perhaps praying on your own. Crying like this. What can I do to be saved? Are you here maybe tonight hoping against hope that this will be the night.

[29:52] In which the Lord will speak to your heart in the gospel of his grace. You see my friend. You are here because you are convicted of your need. That has brought you to this place.

[30:04] With an open heart and an open ear. An open mouth. Forsting for the gospel. Seeking, searching. You see. There is proof.

[30:16] That the conviction that you have is a true one. Born in your heart by the spirit of the living God. And directed. By him.

[30:27] To that place. Where you can have the blessing. Of salvation. In Christ. This is the thing about this careless man who became a convicted man.

[30:39] He came with his conviction to the right place. And in that place. Thirdly. He received. What he was looking for. Paul answered and said.

[30:50] Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou shalt be saved. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord. And to all. That were in. His house. Now then.

[31:03] As I said earlier. Never mind about the means that were employed. To awaken this man to his need. If we had a testimony meeting here tonight.

[31:14] And let's say that there were three or four hundred Christians. Blessing this church. And they all stood up. In a matter of two or three minutes. Gave their testimony. I assure you of this. You'd be astounded at how different.

[31:26] Everyone's testimony would be. You see God deals differently with people. There are some people here tonight. Who can trace back the beginnings of their spiritual history.

[31:38] Perhaps to a newness in their own life. A newness in someone else's life. Perhaps some family problem or trouble. That brought them to the Lord.

[31:50] People can look back. And they can trace their spiritual convictions. To their childhood. Sermons that they heard here. Thirty, forty years ago. Perhaps others can trace their spiritual convictions.

[32:01] To their mother's need. And what she told them. About the Lord. You see. God uses so very many different means. But notice this. He brings every single individual.

[32:13] To this one spot. Or to this one place. Where. With a sense of need. You apply yourself. To the truth that brings Jesus before you.

[32:25] Paul worried here. Paul. Paul spake unto him the word of the Lord. And to all that were in his house. And the application of that word to his heart was this. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[32:37] And thou shalt be saved. And I say this to you. You will never be saved in any other way. Unless you submit yourself to the claims of Christ in his own word.

[32:48] Now notice this. The word. The word of the Lord. Brings the Lord Jesus Christ before you. You know.

[32:58] If you read Psalm 45. You get a picture of this. You get a picture of us. It was in a day. Who was that famous. I can't remember him now. He escaped my memory.

[33:08] The famous man who preached that sermon in Aberdeen. Well over a hundred years ago. And Christ. Preaching and marching in the chariot of the gospel. You see.

[33:18] This is a picture that you have in Isaiah 45. In Psalm 45. There's the chariot. And the king is sitting in the chariot. And the Bible is like that. The Bible is a chariot. And sitting in it.

[33:30] Is the Lord Jesus Christ. And every time the gospel is preached. It's as though the chariot were marching through your heart. And this king who sits in it.

[33:43] Is speaking to you. Or the gospel. Through him. Is speaking to you. He's standing at the door of your heart. And he's saying this to you. Every single time.

[33:56] And I'm sure that there are some people. You're talking to us. And you are. Here we go again. Here we go again. What I've been hearing since a time I can remember. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[34:08] And thou shalt be saved. Oh well my friend. There's nothing else. There's no other message in this gospel for you. That brings salvation to you but this.

[34:20] No other means. No other way. No other name. But the name of Jesus. And there's nothing else that you have to do. But to submit in faith to his claims.

[34:32] And notice what he says. What must I do? What must I do? Oh if Paul had said to him. I'll tell you what to do. You get up on your feet. And go around this prison house. And close all these doors. You grab all these chains and tie them again.

[34:46] So that all the prisoners are secure. And make sure that this prison is secure. And you'll be saved. That would have been a pretty easy thing to do. But that wasn't the way of salvation.

[34:58] The way of salvation was in another way. He had to deal now with the Lord. So he's directed to the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ.

[35:08] As the object of faith. You see. I can't say to you believe. Unless I tell you who you are to believe in. Believe in. And this is the great thing about the gospel.

[35:22] This is where the emphasis lies. On the object of our faith. Who is this in the chariot? Who art thou Lord? Said Saul of Tarshish. In the throes of conversion.

[35:33] The Lord Jesus Christ. What's the significance of these terms? Just this. This is what the gospel is all about. It sums up the whole of the Christian doctrine.

[35:44] But the person of Christ. As the object of our faith. Jesus. Born into this world to be a saviour. Christ.

[35:55] Sent by God into this world to be a saviour. The Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Exercising as our redeemer today. His offices as prophet, priest and king.

[36:10] And I come to him that he may tell me what I need as my prophet. I come to him that he may save me as my priest. I come to him that he may protect me and lead me.

[36:24] Deliver me. As my king. You see. This is it. Salvation is giving myself to another.

[36:35] Committing my way to another. Believe. And thou shalt be saved. Trust. Look. Go to him. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

[36:52] It is to make all that I know. About this historical Jesus. My own. It is to look away from myself and my sins to another.

[37:05] I can't save myself. Neither can you. These convictions that you've got. You've tried. You've wrestled with them. You've tried this, that, the next thing. And you've failed.

[37:16] What do you do with them? You come to him with them. It was he after all. It was he who awakened you to a sense of your need. And to a sense of your danger.

[37:29] And to a knowledge of your emptiness. So you come to him. You see it's the application of the truth. As Lydia did exactly the same thing. She applied herself to the things that were spoken by Paul.

[37:40] You must do the same. You must give yourself to this person who claims your life and your interest and your all. And as he passes by in the chariot of the gospel again he stands at the door and knocks.

[37:56] And he says, If any man will open unto me I will come in with him and sup with him. And he with me. It is abandoning yourself to another.

[38:09] As I said a minute ago. It is to make the historical Christ my own. It is to return to the captain of this salvation.

[38:24] I think it was Bishop Beveridge who used this illustration of it once. He said this as, I think he says of, in terms of, like this in terms of a ship on the point of going down.

[38:37] And left on board after the others have escaped, jumped in the lifeboat, the skipper, the captain and one other, one passenger. And only one can be saved.

[38:50] And the skipper, he says to him, you go. And so he jumps in. He's saved. And the captain goes down with the ship.

[39:01] And in half the years, he says, I look back on that act of salvation of being saved. And I think with great gratitude of the one who saved me.

[39:13] Though I think at the same time with a sense of sorrow at what it cost him to save me. And this is the way it is with our salvation, except to say this.

[39:28] Jesus died for us. He went down, as it were, into our place. He stood in our place. And he died our death.

[39:39] He went, he tasted death for every man. He died for us that we might live. And we who are saved tonight remember with gratitude.

[39:50] The one who saved us. The extent to which he went to save us. And the place to which he went that we might be delivered.

[40:01] You see, my friend, you can't manage with your own sins. You're exposed to the wrath of God. You fail to deal with them.

[40:12] You can't forgive your own sins. You can't rid them from your own life. You can't erase them. From the record.

[40:25] The record is there and stands against you. And you carry with it your own experience of that sin to this very night. And the only one who can deliver you, the only one who can help, is the Lord Jesus Christ.

[40:44] And this, as you know, is what the truth is all about. He preached unto them and he spoke unto them the word of the Lord. He commended unto them the Lord Jesus as a Savior.

[40:57] And he exhorted them to believe in him. What happened? Well, what happens in every case of conversion?

[41:09] The man did what he was told. It's as simple as that. He did what he was told. He took them that same hour of washed their stripes and was baptized he and all his.

[41:24] Straight away. Now, just as I close with these few remarks, let me say this to you. You know that salvation is going to affect not only yourself but all who are connected with you.

[41:41] Have you ever noticed that in the Bible? Have you ever noticed that? And, you know, I think that we ought to lay this emphasis.

[41:52] And I know myself that has been laid here for many a year in this congregation. And thankfully many other congregations. The way in which salvation affects families.

[42:05] Families. You see what Paul did to this man. Now, I won't keep you long when I speak on this. But I think this is important. And I would like you to take it with you. You see, when this man came to Paul with a question.

[42:22] And Paul began to speak to him. Do you know what happened? Now, I don't know. It's possible to think of it in terms of, you know, some of our... Institutions today have family flats in them.

[42:33] There's an area of that home which is set apart for the family. Some of whose members are looking after the people in the home. Well, it may have been similar like that in politics.

[42:45] Who knows? We're not the most advanced age that this world has known. There were very many advanced ages. So, this man's family was near at hand.

[42:58] And they were gathered together so that Paul preached the word to him and to all that were in his house. You see, he brought his house with him to the gospel.

[43:10] Have you ever noticed that? Whenever a person becomes convicted about the truth, It's not just that he comes himself, but he brings others with him.

[43:23] He brings his family with him. I know that it isn't easy in some cases. But I would say this to you, exhort you.

[43:37] Even if you are here tonight without your family, Recognize the difficulty that you have in bringing them. You, my friend, persevere in trying to bring them to the sound of the gospel.

[43:51] If you can't, you bring the gospel to them. So the least you can do. The family gathered under the word and Paul preached them.

[44:08] And this man believed and his household. They all believed what was spoken by Paul. He hungered for the truth himself, but he brought others to the truth.

[44:22] He decided to know salvation for himself, but he decided for others. Are you like that? Are you here tonight looking for something? Searching for God? For yourself?

[44:33] Perhaps you are afraid to tell anyone that you are looking for him. But I will tell you something else that you have got. You have got a desire in your heart that not only would you get him, but that others would get him with you.

[44:45] That your loved ones would come to the same desire as yourself. Perhaps you are praying for them as you are sitting, Listen to me just now. Praying that the Lord would bless what is being said, not only to yourself, but to those who are with you.

[45:00] That is another evidence of conviction leading to conversion. Desire not only for yourself, but for others. And then, the gospel influencing him and influencing the family, and they all, they were all involved in this.

[45:14] He took them the same out, and he washed the stripes. And he was baptized, he and all his straight. When he had brought them into this house, he set meat before them and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

[45:29] You see, look at that. He was a man who was transformed. His family, his whole house transformed. His whole house involved in serving those who loved the Lord Jesus Christ themselves.

[45:44] This is a wonderful picture of a Christian home, influenced by the truth of God, blessed to them by the Holy Spirit, saved by his power, involved in service to the living God.

[46:00] Are you like that? Is this not the way that you would like to see your home, and everyone connected with? Wouldn't it be wonderful tonight, in Stornoway, if every father and every mother, every son and every daughter, were engaged in serving the Lord Jesus Christ?

[46:19] Wouldn't that be wonderful? Is that not the idea that you and I ought to have before our mind? Do you not think that that would be far more conducive to the prosperity of Stornoway than fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, who are bent on the destruction of the Christian faith?

[46:40] I challenge you, my friend, where would you like to be? What home would you like to have? What kind of father would you like to be your mother? What kind of son or daughter?

[46:52] Are you serving the living God? In whatever capacity you may serve, and there's plenty of work that the Lord will find for you to do.

[47:04] If you're converted, this is what you'll want to do. You'll want to work. You'll want to do something. You know, see what this man progressed towards? Sir, what must I do to be saved?

[47:17] And then when he was saved, you can almost hear him asking, what can I do to help you? What can I do for you? That's grace. That's faith.

[47:30] Working by love. Are you going to come and associate yourself with those who thus serve the Lord?

[47:45] May I end with these questions. Are you here tonight? A convicted sinner, looking for conversion, knowing that salvation is only through faith in Jesus Christ.

[47:59] My friend, give yourself to him. There's no other way in which you can be saved. And then you leave this place and go on.

[48:11] And before you leave it, you serve him and bring as many as God has given to you in this life into that service with you. And your home will never be happier, never more blessed than when you are knit together in the bonds of his love, seeking to do for him whatsoever your hand findeth to do.

[48:42] Will you come and begin that life even now? Let us pray. Amen. Amen. O Lord, we thank thee for thy spirit, for the spirit who is able to apply the truth with meaning and with conviction to our hearts.

[49:09] May the word of thy grace bring forth fruit in our lives to the glory of thy name and the praise shall be thine in Christ forever. Amen.

[49:21] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[49:31] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[49:41]  Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.emeMan. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.