Chapter 16

Verse 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.” Cf. 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:5.

“certain disciple” simply means a believer. Believers were first called “Christians” at Antioch but the word “Christian” was never widely used until about the third century, the reason being that it was a term of derision used by the enemies of Christianity. It actually means “a little Christ” and is a very sarcastic phrase.

Verse 2 – “by the brethren.” The word in the Greek for “by” means under the authority of. It is the preposition u(po.

Verse 3 – Timothy is now incorporated into the team. Paul was impressed with him.

“and took and circumcised him” – an application of the law of expediency, due to the attempt to reach the Jewish population.

Verse 4 – the dissemination of the results of the Jerusalem conference. When Paul went back to these cities he did so to stabilise believers. This is follow-up, giving them doctrine. He also went to report the Jerusalem conference to them.

“they delivered them the decrees” – the word for decree is dogmata, from which we get “dogma.” A decree is simply a firm stand. The decree in this case would be Acts 15:27-29.

“for to keep” is a present active infinitive and it means to keep that which belongs to self, to keep on keeping these things. The word for keep is one of the words for “guard” – fulassw, which means to guard something that belongs to you. Doctrine belonged to them and they are to guard that which belongs to them. Therefore Paul had a ministry to these people on follow-up. The objective was to make them spiritually self-sustaining.

“that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem” – this is a reference to the council which had signed this particular decree.

Verse 5 – “And so were the churches established [stabilised].” This is in the imperfect tense which means they kept on remaining in a stabilised form. This proves the point that as long as they had doctrine they had stability. The passive voice indicates they kept on receiving this stability. The imperfect passive indicates the doctrine builds on doctrine. They had doctrine, so they could learn doctrine.

“and increased in number daily” – they were winning souls to Christ as individuals.

Verse 6 – “and were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.” This is the Roman province of Asia, the area of the seven churches of Revelation chapters two and three. They were not permitted to go into that area at this time because it was not ready for it.

Verse 7 – “they assayed [attempted] to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit did not permit them.” Why the closed doors in Asia Minor?

1. The discipline and training of Paul was involved at this point. Paul’s legalism in the case of John Mark, Paul himself must have some further training. These areas forbidden to Paul are prone to legalism. Paul is not fit to go into these areas at this point because he has just been guilty of a gross act of legalism himself. But God overrules in grace and Paul is going to have another ministry, a marvellous ministry.

2. The principle of divine guidance. God often guides through closing doors. He wants to get Paul to the coast, and by closing doors along the way Paul is forced to go to Troy. In this way God is getting Paul faced toward Europe.

3. God has a plan for Peter, and Peter is to go into Asia Minor. Since God has reserved all of this for Peter, obviously he is going to keep Paul out of it. There is no need for two apostles in the same area.

a) God’s plan for Paul is also involved at this point, i.e. to head for Europe which becomes the very heart and centre of the Roman empire.

Verse 8 – the persistence of the apostle Paul. In other words, every time he hit a closed door he kept moving. He did not turn around and go back.

Verse 9 – “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night.” This is before the completion of the canon of Scripture, therefore a vision was a legitimate means of

guidance. Peter had a vision and wound up in Caesarea in the quarters of a centurion, Cornelius. Now Paul has a vision which will move him into heathenistic Europe. Today with the completion of the canon of Scripture there is no guidance by visions or dreams. The last vision and guidance by vision that existed as far as the Church Age is concerned was that of John’s, and when Revelation was closed visions and dreams no longer constituted a bona fide means of guidance. Once the canon of Scripture is closed all guidance is through the Word.

“There stood a man from Macedonia” – how would Paul know he was from Macedonia? First of all the man would speak Greek. Two hundred years before this the Romans had fought three wars with the Macedonians and had eventually destroyed Macedonia as a great power. After the Romans conquered them there was one thing they failed to do. The Romans always superimposed their own styles of dress on others—except with the Macedonians. The Macedonians continued to wear the Greek helmet, the Greek type of dress. So when Paul saw this man he knew exactly that he was from Macedonia.

Verse 10 – “And after he [Paul] had seen the vision, immediately we [Luke, the writer, plus Timothy and Silas].” This is the Pauline team that will go into Europe. It will be expanded after getting into Europe.

Verse 11 – Therefore loosing from Troas.” “Troas” – Trwadoj, Troy. Paul is now looking across the Agean Sea at Europe. Loosing from Troy here means to set sail. The Greek says literally, “And they set sail from Troy.” Neapolis is only the beginning because it is simply the port for Philippi, ten miles away.

Verse 12 – here Philippi is said to be a colony, which is the highest honour which could be bestowed upon any city in the Roman empire. Throughout the Roman empire there were special cities made Roman colonies. When this occurred the citizens all became Roman citizens, and they were protected with special privileges. For example, they could not be scourged or crucified. They were provided all the protection of the Roman law and if it was felt that a sentence was a miscarriage of justice it was very simple to appeal to the emperor in any part of the empire.

“we were in that city abiding certain [many] days” – the word for abiding means to wear away the time, to spend the time, to look for an opportunity. Paul did not open his mouth to witness until he had the perfect opportunity.

Verse 13 – the first opportunity. “And on the sabbath [Jewish worship day].” The Jewish population was very small in Philippi and there was no synagogue, so Paul began to look around on the Sabbath to see what was happening. He soon discovered that there was a group of people who would leave the city every Sabbath morning and he recognised them as Jews. So he followed these Jews.

“went out of the city by a river side where prayer was customarily made” – this is not a formal worship service of the Jews. Because there was no synagogue a few Jews would simply go out and have a word of prayer. This prayer indicates the fact that there was a desire to hear the Word of God, a desire to know God better on the part of these Jews.

“and we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted [assembled] there” – assembled on this occasion was Paul, Timothy, Silas and Luke.

Verses 14-15, the first converts in Europe. They were women.

Verse 14 – “A certain woman named Lydia . . . which worshipped.” When it says that she worshipped it is a present active participle which means to stand in awe of someone, to venerate someone. The word “worship” here, being in the present tense, linear aktionsart, simply indicates that she had positive volition at the point of God-consciousness and was waiting to hear the truth, and when she hears the truth (gospel hearing) she is going to respond.

“heard us” – she kept on listening. She was on positive volition at the point of God-consciousness and therefore she was listening to the thing for which she had been waiting. After she hears the gospel her positive volition will express itself by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

“whose heart the Lord opened” – the implications of this phrase are rather difficult unless it is understood that the word “heart” is a synonym for the soul. The word is used not only for the entire soul but also specifically for the mentality of the soul. The word “opened” is a compound, dianoigw [dia = through; noigw = open] which means to open a way through a barrier. The barrier to hearing the gospel in every case is the human soul minus the spirit. So the Holy Spirit acting as the human spirit opens the door to understanding the gospel.

“that she attended unto the things which were spoken of [by] Paul” – the word “attended” means that she gave careful consideration to; she concentrated on the things spoken; “the things which were spoken” is a present active participle, “they kept on being spoken.” The words “of Paul” is a bad translation. The word is u(po which means under the authority of [Paul]. This would indicate that Paul had charge of the situation but didn’t necessarily do all of the speaking. Timothy was there, as was Silas and Luke. Apparently there was a good deal of personal witnessing on this occasion.

Verse 15 – “And when she was baptized, and her household.” In other words, not only was she saved but the members of her household also. They are not specified here, as in the case later on with the Philippians jailer—“and thy household.” In other words, if the members of your family believe they will be saved.

“If ye have judged me to be faithful” – the word “judge” here means “discerned.” “Faithful” in the sense of being a child of God, and so on.

Verse 16 – “And it came to pass, as we went to prayer.” Apparently it was Paul’s custom to go somewhere every day. The word “went” means to go from one place to another. They were praying apparently in different homes at the time.

“a certain damsel” is a Greek slave girl; “possessed” means she kept on having “a spirit of divination.” The word for “spirit” here is puqwn from which we get “python.” The word comes originally from the fact that Apollo had a special snake to guard the oracle of Delphi, one of the great concentrations of demons in the ancient world. Demon possessed priestesses gave fantastic prophecies about the rise and fall of nations, and many of these were very accurate. Here the word “python” simply refers to this serpent which was slain by Apollo in mythology. It became the name of any type of demon who could throw the voice or who was involved in prophecy. This woman was apparently making a lot of prophecies and there was a crime syndicate built around here. The word “masters” means that she had those who controlled here and making a profit from her. “Soothsaying” is simply prophesying, predicting the future. It was accomplished by demon possession.

Verse 17 – “The same followed Paul and us, and kept on saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation.” Everything she said was correct, therefore it was a very strange situation: a demon possessed girl trying to get into the picture. It was Satan trying to help Paul along. It was a compromise. If Paul is going to stick with the truth he must remain separated from demons. Religion is going to sponsor Paul in Philippi, and if it does then it is all over. There must be a separation from religion. Here we have a demon possessed Greek slave girl announcing the meetings. She points to Paul and says, “He knows the way of salvation.” This was a compromise, and Paul was displeased because he didn’t want any help from the devil. Paul is one of the few people who had the sense to realise on the basis of Bible doctrine that it must come from God or it is nothing. It doesn’t depend on public relations.

Verse 18 – “But Paul, being grieved.” We need no help from the devil’s crowd, from religion, from a denomination. We need no help from anyone but the Lord. Paul silenced the testimony of the demons because this would constitute an alliance with the devil and there can be no peaceful coexistence between the Lord Jesus and the devil.

Verse 19 – “And when her masters saw that the hope of her gains was gone.” The lucrative racket had been terminated. The girl has now received Christ as her saviour and the racket is broken up because there is no longer any demon possession. Immediately they began an investigation and discovered that behind it all was Paul and Silas.

“they caught Paul and Silas” – the Greek word here means to seize someone violently and to hold them by violence; “and drew them into the market place” means to be dragged by the heels. The market place is where the city administration is located and where they have the Roman courts. The Greek courts and most of the courts of the ancient world were held at the city gates, but the Romans held them in the market place. The word “rulers” refers to the magistrates of a Roman colony. They called themselves praetors, and they were the ones who administered justice. Behind all this is Satan himself and in verses 20-21 we have the false accusations.

Verse 20 – “And brought them to the magistrates [praetors], saying, These men, being Jews.” The word for “being” here is u(parxw, and it doesn’t mean to be, it means to exist. In other words, there is a great deal of sarcasm in this accusation: “These men exist as Jews.” Later on they will say, “We, being Romans.” Then at the end of the accusation there is the word e)imi which is absolute status quo. So they are saying, “These exist as Jews; we have the status of Romans.” In other words, if these men are Jews and we are Romans, we are right. Jews are always wrong! This is the idea. They had no basis for indicting these men under Roman law, so the only possible thing they could do is to get the racial prejudice going; which is exactly what they had in mind. The reason they used this particular indictment is because during the reign of Claudius there was a tremendous antagonism toward the Jews, so much so that Claudius threw the Jews out of Rome. Now that is over and Nero has come into authority and he more or less picked up where Claudius left off. Claudius changed his mind during his rule and finally recognised the validity of the activity of Jews in the Roman empire.

“do exceedingly trouble our city” – the word to exceedingly trouble is a word for disturbing the peace. This would be a valid reason for indictment if it could be proved as a legitimate disturbing the peace activity.

Verse 21 – they describe how they disturb the peace: by teaching. “And teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive” – a patriotic appeal. This is a technical phrase that means they are introducing a foreign religion into a Roman colony. The word to teach simply means to announce them, not to go into any extensive teaching. Here the very subtle action comes from the fact that these who have been brought in are Jews; “we are Roman.” Everything in between is more or less inconsequential. This is an appeal to the patriotism of the Romans first of all. It is not that these gangsters care about Roman policy but they are looking for a way to avenge themselves for the breaking up of a very lucrative racket. The racial grievance is really very secondary, it is merely being used to get rid of Paul and Silas. The real grievance is not mentioned in the court at all—the fact that these men are gangsters who have been making money from the demon possessed girl and their racket is now broken up.

Verse 22 – “And the multitude rose up together against them.” Too often law is influenced by violence and by rioting. When this happens it indicates the weakness, at least at the local level, of the law. The law should never be influenced by the shouting, the rioting, and the viciousness of the mob. The magistrates here appear to be more impressed by the mob than even the accusation. They are under pressure and the pressure comes from mob violence.

“and the magistrates rent off their clothes” – the clothes here are the mantles which belonged to Paul and Silas. This is actually a part of the Roman system. Before they punished a man they took off his mantle and stripped him to the waist; “and commanded to beat them [with rods]” – the Greek says “with rods,” which was the usual method of Roman scourging. The usual punishment was 39 blows with the rod.

Verses 23-24, an illegal imprisonment.

Verse 23 – “they cast them into prison.” They not only cast them into prison but because of the treatment they received they must be important prisoners. So they command the jailor to guard them in a special way; “charging the jailor” – the word “charging” means to command – “to guard them carefully.”

Verse 24 – the jailor comes into focus. “Who” – relative pronoun referring to this Philippians jailor; “having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison,” i.e. the under prison. The Romans always had a system where they had a prison which went underground. Half would be at street level where the guards had their barracks, and then down below was the prison system. In the lowest part of all, the under prison, was the most secure area which was usually a pit type place.

Verse 25 – “Paul and Silas prayed” is translated in the KJV like a past tense. In the Greek it is present linear aktionsart; they kept on praying; “and sang praises” – imperfect active indicative. So we have a present participle followed by an imperfect tense, which means they had doing both of these, and at the time we pick up the narrative here they happened to be praying but they had been doing a lot of singing.

“the prisoners were listening to them” – imperfect middle indicative, which means that whatever the prisoners were doing they stopped to listen to this. The word for listening here is e)pakraomai (The usual word for listening is a)kouw) and it means to listen to a musical recital. This was a message that impressed them when nothing else would. At this point God intervenes into the picture.

Verse 26 – the first of two miracles. “ . . . and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s shackles were broken.” Apparently the only damaged in the prison was the opening of the gates of the prison and the breaking of the shackles, as if this was the only purpose of the miracle/earthquake.

Verse 27 – “having become awakened, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword.” He knew that the Romans were going to kill him for this. He assumed that the prisoners were all gone and that there was nothing left for him but to take his own life; “and would have killed himself” – the Greek says, “he was about to kill himself.” The Romans would have killed him slowly under torture and he would rather die quickly by his own hand.

Verse 28 – “ we are all here.” This stops the jailer immediately.

Verse 29 – “trembling” probably indicates the general reaction of the jailer. He knew that he was doomed because he assumed the prisoners were gone, but now that he realises they were not gone he is still in a great state of agitation and fright. The situation is uncertain to him and so it says “he sprang in.” This means to charge in, and the word “trembling” indicates his condition; “and fell down before Paul and Silas.”

Verse 30 – the desperate question. “Sirs” is the Greek word for “lords,” kurioi. The calmness under pressure, the tremendous ability to think under disaster conditions, puts them in a very high place in the estimation of the jailor. “What must I do to be saved?” The Greek says, “with the result that I might be saved.” He was thinking of two things. The word to save here does not mean spiritual salvation in the jailer’s mind. In his mind there is physical deliverance from his difficulty. “How can I get out of this terrible situation?” The word swzw is used both for physical deliverance and for spiritual deliverance/salvation as we think of it today. But when he comes in and confronts Paul and Silas the first thing on his mind is deliverance from his problem. God brings him to the place of an unsolvable problem in order that the issue of the gospel might be brought to him.

Verse 31 – he gets the perfect answer. Notice that it is short. In disaster conditions answers must be brief and to the point. “And they said” – this is simply a summary of the mechanics of salvation, and is not all they said. “Believe” is the aorist active imperative of the verb pisteuw, a word for a system of perception. It is usually translated in the verb “believe,” and in the noun “faith.” This is in the active voice: the individual himself must do the believing. It is an imperative mood, a command; “on the Lord Jesus Christ” – the only saviour.

“and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” – future tense, passive voice, i.e. it happens every time, salvation is received. “And thy house” is an idiom. It doesn’t mean that he believes and his household is saved, it simply means that what applies to him applies to them. The members of the jailer’s household will be saved in exactly the same way he is, and that is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 32 – “And they spake unto him the word of the Lord.” They had given the mechanics of salvation in one brief sentence; now there is amplification. The word of the Lord in this case is the gospel, good news.

“and to all that were in his house” – by this time his family had come into the picture. They have all gathered around and are listening to the gospel.

Verse 33 – apparently the jailer made his decision right then and there. The one who had fastened them to the stocks was now a different person. “He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his straightway.” “He took them” – paralambanw [para = preposition of immediate source; lambanw = receive], to receive from an immediate source, it means to welcome to one’s self. From the immediate source of himself he has received Christ, and he now receives Christians. His whole attitude toward these two men has changed.

“and was baptized” – aorist passive indicative. Aorist tense; in a point of time after he understood the pertinent doctrines about baptism; passive voice: he received baptism from Paul.

Verse 34 – “And when he had brought them [up] into his house, he set food before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.” “Believing in God” is a perfect active participle which says, “having believed in the God,” i.e. the revealed God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The thing that is important here is that they had joy, inner happiness. Their lives had been changed permanently; “and rejoiced” means more than to rejoice, it means to rejoice and to celebrate.

Verse 35 – “And when it was day [dawn], the magistrates sent to the sergeants, saying, Let those men go.” The word “magistrate” actually means praetor, the ruler of the city. These are the rulers of this Roman colony. What they have done can cause them to lose their charter as a Roman colony and they can get into very serious trouble. The Romans were sticklers for their law. Rome had a thousand years of greatness because of law, and the thing that characterised it more than anything else was its adherence to law. Along with it the individual had a tremendous sense of self-discipline, and the combination of the two made the Romans a great people.

Verse 36 – “now therefore depart, and go in peace.” This is the advice of the Roman jailer. The reason he is giving this is because he wants no more trouble from the night before.

Verse 37 – but Paul has a civic responsibility. “But Paul said unto them” – literally ‘face to face with them.’ Paul is a Roman citizen and he knows that it is unlawful to scourge a Roman citizens and that these magistrates had violated Roman law. Because of this Paul is now taking a civic stand. There are three reasons for this stand:

a) Paul as a Christian has responsibility to the Roman empire since he himself is a Roman citizen. Paul makes an issue out of this civil injustice because if these magistrates continue this practice then Roman law will be destroyed in Philippi.

b) Paul is concerned for the believers who have accepted Christ in the last two weeks in Philippi. He wants the local church protected, and the civil government has the responsibility to protect the property, the rights, the business and the churches—any private organization. The local church is a private organization; it is not a public organization at all.

c) The breakdown of local government in thew Roman empire will hinder evangelism in missionary activity. The local government must protect the freedom and the rights of the individual, and there must be law and order for the gospel to get a wide hearing. He is not only concerned about the local situation but he is concerned about the entire world. Divine institution #4, along with all divine institutions, is designed for maximum evangelism of those who have positive volition at the point of God-consciousness.

“They have beaten us” – aorist active participle, “having scourged us.” This takes us

back to a point of Roman law which was settled in 248 BC when the Romans enacted a law which said that it was a crime to scourge a Roman citizen; “openly uncondemned” – the verbal adjective describes the miscarriage of justice. In other words, he was no permitted a hearing. The accusation was heard and accepted without any opportunity for rebuttal.

“being Romans” – he doesn’t say that he is a Roman in the sense of the verb e)imi which is the verb of status quo, and he doesn’t use the word ginomai which means he became a Roman citizen. The word that he uses is u(parxw which means to exist in a status which one has long before he was born. In other words, Paul apparently is from a long line of Roman citizens. He did not purchase his citizenship or acquire it in his life time.

“now do they thrust us out secretly?” nay verily” – no, on the basis of doctrine. In other words, Paul’s stand is based upon the application of the Word of God to experience.

“but let them come themselves and fetch us out” – and this leads to the humiliation of the praetors.

Verse 39 – “and besought them.” They begged them.

“and they desired them to depart out of the city” – in other words, as soon as they get these people out the sooner they are off the hook.

Verse 40 – the house of Lydia is where the Philippian church is meeting. “Comforted” here has to do with the giving of doctrine. Everyone departed except Timothy and Luke.