Acts 16
McGeeCHAPTER 16THEME: The second missionary journey of PaulThe final verse of chapter 15 actually told of the beginning of the journey. Paul and Silas “went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.” From there they will go up into the Galatian country. Paul will visit the Galatian churches because that is where the problem had arisen with the Judaizers. The Epistle to the Galatians is Paul’s letter to them, sternly warning them about being led astray by those who are trying to put them under the Mosaic system. It is his strongest declaration and defense of the doctrine of justification by faith. Not only is a sinner saved by grace through faith, but the saved sinner lives by grace. Grace is a way to life and a way of life. Again let me suggest that you follow Paul’s journey on the map. You will find that traveling with Paul is a very thrilling experience. On this second missionary journey we will go with him to Europe (after he has received the vision of the man in Macedonia). We will see that he arrives in Philippi where he ends up in the local jail. At midnight Paul and Silas pray and sing praises! An earthquake shakes the jail, the doors are opened, and the jailer opens his heart to receive Christ as Savior.
Acts 16:1
PAUL REVISITS THE CHURCHES OF GALATIAPaul first comes to Derbe, then over to Lystra where he finds this young man Timotheus. Paul knew his mother and his grandmother, and he had turned this young man to the Lord on his first trip. So Paul takes him with him. The team is now Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
Acts 16:3
I want to note carefully the method of the apostle Paul. When he went up to Jerusalem, he took along Titus, a Gentile, who wasn’t circumcisedand Paul wasn’t about to have him circumcised. However, now Paul wants to take along Timothy as a fellow missionary. He wants Timothy to go out to reach people for Christ. Since he doesn’t want any kind of argument or any reason for offense, he has Timothy circumcised. This is not because there is any merit in circumcision, but because he doesn’t want it to be an issue.
This is what Paul wrote in 1Co_9:19-20: “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law.” Paul did this in order to break down all arguments. Sometimes people come to me and say they want to join a certain church but that church has a different idea of baptism than they hold. They ask if they should be baptized and join the church anyway. So I ask them, “Is the church a good Bible-teaching church? Does it teach salvation only and alone through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Is it a place where you can serve, and be blessed, and grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth?” If they can answer yes to these questions, then I tell them to go ahead and be baptized and affiliate with that church. There are fundamentals of faith in which there can be no deviation.
However, there are forms and rituals which are not essential to salvation, and I believe there is a great deal of elasticity in these areas. This was Paul’s feeling. Certainly circumcision had no bearing on Timothy’s salvation, but the rite was performed so that the ministry of Timothy with the Jews would not be handicapped.
Acts 16:4
Paul has another tremendous ministry in Galatia. Not only does he visit the churches which had been founded the first time, but multitudes in other places turn to Christ. New churches are formed and there is an increase in number daily.
Acts 16:6
PAUL GOES TO PHILIPPIGalatia includes all this area. I am of the opinion that Paul moved into the northern part of the country at this particular point. The province of Asia is down south where Ephesus is. In fact, Ephesus was the chief city of the province of Asia. Paul may have been planning to make a circuit through Asia Minor. This was a heavily populated area in that day, and it was really the center of Greek culture. This was a great commercial area, a great political area, a great educational area. Paul would make a great circle by going through the Galatian country, then Phrygia, then south into the province of Asia, and then back again to Antioch to report to the home church. The Spirit of God had something else in mind. We are told that the Holy Spirit forbade him to preach the Word down in Asia. That is really amazing, isn’t it? Paul wanted to go there, and the Spirit of God wanted the Word of God given out, but the Spirit of God wanted Paul in a different place at this time. So Paul naturally thought that if he could not go south, he would go north. Bithynia was in the north, along the Black Sea. That also was a large population center, and there was a very heavy concentration of Hebrews in that area. This section is in Turkey today.
Acts 16:7
The Spirit forbade them to go south into the province of Asia. Then the Spirit of God forbade them to go north into Bithynia. He has come from the east. Where will he go? Well, there is only one direction left and that is west. You see, it was not Horace Greeley of The New York Sun who first said, “Go west, young man, go west.” Instead it was the Spirit of God speaking to the apostle Paul! So Paul kept going west until he came to Troas. He had to stop there because from that point he would need a ship to continue. Paul couldn’t imagine what he was to do or where he was to go from that point.
Acts 16:8
I think that if we had met Paul during the time of his delay in Troas, we could have asked him, “Paul, where are you going?” I’m sure his reply would have been, “I don’t know.” I’m afraid our next statement would have been something like this: “Now brother Paul, do you mean that the great Apostle of the Gentiles doesn’t know where he is going next? Surely you must know the will of God for your life.” Then we would have sat down for a nice long lecture on how to determine the will of God in his life. My, I’ve read so many books on that subjectit’s too bad Paul didn’t have one of those books with him at that time! Paul does not know the will of God. Why? Because the Spirit of God is leading him.
Paul is simply waiting. It is going to take a mighty movement to get Paul out of Asia and move him over into Europe.
Acts 16:9
This is Paul’s call into Macedonia. Now Macedonia is across the Aegean Sea, over in Europe. Paul is in Asia. The gospel is going to cross from Asia into Europe. The Spirit of God is moving him in that direction. I do not know why Paul was not moved east to China. All I know is that the Spirit of God moved him west to Europe. I thank God that this is the direction he went. At that particular time my ancestors, from one side of the family, were roaming in the forests of Germany. They were pagan and they were evil, worshiping all kinds of idols. They were a low, heathen people. The other side of my family came from Scotland, and perhaps my ancestors were already in Scotland at that time or came there a little later. At any rate, I am told they were the dirtiest, filthiest savages that have ever been on the topside of this earth. I thank God the gospel went to Europe to reach my people over there. Now maybe you are smiling, thinking that your ancestors were very superior to mine. Well, you can wipe that smile off your face because your ancestors probably were living in the cave right next door to mine! They were just as dirty and just as filthy as mine were. Thank God the gospel crossed over into Europe. This was a great and significant crossing.
Acts 16:10
Note it says “we endeavoured to go.” We have never had “we” before. It has always been “they” or “them” or “he” or “him.” What about “we”? Well, Dr. Luke has now joined the party. It is really quite a party nowin fact, it is a quartet. There may have been others along also, but we have four who are named: Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Dr. Luke. This is quite a delegation that crossed over into Europe.
Acts 16:11
Neapolis is just a little inland from the coast.
Acts 16:12
Philippi was a colony in Macedonia, which means it was a Roman colony. This would be where the Roman governor resided. These people had Roman customs and they spoke Latin. It would be a city where they would “do as the Romans do.” This is their first destination in Europe. Paul went to a strategic center to begin his ministry in Europe. That alone makes the church in Philippi a remarkable church. For other reasons, which we will learn when we get to the Epistle to the Philippians, we will see that this church was close to the heart of Paul. This was the church which loved him; and Paul loved this church. There were wonderful saints in this church, as we shall see.
Acts 16:13
PAUL’S MINISTRY IN PHILIPPIJust outside the city, down by the river, there was a prayer meeting. I wonder whether that prayer meeting had anything to do with Paul coming over to Europe and the vision of the man of Macedonia! We will find that the “man of Macedonia” is a woman by the name of Lydia who was holding this prayer meeting.
Acts 16:14
Thyatira is over in Asia Minor. It is the place where one of the seven churches was located which received admonition from our Lord in the second chapter of the Book of Revelation. This woman had come from over there. She worshiped the living and true God, but she had very little knowledge. Lydia was a remarkable person. She was a dominant person and a leader. Apparently she was the leader of the prayer meeting. She will be the first convert to Christ in Europe.
Acts 16:15
We do not know anything about Mr. Lydia, but he must have been around there somewhere. There are families like that, you know, where the woman is the dominant one in the family. Apparently that was the way it was in the family of Lydia. Thank God she was that kind of woman because her entire household turned to God through her witness. And now we find Paul and his group staying at her home and boarding there. I would assume she was a person of means and was able to take care of them.
Acts 16:16
Don’t think this was just foolish superstition. This girl was possessed by a demon. We are seeing a resurgence of demonism in our own day. I have before me now a letter from a Christian woman in El Paso, Texas. She got tied up in spiritism by just fooling around with it, not thinking that it was dangerous. She has quite a story. It was hearing the Word of God through our radio program that delivered her from it. She cried out to God, and He delivered her. Demonism is a reality. This girl in Paul’s day was demon possessed. She was a slave girl and her masters were using her to make a big profit. The Mafia had already begun in those days.
Acts 16:17
Paul was able to cast out the demon in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This dried up the profit her masters were making, and you know that if you touch a man’s pocketbook, he will begin to move. So now these men really turn against Paul and his group.
Acts 16:20
Remember that Philippi was a Roman colony and practiced Roman idolatry. Paul and his men were charged with trying to change things. Of course the real issue was that the girl’s masters had lost their source of income.
Acts 16:22
These men are beaten, their backs are lacerated, and they are locked into the stocks.
Acts 16:25
What a wonderful thing it is that these men were singing praises unto God while they were in such a miserable situation. No wonder the doors were shaken loose!
Acts 16:26
Let’s look at this Philippian jailer for a moment. He was responsible for those prisoners. He naturally assumed that if the doors were open and the chains lying loose, the prisoners would be gone. He would be responsible for their escape and would have to forfeit his own life. So he stands there, poised, ready to fall on his own sword. When a man is in a position like that, he thinks about eternity. This man did just that, as his question to Paul indicates.
Acts 16:28
He had looked into eternity. He knew that he was a lost man.
Acts 16:31
How can a man be saved? By believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Could he believe for someone else? No. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and if thy household believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, they shall be saved also. That is the meaning here.
Acts 16:32
What a difference! He had put the stripes on these men. Now he washes their stripes. He is a changed man.
Acts 16:34
All in one night they were flogged, thrown into jail, freed by the direct intervention of God, and now they are being royally entertained in the home of these rejoicing young converts!
Acts 16:35
You see, they realize that what they had done was illegal. Now they are issuing orders to free the prisoners and get them out of town. However, Paul objects. He says that he will not leave under such circumstances.
Acts 16:37
Of course Paul’s reason for insisting upon a public recognition of their innocence was to protect the new believers whom he would soon be leaving there in Philippi.