Acts 16:12-40 " And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days. And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped GOD, heard us: whose heart the LORD opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, ' If ye have judged me to be faithful to the LORD, come into my house, and abide there.' And she constrained us. And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination 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.' And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, 'I command thee in the name of JESUS CHRIST to come out of her.' And he came out the same hour.
And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, and brought them to the magistrates, saying, 'These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.' And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely: who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto GOD: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, 'Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.' Then he called for a light and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved ? ' And they said, 'Believe on the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.' And they spake unto him the WORD of the LORD, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in GOD with all his house.
And when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, 'Let those men go.' 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.' But Paul said unto them, 'They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily ? Nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out.' And the sergeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans. And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city. And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed."
I have always been somewhat amazed at this account of Paul in Philippi for a number of reasons. First, despite the fact that a man in a vision beckoned him to come into Europe, it was a woman who became the first convert (vv.14-15). Second, though Satan tried to use the demon possessed woman to thwart the purpose of GOD in Europe, the end result was the Salvation of the jailer and his family. Third, the witness of Paul and Silas had such great impact because they lived what they preached by praying and singing praises unto GOD, which the jailer heard (v.25). Fourth, Paul's insistence that they, as Roman citizens, receive the full protection of the law is a reminder to us that we today have the right to due process under the laws of our land.
But suppose that Paul and Silas had NOT obeyed the heavenly vision. What if they had simply ignored the call and determined to go into some of the regions of Asia Minor where they had already tried the door ? When and how would the Gospel message have made its way into Europe ? And, what impact would that decision have had upon the whole missionary movement and the spread of the Gospel to Western civilization ? THANK GOD for the words in verse ten: "And after he had seen the vision, immediately we (Luke, the narrator, apparently joined them at Troas) endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the LORD had called us for to preach the Gospel unto them. Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course" (vv.10-11). It was this obedience that eventually led to Lydia's Salvation and to the vitally essential question of the jailer at Philippi: "What must I do to be saved ? " (v.30). JED
Your servant in CHRIST,
Julie
Copyright, Feature: A Daily Bible Study Guide.
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