Bible Study: October 20, 2021

And for those of you who know, we record this, and then later on we do put it up on the Orlando and Jacksonville websites under the member section. If you ever want to go back, it's just the audio that's there. Not any video or anything like that. So, last week we're going to pick up where we left off last week. We left off at the beginning of Acts 16.

We had gone through Acts 15, a very notable chapter in the Bible. A couple weeks before, where the Jerusalem Conference met, they discussed the question of circumcision for the Gentiles.

We talked about all that. We talked about the letter that was sent out to the Gentile churches.

How, under the, with everyone coming together in one accord, one of the themes of the book of Acts that we talk about often is that everyone comes together with one accord and where God's Holy Spirit is, and when we discuss things and have things brought to us when we reason from the scripture and reason from the Holy Spirit, people come to one accord. So, I don't know if there's any lingering questions from Acts 15 that anyone wants to ask. If you weren't there on that study, again, you can go back into the Orlando website or Jacksonville websites and listen to those. But, if there's anything that anyone wants to discuss that we maybe didn't make clear in the last couple weeks, you know, go ahead and ask now. Okay, let me look at my waiting room here. I keep hearing doorbells. Okay, well then, last week we got through verse 5 of Acts 16, and you'll remember that Paul then went left Jerusalem, they went back to Antioch, and they were going to go ahead and visit the churches in Galatia again. Anyone remember what the three churches in Galatia were that we had talked about before and where they were going? There's Paul and Silas and Timothy, who they picked up on the way here in the early verses of chapter 16. Anyone remember what those three churches were that comprise Galatia? Okay, Lystra, Durbi, Durbulistra, and Antioch?

No, no, Iconium. Iconium. Okay, so anyway, so we're there, and Paul is beginning his second missionary, and they call it his second missionary journey here, and a lot of chapter 16, what we're going to be talking about is the places that he went. And I'm going to put a map here up here for a second, because as we go through some of these cities, it's helpful to just see where they started, where they went, where God was leading all, because we're going to see a couple times in chapter 16 here where it says the Holy Spirit prevented them from going into this area, prevented them from going into that area. God had them directing them into Europe, as it will, over in Greece, and specifically Philippi, we're going to see tonight. Before I get into that, last week I mentioned, and we're going to be doing a review session next Wednesday from Acts 8-15. I have the questions done, I have to get them formatted, so probably by tomorrow night you should have in your email, if you're on the Bible study here, the review questions for next week. So next week we'll go through a review of Acts 8-15, but tonight we're going to go through 16 here and talk about that, and then take a break for one week as we do that, and then come back on Paul's second missionary journey. So okay, hold on just a minute here. Okay, while I'm watching that screen up there, I'm going to go ahead and put this map up as we begin in verse 6 of Acts 16 tonight.

You'll see that map, you see over on the right side of the map, the extreme east side, you see Antioch of Syria. As we begin tonight, that's where Paul is, that's where Silas is, that's where well, Timothy isn't there, but they get Timothy as they move up the coast there. And then you see the pattern of where they're going to be going. We're going to go all the way up to Philippi tonight, and that's where chapter 16 takes us. Of course, Philippi later, Paul wrote the Epistle to the Philippians, and so we'll look at that a little bit too, because some of the things that happened to Paul and Silas here in Philippi, he notes in that book as well as in the book, the Epistle to Thessalonica. Let's pick it up in verse 6. Again, any questions, any comments along the way, anything you want to add? More than welcome to do that, just do that. Just hit your button and talk whenever you feel like it. Verse 6. Some of these places bring a bill from Acts chapter 2 when they're speaking their own languages. Exactly. So from back then, you'll recognize these cities that they go through. As Paul mentioned in the early part of chapter 16, that he wants to go back and visit those churches that they had started back then, which is a good thing to do, see how the people are doing. But then God, you know, the first part is the first missionary journey. They went up to Antioch as far as Antioch and Pisidia there. And today, you know, or in chapter 16, on this journey, God's going to take them up to Philippi, down through Corinth, over through Thessalonica, and then down to Corinth, and then back over into Caesarean, Jerusalem. So you can see that God is spreading the gospel. I guess one thing to note here, the Jerusalem Council, most people think that the Jerusalem Council took place in 50 or 51 AD.

So that'd be 20 years after Christ's crucifixion and then ascension into heaven. So in 20 years, you can see how much the church has grown. It started off in Jerusalem, as we were in Acts 2.

It spread up through Assyria, up through Antioch, up through the other Antioch and Pisidia, and now spreading throughout the entire area around the Mediterranean Sea, as God is the one directing where the church spreads, and as the people faithfully preach the gospel, and God opens minds to begin the churches out there among the Gentile areas. So in verse 6, it says, when they had gone through Phrygia, and you see Phrygia up there, it's up there where it says Rhodes, that area right there where Ephesus is, Phrygia, when they had gone through Phrygia, and the region of Galatia, where those three churches we just talked about were, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. Now, you know, the word is translated forbidden there. Another way to put it was they were prevented, you know, when you look at the great word, prevented from preaching the gospel in Asia. We don't know why. We don't know exactly how God put it into Paul's mind that they shouldn't be going into Asia. All we know is that they didn't go into Asia at that time. And as you look at Antioch and Pisidia, you can see they just made a straight trek across there with no stops as they go up to Troas. It wasn't that God was never going to preach the gospel or have the gospel preached in Asia, because later, that's where the seven churches in Revelation are in Asia. It just wasn't time, it just wasn't the time in God's timing for the gospel to be preached in that area at that time. Whether God just put it in Paul's mind, no. Whether Paul and Silas tried to get into Asia, they were prevented every step of the way.

You know, we probably have that happen in our lives where it's like everything we do to try to get into an area, you know, it's just the door seems closed. And they realize, you know what, God doesn't want us going in here. Let's just keep on, let's just keep on, you know, going north, north and west there. So that's, you know, that's verse six. And it says, after they came to Mysia, you can see they trek through Asia, going up to Mysia there.

They tried to go into Bithynia, which is to the north of Mysia there, but the Spirit didn't permit them to go there either. So God knew exactly where he wanted Paul to go. There are people there in Philippi where they're going to end up and some notable things that happened in Philippi that we'll be talking about tonight, but that's where God wanted him to go. You know, we learn, we learn as we learn in our lives where the God opens the door, walk through it, when he closes the door, don't try to break it down. So that's what they did. So they're following God's lead here. Verse 8 says, so passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And you see Troas there on the coast there of Mysia. Now, one thing to notice in verse 8 is the pronoun they. We know, remember, it is Luke who is writing the book of Acts through the first 15 chapters. He has in detail reported everything that has happened, you know, with the church in Jerusalem, with all the miracles that occurred, with all of the imprisonment that have occurred, with the church spreading to Samaria, and then to the other areas, with Peter, with the calling of the Gentiles, with Paul and Barnabas being separated to go up, you know, with the facts of the Jerusalem council. Luke has done that, and he says the word they. In verse 10, we're going to see that Luke apparently joins Paul and the party as they're headed into Philippi, because the pronoun changes to we down in verse 10. So passing by, I see that they came down to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. So Paul has this vision, whether it's a dream, whether he was sleeping, but it was very real to him that this man from Macedonia is saying, come over here, you know, they're at Troas, right across the bay, if you will, from Philippi there, and where Macedonia is, you see on the map. And it's very real, very real to Paul. They, you know, we've seen visions in the book of Acts before. Anyone think of a couple visions that we may have seen prior in the book of Acts, where God has led people by some visions to what they needed to do, or what was in about to happen in their lives, I guess.

I think the others... I'm sorry, go ahead. Go ahead, someone. No, Peter and Cornelius, there's a vision in that particular case where he was told he'd be visited by Cornelius and people and so on. Yeah, exactly. And the visions of the three sheets, right, with the uncleaning animals. So God worked with people in that way, too. So Peter knew this was of God. You know, we could go back to the calling of Paul, too. And anyone remember a vision when Paul, at the time of his calling on the road to Damascus?

Remember a man named Aeneas that was back there? Paul? Well, Paul was brought to Aeneas. Aeneas, understandably, when he heard Paul was coming to him, was called Saul at that time. He had heard all the stories about Saul, enemy of Christians, and so understandably a little concerned about having to deal with Paul. But God told him, no, he's coming to you. He's going to be there, and you're going to work with him. And it was Aeneas who, you know, prayed over Saul and his sight came back.

God does work through those ways in that time. Paul has this vision. Apparently, he talks to the other people that are with him and shares that with them. And it says in verse 10 there, after he had seen the vision immediately, we, there's the pronoun. Luke apparently has joined him because from here on out, Luke talks about it in the first person as opposed to, this is what they did.

Now he's part, so he's recording this, you know, as he's experiencing. Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. So we had people got together, you know, where they heard what Paul had to say.

They, I'm sure, asked God what his will was, where they should go. The answer, they were in one accord. They march over, so they sail over to Macedonia. Therefore, verse 11, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace. Now you don't see Samothrace on the map there. It's a little island right off of the little province or whatever you want to call it there of Thrace.

There's a little island that they pass right by there. We ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day they came to Neopolis. You can see Neopolis there right next to the major town of Philippi. And from there, verse 12, we went to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, Akalani, and we were staying in that city for some days.

So what God has in mind here is for Paul, Silas, Luke, Timothy, all to be in Philippi. They're going to stay there for some time, and there are some notable things that happen in Philippi. One of the things to remember as we go through the book of Acts is, you know, God does say that everything that happens, it happens in the Old Testament, was there for us as examples, right?

And so when we look at the things that happen to Paul and Peter and the other people that we meet in the book of Acts, there are examples to us as well. We learn many things by how they encountered and how they handle the situations that they encountered along the way. You know, they're very notable stories, and we can look at it and say, wow, look at the faith that Peter, you know, displayed when he was thrown in prison.

You know, we go harken back to that time, and he wasn't at all worried, he wasn't anxious, he nothing, nothing, you know, can teach us a lesson that if we're ever in that situation, and we may be in that situation one day, we can harken back to what Peter did because God commended what Peter had done. We're going to see some things here in this chapter, too, that we're going to learn that are notable examples here in the book of Acts, as Paul is learning things along the way as God is leading him.

And they encounter some things, too, that are hard for our minds to wrap around, but they are there for us. So if we ever find ourselves in these situations somewhere down the road, we would know how to respond because the Bible has taught us the way that God would have us do.

So let's look at what happens here in Philippi. And as their custom was, when the apostles went into a city, even into a Gentile city there, they found where the group of Jews were meeting, right? Then they were always, God's people, meet on the Sabbath day. That's one of the common themes throughout the book of Acts. Always the Sabbath day is in play. God's people meet together on the Sabbath day. And when Paul and Timothy and Silas were going to look for God's people, they knew they would find them.

They would find them on the Sabbath day. Many times it was at a synagogue, not necessarily practicing the Jewish religion, but the scriptures are read. Remember in the temple on the Sabbath day, they didn't have a Bible like you and I do that can sit on their desk and read every day. So they had to go someplace where the scriptures were read. But here in Philippi, we don't know if there wasn't a synagogue there or whatever, but there was a group of people that met down by the riverside.

Now, if you look in the commentaries, they talk about, they have some great, they have some word that I'm not even going to try to pronounce in there that talks about, you know, where the people met. And as Paul and the group came here to Philippi, says, on the Sabbath, we went out of the city to the riverside where prayer was customarily made.

The people just gathered there on the Sabbath. It is God's time. That's, you know, they were there before God, where prayer was customarily made. And we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. So this was before any kind of service that they were going to have. The women apparently came there on the Sabbath day, what they were discussing, you know, whatever. Apparently, prayer was part of what they were going to do.

It says, where prayer was customarily made. This is part of what they did when they got together. Ben, we... Go ahead. Yes, Xavier. In the original Greek, and in people who were God's help translate this verse correctly, that's verse 13. It is the day of the Sabbats.

So this was Pentecost. Okay. Yeah, because Sabbath is plural, and it's the day of the Sabbats, meaning the complete seven Sabbats, the day that comes after. Well, that's a good point. I didn't pick up on that at all. So that is... So that would be the anniversary of the anniversary of the New Testament church began, too. So notable that God has them in Philippi on Pentecost. Okay. I'll have to look that one up. I don't remember ever seeing that before. So that...

Okay, let me just mark that down. Verse 13. Okay.

Okay, well, it's a high day, and here the people are gathered together exactly as they should be on a Sabbath day or a Holy Day, you know, as God would prescribe for us to be. And Paul sits down, and he speaks to the women... he was speaking to the women who met there. Now, when he spoke to them, when he speaks to them, he is speaking to them of Jesus Christ, obviously, right? That's the gospel message that Paul was taking to the people. The group that was gathered there... we meet the woman Lydia here in verse 14. I guess I can get rid of the map here. You've seen that for a while.

We meet the woman Lydia here. She was probably a proselyte. That is, you know, a gentile that had converted to Jesus. We don't know that for absolutely sure, for sure, but the commentaries seem to assume that, if you will, that she was a proselyte. But here they was. And so Paul and the group come up there, and they start talking to the ladies that are gathered there on Pentecost.

Now, being a Pentecost servant, you know, as Xavier had said, probably the same servant was preached on that day that was preached on the first Pentecost. Jesus Christ is Savior. This is the way to salvation. Jesus Christ is, you know, he came. He died for our sins. Paul probably talked about the prophecies that were fulfilled, convinced them, and showed them from the scriptures that he's the Messiah. Lydia, verse 14, is one of the people that are there. She appears to be a leading lady in the city, if you will, because she has a business, right? A certain woman named Lydia heard us. God specifically mentions her, and she's only mentioned in the book of Acts, but notable that he would mention her. A certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira who worshiped God. And that day, the Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. So Paul is there. Lydia understands. Lydia, God opens her mind just as it is when God opens our mind, we understand the truth. It's like light bulbs go on. She gets it. She gets it.

Now, she's a seller of purple. She's a seller of purple. And, you know, that appears to be quite a business. I didn't really look up to see what a seller of purple does. I know that purple was kind of the color of royalty, the rich people, and whatever. Someone this afternoon did look it up, and I guess it has something to do. It's a whole industry of apparently, you know, from seashells and whatever else that you have this purple. And she was a dealer of it. So she was probably well known in the city among the people. And it's notable that God opens her mind to the truth. Just like he's opened our minds to the truth, she worshiped God. God opens her mind.

And when she and her household were baptized, very interesting that here Paul comes into Philippi.

He goes out and meets the people on the Sabbath, the Pentecost, and he can immediately see for the response of Lydia, who's there, that she gets it. She understands. God has opened her mind. However he knew that, you know, God's Spirit, there's a meeting of the mind. She could see it immediately.

And she was baptized that day. It's a very quick baptism. He knew he was led to baptize her. And, you know, we don't typically baptize on the first day we meet someone. Today we do go through the baptismal counseling as those of you who have been baptized know. We do a little bit of counseling because Jesus Christ has counted the cost, and we want to make sure everyone understands what they're committing to Jesus Christ and to God the Father to do, because it is a tremendous calling. The most important commitment you'll ever make in your life is to God. And when you promise Him, you don't ever want to go back on the promise. So just make sure everyone understands it, what baptism entails, and to clear up some of the confusion, because in the world there can be some confusion over what repentance is, what baptism is, and we want to make sure people understand from God's Word what repentance is, what baptism is, and what you're committing to. So here in verse 14, though, apparently, you know, Paul had talked through all that. How many hours he was there, we don't know. Lydia is baptized, and her entire household was baptized. Interesting, because twice in verse chapter 16, we're going to see as God calls someone, their entire household is baptized at the same time that they are. It's like God called the entire family. And of course, God would very much appreciate that entire families believe the same thing. That's the way He set things up.

Sometimes in the world today, it doesn't work out that way, but that would be God's will is. So apparently, Lydia's household, and then the man later on that we meet, the whole household, mine were open. But I was up when he was here, where he would tell him to be quiet and leave, even though they were going to tell the people the truth, that he is the Christ, he is the Son of Christ.

But they were there to muddy the water. They weren't there to just tell the truth. Because the Spirit and this young lady, or girl, it said the truth. It wasn't saying it for the right reason, for a godly reason. It was just there to associate and deceive and think that, as you said, to confuse the people that, hey, we're associated with these people. So we're fine. Yep, exactly.

Satan will do whatever he can to lead people away from the truth, right?

Mr. Stodman? Yes, James?

I just recently read a little commentary related to what we're talking about now. Back in the Middle Eastern times, in that time, there weren't any mental institutions or anything like that.

Most of the people that were mentally insane or considered insane, they still lived with their families and so forth until they got violent or something. And then, if you notice in Scripture, say they were in chains. Some of them were in chains. The own family would do that.

But I thought it was interesting that in the commentary, it said that these people would listen to ministers and pastors, and then they would go out into the populace and try to imitate the ministers and the pastors. So I thought that was interesting in what you were saying.

You know, it's kind of weird, but yeah, that's what they were saying. Interesting. Yeah, Satan's a great counterfeiter, right? He makes it look like the truth. And so it's to answer the reason that people with demons would want to do the same thing. So I was thinking as well, because it doesn't necessarily say how she was coming toward them. It did, you know, keep saying this over and over, you know, over a few days. And it said Paul did grieve. So I just thought it was maybe a form of mockery or something. Could be. Paul was greatly annoyed, right? It says he was greatly annoyed. But seeing what happened, yeah, however she did it, but that's all she was saying, right? She wasn't like joining in conversations, asking questions.

So he became aware what her real purpose was. Yeah.

Let me, before we move on from this, let's go back to Deuteronomy 8, or not Deuteronomy 18.

Because Paul, of course, would have been very familiar with the Old Testament.

Deuteronomy 18 talks about spiritists, diviners, people who are led by a demon, some of the pagan some of the pagan rituals that went on. And God is pretty clear in Deuteronomy 18 about that. So let's just look at verses 9 through 14 here. Deuteronomy 18 verse 9 says, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. We talked about that word abominations, right? Don't follow what those nations do, right? There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. Now those were things that were happening back in ancient Israel's times. Those were things that were happening back in the first century among the pagan nations. Those are things that still happen today, even here in America. You know, you can find any of these things that you would want to participate in. God says, don't let it be part of you. Don't look to that. Don't go there.

Of course, we have the the example of Saul, yeah, King Saul, who went to the soothsayer, and you know, of course, he lost his kingdom before that. But it says in verse 12, For all who do these things are an abomination to the Eternal, and because of these abominations, the Lord your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the Eternal your God, for these nations which you shall dispossess, listened to soothsayers and diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you. So crystal clear that a diviner, one who is a soothsayer, one who is associated with demons, fortune-telling, all these things, you know, absolutely not associated with it. No one in the church should ever participate or be drawn to that at all. It is absolutely not of God. God calls it, you know, an abomination. So here in the church in Philippi, as it's beginning there, we have, you know, this lady, this girl that's there, and that's exactly who she is trying to associate herself or trying to have people perhaps have the church associated with her. Paul takes care of it, and he casts the demon out of her. You know, he just didn't send her away. In verse 18, when we go back to Acts 16, he casts the demon out.

You would think problem solved. Paul has done the right thing, but a whole new problem develops for Paul at that point because this girl, she was a moneymaker. She was a moneymaker for the people who, for her masters. Verse 19, when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, boy, you don't mess with people's wallets, right? I mean, they were fine. They were fine before, and everyone down by the riverside, they were fine with the Jews meeting at the riverside, and everything going on for days, but as soon as their wallet was touched, boy, don't touch that. Now you've taken away our profit, and so they are mad, and they want Paul and the people out of there. When her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. The Jews, would they, the Jews, remember what they would do when the church would, when more people were becoming Christian, the Jews would turn against the apostles, whether it would be Peter or Paul, or whoever it was at that point, because of what? Do you remember? Because of envy, right? They didn't like the fact that people were leaving their religion to go to this new Christian religion.

Here with the Gentiles, and we're going to see later on in the book of Acts 2, you know, where profit is a motive. Like, wait a minute, wait a minute, you just did something here that just killed my, killed my business. This girl no longer has this demon in her. She's no longer, people are no longer coming to her to have their fortunes told or whatever it is that she did, and so they're mad.

They're mad. Who are these people to come in and do this? And so they go to the authorities. They go to the magistrates, literally dragging Paul and Silas into the marketplace. The marketplace is where, you know, public, the public would become involved in it, and so they brought them to the magistrates, verse 20, and they said, these men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city, and they teach customs, which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe. Well, in a way, they're, in a way, they're being, you know, truthful, truthful in that, because it was the Roman way to worship their gods.

The Jews, you know, live there in peace because the Romans allowed them to do that, but here's Paul, and he has really, he has really taken it another notch. He has actually affected, he's affected a Roman citizen in his livelihood, and so they want the Jews out of here. This is what this religion is about, you know, they need to be gone. They have heard us, let's go. They're teaching customs, and of course, everything about God is, you know, is against the customs of the pagans.

They, it was just a very vile society that the pagans were in, and as you remember from Acts 15, you know, what, what defined, what defined their city, you know, were things that were just so foreign to the Jews, they couldn't even, couldn't even fathom how, how the pagans, how the pagans lived. So, so what, what is being said here, and what you, what is being said here is you got, you got a city that all of a sudden is up in arms.

This group of people who have lost their livelihood, you know, riled the people up, and so what you have is, is something that we've seen before in the book of Acts. You have a mob that's all of a sudden, you know, upset with everything that's going on, and they're going to make their wishes and their words heard.

So the same thing happened with Jesus Christ, you know, when he was brought before Pilate, the mob, the mob and the people that were assembled there, all they, they didn't care about the laws of the land, they just wanted Jesus Christ dead. We've seen it in other places in Acts, we see it again here, they come out, and the people that are assembled there, they just want Paul and Silas gone, but they don't even really just want them gone, they want them hurt, as we see. It's not good enough to just usher them out of town or throw them out of town, they want them punished. So in verse 22, it says, the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrate tore off their clothes, commanded them to be beaten with rods.

Now again, you got to put yourself in the place of Paul and Silas here as they're in the town. Here they've had, you know, a very, a very good Sabbath, a very good Pentecost. God has opened up the door, people have been baptized, the church is going along well, Peter, not Peter, Paul has cast the demon out of this girl who's been annoying them and leading people astray, but all of a sudden they find themselves in a city, and the leaders that be strip them of their clothes, command them to be beaten with rods.

You and I can't even imagine that, right? Can't even imagine the idea of someone doing this to us and have it happen so suddenly, and it technically is against the law. There were laws in Rome as well. You see, there is no trial here. There was no give and take back. There was no asking Paul to explain your side of the story. People are upset. People are mad about what's going on. Paul is teaching something that the populace of the city doesn't want to hear. Strip them, beat them with rods. Again, when we see what happens in the Bible against the laws of Rome and the Roman Empire at that time, we have to stop and we have to look at what's going on in our world today.

When we see the things that are going on today that are different than anything in the times that you and I have been alive, where you have censorship going on if someone disagrees with what you say, they can cancel you, they can throw you in jail, they can take you off of any media that you're on, they can shut down the internet on you, they can do whatever they want, anything to shut you up.

None of it is in keeping with the First Amendment. We could go on and on about a number of things.

We see a number of things. We have mandates that are given that aren't backed by law, and yet people will hold people accountable for them and say, you know, this has to happen because it is the law.

It's not the law. There are laws in the country in ways of things to do it, but you see this mentality that occurs in nations and happens here in Philippi. It can happen here just the same.

Christ faced it. Paul faced it. Peter faced it. We may well face it as well. Can't say it's just, it's not, but it happened. Paul and Silas find themselves in an untenable situation. They're beaten with rods. It says in verse 23, they had many, when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Paul and the beating that they took is not something you and I are familiar with. It wouldn't happen today in this country.

It could happen somewhere in the future when people really, really want to hurt you, but there was blood involved in this. This was skin being torn off of people's back.

When the Jews beat someone with rods, it was 39. 39 was the maximum number of stripes they could lay on anyone because 40 is the number of judgments, so they wouldn't do that, but the Romans didn't have any such law. So it may have been many more than 39 stripes that Paul and Silas had to suffer at the hands of the Philippians here that day. Paul references that. If we go back to 2 Corinthians 11, we turned here once before when Paul was thrown out of, I believe it was Lystra, and they stoned him. The people there of the city got so mad at Paul that they threw him out of the city. They stoned him and left him for dead. Paul references that in 2 Corinthians when he's talking about the number of trials and tribulations that he's been through. He talks about some of them here in 2 Corinthians 11 and in verse 24. We see some of the things that happened here in Acts that he's now talking about as he writes to Corinth from the Jews. Five times I received 40 strikes minus one. Three times he says I was beaten with rods. Well, we just read about one of the times he was beaten with rods here in Philippi. Once I was stoned, that was back in Lystra. We talked about that earlier in the book of Acts. Three times I was shipwrecked. The night and the day I've been in the deep. As we get into some of the other journeys of Paul, we'll see some of those things happen as well. He uses those and he lets people, he recounts, look at what I've suffered. Look at what has happened to me in the course of my journeys in preaching the gospel and developing the Gentile churches. Not to complain. Paul never complains, but because through it all, he picks himself up and he keeps doing the work of God. He never lets it stop them. No matter what Satan throws at him, no matter what the cities throw at him, he gets up and leaves. Just like when he was stoned in Lystra. You know, God brought him back to life. He didn't run away and say, never going into that city again. Picked himself up, they marched back into Lystra, they did some things, and then they left. He never let it deter him from the calling that he had. Again, a lesson for us.

Whatever happens between now and then that we might find ourselves in some of these situations, we would never give up. We would never give up and say, this is more than what I bargained for.

Right? I don't want to do this, God. None of us want this to happen to us, but there are times to prepare. And when we make our commitment to God, only he knows what lies ahead of us.

Ours is to be completely committed to him that no matter what, we keep our eyes focused on him and the kingdom. And through many tribulations, Paul says we will deliver it into the kingdom of God. So here we have in verse 23 and verse 24, or verse 23, just an untenable situation. And when they're done beating them, they throw them into prison. It wasn't a clean prison that all those floors were swept and there was a nice bed that they could lay on. Here they are bleeding. No one is cleaning up their stripes. No one is paying attention to them. They literally just throw them in there. It's a filthy place, no doubt. It's the inner prison. The magistrates want to make sure there's no way they're going to get out, no way they're going to be there. And they're just laying there. They put their feet in stocks so they can't move. And of course, they have guards around them to be watching over them. You would think that Paul and Silas would be absolutely, I don't know, not devastated, right? But boy, they're in pain. They're in agony.

The day has taken a turn of events that they didn't see happening. And here they are, laying bloody, beaten up, in prison, and all after everything had been going so well. And even a demon being cast out, and as a result of that, they find themselves in this situation.

What do they do? What do they do? You know, a lesson, a lesson for us. They didn't say, they didn't sit there and moan about it, whine about it, say, why us? This isn't fair and everything. At verse 25, we find kind of an amazing thing that is happening with these two.

At midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.

You know, much like when we saw Peter thrown into prison back four or five chapters ago, and he was scheduled to be executed the next day. You know, Herod had already executed James, and the people were pleased, so he had a mind to, hey, have Peter be executed, too. But Peter was at perfect peace. This was God's will. This is where God had put him. This wasn't anything that God didn't foresee. This is what God's plan was for Paul and Silas. And here they are, here they are, and they learned a tremendous, you know, a tremendous lesson, and they're setting a tremendous example for the people there in prison, a tremendous example for us. Because if we ever find ourselves in the situation, in an untenable, unfair situation, we don't whine, we don't complain, we turn to God, we praise Him, we sing songs to Him, we pray to Him. We know that God is there.

He's watching over us as part of our development, part of the character that we would be developing, and that's what Paul and Silas are doing, even though they're in extreme pain.

Now, again, when you look at the singing hymns there in verse 25, the Strongs, if you go down the list of what it means, it'll actually define the type of songs or hymns that Paul and Silas are singing, and it talks about being the pastel, P-A-S-C-H-A-L, means Passover, Passover hymns.

Okay, so we know what those are if we look into concordances and what's going on, and it happens to be Psalm 113 to 118. So let's just go back there for a second. I'm not going to read all those Psalms, but Paul and Silas know the Psalms. You know, maybe we could learn the Psalms too, because in the Psalms we find all sorts of Psalms for whatever situation that we're in. When we're in, we're more in joy, when we're in despair, when things aren't going well, when we're looking to God for deliverance, when we're feeling depressed, all there there, and Paul and Silas, when they're there in prison in a difficult situation, they turn to Psalm 113 to 118, and that's the songs, apparently, that they were singing to God. We just look at a few of the verses there. Here they are. You know, they're not whining to God. Psalm 113, praise the Lord.

Praise, O servants of the Lord. Praise His name. Blessed be the name of the Eternal, from this time forth and forevermore, from the rising of the sun to its going down.

The Lord's name is to be praised. You can read the rest of that one. Psalm 14, he talks about when Israel went out of Egypt. God delivered them a tremendous miracle. They hearken back to that.

God can deliver us through anything. We don't have to worry. We don't have to fret. We don't have to be anxious. We simply need to turn to God and let His will be done and trust in Him that whatever happens is His will. So they sing about that. Psalm 115, verse 1, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your name, but to Your name, give glory because of Your mercy, because of Your truth. Why should the Gentiles say, Where is their God? Our God is in heaven. He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths. They don't speak. They have eyes. They don't see. They have ears. They don't hear. Noses they have, but they don't smell. They have hands, but they don't handle. They have teeth they have, but they don't walk.

Nor do they mutter through their throats. Those who make them are like them. So is everyone who trusts in them. Singing these songs, remember, as it says in Acts, the guards are listening to them. They're listening to the prayers. They're listening to the songs that Paul and Silas are singing. They're hearing these words that precede what God is going to do to deliver Paul and Silas from this prison. Psalm 116. Well, I'm not going to read them all. Psalm 116, 117, 118. You can go back and you can look at those things and those psalms and see what it is that was in Paul and Silas' mind, what the Holy Spirit led them to be singing to God. Remember, God's Spirit will lead us, lead us into truth, lead us and provide the calm and the peace that we need. It will cause us to remember verses in the Bible. It's so important that we are very well versed in the Bible and what it is in there. That God can take us right back to those scriptures that can comfort us and guide us and deliver us. And that's what Paul and Silas were doing here in Acts 16. As they were no doubt laying there in pain, living there in filth, laying there bleeding with no one attending to them, but not complaining, satisfied that they were doing God's will and they were exactly where God intended them to be and that indeed God was there with them. And so we looked at verse 25 and it says the prisoners were listening to them. They heard all these things that that Paul and Silas were saying. You can imagine if you're prisoners thinking, what are the people doing in this? How can they be this joyous? I do want to turn to Philippians here for a moment because Paul does reference this in his epistle to the Philippians.

He talks about some of these things that he suffered on that first trip with them there.

In Philippians 1 and verse 12, he writes this. He says, But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.

You know, the powers that be wanted to stop the gospel. It hurt. We went through some tough times, but actually it turned out for the furtherance of the gospel so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ. When they saw what happened, when they understood who Paul was, and they understood what this Christian sect was and what they believed, what Paul was teaching, and what Silas was teaching, my chains, the palace guard, the rest that my chains are in Christ. And most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill. So it even strengthened the brethren that were there. You know, be bold. Don't worry about what's going to happen to you. Don't worry about someone throwing you into prison, not liking you, cutting off your internet account, defriending you from Facebook, whatever it is. Be bold is what they're saying, and they simply said what they believed. What they believed, and that was a very notable thing back then, and Paul saw that as it was his opportunity to let the people see that strength in him.

And, you know, if we have that as an example for us as well. He also mentions it over in Thessalonians.

First Thessalonians, or Second Thessalonians? Let me check here.

Yeah, Mr. Shabey? Yes. While you're turning over there, I just always found that passage there when you just read him from Paul to be inspiring, because the whole passage, the theme of the whole passage is rejoicing and joy. And here he is writing from prison. You just kind of see the focus that he has and all the trials and tribulations he's in the midst of being so focused that he could be rejoicing and encouraging others to rejoice in that situation is really educational to me as far as how far we have to go. Amazing. Amazing. Where the Holy Spirit is, you know, is joy. When you're doing God's will, there is joy that accompanies it, even in tough times. Okay, 1st Thessalonians. 1st Thessalonians 2, in verse 2, as he writes to the church there at Thessalonica, which we'll talk about here in chapter 17 when we get to that, he says, I'll pick it up in verse 1, For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain. But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. What we were telling was the truth. We weren't wrong in what we said. We weren't being deceitful in what we said. We were simply telling the truth. That's what happened to us in Philippi. Understand it could happen to you, too. It is. It can be part of what God's will is. We live in a world that is not going to want to hear the gospel. One of us could find ourselves in a situation similar to this someday. We have an example in the Bible that we can hearken to. If, indeed, this happens to us or in the face of tribulation or persecution, don't complain. Don't whine. Don't go undercover. Don't complain to God.

Rejoice. Rejoice before Him. Sing songs to Him. Understand He is in control. And whatever happens in our lives happens so that God can develop the character that we need to have in order to serve Him in the way that He wants us to serve Him. Now, you know what? One more thing for Philippians while we're there, too. James just kind of touched on this. But in Philippians 4, Philippians 4 verse 6, you know, all these things molded Paul, these experiences that he had, molded Paul into who God wanted him to be. And in Philippians 4 and verse 6, you know, he writes this. He says, he says, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be known by God. And there in that situation in prison, that's exactly that's exactly what they were doing, right? I mean, they were not anxious. Just like Peter wasn't anxious when he was in prison, it's God's will. God knows what's going on. If I die, that's His will. If He delivers me, that's His will. Whatever God's will is, that's okay. He's the one who put me here. He knows what's going on. Be anxious for nothing. But in everything in prayer and supplication, let your request be made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. The people who saw Peter in prison back in Acts, wherever it was, in 7, 8, 9, somewhere in that area when Peter was in prison, they couldn't understand it. The presenters who heard Paul and Silas singing couldn't understand it. What is this peace? How can they be? How can they be like this? The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. And then, of course, he talks about keeping your mind on positive things, good things, the kingdom of God, looking forward to what God has in store for us. All things that Paul learned along the way, all things as we look at these things that happened in Acts, that we can put in our memory bank as well, with God's Holy Spirit, that we can learn from that because we're educated in what goes on, what has gone on. And if we ever find ourselves in situations like this, what we can do as well. So let's go back to Acts 16.

Time here. Verse 25. Verse 25, we were at Paul and Silas were in prison. They were praying. They're singing hymns. Verse 26 is where we are. 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 chains were loosed. You know, oftentimes when an earthquake occurred, even the people of pagan religions saw, boy, this is an act of God. When the earth shakes, this is something to be noted of.

And we've talked about before in the book of Acts and other books, when earthquakes occur, I mean, we remember the earthquake that occurred when Jesus Christ died. Other times, other times the Bible earthquakes were there. God gets attention and he can show his presence through an earthquake.

That's exactly what happened here. It wasn't just a small tremor. This was a great earthquake, it says. Always pay attention to the adjectives and adverbs that God puts here when he describes things. Suddenly, there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, then everyone's chains were loosed.

That all happened with that earthquake. Paul, the stocks from the feet were gone, the chains were gone. Every prisoner, everyone, every door opened, they could have all just fled out of that prison, just gotten out of there in no time flat. Which is what you expect them to do. Obviously, so God, there's a chance to escape. And when the keeper, for the keeper of the prison, verse 27, he's sleeping, and when he sees all this occur, when this earthquake occurs, he sees the prison doors open, he knows what his fate is. He's going to be blamed. He's going to be the one who is put to death because the prisoners escaped on his watch. It probably wasn't just an easy death, or a quick death, I should say. No, death is easy, but a quick death. So he decides he's going to commit suicide.

No sense going on. I'll just take the way out, pulls out his sword, and he's about to kill himself.

And here's Paul. Here's Paul, right? I mean, Paul, you know, could have been the first one out of that prison. This is of God. I'm looking straight ahead, running out, but Paul sees what's going on. He calls with a loud voice, saying, don't harm yourself, or do yourselves no harm. For all, we're all here.

We're not going anywhere. I mean, here's someone who is unjustifiably in prison, who is hurt, who God has clearly opened the door and created this. But Paul takes the time, as God leaves him, to notice what the keeper of the prison is doing. God has a plan in mind, and Paul just doesn't run away.

He sees, he stops, and he shows concern and love for the man. Put your weapon away. No one's going anywhere. We're not going to leave you here to suffer the consequences of this. You did nothing wrong. We'll be here to with you. Now, that has to be a monumental example for this prison keeper to see that someone, a prisoner, would actually take the time to be concerned about him and stay behind to talk about this. So, says in verse 29, he called for a life, ran in, and the keeper did, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. He has seen something that he never expected to see, something that has shaken him so deeply that he will never be the same man again. He has been in the presence of God. He has seen what God has done, and what he has seen, there is no doubt in his mind, what he has seen is of God. Much like the Roman centurion, if we remember back in Matthew 27, when Jesus Christ died, and the Roman centurion was looking at the events that surrounded that time and said, surely, surely this is the Son of God. And the keeper of the prison would look at that too, and he would say, Paul, I don't know who you are, I don't know what you preach, but all I know is that your God is the true God. Fell down, trembling, because he knew the presence of what he had come in contact with. And he says in verse 30, he brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And Paul tells him, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household. Remember that word, believe, whenever you say it, it's the Greek word, almost always, it's Greek word, bestoil, and all that the Greek word bestoil means. It is something that is so riveting that changes your life when you believe and you understand what Jesus Christ did. It changes your life forever, just like the keeper had something happened to hear. He would never be the same again. He knew who God was, he saw the power of God, and he knew that that salvation lay through the God of Paul and Silas. And so he asked the questions, what must I do to be saved?

Apparently, he probably knew something about what was being preached by the riverside and what these men did. And when he sees the power of God, it cut him to the heart, as we talked about a few times in the book of Acts. And so he says, believe on Jesus Christ and you'll be saved, you and your household. And so Paul did what he should do. He spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. Now, apparently, whether they were at the house at that time or the people came over to see what was in the prison, they all heard the message of God. They all heard the message of Jesus Christ. They all heard the gospel. Paul explained it to him. Didn't take hours to do it because in verse 33 it says, and he took them the same hour of the night, or the keeper did, he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. So now he's attending to Paul, the prisoner. Let me take care of you. You've been hurt. No one's attended to these things that have happened to you at all. He washes their stripes and immediately he and his family were baptized.

So here we have in Philippi two baptisms, one of Lydia and all of her household, and then a very unlikely place through prison for what God had designed as he had the whole plan together. This prison keeper becomes converted, and he is baptized, and his whole household understands. God opens their minds and they're baptized immediately. Again, it was so riveting. It was so riveting what happened to them that it was clear they would never be the same people again, much like you and I when we're baptized. It should be so riveting when we understand the truth of Jesus Christ, when we understand what God has done for us, and we understand that we're people who have the death sentence on us, and when we claim the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and understand how our past life has not at all been lived in the way that Jesus Christ lived, that we determine the past is gone. The past has to be buried. The past has to be put behind us. And when we go forward, God forgives our sins and we become a new creation, and we live our lives his way from that time forward, not harkening to the back, but leaving it behind and going forward as God. But the Holy Spirit writes his law and principles on our mind and on our heart. And that's what happens here. It happens to all of us when we're, should happen to all of us when we're baptized. We never go back to the way we were before. We know that we have to believe in God, and when we believe in him and Jesus Christ, we follow what he, you know, that way of life, leaving our past lives behind.

So we have this, again, another monumental thing. I'm sure as Paul and Silas are here seeing what's going on, they're marveling, they're rejoicing, they're seeing what God has done.

Who would have ever thought that the keeper of the prison God would call? Who would ever think that we would be baptizing him and his entire family tonight? That they would be, that they'd become part of the Philippian church as God is raising it up. And when he had brought them, the keeper, when he brought Paul and Silas to his house, he set food before them, and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his houses. Wherever the Spirit is, there is rejoicing.

Just like whenever the Spirit is, we talked about in Acts 15, unity will result. When the Spirit of God is in all the parties that are involved, unity is going to come about. There will be understanding. There may be discussion, but eventually the way of God will come, and everyone will agree to it because God is a God of unity, and his Spirit is a Spirit of unity. It's also a Spirit of joy. And here out of a very difficult situation, there's joy. Even the keeper, who still might think he has a death sentence from the Philippian magistrates over his head, he's joyous.

He's found God. He's found truth. He's found the pearl of great price, and he's there with people that are representative of God that he is happy to be sharing his household with.

Verse 35, this is still during the night, and when it comes to daytime, the magistrates sent the officers saying, you know, let those guys go. Paul and Silas just just just just released them. Without the magistrates, I mean, it was a great earthquake, he doubtless knew what went on that night. He probably understood that the gates were open and everything that went on with it, and he too was a little, you know, kind of amazed at what had gone on and said, just just let these guys just let these guys go. Now, whether the keeper and Paul and Silas went back to the prison, you know, that morning or whatever really makes no difference.

The word came, let them go. So the keeper of the prison reported the words to Paul, saying, magistrates have sent to let you go. So therefore depart, go in peace. But Paul's not having any of it. You know, you might think, well, Paul, yeah, just go. You know, God has worked his plan, he's delivered you. Just leave in peace. But Paul knows what has happened there in Philippi isn't in accordance with the law. He's a Roman citizen. And what had happened with the beating and what had been thrown in prison wasn't done according to law. It was done because of an emotional, a mob, a mob, emotional sentence, if you will. Magistrates were out of line when they get it. And he wants them to be held to count a little bit. So Paul says, they have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now they would like to just put us out secretly. No, let them come themselves and get us out. Let them just come and come and talk to us face to face. We're just not going to disappear from here because what was done to us was wrong. Now, why Paul did that? I don't know. I don't know. Some commentaries suggest that he was also, I know that holding them accountable to what they had done might also be a benefit to the church that was growing there, that they would hold that church in higher esteem and remember the law when they were dealing with them, remember what had happened to Paul and Silas and how God intervened for them. Whatever the purpose is, whatever the purpose is, you know, Paul did it.

And so the keeper, the keeper of the prison takes that back to the magistrates. And in verse 38, they, the magistrates, they were afraid when they were heard by Romans.

Whoops, we didn't count on that. We didn't count on that. Yeah, we kind of wail, stepped out of our, the boundaries on that one. And so they're a little, a little bit concerned about their actions now and what might this mean for them. So they did come to Paul and Silas, and they pleaded with them. Notice, they pleaded with them. We're sorry, Paul. We're sorry, Silas. You know, we let things get out of hand there. We shouldn't have done it. They came and they pleaded with them.

And they brought them out, and they asked them to depart from the city. So they did come, and they did acknowledge, you know, and they did ask them to leave. Now, the magistrates would have wanted them gone for a couple reasons. They wouldn't want it out, what had happened. They also didn't want the masses, the, the, the populace, again, getting riled up about anything that Paul and Silas would do. You know, they faced that, you know, the day before with what the girl, with the demon being called out of her. They didn't want this to happen again. Just Paul, Paul, just go, just go, go to another city. And so Paul did leave. So they went out of the prison. They went to the house of Lydia. And when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them, and they departed on their journey. And then the next time we'll, we'll pick it up in chapter 17. But let me, let me end there. And if there's any, any comments, questions, observations, anything, anything at all.

I do have a comment, Brother Chib.

Summarizing Philippians 1 verse 12, going through in 1st Thessalonians 2, 1 through 6.

And then going back, the girl who was possessed, it shows that our God was saying, we don't need Satan in his arm, his help. He's the one who calls people to Christ, and people come to him through Christ. And then it goes back to what we read last week, Galatians 5, that that persuasion that the girl was under and seen was not from God, but from the evil one. So don't, don't, don't be around us. You're two different, you're like your environments. Like you're saying the right words, but you got a different purpose in mind, right? Exactly. The words can be deceiving, you got to know what the source and spirit, the spirit is behind it. Very good. It's interesting, Paul went back to Lydia's house after all this trouble. She did have a very strong relationship, I guess.

They would have had that. I remember she didn't invite them to come. And they probably saw what happened too and wondered, whoa, what happened? How did this happen? We were just baptized. Paul's in prison. They're being beaten. I mean, the whole city is against them. So he needed to go there and encourage them and let them know. See what God has done, look what God has done, and whatever. So they needed that as well. So good. Okay, any any other comments, questions, anything at all?

Yeah, Mr. Shaby, just one thing that I thought too, is that what we just were reading about also shows that, you know, just because you serve God and just because you're obeying God, that doesn't mean bad things can't happen to you. You know, it's still still things can happen, you know, so life's not just an easy walk through the park, you know, especially for a Christian.

And that's one thing I remember, and God knows that, right? He didn't, he never promised us that we would not have trials and tribulations. And Paul, Paul learned that over and over and over again, we have to be prepared for that as well. You know, nothing nothing happens with God by accident. He knows exactly what we need and every opportunity we have in order to build our character and our faith in Him. So I see a hand up there. Vicki, did you have something you want to say? Okay. Anything else? If not, if not, I was, like I said, in the next day or so, probably by tomorrow night, you'll get the Acts review questions for chapters 8 to 15.

If you'll take some time between now and next Wednesday to kind of go through those, look up what's there. We'll spend next Wednesday reviewing those, right? And then the following week, we'll pick it up in chapter 17. Just let me remind you, those in Jacksonville services are going to be at 1130 this week, and Orlando services are at 130. Okay. Okay, anything else before we sign off, everyone? Okay, well, very good. Thank you all. Thank you all for being here. Thank you all for staying on. Always, if you ever have any questions, anything even the following week, feel free to bring any questions. If you want to send them during the week, you've all got my email address. Just send them, and we can talk about them anytime. So thank you. Have a good rest of the week. We'll see some of you on Sabbath. We'll look forward to seeing the rest of you back here, I hope, next Wednesday. Okay? Hope to see you. Okay, thank you very much. Bye, everyone. Bye.