Acts 16:1-15

Acts 16:1-15

¹⁶ 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. ² The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. ³ 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. ⁴ As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. ⁵ So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

⁶ 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. ⁷ When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. ⁸ So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. ⁹ During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. ¹² From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district[a] of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

¹³ On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. ¹⁵ When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

The Guiding Hand of the Holy Spirit

Acts 16 begins with Paul arriving in Lystra, after having gone through Syria and Cilicia on his second missionary journey. Here he meets Timothy, who received good recommendations from believers at Lystra and Iconium. Paul decides to take him along on his journey. But first, he circumcises Timothy. This is kind of strange, since Paul did not think circumcision a necessary ingredient for anyone’s salvation (Ga 5:2-4). The Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 clearly did not pose such requirements on new Gentile believers. So why Timothy now?

Timothy had a Greek father and a Jewish mother, and he was considered Jewish according to Jewish traditions. Paul made the decision to circumcise him not because it was necessary for his salvation, but for the expediency to reach out to the Jews with the gospel of Jesus. There would be fewer cultural and religious obstacles if Timothy was circumcised. This was consistent with Paul’s own practice. “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law” (1 Corinthians 9:20).

This flexibility made Paul’s outreach more effective. Do we have similar examples in ministry today? From time to time, as I conduct funeral services for Chinese families, I encounter various, small rituals they practise. These rituals do not seem to have any religious connotations other than traditions developed over the years. Yet these traditions have been deeply ingrained in the Chinese culture, even though the origin of these traditions is not even known to those who practise them. As long as there is no contraction with our Christian beliefs, I don’t forbid these practices. Such flexibility exercised in these situations avoids alienating the family, leaving the door open to future outreach opportunities.

During the missionary journey, Paul and his companions traveled from town to town delivering the decisions of the Jerusalem Council to the churches. This important journey gave the churches clarity about what new Gentile believers should and should not do with regard to the Jewish laws.

Clear decisions make life a lot easier. As a result, the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. This happens in our churches today as well. If the leaders are not clear about the church’s vison, direction, mission, values, and goals, they cannot expect the congregation to have clarity either. If there is no clear way forward, there is no unity on the issue, and it’s hard for the church to grow. The early churches set a good example for us to follow. It's very important that decisions be clearly conveyed to the congregation.

Paul and Barnabas originally intended to visit churches that were established earlier, so as to encourage and strengthen them. This was already part of Paul’s typical ministry. However, the Holy Spirit stopped them from preaching the word in the province of Asia. As a result, they kept moving westward toward Bithynia. This was an unreached area with many Jews living there. It makes sense that Paul would seek to travel there. “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation” (Romans 15:20).

But the Spirit did not allow him to visit Bithynia either. This was the second time the Spirit had intervened and steered Paul into a different direction. Paul continued towards Troas, but when he saw a vision of a Macedonian man pleading for help, Paul immediately obeyed the call and left for Macedonia.

So what about Bithynia? Would it be left without the gospel? Surely not. Peter later mentioned Bithynia as one of the places in which God had His chosen people (1 Peter 1:1). So the gospel eventually found its way there.

Here we see the clear purpose and direction that the Holy Spirit had for Paul: Macedonia. Paul had an original plan and even developed new ideas as his journey continued. These seemed reasonable and logical, yet God had a different plan. Does this not happen to us from time to time as well? We are supposed to make plans according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. At the same time, God wants us to be flexible and obey His direction. Sometimes God calls us in a vision or by other means, and other times He may use circumstances which are beyond our control to influence our direction. But He is always guiding us.

Many years ago, as I was planning to take early retirement in order to go into full time ministry, I waited and looked for opportunities. I would have loved to know what ministry God had in mind for me before retiring from my job. I spent many months waiting without success. So I spent several weeks of vacation time to explore two mission fields outside of Canada. I thought I would fill a vacancy left by a missionary on home assignment. That seemed to make sense to me at the time.

But things did not work out that way. I was called to serve in the CCACA (Canadian Chinese Alliance Churches Association) in a responsible position to facilitate church planting across Canada. This was a formidable task. Two years later, when our senior pastor left, I was called to serve as a pastor in my own church, and a year later became the senior pastor. I ended up taking up two positions at the same time. This is how the Spirit led me into ministry.

From Troas, Paul had to cross the sea to Macedonia. He passed by the island of Samothrace to reach Neapolis. He did not stay there but continued to Philippi. Is there a reason for Paul to stay in Philippi instead of Neapolis? Luke does not mention any intervention of the Spirit this time. Here it seems Paul made the decision on his own.

Philippi was the leading city of the Macedonia district. It was a Roman colony and a significant cultural, economic, and political centre. It had a strong connection to Rome, and its citizens were granted certain privileges, making it an influential place for spreading the gospel. In contrast, Neapolis was primarily a port city and relatively smaller in size and influence. Paul had a good reason to move on to Philippi.

Today’s churches have to make all kinds of decisions every week. They could be related to outreach, discipleship plans, finance, expanding facilities, staff deployment, Bible study programs, global missions, church growth, etc. What do we choose to emphasize? From where do we draw support? Which programs should we strengthen and which projects should we let go? The Holy Spirit does not usually intervene in our decision process in the same way as He did on Paul’s journey. Most of the time He leaves it to us to make our own decisions. Does that mean He’s not involved in what we are doing? Far from it. The Spirit guides us by giving us wisdom, whispering in our ears through our daily devotions, speaking to us through others, or impressing ideas collectively on us during a meeting. We need to learn to listen to the Spirit’s voice in a noisy environment, discern His small voice in our quiet times, and observe how He might be speaking through the things that happen around us.

Philippi had a significant population of Gentiles as well as a smaller community of Jews. When Paul and his companions arrived, they found a place of prayer near the river where Jewish women, including Lydia, were meeting (Acts 16:13-14). There is no indication of a synagogue in Philippi. The Scripture says Lydia opened her heart to Paul’s message and her household was baptized. Lydia's conversion in Philippi is significant for several reasons.

She was the first Christian convert in Europe, opening the door for future ministry in Europe. Lydia was described as a dealer in purple cloth, which is a luxury item highly valued in the Roman world. This suggests she was a woman of wealth and influence. Her conversion likely had a significant impact on the early Christian community. After her conversion, she invited Paul and his companions to stay in her home. (Acts 16:15).

Furthermore, Lydia’s story highlights the important role women played in the early Christian movement. She was a leader in her household, and her home became a gathering place for the new Christian community. This stands out as an example of how the gospel transcended traditional gender roles, empowering women like Lydia to be key figures in the spread of Christianity.

Lydia came to the Lord so quickly because God opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message (Acts 16:14). People come to faith through our ministry in the same way. We may spend years trying to bring a person to Christ without success. Or someone may accept Christ after a brief interaction. Conversion has much less to do with the person who shares the gospel, and more to do with the Spirit who convicts the person to accept the gospel at the right time. May glory be to God.

Just this past Sunday, I was invited to preach in a local church. The message was not entirely intended to call people to Christ. Yet after the message, the pastor said he was moved by the Spirit to pray a special prayer. He invited everyone, especially non-Christians, to pray along if they wanted to accept Christ. Many people responded but no one knew if any non-Christians participated. Later in the evening, the pastor texted me and said that one non-Christian told him he prayed along and was willing to accept Jesus. God works in miraculous ways!

Questions

1. Has the Holy Spirit ever re-directed your plans? Did you follow the Spirit?
2. Have you encountered confusion and disunity when no decision is made, or when a decision is not clearly conveyed to the congregation?
3. Have you felt the working of the Holy Spirit as you shared the gospel with someone?
4. How has a good strategy affected your ministry? Have you experienced a situation in which a particular strategy was definitely more effective than another?

Author Bio

Gerald Chan served as Ottawa Chinese Alliance Church’s senior pastor, CCACA’s Deputy Executive Director, ECD DEXCOM’s Vice-chair, and Tyndale University’s Research Ethics Board member. Prior to that, he was a federal government executive, and taught in a University. He is currently an advisor for several parachurch organizations.

Luke and Acts taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.

Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The “NIV”, “New International Version”, “Biblica”, “International Bible Society” and the Biblica Logo are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc. Used with permission.