This is posted as a resource for anyone wanting to learn about our Church and the Christian Faith. Do not plagiarize.
Acts 16:6-40
The Gospel goes to Philippi
Here at the beginning of Paul’s second missionary journey, we see the gospel going to the city of Philippi – and if you’re familiar with the New Testament – then you’re probably familiar with Paul’s letter to the Philippian Church – the church which began here in Acts 16 in which Luke highlights the conversions of 3 individuals, which result from Paul preaching the gospel in this city.
And they end up in Philippi even though that wasn’t the initial plan for their destination.
Because as we see, pretty shortly after they start out on their second missionary journey, they encounter a roadblock; but what we see is that the road-block is really a divine detour which God uses to guide them along the path of his plan.
Have you ever encountered a road-block in life? And had to sort of take a detour from your intended plan? And maybe you’re thinking, “yes, my whole life is a giant road-block!”
That can cause frustration, uncertainty, anger even – but the eyes of faith see that those road-blocks and detours from our perspective – are what God is using to bring us along his intended path of goodness and blessing.
And, what we see here is a picture of God’s guidance of his people as they seek to take up the call to live faithfully as witnesses of Jesus.
God has a plan – he is not only with them but has gone ahead of them – he has prepared a fruitful harvest in Macedonia – and these roadblocks which seems to only be hindering them and preventing them and inconveniently taking them out of the way, are actually funneling them down the pathway to guide them along with what God is already doing in his perfect plan.
And we see this guidance both positively and negatively. Negatively – as they’re traveling west, v6 they were “kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia”; and then v7 “they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to”;
We don’t know what this looked like exactly – it could have been through a prophet; it could have been an impression placed on the group; it could just be in general closed doors to moving in those directions.
Whatever the form it took; I imagine at this point they’re feeling at least confused, at most frustrated – because they just keep hitting roadblocks – closed door after closed door – and as of this point no positive guidance.
All their plans seem to be getting shut down – and it’s one thing for your plan to be shut down by someone who’s offering an alternative solution; but it’s another thing if the one shutting your plan down doesn’t seem to have a better one to offer.
Certainly they are feeling confused, frustrated; being told where not to go but wondering and being very unsure of where to go – they kept moving not really yet knowing where God was leading them before they finally get some positive guidance of where to go;
and finally in v9 – Paul has a vision of a man from Macedonia calling/begging for help – showing that God is at work their – making people there aware of their need to hear the message of salvation; making a readiness within them to respond to that message; and all they need now – is the messengers, to come and bring the message.
“Come and help us”.
God, the preparer of hearts – knows where they’ll have the most fruitful impact because he has gone ahead of them and he is there as the guide of his people to ensure they get to the right destination.
And so this is a reminder that God is still present with them. v7 – the Spirit of Jesus – in case you forgot – Jesus got this all started and he hasn’t forgotten; he hasn’t ceased to be involved; he hasn’t ceased to be present with his people – he is leading and guiding them along the path of his perfect will. They aren’t alone, though they are in places with no church and with no believers God is still with them – building his church.
And it’s a reminder that though we make plans – and that is a good and necessary thing – though we make plans according to which seems right and good and wise to us – we ought to be willing to have those plans be roadblocked and detoured by God, to give way to his better, perfect plan – we ought to hold our plans with humility knowing that human planning though good and right and necessary often fails and falls short as it comes from those with limited and flawed perspectives; but God’s plan is perfect because he has no limitation upon the scope of his perspective – there’s no detail that he misses, there’s no angle that he doesn’t have access to – and there is no flaw in his perspective – he never interprets something incorrectly and he sees every possible outcomes of every possible route – and so if that’s true, then we can know that the path he chooses is the right path; and so we can trust him and follow where he leads.
Because sometimes we plan in ways that are in line with God’s plan; and other times we plan and God in his own way intervenes – whether in abrupt obvious ways or not – in order to reroute our plan to line up with his.
Now we need to, I believe, be a little careful in applying this, because we see Paul get this vision in the night about what direction to go, and we then either wish, or expect, that that is always how God guides us;
and in wishing for that we can as a result of wishful thinking see the vision in the cloud that isn’t there – it’s just a cloud – and finding God’s guidance can become overwhelmed in subjectivity;
or in expecting that we can become disillusioned if it doesn’t come; and become paralyzed in never making a decision because God’s guidance doesn’t come in the way that we expect it to.
and we need to remember that this way of guidance has not been the norm, and isn’t the norm, in Paul’s missionary journeys – but that this is a bit unexpected; and the norm was simply making a plan and strategy to reach people; while trusting God to open and close doors along the way;
and his guidance comes in an extraordinary way with this vision; but this was an extraordinary mission – this was not just an everyday decision but it was a groundbreaking and foundational missionary journey in the establishment of the church; and so we shouldn’t expect comparable type of guidance when we aren’t really in comparable situations as Paul was in.
And it’s ok to realize that God doesn’t give us concrete, specific audible or visible guidance in every decision in life like what to wear or whether to drink juice or coffee or even what college to go to or where to live or what job to take or even what specific person to marry; but that it’s enough to know that God is with us – as we make plans and decisions with humility and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and applying the general principles of Scripture, we make those decisions with a degree of freedom, all the while trusting God to guide our path, and having confidence that he is bringing us along the right path of his perfect will.
And we need to remember that the primary type of guidance he gives us now – and the more important guidance – is ethical guidance rather, than directional guidance; and the primary way in which he guides us now is the Spirit’s working through the Word of God – which always guides us in an infallible way.
People often say things like, “I just wish God would give me some guidance.” And, if you read the NT, you see that there is enough ethical guidance to keep you busy for more than a lifetime repenting and serving and loving –
for example: “tell people about Jesus” – and if you’re not sure who to tell, or where to tell, maybe just desire to tell someone about Jesus and trust that God will open the right door of where he is at work.
And so they get to Macedonia and then we start to see God’s purpose in guiding them the way he did – as we see people there ready to hear and respond to the gospel.
They arrive in Philippi – v12 – a Roman colony and an important & wealthy city in that region;
We also see that there was no synagogue, which means that there must have been very few Jewish believers – needed 10 men for the establishment of a synagogue); place of prayer outside city – marginal status there; only women.
3 personal conversions:
A business woman; A slave-girl; a jailer
A business woman:
Lydia – v14 – a dealer in purple cloth – purple cloth was typically for the wealthy; and so she is introduced first as a successful business woman
and second, she is introduced as a worshiper of God: a gentile woman who was attached to the Jewish community as a god-fearer.
and we see in v14 that 3 key things happen in her conversion:
Paul preached the message of the gospel; she was listening to Paul’s message;
and both those 2 things are necessary for someone to come to faith – God doesn’t work without those things, but this things aren’t what contain the power to change a heart – and so even when our preaching or sharing our faith is weak, we can have confidence because we know that the power lies elsewhere.
they are necessary; but they aren’t enough; they alone can’t do it but need one more key ingredient that is what enables the preaching and the listening to result in faith:
“The lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message”.
Apart from that happening, a person cannot come to faith; and when that happens, a person will come to faith.
“Effectual Calling”: “the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel”
Persuades and Enables us to embrace Jesus.
It is we who embrace Jesus; but you see, we would never want to do that, unless the Spirit of God persuaded us; and we would never be able to do that, unless the Spirit of God enabled us.
Narnia, Aslan asks the Cabby if he wants to live in Aslan’s country forever, and he would but his wife is back in our world;
“Aslan threw up his shaggy head, opened his mouth, and uttered a long, single note; not very loud, but full of power. Polly’s heart jumped in her body when she heard it. She felt sure that it was a call, and that anyone who heard that call would want to obey it and (what’s more) would be able to obey it, however many worlds and ages lay between.”
And that call brings the wife across worlds and ages.
And if you’ve seen the concrete-hardness of your heart; if you’ve wrestled with your own spiritual blindness; if you feel worlds and ages of sin and rebellion lay between God and you; This gives us hope and confidence that it is not our strength or goodness by which we open our hearts to God, but the power and grace and goodness of God which opens our hearts to him; which calls us – with a call that can’t be ignored or resisted; which opens our hearts and eyes, so that we can see and love and behold him in faith – so that we will want to and will be able to respond to his call no matter how many worlds and ages of sin and rebellion lay between us and him.
And so, v15, she and her household are baptized, and she opens her home to them – as we’ve seen in the book of Acts, one of the fruits of receiving the salvation of Christ is generous hospitality.
Stott: “Once a heart is opened, the home is opened too.”
(a business woman); A slave-girl:
And, you couldn’t move to a more different person with a more different experience compared to Lydia, than this slave-girl; but the same Gospel reaches them both.
v16 -she earned a great deal of money, for her owners
she is an exploited woman.
Peterson: “Unlike Lydia, this woman is in control of nothing. She is a slave. Like Lydia, she earns money, but it belongs to someone else…”
Stott: “She owned nothing: Not what she earned, not even herself.”
And this, sadly, is nothing new at this point in history nor is it only history; exploitation of many people continues today; exploitation of women is all around us
And so, similarly to Jesus ministry, her possession by an evil spirit gives her insight into the true identity of Paul and his companions; and v17- “She followed them shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”
And this goes on for days, and Paul finally became annoyed – can mean annoyed or disturbed. I tend to think disturbed is a better translation.
2 sources of his disturbance:
first, perhaps as this girl has followed them around for some days, Paul becomes aware of her exploitation at the hands of her owners, and is disturbed by that and desires to see her freed.
second, probably he is disturbed by the possibility that his message would become associated with the evil spirit and occult practices of this girl; and so he wants to distance his message from her, and in fact show the superior power of the gospel to these occult false religious beliefs.
And so he casts out the spirit from this girl and this liberates her from not only the spirit but also from the exploitation she experienced at the hands of her oppressors.
the work of the Gospel in our hearts ought to produce compassion in us when we see those who are oppressed
And it isn’t said explicitly that this slave-girl comes to faith in Christ – but I think it’s implied as she experiences this deliverance by the power of Christ and her story is told in between these other 2 conversions;
but Luke’s focus turns to the slave owners response as this is what transitions to the next conversion story.
to the situation leading to this 3rd conversion – and the slave-owners response to Paul’s message due to it’s effect on their income through their exploitation of their slave.
They conceal the true reason for their anger; and they combine a bunch of false reasons: they falsely accuse them of causing civil unrest; but they also appeal to ethnic and religious prejudice to accomplish their agenda and win people to their side:
with the language of: “these jews”; “us Romans”. in a roman colony where there were few jewish residents it’s important to remember that the earliest Christians were not wielding political or majority power; but were the marginalized minority – they were lumped into Judaism because here Christianity wasn’t even a thing yet, certainly not a legal, recognized religion in the Roman Empire; and the only reason Paul gets some vindication after being flogged and imprisoned isn’t because he’s a Christian but only because he happens to be a Roman Citizen – which he probably makes a big deal about not for his own sake, but for the sake of the reputation of the marginal fringe group of the church that would be left behind after they were gone.
And Paul’s imprisonment leads to the third conversion:
(A business woman; a slave-girl); a Jailer:
Paul has been severely flogged; beaten with rods — a serious punishment; they are put in the stocks in the inner cell; and they are praying and signing hymns of praise to God.
This is incredible. I would be complaining, feeling sorry for myself, groaning in pain; they are praying and praising.
praying – probably for deliverance, restored opportunity for unhindered ministry; even for ministry opportunities while they are hindered by their chains
praising – trust in God’s sovereignty and trust in him no matter what their situation or outcome.
And in this case – the same as in chapter 5, the same as in chapter 12 – divine deliverance comes in answer to prayer.
But, it’s important to remember that while they’re praying and praising, there is no guarantee of their deliverance out of prison. so far in Acts – some have been released; others been martyred.
And we ought to have the attitude that praises him even when we don’t know that he will answer our prayer in the way that we’d like – even when doesn’t answer prayer in the way we’d like; knowing that he is good and loving and that he has a reason in carrying out his plan in the way that he does.
v25 – others listening – Paul no doubt saw the evangelistic opportunity – even while in chains.
If you’ve ever been in a prison – thankfully I’ve not been a prisoner but I’ve been a visitor – and even with just being a visitor, it is a dark place;
it is not a place where hope abounds;
but even in that darkest most seemingly hopeless place – Paul has the hope that God is still with them and working – and he sees an opportunity for the gospel to go forward –
and the consistent testimony of the book of Acts is that the gospel even in the place where it would seem most hindered is unhindered because it’s ability to go forward and transform lives doesn’t depend on the circumstances in which it finds itself but on the power of Jesus’ Holy Spirit – which can’t be kept out of a prison or any other place from one end of the earth to the other no matter how dark or hopeless or hindering that place or circumstance might seem.
And their praise certainly is the reason the jailer then asks how he can be saved.
He saw that during their imprisonment they demonstrated a living faith that was not something fake or superficial or hypocritical but something they held on to not only when life went well for them but even when life went badly – something that gave them real hope even in dark circumstances;
and he wants to know about that.
When we live out a real and genuine faith, people will notice. And if we live out a real and genuine faith even – especially in the dark and difficult times in life – people will want to know what the source of our hope and joy is – and even in that dark and difficult time we can then have opportunity to point people to the savior who is the reason for that.
The jailer sees this, he hears their prayers and praise while in jail, and asks the single-most important question that any one of us could ever ask: “What must I do to be saved?”
Have you asked that question?
And, we aren’t left wondering as to the answer: Believe in the Lord Jesus.
Have you found this answer – the answer that is the answer to all human longing and seeking and searching.
Lots we can learn from these conversions. But I can’t sum it up any better than John Stott: “It would be hard to imagine a more diverse group than the business woman, the slave girl, and the jailer. Racially, socially, economically, psychologically, they were worlds apart. Yet all three were changed by the same gospel and were welcomed into the same church.”
And despite that – these are who Paul and his team reach out to in love with the gospel.
The world wants to divide us – the world wants us to draw our lines of unity and separation around race; social status; economic class;
but the gospel gives us a deeper-than-skin-; more significant than class or status- basis for unity: that in the gospel we have come to the same savior; and that by the gospel we are all made children of God.
Stott: “In Philippi we see both he universal appeal of the gospel (that it could reach such a wide diversity of people) and the unifying effect of the gospel (that it could bind such diverse people together in God’s family).
despite all their difference, the chapter ends – v40 – with them all together in Lydia’s house and refers to them as “brothers and sisters”.
Those who would have no bond, apart from Christ, in him are one – members of the same family, children of God – brothers and sisters.