Paul's 2nd Missionary Journey Series

November 04, 2023

Prologue

Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch. After a period of time, Paul suggested to Barnabas that they “go back and visit all the brothers in the towns where we preached the Word of God and see how they are doing.” Barnabas agreed that this was a good idea, but then the partners came to a roadblock. Barnabas wanted to take John Mark, but Paul did not because he had deserted them once before. Their disagreement was so heated that Paul and Barnabas went their separate ways. Barnabas took John Mark and went to Cyprus and Paul chose Silas as his new partner. They went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

2nd Missionary Journey Begins

Paul and Silas made their way to Derbe and then to Lystra. In Lystra they met Timothy. His mother was Jewish and his father was Greek. All the believers spoke highly of Timothy, so Paul and Silas decided to take him with them. Before starting out, Timothy was circumcised in order not to create a stumbling block for the Jewish converts.

• Acts 16:5 - So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

They traveled through Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit had forbidden them to go to Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to go to Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit would not allow them to do so, so they bypassed Mysia and went to Troas. In the night, Paul had a dream – He saw a man standing before him pleading: “Come over into Macedonia and help us.”

The next day the group set sail for Samothrace and then on to Neapolis. From Neapolis they traveled to Philippi.

Philippi

There were not enough Jewish men {12 were needed to establish a Synagogue} in Philippi, so there was no Synagogue. Instead, Paul and his group went to the river to pray. There they met a group of women, including Lydia, a wealthy textile merchant from Thyatira, who specialized in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God and after listening to Paul, she and her household were baptized.

There was a slave girl in the city who had a spirit of divination. She made lots of money for her masters by telling fortunes. Day after day she followed Paul’s group around shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God. They are proclaiming the way to salvation.”

• Ellen White {AA 212.3-4}: This woman was a special agent of Satan …. The words of recommendation uttered by this woman were an injury to the cause of truth, distracting the minds of the people from the teachings of the apostles and bringing disrepute upon the gospel, and by them many were led to believe that the men who spoke with the Spirit and power of God were actuated by the same spirit as this emissary of Satan.

Finally, Paul had had enough. He turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" Immediately the spirit came out of the girl. When her owners realized that they had lost their income, they went to the authorities to complain. "These men are Jews and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice," they said.

The crowd joined in on the attack and the authorities ordered that Paul and Silas be flogged and thrown in prison. The jailer was ordered to guard them carefully, so he placed them in the center cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

At about midnight, while Paul and Silas were singing hymns of praise to God, there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the jail were shaken, the cell doors flew open and every prisoner’s chains fell off. When the jailer saw the doors were open, he drew his sword to kill himself, thinking all the prisoners had escaped. Paul stopped him: “Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!”

That night, the jailer and his entire family were saved.

When the sun rose, the authorities ordered the jailer to release Paul and Silas: “You are free. Go in peace.” He said.

Not so fast!!

Paul: "They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. Now they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out of the city." (Roman Citizens had legal rights that other groups did not have.)

The jailer reported this to the authorities. When the authorities realized Paul and Silas were Roman Citizens, they turned white and a few shades of grey all at the same time. They were so afraid that they went and personally escorted Paul and Silas out of the prison and begged them to leave the city.