CHAPTER 16

(A.D. 53)

TIMOTHY

¹Then came he (Paul) to Derbe and Lystra (the Second Missionary Journey will have a greater effect on civilization than anything that has ever happened, other than the First Advent of Christ): and, behold, a certain Disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed (speaks of Timothy and his Mother as being followers of Christ); but his Father was a Greek (it seems he was not a Believer):

²Which was well reported of by the Brethren Who were at Lystra and Iconium (Timothys consecration is obvious here).

³Him would Paul have to go forth with him (which was undoubtedly a leading of the Spirit); and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters (this was wisdom on Pauls part, which he felt led by the Holy Spirit to do): for they knew all that his Father was a Greek (Paul would do all he could to appease people, but not at the expense of compromising the Gospel).

⁴And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the Apostles and Elders which were at Jerusalem (pertained to copies of the decision concerning the Law/Grace issue, which came out of the Council at Jerusalem).

⁵And so were the Churches established in the Faith (Jesus Christ and Him Crucified), and increased in number daily (many were being saved).

⁶Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia (implies a time frame of probably several months), and were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the Word in Asia (refers to the area now known as northwestern Turkey; while the Holy Spirit definitely wanted the Gospel to go to this area, there was another place He desired first),

⁷After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia (represented an area east of the Ephesus area): but the Spirit suffered them not (proclaims the door being closed to this area as well!).

⁸And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas (this area would be closed for the time being also).

THE MACEDONIAN CALL

⁹And a Vision appeared to Paul in the night (proclaims the Holy Spirit now telling the Apostle exactly where He wanted him to go); there stood a man of Macedonia (the northern part of modern Greece, from the Adriatic to the Hebrus River), and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us (thus was ushered in the most momentous event in the history of the world, the going forth of Paul to take the Gospel to the nations of the West).

¹⁰And after he had seen the Vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia (by the use of the pronoun we, we know that Luke, the writer of this Book of Acts, now joins Paul here at Troas), assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the Gospel unto them (they knew they now had the Mind of the Lord).

PHILIPPI

¹¹Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis (this would be the very first presentation of the Gospel on European soil, which would have such a bearing on what is presently referred to as Western Civilization);

¹²And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia (Pauls destination), and a colony (was a colony of Rome): and we were in that city abiding certain days (represents tremendous hardships, but a Church was established here).

FIRST CONVERT

¹³And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made (evidently meant there was no Synagogue in the city; what few Jews were there met by the Riverside); and we sat down, and spoke unto the women which resorted thither (seems to tell us that no men were present other than Paul and his party).

¹⁴And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira (she was a businesswoman), which worshipped God (proclaims her as a Gentile who had probably begun visiting a Jewish Synagogue in Thyatira), heard us (Paul evidently was asked to speak to these women, thus proclaiming the story of Jesus Christ and His Redemption afforded by the Cross of Calvary): whose heart the Lord opened (presents her hungry for God), that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul (she gave her heart to Christ, and was, thereby, the first convert on European soil).

¹⁵And when she was baptized (evidently took place some days later), and her household (refers to the fact that all of those with her accepted the Lord as well, and were baptized), she besought us, saying, If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there (as well, her house was probably the first Church on European soil). And she constrained us (means they did not acquiesce at first, feeling perhaps that it may be an imposition on her; but she would not take no for an answer).

DELIVERANCE

¹⁶And it came to pass, as we went to prayer (does not tell us exactly where this was, but does specify that it was a certain place, more than likely the home of Lydia), a certain damsel pos sessed with a spirit of divination met us (speaks of the girl being demon possessed), which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying (claiming to give advice and counsel from the spirit world, which brought quite a sum of money to her owners):

¹⁷The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying (implies that this went on for some time, possibly several days), These men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of Salvation (should have been translated, a way of Salvation, because thats the way it is in the original Text).

¹⁸And this did she many days (for some reason, the Holy Spirit didnt give Paul latitude to pray for the girl until now). But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit (addressed himself to the evil spirit, and not directly to the girl), I Command you in the Name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he (the evil spirit) came out the same hour (means that the spirit came out instantly).

¹⁹And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone (meaning that the girl could no longer function as she had previously done), they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the Rulers (these men evidently had some sway with these Rulers),

²⁰And brought them to the Magistrates (pertained to Romans appointed by Rome), saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city (the manner in which the word Jews is used implies contempt),

²¹And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe (a gross untruth! actually, Judaism was a legal religion in the Roman Empire; even though Paul and Silas were not actually teaching Judaism, but rather proclaiming Jesus, still the Romans would not have been able to distinguish the difference), being Romans (implying superiority).

²²And the multitude rose up together against them (presents a stacked audience against Paul and Silas): and the Magistrates rent off their clothes (took off Paul and Silas clothes, at least to the waist), and commanded to beat them (Paul recalls this in I Thess. 2:2; scourging under Roman Law was a most brutal and cruel punishment).

²³And when they had laid many stripes upon them (the lictors were egged on by the mob, with the Apostles being beaten almost to death), they cast them into prison (prisons then were far worse than anything we can now imagine), charging the jailor to keep them safely (contains the implication that Paul and Silas were desperados):

²⁴Who, having received such a charge (means that he could punish them even more if he so desired, which he did), thrust them into the inner prison (reserved for the most violent of criminals), and made their feet fast in the stocks (the legs were pulled wide apart, with the individual laying on their back on the floor; after a short time, the muscles in the legs would begin to constrict, causing severe pain).

THE CONVERSION

²⁵And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed (doesnt mean they began to pray at midnight, but rather that they were still praying at midnight having begun some time earlier), and sang praises unto God (the Greek Text suggests that bursts of song broke out from time to time as they prayed; their song was probably one of the Psalms): and the prisoners heard them (means they prayed and sang so loud that other prisoners heard them).

²⁶And suddenly there was a great earthquake (this was no ordinary earthquake), so that the foundations of the prison were shaken (presents the Lord as the Instigator of this upheaval, not a normal force of nature): and immediately all the doors were opened, and every ones bands were loosed (this implies no normal earthquake, but rather something supernatural).

²⁷And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open (automatically causes him to assume that all the prisoners had fled), he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled (meaning that under the penalty of death, he was responsible for the prisoners).

²⁸But Paul cried with a loud voice (Paul sees what the jailer is about to do to himself), saying, Do yourself no harm: for we are all here (tells us that none of the prisoners, ever how many there were, took the opportunity to escape; this also tells us that quite possibly some, if not all, had given their hearts to the Lord).

²⁹Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling (proclaims that something powerful was happening to this man, over and above the shock of the earthquake and his thoughts of suicide), and fell down before Paul and Silas (the jailer treated Paul with great brutality, but Paul treated him with great humanity),

³⁰And brought them out (brought Paul and Silas out of the prison), and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (This presents terminology that shows some familiarity with the Gospel; quite possibly before the arrest of the Apostle, the jailer had heard him preach)

³¹And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved (presents the most beautiful explanation of Salvation that could ever be given), and your house (means that Salvation is not limited merely to the jailer, but is available to the entirety of his family as well, that is if they will meet the conditions of Faith in Christ required of them).

³²And they spoke unto him the Word of the Lord (pertained to a fleshing out of the answer given in the previous Verse, explaining what believing in Christ really meant), and to all that were in his house (presents this service being conducted sometime after midnight, which resulted in all of his family giving their hearts to Christ; what a beautiful night it turned out to be!).

³³And he (the jailer) took them (Paul and Silas) the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes (speaks of the terrible beating they had suffered a short time before); and was baptized, he and all his, straightway (immediately).

³⁴And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them (proclaims, as obvious, a meal prepared for them), and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house (a night of misery turned into a night of great joy, and joy which would last forever for this jailer and his family).

THE MAGISTRATES

³⁵And when it was day, the Magistrates sent the serjeants (probably refers to the same men who had administered the beating to Paul and Silas), saying, Let those men go (the Codex Bezae says that the Magistrates came into Court that morning feeling that their treatment of Paul and Silas had brought on the earthquake; they were right!).

³⁶And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The Magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace.

³⁷But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans (presents a scenario which puts an entirely different complexion on the matter; it was against Roman Law for Romans to be beaten; so, in beating them, the Magistrates had broken the law, evidently not realizing they were Romans), and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? (They were treated as common criminals.) No verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out (in this way, the city of Philippi would know that the charges were false).

³⁸And the serjeants told these words unto the Magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans (if Paul and Silas so desired, they could have brought charges against these individuals, which could have resulted in severe consequences).

³⁹And they came and besought them, and brought them out (refers to the fact that the Magistrates now came to Paul and Silas), and desired them to depart out of the city (has reference to the fact that they were pleading with the Apostles not to bring charges against them, but rather depart in peace).

⁴⁰And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia (they were somewhat the worse for wear in the physical sense, but greatly encouraged in the spiritual sense): and when they had seen the Brethren, they comforted them, and departed (these were new converts in the Philippian Church).