Acts 16:1-10 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Paul's second missionary journey was now with Silas and not Barnabas. Barnabas and John Mark set out for Cyprus, which was Barnabas’s home area, but Paul went through Syria and back to the cities in Turkey that he and Barnabas had ministered to on the first missionary trip. For some of these communities this is the third time Paul will visit the believers in Lystra, Iconium, Pisidian Antioch. Paul and Barnabas had met fierce opposition in all three of these cities. In Antioch, the Jewish leaders of that community, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 13:50-52) Then in Iconium, after performing many miracles and doing good to the people there, the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. (Acts 14:4-5) They fled to Lystra; and in Lystra they healed a man who had been lame from birth. Initially because of this mighty miracle, the people of Lystra believed these two disciples were two Greek gods, for only their mythical gods could perform such marvelous, supernatural deeds. When Paul and Barnabas heard that the Greeks were proclaiming them to be two of their gods, they persuaded the people to understand that they were just ordinary humans, not gods. Understanding that the two disciples were but humans, they then turned on them viciously. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. (Acts 24:19-20) In these three communities in spite of much opposition to the Good News, many Greek and Jewish people came to the Lord. In Lystra, Timothy, a young man, joined Paul and Silas in their missionary journey to other communities. Timothy's mother was Jewish and a believer but his father was a Greek. Because of the delicate nature of ministering to the Jews in these communities, he circumcised Timothy because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. The divide between the Jews and the Greeks was an ongoing struggle in these communities. Their relationship with each other was tentative at best, so Paul did not want Jews to reject the Good News because of their prejudicial ideas about Gentiles. By kowtowing to the Jews, he was altering in some ways the promise given to Abraham that he would bless all nations through his descendants. Jews and Gentiles would become one in the name of Jesus. The Good News was for all people everywhere; therefore, both the Jews and the Gentiles would become God’s children, his special people, enlivened by the Holy Spirit within them. As Jesus said, born-again people.
We might consider that the opposition to the message of THE WAY was not in God’s plan for the disciples. But we know the Holy Spirit was leading these evangelists on an intricate path. In their visitations in these communities who just recently had displayed much opposition to Paul's ministry, there were many believers. Therefore, they desired to give these believers in these communities the news from the Jerusalem council about circumcision, a divisive teaching that had invaded the church. This message from the elders in Jerusalem was very direct, simple, and cohesive in manner: telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath. (Acts 15:20-21) This good news was happily received, strengthening their faith. After delivering this message to the established churches in Turkey, Paul and his companions were seeking out new territory in Asia to preach the gospel. As of yet, the disciples' ministry was primarily in Asia. Now in Troas on the coast of the Aegean Sea, Paul receives a vision for a new area to minister the Good News. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. For Paul this was a sure sign that the Holy Spirit wanted him in Europe. He would cross the Aegean Sea and spread the Good News of redemption to the communities of Europe. Since being led by the Holy Spirit, one might think that the ministry would meet little opposition, but this is not true. They immediately ran into adversity in Phillippi. They were stripped and beaten with rods because they had cast out demons from a lady who was making money by her divination for a man who controlled her. This man complained to the Phillippi authorities that these disciples had ruined his life by casting out the demons in this lady. The disciples were thrown in jail and beaten. However, the gospel made inroads into Phillippi and Europe. Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, became the first convert in Europe. Spreading the Good News from the beginning was always dangerous to the apostles. At the very beginning when Peter and John healed the lame man at the temple gate, danger and threats to their lives entered into their existence. They were arrested, put in jail, and then came before the Sanhedrin, and were warned not to speak the name of Jesus again in the streets of Jerusalem. Of course, they refused to be quieted. They were released, but they knew they would need boldness to continue their ministry of spreading the Good News of eternal life to all who would believe in the name of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, they prayed for this boldness. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4:29-30)
Paul and Silas were now in Europe because of the leading of the Holy Spirit. However, they found themselves in jail, stripped and beaten. If you were in their shoes what would you be thinking, body sore from the beatings, shamed because you were stripped naked, and now lying in a dank and dark dungeon. You might be thinking is God good or is this truly the message God wants us to spread to the world? But this is not what they were thinking; they were singing and praising the Lord in their shackles, so loudly that all the other prisoners were hearing their worshipping of God. But from the very beginning in fulfilling God’s commission to believers, pain and hardship accompanied this task. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20) The question is, is God with these two disciples as they sit in this dark dungeon, in pain and bruises? Yes! Jesus had promised them, I am with you always, to the very end of the age. To the natural unredeemed man or woman, their situation does not seem to fit well with God’s great commission to them. But God has always demanded faith, in the wilderness without food or water or in Canaan, where the land is rich and the water cool. Now we see the disciples in Europe, seemingly without the blessings of God on their lives. But the Holy Spirit was with them, singing out the praises of God in that horrible place of confinement. When we see God’s leading, we need to see his leading necessary in every part of our lives, good or bad. The disciples faced this difficult situation right away in their propagation of the word, serving the will of God. The disciples met every day at the Temple in Solomon’s Colonnade. They were attracting large crowds. This caused the Sadducees angst, for the Temple was their responsibility. These rebels were contaminating the Temple with their constant teaching about Jesus being the Messiah. Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.” (Acts 5:17-20) Why should they go back into the Temple and minister about this new life? Why place their lives in danger, to even be killed by the authorities. But these twelve men heard an angel tell them to go back to the temple and tell the people all about this new life. This next step in their lives was God’s will for them. This next step also got them arrested again, and this time the sentence came down from the Sanhedrin to kill all twelve of the disciples. Gamaliel, a highly respected Rabbi, Paul’s teacher, convinced them not to kill the apostles. But still, God’s will for them was to be beaten and then released. It might have taken some time to beat all twelve, but they were finally released, with the threat, do not speak of this Jesus again to the people. However, after their release from a place of extreme danger, we see them rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. (Acts 5:41-42) Now Paul and Silas are called by the Holy Spirit to Europe. The disciples after their imprisonment will go on throughout the regions of Greece to preach the gospel. They will go with the name of Jesus on their lips. They will face other difficulties in other communities, but the name of Jesus will never fail to escape their lips. Dear friends, the calling of God is not always easy on our lives, and especially the name of Jesus on our lips will cause us opposition. So often friends, we omit the name of Jesus when we testify of our Christian walk. We tell others how our lives have improved because of Christianity. We tell others that our Christian beliefs have brought peace and success in our daily walk. The world will accept that as just another belief, just like the many beliefs they have, but when you mention the name of Jesus and the necessity of believing Jesus as Lord and Savior, opposition will rise. Critical words will be spoken and maybe even curses will be hurled against you, for Christ is the dividing point between eternal life and damnation. This name of Jesus is a necessary component of the Christian life, but it is not often well received by a sick and dying world. Thank the Lord today that He has brought you from darkness into the light of his mercy and grace through the name of Jesus Christ.
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