Chapter Sixteen –
Second Journey of Paul
ACTS 16:13-15:
We began
this journey with Paul and Silas in
Antioch of Syria;
they then traveled through the rest of
Syria
and through the region of
Cilicia
strengthening the Bodies of Christ
along the way. When they came to the area of the two cities of
Lystra and Derbe,
they will pick up young Timothy to travel with them. They delivered the
decrees to these cities which strengthened them to a productive unity. From
here they will travel to two new areas of Asia Minor;
Phrygia and Galatia.
Luke does not record anything about these visits and Paul will not return to
these regions until
Chapter 19.
Passing
through the region of Mysia (having been forbidden by the Spirit of God to
go into Asia and Bithynia at this time), Paul and his group have come to
Troas.
Here at Troas, Paul will have a vision encouraging him to go to Macedonia
and bring the Gospel. As they determine to go to Macedonia, we learn that
Luke joins them.
They set
out across the Aegean Sea and cross with relative ease, stopping at the
island of
Samothrace,
and the next day arriving at
Neapolis,
the sea port town for Philippi. From Neapolis they head straight to
Philippi,
the chief city of this region.
Please use
the map provided:
http://www.plvcc.org/index.html?/articles_live_by_faith/image2/CNM19-Pauls2ndJourney.gif
Note:
Before we begin to look into the work of Paul here in Philippi, I would like
to share with you, from his own words, some things to consider as we look at
the events in Philippi, note:
Philippians 4:8-9
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever
things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things
are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are
of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is
anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
9
The things
which you learned and received and heard and saw
in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”
As Paul
writes back to the Christians established by the preaching of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ here in Philippi, he reminds them of all the properties
necessary to learn, and states that they have witnessed all of them in his
actions among them. We will in the next lessons begin to look at three
examples of these events to be noticed and recalled by these brethren and
you and me.
Text #1:
Acts 16:13-15
“And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the
riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to
the women who met there.
14
Now a
certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from
the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed
the things spoken by Paul.
15
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.”
Example
#1: Paul to Bring God’s Word to Religious People!
It was
always Paul’s custom to go into a city and enter the synagogue to preach the
Gospel. So, this is not a new practice; however, it is at this point that I
would like to point out that Paul never allowed someone who did not
comprehend his understanding of the righteousness of God, to stop him from
sharing it regardless and nor should we!!!
First,
since we see that Paul did not enter the synagogue, we have to take notice
of the fact the Philippi did not have one. Synagogues existed in the known
world everywhere there were enough Jewish men to maintain one; as we note
that there is not one here, we can also deduce that there was only a minor
presence of Jews in Philippi.
Since there
was not synagogue, Paul would have inquired and found out where the limited
amount of Jews in the city would be assembled (the true meaning of
the word synagogue); down by the riverside. It is here that he will come in
contact with Lydia.
Lydia:
She is residing in Philippi as a seller of the purple garments for which
Thyatira was famous (her native city located in Asia Minor, and spoken of as
one of the seven churches of Asia –
Revelation 2:18-29). She is obviously wealthy in that she has a
home here and servants, but also she is a devout woman who seeks God
regularly.
Opened her
Heart:
There has
been no end to the misuse of this statement in the context.
First,
take note of the fact that Paul has done nothing here except speak words to
her (Vs.
13).
Second,
Luke’s statement here only insinuates that she is absorbing the material in
her heart (the source of all that we truly believe and are motivated to
accomplish –
Romans 10:9-10). This is no more mystical or miraculous than
Paul’s statement to the Christians at Corinth, note:
1 Corinthians 3:6
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.”
God’s word
always finds the hearts that are truly contrite and willing to have the seed
planted –
Mathew 5:3;
13:8,
23.
Luke’s
words here are contrasting! He is simply recognizing an honest heart from
the vast amount of dishonest hearts, especially among the Jews, who have
heard; yet, the Gospel’s seed found no home.
In
Matthew 13:14-15;
Mark
4:12;
Luke
8:10;
John
12:40-41; and
Acts
28:26-27, both Jesus and Paul would quote from
Isaiah 6:9-10, note:
Isaiah 6:9-10
“And
He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on
hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10
“Make the
heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And
understand with their heart, And return and be healed.”
In every
case, this is spoken of to the Jews and their usual unwillingness to open
their hearts to God’s message; Lydia is being noted by Luke as a contrast
to the norm and the recipient of the underlined portions of this quote
from Isaiah (remember that this entire letter is written to Theophilus, who
himself being a proselyte, would understand the contrast). In addition, we
know that it could not be anything or in any way different than the way that
the Gospel has come to everyone else up to this point, without making God a
God of partiality (which His own word demands He is not –
2
Chronicles 19:7;
Job
34:19;
Acts
10:34;
15:9;
Galatians 2:6;
Ephesians 6:9;
Colossians 3:25;
1
Peter 1:17).
This
establishes one of the Divine rules of exegesis; we cannot understand or
create a doctrine that in fact is contrary to other portions of the
universal revelation. Remember, it is not of private interpretation (2
Peter 1:20); which demands then, that we can only understand the
passage as Divinely intended and simply heed it (2
Peter 1:19).
Since we
have already established that any doctrine created by misunderstanding this
passage to teach a Divine intervention and special selection process, it
would put it at odds with the instruction that God is not partial. In
addition, it would make God to blame for those in the world who do not obey
the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Opposed to –
Mark
16:15-16), and make it of no consequence to bring the Gospel to
the world, thus denying the power of the Gospel (Opposed to –
Romans 1:16-17).
Were
Baptized:
At the
conclusion of Paul’s instruction to Lydia, she and her household (“Women
who met there” –
Vs.
13) were baptized (which also shows that they were present during
the instruction).
Everyone in
this conclusive act has been capable to accurately hear and comprehend the
message of the redemption of Jesus Christ (thus not babies – I almost feel
that it is superfluous to have to say it, but we all know that it has been
used to instruct infant baptism); which has led them to this final act of
faith and addition to the Body of
Christ (Acts
2:47;
5:14;
Galatians 3:26-27). This additionally establishes the Body here
in Philippi in these first converts.
Note:
As we go back to the beginning thought of this portion of Paul’s work in
Philippi; he did not shy away from these women because they already had an
understanding of God’s revelation different than his, instead he practiced
the very thing he preached and that we need to truly take to heart, note:
2 Timothy 2:24-26
“And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle
to all, able to teach, patient,
25
in humility
correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them
repentance, so that they may know the truth,
26
and that
they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil,
having been taken captive by him to do his will.”