Acts, Chapter 16
© Copyright 2007 Darroll Evans, all
rights reserved
Acts 16:1-2
1 Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a
certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son
of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a
Greek:
2 Which was well reported of by the brethren that were
at Lystra and Iconium.
When
Paul arrived in Derbe and Lystra,
he met a disciple named Timothy. This is
the first mention of Timothy in the Bible.
He is considered to be an Apostle by the Greek Orthodox Church.
Timothy’s
father was a Greek. His mother was
Jewish. The family had a good reputation
in Lystra and Iconium.
Acts 16:3-4
3 Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took
and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they
knew all that his father was a Greek.
4 And 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
Paul
wanted Timothy to be part of his group. He was circumcised so that he would be
accepted by both Jews and Gentiles. Most
Christians of that day were Jews who would not accept Gentiles as equals in
Christ. Paul did not want the knowledge that Timothy’s father was not a Jew to
be a stumbling point for those Apostles and Elders in
As
a note of interest, Luke was a Gentile proselyte who was accepted by Jews as a
convert to Judaism.
Acts 16:5-6
5 And so were the churches established in the faith,
and increased in number daily.
6 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the
region of
As
they traveled, Churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number. However, as they passed through the Phrygian
and the Galatian countryside they were forbidden (by the Holy Spirit) to speak
the Word of the Lord in that area of
Acts 16:7-8
7 After they were come to Mysia,
they assayed to go into
8 And they passing by Mysia
came down to
At
one point, they attempted to go into
That
may seem odd, but the sons of God are led by the Spirit of God (Rom 8:14). We go where He leads!
You
will notice that in verse 7, Luke says “they,” but in verse 10 he refers to Paul’s
group as “we.” From that many assume
that Luke joined Paul at that point and remained with him until the end of life’s
journey.
2 Tim 4:11a Only
Luke is with me.
Acts 16:9-12
9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There
stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and
help us.
10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into
11 Therefore loosing from
12 And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief
city of that part of
Paul had a vision during the
night. Some seem to think that a
“night-vision” is different that other visions. The timing is the only difference. If you are
impressed with the time of day and not the content of the vision, you will
think night-visions are more powerful.
Paul’s vision concerned a
Macedonian man’s plea for help. In the
vision, the man was asking Paul to come to him and preach the gospel.
Subconsciously all men know that they need the salvation that is available only
in Christ Jesus. And yet, consciously
they resist the Word of the lord.
Immediately Paul began to
make preparations to go to
Acts 16:13-15
13 And on the sabbath we
went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we
sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted
thither.
14 And a certain woman named
15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she
besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful
to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.
“On
the Sabbath” is not a reference to Sunday.
Whenever you see “first day of the week” in the New Testament, the Greek
text refers to the Sabbath. The only
reference to Sunday in the New Testament is “Pentecost,” which occurs on
Sunday.
On
the Sabbath, Paul and his companions went down to the river that runs by
When
arriving at the river bank, they encountered a group of Jewish women gathered
for prayers. Their “de facto” leader was
a businesswoman named
1 Cor
12:3b no
man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
She
listened closely to all the Paul had to say concerning Christ Jesus. Then, she acknowledged Jesus as Lord and
Savior and was immersed in water and the Holy Spirit. In addition, she invited Paul and his companions
to stay at her home. Luke wrote, “She strongly urged us.”
Acts 16:16-18
16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a
certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her
masters much gain by soothsaying:
17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
18 And this did she many
days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in
the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.
During their rime in that
area, they came upon a slave girl with, as the Greek text says, a “python” (Gr. puthoona-puqwna) spirit. The KJV simply
calls it a spirit of divination.
A
few books have been written in an attempt to explain and amplify that
“spirit.” Most of them are, in my
opinion, junk, and based on Greek mythology!
The KJV is accurate. The girl made money for her owners through her
“ability” to tell certain things.
She
began to follow Paul, Silas, Luke, Timothy and the rest of the group around
crying out loudly, “These men are servants of the Most High God. They are
proclaiming the way of salvation!”
Many
of today’s preachers would have hired to girl to do public relations work for
their ministry, but for Paul it wore thin very quickly.
Soon,
Paul grew tired of her antics. He confronted the spirit and ordered it to come
out from her. The spirit immediately came out of her and she was “normal.” That presented a problem for those whose
income depended on her demonic possession.
Acts 16:19-24
19 And when her masters saw that the hope of their
gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace
unto the rulers,
20 And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
21 And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to
receive, neither to observe, being Romans.
22 And the multitude rose up together against them:
and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they
cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them
into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
Understanding
that their source of income had been “cast out,” they demanded that Paul and
Silas be dragged before the town council.
The
con-men who “owned” the girl accused Paul and Silas of causing trouble in the
city by teaching customs that were illegal for Romans. Unbeknownst to them, Paul was a Roman
citizen.
The “multitude,” which was actually a mob, rose up against Paul. They tore their clothes indicating a guilty
verdict and ordered Paul and Silas to be beaten.
As a result, they were beaten (probably with a single lash whip or a cane
pole), and thrown into prison. While in
prison, they were placed in the deepest darkest part of the prison and their
feet were put in stocks.
Acts 16:25-34
25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang
praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that
the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were
opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his
sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have
killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
28 But Paul cried with a loud
voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came
trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I
do to be saved?
31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
32 And they spake unto him
the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and
washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set
meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his
house.
At
about midnight, Paul and Silas could be heard praising God in song. The other prisoners were listening, and
probably questioning their sanity.
Suddenly
there was an earthquake. The very
foundations of the jail were shaken so violently that the doors of the jail
flew open, and the bonds of the prisoners were broken.
The
jailer was suddenly awakened. Upon
seeing that the doors of the prison were open, and knowing his responsibility
if any of the prisoners escaped, he prepared to take his own life. In those days, if prisoners escaped, the
guards were killed in retaliation regardless of the circumstances of their
escape.
Paul
shouted to him, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all
here.”
The
jailer rushed in and realizing what had happened, he began to tremble. Then, he fell at the feet of Paul and Silas
with thanksgiving.
He
led them outside and asked, “What must I do that I may be saved?”
That
is the basic question all those who encounter Christ have asked for
centuries. The question is both
legitimate and illegitimate.
“We”
have nothing to “do.” All that needs to
be done for our salvation has been done by Christ Jesus on the cross.
All
we “do” is to believe, trust in what Christ has accomplished!
Paul and Silas responded, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be
saved, you and your household.”
That
answer is very simple and yet complicated (in a simple way. It may need some
explaining).
To
fully understand, we need to return to 1 Corinthians 12:3b, which tells us that
none may come to Christ except by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Salvation
is not a human decision. We can only come
to Christ as a response to the call of the Holy Spirit.
Salvation
is not our decision, it is God’s. We do
not “make” Christ Jesus Lord of our lives.
Christ Jesus is Lord whether or not we acknowledge Him.
In
our acknowledgement, we are changed, but He remains the same.
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same
yesterday, and to day, and for
ever.
As
a result of their expressed joy in the Lord, the jailer and his entire family
were saved.
Acts 16:35-40
35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men
go.
36 And 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.
37 But Paul said unto them,
They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans,
and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily?
nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us
out.
38 And the serjeants told
these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they
were Romans.
39 And they came and besought them, and brought them
out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
40 And they went out of the prison, and entered into
the house of
When it was daylight, the
town council sent their representatives to release Paul and Silas. However, Paul had other ideas.
They told Paul and Silas to
leave “in peace.”
Roman law was quite
explicit. It was illegal to beat or bind
a Roman citizen unless he/she had been tried by a Roman court.
***This is the first time
Civil rights are mentioned in the Bible.
Paul will use his Roman citizenship again in his journey through life,
but it is used sparingly.
Paul’s
response was. “Hold on just a minute. You have beaten us publicly, and we are
un-condemned Roman citizens. Then, you
threw us into prison. And, now you want us to leave quietly and secretly? I
don’t think so!
“If
you want us to leave without further embarrassment to you, come
to us yourselves and politely ask.”
The
town council representatives went back and told them. Upon hearing what they had done to Roman
citizens, the council was afraid. So, they
did exactly as Paul suggested.
The
entire town Council went to the jail, apologized, and begged them
to leave. It was, no doubt, humiliating
for the Council.
They
left and went to