Opening: What was your
conversion moment, the realization that without God, you cannot live?
Scripture: Read Acts 16:16-40.
Insights:
- Can you imagine it: using a demon-possessed slave girl for profit? That’s what was happening in Philippi. At the time, she was what was called a Pytho (sounds like our word “psycho”!) She was a person who could give oracles to guide people about the future. Like a fortune teller, but the source of her information was demonic. She was undoubtedly mad. The ancient world had a strange respect for mad people because, they said, the gods had taken away their wits in order to put the mind of the gods into them.
- The demon within the girl correctly identified Paul and Silas as servants of God. The same was true for Jesus; see Matthew 8:29, Mark 1:24, Mark 3:11, and Luke 4:41.
- When the jailor awoke after the earthquake and saw the open prison doors, it was an easy assumption that all of his prisoners were long gone. He believed his fate was sealed, for jailers were responsible for their prisoners and would be held accountable if they escaped. Paul saved the man’s life, and then his soul!
- Verse 33 is another “the entire household was baptized” passage, like with Lydia’s household in verse 15.
- Paul was not going to leave Philippi without giving the officials of Philippi a piece of his mind. He and Silas informed them they are Roman citizens, but just some traveling Jews. Roman citizenship carried with it certain privileges. It was illegal to whip a Roman citizen, and every citizen had the right to a fair trial, which Paul and Silas had not been given. The Philippian authorities apologized and begged them to leave Philippi.
- If you haven’t figured it out by now, Luke has joined Paul’s group. We know Luke was a physician, probably from Troas, where he was converted, and from there joined the group on its way to Philippi. He witnessed the events in Philippi, but was not imprisoned. Luke stayed in Philippi (see Acts 17:1). On Paul’s third visit to Philippi (see Acts 20:5, 6), we again meet with Luke, who probably had spent all the intervening time in that city, a period of seven or eight years. After this, Luke was Paul’s constant companion during his journey to Jerusalem (see Acts 20:6-21:18). He again disappears from view during Paul’s imprisonment at Jerusalem and Caesarea, and only reappears when Paul sets out for Rome (see Acts 27:1), where he accompanies him (see Acts 28:2, 12-16), and where he remains with him till the close of his first imprisonment (see Philemon1:24; Colossians 4:14). The last notice of the “beloved physician” is in 2 Timothy4:11.[1]
Life Questions:
- The irony of this passage is that Paul and Silas were beaten and arrested for a good deed – releasing the slave girl from exploitation. Has that ever happened to you – treated poorly for doing good?
- In Philippi, Paul’s ministry is to everyone. Lydia was an influential businesswoman (see Acts 16:14). The demon-possessed slave girl was at the bottom of the social strata of the city. And the jailer was one of the sturdy middle class who made up the Roman civil service. The Good News was reaching everyone, just as it does today.
- Imagine the scene in the jail. Despite their wounds, chains, and circumstances, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. What a testimony to all who listened. How is your faith borne out to others when you are in a difficult situation? Might it be possible that God will use your “praying and singing” in your difficult time to bring about the conversion of a wayward soul?
- The jailer’s question is every person’s life question, whether they have asked it or not: “What must I do to be saved?” The only real and eternal answer is, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” Have you responded? Do you believe?
Prayer Focus: That everyone
would be saved.
[1] Illustrated Bible
Dictionary: And Treasury of Biblical History, Biography, Geography, Doctrine,
and Literature. “Luke”
