Sunday School Lessons: Acts 16

Lesson 20
Acts 16
The Second Missionary Journey (Part One)
Paul and Silas return to Galatia to “confirm” the churches and to correct the error of the Judaizers in Galatia.  The letter to the Galatians deals with this error and confirms the doctrine of justification by faith; a person is saved by grace through faith.

In this chapter, the Gospel is taken to Macedonia (Europe) instead of Asia or China.

Read vs. 1 and 2

This is the first time we meet Timothy.  Timothy was a convert to Christianity from Paul’s first visit to Lystra.  His father was a Greek, but his mother was a Jew.  Timothy has a good reputation and he joins Paul and Silas.

Read vs. 3

We learned last week that circumcision does not save you, nor is it necessary to be circumcised.  Timothy was half Greek and half Jew.  Because of Timothy’s Jewish roots, Paul did not want this to become an issue or reason for offense among the Jews, so Timothy was circumcised.  When Paul took Titus, a Gentile, to Jerusalem, Paul did not have him circumcised, but in this case, because of Timothy’s Jewish roots and in order to avoid unnecessary arguments, Timothy was circumcised.

Read 1 Corinthians 9:19-20 In this, Paul did not compromise the Gospel, but he avoided arguments and disputes about Timothy’s ministry.

Read vs. 4-5

They revisit the churches, reminding them of the apostles’ decrees and establishing them in doctrine, in the faith, and increasing their numbers.

6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

The Holy Spirit forbade them to take the Gospel south into Asia.  The people that lived in Asia (Ephesus was the chief city; a heavily populated area and an important cultural, commercial, political, and educational area).  They had come from the east and were forbidden to go to the south, so he went west to Troas.  In Troas, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia, praying and asking for them to come and help them. 

10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Notice what vs. 10 says:  immediately they went to preach the Gospel in Macedonia.  They were certain that God was sending them.  The Spirit was leading them into Europe!

Notice, too, the word “we.”  Who is “we?”  Do you remember who wrote the book of Acts?  It was Luke.  So now the missionaries include Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke.

11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days.

They journeyed from Troas to Philippi.  Philippi was the center of the region, a Roman colony and political center.  The people of Philippi had Roman customs and spoke Latin.  It was a very influential area and a strategic place to establish the Gospel in Europe.  Paul developed a very close relationship with the church in Philippi and it became a great encouragement to him.

13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

What was Paul’s usual custom when arriving at a new location to preach the Gospel?  It was the Sabbath, but there is no mention of them going first to the synagogue.  Perhaps there wasn’t an established group of Jews in Philippi.  Notice, too, that they did not meet with men, but with women!  This is very different from Paul’s usual method, but remember, the Holy Spirit is the one who is directing their ministry and in Philippi, they meet with some women.  They “sat down and spoke to the women.” What do you think they spoke to them about?  It is clear that they were speaking to them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because the Lord opened Lydia’s heart and she believed and was baptized along with her household, who also believed.  They went and stayed with her.

16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

This slave girl possessed of a spirit of divination, which is forbidden by God.  She earned money for her owners.  The people of the area would know this girl and her owners.  They would have seen her make predictions and foretell things for money.  She, and her owners had a reputation for divination.  Even though what she was saying was true, she was disrupting Paul and the others and probably damaged their work by her association with them.  Paul knew that she was possessed of a demon.  He cast out the demon.  

Read vs.17-24

The slave girls owners were angry that she would no longer earn them money as before so they took Paul and Silas before the Roman magistrates.  They didn’t say, “Hey, these guys are making us lose a lot of money!”  Instead, they appealed to the Roman customs and said that they were going against the Roman ways.  The mob rose up against them and they were beaten, whipped, imprisoned and put into stocks.

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. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened.

Paul and Silas were praying and singing.  Notice, the prisoners were listening to them.  The earthquake opened the doors and the chains fell off all the prisoners.

Read vs. 27-30.

When the jailer saw that the prison doors were open he knew that he would be held responsible, so he drew his sword to kill himself.  Paul cries out and stops him, telling him that all the prisoners were still there.  Trembling he went into Paul and Silas and asked them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

How must he be saved?  What about his household?  Could they be saved because of what HE believed?  No, but if they, too, believed on Jesus, they could be saved in the same way!

The jailer took them home to his house, and washed their wounds.  Paul and Silas told them the word of the Lord and they believed and were baptized.  They shared a meal at the jailer’s house and they rejoiced together.

35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. 40 So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

In the morning, the magistrates released the prisoners and told them to leave.  But they had been beaten and imprisoned unlawfully as Roman citizens and would not leave until they had received an apology.  The magistrates were afraid since they were Roman citizens and so apologized and asked them to leave the city.

Before they did so, they visited Lydia and encouraged those who were there.  Perhaps Timothy and Luke were with Lydia at her house.

Next week, we will continue the second missionary journey to Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens)  Please read chapter 17 before next Sunday.

*These lessons are written for use with elementary aged students.  You can find lessons for previous chapters here.