Introduction
During Paul’s Second Missionary Journey, the Apostle Paul and his companions, Silas and Timothy, came to Philippi. Acts chapter 3 describes three examples of conversions to Jesus Christ. Let us study this amazing chapter.
Paul's Choice of the Young Man Timothy to Be His Companion
Paul's choice of Timothy (Timotheus) resulted from his faith in him as a promising servant of the Lord. Upon hearing of a plot by the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles in Iconium, while there on Paul's First Missionary Journey, to "mistreat and to stone them" (Acts 14:5), Paul and Barnabas fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and preached there. It was apparently on this missionary trip that Timothy was baptized. On the occasion before us, Paul and Silas had come to check on the converts in Derbe and Lystra on his Second Missionary Journey to see how they were doing (Acts 15:36). Paul would later write the First and Second Epistles of Timothy to Timothy. Timothy's father was a Greek, apparently not circumcised, which would have been the case if he were a Jew, as was Timothy's mother (Eunice, 2 Tim. 1:5). As he intended to take him with him on this trip, Paul had Timothy circumcised. As James Burton Coffman points out:
This was not for the purpose of enabling Timothy to become a Christian, for that he already was, having obeyed the gospel on the first tour. Neither was it for the purpose of admitting Timothy into any higher fellowship, or any more abundant grace; the reason for it being simply the one bluntly stated: “because of the Jews that were there.”[1]
Coffman continues:
This is to explain the anticipated objections from Jews. Knowing Timothy's father was a Greek, they would have assumed that Timothy had never been circumcised.
Paul would later refer to Timothy as “my own son in the faith” (1 Tim 1:2), because he had converted Timothy and nourished him in the truth.
Delivery of the Decrees
Luke writes, “Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe.” (Acts 16:4). These were the decrees that the apostles decided upon in Acts 15 at the “Jerusalem Conference.” In Antioch, there had been a dispute between some Jewish Christians from Judea and Paul and Barnabas over whether the Gentile converts must be circumcised, as were the Jews, to be saved. Paul and Barnabas went up to Jerusalem to the other apostles to get help in settling the issue. After some discussion, they realized that it was not necessary for the Gentile converts to be circumcised. They decided to send letters to the Gentile converts in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, informing them that they need not be circumcised, and urging them “that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication” (Acts 15:29).
Luke records the results of these letters: “So the churches were being strengthened [b]in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.” (Acts 16:5). Having been assured that the Gentiles need not be circumcised as were the Jews, the Christians were satisfied that their salvation was secure, and felt free to share the gospel of Christ. The result was that the number of saved increased daily.
Forbidden by the Holy Spirit to Preach the Gospel?
The historian informs us in Acts 16:6-7:
They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7 and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; 8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
It may seem strange that the Holy Spirit would forbid the preaching of the gospel. But he did on this occasion in Asia (Asia Minor, or, specifically, Proconsular Asia, which included only Ionia, Aeolia, and Lydia.[2] As Clarke points out, Galatia, Phrygia, Pisidia, Lycaonia, and Pamphylia were provinces of Asia Minor, and the apostles had preached there.
Why did the Spirit forbid Paul and Silas to preach there? We are not told, but there are at least two possibilities. First, Adam Clarke points out that the apostles were later permitted to preach in these areas, with success. In fact, the "seven churches of Asia" (Revelation 2:1-3:22) were located there. He writes:
God chose to send his servants to another place, where he saw that the word would be affectionately received; and probably those in Proconsular Asia were not, as yet sufficiently prepared to receive and profit by it.[3]
Second, Albert Barnes writes in his commentary on Acts:
The reason of this was, doubtless, that it was the intention of God to extend the gospel further into the regions of Greece than would have been done if they had remained in Asia Minor. This prohibition was the means of the first introduction of the gospel into Europe...In all this region the gospel was afterward preached with great success. But now a more important and wider field was opened before Paul and Barnabas in the extensive country of Macedonia.[4]
Paul's Macedonian Vision
While at Troas (Acts 16:8), Paul saw a vision: “A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’” (Acts 16:9). Perhaps this is why they were forbidden to go into Mysia and Bithynia (Acts 16:7) - The Spirit was hurrying them on to Macedonia to preach where there was a greater urgency. So, “When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” (Acts 16:7). After traveling through Samothrace and Neapolis, they came to Philippi, “which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days” (Acts 16:12).
The Conversion of a Purple Merchant=
On the Sabbath Day, the company went to the riverside where it was customary for the Jews to resort for prayer. Barnes notes:
Places for prayer were erected by the Jews in the vicinity of cities and towns, and particularly where there were not Jewish families enough, or where the magistrate forbade them to erect a synagogue. These proseuchoe, or places of prayer, were simple enclosures made of stones, in a grove or under a tree, where there would be a retired and convenient place for worship.[5]
Here, Paul met a female merchant, a seller of purple fabrics from Thyatira (Acts 16:14), “a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. (Acts 16:14). Note: Though the Lord opened Lydia's heart that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul, she was not converted until she attended unto the things that Paul spoke and believed and obeyed them! Luke writes in Acts 16:15, “And when she and her household had been baptized…” Here is more than the fact that she was baptized. The conjunction, "and" indicates that the requirement for baptism was a standard element in Paul's preaching, much like in the case of the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch who heard Philip preach "Jesus," and asked to be baptized (Acts 8:27-39; See, “Conversion of the Ethiopian”[6]).
Paul wrote extensively on the necessity of baptism. For example, he wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:13, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." And Galatians 3:27, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” When Paul preached to the Corinthians in Acts 18:8, “…many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized.” So it is clear that baptism was an important part of Paul's preaching, and that it is the means of getting into Christ wherein is salvation.
We will see more of the importance of baptism in Paul's teaching as we look at the conversion of the Philippian jailer in the next part of this series.
Conclusion
We can already see that Acts 16 is an amazing chapter. It is one filled with the zeal of Paul and Silas in preaching God's Word, seen in their extensive travel to reach the lost, the intervention of the Holy Spirit in directing the missionary party to the areas most in need of and receptive to the truth, the carefulness of the apostle in keeping an eye open for possibilities, and lessons on what is necessary for our salvation. Next, we will see the power of the Holy Spirit in casting out evil demons, the faith of Paul and Silas in the most difficult circumstances, and the conversion of another lost soul. See you then!