SCRIPTURE: ACTS 16
Bible Verses:
“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.” (Acts 16:16-18)
“The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.” (Acts 16:29-32)
“ 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.” (Acts 16:37)
TIMOTHY JOINS PAUL AND SILAS (vs. 1-5)
Timothy was a disciple whose mother was a Jewess and his father was a Greek, who had a good reputation. When Paul and Silas went to Lystra, they took Timothy along their journey and traveled from town to town to deliver God’s message and strengthened their faith. The number of churches grew daily in numbers
PAUL’S VISION OF THE MAN OF MACEDONIA (vs. 6-10)
While they were traveling, the Holy Spirit led them the direction. God closed some doors while they waited for God to show them the wayu. During the night, Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia begging him to come to Macedonia. So Paul got ready to leave for Macedonia knowing that God had called them to preach the gospel there.
LYDIA’S CONVERSION IN PHILIPPI (vs. 11-15)
On a Sabbath day at Philippi, Paul and his companion went to the city gate to find a place of prayer. There, they met a woman Lydia, who was a dealer of purple cloth from the city of Tyayatira. She responded to God’s message and her entire household were baptized. Shwe invited them to stay in her house.
PAUL AND SILAS IN PRISON (vs. 16-40)
There was a slave girl who had a spirit to predict the future. She earned a great deal of money for his owner by fortune telling. The girl followed Paul and for many days, kept shouting: “These men are servants of the Most High God who are telling you the way to be saved”.
Annoyed of her shouting, Paul said to her: “In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her” At that moment, the spirit left her. (v. 18)
When the owner knew that their hope of making money was gone, they seize Paul and Silas and brought them to the magistrate to be stripped, beaten and thrown into prison. They were put in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. Suddenly, there was a violent earthquake that shook open all the jail doors and everybody’s chain became loose. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors open, he pulled his sword to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted: “Don’t harm yourself. We are all here” (*v. 28)
The jailer was touched and asked them what he must do to be saved. They replied: Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved – you and your household” (vs. 30-31) Then they preached the word of God and the whole family were baptized.
At daylight, the magistrates set order to release Paul and his men. The jailer told them that the magistrate said that they can leave in peace. But Paul told him that they were Roman citizens and were beaten and jailed without a trial, so he demanded them to come and appease them and escort them out from the prison. They request them to leave the city. Paul and Silas came out and went to Lydia’s house and encouraged them before they left.
THOUGHTS:
- Timothy was not required to be circumcised but he voluntarily did this to overcome any barriers to witness for Christ. Sometimes, we need to go beyond the wall of duty in order to further the Kingdom of God.
- In Paul’s time, the Holy Spirit spoke to them through prophet, vision, an inner connector, a voice or some circumstances. Today, God leads us to do his will by obeying His word and praying for his guidance
- Lydia was a religious woman with an open heart. She received God’s Word and shared the message with her household and they were all saved. Are you sharing the gospel to your household?
- After conversion, Lydia invited Paul and Silas to stay at their house. Her hospitality had set an example for us to follow.
- When the jailer tried to commit suicide, Paul called out and stopped him. Paul showed his love and God showed his grace to reach that man’s heart and he was converted. As a result, all of the jailer’s household was baptized and saved.
- Paul refused to leave without the Roman officials coming to give apology and settle the case openly. If Paul quietly moved out of the town, the citizens would have thought that he had been guilty. And this would hindered the work of the church. So, it is not wrong for Christians to use their legal rights to protect other believers from the treatment Paul and Silas had received. This would set a precedent to the officials not to persecute Christians without proper trial.