Macedonian Ministry
TRANSLATION
(1) Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra where a disciple named Timothy lived. His mother was Jewish and a believer, but his father was a Greek. (2) The believers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. (3) Paul wanted to take Timothy along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in those areas for they all knew that his father was Greek. (4) As they traveled from town to town, they reported on the decisions which the apostles and elders in Jerusalem had reached for the people to obey. (5) So these churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
(6) They traveled through the regions of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from speaking the Word in Asia. (7) When they came to the border of Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus stopped them. (8) Bypassing Mysia, they came down to Troas. (9) During the night Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia standing there and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” (10) After he had seen the vision, we immediately prepared to go to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the Gospel there.
(11) So, setting sail from Troas, we took the direct route to Samothrace and, the following day, to Neapolis. (12) From there we made our way to Philippi, a leading city of that district and a Roman colony. There we stayed for several days. (13) On the Sabbath we went outside the gate to the riverside where we expected to find a place of prayer. After we had sat down, we spoke with the women that had gathered there. (14) One who listened to us was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira and a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to believe Paul’s message. (15) After she had been baptized along with her household, she begged us, “If you consider me to be a faithful follower of the Lord, come to my house and stay there.” And she persuaded us.
(16) Another time, as we were going to the place of prayer, a female slave possessed by a spirit of divination met us. She made her owners a lot of money by fortunetelling. (17) She followed Paul and the rest of us crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, proclaiming to you the way of salvation!” (18) This she did for many days. Finally, Paul became so annoyed that he turned and addressed the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to leave her!” And it left her that very hour. (19) When her owners realized that their hope of making a profit had vanished, they took hold of Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. (20) They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These Jews are throwing our city into an uproar, (21) advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” (22) The crowd joined in attacking them. The magistrates then had them stripped and beaten with rods. (23) After they had been severely whipped, they had them thrown into prison and charged the jailer to keep them securely. (24) Having received this order, he put them in the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
OBSERVATIONS
This segment of Paul’s second missionary journey could be outlined by the following headings: Timothy, Macedonia, Philippi, Lydia, female slave, and magistrates. Apart from repeated names, several important words were emphasized by repetition in this pivotal segment: “Jewish/Jews” and “Greek” (both found in vss. 1 & 3), “vision” (vss. 9 & 10), “Macedonia” (four times in vss. 9, 10, & 12), “women/woman” (vss. 13 & 14), “spirit” (vss. 16 & 18), and “magistrates” (vss. 20 & 22). It would have been understandable if Paul and Silas, while sitting in a Philippian jail, had questioned the validity of Paul’s vision inviting them to come to Macedonia after the brutal treatment they had received.
OUTLINE
I. In Lystra, Paul invited Timothy to join them and had him circumcised to prepare him for ministry among the Jews. (1-5)
II. Paul’s vision of the man from Macedonia directed the team to leave Asia for Europe. (6-10)
III. In Philippi, the team met Lydia who opened her heart and her home to them. (11-15)
IV. Paul’s casting a demon out of a female slave led to their being beaten and jailed. (16-23)
IDEA STATEMENT
After adding Timothy to their team, Paul and Silas responded to Paul’s vision by traveling to Philippi in Macedonia where they were welcomed by Lydia and were jailed for casting out a demon.
APPLICATION
While Acts 16 is an action-packed chapter, filled with important events, it records a pivotal shift in ministry that impacted the future direction of the early church. To this point, the Gospel had been largely confined to the eastern Mediterranean. Spurred on by Paul’s vision of the man from Macedonia, Paul, Silas, and Timothy immediately departed from Troas (Asia Minor) and made their way to Philippi, a major trade center on the southwestern tip of the continent of Europe. From there the Gospel would quickly spread westward through the rest of the Roman Empire.
Their meeting with Lydia on the Sabbath day who embraced the Gospel and welcomed Paul, Silas, and Timothy into her home confirmed that the Holy Spirit had, indeed, been leading these men westward. The establishment of a church in Philippi came about through the persecution that arose when Paul cast out a demon that had possessed a female slave who had identified them as servants of God. In tomorrow’s passage we will read about the events that took place in the Philippian jail.