Bible Version: New International Version (NIV)
Application Notes: Life Application Study Bible (NIV)
ACTS 16
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
1 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
Paul and Silas in Prison
16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.
19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.
35 When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” 36 The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”
37 But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”
38 The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. 39 They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.
Application Notes
16:1 Timothy is the first second-generation Christian mentioned in the New Testament. His mother, Eunice, and grandmother Lois (2 Timothy 1:5) had become believers and had faithfully influenced him for the Lord. Although Timothy's father apparently was not a Christian, the faithfulness of Timothy's mother and grandmother prevailed. Never underestimate the far-reaching effects of godly parenting on a child. If you have children, teach them about Jesus. Read the Bible with them, and help them learn the life-giving message of Jesus· words. Timothy's life presents clear evidence that even if you have an unbelieving spouse, you can still pass on the truth of the gospel to your child.
16:2-3 Timothy and his mother, Eunice, were from Lystra. Eunice had probably heard Paul's preaching when he had been there during his first missionary journey (14:6-18). Timothy was the son of a Jewish mother and a Greek father--to the Jews, Timothy was not fully a Jew, as was the case with Samaritans. So Paul asked Timothy to be circumcised to remove some of the stigma he may have had with Jewish believers. Timothy was not required to be circumcised (the Jerusalem council had decided that; see Acts 15), but he voluntarily did this to overcome any barriers to his witness for Christ. Sometimes we need to go beyond the minimum requirements in order to further the kingdom of God.
16:6 We don't know how the Holy Spirit told Paul that he and his companions should not go to Asia. It may have been through a prophet, a vision, an inner conviction, or some other circumstance. To know God's will does not mean we must hear his audible voice. He leads in different ways. When you are seeking God's will, (1) make sure your plan is in harmony with God's Word, (2) ask mature Christians for their advice, (3} check your own motives to see if you are seeking to do what you want or what you think God wants, and (4) pray for God to open and close doors as he desires.
16:7-9 The "Spirit of Jesus" is another name for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had closed the door twice for Pul, so Pal must have wondered which geographical direction to take in spreading the gospel. Then, in a vision, Paul was given definite direction, and he and his companions obediently travelled to Macedonia. The Holy Spirit guides us to the right places, but he also guides us away from the wrong places. When seeking God's direction, ask him to clearly shut and open doors, and then pay attention to changes in circumstances or your own convictions about the situation.
16:10 The use of the pronoun we indicates that Luke, the author of the Gospel of Luke and of this book, joined Paul, Silas, and Timothy on their journey. He was an eyewitness to most of the remaining incidents recorded in this book.
16:12 Philippi was the key city in the region of Macedonia (northern Greece today). Paul founded a church during this visit (AD 50-51). Later, he wrote a letter to this church, the book of Philippians, probably from a prison in Rome (AD 61). The letter was personal and tender, showing Paul's deep love for and friendship with the believers there. In it he thanked them for a gift they had sent, alerted them to a coming visit from Timothy and Epaphroditus, urged them to clear up any disunity in the church, and encouraged them not to give in to persecution.
16:13-14 After following the Holy Spirit's leading into Macedonia, Paul made his first evangelistic contact with a small group of women# Paul never allowed gender or cultural boundaries to keep him from preaching the gospel. He preached to these women, and Lydia, an influential merchant, believed. This opened the way for ministry in that region. Women have been marginalised throughout the centuries by all cultures and religions. God, however, created men and women equally in his image and loves them equally as his children. Luke shows that God gave Lydia a heart to follow him and then bless the apostles and the church with her gifts.
16:13 Since the Jewish community in Philippi apparently lacked the requisite number of adult males to form a synagogue and the Roman colonial authorities did not allow unrecognised religious groups to gather within the city limits, the women gathered to pray outside the city, beside the river.
16:14-34 Luke highlights the stories of three individuals who became believers through Paul's ministry in Philippi: Lydia, the influential businesswoman (16:14); the slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future (16:16-18); and the jailer (16:27-34). The gospel was affecting all strata of society, just as it does today.
16:14 Lydia was a dealer of purple cloth, so she was probably wealthy. Purple cloth was valuable and expensive. It was often worn as a sign of nobility or royalty.
16:15 Why was Lydia's household baptised after Lydia responded in faith to the gospel? Baptism was a public sign of identification with Jesus Christ and the Christian community. Other members of her household must have been with her on the riverbank to hear Paul's testimony. They, too, believed and were baptised.
16:15 Lydia insisted on hosting Paul and Silas in her home. Rather than seeing the men as a burden and their presence as a disruption of her family and business routine, Lydia laid out the welcome mat. The notion of hospitality is related to the word hospital. We practice hospitality when we generously and cordially throw open the doors of our homes to care for others. In hospitality, we nurture, strengthen, and serve. The result is that others find physical, spiritual, and emotional help. When they leave us, they are healthier and more whole than when they came. What changes in your schedule and lifestyle can you make to provide hospitality in your home?
16:16 This girl's fortune-telling ability came from evil spirits. Fortunetelling was a common practice in Greek and Roman cultures. People used many superstitious methods in their attempts to foretell future events, from interpreting omens in nature to communicating with the spirits of the dead. This young slave girl had an evil spirit, and she made her masters rich by interpreting signs and telling people their fortunes. The masters were exploiting her unfortunate condition for personal gain.
16:17-18 What the slave girl said was true, although the source of her knowledge was a demon. Why did a demon announce the truth about Paul, and why did this annoy Paul? In the spiritual world, demons and angels are actively at war. Demons fight to drag as many people away from God as they can and to diminish the image of God in each person. They know God exists and has the power to destroy them. If Paul accepted the demon's words, he would appear to be linking the gospel with demon-related activities. Satan always seeks to twist the truth of God's Word. Allowing the slave girl's demon to keep announcing their purpose would damage the communication of Paul's message about Christ. Truth and lies from Satan do not mix.
16:19 Faced with the loss of their slave girl's fortune-telling ability, the Philippian entrepreneurs were furious. Never mind that Paul and Silas were speaking eternal truths. Never mind that the poor slave girl had been delivered from an awful existence; her owners could only bemoan their economic loss! The gospel would also later hurt Ephesian idol makers financially, resulting in a citywide riot (Acts 19). When people care more about their own economic well-being than the glory of God and the salvation of lost souls, it is a clear sign that idolatry, greed, and selfishness have become their masters. Check your heart and motivations the next time anger overtakes you.
16:22-25 Roman guards stripped and beat Paul and Silas and placed them in stocks in the inner jail cell. Stocks were made of two boards joined with iron clamps, leaving holes just big enough for the ankles. Jailers would place a prisoner's legs across the lower board and then close the upper board over them. Sometimes both wrists and ankles would be placed in stocks. Paul and Silas, peaceful men who had committed no crime, were put in stocks designed for holding the most dangerous prisoners in absolute security. Despite this dismal situation, they praised God, praying and singing as the other prisoners listened. No matter what our circumstances are, we should praise God. Others may come to Christ because of our example.
16:27 The jailer drew his sword to kill himself because jailers were responsible for their prisoners and would be held accountable for their escape. Usually, a jailer would be put to death for failing to keep the prisoners locked up (see, for example, 12:19).
16:30-31 Paul and Silas's reputation in Philippi was well known. When the jailer realised his own condition and need, he risked everything ·to find the answer to his question. Paul and Silas shared with him the Good News of salvation: Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved (see Romans 10:9; 1 Corinthians 12:3; Ephesians 2:8-9; Philippians 2:11). When we recognise Jesus as Lord and trust in him with our entire lives, we receive salvation. If you have never trusted in Jesus to save you, do so quickly. Your life can be filled with joy, just like the jailer's (Acts 16:34).
16:31-34 Paul and Silas took the family unit seriously, so the offer of salvation was extended to the jailer's entire household--his family and servants. The jailer's faith is not what saved them; they all needed to come to Jesus in faith and believe in him in the same way the jailer had. Yet his entire family did believe, and all were saved. Don't doubt that God can use you to introduce Jesus to your unbelieving family members.
16:37-38 Roman citizenship carried with it certain privileges. These Philippian authorities were alarmed because whipping a Roman citizen was illegal. In addition, every citizen had the right to a fair trial, which Paul and Silas had not been given. Paul refused to take his freedom and run. He wanted to teach the magistrates (city officials) in Philippi a lesson, possibly to protect other believers from the treatment he and Silas had received. The word would spread that Paul and Silas had been found innocent and freed by the leaders, perhaps establishing some precedent for the protection of believers--especially if they were Roman citizens.
Taken from Life Application Study Bible - Third Edition - (NIV)