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Acts Chapter
Sixteen
Acts 16
There is perhaps no example of this more remarkable than
that which Paul does with regard to Timothy. He uses circumcision in all
liberty to set aside Jewish prejudice. It is very doubtful whether, according
to the law, he ought to have been circumcised. Ezra and Nehemiah shew us the
strange wives sent away; but here, the mother being a Jewess, Paul causes the
child of this mixed marriage to follow the rule of the Jews and submit to that
rite. Liberty fully recognises the law in its place, although itself exempt
from it, and distinctly states, for the assurance of the Gentiles, the absence
of all pretension, on the part of the Judaean Christians, to impose the law
upon Gentiles. Paul circumcises Timothy, and does not give subjection for an
hour to those who would have compelled Titus to be circumcised. He would become
a Jew to the Jews from love; but the Jews themselves must renounce all
pretension to impose the law on others. The decrees given at Jerusalem are left
with the churches-a plain answer to every Jew who desired to subject the
Gentiles to Judaism. The decrees, we may remark, were those of the apostles and
the elders.
It is the Holy Ghost alone who directs the apostle. He forbids him to
preach in Asia (the province), and will not suffer him to go into Bithynia. By
a vision in the night they are called to go into Macedonia. Here the historian
meets them. It is the Lord who calls them into Macedonia. It is well to note
here that, while the gospel is sent under Paul's ministry to the whole creation
under heaven, yet there is specific direction as to where we are to go.
Here the apostle goes first to the Jews, even when it was
only a few women who came together by the river side-a place, as it appears,
usually chosen where there was no synagogue. A Greek woman, who worshipped the
God of Israel, is converted by grace. Thus the door is opened, and others also
believe (v. 40). Here Satan tries to tamper with the work by bearing a
testimony to the ministers of the word. Not that this spirit acknowledged
Jesus-he would not then have been an evil spirit, he would not have thus
possessed the damsel. He speaks of the agents, in order to have a share of the
glory, and of the most high God-compelled perhaps by the presence of the Spirit
to speak, as had been the case with others by the presence of Jesus, when His
power was before their eyes. The testimony of Satan could not go so far as to
own Him Lord; and if Paul had not been faithful, it would have mixed up the
work of the enemy with that of the Lord. But it was not a testimony to Paul
that Paul sought, nor a testimony rendered by an evil spirit, whatever might be
the appearance of its testimony. The proof which the evil spirit had to give
that the power of God was present, was to submit to it by being driven away. It
could not be a support to the work of God. We see in this circumstance the
disinterestedness of the apostle, his spiritual discernment, the power of God
with him, and the faith which will have no other support than that of God. It
would have been useful to have a testimony rendered to his ministry: the
reasonings of the flesh might have said, 'I did not seek it.' Persecution would
have been avoided. But God will have no other testimony than that which He
bears to Himself. No other can be a testimony from Him, for He reveals Himself
where He is not known; faith waits only on Him to render it. Paul went on
without troubling himself about this malicious attempt of the enemy's, and
possibly in wisdom avoiding conflict where there was no fruit for the Lord,
until by its persistency the apostle was forced to attend to it. The Spirit of
God does not tolerate the presence of an evil spirit when it makes itself
actively manifest before Him. He does not lend Himself to its devices by giving
it importance through a voluntary interposition; for He has His own work, and
He does not turn away from it to occupy Himself about the enemy. He is
occupied, in love, about souls. But if Satan comes in His way, so as to perplex
these souls, the Spirit reveals Himself in His energy, and the enemy flees
before Him.
But Satan is not without resources. The power which he
cannot exercise in a direct way, he employs in exciting the passions and lusts
of men in opposition to that power against which he cannot himself stand, and
which will neither unite itself to him nor recognise him. Even as the Gadarenes
desired Jesus to depart, when He had healed Legion, so the Philippians rise up
tumultuously against Paul and his companions at the instigation of the men who
had lost their dishonest gains. But God makes use of all this to direct the
progress of His own work, and give it the form He pleases. There is the gaoler
to be converted, and the magistrates themselves are to confess their wrong with
respect to the messengers of God. The assembly is gathered out, a flock (as the
epistle addressed to them bears witness) full of love and affection. The
apostle goes to labour elsewhere. We see a more active, a more energetic,
testimony here than in the similar case that happened to Peter. The
intervention of God is more striking in Peter's case. It is the old Jerusalem,
worn out in everything except hatred, and God faithful to the one who trusted
in Him. The hatred is disappointed. Paul and Silas sing, instead of quietly sleeping;
the doors burst suddenly open; and the gaoler himself is converted, and his
family. The magistrates are obliged to come as supplicants to Paul. Such is the
result of the tumult. The enemy was mistaken here. If he stopped their work at
Philippi, he sent the apostles to preach elsewhere according to the will of
God.
We must not pass over in silence this energy which
embraced whole houses, and subdued them to the christian faith. We only see it,
however, when it is a question of bringing in the Gentiles. [1] But Cornelius, Lydia, the gaoler of
Philippi, are all witnesses to this power.
[1] We
see however, in the case of Lydda and Saron, what is more analogous to the
introduction of a people. They heard of the miracle done to Aeneas; and the
town and neighbourhood turned to the Lord. Saron is a district along the coast.
── John Darby《Synopsis of Acts》
Acts 16
Chapter Contents
Paul takes Timothy to be his assistant. (1-5) Paul
proceeds to Macedonia, The conversion of Lydia. (6-15) An evil spirit cast out,
Paul and Silas scourged and imprisoned. (16-24) The conversion of the jailer at
Philippi. (25-34) Paul and Silas released. (35-40)
Commentary on Acts 16:1-5
(Read Acts 16:1-5)
Well may the church look for much service from youthful
ministers who set out in the same spirit as Timothy. But when men will submit
in nothing, and oblige in nothing, the first elements of the Christian temper
seem to be wanting; and there is great reason to believe that the doctrines and
precepts of the gospel will not be successfully taught. The design of the
decree being to set aside the ceremonial law, and its carnal ordinances,
believers were confirmed in the Christian faith, because it set up a spiritual
way of serving God, as suited to the nature both of God and man. Thus the
church increased in numbers daily.
Commentary on Acts 16:6-15
(Read Acts 16:6-15)
The removals of ministers, and the dispensing the means
of grace by them, are in particular under Divine conduct and direction. We must
follow Providence: and whatever we seek to do, if that suffer us not, we ought
to submit and believe to be for the best. People greatly need help for their
souls, it is their duty to look out for it, and to invite those among them who
can help them. And God's calls must be complied with readily. A solemn assembly
the worshippers of God must have, if possible, upon the sabbath day. If we have
not synagogues, we must be thankful for more private places, and resort to them;
not forsaking the assembling together, as our opportunities are. Among the
hearers of Paul was a woman, named Lydia. She had an honest calling, which the
historian notices to her praise. Yet though she had a calling to mind, she
found time to improve advantages for her soul. It will not excuse us from
religious duties, to say, We have a trade to mind; for have not we also a God
to serve, and souls to look after? Religion does not call us from our business
in the world, but directs us in it. Pride, prejudice, and sin shut out the
truths of God, till his grace makes way for them into the understanding and
affections; and the Lord alone can open the heart to receive and believe his
word. We must believe in Jesus Christ; there is no coming to God as a Father, but
by the Son as Mediator.
Commentary on Acts 16:16-24
(Read Acts 16:16-24)
Satan, though the father of lies, will declare the most
important truths, when he can thereby serve his purposes. But much mischief is
done to the real servants of Christ, by unholy and false preachers of the
gospel, who are confounded with them by careless observers. Those who do good
by drawing men from sin, may expect to be reviled as troublers of the city. While
they teach men to fear God, to believe in Christ, to forsake sin, and to live
godly lives, they will be accused of teaching bad customs.
Commentary on Acts 16:25-34
(Read Acts 16:25-34)
The consolations of God to his suffering servants are
neither few nor small. How much more happy are true Christians than their
prosperous enemies! As in the dark, so out of the depths, we may cry unto God.
No place, no time is amiss for prayer, if the heart be lifted up to God. No
trouble, however grievous, should hinder us from praise. Christianity proves
itself to be of God, in that it obliges us to be just to our own lives. Paul
cried aloud to make the jailer hear, and to make him heed, saying, Do thyself
no harm. All the cautions of the word of God against sin, and all appearances
of it, and approaches to it, have this tendency. Man, woman, do not ruin
thyself; hurt not thyself, and then none else can hurt thee; do not sin, for
nothing but that can hurt thee. Even as to the body, we are cautioned against
the sins which do harm to that. Converting grace changes people's language of
and to good people and good ministers. How serious the jailer's inquiry! His
salvation becomes his great concern; that lies nearest his heart, which before
was furthest from his thoughts. It is his own precious soul that he is
concerned about. Those who are thoroughly convinced of sin, and truly concerned
about their salvation, will give themselves up to Christ. Here is the sum of
the whole gospel, the covenant of grace in a few words; Believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. The Lord so blessed the
word, that the jailer was at once softened and humbled. He treated them with
kindness and compassion, and, professing faith in Christ, was baptized in that
name, with his family. The Spirit of grace worked such a strong faith in them,
as did away further doubt; and Paul and Silas knew by the Spirit, that a work
of God was wrought in them. When sinners are thus converted, they will love and
honour those whom they before despised and hated, and will seek to lessen the
suffering they before desired to increase. When the fruits of faith begin to
appear, terrors will be followed by confidence and joy in God.
Commentary on Acts 16:35-40
(Read Acts 16:35-40)
Paul, though willing to suffer for the cause of Christ,
and without any desire to avenge himself, did not choose to depart under the
charge of having deserved wrongful punishment, and therefore required to be
dismissed in an honourable manner. It was not a mere point of honour that the
apostle stood upon, but justice, and not to himself so much as to his cause.
And when proper apology is made, Christians should never express personal
anger, nor insist too strictly upon personal amends. The Lord will make them
more than conquerors in every conflict; instead of being cast down by their
sufferings, they will become comforters of their brethren.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Acts》
Acts 16
Verse 6
[6] Now
when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were
forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
And having gone through Phrygia — And spoken there what was sufficient, as well as in the region of
Galatia, being forbid by the Spirit (probably by an inward dictate) to speak as
yet in the proconsular Asia, the time for it not being come.
Verse 7
[7] After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the
Spirit suffered them not.
Coming to Mysia, and passing it by, as being
a part of Asia, they attempted to go into Bithynia; but the Spirit suffered
them not - Forbidding them as before. Sometimes a strong impression, for which
we are not able to give any account, is not altogether to be despised.
Verse 9
[9] And
a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and
prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
A vision appeared to Paul by night — It was not a dream, though it was by night. No other dream is mentioned
in the New Testament than that of Joseph and of Pilate's wife.
A man of Macedonia —
Probably an angel clothed in the Macedonian habit, or using the language of the
country, and representing the inhabitants of it.
Help us —
Against Satan, ignorance, and sin.
Verse 10
[10] And
after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia,
assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto
them.
We sought to go into Macedonia — This is the first place in which St. Luke intimates his attendance on
the apostle. And here he does it only in an oblique manner. Nor does he
throughout the history once mention his own name, or any one thing which he did
or said for the service of Christianity; though Paul speaks of him in the most
honourable terms, Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11; and probably as the brother
whose praise in the Gospel went through all the Churches, 2 Corinthians 8:18. The same remark may be made
on the rest of the sacred historians, who every one of them show the like
amiable modesty.
Verse 11
[11] Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to
Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis;
We ran with a straight course — Which increased their confidence that God had called them.
Verse 12
[12] 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.
The first city —
Neapolis was the first city they came to in that part of Macedonia which was
nearest to Asia: in that part which was farthest from it, Philippi. The river
Strymon ran between them. Philippi was a Roman colony.
Verse 13
[13] 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.
We went out of the gate — The Jews usually held their religious assemblies (either by choice or
constraint) at a distance from the heathens: by a river side - Which was also
convenient for purifying themselves.
Where prayer was wont to be made — Though it does not appear there was any house built there.
We spake — At
first in a familiar manner. Paul did not immediately begin to preach.
Verse 14
[14] And
a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which
worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto
the things which were spoken of Paul.
A worshipper of God —
Probably acquainted with the prophetic writings whose heart the Lord opened -
The Greek word properly refers to the opening of the eyes: and the heart has
its eyes, Ephesians 1:18. These are closed by nature and
to open them is the peculiar work of God.
Verse 15
[15] 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.
She was baptized and her family — Who can believe that in so many families there was no infant? Or that
the Jews, who were so long accustomed to circumcise their children, would not
now devote them to God by baptism? She entreated us - The souls of the faithful
cleave to those by whom they were gained to God.
She constrained us — By
her importunity. They did not immediately comply, lest any should imagine they
sought their own profit by coining into Macedonia.
Verse 17
[17] 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.
These men are — A
great truth: but St. Paul did not need, nor would accept, of such testimony.
Verse 19
[19] 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,
The magistrates —
The supreme magistrates of the city. In the next verse they are called by a
title which often signifies pretors. These officers exercised both the military
and civil authority.
Verse 20
[20] And
brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly
trouble our city,
Being Jews — A
nation peculiarly despised by the Romans.
Verse 21
[21] And
teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe,
being Romans.
And teach customs which it is not lawful for
us to receive — The world has received all the rules and
doctrines of all the philosophers that ever were. But this is a property of
Gospel truth: it has something in it peculiarly intolerable to the world.
Verse 23
[23] And
when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging
the jailor to keep them safely:
They laid many stripes upon them — Either they did not immediately say they were Romans, or in the tumult
it was not regarded.
Charging the jailer —
Perhaps rather to quiet the people than because they thought them criminal.
Verse 24
[24] Who,
having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made
their feet fast in the stocks.
Secured their feet in the stocks — These were probably those large pieces of wood, in use among the Romans,
which not only loaded the legs of the prisoner, but also kept them extended in
a very painful manner.
Verse 25
[25] And
at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners
heard them.
Paul and Silas sung a hymn to God — Notwithstanding weariness, hunger stripes, and blood.
And the prisoners heard — A song to which they were not accustomed.
Verse 28
[28] But
Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
But Paul cried — As
they were all then in the dark, it is not easy to say, how Paul knew of the
jailer's purpose; unless it were by some immediate notice from God, which is by
no means incredible.
With a loud voice —
Through earnestness, and because he was at some distance.
Do thyself no harm —
Although the Christian faith opens the prospect into another life, yet it
absolutely forbids and effectually prevents a man's discharging himself from
this.
Verse 30
[30] And
brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Sirs — He
did not style them so the day before.
What must I do to be saved? — From the guilt I feel and the vengeance I fear? Undoubtedly God then set
his sins in array before him, and convinced him in the clearest and strongest
manner that the wrath of God abode upon him.
Verse 31
[31] And
they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy
house.
Thou shalt be saved and thy household — If ye believe. They did so, and were saved.
Verse 33
[33] And he
took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was
baptized, he and all his, straightway.
He washed their stripes — It should not be forgot, that the apostles had not the power of working
miraculous cures when they pleased, either on themselves, or their dearest
friends. Nor was it expedient they should, since it would have frustrated many
wise designs of God, which were answered by their sufferings.
Verse 34
[34] And
when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced,
believing in God with all his house.
He set a table before them and rejoiced — Faith makes a man joyful, prudent, liberal.
Verse 35
[35] And
when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.
The pretors sent —
Being probably terrified by the earthquake; saying, Let those men go - How
different from the charge given a few hours before! And how great an ease of
mind to the jailer!
Verse 37
[37] 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.
They have beaten us publicly, being Romans — St. Paul does not always plead this privilege. But in a country where
they were entire strangers, such treatment might have brought upon them a
suspicion of having been guilty of some uncommon crime, and so have hindered
the course of the Gospel.
Verse 40
[40] 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.
When they had seen the brethren, they
comforted them and departed — Though many circumstances now invited
their stay, yet they wisely complied with the request of the magistrates, that
they might not seem to express any degree of obstinacy or revenge, or give any
suspicion of a design to stir up the people.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on
Acts》
Chapter 16. Paul in Prison
What Must I Do?
Believe in Jesus
I. Timothy the
New Fellow Worker
II. Vision of
the Man of Macedonia
III. Preach in
Philippi
── Chih-Hsin Chang《An Outline of The New Testament》