Acts 16 - The Households of Lydia and the Philippian Jailer Come to Faith and Are Baptized TOGETHER!
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
16 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.
Though Timothy was already a disciple, his mom was a Jewish Christian and his dad was Greek. Presumably the father was not a believer. Though his mom was Jewish it doesn't appear as if Timothy was circumcised. Though it would appear as if Timothy did not need to be circumcised because he was under the new covenant, Paul circumcised him anyways. Paul's reasoning was that it might be a stumbling block to the Jews.
“By Jewish law Timothy was a Jew, because he was the son of a Jewish mother, but because he was uncircumcised he was technically an apostate Jew. If Paul wished to maintain his links with the synagogue, he could not be seen to countenance apostasy.” (F.F. Bruce)
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.
Paul and his companions were heading eastward through Asia Minor and the region of Galatia (modern day Turkey), and the Holy Spirit stopped them in their tracks. How the Holy Spirit did that we are not sure, but obviously Paul had a very strong impression from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit continued to work by giving Paul a vision of a "Macedonian Man" calling for Paul to come to him. This was a completely different direction (East) than Paul was heading, so it shows his obedience to God. Notice how quickly Paul responded to God's call. He says, "We got ready at once!"
Is your life flexible and sensitive to the Spirit's leading in your life? Would you be ready to go at once if the Spirit led you to share the gospel with someone? I.e. This could be to go across the room not necessarily a mission trip!
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.
Speaking of going to where the people were, Paul went to Philippi, and when he got there he figured out their was a prayer meeting down by the river. Paul began to speak to the women who were gathered there, which was a little unusual since men didn't openly speak like that to women in public. One of the women there was Lydia, who dealt in purple cloth. Purple was an important commodity and was very expensive. She worshipped God but had not yet come to faith in Jesus.
We see that Paul's message was definitely related to the gospel as Lydia came to faith, and she and the members of her household were baptized. It seems as though Lydia is the head of the household. The fact that they were all of those in the household were baptized suggests that there could have been younger children baptized. Whatever the case, Lydia had a huge influence on her household.
"The fact that the Jews of Philippi had no synagogue and met by the river means that there were not many Jewish men in Philippi." - Guzik
“Had there been ten Jewish men, they would have sufficed to constitute a synagogue. No number of women would compensate for the absence of even one man necessary to make up the quorum of ten.” (Bruce)
"Lydia… was a seller of purple: Anyone who was a seller of purple dealt in a valued, luxurious product. The dyes used for making purple were expensive and highly regarded. This woman was the first convert in Europe, and one might say that the Macedonian man turned out to be a woman." - Guzik
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.
This story gives us a peak into the realm of the demonic. We often wonder if there is anything behind fortune tellers. Obviously a lot of people go to them and pay money for their services today. According to this verse there is. She had a spirit, and it was not a spirit of light, but of darkness. The spirit also had the knowledge of Paul and his crew, because the spirit called them out. Importantly the spirit said these men, "Are telling you the way to be saved!" An obvious reference to the gospel of salvation through Jesus.
The woman under the power of the spirit kept harassing Paul and his companions to the point where Paul got so annoyed that he rebuked the spirit in the name of Jesus. He commanded the spirit to come out of her. We call this "deliverance ministry". Notice the authority in which Paul commanded the spirit to leave. The authority was "in the name of Jesus". The spirit had to obey Paul's command because it was in the name of Jesus. And it obeyed Paul RIGHT AWAY!
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.”
Obviously this woman was a valuable commodity, because her owners were ticked off that she had lost her power to predict fortunes. They brought Paul and Silas into the marketplace to protest what they were doing to local businesses. Paul and Silas did nothing unlawful so it is clear they were just mad about their loss of revenue.
22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After 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!”
Paul and Silas were beaten and then thrown into prison with apparently no trial. These businessmen must had a lot of pull with the city officials. The jailer was warned to guard them closely, so he put their feet in chains. Instead of bemoaning their plight, Paul and Silas started singing hymns.
It would have been interesting to hear what hymns they were singing. This obviously points to the fact that there was worship music in the first century. Importantly the other prisoners were listening to them, especially when we see what happens next. An earthquake loosened the foundations of the prison and everyone's chains came off and the prison doors flew open.
The prison guard realized that he would be blamed for this, and the price for his malfeasance would be his life. So, he decided to end his life in his own way, and in his own time. Yet, Paul stopped him. This time God used His creation to bring about a miracle through the earthquake.
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.
The jailer connected the dots between Paul and Silas singing hymns to their God and the deliverance it brought them. He asked for a similar deliverance, so he too could be saved. His bondage was not to a prison cell, but a bondage to sin. Paul made his message very simple. He said,
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
This is now the second time when salvation came to an individual and then it came to their whole household. Secondly, after they all believe they were ALL baptized. So they believed and were baptized together! In the West we often make faith more personalized. We use words like, "I accepted and I believed". And, of course, we are saved when we individually come to faith, but we see in two instances in the Acts 16 where whole households came to faith together led by the leader of the household.
It leaves me with several questions.
1. Did they all come to faith at once?
2. Did Lydia and the Philippians jailer preach to their households leading to salvation? Or, was it Paul and Silas?
3. How did they know everyone was saved? Did they each make a confession of faith? Did they all make it at the same time, and then they were baptized at the same time?
I don't know the answers to those questions, but I think they are good questions, and I think they would give us light into how we view evangelism.
Wouldn't it be more healthy if a whole household came to faith? Or, at least putting some effort sharing the gospel in a way the whole family could experience or learn about?
I would love to hear what you think about this?
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.
Somehow the magistrates got word of what happened. And the officials thought it better to get rid of these two guys than deal with what happened last night again. So they wanted to quietly get rid of them, until Paul wanted some accountability for being beaten and thrown into prison without a trial. Paul requested they get treated with some respect and they were. When they went back to Lydia's household, they relayed this story and it encouraged the new believers there!
The magistrates acted as politicians often act by instinct. They tried to make their problem go away quietly by sweeping it under the rug.In Philippi, Paul and Silas left behind two notable converts: Lydia and the prison guard. Each of these two had their lives touched by Jesus in very different ways.
Lydia was a churchgoer; the guard was not. Lydia was prospering in business; the guard was about to kill himself. Lydia’s heart was gently opened; the guard’s heart was violently confronted. The guard had a remarkable sign – an earthquake, but all Lydia had was the move of the Holy Spirit in her heart. Both heard the gospel and believed, and through each of them their whole families were touched!
It was a strange and wonderful church they left behind in Philippi: Lydia, perhaps the slave girl, the jailer and his household, and others. The use of “they” here suggests that Luke stayed behind in Philippi for at least a while, perhaps to care for this new congregation.
Comments
Post a Comment