Exciting Events in the Philippian Jail about Midnight

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and 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 bonds were unfastened…And the jailer called and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.  Then he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’  And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’  And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house…And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.” –Acts 16:25-26; 30-32. 34b (ESV.  Read Acts 16:25-40).

It was unfortunate that Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned in Philippi.  But God is in the business of turning hardships into victories and that happened in the jailhouse about midnight.  While the missionaries were praying and singing, God’s mighty power shook the prison with an earthquake.  It was a geographic area that precipitated earthquakes. Wasn’t it beautiful that it happened just at midnight—the mighty power of Creator God at work to shake the earth, loose the prisoners’ shackles and throw open the doors of the prison?  The Roman jailer drew a sword and was about to slay himself.  Roman law dictated that if prisoners escaped, the jailer would himself receive the same punishment meted out for the escaped prisoners.  Why not take from the magistrates’ pleasure and kill himself ?  He surely would meet death because of the prisoners’ escape.  Romans were noted for their cruel and unmerciful punishment.  That surely awaited the jailer. But all the prisoners were still there; not a one had walked through the open doors to freedom. God had another avenue working. The real prisoners in that jail were the jailer and his household and any others not free from the shackles of sin and unbelief.  The earthquake-hit jailhouse became a Spirit-endowed evangelistic site.  To the jailer’s question, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul had the perfect platform to explain the Way to the jailer and his household.  The prisoners had been invited to the jailer’s private quarters in another section of the jailhouse. There they ministered to the painful rod wounds on Paul and Silas, washing them and probably applying a soothing ointment.  Then those who had believed were baptized.  Did they go to the river, or arrange for water from a cistern to be used?  Luke does not give details, but we can imagine that Paul would find water sufficient to baptize them by immersion. In the jailer’s house, on past mid-night, there was great rejoicing that he and his household had believed in God! Moreover, his acts of mercy to the prisoners were putting into practice the spirit of Christian service.

The next day the magistrates had a change of heart and they decided to free Paul and Silas.  But were they in for a surprise!  Paul said, basically, “Nothing doing!  They’re not going to slip us out in secret. We’ve been beaten unfairly and publicly—uncondemned—(without a fair trial) and we are Roman citizens!  Let them come themselves and escort us out!”  Would you have been brave enough to stand up for your civil rights as Paul did for himself and Silas? Roman citizenship put a different light on the situation.  The magistrates knew they were in trouble, not allowing citizens a fair hearing before punishment was meted out.  To scourge a Roman citizen could itself bring a sentence of death upon anyone disrespectful of Roman laws, rights and citizenship.  And in addition, Paul was setting a precedent to prevent such cruel treatment to other Philippian Christians after he and Silas had moved on to another place. He wanted public vindication lest the people think that Christians were just troublemakers and rabble-rousers.  He was establishing a firmer base for the Way to be preached and practiced in Philippi.  Spiritual and cultural victories took place on that memorable night. The  earthquake shook the earth and the prison; but the spiritual earthquake was far-reaching, shattering barriers and setting a precedent for God’s Word to be preached freely and with power! Selah!   

A Demented Slave Girl Healed and Paul and Silas Imprisoned

“As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.  She followed Paul and us, crying out, ‘These men are servants of the Most High God who proclaim to you the way of salvation.’ And this she kept doing for many days.  Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’  And it came out that very hour.  But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers…And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.”  -Acts 16:16-19, 23 (ESV.  Read Acts 16:16-24).

In Philippi the missionaries, Paul, Silas and Luke who had joined them for a time, had unusual experiences as they witnessed for the Lord.  Lydia, the first convert, had been a respected business woman, a seller of purple cloth.  Then, for many days, a demented girl had followed them as they went (probably to the riverside) to the place of prayer.  She was what was known in that society as a “Pytho”—a person who could give predictions that would guide her owners in decision-making.  She was profitable to them.  In that culture, people believed such a person with powers of divination had  their own mind taken away and it had been replaced by a mind from the gods.  Barclay also notes that she likely had the gift of casting her voice, or ventriloquism.  She followed the missionaries for days, crying out “These men are servants of the Most High God who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”   In this she spoke truly.  Why, then, was Paul angry at her outbursts?  Although what she said of them was true, her pronouncement emanated from the evil spirit that possessed her.  This encounter was similar to when Jesus Himself would not accept the testimony of the man in the synagogue at Capernaum who was demon-possessed and cried out loudly declaring Christ’s divine Sonship and Messiahship as recorded in Mark 1:21-28.  With the evil spirit cast out of the slave girl, her owners became angry.  She had been a source of income to them.  Here money mattered over ministry; the fact that she was healed hampered their financial gain.  Therefore they brought the matter before the  magistrates, Roman-appointed officials whose duty it was to hear cases and keep the peace in a Roman colony.  A mock trial ensued, with evidently no opportunity for the missionaries to give testimony and be justly judged.  The crowd, too, was volatile, and soon joined the opposition to Paul and Silas. {A note here:  Luke seems to have left Philippi prior to the appearance before the magistrates.  The first person plural pronouns, we/us, were used at the beginning of this account, but by the time of the scourging and imprisonment, only Paul and Silas are mentioned.  Several scholars believe Paul sent Luke to the churches in Galatia to encourage believers there.} A bundle of rods, the sign of the magistrate’s authority to punish by beating, was brought forth, and “they inflicted many blows upon them.”  Paul would write later in I Thessalonians 2:2 that he was shamefully treated in Philippi.  After beating, the missionaries were thrown into prison (which indicates contempt and cruelty, even in this act).  Ordered to secure them, the jailer took them to the dungeon area of the prison.  Hurting and broken, with wounds unattended, Paul and Silas were left to languish for awhile.

A mid-night incident that happened in my husband’s ministry years ago came to my mind.  We were holding a series of revival meetings in the church he pastored.  Our visiting evangelist was our long-time friend and a missionary on furlough.  After an evening service on Tuesday we returned to our home and were having a snack time, talking over the events of the service just held, and praying before retirement.  After prayer, my husband said to our visiting evangelist, “We must make a visit.  There is someone to whom we must talk, now!”  Probably alarmed that an evangelistic visit would be made at 11:00 p. m., our evangelist friend questioned his timing and intuition.  But my husband persuaded him to accompany him, and they went next door to our neighbor’s house.  Grover had heard the man’s car arrive at home while we were praying, and had no doubt prayed silently for this man, a professional gambler, even while our prayers were offered from around our kitchen table.  John and Grover went next door, and were gone until well after midnight.  When they returned, they had wonderful news to share with me.  The man had confessed his sins and accepted Christ as Savior at that midnight hour.  The next day, he was in attendance at revival service at our church, and came forward, making known his conversion in his testimony before the church.  In the days and years that followed, that man was a faithful attender and worshiper at that church.  But another secret to that marvelous conversion was a praying wife who had never lost hope that her husband’s life-style and “demonization” of his addiction to gambling would be lifted through the power of Jesus Christ working in his life.  No doubt, his former associates bemoaned the loss of this man’s presence and monetary addition to the gambling table.  But when Christ brings release from habits that bind, or as in the slave girl’s account, the demons that trouble a mind, the deliverance can be instantaneous and complete.  Our neighbor’s wife and children had a husband and father saved and restored to his right mind, who became a provider and influence for good on his family.

We should be aware of demons that trouble us and prevent our complete dedication to the Lord.  Are there unholy habits or vexing worries from which we can be released by the power of the Lord’s presence and guidance?  He stands ready to release us and to give us His power to be overcomers. 

Lydia and Her Household Become Christians

So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.  We remained in this city some days.  And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.  One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God.  The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.  And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.’  And she prevailed upon us.”-Acts 16:11-15 (ESV).

Paul and his mission team set sail from Troas on a northwesterly course on the northern neck of the Aegean Sea to the island of Samothrace, a journey of about two days.  The next day they boarded a ship to Neapolis.  The next lap of their journey was to Philippi, a major city of Macedonia some ten miles inland. Paul was now in Macedonia, in Europe, and was fulfilling the call of his vision, “Come over into Macedonia to help us.”  Philippi, founded by Philip, father of Alexander the Great, was a major trade center.  It was one of the chief cities on the Great Egnatian Way, an important travel and trade route that connected Asia and Italy.  Even though a populous city, the Jewish population there evidently was not enough for the city to have a Jewish synagogue, the place where Paul usually began his mission in any new city he entered.  An ordinary practice, however, was for Jews in a city with no synagogue to gather at a river (or by the seaside on a coastal city) for prayer and worship on the Sabbath.  They would thus find water needed for the ritual purification rites before worship.  In the several days Paul and his team had already been at Philippi, they probably had heard of the place on the river where worship was held.  There they found women gathered in prayer, and a leader seems to have been a business woman named Lydia, a native of Thyatira, a district where there were many dyers and dealers in fabric. It is significant that she is a “seller of purple goods.”  The purple dye had to be gathered drop-by-drop from the shell fish.  A pound of cloth dyed with this rare dye could cost as much as 40 pounds.  This speaks of the stature and importance of this European business woman—from another town, Thyatira, operating her business in a cross-roads of international trade, the busy city of Philippi.  And she was a God-fearer, one accustomed to worship on the Sabbath. Paul began to teach the assembled women about Jesus the Messiah.  They listened, were receptive, and were won to Christ.  And moreover, “her household” as well.  This would mean any servants and family members.  And immediately they were baptized as testimony to their new-found faith.  Then Lydia, wealthy business woman, invited the mission team to her house to lodge.  Luke wrote: “She prevailed upon us.” This comment shows not only that she made the invitation but that she really meant it.  In several of Paul’s writings, he denotes the gift of hospitality as being commendable and a spiritual gift.

Today is Mother’s Day. When we are gifted to have a Christian mother, we are blessed indeed.  If we are a Christian mother, we are blessed indeed.  We do not know whether Lydia, business woman,  was a mother; “household” indicates that she may have been.  She demonstrated in her invitation to the missionaries to come into her home that she recognized their needs and responded.  We can imagine that she offered them all the amenities of food for their hunger, and rooms where they could rest and gain restoration from travels and work.  “A Christian home is a home with an ever-open door,” writes Dr. William Barclay in his commentary about Lydia.  Lydia and her household have the distinction of being Paul’s first European converts.  As we honor mothers today, let us thank God for the influence and blessings of Christian mothers.  

Timothy Added to Paul’s Mission Team; Macedonian Call Comes

“Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra.  A disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.  He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium.  Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places for they all knew his father was a Greek.  As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.  So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily… And a vision appeared to Paul in the night:  a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’  And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”Acts 16:1-4, 9-10 (ESV. Read Acts 16:1-10).

At Lystra, young Timothy joined Paul and Silas.  Timothy is believed to have been converted about five years before when Paul made his first missionary journey and preached in Lystra.  Timothy had been well instructed in Jewish law and scripture by his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois (see 2 Timothy 1:5; 3:15)  Timothy’s father was a Greek (Gentile).  Even though Paul had won the decision in Jerusalem that Gentiles did not have to be circumcised to become a part of the Christian fellowship, why did he, then, have Timothy circumcised?  Those who knew Timothy would have known that his parents were of a mixed marriage:  a Jewish maiden to a Greek man. In a strict Jewish home, the Jew, male or female, who married a non-Jew would have been considered “dead” and cast out by their Jewish kin.  And because it was Paul’s custom to go first in any new city to the Jewish synagogue to preach, teach and witness, he did not want to have a problem of a “half Jewish” member of the missions team uncircumcised.  Therefore, this rite was administered to Timothy before they moved on to other cities in the region.  They bore the news from the Jerusalem Council that Gentiles did not have to go through the rite of circumcision. The addition of Timothy was a boon to Paul’s work.  He calls him his “son in the gospel” (I Corinthians 4:17).  He evidently saw great potential in the young man, one who could take on leadership of the churches and the teaching ministry after Paul was no longer able to do the work.  Many have been the great preachers who have had the Paul/Timothy mentoring relationship.  I can think even now of several in ministry who were faithfully mentored by my dear husband, Rev. Grover D. Jones.

As they proceeded on their journey, they were “forbidden by the Holy Spirit” to speak in Asia, Mysia, and Bithynia. People dwelling in those places were not yet Christians and needed to hear.  Why did Paul get the word not to go?  Could we say that “the time was not ripe” and that “God had other regions in mind”?  How did Paul get this strong impression not to go?  It could have been in a vision, much as Peter’s on the housetop in Joppa.  Maybe some prophet spoke to Paul and told him not to go to those regions.  Or it could have been by some inner urging so strong in Paul’s mind that he knew he should forego his plans to go further into Asia.  Other scholars reason that it could have been Paul’s illness which he referred to as his “thorn in the flesh” that would not go away.  In verse ten we suddenly have a first person plural pronoun:  “we sought to go into Macedonia” (v. 10).  Who is included in this “we” and why a sudden shift from “they” to “we”?  Many scholars believe that Luke the physician had joined Paul, Silas and Timothy at Troas.  Luke was the author of Acts.  So it seems a natural approach, if he indeed had joined the team there, that he would say, “we  sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them” (v. 10).  This call to go into Macedonia opened up Europe for an important area to spread the gospel.  Paul didn’t delay:  immediately the team moved in that direction.  With what success the gospel was heard and the Way accepted there! Praise be to God!

The Influence of a Godly Grandmother and Mother on Timothy

“When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” –II Timothy 2:5-7 (NKJV). “But as for you, continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” –II Timothy 3:14-15 (NKJV).

Timothy’s mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois are mentioned by name only once in the Bible, in II Timothy 3:14. Luke, in writing the Acts of the Apostles, records the story of Timothy’s call and going with Paul and Silas when they were in Lystra. We read: “And behold, a certain disciple was there, name Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek” (Acts 16:1-3). Timothy and his mother and grandmother were likely converted to Christianity on Paul’s first missionary journey to Lystra. By the time Paul returned on his second missionary journey, Timothy was already an outstanding Christian there. Lois and Eunice were Jews by birth, but Timothy’s father (unnamed) was Greek. That is why Paul thought it best to circumcise Timothy so that no criticism would be forthcoming from Jewish Christians they might meet. Eunice and Lois’s influence on Timothy made such an impact that Paul felt it worthy of noting in the epistle to Timothy.

Family influence can be a strong factor in helping children to become a Christian and to develop in Christ-like graces. Paul commended Timothy that his faith had first lived in his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois. They had prepared Timothy with a solid education in the Jewish Scriptures, had taught him responsibility and trained him in strong character traits. Paul called Timothy his “son in the gospel.” He could trust him to be sent on important missions and assigned him to hard places to assist struggling congregations with problems of doctrine and Christian discipline.

Paul wrote in I Timothy 6:11-12: “But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godloiness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (NKJV)

What Paul was telling Timothy (and us) to flee was the love of money. He was to embrace instead the fruits of the Spirit which included godliness, faith, love, patience and gentleness. Timothy had been taught these characteristics from his youth up, both by precept and example, by his mother and grandmother. “I’d rather see a sermon any day than to hear one” is an oft-quoted adage about Christian example. In the home, we learn by seeing a sermon lived out in the lives of godly elders. Timothy had that example. Let us pray that we ourselves can be more like Eunice and Lois.

Lydia, First Recorded European Convert

"Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days. And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.’ And she constrained us…So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.” –Acts 16:11-15, 50 (NKJV).

It was an exciting, yet troublous time for the early church. Paul was on his second missionary journey. It was from AD 49-52. Paul and his companion, Silas, left Antioch of Syria. A good Bible map will have their itinerary clearly marked, and Acts 15:36 through 18:18 records what happened on that mission. As happens sometimes in today’s churches, Paul and Barnabas, when this second missionary trip was proposed, contended over Mark. Barnabas wanted Mark to go, but Paul did not want Mark because he had left them on their first missionary journey. Two teams went out: Barnabas and Mark to Cyprus, and Paul, with Silas as his companion, overland through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches they had established on their first journey. At Lystra, the disciple named Timothy, later to be called by Paul his “son in the gospel” (I Timothy 1:2), joined with the mission team and was circumcised on Paul’s advice, “for the Jews who were there.” What we call Paul’s “Macedonian call” occurred, a vision in which Paul clearly heard a man from Macedonia saying, “Come over to Macedonia to help us.” So they sailed to Europe, and it was at Philippi that Paul met up with Lydia and a group of women praying at the riverside, for there was no Jewish synagogue at that time in that city. There in that Sabbath gathering, where the women customarily met, Lydia listened to Paul’s message from God. On that Sabbath, Lydia was changed forever.

What do we know about Lydia? Certain abbreviated facts are given about her in Acts 16:14-15: She was a businesswoman, “a seller of purple.” She was from Thyatira, not Philippi (we can infer that she might have been on a business trip, or else she was a native of Thyatira and had moved to Philippi). She worshiped God (not idols). The Lord opened her heart (she listened and believed what Paul was teaching). She and her household were baptized. She had the spiritual gift of hospitality (she invited Paul and his team to her house).

We would like to know more about Lydia, this first recorded convert on the continent of Europe. But the Bible is silent about her following the two mentions of her in Acts 16—in the prayer meeting by the riverside at Philippi, her open heart, conversion, baptism and hospitality. But note, after the missionary team joined the women at the prayer meeting, they later met up with the slave girl, a diviner whose masters used her prophecies to earn them money. She followed them. Paul commanded the evil spirit in her to come out. Her owners did not like this because she was no longer valuable to them. They brought charges against Paul to the magistrates. The missionaries were beaten, imprisoned and put in stocks. But God’s Spirit is not bound nor is He hindered by prison walls. At midnight as Paul and Silas sang and praised God, a great earthquake shook the prison, doors were opened, chains were loosed. The jailer feared for his life, but the prisoners were still there, ready to witness to him until he cried out, “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). We have the wonderful account of the Philippian jailer and his household being saved, of his ministering to the wounds of the missionaries and giving them food. The magistrates wanted the officers to release Paul and Silas secretly. Paul claimed their Roman citizenship, and the city rulers themselves came to release them. From jail they went into Lydia’s home, were received warmly and the believers encouraged. Imagine Lydia’s joy to have shown hospitality to the Apostle Paul! In Lydia’s case, we see how God the Father provides opportunities for salvation and a complete change in life. As Lydia sold “royal cloth” (purple), so she was royally received into the Kingdom.