Acts 16.16-34

This Sunday I will be preaching from Acts 16.16-34. This is an awesome exchange of events. There was a young slave-girl who was a fortune teller. When Paul cast the demon out of her (v 18), her owners became infuriated. She was not profitable any longer. So they had Paul and Silas thrown into prison and beaten. During the night there was a huge earthquake and all of the prison doors were opened and the shackles fell off. Just when the warden was going to kill himself Paul cried out and said: "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." (v 28) The warden then brought Paul and Silas outside and said: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (v 30) They then went on to tell him the story of Jesus Christ and baptized him and his entire household.
We have been going through the book of Acts since Easter and over and over again we see where the early church told the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now we come to a place where that story is told by criminals. Paul and Silas are put in jail because they have set a slave-girl free from the oppression of a demon ----- and from the oppression of business men that had taken advantage of her. They are thrown into jail because of this action. While in prison they are confronted with a man that truly wants to know how he can be saved. He was just about to slit his throat because of the prison break ----- and now he wants to be saved. I am assuming he wants to be saved from the Roman authorities that are going to have his head because of the prison break. I am not exactly sure what I would say if I was in Paul's shoes. After getting into the story, I think I would say something like: "Come with us and let us run from the authorities." But that is not what Paul does. What would you all do in the same situation?