Acts 16:11-40 - Three Conversions in Philippi
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
[CONTEXT] Jesus has come. He has been crucified. He has been raised from the dead. He appeared to His Apostles, teaching them over period of forty days. He was taken up to heaven from where He will return.
As He was lifted up, He sent His Holy Spirit revealing Himself as the Christ, the Messiah, and causing the good news of Jesus Christ to be proclaimed in languages from all over the world.
The good news of Jesus spread rapidly. Many believed, but others rejected. One who rejected Jesus as the Christ and even persecuted those who believed was a young Pharisee named, Saul.
He was in hearty agreement with those who murdered Stephen, and even held their robes as they threw their stones. He ravaged the church, dragging believing men and women out of their homes and into prison. He seethed with murderous intent against believers, hunting them down near and far.
But on the way to hunt them down in Damascus, Saul was confronted by the glorious, resurrected Christ.
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4)
“I am Jesus whom you are persecuting…” (Acts 9:5).
Jesus said, “…he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake,” (Acts 9:15-16).
Saul (whom we know more commonly as Paul) became a believer. The persecutor was made a preacher.
Immediately that’s what he began to do in Damascus and then Jerusalem and then Antioch. It was from Antioch that Paul and Barnabas set out on their first missionary journey. And it was from Antioch that Paul and his new team set out on his second missionary journey.
After visiting some of the cities from the first journey, Paul and his team were directed by the Holy Spirit to the district of Macedonia and the city of Philippi.
In Acts 16:11-40, Luke shows us three conversions in Philippi.
[READING - Acts 16:11-40]
So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days. And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled. A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us. It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.” The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 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 together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household. Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, “Release those men.” And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out.” The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.
[PRAYER]
[INTER] Is anyone in any condition beyond the grace of God in Jesus Christ?
[CIT] In this passage Luke introduces us to a business woman, a slave girl, and a jailer, all in different situations, but all saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
[PROP] What the Holy Spirit teaches us through this passage is that no one in any situation is outside the reach of God’s grace.
[TS] In each salvation story recorded in this passage, I want us to see their CONDITION, their CONVERSATION, and their CONCLUSION.
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
#1: THEIR CONDITION (vv. 14, 16, 27)
#1: THEIR CONDITION (vv. 14, 16, 27)
Lydia
A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.
Slave Girl
It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling.
Jailer
When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
[EXP] Lydia was apparently an independent business woman. There is no mention of a husband, but there is mention of her profession. As a seller of purple fabrics, she was likely financially stable. She was from Thyatira, not a prominent city but a city that was the center of a number of trade guilds, one of those likely being the dying and dealing of purple fabrics.
She was a worshiper of God—a Gentile who believed in the God of Israel but had not completely converted to Judaism. As Paul preached the Gospel, Lydia listened to the things he spoke.
How would you describe Lydia’s condition?
It would be easy to see her as satisfied. After all, it seems she had money and a career, but couldn’t we also see here as dissatisfied? Although she had money and a career, she was still coming to the place of prayer. Perhaps she knew she was missing something—something that money and career couldn’t satisfy.
Perhaps as Paul began to speak of Jesus, Lydia even sensed that he talking about the thing that would finally satisfy, so she listened intently.
The slave girl was apparently along the path which led to the place of prayer on a different day. She had a spirit of divination, a demonic spirit that supposedly helped her predict the future.
The phrase “spirit of divination” is literally “python spirit”. In ancient Greek mythology, Python was a snake that guarded the pagan high-priestess at the Temple of Apollo. “Python spirit” is an apt description here because this evil spirit was squeezing the spiritual life out of this girl.
This slave girl was also preyed upon by greedy men who had no use for her beyond the profit they made from her.
How would describe her condition?
I think a fitting descriptor would be “helpless”. This slave girl was oppressed by spirits and men alike; as a slave she had no rights; her situation wasn’t going to change. She was helpless.
Perhaps that’s why God put her along Paul’s path as he was going to the place of prayer. Perhaps that why God allowed the evil spirit inside her to pester Paul until he cast it in the name of Christ.
The jailer was paid to keep prisoners in jail. He likely made OK money, enough to feed his family well, but it was a job that came with risks. If the prisoners escaped, the jailer was likely to pay with his own life.
When Paul cast the demon out of the slave girl and the profits of the wicked men in Philippi disappeared, they accused Paul and Silas of starting a riot and teaching things that were in essence anti-Rome. Paul and Silas weren’t tried, but they were beaten and thrown in jail. About midnight as Paul and Silas sang hymns and prayed, God opened the prison doors and removed their chains with a great earthquake. When the jailer awoke to see the prison doors opened, he assumed the prisoners had all escaped. He knew what that meant. He knew that would cost him his life. He drew his sword and prepared to do the deed himself.
How would describe the jailer’s condition?
We might say he was desperate, or we might say he was beyond desperate. He was suicidal. He was about to kill himself because he knew that his life was over.
But just then, he heard Paul’s voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”
[ILLUS] Because of the curse of sin, we are likely to visit the doctor a few times during our lives, and the doctor has the unfortunate duty of frequently delivering bad news.
Sometimes the bad news is, “It’s just a virus. It’ll have to run its course.”
Other times the bad news is, “Well, at your age, we start to see things like this.”
Other times the bad news is, “Yeah, we don’t know what that is.”
And occasionally the bad news is, “We’re sorry; there’s nothing we can do.”
In other words, our physical condition is sometimes so far gone that the doctor doesn’t think there’s any hope.
[APP] But God’s grace in Jesus Christ never looks at us and says, “I’m sorry; there’s nothing I can do.”
No matter how dissatisfied we are, we can always find the satisfaction we’re longing for in Jesus.
No matter how helpless we are, we can always find the freedom we need in Jesus.
No matter how desperate or even suicidal we are, we can always find reason to live in Jesus.
No matter our condition, we are always within reach of the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
[TS]…
#2: THEIR CONVERSION (vv. 14, 17-18, 27-31)
#2: THEIR CONVERSION (vv. 14, 17-18, 27-31)
Lydia
A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.
Slave Girl
Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.
Jailer
When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
[EXP] As Lydia sat by the riverside listening to the things spoke by Paul there’s no doubt that she heard of Jesus, His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead. Paul would’ve explained that the price for sin is death but God demonstrated His own love for us in this, that while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8).
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing in unbelief, but the Lord opened Lydia’s heart to respond in faith to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Lydia, the Gentile business woman who worship the God of Jews, was converted to Christianity.
By the grace of God working through the preaching of the Apostle Paul, she was a Christian.
The slave girl kept following Paul and his team as they went back to the place of prayer in hopes of seeing another conversion like Lydia’s. She kept crying out, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation,” (Acts 16:17). This sounds like a good message, but it would’ve been confusing in this context. The pagans who heard her wouldn’t have thought of YHWH or Jesus when they thought of the “Most High God”; they would have thought of Zeus, the chief god of the Greek pantheon.
This kept up for many days until Paul’s patience wore thin. We can imagine him with a forced smile as he tries to tell people about Jesus as this demonically influenced slave girl keeps shouting. Finally, in great annoyance, he wheels around and says to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her,” and it came out (Acts 16:18).
People debate whether the slave girl came to Christ or not after the evil spirit was cast out. Was she actually converted to Christianity or did she decide that Jesus wasn’t for her?
The Scripture doesn’t say but I find it hard to believe that she wasn’t converted. I don’t think she was set free just to make Paul’s ministry in Philippi a little easier but was then forgotten. I think she was set free so that her soul could be saved.
I believe the slave girl who was oppressed by evil spirits and wicked men was converted to Christianity.
By the grace of God working through the impatience of the Apostle Paul, I think she became a Christian.
The jailer was about to plunge his own sword into his own body taking his own life, but Paul cried out telling him that all the prisoners had remained in the prison.
Paul, Silas, and the other prisoners could’ve escaped, but those chose to remain behind; they chose to stay in that prison. Was it just because Paul knew he had been unfairly treated by the Philippian government and wanted to set the record straight like we read about at the end of the chapter? Or did Paul choose to sacrifice his freedom so this jailer wouldn’t die? Did he choose to sacrifice his freedom so this jailer might come to Christ?
In any event, Paul and Silas remained in the prison.
This was hard for the jailer to believe, so the he called for lights to see for himself, and it was just as Paul said. Astonished, he brought Paul and Silas out of the jail and fell down before them. He likely knew they were in jail because they had been preaching something about salvation when they had healed some slave girl, so he asked them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Paul and Silas said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household,” (Acts 16:31). Then we read in Acts 16:32-33…
And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.
The jailer who was about to take His own life was converted to Christianity.
By the grace of God working through the sacrifice of the Apostle Paul, he became a Christian.
[ILLUS] Yesterday the family and I went walking at Langan (Municipal) Park (which we call ‘The Duck Park’). We saw a few interesting things at the park.
We saw people sitting cross-legged in a circle meditating (at first I thought they were playing Duck Duck Goose).
We saw people in full knights armor using medieval weapons to spar with one another.
And we saw the trees—pine trees, oak trees, tall trees, small trees. (I feel like Dr. Seuss right now.) Green trees, yellow trees, and all sorts of trees if you please.
There’s a lot of creativity in that bit of creation, but it was all created by God.
Likewise, there’s a lot of creativity in conversion, but it is all by the power of God in Jesus Christ.
[APP] The converted are only converted by the power of God in Jesus Christ as He opens the heart to respond to the Gospel in faith, as He opens the heart so that a person believes on Jesus Christ for salvation.
The Lord might use a unexpected sermon by a creek to save someone.
He might use a frustrated exorcism on the way to prayer to save someone.
He might use the voluntary sacrifice of one of His followers to save someone.
But no matter what He uses, it’s always His power in Christ that opens the heart to respond to the Gospel in faith.
[TS]…
#3: THEIR CONCLUSION (vv. 15, 32-34, 40)
#3: THEIR CONCLUSION (vv. 15, 32-34, 40)
Lydia
And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
Jailer
And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.
Lydia
They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.
[EXP] Once Lydia was saved, the members of her household also heard the Gospel and were saved. They were all baptized in the name of Jesus. And immediately Lydia wanted to host Paul and his team in her house. It seems that Paul and his team at first tried to decline the invitation but as v. 15 says, “…she prevailed upon us.” (Lydia was apparently pretty persuasive.)
We also see that Lydia continued to host Paul and his team after they were released from jail. The chief magistrates in Philippi were afraid when they learned that Paul and Silas, Roman citizens, were beaten without warrant and then thrown into a Philippian jail, so they attempted to smooth things over and ask Paul and Silas to leave. But before they left, they went to Lydia’s where they encouraged their fellow Christians. Then they departed.
This was the conclusion for Lydia in Acts 16.
She shared Jesus with household.
She confessed Jesus through baptism.
She served Jesus through her hospitality.
The jailer believed in the Lord Jesus and took Paul and Silas to meet the members of his household—his family members and servants. Paul and Silas explained the person and work of Jesus to these folks as well, and they believed in Jesus as well. The jailer and all his people were baptized that night. Then he brought them into his house, fed them, and rejoiced because he and his whole family had believed in God through faith in Jesus Christ.
This was the conclusion for the jailer in Acts 16.
He shared Jesus with his household.
He confessed Jesus through baptism.
He served Jesus through his hospitality.
But what about the slave girl? What’s the conclusion of her story? Of course, the Scripture doesn’t tell us, and as I said before, the Scripture doesn’t explicitly say that she even believed in Jesus for salvation. But as I also said before, I do think she was delivered so that she would become a believer.
But I do not know what the conclusion of her story was, except for this—I think we’ll meet her one day in Heaven and then we’ll see the conclusion of her story and the conclusion of every believer’s story. Because every believer’s story concludes with our being with Him forever.
Lydia and her household will be with Him forever.
The jailer and his household will be with Him forever.
And I believe this slave girl and all the household of God will be with Him forever.
[APP] All who are saved by Jesus share Him, confess Him, serve Him, and will be with Him forever.
Have you been saved by Jesus?
Will you be with Him forever?
[TS]…
Conclusion
Conclusion
[PRAYER]