Bible 101 - Acts 16-18:11

Presented September 11, 2006 by Phyllis Gilbert

Review: In reading and reflecting on the book of Acts, we're learning that it is much more than the history of the early church as written by (and much of it observed by) Luke. There's a reason why many who read it say that it's misnamed: rather than the "Acts of the Apostles," the book should be called "The Acts of the Holy Spirit," for it is this spirit of God which inspired, motivated and energized the work of those who were eye-witnesses to Jesus' life and ministry. They took the message of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross to redeem mankind to all they knew, and those converts spoke to all they knew, and thus, the message spread, as Jesus had commanded: "first in Jerusalem and Judea, and to Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

The book divides nicely into two halves: in the first half, we saw the original apostles (minus Judas) and other believers together in prayer and anticipation, 120 strong, waiting for the fulfillment of Jesus' promise that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:8). On the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), this promise was made dramatically real, and from that day on, the apostles and disciples witnessed to the gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Peter, James, John and Phillip, the latter one of the seven who were chosen to administer the food program (Acts 6), were promiment in the early years of ministry. They preached in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and their converts took the gospel to the neighboring territories of the Roman Empire. These early Christians suffered imprisonment, persecution and even death; Stephen, the first martyr, was stoned for his faith (Acts 7), and that death was approved by Saul, a young Jewish zealot whose goal was to preserve Judaism by eradicating Christianity. And then, the most astounding chapter of church history begins with Saul becoming Paul on the road to Damascus when God asked him "Why are you persecuting me?" (Acts 9) For three days, Paul lay blind and helpless, and during that time, the Holy Spirit revealed to him the connections between the Old Testament prophecies and the life of Jesus - connections he'd formerly been blind to. When Paul's physical sight was restored, his new spiritual insight was apparent as he began to preach the gospel; in short, Paul made a complete turn about from his days as persecutor of the church to a man on fire for Jesus Christ. And he never lost that enthusiasm. So in the second half of the book, the focus switches from preaching exclusively to Jews, to bold evangelization of Gentiles. For example, Peter (Acts 10- 12) is given a revelation of God's plan - that salvation is for everyone, not just Jews - and the Jerusalem council of elders rules importantly on the issues of the law as pertaining to Gentile converts. Paul, chosen to take the gospel to the Gentiles, begins to move (Acts 13-14). Paul's first missionary journey in 46-48 A.D. comes at least a decade after his own conversion, and 14 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. In all that time, the church has grown and been nourished by the Holy Spirit's presence - and decisions the elders make in Jerusalem (Acts 15) confirm this.

Acts 15:36: Paul and Barnabas have been in Antioch for at least a year following their first missionary trip, and during this time, it's surmised that Paul may have written his letter to the Galatians since it deals with the question of Gentiles adhering to the law or not. Galatia was a region of the Roman Empire which included cities like Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Derbe and Lystra, cities they'd visited on their first missionary trip. Paul now wants to go back to visit these churches to see how the believers are getting along, to encourage them and build up their faith. Barnabas wants to take Mark with them, but since Mark had deserted them just months into their first trip, Paul flatly refused. And so Barnabas took Mark, Paul took Silas, and the two pairs went in different directions. Barnabas sailed to Cyprus (his home), while Paul and Silas went overland to Syria and Cilicia "strengthening the churches."

Acts 16: Paul and Silas then go on to Derbe and Lystra, two cities Paul had gone to on his first trip. In Lystra, after Paul had healed a crippled man, the city had tried to make sacrifices to him and Barnabas as gods. Paul had deflected their attempted worship, but they'd had to leave town after Paul was stoned and left for dead. Now he's returning, and here he and Silas meet Timothy, a young disciple, whom Paul takes with them as an apprentice. From the second of Paul's letters to Timothy, we can infer that on Paul's first visit to Lystra, Lois and Eunice, Timothy's grandmother and mother, had become converts, and they had taught Timothy. Timothy is a stand-out, and Paul refers to him both in his later letters to him and in letters to churches as his "son in the faith." Because Timothy is an uncircumcised Jew (father a Greek; mother a Jew), Paul circumcises him before they leave Lystra. On their journey, they visited all the believers Paul had seen two or three years before, telling them of the ruling from the Jerusalem elders and strengthening them in the faith.

Acts 16:6: At the border of Mysia, a territory in what is now Turkey, their progress further into a northern region was blocked by the Holy Spirit. Whether this means that their transporation was unavailable, an illness struck one of them, weather intervened - we don't know, but they could not go north, but went south instead to Troas. There, Paul had a vision of a man saying "come into Macedonia and help us." The Holy Spirit used various means to lead Paul, but it was always spontaneous. Never did Paul leave the Antioch church with a firm itinerary such as: "in two weeks, forward my mail to Timothy's mother in Lystra, then a month later, forward it to the senior warden at Pisidian Antioch." It didn't work that way. They went to a city and stayed until God let them know it was time to move on, in which case, they were given some sign to go east, west, north or south. In this way, Paul preached the gospel all over the Mediterranean world. Now they're off to Macedonia - a region in Greece - this time by ship. They (and notice the pronoun "we" in v. 10; Luke has now joined Paul, Silas and Timothy) sailed to Samothrace, an island, and then on to Neapolis, a coastal city in Macedonia. On to Philippi, and there they stayed for several days. Philippi was a Roman garrison town, which got its name from Philip, father of Alexander the Great. It was a city important not only for its Roman troops, but also for its trade routes. It may also have been the hometown of Luke, and if not his home, then because a medical school was in Philippi, it may have been where he obtained his medical training. In any event, he meets Paul and joins the journey around the Mediterranean.

Acts 16:13: On a Sabbath, Paul would find a synagogue, but in Philippi, there was none, and so the four went out of the city to the riverbank and found Jews, mostly women, at prayer, and so Paul spoke to them. A woman named Lydia, a "dealer in purple cloth" responded to the message and invited them home for lunch. Lydia was a successful business woman; the "purple cloth" would have been a vital component of the Roman soldier's uniform, and in Philippi, she found a ready market. (Just as in Oceanside, you find tailors who sew on patches for Marines, who sell cammies and other military garments). After lunch, Lydia invited them to stay with her. They remained in Philippi for a period of time, long enough to preach and teach from Lydia's house, in the marketplace, at the place of prayer - anywhere they could get a crowd to listen. Among the other merchants was a fortune-teller whose star performer was a slave girl who coud tell the future. She followed Paul and Silas saying "these men are servants of the Most High God who are telling you the way to be saved." In effect, she was a promoter, and people came to hear them. But her fortune-telling power, and her ability to say who Paul and Silas were, came from the devil, and one day, Paul turned to her and said "In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her"; once the demonic spirit was cast out, the girl was no longer of value to her owners. In their fury at losing money, they grabbed Paul and Silas and took them to the authorities, demanding they be jailed for "advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."

Acts 16:23: They were beaten and put in prison, probably a stinking hole, chained to a wall, a very uncomfortable place to spend the night, let alone weeks or months before an official decided to free them or kill them. Luke and Timothy are not jailed, making it apparent that their roles were not as public or vocal as Paul and Silas's were. While inside their cell, Paul and Silas spent only a minute or two bemoaning their sudden change of scene; at midnight, we're told they were "praying and singing hymns to God." What a response to jail! An earthquake shook the jail, opened the gates and all the prisoners' chains fell off. The jailer, fearing for his life, grabbed his sword, certain he'd be killed by the Romans at the escape of all the prisoners. But Paul and Silas call to him "Don't harm yourself; we are all here." And they were. The jailer was amazed, took torches into the jail, warm water and towels, food and coffee, and led Paul and Silas out asking "what must I do to be saved?" We can read this in two ways: "how can I be saved from execution by my bosses?" or "how can I be saved and be as you are, a Christian?" It's the latter that Paul responds to: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved - and your household." Paul then preached, and everyone in the jailer's house believed. They spent the rest of the night eating and rejoicing, and in the morning, the same magistrates who had imprisoned them, came to Paul and Silas and said "you're free; go in peace."

Acts 16:37: Paul is having none of this; he's been beaten and jailed, and he's a Roman citizen whose rights have been violated; the magistrates blanch at this. All Roman citizens were entitled to a trial before punishment. Paul and Silas had been denied this, and we can imagine that the magistrates went to the prison with a limosine, nice new clothes and LL Bean backpacks for each filled with bottled water and trail mix, to escort Paul and Silas to the city gate, saying "go; have a nice life." But Paul and Silas declined to leave before saying farewell to Lydia; they returned to Lydia's house and after a time of prayer and rejoicing in God's mercy and grace, left the believers.

Acts 17: Continuing along the Macedonian coast, they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, stopping finally at Thessalonica. We're not told any details of their "passing through" the two cities of Amphipolis and Apollonia, but it's hard to imagine that Paul doesn't preach to at least a few people in each city. Hoever, Luke puts his emphasis on their time in Thessalonica. In this large city (200,000), the capital of Macedonia at the time, they find a synagogue and there Paul preaches and teaches, winning many converts to the Gospel. This continues for several weeks, perhaps longer, until "jealous Jews" got a mob of n'er do wells together and caused a riot, blaming it on Paul and Silas's teaching. At Jason's house the mob demands Paul and Silas come out; they're not there (but we can assume that's where they'd been staying). Failing to grab Paul and Silas, the mob settles for Jason and "other brothers [believers]" and drag them to the officials, making accusations all the way about how "these men have caused trouble all over the world" and "they're defying Caesar's decrees" because the crowds had heard Paul and Silas refer to Jesus as their king. Remember the chief priests and Sanhedrin's charge against Jesus when they took him to Pilate? They could only get a death sentence on grounds of treason, so telling Pilate that Jesus was claiming to be a king fit their plans. Here in Thessalonica, the same charges are leveled; Jason was made to guarantee that there would be no more riots, and of course, the best guarantee was for Paul and Silas to leave, and they did.

Acts 17:10: Paul and Silas went next to Berea, about 50 miles away; there Timothy rejoined them, having probably been left in Philippi for several months. Paul and Silas went to the synagogue in Berea, and there they met students of the law who respectfully listened to the gospel and then checked it against scripture. "Many of the Jews believed," as did Greek men and women. The gospel is gaining converts daily and is spreading further and further from Jerusalem. And opposition grows, too; those "jealous Jews" from Thessalonica hear about the conversions in Berea and send henchmen there to stir things up; once again, Paul has to escape at night. Silas and Timothy remained in Berea to encourage and teach the new believers; Paul and his escorts went on to Athens. The Berean believers went back home, telling Silas and Timothy to travel on to Athens to join Paul, but from ch. 18, it seems clear that they don't catch up to Paul until Corinth.

Acts 17:16: With or without companions to help him distribute flyers or set up microphones, Paul preached. In Athens, he canvasses the city, seeing temples and shrines to a variety of gods; this disturbed Paul, and he went to the marketplace (Agora) and spoke to the philosophers gathered there. In the glory days of Athens, 500 years before, the city was famed for its many orators and its focus on learning and debate. As usual, Paul takes on all comers - debating with both Epicureans and Stoics, who "dispute" with his message of Jesus as savior. They take him to the Aeropagus, also known as Mars Hill, a place noted for its defense of Greek thought and philosophy. It would be like going to Harvard's faculty club today to take on the greatest thinkers in world religion. Paul stands before them and begins by establishing common ground: "Men of Athens, I see that you are religious." Here's a bit of a compliment; he's noticed just how many temples and statues to gods there are, and the Athenians are proud of their art and worship centers. But then Paul continues: "You have an altar inscribed 'to an unknown god,' and I'm here to tell you that the God I worship is not unknown; I can tell you all about him," and he does. Paul carefully takes them through evidence of God's presence in the world (creation, nature), and then leads them to Jesus as God's son who died and rose again. The idea of resurrection made some of them scoff, but others asked to hear more. And Paul, tireless in his zeal to spread the Gospel, obliged. And some believed.

Acts 18: After Athens, Paul moves on to Corinth, a double seaport town devoted to the worship of Aphrodite. It was a strategically located city, happily on sea and land trade routes from which it profited for centuries. Paul arrives in Corinth in 52 A.D., and meets, with God's guidance, two tentmakers with whom he will spend time. Aquila and Priscilla had recently resettled in Corinth, having fled Rome after Emperor Claudius evicted all Jews from the city. Paul joins their tentmaking business (this would have involved making awnings, bags, anything from canvas). It seems reasonable to conclude that Priscilla and Aquila were Christians since no mention is made of Paul preaching to them, and it would be unlikely that he would form a business relationship with non believers. So for a time, they work together, and Paul goes with them to the synagogue each Sabbath to "reason" with both Jews and Greeks who gather there. Eventually, Timothy and Silas caught up with Paul and from that time, he could devote himself full time to preaching. As usual, he was met with opposition from Jews who found his teachings blasphemous. Paul "shakes his robes" and tells them he's going to the Gentiles with the message of salvation; in fact, he moves right next door. A believer living next to the synagogue welcomes Paul where he preaches (loudly, no doubt) so persuasively that the synagogue ruler is converted along with his family. The congregation in Titius Justus's house grows.

Acts 18:9: God speaks to Paul in a dream one night telling him not to be afraid. The opposition in Corinth must have been increasing in volume and threats. We've seen in earlier cities where Paul faced "jealous Jews" that his life was endangered, and so God reassures him: "Do not be afraid, keep on speaking, do not be silent, for I am with you." What a wonderful message this was to sooth Paul's heart and affirm that he was where God wanted him, and he was doing what God wanted him to do. Paul is therefore able to stay in Corinth for 18 months, a long time to preach and teach, grounding the new converts in their faith. Remember Corinth is a city filled with temptation, particularly sexual, and Paul wanted to be sure they had strong faith to withstand it.

Next week: We'll see more of Paul in Corinth, and then he moves on.

Homework for those who want to go deeper:

Let's close in prayer.