June 9

When her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas. — Acts 16:19

When the gospel touches men’s pockets it tests their character.

Paul did a noble work for this demented woman, but it unfitted her for being a source of profit to her masters. They stirred up the people against the missionaries. The prison at Philippi was the scene of strange occurrences that night. The missionaries were in the underground dungeon. Their bodies were sore from scourging. Their feet were screwed fast on wooden clamps.

Yet at midnight the other prisoners heard songs in the lower prison. All their sufferings could not stop the joy in the men’s hearts.

The next strange thing was the conversion of the jailer. He cried out and asked what he must do to be saved. Paul told him to believe on the Lord Jesus, and he should be saved. How do we know he was saved? We know it by the change in the man. He was brutal and cruel before. Now we see him become gentle as a woman.