Acts 16:40 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

NIV: After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.

NASB: They left the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brothers and sisters, they encouraged them and departed.

CSB: After leaving the jail, they came to Lydia's house, where they saw and encouraged the brothers and sisters, and departed.

NLT: When Paul and Silas left the prison, they returned to the home of Lydia. There they met with the believers and encouraged them once more. Then they left town.

KJV: And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.

NKJV: So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.

It is time for Paul and Silas to leave Philippi. Some time before, they and Timothy had considered their next location to plant churches. They assumed they would stay in modern-day Asia Minor, either in the province of Asia in the west or in Bithynia in the north. But the Holy Spirit did not allow them, so they traveled to the port of Troas. There, Paul had a vision of a man inviting them to Macedonia. They seem to have also met Luke in Troas, and the four of them crossed the Aegean Sea to Philippi (Acts 16:6–12).

Unlike most of the cities and towns in Galatia, Philippi apparently did not have enough Jews to make a synagogue. The team knew that in that situation, Jews and God-followers typically met out of town by a river. There, they found a group of women, including Lydia, who gathered to pray on the Sabbath. Lydia eagerly accepted Jesus as her Savior and insisted the men stay at her house (Acts 16:13–15).

While Paul and Silas planted a church, they also made enemies. After businessmen with a grudge accurately accused them of teaching an unauthorized religion, city magistrates illegally beat and imprisoned the two (Acts 16:20–24). The next morning, when the magistrates arranged for their exile from the city, Paul and Silas revealed they are Roman citizens. The magistrates were terrified: it was a great crime to even bind a Roman citizen without a fair trial, let alone beat, imprison, and exile one from a Roman city. Paul and Silas have no need to see them punished. They demanded a public apology and enough time to say goodbye to Lydia (Acts 16:35–39).

Paul and Silas's time in Philippi shows the believers' fluid relationship with civil law. When a law goes against God's instruction—such as a ban on preaching Jesus' offer of salvation—we are obligated to break it. When our legal rights, like the right to a fair trial, are withheld, we are free to demand the law be fairly applied. At the same time, when we break a law—such as when illegally preaching Christ—we should expect to pay the cost.

Paul and Silas are only halfway through their missionary voyage. From here they will go to Thessalonica. That city has enough traditionally-minded Jews to grow jealous of the missionaries' following and chase them out of Thessalonica and Berea (Acts 17:1–15). Paul will flee to Athens, where he will have the quintessential philosophical debate (Acts 17:16–34) and meet up with the rest of his team in Corinth (Acts 18:1–17). Corinth will prove a difficult place to maintain a church, but Paul's frustration is for our benefit as his letters to the Corinthians give us much to think about.

Acts 16:25–40 records Paul's first imprisonment. The Philippian magistrates arrested Paul and Silas and had them beaten for spreading the news about Jesus. The two are now chained in a cell, praying and singing to God. An earthquake shakes the prison, releasing all the doors and chains. Paul assures the jailer no one has left, and the jailer tends to the pair's wounds. They share Jesus' offer of forgiveness of sins, and the jailer and his household accept Christ. In the morning, the magistrates attempt to release Paul and Silas, only to be confronted with their own crime: they have illegally punished two Roman citizens. After apologizing, the magistrates ask Paul and Silas to leave town.

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.