Acts 16

October 6, 2022

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Reading along with us in Acts? Here’s today’s reading:

Acts 16 (NIV)

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...........Continue Reading

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This Post Has 7 Comments

  1. It was interesting to see how the Holy Spirit directed Paul’s ministry. While I am sure some of the places Paul wanted to travel to share God’s word would have needed it, God had a specific plan that led him to Macedonia instead. God never does things without plan or purpose and we must trust that.
    Paul does get himself into trouble with the people again when he casts the evil spirit out of the young woman who was clearly making people money with her evil power and winds up beaten and back in chains for this miracle. However, God as always uses this otherwise terrible looking situation for good and believers are made right there in the cell and beyond!

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  3. How good that Timothy did what we all should do, to grow in maturity and service that people would recognize God’s hand on us and therefore encourage us to serve in greater capacities. What an asset and companion he will be to Paul moving forward! And verses 6-10 are just incredible. Here Paul desired to do a right thing, but God had a more specific better thing for him to do. How important it is for us to grow in spirit and truth that we would be more and more sensitive to God’s direction. But for God to prevent Paul to go into Asia (He could have used circumstances or promptings of the Spirt) and then provide a vision of this Macedonian man to show the specific direction for Paul’s next stage of ministry is truly amazing.

    And what a time Paul has in Philippi. He goes from peaceful ministry by the river, to spiritual warfare and calling out a demon, to public upheaval and suffering a beating and imprisonment. And what does he do as a result: he sings and praises God. Now that is a heart oriented to faith and the knowledge of God as opposed to being oriented to circumstance and situation. What an amazing thing for anyone to learn. And then on top of that to have the integrity to stick around after God provided a way of escape. It immediately causes the jailer to see something different about them and know they must have an answer of how to be saved. And it is just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, for you and anyone else who does. And then Paul ends this topsy turvy time in Philippi by pressing his rights as a Roman citizen…..you can’t beat us in public and then dismiss us in private so people don’t know what to make of our release. It shows there are times for us to press our rights as well..as well as times that we lay them down.

    This chapter also demonstrates the various strata’s of society that is impacted by the gospel. It permeates the lives of the rich (Lydia), the weird outcasts (the slave girl) and to the blue collar worker (the jailer). Jesus can impact all to bring salvation and freedom for what live would be without Him.

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  4. In Acts 17, it is so appropriate for Paul to use logic with the Athenians who discussed philosophical matters in that way.

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  6. I was thinking about the Jailer asking, “what must I do to be saved?” What exactly was the understanding of salvation in the early church – pre-Paul’s writings? Was is saved from the punishment of sin? Saved from the wrath of God? Was it understood to mean eternal life? Was the jailer just specifically fearing for his life in light of the power that God demonstrated in releasing Paul and Barnabas?

    I think this “you and your whole household” feeds the covenant theology and the Catholic belief that someone can make the executive decision for the home that leads to salvation for all. I know this isn’t the case, but it is confusing. I suppose that Paul and Silas were just telling them that believing in Jesus is the way for anyone to be saved, not saying that if the Jailer believes his whole household would be.

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