Anyone can be happy in pleasant circumstances, but real joy comes only from within, and is a gift available to Christians at all times. Acts 15:36-18: . _Gen. "When the slave girls masters had brought Paul and Silas to the magistrates, they said, These men, who are Jews, are confusing our city, proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us Romans to accept or to observe. frequently, and the party comes to be known. It depends on daily cultivating joy in the Lord. The jailer thought the prisoners had escaped. Acts 16:16. Site Location117 Pembroke Pines-PEM. 19Now when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas, and dragged them to the marketplace to face the rulers. (Acts 16:16-19). Yet Jesus said that some demons would be more difficult to cast out than others (Matthew 17:21). But that would depend on where in the city he was and what kind of worship he came to perform. The book of Acts emphasizes the power and abilities of the leaders of the Jesus movement. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. secrets, and things to come. Acts 16, The Gospel's Power - West Palm Beach church of Christ | Next Explanation - The following list includes not only commentaries but other Christian works by well known evangelical writers.Most of the resources below are newer works (written after 1970) which previously were available only for purchase in book form . But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. Romans were exempt from public beatings. And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. 27The jailer, roused out of sleep, saw the prison doors open. These were convenient in sizeTo claim Roman citizenship falsely was punishable by death. (Williams). 10/13/22. Increasingly, our religious rights are being violated in the interest of so-called neutrality. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that nude dancing was entitled to considerable legal protection as expressive behavior, but they struck down student elections permitting speech that might be used for prayer prior to high school football games. He pointed this obviously repentant man to faith in Jesus Christ. "When it was day, the magistrates sent the police with this message: Release those men! The jailer reported these words to Paul: The magistrates have sent a message for your release; therefore come out now, and go in peace. But Paul replied with this message for the magistrates: They have flogged us publicly, without a trial, men who are Romans, and have cast us into prison. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. The wisdom and greatness of Gods plan was beginning to unfold. A. It is possible that they didnt have the opportunity, but it is more likely that the Holy Spirit directed them to not reveal it until a certain time. to set aside Jewish prejudice. 4. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. At the beginning of Paul's second mission, the Lord directed him to people who were prepared to hear the gospel. But Paul said to them, They have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. OUTLINE I. TIMOTHY JOINS PAUL AND SILAS (1-5) A. TIMOTHY'S BACKGROUND (1-3) 1. And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city. And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Acts 2:40. They seized Paul and Silas: Paul and Silas were singled out not only because they were the leaders of the evangelistic group, but also by their appearance, as they were the most obviously Jewish. (Acts 16:6) they received a GOOD NEWS FOR EVERYONE When a Barnabas leaves (for whatever reason), God has a Timothy to go on with him. Now when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas, and dragged them to the marketplace to face the rulers." We demand that they personally come and bring us out (16:37). THESE MEN ARE SERVANTS. All I can say here is, when you are treated wrongly, your response should be motivated by the furtherance of Gods glory and the gospel, and by the administration of Gods justice through law and government, which He has appointed for the well being of society. i. They were assumed guilty without a hearing or trial. It is false teaching that Christians are exempt from the common trials that come upon the entire human race: sickness, poverty, tragedies, and death. Rather, they accused them of throwing the city into confusion and of proclaiming customs that were not lawful for Romans to accept or observe (16:20-21). He devised the plan of salvation and sovereignly chose certain individuals to salvation before the foundation of the world ( Eph. Python, in the Greek mythology, was the serpent b. I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her: Jesus cast out demons with His own authority. That convicts me of my lack of joy and my grumbling over the minor irritations in my life! 2. Paul asks Timothy to come with him on their journey, preaching the gospel in Asia Minor. First, there were the false accusations. 20When the slave girls masters had brought Paul and Silas to the magistrates, they said, 'These men, who are Jews, are confusing our city, 21proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us Romans to accept or to observe'. 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. With Paul, we should aim at doing all things for the sake of the gospel (1 Cor. Americans rejected this call for fidelity to abstract ideals and a balanced budget over the need to help decent people live decently. _for _of a certain woman which was a Jewess, We remember at the end of our study last week there arose a contention And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. Acts 16:1-15 Verse by Verse - Simply Bible The late Romanian pastor, Richard Wurmbrand, spent 14 years in prison for preaching the gospel, three in solitary confinement in a dark cell. A description of Philippi. i. b. Suddenly there was a great earthquake which shook the prison to its foundations. Read Acts 16 again and ask God to reveal and emphasize truths from this chapter that He wants you to see. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas. oracles met us. Acts 1:8 Commentary; Acts 20:17-27 Commentary; Acts 20:28-38 Commentary; COMMENTARIES AND OTHER RESOURCES THAT CAN BE BORROWED FROM ARCHIVE.ORG. But the overflow of their worship was witness. Lydia was prospering in business; the guard was about to kill himself. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. In last Sunday's lesson, Paul met Lydia while he was looking for a place of prayer. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. Immediately all the doors were opened, and everyones bonds were loosed. There She didnt do this only once, but for many days (Acts 16:18). All doors seemed to be Pauls missionary team did not hesitate to follow him on the basis of this call. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. The jailer then brought Paul and Silas up into his house, and set food before them. Acts 16:25-40 (ESV) 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. The English, on the other hand, although faced with a more benevolent geography, had a preference for clustering close to the Atlantic seaboard until the eighteenth century; only in the Hudson and Connecticut River valleys, and in parts of the Chesapeake region, did settlement of the interior begin from the outset.50 It is a striking commentary . Our rights are not as important as our obedience to the will of God. Why did Paul do that? At some time you will be falsely accused. They charged the jailer to keep them safely. So, they came down to Troas. And she prevailed upon us. b. And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divinationc met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. On the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made: 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. Praise the Lord is not a nice suggestion; its a command! by her Satanic incantations, continues to follow these evangelists day Acts chapter 16. Cultivating joy in the Lord every day is not optional. possessed with the devil, by whose inspiration she foretold future Acts 16 Resources | Precept Austin The crowd rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore the clothes off Paul and Silas, and commanded them to be beaten with rods. This is salvation by grace alone, received by faith alone. So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. It is used here because the python was associated with the god Apollonot far from Philippi, in this very area of Europe, there was a shrine to the Pythian Apollo. (Boice). They were biased because of their Jewish appearance, and because they assumed Paul and Silas were not Roman citizens. The greatest help we can bring anyone is the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. Acts 16:1 - Timotheus; Acts 16:10 - we Lord had . " Jeremiah 16:16 (KJB) On this episode of 'Rightly Dividing', we are covering a lot of ground tonight and taking your Bible questions as we do it. Development structures variation and, consequently, the ways in which a population can respond to selection (1-4).The direction with the greatest amount of variation is termed the "line of least resistance" (LLR) (5-7).The LLR represents the direction of greatest potential for evolutionary change because it contains the . Pioneer preacher J. W. McGarvey (1829-1911), commenting in his famous "Commentary on Acts" on the apostle Paul's vision of the invitation to go into Macedonia (see Acts 16), made some . Commentary on Acts 16:16-34 - Working Preacher from Luther Seminary Prayers and praises unto God at midnight, in the midst of a brutal prison. Psalm 97 . Acts 16:6-10 Phrygia, Bithynia, Mysia. Focus on joy in the Lord and dont forget your witness. The Jewish religion was tolerated, but Jews were prohibited from proselytizing Romans. TO PRAYER; the place of prayer. The size of this file is 8.8 megabytes. CHAPTER 16 If our rights are violated, we dont take it sitting down. When her masters saw that their means of gain was gone they took Paul and Silas before their rulers and charged them with teaching rules of living that were unlawful. In not escaping, they showed tremendous discernment. Enduring Word Bible Commentary Acts Chapter 16 Acts 16 Commentary & Bible Study His collection of works is called Thiruvachakam. Like the children of Israel in the wilderness, they think that they would be happier back in slavery in Egypt than to be with God and His provision in the wilderness. i. _for _Lystra, _A.V._; Timothy _for _Timotheus, _A.V._; of a Jewess 16. Roman citizens had specific, zealously guarded civil rights. Acts 16:35-40. certain maid having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her The demon inside the girl kept shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved" (16:17). Always? Presumably this was because demons gave her supernatural insight into the lives of others. Those charges were simply not true. before, Paul was favorably impressed with the young man, Timothy, who Therefore, a most important element in evangelism is asking God through prayer to open hearts, for without this there can be no genuine conversion. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. New International Version. 6:10)? And fifty days after the Passover, the second major Jewish feast, the Feast of Pentecost, or the Feast of Ingathering. iii. iii. Acts 16:16-40 - Charles Box Commentaries - bibliaplus.org RV 'And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having GAIN THEREBY. He Paul and Silas travel to Derbe and Lystra, where they meet Timothy 2. Her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone: This explains why Paul and Silas were treated so badly. Mythology, by Apollo, who was hence called Pythius, and the priestess _as we went to prayer_ Better, AS WE WERE GOING TO THE PLACE OF gave information to the slave girl so that she could tell people Timothy's father, however, was a Greek. Strong churches will naturally increase in number daily, without relying on man-centered and manipulative methods. And this she did for many days. It was at least the third choice for him. ANGER OF THOSE WHO MADE And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay. So she persuaded us. CONVERSION AND BAPTISM OF LYDIA. and from thence to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the first Thats how it always should be. (p.40-42, 1998 edition, Lucis Trust) Its still possible for a type of Macedonian Man to give an unusual call to serve God in a distant place. But he let their wrong go unpunished and by his actions showed that Christians are not out for personal vengeance. Save yourselves, &c. That is, "See that you lay these things to heart; receiving them with such regard, as the importance of the case requires. TIMOTHY WORKS WITH PAUL AND SILAS, 16:1-5 The use of they here suggests that Luke stayed behind in Philippi for at least a while, perhaps to care for this new congregation. Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. If anyone had a right to be angry, they did. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Don't harm yourself: we are all here!" (Acts 16:25-28). Having received such a command, the jailer threw Paul and Silas into the inner prison, and secured their feet in the stocks."