The Sound of Faith

 

Acts 16:16-40 recounts a series of events that took place while Paul, accompanied by Silas, was on his second missionary journey to the city of Philippi, a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony (see v 11-12).

On the Sabbath, on his way to a place of prayer, Paul exorcised a spirit of divination from a female slave much to the displeasure of her owner who made a great deal of money from her fortune-telling.

The owner dragged the two missionaries into the marketplace before the authorities, brought them before the magistrate, accusing them of disturbing our city and… advocating customs that are not lawful for us, being Romans, to adopt or observe.

Paul and Silas were scourged, then they placed the two in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

Philippi was a bustling city deeply rooted in paganism. Paul and Silas’ mission was no different from the first – spread the gospel of Jesus Christ – but the people of Philippi had hearts that were firmly held in the grip of pagan religions. This was a city littered with temples dedicated to gods and they had come to introduce these pagans to God.

They knew that hearts hardened by years of ritual and idolatry, would be difficult to penetrate but the seed of the gospel must be planted, no matter the condition of the soil. So, there was a challenge to overcome even before the challenge to be overcome presented itself.

Paul and Silas were up for that challenge, they’d already planted many seeds, ploughed the soil of many hearts and been through the crucible of faith-testing but they hadn’t bargained for this jail-cell diversion.

Securely imprisoned in the innermost cell of the prison, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God at midnight, and the prisoners were listening to them in silence, in the darkness. But faith refuses to be silent. Instead of despair, the two sang and the entire jail, in the dead of night, reverberated with the sound of faith.

Then suddenly…God’s specialty!

Suddenly there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. – Acts 16:26 (NRSVUE)

There’s usually a pause before an earthquake strikes – an eerie stillness, like a preface to the shake which often goes unnoticed, but that does not occur where I live; an ominous rumble, like the sound of a heavily-loaded mack truck, is heard, with the noise getting louder and louder immediately before the earth shakes. It still frightens me.

That night, faith passed through the midnight hour, through prison walls and created an unforgettable sound. What sound does your faith make?

The sound of faith is the sound of freedom, not freedom from trials but the freedom of faith that prays and sings praises in the midst of trials.

Faith doesn’t need permission to make a joyful noise to the Lord (Psalm 100:1), and when it does it releases whatever has been held captive.

Faith, like an earthquake, makes a sound that disrupts the norm and rearranges lives by shaking things up.

Singing songs of praise bolsters faith; it is a weapon that shifts the atmosphere and in Acts 16, it shifted the very foundations of the prison.

The sound of faith must be loudest when conditions are at their worst.

With all the cell doors open, and chains fallen, the jailer, terrified of the punishment that would inevitably be his, was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped (v 27), but Paul urged him not to harm himself, assuring him that they hadn’t.

The jailer, completely overwhelmed by this experience, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas and asked them a question that would forever change his life…

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (v 30)

They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (v 31)

And, that very night, Paul and Silas shared the gospel of salvation with the jailer and his household; they all believed then he and his entire family were baptized without delay (v 33).

Beloved, silence is not your calling, you are meant to give faith a voice (read James 2:14-26). Like Paul and Silas, allow your voice to declare your faith, so that, the sound of faith becomes a weapon of warfare and a sign of belief.

Understand that faith is not something you need to search for because it is already inside you, given by God in the perfect measure (see Romans 12:3). Listen out for the sound of faith, feel it welling up from deep within you as you believe.

Midnight was not the end of Paul and Silas’ story and it’s certainly not the end of yours. What began as pain, suffering and imprisonment became a powerful display of God’s power when they remained united in faith.

An innermost cell with no means of escape, birthed belief, proving that even chains and prison walls cannot stop the spread of the gospel.

Hearts already hardened, cannot be won over by force but by gentle persuasion and a demonstration of genuine love for God through the sound of faith.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “The Sound of Faith” © 2026 July 16, 2026