Acts 16:6-40

1. Under God's Control (vv.6-10)
Prov. 16:9 says that "In his heart a man plans his course but the LORD determines his steps." That principle is worked out in the experience of Paul and his companions in vv.6-10. Twice they plan to move with the gospel and twice they are stopped from doing so by the Spirit.

Moving on down to Troas, Paul then has a vision of a man of Macedonia begging them to go over and help them. Taking all these together, Luke tells us that "we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them." (v.10) In his gospel work, Paul has clear aims and makes plans to achieve them, targeting significant cities. Yet although he is right to make those plans, these verses show us that it is the Lord who is always in control of the gospel mission.

Quite how the Spirit prevented them we aren't told. But it was obviously made clear to Paul and his friends, although it may have only been when he had the vision that they were able to conclude that the two previous incidents were the Lord's way of saying 'no'. All gospel work is under his direction. We need to think and pray hard about what to do, where and when, but in all our planning, the Lord is free to overrule in his wisdom. That theme is further seen in the conversion of Lydia and the Jailer.

When they reach Philippi, they follow their usual practice of finding a place where Jews worshipped in order to tell them about the Messiah. On this occasion it is down by the river. There some women gathered, presumably both Jews and those who had embraced Judaism. It is while Paul is preaching to them that Lydia, a seller of purple cloth, is converted.

But notice how her conversion is described: "The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message" (v.14). No-one will ever believe except the Lord does just this. The human heart is too wrapped in sin, too dead to God, to respond unaided.

This is very humbling, since it shows our lack of power to save a single person. It is also tremendously encouraging. Not only is the Lord at work in Lydia's life before Paul arrived (she worshipped the one true God) but he does what we cannot do and reaches into the depths of a soul and makes them alive to himself, leading them to repent and to put their faith in Jesus.

The Lord was quietly at work in the heart of someone he has already been dealing with. The contrast with the Jailer is quite marked - here is someone who is not a Jew nor a convert to Judaism but no doubt a worshipper of some pagan deities and clearly within the Roman system. How will he be reached?

The answer this time is not through a quiet work in the heart but by a fearful and noisy earthquake! His duty was to guard the prisoners in his charge and a failure to do so could well lead to public humiliation and even death. So when he is aware that the earthquake has caused the prison doors to open, he is ready to kill himself.

But the Lord is again at work here. Paul and Silas were in jail because of opposition to the preaching of the gospel but in reality the Lord is still in control. No doubt the jailer had heard these two prisoners singing praise to their God and now Paul calls to him not to kill himself for they are all still there.

This leads to one of the great questions in the Bible: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" It may be that he is simply asking how he can escape judgement, having been terrified by the earthquake. Or he may have heard something of the gospel in their songs and prayers.

Whichever is the case, they tell him straight to believe in the Lord Jesus and he will be saved. The same would be true for his family. And that is just what happens! They speak "the word of the Lord" to him and his household and, in the middle of the night, he and they are baptised as new believers in Jesus.

How remarkable the whole scene is! From the quiet order of the riverbank to the chaos of a prison under seismic shock, from a cultured proselyte to Judaism to an uncouth pagan - God is at work and is at work in power to save.

Mission that is under his control is guaranteed to accomplish what he plans for it.

2. A New Society in Philippi
The comparison between Lydia and the Jailer not only teaches us about the Lord's ability to work in any person's life, it also shows us something more of the new society he is making through the gospel.

Here you have the cultured cloth-seller and the uncouth jailer. And they are now brother and sister in the Lord! In fact, it seems that they would have met fairly soon since the church seems to have begun meeting in Lydia's home (see v.40).

The Lord is both willing and able to take the high and the low, the rich and the poor, male and female and bring them into his family. As we saw in 1 Cor. 1:26-31, he isn't swayed by worldly status. Paul shows that here by eating both with Lydia and with the jailer. The gospel breaks all barriers down.

It is vital that we also embrace the Lord's ways for his new society. Lydia and the jailer are a real 'odd couple' but here is the wisdom and power of God! In control of the mission, he furthers his purpose of making a whole new society.

3. Pagan Opposition and Roman Citizenship
In the earlier missionary journey and in the early chapters of Acts, the primary source of opposition to the gospel came from the Jews. But Luke shows us here that it is not simply the Jews who are opposed to the message but the spiritual battle is a universal one.

During their time at Philippi, Paul and his friends were followed by a slave girl who could predict the future through an evil spirit within her. In dealing with her (because she was distorting and confusing the message) Paul and Silas got into trouble with her masters and through them with the authorities.

Nowhere in the world is this message accepted unless God is at work. Not only were the Jews opposed to it but so too were pagans whose chief god was money. Although we can go out with confidence to proclaim this same message today, we too must expect all kinds of opposition.

Which makes it urgent that we learn from the way in which Paul handled the trouble. On one level they simply accept what is happening to them but on their release they appeal to their Roman citizenship. Why did they wait to do that? They could have saved themselves a night in jail! It seems likely that they didn't use their citizenship as a 'get out of jail free' card because that would put too much emphasis on the protection of the Roman state. They were the servants of the one true God; he knows how to take care of his own!

We need real wisdom to work this principle out and faith to believe that the Lord knows how to rescue his own from trials. Paul and Silas were willing to suffer rather than to give the impression of being dependent on Rome. May we be given similar grace to take hard decisions when necessary. And may they also lead to the conversion of others!