Paul and Silas are beaten, chained, and locked inside a Philippian prison in Acts 16:25–34. Then an earthquake opens every door—but the greatest miracle is that nobody runs.

At midnight, Paul and Silas are praying and singing hymns while the other prisoners listen. Suddenly, the prison foundations shake, the chains fall loose, and every door swings open. The Philippian jailer awakens, sees the open cells, and prepares to take his own life.

Then Paul cries from the darkness:

“Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”

Paul could have escaped—but his freedom would have cost another man his life. So he stays.

In this Acts 16 sermon, Pastor Jim Wilhelm explores the deeper meaning of Paul and Silas in prison, the conversion of the Philippian jailer, and the kind of Christian freedom that refuses to leave somebody else bl ...