Lesson for June 25, 2025
Paul the Apostle
Lesson 5
Paul’s Second Missionary Journey
Acts 15:36-40, “After some days (in Antioch) Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let’s return and visit the brothers and sisters in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are.’ 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. 38 But Paul was of the opinion that they should not take along with them this man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 Now it turned into such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. 40 But Paul chose Silas and left after being entrusted by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.”
Acts 16:14-24,“A woman named Lydia was listening; she was a seller of purple fabrics from the city of Thyatira, and a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. 15 Now 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 woman who had a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing great profit to her masters by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, ‘These men are bondservants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.’ 18 Now she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and he 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.19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was suddenly gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, ‘These men, Jews as they are, are causing our city trouble, 21 and they are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are Romans.’ 22 The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.”
Paul and Silas left Antioch to travel to back the cities where they had been evangelizing. Paul had seen a vision of a man from the region of Macedonia saying come over and help us. So, Paul and Silas made their way to Philippi in Macedonia, and we pick up the story from there. This was Paul’s second missionary journey.
A woman named Lydia was listening; she was a seller of purple fabrics from the city of Thyatira, and a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. Lydia was one of many women mentioned throughout the Scriptures and one of importance. She was a businesswoman who gave shelter to Paul and his missionary team. As she listened to Paul and the others preach the Gospel, she believed in Christ and was baptized along with those of her household who also believed.
It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave woman who had a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing great profit to her masters by fortune-telling. Paul’s team encountered a demon-possessed soothsayer (spirit of divination) who had a very profitable business of fortune-telling. The word for divination described the fortune-telling practiced by demon-possessed people who were involved in so-called “prophetic utterances.” Demonism was to receive capital punishment, according to Leviticus 20:27. The punishment for demon possession in the Old Testament was stoning. Demons can possess any unbeliever, but never against the person’s will. Therefore, Satan and his demons seek out willing victims. (I Corinthians 10:14-21)
She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, ‘These men are bondservants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation. Everything she said was correct. Therefore, it was a very strange situation: a demon-possessed woman was seemingly supporting Paul and his team. Paul knew he had to be separated from anyone involved with demon activity. This was a devious attack from Satan, and Paul recognized it. Paul would not accept any supposed “help” from someone being controlled by a demon. This subtle tactic by Satan has continued until today. We often encounter or observe so-called ministers mimicking the Gospel or quoting Scripture in order to deceive people into believing they are preaching the truth. Remember that Satan has at his disposable “ministers of righteousness” to counterfeit those ministers who preach an accurate Gospel message and teach accurate Bible doctrine. (II Corinthians 11:15)
Now she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and he 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. Many theologians believe this woman received Christ as her Savior the moment He cast out the demon.
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 fortune-telling racket was now broken up and Paul and Silas were taken by force to the Roman authorities. The word authorities refers to the magistrates of a Roman colony who administered justice. The Greek word for seized means to take someone violently and to hold them by violence; dragged means to be dragged by the heels. The marketplace was where the city administration was located and where they had the Roman courts.
Behind all this was Satan and false accusations. These corrupt men are saying to the authorities these men are Jews, but we are Romans. In other words, if these men are Jews and we are Romans, we are right. Jews are always wrong was the idea. They had no basis for indicting these men under Roman law, so the only possible thing they could do was to resort to racial prejudice.
So, they attempted to describe how Paul’s team disturbed the peace by teaching something contrary to “Roman customs.” Their appeal was to make Paul and Silas guilty of violating some “Roman law.” The real grievance was not mentioned in the court at all, that their racket was now broken up causing these men to stop making money from the demon-possessed woman. Their grievance was merely a ploy to get rid of Paul and Silas. And it worked!
The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. Paul and Silas were not only cast into prison but were put in the “dungeon” of the prison (inner prison) with their feet secured in stocks.
The Romans always had a system where they had a prison which went underground. Half the prison would be at street level, where the guards had their barracks, and down below were the prison cells. In the lowest part of all, “the under prison,” was the most secure area which was usually a “dungeon type” place.
Acts 16:25-33, “Now about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 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 chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas; 30 and after he brought them out, he said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ 31 They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ 32 And they spoke the Word of God to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.”
This is a dramatic story of the physical deliverance of Paul and Silas, and the spiritual deliverance of their jailer, and his entire household. Instead of feeling sorry for themselves, Paul and Silas were praying and singing. They were “counting themselves worthy to suffer for Christ.” They had been tried and beaten illegally by the local authorities and were now in the dungeon of the prison being closely guarded. But even in prison, Paul and Silas were witnesses for Christ. The songs they were singing were certainly doctrinal songs with a message of salvation and all the prisoners were listening.
And suddenly there was a great earthquake. At this point, God takes over and a miracle was the result. God used the laws of nature to create a miracle for His faithful servants. The result of the earthquake was twofold: 1) immediately all the doors were opened 2) everyone’s chains were broken.
When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. The jailer knew he was going to be in trouble and that the Romans were going to kill him for this. He assumed that the prisoners were all gone and that there was nothing left for him to do but to take his own life. But Paul stopped the jailer, immediately.
‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved? This was the question posed to Paul and Silas by the jailer. The Greek word for sirs is “kurios” meaning lords which was a title of courtesy addressed to a stranger. The Greek word for saved is “sozo,” which is used both for physical deliverance and for spiritual deliverance. But what was on his mind? Was he thinking of physical deliverance from his problem? Perhaps he was thinking in terms of escaping death at the hands of his superiors or spiritual deliverance by God. Either way, God had brought him to the place of what might have been an unsolvable problem in order that the Gospel could be shared with him.
Paul and Silas gave him the perfect answer. They simply said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Believe is the Greek verb “pisteuo,” which means faith or belief. And your household is an idiom meaning that what applied to the jailer, applied to his family. The members of the jailer’s household would be saved in exactly the same way he was, if they put faith in Jesus Christ.
And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. They had all gathered around and were listening to the Gospel. Apparently, the jailer had immediately made the decision to trust Christ as his Savior upon hearing the Gospel. The one who had fastened them to the stocks was now a different person – his whole attitude toward these two men had changed. Then, his family followed his lead and believed in Jesus for salvation. After they had believed in Christ, they were all baptized by Paul and Silas, as a demonstration of their faith.