Paul's Second Missionary Journey, continued

["Click here for scripure"]

Selection of Timothy

["Click here for Acts 16:1-5"]

Chapter 16, verses 1 thru 5, bring a young man by the name of Timothy into the picture. Here is one of those decisions that Paul made that seemed contrary to what he preached. We will see many of these as we go along and can only be explained by the words of Paul in which he admitted that he did not always do what he felt, but always what he considered would best further the work of Christ.

Here Paul takes Timothy under his wing. Paul became acquainted with Timothy on his first missionary journey. Here, after meeting up again with him, decides to tutor him for the ministry. Timothy's mother was a Jew and his father was a Greek. He had accepted Christ and had been baptized and was well spoken of by the Brothern at Lystra and Iconium.

Timothy's mother's name was Eunice and his grandmother's name was Lois. Paul speaks of both of them in Second Timothy. His father, being a Gentile, did not have him circumcised when he was born. In Syria, the religious customs of the family was determined by the father, however, we see that the mother raised Timothy in the fear of the Lord. Paul saw in this young man, one who was serious and of deep devotion, so he took Timothy and had him circumcised. Now wasn't that strange? Paul had just went through a time of debate on this subject at Jerusalem where he condemned those who would have imposed circumcision upon the Gentile believer, and as the result of this, a letter was written by the Jerusalem leaders excusing the Gentile from this rite. Why then did Paul do this? Paul did this for the sake of the ministry of Jesus Christ. He believed that Timothy would do a great work for the Lord amongst the Jews and he believed that circumcision would make him more acceptable. Later, Paul said that as a result of this, Timothy became a Jew to the Jews, that he might gain some.

Then Paul, Silas and Timothy, made their way through the cities of Derby-Lystra area where they delivered a copy of the letter concerning circumcision from the Council in Jerusalem. This letter and subsequent teachings from Paul greatly strengthen these churches, for already Judaizers were at work attempting to impose Jewish ceremonial laws upon Gentile believers.

The Macedonian Call

Chapter 16, verses 6 thru 10, deal with Paul's Macedonian call. We find Paul and Silas preaching to those in the area of Phrygia and Galatia. It appears that Paul and Barnabas had planted the seed of the Gospel there during their First Missionary Journey. Paul later, in his letter to the Galatians, speaks of this. From this letter, it would appear that the Judaizers, which is what the Christian Jews were called who insisted on the inclusion of Jewish ceremonial laws into Christianity, were already at work in these areas and Paul and Silas, armed with the letter from Jerusalem, had their work cut out for them to overcome these false teachings.

Notice it was their intent to go further into Asia and preach the Gospel, but the Lord had other plans for them. Verse 6 says that they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the Word in Asia. Why? Three possible reasons are suggested:

1. Some believe that others were at work there and Paul was not needed.
2. Some believe that these Asian people, being strictly Gentile, were not ready to receive the Gospel.
3. Others believe that the Lord had a plan for Paul and that area was not, at that time, in it.

Either way, it was made clear to both of them that they were not to preach in Asia. So they were led by the Spirit to continue westward to the seaport town of Troas (Troy). Notice, it is here that Luke joins the group. This is evident in the writing of this account in that from Chapter 16:10 back, Luke speaks in the third person, writing about things of which he had been told, where as from that point onward, he writes in the first person, writing about things that he had seen and heard personally.

It is here at Toras that Paul had a vision. Most scholars believe that an Angel appeared to Paul, dressed and speaking as a man from Macedonia. As Matthew Henry puts it, "It was presented to either Paul's eyes or to his mind." Notice the request that was made, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." Come and preach the Gospel.

In all the volumes that contain Matthew Henry's commentary of the Bible, I have only found one place where he makes a personal reference to himself. It is here as he comments on this "Macedonian Call" that he makes these remarks.

Here are Matthew Henry's remarks:

"Those few among us that have any sense of divine things, and any concern for their own souls and the souls of others, have done what we can by the help of natural light, we have carried the matter as far as it will go to persuade our neighbors to fear God and worship Him, but we can do little good among them, but I have done my part."

Remember that these comments were written in the early 1700s in merry old England.

Lydia

So Paul received an invitation to go over to Macedonia. He wanted to go into Prygia and Galatia, but unlike Jonah, who disobeyed God and ended up in the belly of a large fish, Paul obeyed and went over into Macedonia. Chapter 16, verses 11 thru 15 records what happened in Macedonia.

Immediately, they set sail for Samothrace and then on to Neapolis, two cities adjoining the countries of Macedonia and Thrace. From there they go on to Philippi, the chief city in Macedonia. It had been named after King Philip of Macedonia who was the father of Alexander the Great.

Notice the procedure that Paul uses in these next new areas of work. First he went to the chief city for if the Gospel was readily received there, it would be more easily spread throughout the country. Philippi was a Roman colony. The Romans had a garrison of soldiers stationed there. Most of the inhabitants were Roman citizens. It appears that they received a cold reception there. We might wonder why God had not prepared them for Paul's coming. They were there several days in the city, supporting themselves, for they had no friends there. Also there was no synagogues, only temples to pagan gods.

However, after inquiring around, they learned of a meeting that had been regularly taking place on the Sabbath, a group of women, who were called "proselytes of the gate" were meeting down on the riverbank. These women, because they were women and because they did not want to cause any trouble, met outside the city for prayer and worship. So Paul, Silas and Luke down to join these ladies at the riverbank. After proper introductions, they were asked to speak and one of the ladies, named Lydia, accepted Christ and she and her household were baptized.

It certainly is a great honor to have your conversion and your name written in the Word of God, but all who claim the name of Jesus have their names written in the Lambs book of Life right there along with Lydia's and that is more important.

Notice Lydia was a seller of "purple". Purple was a royal color worn by people in high places. She either sold the dye or the purple cloth or both, either way, it was an item of great value. Notice also that she was not from Philippi but from the town of Thyatira, some 250 miles away. Obviously, she was in Philippi on business. Notice she already worshipped the One True and Living God, but she, like the Ethiopian Eunuch and Cornelius the Roman Centurion, they were all righteous people but they still needed to know Christ. Here she displayed two characteristics. One, that she knew that she needed to accept Christ, and two, she was willing to listen to the Word and allowed the Holy Spirit to enlighten her heart to its truths. Then she and her household were baptized.

It would appear that there were children, maybe even infants that were baptized here. Matthew Henry makes this observation about this. "Those who may have been infants were baptized in her right, for if the root be holy, so are the branches."

Lydia was very appreciative of what the Apostles did and opened up her house to them. Her invitation was full of humility, "If you believe me to be a sincere Christian, show your confidence in me by coming into my house and abiding there." We saw previously how Paul financed his journeys, surly God provided as He did here with Lydia. Luke simply says, "She prevailed." She was considered worthy and they stayed with her. There are so many "Lydia's" in the Bible. They got very little phrase or attention, but helped immeasurably in the spread of the Gospel.

Challenging Demons, Personal and Financial

Verses 16 thru 24 of Chapter 16 record for us another event that occurred at Philippi that had to do with Demons. What are demons? Demons are spirits which primitive man accepted as the originators of disaster, disease, evil and etc. Judaism absorbed some of these spirits from other cultures like Assyria and Greece. According to one Jewish tradition, God created Demons before the world was made. We know from the Bible that there are Demons and that Satan or Lucifer is the Chief Demon. Jesus commissioned His Disciples to minister especially to those who were possessed by Demons. Though demonology presents problems, the Word of God testifies to the power of the Gospel to heal distorted mental conditions believed to have been the result of being Demon possessed. We must never doubt the existence of an evil force, one that is second only to God, that is allowed to function by the permission of God.

According to Luke, there was a slave girl in Philippi who was possessed by a Demon. According to Matthew Henry, her powers of perception was controlled by this Demon and it dictated to her the answers to questions posed to her by clients. People came to her for answers to such questions as the identification of a robber, aid in finding lost articles and fortune telling. The degree of her accuracy was such that many sought after her, but only the rich could afford her, which according to Luke, brought her owners much gain.

Verse 16 says that as they were going to a place for prayer the slave girl showed up. Satan used the girl to distract them in their communion with God. Notice her cry, the statements that she cried out, were true statements, but they still disturbed and angered Paul and Silas. She called them "servants of the Most High God". She proclaimed them as preaching the "way of Salvation". She proclaimed Jesus as being "King of the Jews". Day after day she followed them around making these proclamations. She apparently made all of these statements in a sarcastic way and this is way it disturbed Paul and Silas, also, they did not need at this time, that kind of attention drawn to them, being in a hostile city. They also did not need the witness of a girl possessed by a demon.

It seems that Paul allowed this to go on for some time as he was not sure if it was something that God was permitting for some purpose of His own. Eventually, Paul decides that it was the work of the Devil and ordered the Demon, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her. Power went along with the name of Jesus and the Demon came out of her that same hour. Now without the Demon, her powers of fortune telling was gone. She was of no use to her owners any more. The source of much revenue was gone. This angered her owners and they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place to be tried.

Notice the charges placed against them. One, they were disturbing the peace and two, they were advocating customs that were not lawful to Romans. The Romans were very sensitive about religion, no foreign gods were allowed without the approval of the Roman Senate. The Magistrates, sensing that the crowds were quite angry and about ready to riot, were placed in the position of having to do something and needing to do it fast.

Accompanying all Magistrates were Roman Officers called Lectors whose duties were to assist the Magistrate in the carrying out of his duties and to seeing that his judgments were carried out. These Lectors carried, at all times, rods which were used by the Romans for beating. In an effort to appease the crowds, the Magistrate ordered Paul and Silas to be beaten with these rods. This beating was not limited to 40 as the Jewish beatings were for we see in verse 23 that they were beaten without counting until they could stand no more.

This was one of three times that Paul was beaten with rods. He refers to this beating in First Thessalonians as being "shamefully treated" in Philippi. You would think that the beating would suffice but they were also ordered to be put in prison. The purpose was probably to keep them for a while and then bring them out later for trial in which they would probably be sentenced to death. This is born out by the charge that was given to the jailer, his life for theirs, if they escaped.

Notice they were placed in the "inner" prison and their feet were put in chains or stocks. This inner prison was a dug basement below ground, without windows, damp, cold and dirty, where only the worst of prisoners were kept. Here, Paul and Silas were kept to await trial and death.

Songs at Midnight

But God had another plan, and it is recorded for us in Chapter 16, verses 25 thru 34. It is the story of the Philippian Jailer, and it is well known. We must remind ourselves that Paul and Silas had just received a severe beating. Their bodies bore the cuts and welts of repeated hits with rods and they were chained in a dark, damp, hole in the ground under the prison. Hardly a place where you would find people praying and singing, but there they were. They prayed for God's support in their afflictions and notice it was not an hour of prayer, it was midnight. Then they sang songs of phrase to God. Certainly this could not have been easy under these circumstances.

For Paul and Silas, it was a time of witnessing. Verse 25 says that there were other prisoners in the area and they were listening to them. Why? Matthew Henry believes that it was to prepare them for the miraculous event that was to follow and to know that it was God favoring His servants, Paul and Silas, that caused it to happen.

Suddenly, there was a great earthquake. There is no record of this quake in secular history, only in the Bible. It occurred only at the prison and was caused for one purpose, "To shake the very foundation of the prison." We might guess that there were some prisoners and even the guards that were skeptical of Paul's witness but certainly this skepticism soon changed to fear as the quake shook and the doors of the prison came opened. From Luke's account, "Everyone's fetters were unfastened", we believe that all the prisoners became believers and were convinced that Paul and Silas were men of God and were repaid by having their bonds shaken loose also.

Now the bonds are loose, the prison doors are opened, what would normally happen? Everybody escaped. No, Paul and Silas and all the prisoners remained in the prison. Later, when the jailer came and saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, but Paul cried out with a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, we are all here." Wasn't it odd that at least some of the prisoners did not try to escape when the doors opened? Surly God bonded their spirits as well as loosening their fetters.

Two people seem to be absent in this account. Luke, who it would appear was not arrested and was probably staying with friends, and the guards, who certainly had been posted by the cell doors. We can assume that God took care of the guards as He had many times before rendering them helpless to change anything that was going on.

Now what about the jailer? What fear and confusion must have gone through his mind when he saw the cell doors opened. The first thing that he did was call for a light. The underground prison was totally dark at night and very little light filtered in even during the day. When the light came, the jailer could see that his worse fears were not realized. All were present. He rushed in with fear and trembling and knelt down before Paul. Certainly Paul could appreciate what the jailer was going through. He had, at one time, been a jailer, hunting down Christians, locking them up and even stoning some like Stephen. He knew what it was to come face to face with the reality of the Christ, and he to fell down on his face in His presence. Yes Paul could appreciate what the man was going through.

What Must I do to be Saved

Notice the Jailer removed Paul and Silas from the inner prison and nothing is said of the other prisoners who were with them, who, because they believed, had made no effort to escape when the doors of the prison were opened. The jailer probably took Paul and Silas into his living quarters, totally convinced that they were men of God and under the power of the Holy Spirit, immediately asked them, "What must I do to be saved?"

Notice the priority of questions in the jailers mind. Certainly he was concerned about his job. These and other prisoners might well have escaped so certainly he was concerned about his own life. But his chief concern at that moment was his soul. He felt, probably for the first time, that he lacked whatever was needed to have eternal life, and he believed that these men could tell him what that was.

Notice he was convinced that there was something that "he had to do". He did not ask them what they could do for him, but rather, what he should do. Now, notice their answer. None of the trappings of present day church membership was suggested to the jailer. No circumcision, no baptism, no church membership was mentioned. "What must I do to be saved?" very simply, "Believe on the Lord Jesus."

Now, what exactly does that mean? Many know and believe that a man by the name of Jesus lived and walked on the face of this earth for about 33 years some 2,000 years ago. Secular history verifies this. That knowledge and observation will not save them. What is it then that we need to believe about Jesus. We must believe and acknowledge that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. As such, He is the Mediator and Savior of all who believe. We must believe that he, by His death and resurrection, paid the price for our sins, thus purchasing for us forgiveness of sins and eternal life. We must believe that this is a gift of God, apart from works. Believe this about the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. Salvation will come to you and your house. Once the Holy Spirit opens the door of salvation in a home, all are welcomed to Christ on the same terms.

Conversion must always be followed by instruction. Immediately Paul and Silas began to witness and instruct the whole household in the truth of the Word of God, then they were baptized. Notice, people, no thought was given by the jailer or his household as to what the consequences of this decision would have on their lives. Certainly persecution would follow, but this was not important. Likewise, no time was needed by Paul and Silas to judge the sincerity of the faith of these people. All involved were led of the Spirit, He allowed no questions to be left in their minds.

After the Lord's work was taken care of, the needs of Paul and Silas were met. The Jailer took care of the wounds of them both. Wine was used to disinfect and oil was used to sooth the pain. Their wounds were cleaned and bandaged and the blood that oozed from the welts on their backs was taken care of. Then the jailer gave them the best of his hospitality, food for their stomachs and rest for their bodies, and as they set around talking, this family rejoiced that salvation had come to them that day. What ever consequences might follow, nothing could take from them the joy of their salvation.

This all occurred in one night and it would appear that they agreed to go back and be placed in prison, and this brings us to the next event in their stay in Philippi.

Public Exoneration

Chapter 16, verses 35 thru 40, record a discovered injustice. During the night, the Magistrates appear to have had a change of heart and early that morning, they send police to the prison to tell the jailer to release Paul and Silas. We can only imagine what predicated this. It has been suggested that the Magistrate had a "bad night". Perhaps he was close enough to the prison to have felt the earthquake. Perhaps this caused a tinge of conscience. Perhaps, looking back he realized that the beatings were to sever and unjustified. "Lets get those men out of prison and out of town."

Notice it is the jailer that takes the news of their release to Paul and Silas. He must have been overjoyed for now he could take them into his home legally and make them his guests. Everything was working out fine. Everything accept, Paul would not leave the prison. Now why wouldn't Paul leave the prison? Paul was a Roman citizen and as such was protected by Roman Law. This Magistrate could, at the very least, be removed from office and might very well be made to suffer the same punishment that he had ordered to be given to Paul and Silas. Paul's legal rights had been taken from him. He had been judged guilty without trial, beaten without cause and thrown into prison.

Can you imagine what fear went through the mind of this Magistrate when the police return and report the injustice. "These men are Roman citizens, they will not leave." "They want justice to be done." With fear and trembling the Magistrate and his court came to the prison and apologized to Paul and Silas and then removed them from the prison and asked them to leave the city. How relieved they must have been when Paul and Silas leave the prison without causing any trouble.

Notice where they go. They go to the home of Lydia. This is probably where Luke was and certainly he and others had been there praying all night for Paul and Silas. How happy they must have been to hear how God had interceded in their lives that night.

Paul and Silas left Philippi shortly after that, and we wonder why. Certainly, they were not forced to go, they would have no more trouble from the legal authorities. They could pretty much do as they pleased. But I'm sure that they were led by the Spirit to leave and go on to other work that the Lord had for them to do.

It is interesting to look ahead and see how the work here at Philippi progressed after Paul and Silas left. Certainly the beatings that Paul and Silas took and the resulting apology must have created a better place for the Christians to live and witness. Even though the work there had a very meager beginning, it appeared from this point on to grow very rapidly. Years later when Paul wrote to this church from prison in Rome, the dominant theme of that letter was "joy". He rejoiced and believed that through their prayers, he would be released.

Previous Chapter

Return to Outline

Ask Questions

Next Chapter