<TITLE>05. Par 16-18</TITLE>L-16 Now, think. Over their feet, over their hands and over their neck they were set free, every one of them. Now, instead of that big old heavy Roman prison breaking in on them, it fell away from them, like this. And not only that, but the shackles and things fell off of them. See, that's our God when we hold out faithful. See, we must stay faithful. And as long as we're faithful and--and on, we...
Now, we may not be in that kind of a shape. We--none of us may get... I hope we don't get like that. But we can be faithful in what we've got to--what we have to go through with. Maybe it's a persecution. Maybe it's somebody laughs at you. Maybe it's somebody says, "You're old-time, you're a holy-roller," or--or whatever they might want to call you, or make fun of you, or something. Let's be faithful just the same, because God respects our faithfulness to that, just the same as He was--respect their faithfulness to what they were--they had to go through with.

L-17 And then, all of a sudden when the Roman prisoner--or the centurion must've--must've... The guard at the door, he must have thought that that night when Paul and Silas was talking on the Scripture, he must've learned something. Because he didn't know the men. But he must've knowed some way, or heard their singing, or something, that caused him to know right quick that they were holy men.
Because you see, they--he was a Roman. And they were Jews. And he was a pagan, and they were Christians. But did you notice, as soon as he found out that there was--that the prison had been shook down, and he knowed that he'd have to answer for that sentry...
You remember the time of Elijah? When he had hisself disguised and met King Ahab out there, and said, "I was a sentry and my life, of course, was staked with the man and he got away."
And--and he said, "Well, you'll pay for it then with your life. That's the duty of a sentry." So he unwrapped hisself and said he was Elijah the prophet. And said, "You let the king go, Agag." And he said, "You'll--you'll pay with it with your own life." And he did do it.

L-18 So then, we find out that this Roman centurion, knowing that he would answer with his own life for these, he pulled out his sword as soon as he found they were gone, and started to kill himself, taking his own life, instead of have to go through punishment. Some of those... Maybe set in them same kind of stocks and so forth until he died, so, he thought he would just end it all up, and jerk out his sword, and kill hisself.
But quickly, Paul screamed out when he saw it, and said, "Do yourself no harm, for we're all here." See? And the man realized then that there must've been something taking place before that, that made this man to know that they were Christian men or holy man. Because quickly he fell down at their feet.


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