Acts 16:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us.

NIV: 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.

NASB: 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.

CSB: After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, "If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.

NLT: She and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be her guests. 'If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,' she said, 'come and stay at my home.' And she urged us until we agreed.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.

Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke have arrived in the Roman outpost of Philippi on the border of Macedonia and Greece. It is a sizeable city with one noticeable lack: there is no synagogue. Typically, Paul plants a church in a new city by preaching in the local synagogue. There, he would recruit Jews and God-fearing Gentiles who accept that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah. Philippi, apparently, doesn't have the ten Jewish worshippers required to maintain an official synagogue. So, the team goes to the river where people often gather to pray. They find a group of women, including a well-to-do merchant from Thyatira named Lydia.

Lydia is a bit of a mystery to us. She is only mentioned here, in the beginning of the team's stay in Philippi, and at the end (Acts 16:40). She is the first recorded convert in Europe, although she is from Asia, the province in western modern-day Asia Minor where the Holy Spirit has recently told Paul not to teach (Acts 16:6).

Macedonian women were more independent than others in the Roman Empire. In addition, Roman law gave freeborn women with three children and freedwomen with four children additional legal privileges. We know nothing about Lydia's family, just that she is generous and passes on that generous spirit to the church that started in her home (Philippians 4:15–16). When Paul was debating where to go, the Holy Spirit sent a vision of a man beckoning him to Macedonia (Acts 16:9). When they arrive, the first person to come to a saving relationship with Jesus—who is hand-picked by the Holy Spirit—is a woman. Women are equally included in God's kingdom, and subtle details such as these help emphasize that point.

Acts 16:11–15 sees Jesus' offer of salvation come to Macedonia. Paul, Silas, and Timothy have traveled through the province of Galatia, building up the churches. Now they quickly move through the western end of modern-day Asia Minor. They meet with Luke and cross the Aegean Sea. In Philippi, they meet Lydia who helps them plant the first church in Europe: the first predominantly Gentile church. The church in Philippi grows into a strong, generous body that Paul proudly holds up as an example for others.

Acts 16 follows Paul and Silas as they take the letter of Acts 15 into modern-day Asia Minor and Macedonia. They collect Timothy in Lystra and Luke in Troas. In Philippi, they meet Lydia and baptize her family. After expelling a demon from a fortune-telling girl, city officials illegally beat and imprison Paul and Silas. An earthquake frees them of their chains, but they stay and bring the jailer and his family to Christ. The next morning, Paul and Silas refuse to leave quietly, politely insisting that their civil rights have been violated. The officials apologize, and Paul, Silas, and Timothy go to Thessalonica.

Acts 15 ends with Paul and Silas spreading the news that Gentile Christians don't have to be circumcised. Acts 16 begins with Paul circumcising a Jewish man, Timothy, to prevent difficulties in preaching to older Jews as the boy grows into church leadership. Paul's second missionary trip finds the church growing east, into Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth (Acts 16:11—18:18). On his way back to Syrian Antioch, Paul will stop by Ephesus and soften the Jews for the extended ministry of Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos. During his first trip, Paul planted churches and ordained elders; in his second, he commissions more missionaries.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.