‘And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess who believed, but his father was a Greek. The same was well reported of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Eventually therefore he came to Derbe and Lystra. And there h... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Him would Paul have to go forth with him, and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.' It was the normal Jewish position that a son would take on the religion of his mother (it certainly became so later), so that Paul... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And as they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep which had been ordained of the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem.' And as they went through the cities they passed on the details of the decisions made in Jerusalem, with Silas there to confirm the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.' This section now closes with the usual summary section. As a result of all these activities and decisions the churches were strengthened in the faith and continued daily to increase in numbers. The witness to the utter... [ Continue Reading ]
PAUL IS GUIDED BY THE SPIRIT TO EUROPE AND ARRIVES IN PHILIPPI (16:6-12). ‘And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia, and when they were come over against Mysia, they made an attempt to go into Bithynia; and the Spiri... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MISSION TO EUROPE (16:6-19:20). Paul's plans now seemed to begin to go awry. All doors seemed to be closing to him as in one way or another he was first hindered from going one way, and then another. But unknown to him it was to be the commencement of the mission to Europe. Why then does Luke e... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: There was a man of Macedonia standing, beseeching him, and saying, “Come over into Macedonia, and help us.” ' The hindrances were soon explained by a vision in the night. It was the vision of a Macedonian pleading for help for his people. Jesus now wante... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when he had seen the vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.' Paul was immediately responsive. This call explained the prohibitions that they had been facing, and was a clear message from God. So concluding that... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the first of the district, a Roman colony.' The necessary voyage is now outlined for us, well remembered by the writer. Taking boa... [ Continue Reading ]
There appear to have been no synagogues in Philippi, presumably due to the lack of the necessary ten adult male Jews who could form a synagogue, and on the Sabbath day Paul and his party, with the writer, made for the riverside where they would expect to find a place where the Jews met for prayer. T... [ Continue Reading ]
MINISTRY IN PHILIPPI FROM THE HOUSE OF LYDIA (16:12B-40). The arrival in Europe was clearly seen by Luke as very important. He illustrates the successful ministry there by a threefold description of Paul's effectiveness which covers a wealthy businesswoman, a slave girl and a jail proprietor, three... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, one who worshipped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened to give heed to the things which were spoken by Paul.' Among those who listened was Lydia, a dealer in purple dyes and dyed cloth from Thyatira, that centre of... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when she was baptised, and her household, she besought us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there.” And she constrained us.' ‘And when she was baptised.' From the very beginning there had never been any doubt that she would be. Her every... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And it came about that, as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain maid having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by the giving of oracles.' We may assume here that some weeks had passed, with the ministry continuing by the riverside, and no doubt steadily gro... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HEALING OF THE GIRL POSSESSED WITH THE PYTHON SPIRIT (16:16-18). But Paul could not land in Europe in the power of the Holy Spirit without expecting opposition. Following Luke's usual necessary pattern (necessary because this is how Satan constantly works) things could not continue to go on qui... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” ' The spirit within this woman recognised in the Pauline party messengers of the true God. From such they could not be hidden. It was probably also deepl... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And this she did for many days.' The party may not have been too aware of it at first. If the streets were noisy and busy they may not have taken too much notice of what she cried and thought of her as just some poor mad girl, seeing it wise to ignore her. It would not be the first time they had b... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they laid hold on Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers,' Her masters, who were no doubt already wealthy and influential, were angry when they realised that the source of their profits had been removed... [ Continue Reading ]
ARREST AND IMPRISONMENT LEAD TO ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH IN PHILIPPI (16:19-34). But the problem was that what he had done would hit at men's pockets. They did not care about the girl herself, they had not cared that she was making a nuisance of herself, they were not too concerned about what it mea... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to receive, or to observe, being Romans.” ' This being a Roman colony the men before whom they were brought are correctly calle... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore their clothes off them, and commanded to beat them with rods.' These men clearly took pains to incite the crowds in the market place, who responded to the charge and expressed their disapproval of ‘these Jews'. The danger of... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when they had laid many stripes on them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely, who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.' The beating that they were given was not a mild one (‘many stripes') and t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison-house were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.' Howe... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the jailor, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.' The jailer, aroused by the earthquake, came from his room (his family living quarters would be a part of the prison), and no doubt ca... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” ' Paul, seeing him in the light of his glowing lamp, recognised his intention and yelled to him not to harm himself as all the prisoners were still safe. Those that were there were possibly traumatised and shelte... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he called for lights and sprang in, and, trembling for fear, fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out and said, “Sirs (lords), what must I do to be saved?” ' The jailer immediately called for lights (and thereby assistance) and it seemingly came home to him that the earthquake mus... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your house.” ' The reply came back immediately. Paul and Silas declared to him that the way in which both he and his house could be saved was by response to ‘the Lord, even Jesus'. That was the ‘Lord' he should look to. Only... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they spoke the word of the Lord to him, with all that were in his house.' They then proceeded to speak ‘the word of the Lord' (Acts 8:25; Acts 13:48; Acts 15:35; Acts 19:10) to all who were in the house, providing full teaching, no doubt including both the cross, the resurrection and enthronem... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was baptised, he and all his, immediately.' Meanwhile the jailer had taken them immediately from the prison and washed their wounds. He was a changed man. We are probably to see that he did the washing himself. Unbeknown to... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having believed in God.' Furthermore he also brought them into the part of the prison building which was his home, and set food before them. And he and all his house were rejoicing greatly (a... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But when it was day, the magistrates sent the lictors, saying, “Let those men go.” ' Next day the lictors were sent by the magistrates with instructions that the two might go free. It was no doubt recognised that the case having been looked into it was seen as questionable, even frivolous, and the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the jailor reported the words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore come forth, and go in peace.” ' The jailer was no doubt delighted to learn this and reported the situation to Paul probably expecting that he too would be delighted.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Romans, and have cast us into prison; and do they now cast us out privily? No, truly, but let them come themselves and bring us out.” ' But Paul felt it necessary to stand his ground. They had, as Roman citizens, been i... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the lictors reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, and they came and besought them, and when they had brought them out, they asked them to go away from the city.' When the magistrates learned that Paul and Silas were Romans they wer... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.' But the agreement to leave was amicable. They were not escorted from the city. Thus they returned to Lydia's house, gathered the believers together to say... [ Continue Reading ]