Acts 16:33,34

Acts 16:33,34 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. When the jailor was saved, his heart was totally changed! He was a new man! He took Paul and Silas to his house and cleaned up their bleeding backs. He put food before them and they had a great time rejoicing in Jesus Christ. I am sure none of them slept any more that night! All of them were so excited! Early the next morning, Paul and Silas gladly went back to their prison cell. The city rulers sent word for the jailor to let them go. “May be they have learned a lesson,” the magistrates thought. But Paul had a naughty idea. “We’re not leaving,” he said to the city representative. “We are Roman citizens and you have beaten us unlawfully,” Paul went on. “Let them come down here and fetch us out themselves!” he said. Well now, that was different. Now the city rulers were embarrassed and in big trouble. To beat a Roman citizen unlawfully was big trouble. They hurried down to the prison and begged Paul and Silas to leave. Paul hung around Philippi as long as he wished and then left as slowly as he pleased. He left Lydia and the jailor and all of their households as new converts to the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ!

Acts 16:29-31

Acts 16:29-31 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. While Paul and Silas were staying with Lydia and her family, they went to the market each day to talk to people about the Lord Jesus Christ. But there was a fortune-telling slave who kept crying out loud to everyone, “These men are servants of the Most High God. Listen to them!” Although she was saying the truth, she was making a scene and embarrassing the preachers. But mainly, Paul and Silas were concerned for her soul - an evil spirit controlled her. So, in the name of Jesus, they commanded the evil spirit to come out of her. And it did. But when her masters saw she was healed of this evil spirit, they knew she couldn’t and wouldn’t tell fortunes any more for them. And they got mad at the missionaries. They lied to the authorities and said that Paul and Silas were disrupting the whole city. The authorities had them arrested, beaten, and thrown into prison. Bu in spite of their beaten backs; in spite of the cold, damp prison; in spite of their feet aching in the tight, wooden stocks, at midnight, Paul and Silas were singing praises to the Lord! How could they? Why should they? God had saved their souls and they were wonderfully thankful! And God was with them too! He sent a mighty earthquake which opened every door and every lock in the whole prison. The Keeper was devastated. He would be tortured because of the escaped prisoners. He drew his sword to kill himself, but was stopped by Paul and Silas’ cries, “Do not harm yourself; we are all here. Why had those crazy preachers not fled when they had the chance to? Their faith in God was real, he thought to himself. He called for a light and ran in to their cell and cried, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul joyfully said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved!” And he did!

Acts 16:12-15

Act 16:12-15 And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days. And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us. Paul was always looking for a place to talk about Jesus. He looked for people who were interested in spiritual things or people who were Jewish, like himself. Here in Philippi it was the women who were searching for God. And that is just the kind of people that Paul was looking for. When Paul shared the gospel of Jesus Christ, Lydia was glad to be saved and baptized. You remember at Iconium some were saved and some got mad. They got so mad that they were ready to stone Paul and Silas and Timothy and Dr. Luke. Isn’t that interesting! What a difference! That reminds me of the song, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.”

Acts 16:8,9

Acts 16:8,9 And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. As Paul retraced his first missionary trip, he continued on to some new cities. He planned to go on up into Turkey, but the Spirit of God wouldn’t let him. But one night while he was on at the seaside city of Troas, God spoke to him in a dream. He saw a man of Macedonia saying, “Come over and help us.” Macedonia was just north of Greece in modern-day Albania. It wasn’t that much further from where Paul already was, except it was across the sea. Paul was in Asia and where the Holy Spirit was wanting him to go was in Europe. The reason that is important is that Europe is where my ancestors are from. Because Paul listened and went into Europe, my ancestors heard the gospel and eventually, I heard the gospel. So I am telling you about Jesus Christ because Paul listened to this night vision from God! Just like Paul listened to God, so we should carefully listen to God. Who knows what will happen if we listen to God. Many thousands of people may hear the gospel if we listen to and obey the will of God.

Acts 15:36-41

Acts 15:36-41 And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do. And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus; And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches. After Paul and Barnabas went back to Antioch they explained what the leaders in Jerusalem had decided. They all rejoice in the liberty that they had in Jesus Christ. After some time, Paul and Barnabas determined to re-visit their new churches in Asia. But as you may recall, John Mark had quit on them and had gone back to Antioch early. Barnabas wanted to give him a second chance, but Paul didn’t. the disagreement was so great that they split up; Paul taking Silas and Barnabas taking John Mark. That was unfortunate. But God had a plan. In spite of a disagreement, by splitting up, two groups went out instead of one! God can even use disagreements.

Acts 15:6-9

Acts 15:6-9 And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. This is an important chapter in the book of Acts. There was a growing number of new converts outside of Israel who were not Jewish. And some of the born-again Jews were concerned that these new converts did not follow the Jewish traditions. They thought that these new converts should keep the Jewish religious laws even though they were not Jews themselves. The apostles, James (the brother of Jesus) and John were the leaders of the Jewish church in Jerusalem and Peter and Paul came to speak up for the new gentile converts. When Peter spoke, his point was that the gentiles had received the Holy Spirit just like the believing Jews had, except that the gentiles hadn’t kept the Law of Moses (the Old Testament). Evidently God accepted the gentiles just like they were without doing all of the Jewish works things. Paul went on to say that if they required the new gentile converts to follow all of the Jewish laws after they were already saved, they would be adding something that you must do to salvation. And salvation is not by what we do, it is Who we are trusting in. Paul said that salvation was by God’s grace and not by man’s works. All of the people in Jerusalem agreed to this and the matter was settled. Jewish Christians continued to follow the Jewish traditions because they were Jews, but the gentile converts did not have to obey the Jewish Old Testament laws because they were not Jews. Both were Christian brothers and sisters and were free to follow Jesus Christ! I am glad that my salvation is not because of the laws that I keep; I am glad that my salvation de[pends on the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross! He did it all . . . for me and for you!