“The Things that Have Happened to Me”

Acts 16: 11–40

The team has arrived in Philippi. There is no synagogue. Where will they go? The work begins with a peaceful situation at a place of prayer by the river. A woman is converted, along with those of her house, and insists that her home be made the center of continuing work in the city. On a return trip to the place of prayer, a demon possessed girl began to stalk them and call out after them This led to a series of events in which the gospel message penetrated some of the most unlikely corners of society. Paul could write to the Philippians later, with entire credibility, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake” (1:29). Just as surely as their faith had been granted by the kindness of God’s grace, so had suffering been granted by the wisdom of God’s providence.

I. The Conversion of Lydia.

Though Paul was told to go to Macedonia, he was not told to which city he should go. Following his instinctual wisdom concerning how to begin the work in Europe, he went to Philippi, “a leading city of the district of Macedonia.” Though not given this precise instruction, Paul acted upon his confidence in the providence of God in these matters. We see a striking example of this in Paul’s determination to go to Jerusalem in 21:12–14.

A. They set out to sea from Troas, the most western port in Asia on the Aegean Sea.

The trip, relatively speaking, was short and apparently peaceful. They landed first at Samothrace and then on to Neapolis. From there they traveled overland a few miles to Philippi. They intended to stay in that city for some days.

B. With no synagogue in the city, they went on the Sabbath day to the river expecting to find a place of prayer.

It is possible that “place of prayer” would be synonymous with synagogue, but it does not appear that there were sufficient men for the normal pattern of worship to be followed—particularly the sermon—or for the normal organized life of the synagogue to be followed. Some things, however, such as the recitation of the Shema, prayers, and reading of the law and prophets could be done. When Paul, Silas, Luke, and Timothy came, a service including preaching could be enjoyed.

1. 1. Lydia was one of the women there. Her home town was Thyatira and she probably had moved there for the business advantages she would have as a seller of purple. Thyatira was in the country of Lydia where Smyrna and Ephesus were located. It is possible that Lydia was not her real name but an identification that stuck with her because of her relocation to Macedonia. Sir William Ramsay speculates that she might have been Euodia or Syntyche mentioned in Philippians 4:2.
   2. The Lord opened Lydia’s heart.

• • • Lydia is described as a worshipper of God. Though a Gentile, she had received the Old Testament revelation about God as true and was herself looking for the coming of a redeemer for the worshippers of Yahweh. She would have been glad for a learned exposition of the word of God.
    • With Paul present, preaching was prominent on this Sabbath. As he normally did, Paul would have started with a text of Scripture and proceeded quickly to show that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ (See Acts 13:16–23).
    • In this process, “the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.” Paul would say in Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Peter, in writing of the life of believers said, “Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, . . . . now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:23–25). James joins the chorus, “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth” (James 1:18). Again, we see briefly into the decrees of God in that the “Lord opened her heart.” So we find by synthesis of various accounts an order: ordination to eternal life, hearing the word, the divine action of opening the sinner’s heart, and the sinner’s joyful reception of the message, and then baptism.
    • This woman of Thyatira wanted the other members of her household, perhaps employees or relatives, to hear this message. They too believed and then she and her household were baptized. There is no New Testament evidence that household baptisms ever included infants but only those who were instructed (see 16:32–34; 1 Corinthians 1:16; 16:15).

1. 3. Lydia convinced them to use her house as a basis of their work in Philippi. Expressing both the joy and confidence of true faith and having identified her life with Jesus through baptism, she now wanted the workers in the gospel to have easy access to the city and to be cared for in such a way that they would not be distracted from their gospel labors (cf verse 40).

II. Demonic Aggravation – 16–24.

A woman who had extraordinary powers as a result of demonic possession followed Paul and Silas through the town.

A. A demonic façade of credibility – 16–18.

1. 1. The girl was under bondage to the devil and was being used by profiteers in the demonic insight given to her. One of the purposes of the gospel was to release people from the power of Satan (Ephesians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 4:4). “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in [the cross]” (Colossians 2:15). Compassion for the girl would drive Paul to cast out the demon in the name of Jesus.
   2. Her message, while strictly true, was not in its essence the gospel but drew attention to Paul and Silas themselves. It could have been an attempt on the part of the demon to achieve a compromise so that he would not be cast out, and Paul would end up with some degree of alliance with the enemy in his task of gospel preaching. See parallel in Mark 5:1–13, where the demons were addressing Jesus as “Jesus, Son of the Most High God.” Jesus’ disclosure of his identity was his business not theirs.
   3. If Paul needed supernatural intervention, he knew, as an apostle, God would provide what was needed and he should not in any sense imply approval of the demonic possession of a person made in God’s image. His personal proclamation would be a sufficient demonstration of the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16, 17).
   4. Paul’s action in casting out the demon showed the true power of the name of Jesus Christ in freeing the girl from the darkness of such spiritual oppression. Nothing more is said of her, but it is hard to imagine that she did not also hear and respond to the gospel. Perhaps like the man of a legion of demons (Mark 5:15, 19) she was now settled in a peaceful repose, in her right mind, and fully attentive to the true gospel as a child of great mercy.
   5. This passage demonstrates powerfully the distinction between correctness of head knowledge and the consent and adoration of heart knowledge. The devil in Matthew 4, the demons of Mark 5, the spirit of Acts 16, and the devils of James 2:19 all indicate true notions about God and Christ, even fitting fear, but nevertheless are enemies of the gospel and have the intent of destruction. True faith arises from a change of heart, both understanding and affections. This involves assertion of the truth, confession of personal blame and need, and opening of spiritual eyes to the glory of Christ’s person and work in freeing us from sin and Satan and uniting us to the saving grace of God.

B. The aggressive evil of covetousness – 19–21.

In Mark 5: 17, the owners of the pigs wanted Jesus to leave their territory; these owners of a person wanted Paul and Silas to be punished for their action.

1. 1. Their motivation had nothing to do with true justice, but only to do with a loss of profits gained by the most sinister of means.
   2. They took matters into their own hands, dragging them to the magistrates and hurling a barrage of imprecise, undemonstrated charges. At the time Paul and Silas were apprehended, there is no evidence that any turmoil existed.
   3. The accusations concerned only the assumed differences between Jews and Romans. The legal status of Jewish monotheism contrary to the polytheistic syncretism of Rome, had a long and hard-won history. Certain restrictions existed, however, in the process of proselytization. This objection has elements in it of the eventual all-out persecution by the Roman empire of the church.

C. The blindness of prejudice – 22–24.

1. 1. The crowd, after these charges were brought “rose up together against them.” This is an example of pure antisemitism. How much these hostiles knew of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, about whom Paul preached and whose name he had invoked in his “crime” we don’t know. They seemed to sense, however, that it was a special application of the Jewish religion that had caused them to lose profit.
   2. Without hearing their side of the case, and without trial, the magistrates stripped them, struck them with blows, and threw them into prison. Paul knew that God would intervene in order to gain a broader sharing for the gospel, but perhaps did not anticipate this particular way of accomplishing it.
   3. The jailer, having received strict orders concerning their imprisonment, made their incarceration as sure as possible, putting them in the inner prison, or dungeon, and fastening their feet in stocks. God will bring his people to extremities in their helplessness in order to demonstrate his control of all things and the overwhelming power of his deliverance. He is not at the mercy of demons to declare his message. Nor can the most intense and apparently fail-safe strategies of human opposition hinder him in his determination to save his elect (2 Peter 1:3, 4, 10; 3:9, 14, 15).

III. Providential Intervention – 25–30.

A. God gave grace to rejoice under persecution – Verse 25.

Another demonstration of the difference in a saving knowledge of God and mere mental assent is found in the response of Paul and Silas in “praying and singing hymns of praise to God.” The soul in the throes of redemptive love finds the goodness of God in everything and knows that the grace of forgiveness and justification transcends infinitely the most egregious of earthly circumstances. The singing of hymns was a greater evidence of the power of God than the earthquake that followed.

B. God intervened by means of the forces of nature – Verse 26.

1. 1. The entire world stands under condemnation, on the edge of eternal destruction, and will come to the time when such a display is consummated with holy fierceness and finality (Zephaniah 3: 8; 2 Thessalonians 1:6–10). Before then, God may manifest his displeasure through the means of nature in what we consider natural disasters (Habakkuk 3: 3–12). He also may use these same manifestations of sovereign power for the salvation of his people both before the final judgment as well as at that time (Habakkuk 3:13; Zephaniah 3:9–20).
   2. On this occasion God manifested his perfect control of all things in opening the doors, loosing both stocks and chains, and keeping all the prisoners in their places. Physical barriers were thrown down while the natural tendency of felons to escape was changed into satisfaction with the presence of the praise of God.

C. Despair turned to hope – Verses 27–30.

1. 1. The jailer had been given the job of assuring that all the prisoners were kept until they could be disposed of according to the laws of the state. They were his responsibility until that time. Any failure could result in the forfeiture of his life (See Acts 12:19).
   2. When the earthquake opened the doors of the prison, he assumed that the “prisoners had escaped.” Rather than face both the interrogation and humiliation before the authorities with the end result of an execution, he would take the execution into his own hands. He had been seized with a sense of ultimate despair and hopelessness from which there was no escape. At this point it was the fear of mere physical execution that drove him.
   3. Paul, either by knowledge of the law in such cases or by seeing the jailer draw his sword, called to him not to harm himself.

• • • “We are all here,” he said. Not only were Paul and Silas there but all the prisoners stayed put. Again, we are not told about the prisoners beyond that fact, but it was at least possible, if not likely, that all had been saved. Like the thief on the cross, their crimes, so obvious to all, had put them near the word of salvation (Look at Philippians 1:3–5 for a possible reference to this experience).
    • God was building the church at Philippi from a business woman who sold purple cloth, a demon-possessed girl, people under incarceration, and, soon, the jailer himself. Jesus came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

1. 4. Having passed by the fear of self-murder or public execution, an even greater fear gripped his soul. One burning issue now ransacked his conscience and he must make his way to the preachers of the gospel without delay. He did not bother to reattach the chains or even close the door to the prison, but called for a light and fell at the feet of Paul and Silas. Obviously having knowledge of the central features of their message from his awareness of the “crimes” which brought on the riot, he immediately posed the question about an ultimate issue. They spoke of a “way of salvation,” and the guilt that lay on his soul was pressing him with a greater sense of condemnation than any earthly tribunal.

IV. A Gospel Presentation – 31–34.

When Paul wrote to the Philippian church later from prison, he said, “My circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel” (Phil 1:12). They had seen this first hand in his first evangelistic visit to Philippi. The circumstances in which God designs to effect our sanctification and the execution of our calling often are unpredictable and counter-intuitive to us. Beating and imprisonment led to this moment of gospel encounter for the Roman jailer.

A. The Gospel in a sentence – Verse 31.

We will take a brief look at the importance of each word.

1. 1. The word “Believe” comes from a root word that implies several aspects of the understanding and affection. The character of each of these attributes in the kind of faith that saves comes from the nature of the gospel itself.

• • • This word begins with cognition. One must know the objective claims that are made. We cannot believe what is not presented to the mind and defined.
    • Assent is included. One must be convinced that the presentation is true. Yes, Jesus lived; yes, Jesus died on the cross; yes, Jesus rose from the dead; yes, it was for others that he died for he had no sin of his own; yes, it is right that God receives sinners only through him; yes, I deserve condemnation and the verdict of divine wrath against me is just.
    • Cordial consent follows assent. The heart and the affections embrace this way of salvation and find in Jesus the only worthy object of trust, love, and worship. “Whom having not seen, you love; and even now, though you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable, full of glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1: 8, 9). “If you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Those whose historical situation prohibits seeing, nevertheless, are convinced by evidence— historical , existential, and theological—that eternal life is found in trusting Christ. Such trust tends toward an exuberant sense of well-being in the hope of eternal life. To confess with the mouth means to express publicly the truth; to believe with the heart means that the affections of adoration and pleasant submission now constitute the will.

1. 2. “In,” “on,” or “upon.” This implies a trustworthy and stable foundation that will bear the weight of the thing that is placed “upon” it. The conviction of our helplessness is so strong, of our guilt is so oppressive, and of Christ’s worthiness and acceptability so simple that we can see no other refuge than his unchanging love and perfect reconciliation. Through him, we may be saved from the wrath to come.
   3. Lord Jesus Christ – This nomenclature includes an affirmation of each aspect of the person and work of the One who will save.

• • • “Lord” affirms the sovereignty of the object of faith. He is Lord, ruler, final authority. This title attributes to him deity. It identifies him as the God of covenantal, redemptive love.
    • He is identified with a specific historical person, Jesus of Nazareth. Not only does his name identify his function, “Jehovah is salvation,” but it shows that salvation is to be found only in the historical events of this person. As Peter had said, “Neither is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
    • This is Christ, the God/man who was anointed to accomplish all the works figured and prophesied in the types, sacrifices, offices, and ceremonies of the elect nation Israel. He was the fulfillment of all prophecies and was the epitome of all prophets (Luke 24:25–27; Hebrews 1:1, 2); He was the final priest in that he offered himself once for all as a propitiation for sins (Hebrews 1:3; 2:17, 18; 7:26, 27; 9:12–14; 10:11–14)0: 13:20, 21). He is king and reigns over his church forever and will see every knee bow to him and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Psalm 2:7–12; Philippians 2:9–11; Revelation 6:15–17; John 18:33–37).
    • “You will be saved,” – This is a clear affirmation of justification by faith. All that is necessary for full salvation is found in Christ and in Christ alone. Salvation from condemnation is assured. Eternal life by his righteousness is granted. Salvation from the tyranny of a corrupt heart and the destructive flow of ugliness that constantly plagues our days is certain. The fear of man slides away for we no longer fear those that might kill the body, but have learned the joy of reverent fear of the one who has power and right to submit both body and soul to eternal death.
    • “You and your household” is an elliptical construction meaning, “and if your household believes, they too will be saved.”

B. An expansion of the sentence and of the audience – Verse 32.

This implication led the jailer to take these prisoners to his household where his family also could hear the message of the gospel. The jailer heard the gospel, put in such summary form earlier, in an expanded form now. All that were in his house were present and heard this same presentation.

C. Saving faith confirmed by obedience and compassionate action – Verses 33, 34.

1. 1. His radical change of heart immediately was demonstrated in the jailer’s washing their wounds. A man who was not accustomed to compassion and gentleness, but only to the harsh realities of crime and punishment, now becomes lamblike, harmless as a dove, and manifests humble tenderness. He looked “to the interest of others” (Philippians 2:4).
   2. Paul obviously had included Christ’s command to baptize those who had become disciples, He and all his household were baptized. They had been united with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection and now their verbal profession and heart submission were confirmed by their obedience to this external symbol.
   3. Their baptism is followed by another manifestation of their union with Paul and Silas in faith. They set a meal before them, since they were greatly in need of nourishment in light of the physical trauma of the day. But this was not done out of sense of guilt or in a condescending way, but with great rejoicing, arising out of the reality of the faith that both he and his household had gained.

V. A Righteous Vindication – 35–40.

A. The magistrates seek to gloss over a mistake – Verses 35, 36.

Probably aware of their peremptory, and perhaps illegal, actions of the day before, the officials wanted the evidence of their incompetence out of sight. The prisoners received the word third hand. This disrespectful and impersonal manner of hiding from their evil was not to be embraced by Paul.

B. Paul confronted them with the dereliction of duty as public officials – Verse 37.

1. 1. They had been beaten in public and without trial. This was inexcusable and a significant breach of public trust and illegal in itself.
   2. Paul and Silas were Roman citizens with special protections under the law. None of these had been observed in addition to the outrage of indiscriminate punishment.
   3. In addition, they had been thrown into prison as if they were to await another punishment in addition to the beating for crimes that were not specified, untried, and unproven. Even with Paul’s joy in divine providence over the fallout of these events, he would not suffer fools lightly but demanded that they own up to their incompetence. “Let them come and bring us out themselves.”

C. The effort to save face – Verses 38, 39.

The irresponsibility of their actions fell with weight on their sense of public status. How embarrassing! With possible repercussions for their position or their own lives, they are now at the mercy of Paul and Silas and come to them. First, they “appealed to them,” probably admitting their mistake and asking that they not make any official charges as Roman citizens against them. Having received some assurance that the prisoners did not want to exact any official penalties, but only their personal owning of responsibility, the official ended by “begging them to leave the city.” The heart of evil does not like to linger around evidences of its malfeasance.

D. Being led in triumph – Verse 40.

They went to the place that had been the center of their activity. Those who had been converted since they arrived (probably including others of whom we are not told) had gathered. Paul and Silas were able to give further instruction and encouragement before they departed. The vision of the man from Macedonia had yielded the first converts in Europe and changed the entire trajectory of the movement of the gospel.

Poem

Pressing to another city,
Pressing on in Gentile Land,
Whom will God preserve in pity,
Who his wrath cannot withstand?
God’s own words by Paul were spoken;
Lydia heard, sin’s bonds were broken.

Step by step God’s grace had led her.
Now her household all believe,
Then baptized; Paul must consider
Where to stay, her home receive.
Now go preach, and tell this story;
Other reach with gospel glory.

Back to the place of prayer they went
Seeking hearts prepared to hear.
Deceitful demons won’t relent,
With mocking force full of fear.
Jesus’ name Paul spoke with power,
Demon shamed that very hour.

Slave owners saw their fortune fail.
Paul and Silas were to blame.
Beat them with rods, throw them in jail.
Chained in darkness, without shame,
Hymns of joy these men were singing,
Praise employ with prayer ascending.

Doors were opened, chains were broken
By an earthquake from the Lord.
Mortal panic! Words then spoken
Saved the jailer from his sword.
Saved from wrath was the next question,
Show the path unto salvation.

The Son from heaven came to earth
To shoulder our transgression.
From his conception, from his birth
Maintained the Law’s perfection.
When He died, he felt God’s anger;
Thus, he cried, saved us from danger.

So put your mind and heart to this:
The Son came down to save us,
To change our state from woe to bliss
That sin no more enslave us.
He believed the truth that Paul told,
Thus received Christ with his household.

Love seeks healing, hate abuses.
Christian love constrained his heart.
Cleanse the wounds and sooth the bruises,
Supply strength that food imparts.
Buried then in the grave of strife,
Raised again to newness of life.

Messiah, Prophet, Priest, and King,
The Friend of sinners stricken,
To bear our death, remove its sting,
By Him our hearts will quicken.
Trust his word, the Man, the God!
You have heard; escape his rod.