The second missionary journey of Paul
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📚Then he came to Derbe and Lystra, and saw a disciple who was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who believed. but his father was a Greek.16:1 See Acts 14:6. It was not usual for Jews and Greeks to intermarry. Timothy’s mother was a believer in Christ (2 Tim 1:5). Timothy became a very important person in Paul’s ministry – Acts 17:14-15; 18:5; 19:22; 20:4; Rom 16:21; 2 Cor 1:1; 4:17; Phil 1:1; Col 1:1; 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:1; 1 Tim 1:2; 2 Tim 1:2. Paul found him in the town where he had been stoned and almost killed – Acts 14:19.⚜
2 📚Timothy was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. 3 📚Paul wanted him to go with him, and took and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those regions, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
16:3 Timothy had not been circumcised possibly because of his Greek father’s objection. But he had been taught the Old Testament (2 Tim 3:15), and was counted a Jew because of his mother. By circumcising him Paul was not following the error seen in Acts 15:1, 5. His aim was to make Timothy more acceptable to the Jews as he went about serving Christ. Compare 1 Cor 9:19-22. See Paul’s desire for the conversion of Jews in Rom 9:1-4. He always made his views on circumcision very clear – Gal 6:15.⚜
4 📚And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the regulations to keep that had been decided on by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem. 5 📚And so the churches were established in the faith, and increased in number daily.
16:5 The agreement in Jerusalem (chapter 15) resulted in much good to the churches.⚜
In Troas
6 📚Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the Word in the province of Asia,
16:6 Asia was the name of the province of which Ephesus was the capital city. Asia was in the much larger area called Asia Minor (now called Turkey) which is a small part of the continent of Asia. Paul later had a very fruitful ministry there (Acts 19:1-22). But now God’s Spirit prevented him from entering it. God has a specific time for any of His works and He knows where every servant of His should be at any given time. They should simply find his leading and obey it.⚜
7 📚after they had come to Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them to do so.
16:7 Bithynia was to the northeast of the province of Asia. The fact that Paul tried to go there, but could not, can teach us some important truths. Paul was on the move, obedient to his calling to preach the gospel everywhere. He did not always know where God wanted him to go, but he did not for that reason sit at home. God guided him as he went forward in his work and made known His will as Paul practiced obedience to God’s calling for him. Notice that He who is called the Holy Spirit in v 6 is here called the Spirit of Jesus. Compare John 14:16, 26; 16:7; Rom 8:9.⚜
8 📚And they, passing by Mysia, came down to Troas.
16:8 Troas was an important port city on the Aegean Sea facing Greece and Macedonia.⚜
9 📚And a vision 📖 appeared to Paul in the night: A man of Macedonia standing and asking him, “Come over to Macedonia, and help us”.
10 📚And after he had seen the vision, immediately we tried to go to Macedonia, concluding that the God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
In Philippi
11 📚Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis,
16:11 Samothrace was an island in the Aegean. Neapolis was the port of the city of Philippi in Macedonia. Philippi was a Roman city – the Romans ruled Macedonia at that time.⚜
12 📚and from there to Philippi, which is the principal city of that part of Macedonia, and a Roman colony. And we stayed in that city for some days.
13 📚And on the Sabbath we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was usually made, and we sat down and spoke to the women who assembled there.
16:13 They knew there was no synagogue in the city, so they looked for a likely meeting place for Jews (and those influenced by the Jews) to worship the one true God.⚜
14 📚And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshipper of God 📖, heard us. The Lord opened her heart so that she seized on what was spoken by Paul.
16:14 Thyatira was in the province of Asia which God had kept Paul from entering – v 6.⚜
15 📚And when she and her household were baptized, she made a request to us, saying, “If you consider me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house, and stay there”. And she persuaded us.
16:15 Notes on baptism at Acts 2:38; Matt 3:6; Mark 16:16. She showed her faith by her works (Jam 2:14-19).⚜
16 📚And it came about as we were going to prayer that we were met by a certain slave girl possessed by a spirit of fortune-telling, who brought her masters much profit by predicting the future.
16:16 The “spirit” was an evil spirit, a demon (note at Matt 4:24). Good spirits do not engage in the work this one did. See Deut 18:9-13. How accurate the predictions of this slave girl were we cannot say. She must have been right enough times to keep people believing in her.⚜
17 📚This girl followed Paul and us and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the most high God, who make known to us the way of salvation”. 18 📚And this she did for many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her”. And he came out that very moment.
16:17-18 See the shouts of other demons – Matt 8:29; Mark 1:24; 3:11-12; 5:7; Luke 4:33, 41; 8:28. Neither Jesus nor His disciples needed or wanted the testimony of demons on their behalf. It was not a good thing for people to think that this demon-possessed girl was on the side of the gospel of Christ. If Satan seems to cooperate with Christ’s servants, his ultimate purpose is to destroy the truth. Paul was not looking for trouble, but he could endure the situation no longer. On casting out demons see Matt 4:24; 10:1.⚜
19 📚And when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas, and dragged them to the marketplace to the authorities, 20 📚and brought them to the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews and are greatly troubling our city, 21 📚teaching customs which are not lawful for us Romans to receive or observe”.
16:19-21 Money was their god, and they (like all whose god is money) cared nothing for the health of a poor girl, or for truth and justice. Compare John 12:6. These men were appealing to anti-Jewish prejudice in a Roman city. Satan could not defeat Christ’s servants by seeming to agree with them, so he tried a different method through these men.⚜
22 📚And the crowd all together rose up against them, and the magistrates tore off their clothes and gave a command to beat them. 23 📚And when they had given them many lashes, they threw them into prison, and commanded the jailer to keep them safely. 24 📚Having received such a command, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks 📖.
The conversion of the jailer
25 📚And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God, and the prisoners heard them.
16:25 See how true Christians can face their troubles and persecutions – prayer instead of curses, songs instead of resentment and complaining, divine comfort instead of confusion and depression, joy instead of thirst for revenge. Compare Acts 5:41; Matt 5:10-12; Rom 5:3; 2 Cor 1:5; 1 Pet 4:13. They knew God had led them there (v 10), that they were in their Shepherd’s care and that the Lord of the universe had a good purpose in it all.⚜
26 📚And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors opened, and everyone’s chains became loose.
16:26 So much for Satan’s attempt to crush Paul and Silas. God chose this way to vindicate His servants and to cause His gospel to spread in that place. He does not always use such methods (Acts 7:57-58; 12:1-7), but whatever methods He uses we may be sure that they are wise and good.⚜
27 📚And the jailer, awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had run away. 28 📚But Paul cried out with a loud voice and said, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here”.
16:28 Paul desired the good of the jailer who had treated him cruelly (v 24). See Matt 5:44; Rom 12:19-21.⚜
29 📚Then the jailer called for a light and ran in, and trembling fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 📚And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
16:29-30 He realized that Paul and Silas were true messengers of God who taught the way of salvation. The Holy Spirit had convicted him of his spiritual need, and he asked the most important question any person can ask. If more people sincerely asked it of God’s servants, more people would come into a knowledge of the truth. Not asking it, and not wanting to know the answer, keeps people in darkness and ignorance.⚜
31 📚And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household”.
16:31 Here is the answer to anyone anywhere who wants to know the way of salvation. It is the answer the Lord Jesus Himself and all His messengers gave again and again – Acts 13:39; John 1:12; 3:16, 36; 5:24; 6:47; Rom 5:1; Gal 2:16; Eph 2:8-9. Repentance is where true faith begins. Paul does not mention repentance here because it was clear that the man was already repenting. When people needed to repent, God’s servants did not fail to tell them so – Acts 2:38; 17:30; Matt 3:2. To those who are repenting the word is “believe”; to those not yet repentant the word is “repent”. Paul speaks of the man’s family as well. God delights to save whole households when there is faith – Acts 11:14; Gen 7:1; Josh 2:11-13; 6:22-23; Heb 11:7.⚜
32 📚And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.
16:32 They did more than give the man a verse or two of Scripture – they explained the gospel.⚜
33 📚And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately was baptized, he and all his family. 34 📚And when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his household.
16:33-34 He was producing fruit worthy of repentance (Matt 3:8), and showing his faith and the change in his heart by what he did (Jam 2:14-19). Observe the relationship between faith and joy, and the difference between v 34 and vs 27-29. This is what Christ can and does do in the lives of individuals – 2 Cor 5:17.⚜
35 📚And when it was daylight, the magistrates sent officers to say, “Let those men go”.
16:35 It seems they thought the punishment given to Paul and Silas sufficient for what they considered disturbing the peace of the city.⚜
36 📚And the jailer reported these words to Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders to let you go. So now leave, and go in peace”.
37 📚But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly without trial, Roman citizens that we are, and have thrown us into prison. And now will they send us off secretly? Absolutely not! Let them come themselves and lead us out”.
16:37 Paul was not seeking revenge, or standing on his rights. But the magistrates had committed a public act of injustice, and Paul insisted that they should admit it in public. It was not his good he was thinking of, but theirs and the gospel’s.⚜
38 📚And the officers reported these words to the magistrates, and when they heard that they were Roman citizens they were afraid.
16:38 It was against the law to beat Roman citizens – Acts 22:25-29. They had not known that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, but they could have inquired and found this out before they ordered the beating, if they had cared for the law.⚜
39 📚And they came and pled with them, and led them out and asked them to leave the city. 40 📚And they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and left.