Lesson #21

• MEMORY VERSE: JOHN 10:27

• ACTS 16 BEGINS PAUL’S SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY. (51-54 AD)
• IN THIS SECOND JOURNEY, PAUL TAKES SILAS WITH HIM INSTEAD OF BARNABAS.
• THIS SECOND JOURNEY COVERS SOME OF THE SAME TERRITORY AS BEFORE.
• PAUL IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE NEW CHURCHES THAT HE HAD PREVIOUSLY ESTABLISHED IN GALATIA.
• REMEMBER THESE PEOPLE WERE SUSCEPTIBLE TO ANY WIND OF NEW DOCTRINE.
• REMEMBER THAT THE JUDAIZERS WERE PRESENT IN THIS AREA TO PERSUADE NEW BELIEVERS TO KEEP TO THE MOSAIC LAW.
• REMEMBER THAT THE EDICT OF THE JERUSALEM CHURCH COUNCIL NEEDED TO BE COMMUNICATED TO THESE CHURCHES.
• THIS SECOND JOURNEY COVERS NEW TERRITORY AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW CHURCHES.
• THIS IS A MUCH LONGER JOURNEY THAN HIS FIRST TRIP.

• READ ACT 16:1-5 PAUL RETURNS TO GALATIA
• INSTEAD OF GOING BY SEA AS IN HIS FIRST TRIP, PAUL AND SILAS GO BY LAND INTO TURKEY THROUGH TARSUS, PAUL’S HOME TOWN.
• TIMOTHY:
• WHEN THEY COME TO DERBE AND LYSTRA, THEY FIND TIMOTHY THERE.
• TIMOTHY PROBABLY BECAME A BELIEVER THROUGH PAUL DURING PAUL’S FIRST TRIP TO THAT AREA OF GALATIA.
• WHAT DO YOU LEARN ABOUT TIMOTHY FROM THIS CHAPTER?
• TIMOTHY HAD A JEWISH MOTHER AND A GREEK GENTILE FATHER.
• TIMOTHY WAS A YOUNG MAN.
• TIMOTHY HAD A GOOD REPUTATION AMONG OTHER BELIEVERS IN THE AREA.(2)
• PAUL AND SILAS TAKE TIMOTHY WITH THEM ON THIS MISSIONARY JOURNEY.
• TIMOTHY HAD A BELIEVING JEWISH MOTHER, EUNICE, AND A BELIEVING GRANDMOTHER, LOIS, WHO PRAYED FOR HIM. (2TIM 1:5)
• LATER PAUL WROTE THE BOOKS (LETTERS) OF 1ST AND 2ND TIMOTHY TO THIS MAN AFTER TIMOTHY BECAME A PASTOR.
• PAUL HAD A GREAT LOVE FOR TIMOTHY AND CONSIDERED HIM LIKE A SON. (2TIM 1:2)
• WHILE THEY ARE STILL IN TIMOTHY’S HOMETOWN, PAUL CIRCUMCISES TIMOTHY.
• WHY DID PAUL CIRCUMCISE TIMOTHY WHEN THE CHURCH COUNCIL JUST ESTABLISHED THAT NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW OF MOSES?
• WHEN PAUL WENT TO THE JERUSALEM CHURCH COUNCIL TO ARGUE IN FAVOR OF GRACE AS OPPOSED TO LAW, HE TOOK TITUS WITH HIM. TITUS WAS AN UNCIRCUMCISED GENTILE. HE WAS PAUL’S TEST MODEL FOR THE PREACHING OF SALVATION TO THE GENTILES.
• NOW PAUL WILL USE TIMOTHY, WHO IS HALF GENTILE, HALF JEWISH. PAUL CIRCUMCISES HIM BECAUSE HE WILL BE PREACHING TO BOTH JEWS AND GENTILES. PAUL DOES NOT WANT TIMOTHY’S LACK OF CIRCUMCISION TO BE AN ISSUE WITH THE JEWS. TO MAKE TIMOTHY ACCEPTABLE TO BOTH, PAUL CIRCUMCISES HIM BEFORE TAKING HIM ON THIS JOURNEY.
• THIS ACTION IS NOT BECAUSE THERE IS ANY MERIT IN CIRCUMCISION. PAUL IS SIMPLY LIVING OUT HIS PHILOSOPHY. HE IS BEING EXPEDIENT. (1COR 6:12)
• READ 1COR 9:19-23.
• THE DECREES: (4)
• PAUL DELIVERS TO THESE ESTABLISHED CHURCHES IN GALATIA THE WRITTEN DECREES FROM THE JERUSALEM CHURCH COUNCIL REGARDING:
• SALVATION BY GRACE FREE FROM KEEPING THE MOSAIC LAW.
• LIVING A MORAL LIFE FREE FROM PAGAN SEXUAL PROSTITUTION.
• LIVING A MORAL LIFE FREE FROM PAGAN PRACTICES OF CONTAMINATION REGARDING THE EATING OF MEAT STRANGLED AND THE EATING OF BLOOD.
• PAUL LEAVES GALATIA KNOWING THAT THE CHURCHES ARE WELL ESTABLISHED AND GROWING. (5)

• READ ACT 16:6-15 THE MAN FROM MACEDONIA
• WHO IS THE MAN FROM MACEDONIA IN THIS VISION?
• IT IS THE LORD, JESUS CHRIST.
• PAUL INTENDED TO GO FURTHER SOUTH INTO TURKEY WHERE EPHESUS IS LOCATED. THIS AREA WAS A HEAVILY POPULATED AREA CALLED ASIA MINOR. HOWEVER, THE HOLY SPIRIT FORBADE HIM TO GO THERE AT THIS TIME. PAUL THOUGHT TO GO NORTH INTO A HEAVILY POPULATED AREA OF BITHYNIA, BUT THE HOLY SPIRIT STOPPED HIM. WHY?
• GOD HAS A SPECIFIC PLAN AND TIMING. ALL PAUL NEEDS TO DO IS TO FOLLOW IT. BUT HOW DOES ONE KNOW WHICH WAY GOD IS LEADING?
• WE CAN OBTAIN SOME SIGNIFICANT PRINCIPLES FROM PAUL’S EXPERIENCE REGARDING THE LEADING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
• GOD OPENS AND CLOSES DOORS OF OPPORTUNITY.
• PAUL WAS WALKING THROUGH THOSE OPEN DOORS. HOWEVER, EVERY OPEN DOOR IS NOT NECESSARILY GOD’S LEADING.
• IT IS IMPORTANT NOT TO STAND STILL AND EXPECT GOD TO LAY OUT THE WHOLE PLAN AT ONCE. HE DOES NOT DO THAT. HE GIVES YOU ONE STEP AT A TIME. AS YOU TAKE THAT FIRST STEP BY FAITH, HE GIVES YOU THE NEXT STEP.
• PAUL KEPT MOVING BY FAITH AND PRAYER. HE WENT TO THE AREAS WHERE HE THOUGHT GOD WAS LEADING HIM. AS HE BEGAN TO MOVE INTO AREAS THAT WERE NOT GOD’S WILL, GOD CLOSED THE DOOR AND OPENED NEW DOORS INTO OTHER AREAS.
• OF WHAT SIGNIFICANCE IS PAUL’S VISION? (9)
• THE VISION CONFIRMS THE LEADING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
• LUKE JOINS PAUL, SILAS, AND TIMOTHY. (10)
• BEGINNING IN VERSE 10, LUKE, THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK OF ACTS BEGINS TO SAY “WE”. IN OTHER WORDS, HE IS NOW A PART OF THE MISSIONARY TEAM.
• THE GOSPEL TRAVELS INTO EUROPE.
• MACEDONIA IS THE NORTHERN PART OF GREECE, WHICH IS PART OF EUROPE.
• PHILIPPI
• PHILIPPI WAS A ROMAN COLONY WHERE THE GOVERNOR OF THAT AREA LIVED.
• THIS IS A CITY WHERE THE CUSTOMS WERE ROMAN AND THE LANGUAGE WAS LATIN.
• PAUL WROTE THE BOOK OF PHILIPPIANS TO THIS CHURCH THAT HE ESTABLISHED ON THIS SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY.
• PAUL LOVED THE CHURCH IN PHILIPPI AND THEY LOVED HIM.
• THERE WAS NO JEWISH SYNAGOGUE IN PHILIPPI, SO JEWS IN THAT CITY MET FOR PRAYER OUTSIDE OF TOWN. PAUL HEARS OF THIS REGULAR PRAYER MEETING AND ATTENDS.
• LYDIA OF THYATIRA IN TURKEY:
• WHAT DO YOU LEARN ABOUT LYDIA IN THIS CHAPTER?
• LYDIA WAS A WEALTHY, SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSWOMAN WHO TRADED IN PURPLE DYES AND PURPLE FABRIC.
• DYES AND FABRIC FROM THYATIRA WERE FAMOUS.
• LYDIA TRAVELED BECAUSE OF HER TRADING BUSINESS THROUGHOUT GREECE AND TURKEY, AND HAD HOUSES IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS.
• SHE WAS A GENTILE PROSELYTE TO JUDAISM AND PROBABLY A WIDOW. SHE HAD HEARD SOMETHING OF PAUL AND HIS MESSAGE IN HER TRAVELS. THEREFORE, LYDIA IS A SEEKER OF SPIRITUAL LIGHT BEFORE PAUL’S ARRIVAL IN PHILIPPI.
• SHE IS THE LEADER OF THIS OPEN-AIR JEWISH PRAYER MEETING IN PHILIPPI.
• LYDIA IS THE FIRST CONVERT TO CHRIST IN EUROPE.
• PAUL LEADS HER TO THE LORD AND THEN BAPTIZES HER AND ALL HER HOUSEHOLD. THE CHURCH IN PHILIPPI PROBABLY MET IN HER HOME.

• READ ACT 16:16-34
• THE GIRL WITH A SPIRIT OF DIVINATION
• THIS GIRL IS A DEMON POSSESSED SLAVE GIRL WHO EARNED MONEY FOR HER MASTERS BY DIVINING THE FUTURE. AND TELLING FORTUNES.
• THE TESTIMONY OF THIS GIRL IS VERY INTERESTING. SHE FOLLOWS PAUL FOR DAYS AND TELLS EVERYONE THAT THESE MISSIONARIES ARE THE SERVANTS OF GOD THAT SHOW THE WAY OF SALVATION.
• WHY WAS PAUL UPSET BY HER TESTIMONY WHEN SHE ONLY TOLD THE TRUTH?
• PAUL DID NOT WANT ADVERTISEMENT FROM SATAN. SUCH A TESTIMONY WOULD ONLY CONFUSE PEOPLE AS TO THE SOURCE OF HER POWER AND THE SOURCE OF PAUL’S POWER.
• IF PEOPLE THOUGHT THAT THEY BOTH SERVED THE SAME GOD, THEY WOULD THINK THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH SORCERY AND DIVINATION.
• OPPOSITION FROM THE GIRL’S MASTERS.
• THE EVIL SPIRIT IS CAST OUT OF THE GIRL WHICH MEANS SHE WILL NO LONGER MAKE MONEY FOR HER MASTERS.
• PAUL AND SILAS IN PRISON FOR PREACHING
• THE CHARGE AGAINST PAUL AND SILAS IS DISRUPTING ROMAN CUSTOMS. THEY ARE CHARGED AS JEWS NOT AS CHRISTIANS.
• NOTICE THAT LUKE AND TIMOTHY ARE NOT ARRESTED. THE REASON IS THAT THEY ARE NOT JEWS BUT CONSIDERED GENTILES EVEN THOUGH TIMOTHY IS HALF JEWISH.
• BEFORE BEING IMPRISONED, PAUL AND SILAS WERE BEATEN.
• WHAT WAS PAUL AND SILAS’ ATTITUDE GOING THROUGH EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TIMES? HOW DO YOU ACCOUNT FOR SUCH AN ATTITUDE?
• DESPITE THE BEATINGS AND THE IMPRISONMENT, PAUL AND SILAS ARE SINGING AND PRAISING GOD IN PRISON.
• IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KEEP PRAISING GOD ESPECIALLY THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES. WHY?
• YOUR FAITH IS ENCOURAGED TO TRUST GOD WHO CARES FOR YOU.
• GOD INHABITS THE PRAISES OF HIS PEOPLE. (PSA 22:3)
• WHEN YOU PRAISE GOD, YOU FEEL HIS CLOSE PRESENCE.
• THEREFORE, THERE IS POWER IN PRAISE.
• THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER HEARD THE PRAISES TO GOD AND THAT PLANTED A SEED IN HIS HEART.
• THE ONLY WAY TO ACCOUNT FOR SUCH AN ATTITUDE AS THAT OF PAUL AND SILAS THROUGH SUFFERING IS AN ATTITUDE OF FAITH IN THE LOVING SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD.
• THE SALVATION OF THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER
• THE JAILER WAS CHARGED WITH THE SECURITY OF THIS PRISON. IF HE FAILED HIS JOB AND PRISONERS ESCAPED, ROMAN LAW DEMANDED THAT HE WOULD FORFEIT HIS LIFE.
• EVEN THOUGH THE PRISON GATES ARE OPENED BY AN EARTHQUAKE SENT BY GOD, HE WAS STILL RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PRISON SECURITY.
• THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER IS ABOUT TO COMMIT SUICIDE BELIEVING THAT HIS CAPTORS HAVE ESCAPED. HOWEVER, PAUL STOPS HIM.
• HOW DO YOU ACCOUNT FOR THE FACT THAT THE PRISON DOORS WERE OPENED SO AS TO AWAKEN THE GUARDS WHEN PREVIOUSLY, PETER WAS FREED WITHOUT OPENING THE PRISON DOORS?
• GOD HAD A PLAN FOR THE SALVATION OF THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER AND NOT NECESSARILY TO FREE THE APOSTLES.
• THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER IS SAVED.
• BY A SUPERNATURAL WORD OF KNOWLEDGE, PAUL PERCEIVES THAT THIS MAN’S FAMILY WILL ALSO BE SAVED WHEN THEY HEAR ABOUT SALVATION IN JESUS CHRIST.
• IT IS NOT THE FAITH OF THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER THAT SAVES ALL IN HIS FAMILY. EACH PERSON MUST HAVE FAITH FOR HIMSELF TO BE SAVED.
• THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER TAKES PAUL AND SILAS TO HIS HOME (PROBABLY NEAR THE PRISON COMPOUND) WHERE THE APOSTLES PREACH TO HIS FAMILY. HIS FAMILY IS SAVED. PAUL AND SILAS BAPTIZE THEM ALL.

• READ ACT 16:35-40
• THE NEXT DAY, PAUL AND SILAS MUST HAVE RETURNED TO THE JAIL WITH THE JAILER, FOR THEN THEY ARE FREED BY THE MAGISTRATES.
• THE AUTHORITIES REALIZED THAT WHAT THEY HAD DONE WAS ILLEGAL BECAUSE PAUL AND SILAS WERE BOTH ROMAN CITIZENS.
• WHY DID PAUL PERSIST IN NOT LEAVING THE CITY BUT INSISTING ON A PUBLIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THEIR INNOCENCE?
• HE WAS UNDOUBTEDLY PROTECTING THE NEW BELIEVERS WHO WOULD REMAIN BEHIND WHEN PAUL LEFT.
• PAUL, SILAS, AND TIMOTHY CONTINUE THIS SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY, BUT LUKE REMAINS IN PHILIPPI. (SOME THINK PHILIPPI WAS LUKE’S HOMETOWN.)

HOMEWORK
ACTS 17
THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FORCORRECTION.

• APPLICATION OF ACT 16
• WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED IN THIS CHAPTER ABOUT THE LEADING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?

• WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED IN THIS CHAPTER ABOUT HAVING PEACE IN THE MIDST OF A STORM OF PROBLEMS?

• PREPARATION FOR ACT 17
• READ ACT 17:1-34
• WHAT WERE THE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST THE MISSIONARIES?

• COMPARE THE THESSALONIAN BELIEVERS WITH THE BEREAN BELIEVERS?

• IN WHAT UNIQUE WAY DID PAUL GET THE ATTENTION OF THE PEOPLE IN ATHENS?

• WHAT WERE THE HIGHLIGHTS OF PAUL’S SERMON? (22-31)

• BY WHAT CRITERIA WILL GOD JUDGE MANKIND?

• MEMORY VERSE: ACT 17:31a