Text -- Acts 16:11 (NET)

Arrival at Philippi

16:11 We put out to sea from Troas and sailed a straight course to Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis,

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: Act 16:11

Setting sail ( anachthentes ).

Same word in Act 13:13 which see.

Robertson: Act 16:11

We made a straight course ( euthudromēsamen ).

First aorist active indicative of compound verb euthudromeō (in Philo) from adjective euthudromos (in Strabo), running a straight course (euthus , dromos ). In the N.T. only here and Act 21:1. It is a nautical term for sailing before the wind. Luke has a true feeling for the sea.

Robertson: Act 16:11

To Samothrace ( eis Samothrāikēn ).

A small island in the Aegean about halfway between Troas and Neapolis.

Robertson: Act 16:11

The day following ( tēi epiousēi ).

Locative case of time with hēmerāi (day) to be supplied (Act 7:26; Act 20:15; Act 21:18; Act 23:11). With adverse winds it took five days to make the run of 125 miles (Act 20:6).

Robertson: Act 16:11

To Neapolis ( eis Nean Polin ).

To New Town (Newton, Naples, Neapolis). The port of Philippi ten miles distant, Thracian, but reckoned as Macedonian after Vespasian.

Vincent: Act 16:11

Came with a straight course ( εὐθυδρομήσαμεν )

Lit., we ran a straight course. A nautical term for sailing before the wind.

Wesley: Act 16:11

Which increased their confidence that God had called them.

JFB: Act 16:11-12

Literally, "ran."

JFB: Act 16:11-12

That is, "ran before the wind."

JFB: Act 16:11-12

A lofty island on the Thracian coast, north from Troas, with an inclination westward. The wind must have set in strong from the south or south-southeast to bring them there so soon, as the current is strong in the opposite direction, and they afterwards took five days to what they now did in two (Act 20:6) [HOWSON].

JFB: Act 16:11-12

On the Macedonian, or rather Thracian, coast, about sixty-five miles from Samothracia, and ten from Philippi, of which it is the harbor.

Clarke: Act 16:11

Loosing from Troas - Setting sail from this place

Clarke: Act 16:11

With a straight course to Samothracia - This was an island of the Aegean Sea, contiguous to Thrace, and hence called Samothracia, or the Thracian Samos. It is about twenty miles in circumference, and is now called Samandrachi by the Turks, who are its present masters

Clarke: Act 16:11

And the next day to Neapolis - There were many cities of this name; but this was a sea-port town of Macedonia, a few miles eastward of Philippi. Neapolis signifies the new city.

Calvin: Act 16:11

11. This history doth, as it were in a glass, show how sharply the Lord did exercise the faith and patience of his, by bringing them in great straits which they could not have overcome unless they had been endued with singular constancy; for the entrance of Paul into Macedonia is reported to be such, as that it might have cause him to give but small credence to the vision. These holy men, leaving the work which they had in hand, did cross the seas with great haste, as if the whole nation of the Macedonians would have come to meet them with earnest desire to be helped. Now, the success is so far from being answerable to their hope, that their mouths are almost quite stopped. When they enter the chief city, they find non there with whom they may take any pains; therefore they are enforced to go into the field, that they may speak in an obscure corner and wilderness. Yea, even there they cannot have one man which will hearken to their doctrine; they can only have one woman to be a disciple of Christ, and that one which was an alien. Who would not have said that this journey was taken in hand foolishly which fell out so unhappily? But the Lord doth thus bring to pass his works under a base and weak kind, − ¹⁷⁹ that his power may shine more clearly at length; and it was most meet that the beginnings of the kingdom of Christ should be so ordered, that they might taste [savor] of the humility of the cross. But we must mark the constancy of Paul and his companions, who being not dismayed with such unprosperous beginnings, try whether any occasion will offer itself contrary to their expectation. And assuredly the servants of Christ must wrestle with all lets, neither must they be discouraged, but go forward to-morrow, if this day there appear no fruit of their labor, for there is no cause why they should desire to be more happy than Paul. When Luke saith that they abode in that city, some had rather have it, that they conferred or disputed, but the other translation is more plain. And the text persuadeth us to make choice thereof, because Luke will shortly after declare that Lydia was the first-fruits of that Church; and we may easily guess that the apostles went out of the city, because there was no gate opened to them in it. −

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Act 16:11

Loosing from Troas - Setting sail from this place.

To Samothracia - This was an island in the Aegean Sea not far from Thrace. It was populated by inhabitants from Samos and from Thrace, and hence called Samothracia. It was about 20 miles in circumference, and was an asylum for fugitives and criminals.

And the next day to Nepalese - This was a maritime city of Macedonia, near the borders of Thrace. It was about 10 miles from Philippi.

Poole: Act 16:11

Samothracia an island so called, because the inhabitants came partly out of Thrace, and partly from Samos. This

Neapolis was a city in the confines of Thrace and Macedonia.

Gill: Act 16:11

Therefore loosing from Troas,.... Or setting sail from thence, which, as before observed, was the Hellespont; which was a narrow sea that divided Asia from Europe, now called Stretto di Gallipoii, or Bracci di St. Georgio: and so Pliny ^q speaking of Troas says, it lies near the Hellespont; and Jerom ^r calls it a maritime city of Asia; and it further appears to be on the sea coast, by what is said in Act 20:6, for from Philippi hither, the apostle and his company sailed in five days, and from hence they sailed to Assos, Act 20:6

we came with a straight course to Samothracia; which was an island in the Aegean sea, or Archipelago: it was formerly called Dardania ^s, from Dardanus the, son of Jupiter by Electra, who fled hither from Italy, upon killing his brother Jasius; it had its name of Samothracia, from Thracia, near to which it was, and from the Samians who inhabited it; and it was called Samothracia to distinguish it from the island Samos in the Ionian sea; it is now called Samandrachi: Jerom ^t calls it an island in the gulf of Pagasa; of this island of Samothracia, Pliny says ^u, that it was free before Hebrus, was thirty two miles from Imbrus, twenty two and a half from Lemnus, thirty eight, from the shore of Thracia, and in circumference thirty two--and that it is fullest of good havens of any in those parts; and adds, that Callimachus calls it by its ancient name Dardania; it seems it was also called Leucosia, or Leucadia, because to spectators at a distance it looked white: according to ^w Herodotus the Pelasgi first inhabited Samothracia, who with the Athenians dwelt there, and from them the Samothracians received their sacred rites and mysteries; for this island was famous for the worship of the Cabiri, or chief deities of the Gentiles, particularly Ceres, Proserpina, Pluto, Mercury, and the two brothers Castor and Pollux, Neptune, and all the sea gods; insomuch that it was called "the holy island" ^x, and persons of other nations, and even of the greatest figure, were initiated into the mysteries of the Samothracians, which Pliny ^y calls the most holy; for speaking of Venus, Potho, and Phaeton, adds, who are worshipped with the most holy ceremonies of Samothracia. The apostle did not stay to preach the Gospel in this place, nor do we read of its being preached here by him at any other time, or by any other, nor of any church in this place in after ages in ecclesiastical history. The apostle and his companions are said to come hither, "with a straight course"; not only because they might have a fair gale, which brought them at once hither; but because when they were over the Hellespont, this island lay directly in their way, in a straight line to Macedonia:

and the next day to Neapolis; the Alexandrian copy reads, "the new city", as the word signifies; hence the Ethiopic version by way of interpretation renders it, "the next day we came to the new city, the name of which is Neapolis": according to Ptolomy, it was a sea port of Edonis, a part of Macedonia, and was upon the borders of Thrace; it is now called Christopoli; and was not Neapolis in Campania, nor Sychem in Samaria, which is so called, but was at a great distance from either of these. Pliny places it in Thracia, as he also does Edonis, and even Philippi ^z. Jerom calls ^a it a city of Caria, but wrongly: and though we have no account of the apostles preaching in this place, and of making converts, neither now nor at any other time; yet it appears even in after ages that here was a church in this place: in the "sixth" century the bishop of it was sent to the fifth Roman synod; and in the "seventh" century one Andreas was bishop of this place, who was in the sixth synod at Constantinople ^b.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Act 16:11

¹ tn BDAG 62 s.v. ἀνάγω 4, “as a nautical t.t. (ἀ. τὴν ναῦν put a ship to sea), mid. or pass. ἀνάγεσθαι to begin to go by boat, put out to sea.”

² sn Troas was a port city (and surrounding region) on the northwest coast of Asia Minor. See v. 8.

³ tn BDAG 406 s.v. εὐθυδρομέω has “of a ship run a straight course” here; L&N 54.3 has “to sail a straight course, sail straight to.”

⁴ sn Samothrace is an island in the northern part of the Aegean Sea.

⁵ sn Neapolis was a seaport on the southern coast of Macedonia. It was 10 mi (16 km) from Philippi.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Act 16:1-40

1 Paul having circumcised Timothy,

7 and being called by the Spirit from one country to another,

14 converts Lydia,

16 and casts out a spirit of divination;

19 for which cause he and Silas are whipped and imprisoned.

25 The prison doors are opened.

31 The jailor is converted,

35 and they are delivered.

Combined Bible: Act 16:11

12. An opportunity was offered without delay, for the apostolic company to make the contemplated voyage to Macedonia. (11) " Therefore, setting sail from Troas, we ran by a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis; (12) and thence to Philippi, which is the first city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony. And we abode in that city some days. "  

Samothrace is an island in the Archipelago, about midway between Troas and Neapolis. Neapolis was a seaport of Macedonia, and the landing place for Philippi. The remark that they sailed to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis, shows that they spent the night at Samothrace, which accords with the custom of ancient navigators, who generally cast anchor at night, during coasting voyages, unless the stars were out. This voyage occupied a part of two days.  

Philippi was not the chief city of that part of Macedonia, as rendered in the common version, but the first city; by which is meant, either that it was the first which Paul visited, or the first in point of celebrity. I think the latter is the real idea; for it is obvious from the history that this was the first city Paul visited, and of this the reader need not be informed. But it was the first city of that region in point of celebrity, because it was the scene of the great battle in which Brutus and Cassius were defeated by Marc Antony. Thessalonica was then, and is yet, the chief city of Macedonia.  

The observant reader will here notice a change in the style of the narrative, which indicates the presence of the writer among the companions of Paul. Hitherto he had spoken of them only in the third person; but when about to leave Troas, he uses the first person plural, saying, " we sought to go forth into Macedonia," and " we ran to Samothrace," etc. It is only by such a change in the pronoun employed, from the third to the first person, and from the first to the third that we can detect the presence or absence of Luke. From this indication we conclude that he first joined the company in the interior of Asia Minor, just previous to entering the city of Troas. The company with whom we are now traveling is composed of Paul and Silas, Timothy and Luke.   

  

  

Maclaren: Act 16:10-11

How To Secure A Prosperous Voyage

And after [Paul] had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. 11. Therefore we came with a straight course.'--Acts 16:10-11.

THIS book of the Acts is careful to point out how each fresh step in the extension of the Church's work was directed and commanded by Jesus Christ Himself. Thus Philip was sent by specific injunction to join himself' to the chariot of the Ethiopian statesman. Thus Peter on the house-top at Joppa, looking out over the waters of the western sea, had the vision of the great sheet, knit at the four corners. And thus Paul, in singularly similar circumstances, in the little seaport of Troas, looking out over the narrower sea which there separates Asia from Europe, had the vision of the man of Macedonia, with his cry, Come over and help us!' The whole narrative before us bears upon the one point, that Christ Himself directs the expansion of His kingdom. And there never was a more fateful moment than that at which the Gospel, in the person of the Apostle, crossed the sea, and effected a lodgment in the progressive quarter of the world.

Now what I wish to do is to note how Paul and his little company behaved themselves when they had received Christ's commandment. For I think there are lessons worth the gathering to be found there. There was no doubt about the vision; the question was what it meant. So note three stages. First, careful consideration, with one's own common sense, of what God wants us to do--Assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us.' Then, let no grass grow under our feet--immediate obedience--Straightway we endeavoured to go into Macedonia.' And then, patient pondering and instantaneous submission get the reward--We came with a straight course.' He gave the winds and the waves charge concerning them. Now there are three lessons for us. Taken together, they are patterns of what ought to be in our experience, and will be, if the conditions are complied with.

I. First, Careful Consideration.

Paul had no doubt that what he saw was a vision from Christ, and not a mere dream of the night, born of the reverberation of waking thoughts and anxieties, that took the shape of the plaintive cry of the man of Macedonia. But then the next step was to be quite sure of what the vision meant. And so, wisely, he does not make up his mind himself, but calls in the three men who were with him. And what a significant little group it was! There were Timothy, Silas, and Luke--Silas, from Jerusalem; Timothy, half a Gentile; Luke, altogether a Gentile; and Paul himself--and these four shook the world. They come together, and they talk the matter over. The word of my text rendered assuredly gathering' is a picturesque one. It literally means laying things together.' They set various facts side by side, or as we say in our colloquial idiom, They put this and that together,' and so they came to understand what the vision meant.

What had they to help them to understand it? Well, they had this fact, that in all the former part of their journey they had been met by hindrances; that their path had been hedged up here, there, and everywhere. Paul set out from Antioch, meaning a quiet little tour of visitation amongst the churches that had been already established. Jesus Christ meant Philippi and Athens and Corinth and Ephesus, before Paul got back again. So we read in an earlier portion of the chapter that the Spirit of Jesus forbade them to speak the Word in one region, and checked and hindered them when, baffled, they tried to go to another. There then remained only one other road open to them, and that led to the coast. Thus putting together their hindrances and their stimuluses, they came to the conclusion that unitedly the two said plainly, Go across the sea, and preach the word there.'

Now it is a very commonplace and homely piece of teaching to remind you that time is not wasted in making quite sure of the meaning of providences which seem to declare the will of God, before we begin to act. But the commonest duties are very often neglected; and we preachers, I think, would very often do more good by hammering at commonplace themes than by bringing out original and fresh ones. And so I venture to say a word about the immense importance to Christian life and Christian service of this preliminary step--assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us.' What have we to do in order to be quite sure of God's intention for us?

Well, the first thing seems to me to make quite sure that we want to know it, and that we do not want to force our intentions upon Him, and then to plume ourselves upon being obedient to His call, when we are only doing what we like. There is a vast deal of unconscious insincerity in us all; and especially in regard to Christian work there is an enormous amount of it. People will say, Oh, I have such a strong impulse in a given direction, to do certain kinds of Christian service, that I am quite sure that it is God's will.' How are you sure? A strong impulse may be a temptation from the devil as well as a call from God. And men who simply act on untested impulses, even the most benevolent which spring directly from large Christian principles, may be making deplorable mistakes. It is not enough to have pure motives. It is useless to say,' Such and such a course of action is clearly the result of the truths of the Gospel.' That may be all perfectly true, and yet the course may not be the course for you. For there may be practical considerations, which do not come into our view unless we carefully think about them, which forbid us to take such a path. So remember that strong impulses are not guiding lights; nor is it enough to vindicate our pursuing some mode of Christian service that it is in accordance with the principles of the Gospel. Circumstances alter cases' is a very homely old saying; but if Christian people would only bring the common sense to bear upon their religious life which they need to bring to bear upon their business life, unless they are going into the Gazette, there would be less waste work in the Christian Church than there is to-day. I do not want less zeal; I want that the reins of the fiery steed shall be kept well in hand. The difference between a fanatic, who is a fool, and an enthusiast, who is a wise man, is that the one brings calm reason to bear, and an open-eyed consideration of circumstances all round; and the other sees but one thing at a time, and shuts his eyes, like a bull in a field, and charges at that. So let us be sure, to begin with, that we want to know what God wants us to do; and that we are not palming our wishes upon Him, and calling them His providences.

Then there is another plain, practical consideration that comes out of this story, and that is, Do not be above being taught by failures and hindrances. You know the old proverb, It is waste time to flog a dead horse.' There is not a little well-meant work flung away, because it is expended on obviously hopeless efforts to revivify, perhaps, some moribund thing or to continue, perhaps, in some old, well-worn rut, instead of striking out into a new path. Paul was full of enthusiasm for the evangelisation of Asia Minor, and he might have said a great deal about the importance of going to Ephesus. He tried to do it, but Christ said No,' and Paul did not knock his head against the stone wall that lay between him and the accomplishment of his purpose, but he gave it up and tried another tack. He next wished to go up into Bithynia, and he might have said a great deal about the needs of the people by the Euxine; but again down came the barrier, and he had once more to learn the lesson, Not as thou wilt, but as I will.' He was not above being taught by his failures. Some of us are; and it is very difficult, and needs a great deal of Christian wisdom and unselfishness, to distinguish between hindrances in the way of work which are meant to evoke larger efforts, and hindrances which are meant to say, Try another path, and do not waste time hero any longer.'

But if we wish supremely to know God's will, He will help us to distinguish between these two kinds of difficulties. Some one has said, Difficulties are things to be overcome.' Yes, but not always. They very often are, and we should thank God for them then; but they sometimes are God's warnings to us to go by another road. So we need discretion, and patience, and suspense of judgment to be brought to bear upon all our purposes and plans.

Then, of course, I need not remind you that the way to get light is to seek it in the Book and in communion with Him whom the Book reveals to us as the true Word of God: He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.' So careful consideration is a preliminary to all good Christian work. And, if you can, talk to some Timothy and Silas and Luke about your course, and do not be above taking a brother's advice.

II. The Next Step Is Immediate Submission.

When they had assuredly gathered that the Lord had called them, immediately '--there is great virtue in that one word--we endeavoured to go into Macedonia.' Delayed obedience is the brother--and, if I may mingle metaphors, sometimes the father--of disobedience. It sometimes means simple feebleness of conviction, indolence, and a general lack of fervour. It means very often a reluctance to do the duty that lies plainly before us. And, dear brethren, as I have said about the former lesson, so I say about this. The homely virtue, which we all know to be indispensable to success in common daily life and commercial undertakings, is no less indispensable to all vigour of Christian life and to all nobleness of Christian service. We have no hours to waste; the time is short. In the harvest-field, especially when it is getting near the end of the week, and the Sunday is at hand, there are little leisure and little tolerance of slow workers. And for us the fields are white, the labourers are few, the Lord of the harvest is imperative, the sun is hurrying to the west, and the sickles will have to be laid down before long. So, immediately we endeavoured.'

Delayed duty is present discomfort. As long as a man has a conscience, so long will he be restless and uneasy until he has, as the Quakers say, cleared himself of his burden,' and done what he knows that he ought to do, and got done with it. Delayed obedience means wasted possibilities of service, and so is ever to be avoided. The more disagreeable anything is which is plainly a duty, the more reason there is for doing it right away. I made haste, and delayed not, but made haste to keep Thy commandments.'

Did you ever count how many straightways' there are in the first chapter of Mark's Gospel? If you have not, will you do it when you go home; and notice how they come in? In the story of Christ's opening ministry every fresh incident is tacked on to the one before it, in that chapter, by that same word straightway.' Straightway' He does that; anon' He does this; immediately' He does the other thing. All is one continuous stream of acts of service. The Gospel of Mark is the Gospel of the servant, and it sets forth the pattern to which all Christian service ought to be conformed.

So if we take Jesus Christ for our Example, unhasting and unresting in the work of the Lord, we shall let no moment pass burdened with undischarged duty; and we shall find that all the moments are few enough for the discharge of the duties incumbent upon us.

III. So, Lastly, Careful Consideration And Unhesitating Obedience Lead To A Straight Course.

Well, it is not so always, but it is so generally. There is a wonderful power in diligent doing of God's known will to smooth away difficulties and avoid troubles. I do not, of course, mean that a man who thus lives, patiently ascertaining and then promptly doing what God would have him do, has any miraculous exemption from the ordinary sorrows and trials of life. But sure I am that a very, very large proportion of all the hindrances and disappointments, storms and quicksands, calms which prevent progress and headwinds that beat in our faces, are directly the products of our negligence in one or other of these two respects, and that although by no means absolutely, yet to an extent that we should not believe if we had not the experience of it, the wish to do God's will and the doing of it with our might when we know what it is have a talismanic power in calming the seas and bringing us to the desired haven.

But though this is not always absolutely true in regard of outward things, it is, without exception or limitation, true in regard of the inward life. For if my supreme will is to do God's will then nothing which is His will, and comes to me because it is can be a hindrance in my doing that.

As an old proverb says, Travelling merchants can never be out of their road.' And a Christian man whose path is simple obedience to the will of God can never be turned from that path by whatever hindrances may affect his outward life. So, in deepest truth, there is always a calm voyage for the men whose eyes are open to discern, and whose hands are swift to fulfil, the commandments of their Father in heaven. For them all winds blow them to their port; for them all things work together for good'; with them God's servants who hearken to the voice of His commandments, and are His ministers to do His pleasure, can never be other than in amity and alliance. He who is God's servant is the world's master. All things are yours if ye are Christ's.'

So, brethren, careful study of providences and visions, of hindrances and stimulus, careful setting of our lives side by side with the Master's, and a swift delight in doing the will of the Lord, will secure for us, in inmost truth, a prosperous voyage, till all storms are hushed, and they are glad because they be quiet; so He bringeth them to their desired haven.'

MHCC: Act 16:6-15

The removals of ministers, and the dispensing the means of grace by them, are in particular under Divine conduct and direction. We must follow Providence: and whatever we seek to do, if that suffer us not, we ought to submit and believe to be for the best. People greatly need help for their souls, it is their duty to look out for it, and to invite those among them who can help them. And God's calls must be complied with readily. A solemn assembly the worshippers of God must have, if possible, upon the sabbath day. If we have not synagogues, we must be thankful for more private places, and resort to them; not forsaking the assembling together, as our opportunities are. Among the hearers of Paul was a woman, named Lydia. She had an honest calling, which the historian notices to her praise. Yet though she had a calling to mind, she found time to improve advantages for her soul. It will not excuse us from religious duties, to say, We have a trade to mind; for have not we also a God to serve, and souls to look after? Religion does not call us from our business in the world, but directs us in it. Pride, prejudice, and sin shut out the truths of God, till his grace makes way for them into the understanding and affections; and the Lord alone can open the heart to receive and believe his word. We must believe in Jesus Christ; there is no coming to God as a Father, but by the Son as Mediator.

Matthew Henry: Act 16:6-15

In these verses we have,

I. Paul's travels up and down to do good. 1. He and Silas his colleague went throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, where, it should seem, the gospel was already planted, but whether by Paul's hand or no is not mentioned; it is likely it was, for in his epistle to the Galatians he speaks of his preaching the gospel to them at the first, and how very acceptable he was among them, Gal 4:13-15. And it appears by that epistle that the judaizing teachers had then done a great deal of mischief to these churches of Galatia, had prejudiced them against Paul and drawn them from the gospel of Christ, for which he there severely reproves them. But probably that was a great while after this. 2. They were forbidden at this time to preach the gospel in Asia (the country properly so called), because it did not need, other hands being at work there; or because the people were not yet prepared to receive it, as they were afterwards (Act 19:10), when all those that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord; or, as Dr. Lightfoot suggests, because at this time Christ would employ Paul in a piece of new work, which was to preach the gospel to a Roman colony at Philippi, for hitherto the Gentiles to whom he had preached were Greeks. The Romans were more particularly hated by the Jews than other Gentiles; their armies were the abomination of desolation; and therefore there is this among other things extraordinary in his call thither that he is forbidden to preach the gospel in Asia and other places, in order to his preaching it there, which is an intimation that the light of the gospel would in aftertimes be directed more westward than eastward. It was the Holy Ghost that forbade them, either by secret whispers in the minds of both of them, which, when they came to compare notes, they found to be the same, and to come from the same Spirit; or by some prophets who spoke to them from the Spirit. The removals of ministers, and the dispensing of the means of grace by them, are in a particular manner under a divine guidance and direction. We find an Old Testament minister forbidden to preach at all (Eze 3:26): Thou shalt be dumb. But these New Testament ministers are only forbidden to preach in one place, while they are directed to another where there is more need. 3. They would have gone into Bithynia, but were not permitted: the Spirit suffered them not, Act 16:7. They came to Mysia, and, as it should seem, preached the gospel there; for though it was a very mean contemptible country, even to a proverb ( Mysorum ultimus , in Cicero, is a most despicable man ), yet the apostles disdained not to visit it, owning themselves debtors both to the wise and to the unwise, Rom 1:14. In Bithynia was the city of Nice, where the first general council was held against the Arians; into these countries Peter sent his epistle (1Pe 1:1); and there were flourishing churches here, for, though they had not the gospel sent them now, they had it in their turn, not long after. Observe, Though their judgment and inclination were to go into Bithynia, yet, having then extraordinary ways of knowing the mind of God, they were overruled by them, contrary to their own mind. We must now follow providence, and submit to the guidance of that pillar of cloud and fire; and, if this suffer us not to do what we assay to do, we ought to acquiesce, and believe it for the best. The Spirit of Jesus suffered them not; so many ancient copies read it. The servants of the Lord Jesus ought to be always under the check and conduct of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, by whom he governs men's minds. 4. They passed by Mysia, or passed through it (so some), sowing good seed, we may suppose, as they went along; and they came down to Troas, the city of Troy, so much talked of, or the country thereabouts, which took its denomination from it. Here a church was planted; for here we find one in being, Act 20:6, Act 20:7, and probably planted at this time, and in a little time. It should seem that at Troas Luke fell in with Paul, and joined himself to his company; for henceforward, for the most part, when he speaks of Paul's journeys, he puts himself into the number of his retinue, we went, Act 16:10.

II. Paul's particular call to Macedonia, that is, to Philippi, the chief city, inhabited mostly by Romans, as appears, Act 16:21. Here we have,

1. The vision Paul had, Act 16:9. Paul had many visions, sometimes to encourage, sometimes, as here, to direct him in his work. An angel appeared to him, to intimate to him that it was the will of Christ he should go to Macedonia. Let him not be discouraged by the embargo laid upon him once and again, by which his designs were crossed; for, though he shall not go where he has a mind to go, he shall go where God has work for him to do. Now observe, (1.) The person Paul saw. There stood by him a man of Macedonia, who by his habit or dialect seemed so to Paul, or who told him he was so. The angel, some think, assumed the shape of such a man; or, as others think, impressed upon Paul's fancy, when between asleep and awake, the image of such a man: he dreamt he saw such a one. Christ would have Paul directed to Macedonia, not as the apostles were at other times, by a messenger from heaven, to send him thither, but by a messenger thence to call him thither, because in this way he would afterwards ordinarily direct the motions of his ministers, by inclining the hearts of those who needed them to invite them. Paul shall be called to Macedonia by a man of Macedonia, and by him speaking in the name of the rest. Some make this man to be the tutelar angel of Macedonia, supposing angels to have charge of particular places as well as persons, and that so much is intimated Dan 10:20, where we read of the princes of Persia and Grecia, that seem to have been angels. But there is no certainty of this. There was presented either to Paul's eyes or to his mind a man of Macedonia. The angel must not preach the gospel himself to the Macedonians, but must bring Paul to them. Nor must he by the authority of an angel order him to go, but in the person of a Macedonian court him to come. A man of Macedonia, not a magistrate of the country, much less a priest (Paul was not accustomed to receive invitations from such) but an ordinary inhabitant of that country, a plain man, that carried in his countenance marks of probity and seriousness, that did not come to banter Paul nor trifle with him, but in good earnest and with all earnestness to importune his assistance. (2.) The invitation given him. This honest Macedonian prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us; that is, "Come and preach the gospel to us; let us have the benefit of thy labours."[1.] " Thou hast helped many; we have heard of those in this and the other country to whom thou hast been very useful; and why may we not put in for a share? O come and help us."The benefits others have received from the gospel should quicken our enquiries, our further enquiries, after it. [2.] "It is thy business, and it is thy delight, to help poor souls; thou art a physician for the sick, that art to be ready at the call of every patient; O come and help us."[3.] "We have need of thy help, as much as any people; we in Macedonia are as ignorant and as careless in religion as any people in the world are, are as idolatrous and as vicious as any, and as ingenious and industrious to ruin ourselves as any; and therefore, O come, come with all speed among us. If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. "[4.] "Those few among us that have any sense of divine things, and any concern for their own souls and the souls of others, have done what can be done, by the help of natural light; I have done my part for one. We have carried the matter as far as it will go, to persuade our neighbours to fear and worship God, but we can do little good among them. O come come, thou over, and help us. The gospel thou preachest has arguments and powers beyond those we have yet been furnished with."[5.] "Do not only help us with thy prayers here: this will not do; thou must come over and help us."Note, People have great need of help for their souls, and it is their duty to look out for it and invite those among them that can help them.

2. The interpretation made of the vision (Act 16:10): They gathered assuredly from this that the Lord had called them to preach the gospel there; and they were ready to go wherever God directed. Note, We may sometimes infer a call of God from a call of man. If a man of Macedonia says, Come and help us, Paul thence gathers assuredly that God says, Go an help them. Ministers may go on with great cheerfulness and courage in their work when they perceive Christ calling them, not only to preach the gospel, but to preach it at this time, in this place, to this people.

III. Paul's voyage to Macedonia hereupon: He was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but followed this divine direction much more cheerfully, and with more satisfaction, than he would have followed any contrivance or inclination of his own. 1. Thitherward he turned his thoughts. Now that he knows the mind of God in the matter he is determined, for this is all he wanted; now he thinks no more of Asia, nor Bithynia, but immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia. Paul only had the vision, but he communicated it to his companions, and they all, upon the credit of this, resolved for Macedonia. As Paul will follow Christ, so all his will follow him, or rather follow Christ with him. They are getting things in readiness for this expedition immediately, without delay. Note, God's calls must be complied with immediately. As our obedience must not be disputed, so it must not be deferred; do it today, lest thy heart be hardened. Observe, They could not immediately go into Macedonia; but they immediately endeavoured to go. If we cannot be so quick as we would be in our performances, yet we may be in our endeavours, and this shall be accepted. 2. Thitherward he steered his course. They set sail by the first shipping and with the first fair wind from Troas; for they may be sure they have done what they had to do there when God calls them to another place. They came with a straight course, a prosperous voyage, to Samothracia; the next day they came to Neapolis, a city on the confines of Thrace and Macedonia; and at last they landed at Philippi, a city so called from Philip king of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great; it is said (Act 16:12) to be, (1.) The chief city of that part of Macedonia; or, as some read it, the first city, the first they came to when they came from Troas. As an army that lands in a country of which they design to make themselves masters begin with the reduction of the first place they come to, so did Paul and his assistants: they began with the first city, because, if the gospel were received there, it would the more easily spread thence all the country over. (2.) It was a colony. The Romans not only had a garrison, but the inhabitants of the city were Romans, the magistrates at least, and the governing part. There were the greatest numbers and variety of people, and therefore the most likelihood of doing good.

IV. The cold entertainment which Paul and his companions met with at Philippi. One would have expected that having such a particular call from God thither they would have had a joyful welcome there, as Peter had with Cornelius when the angel sent him thither. Where was the man of Macedonia that begged Paul to come thither with all speed? Why did not he stir up his countrymen, some of them at least, to go and meet him? Why was not Paul introduced with solemnity, and the keys of the city put into his hand? Here is nothing like this; for, 1. It is a good while before any notice at all is taken of him: We were in that city abiding certain days, probably at a public house and at their own charge, for they had no friend to invite them so much as to a meal's meat, till Lydia welcomed them. They had made all the haste they could thither, but, now that they are there, they are almost tempted to think they might as well have staid where they were. But so it was ordered for their trial whether they could bear the pain of silence and lying by, when this was their lot. Those eminent and useful men are not fit to live in this world that know not how to be slighted and overlooked. Let not ministers think it strange if they be first strongly invited to a place, and then looked shyly upon when they come. 2. When they have an opportunity of preaching it is in an obscure place, and to a mean and small auditory, Act 16:13. There was no synagogue of the Jews there, for aught that appears, to be a door of entrance to them, and they never went to the idol-temples of the Gentiles, to preach to the auditories there; but here, upon enquiry, they found out a little meeting of good women, that were proselytes of the gate, who would be thankful to them if they would give them a sermon. The place of this meeting is out of the city; there it was connived at, but would not be suffered any where within the walls. It was a place where prayer was wont to be made; proseuchē - where an oratory or house of prayer was (so some), a chapel, or smaller synagogue. But I rather take it, as we read it, where prayer was appointed or accustomed to be. Those that worshipped the true God, and would not worship idols, met there to pray together, and, according to the description of the most ancient and universal devotion, to call upon the name of the Lord. Each of them prayed apart every day; this was always the practice of those that worshipped God: but, besides this, they came together on the sabbath day. Though they were but a few and discountenanced by the town, though their meeting was at some distance, though, for aught that appears, there were none but women, yet a solemn assembly the worshippers of God must have, if by any means it be possible, on the sabbath day. When we cannot do as we would we must do as we can; if we have not synagogues, we must be thankful for more private places, and resort to them, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, according as our opportunities are. This place is said to be by a river side, which perhaps was chosen, as befriending contemplation. Idolaters are said to take their lot among the smooth stones of the stream, Isa 57:6. But these proselytes had in their eye, perhaps, the example of those prophets who had their visions, one by the river of Chebar (Eze 1:1), another by the great river Hiddekel, Dan 10:4. Thither Paul and Silas and Luke went, and sat down, to instruct the congregation, that they might the better pray with them. They spoke unto the women who resorted thither, encouraged them in practising according to the light they had, and led them on further to the knowledge of Christ.

V. The conversion of Lydia, who probably was the first that was wrought upon there to believe in Christ, though not the last. In this story of the Acts, we have not only the conversion of places recorded, but of many particular persons; for such is the worth of souls that the reducing of one to God is a great matter. Nor have we only the conversions that were effected by miracle, as Paul's, but some that were brought about by the ordinary methods of grace, as Lydia's here. Observe,

1. Who this convert was that there is such particular notice taken of. Four things are recorded of her: -

(1.) Her name, Lydia. It is an honour to her to have her name recorded here in the book of God, so that wherever the scriptures are read there shall this be told concerning her. Note, The names of the saints are precious with God, and should be so with us; we cannot have our names recorded in the Bible, but, if God open our hearts, we shall find them written in the book of life, and this is better (Phi 4:3) and more to be rejoiced in, Luk 10:20.

(2.) Her calling. She was a seller of purple, either of purple dye or of purple cloth or silk. Observe, [1.] She had a calling, an honest calling, which the historian takes notice of to her praise; she was none of those women that the apostle speaks of (1Ti 5:13), who learn to be idle, and not only idle, etc. [2.] It was a mean calling. She was a seller of purple, not a wearer of purple, few such are called. The notice here taken of this is an intimation to those who are employed in honest callings, if they be honest in the management of them, not to be ashamed of them. [3.] Though she had a calling to mind, yet she was a worshipper of God, and found time to improve advantages for her soul. The business of our particular callings may be made to consist very well with the business of religion, and therefore it will not excuse us from religious exercises alone, and in our families, or in solemn assemblies, to say, We have shops to look after, and a trade to mind; for have we not also a God to serve and a soul to look after? Religion does not call us from our business in the world, but directs us in it. Every thing in its time and place.

(3.) The place she was of - of the city of Thyatira, which was a great way from Philippi; there she was born and bred, but either married at Philippi, or brought by her trade to settle there. The providence of God, as it always appoints, so it often removes, the bounds of our habitation, and sometimes makes the change of our outward condition or place of our abode wonderfully subservient to the designs of his grace concerning our salvation. Providence brings Lydia to Philippi, to be under Paul's ministry, and there, where she met with it, she made a good use of it; so should we improve opportunities.

(4.) Her religion before the Lord opened her heart. [1.] She worshipped God according to the knowledge she had; she was one of the devout women. Sometimes the grace of God wrought upon those who, before their conversion, were very wicked and vile, publicans and harlots; such were some of you, 1Co 6:11. But sometimes it fastened upon those who were of a good character, who had some good in them, as the eunuch, Cornelius, and Lydia. Note, It is not enough to be worshippers of God, but we must be believers in Jesus Christ, for there is no coming to God as a Father, but by him as Mediator. But those who worshipped God according to the light they had stood fair for the discoveries of Christ, and his grace to them; for to him that has shall be given: and to them Christ would be welcome; for those that know what it is to worship God see their need of Christ, and know what use to make of his mediation. [2.] She heard the apostles. Here, where prayer was made, when there was an opportunity, the word was preached; for hearing the word of God is a part of religious worship, and how can we expect God should hear our prayers if we will not hearken to his word? Those that worshipped God according to the light they had looked out for further light; we must improve the day of small things, but must not rest in it.

2. What the work was that was wrought upon her: Whose heart the Lord opened. Observe here, (1.) The author of this work: it was the Lord, - the Lord Christ, to whom this judgment is committed, - the Spirit of the Lord, who is the sanctifier. Note, Conversion-work is God's work; it is he that works in us both to will and to do; not as if we had nothing to do, but of ourselves, without God's grace, we can do nothing; nor as if God were in the least chargeable with the ruin of those that perish, but the salvation of those that are saved must be wholly ascribed to him. (2.) The seat of this work; it is in the heart that the change is made, it is to the heart that this blessed turn is given; it was the heart of Lydia that was wrought upon. Conversion-work is heart-work; it is a renewing of the heart, the inward man, the spirit of the mind. (3.) The nature of the work; she had not only her heart touched, but her heart opened. An unconverted soul is shut up, and fortified against Christ, straitly shut up, as Jericho against Joshua, Jos 6:1. Christ, in dealing with the soul, knocks at the door that is shut against him (Rev 3:20); and, when a sinner is effectually persuaded to embrace Christ, then the heart is opened for the King of glory to come in - the understanding is open to receive the divine light, the will opened to receive the divine law, and the affections opened to receive the divine love. When the heart is thus opened to Christ, the ear is opened to his word, the lips opened in prayer, the hand opened in charity, and the steps enlarged in all manner of gospel obedience.

3. What were the effects of this work on the heart. (1.) She took great notice of the word of God. Her heart was so opened that she attended to the things that were spoken by Paul; she not only gave attendance on Paul's preaching, but gave attention to it; she applied to herself (so some read it) the things that were spoken by Paul; and then only the word does us good, and makes an abiding impression upon us, when we apply it to ourselves. Now this was an evidence of the opening of her heart, and was the fruit of it; wherever the heart is opened by the grace of God, it will appear by a diligent attendance on, and attention to, the word of God, both for Christ's sake, whose word it is, and for our own sakes, who are so nearly interested in it. (2.) She gave up her name to Jesus Christ, and took upon her the profession of his holy religion; She was baptized, and by this solemn rite was admitted a member of the church of Christ; and with her her household also was baptized, those of them that were infants in her right, for if the root be holy so are the branches, and those that were grown up by her influence and authority. She and her household were baptized by the same rule that Abraham and his household were circumcised, because the seal of the covenant belongs to the covenanters and their seed. (3.) She was very kind to the ministers, and very desirous to be further instructed by them in the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: She besought us saying " If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, if you take me to be a sincere Christian, manifest your confidence in me by this, come into my house, and abide there. "Thus she desired an opportunity, [1.] To testify her gratitude to those who had been the instruments of divine grace in this blessed change that was wrought upon her. When her heart was open to Christ, her house was open to his ministers for his sake, and they were welcome to the best entertainment she had, which she did not think too good for those of whose spiritual things she had reaped so plentifully. Nay, they are not only welcome to her house, but she is extremely pressing and importunate with them: She constrained us; which intimates that Paul was very backward and unwilling to go, because he was afraid of being burdensome to the families of the young converts, and would study to make the gospel of Christ without charge (1Co 9:18; Act 20:34), that those who were without might have no occasion given them to reproach the preachers of the gospel as designing, self-seeking men, and that those who were within might have no occasion to complain of the expenses of their religion: but Lydia will have no nay; she will not believe that they take her to be a sincere Christian unless they will oblige her herein; like Abraham inviting the angels (Gen 18:3), If now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away from thy servant. [2.] She desired an opportunity of receiving further instruction. If she might but have them for awhile in her family, she might hear them daily (Pro 8:34), and not merely on sabbath days at the meeting. In her own house she might not only hear them, but ask them questions; and she might have them to pray with her daily, and to bless her household. Those that know something of Christ cannot but desire to know more, and seek opportunities of increasing their acquaintance with his gospel.

Barclay: Act 16:11-15

Neapolis--the modern Kavalla was the seaport of Philippi. Philippi had a long history. Once it had been called Crenides which means "The Springs." But Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander, had fortified it as a barrier against the Thracians and had given it his own name. At one time it had possessed famous gold mines, but by Paul's time these were worked out. Later it had been the scene of one of the most famous battles in the world, when Augustus won for himself the Roman Empire.

Philippi was a Roman colony. Roman colonies were usually strategic centres. In them Rome planted little groups of army veterans who had completed their military service. They wore the Roman dress, spoke the Roman language and used the Roman laws no matter where they were. Nowhere was there greater pride in Roman citizenship than in these outposts of Rome.

In Philippi there was no synagogue from which to start. But where the Jews were unable to have a synagogue they had a place of prayer and these places of prayer were usually by the riverside. On the Sabbath Paul and his friends took their way there and talked with the women who met in that place.

The extraordinary thing about Paul's work in Philippi is the amazing cross-section of the population that was won for Christ. Lydia came from the very top end of the social scale; she was a purple merchant. The purple dye had to be gathered drop by drop from a certain shell-fish and was so costly that to dye a pound of wool with it would take the equivalent of 150 British pounds. Lydia, wealthy woman and merchant prince that she was, was won for Christ.

Her immediate reaction was to offer the hospitality of her house to Paul and his friends. When Paul is describing the Christian character he says that the Christian should be "given to hospitality" (Rom 12:13). When Peter is urging Christian duty upon his converts he tells them, "Practise hospitality ungrudgingly to one another" (1Pe 4:9). A Christian home is one with an ever-open door.

Constable: Act 9:32--Rom 1:1

III. THE WITNESS TO THE UTTERMOST PART OF THE EARTH 9:32--28:31

Luke next recorded the church's expansion beyond Palestine to the uttermost parts of the earth (1:8). The Ethiopian eunuch took the gospel to Africa, but he became a Christian in Judea. Now we begin to read of people becoming Christians in places farther from Jerusalem and Judea.

Constable: Act 16:6--19:21

C. The extension of the church to the Aegean shores 16:6-19:20

The missionary outreach narrated in this section of the book took place in major cities along the Aegean coastline that major Roman roads connected.

Constable: Act 16:11--17:16

2. The ministry in Macedonia 16:11-17:15

Luke recorded Paul's ministry in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea to continue his history of Jesus' works in Macedonia.

The Macedonians were a distinct national group, though they had strong ties to the Greeks. They had offered the most stubborn resistance against Rome's efforts to extend its influence. In an attempt to break down their strong nationalistic spirit of independence, Rome divided their territory into four districts each of which had its own local government under Rome. We see this stubborn character in the Macedonians' reaction to Paul's preaching. Nevertheless once won over, the Macedonian converts became just as loyal to Paul as they had been hostile to him at first.

Constable: Act 16:11-40

Ministry in Philippi 16:11-40

Luke devoted more space to Paul's evangelizing in Philippi than he did to the apostle's activities in any other city on the second and third journeys even though Paul was there only briefly. It was the first European city in which Paul preached the gospel.

16:11-12 Travelling by sea from Troas the apostolic band made its way to the island of Samothrace. From there they sailed to Neapolis (modern Cavalla), the port of Philippi in Macedonia, a journey of 125 miles. Philippi was 10 miles northwest inland. This town, previously called Crenides (lit. Fountains), also received its newer name of Philippi from Philip of Macedon. It stood at the eastern end of another major Roman highway that connected the Adriatic and Aegean Seas, the Via Egnatia (Egnatian Road).

"After Mark Antony and Octavian defeated Brutus and Cassius, the assassins of Julius Caesar, near Philippi in 42 A.D., the city was made into a Roman colony. This gave it special privileges (e.g, [sic] fewer taxes) but more importantly it became like a transplanted' Rome . . . The primary purpose of colonies was military, for the Roman leaders felt it wise to have Roman citizens and sympathizers settled in strategic locations. So Octavian (who became Caesar Augustus, the first Roman emperor, in 27 B.C.) settled more colonists (primarily former soldiers) at Philippi after his defeat of Antony at Actium, on Greece's west coast, in 31 B.C."⁶⁵⁰

"Philippi's importance during the NT period . . . resulted from its agriculture, its strategic commercial location on both sea and land routes, its still functioning gold mines, and its status as a Roman colony. In addition, it had a famous school of medicine with graduates throughout the then-known world."⁶⁵¹

Luke's mention of Philippi's status as a Roman colony is unusual; he did not identify Roman colonies as such elsewhere.⁶⁵² Perhaps he did so here because of the events that followed in Philippi that we can understand more easily with this status in mind. Another possibility is that he did so because of his personal interest in this town. He spent considerable time there. Some scholars conjecture that Philippi was Luke's hometown or the town in which he lived before joining Paul's party.⁶⁵³ A Roman colony was a city that the imperial government had granted special privileges for having rendered some special service to the empire. All its free citizens enjoyed the rights of Roman citizens. Living in such a colony was similar to being in Rome away from Rome (cf. Phil. 3:20).

16:13 Normally Paul went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, but evidently there was not a synagogue in Philippi. This suggests that there were probably very few Jews there since it only took 10 Jewish men to establish a synagogue.⁶⁵⁴ Lacking a synagogue worshippers of Yahweh met beside the Gangites River one and one-half miles west of town to pray together and to do what the Jews did in a normal synagogue service.⁶⁵⁵ It was customary for Jews and Gentile God-fearers (sebomene ton theon, "worshipper of God," v. 14; 13:43; 18:7) to meet in the open air by a river or the sea when a synagogue was not available.⁶⁵⁶ Evidently no men were there the day Paul found the place. (Prayer meetings haven't changed much over the years.) Nonetheless Paul preached the gospel to the women assembled.

"I wonder whether that prayer meeting had anything to do with Paul coming over to Europe and the vision of the man of Macedonia!"⁶⁵⁷

16:14-15 At least one of the women was a lady who was in Philippi on business. She trusted Christ. Thyatira, her home town in the province of Asia, was a city famous for its purple dye and cloth (cf. Rev. 2:18-29). It had not been the right time for Paul to evangelize Asia (v. 6), but God brought a woman who lived there to him in Macedonia. Her name, Lydia, may have some connection with the fact that her hometown stood in an area that was formerly part of the old kingdom of Lydia.⁶⁵⁸ Luke again emphasized God's initiative in opening her heart to the gospel (v. 14, cf. 2 Cor. 4:4) and the hearts of those in her household (cf. v. 33; 11:14). Her "household" included servants as well as her family (cf. 10:24, 44; 16:31; 18:8; Rom. 16:10-11; 1 Cor. 1:16). Water baptism is in view (v. 15). It followed her conversion immediately (cf. v. 33; 8:36; et al.).

She offered her large home to Paul and his companions as their headquarters while they remained in Philippi. This was a common practice in the Roman world, especially among Christians, since public housing facilities were few and unpleasant (cf. Rom. 12:13; 1 Pet. 4:9).

"Young people sometimes hear a fervent missionary from a distant field tell of the need of young men and young women for work in Africa or China or in some other country. They say, I must answer the call.' They arrange to leave everything here and go out to the mission field, only to find that nobody wants them. And they say, Isn't that queer? They were pleading that we come, and instead of wanting us they are ready, in some instances, to kill us.' Was the missionary wrong? Did he give a false impression of conditions? Not at all! The heathen do not realize their need often until the preaching of the true God gives them a sense of their real condition, but it is that need, nevertheless, which calls for someone to help."⁶⁵⁹

16:16 Luke probably recorded the conversion of three very different individuals in Philippi to illustrate the appeal and power of the gospel. The demon-possessed "slave-girl" (cf. Rhoda, 12:13) who met the missionaries on their way to the prayer meeting (v. 13) was a tool of her masters who used her to make money through fortune-telling. The demon (Gr. pneuma pythona) within her knew of Paul and announced through her who he was and what he was doing (cf. Mark 1:24; 3:11; 5:7; Luke 4:34; 8:28).

"The Python was a mythical serpent or dragon that guarded the temple and oracle of Apollo, located on the southern slope of Mount Parnassus to the north of the Gulf of Corinth. It was supposed to have lived at the foot of Mount Parnassus and to have eventually been killed by Apollo (cf. Strabo Geography 9.3.12). Later the word python came to mean a demon-possessed person through whom the Python spoke--even a ventriloquist was thought to have such a spirit living in his or her belly (cf. Plutarch De Defectu Oraculorum 9.414)."⁶⁶⁰

16:17-18 This girl's screaming recalls the behavior of the demon-possessed people whom Jesus encountered. The title "Most High God" would have had meaning for Greeks, Romans, and Jews. All of these groups had some interest in a (not "the") way of salvation. The Greeks called Zeus the "Most High God."⁶⁶¹ Consequently the girl's crying out would have aroused the interest of Greeks as well as Jews. Paul proceeded to take advantage of this situation. She seems to have appointed herself the apostles' herald announcing them wherever they went. Paul did not want her to continue doing this, however. Her presence and public relations work implied that the missionaries were allies of the demon that people knew indwelt her (cf. Mark 1:24-25). Jesus working through Paul cast the demon out (Mark 9:14-29; Luke 4:33-35; 6:18; 7:21; Acts 8:9-24; 13:16-12; 19:13-20). Luke did not record whether this girl became a Christian, though she probably did. His interest lay in what happened as a result of this incident.

Verse 18 raises a question about Paul's motivation in exorcising this demon. The text says that he became annoyed after the girl had accompanied the missionaries for many days. Why did he not cast the demon out immediately because he felt compassion for the girl? We can only conclude that God did not lead him to cast the demon out sooner because He used this witness to bring people to Himself. Undoubtedly Paul felt compassion for her since there is plenty of evidence elsewhere that Paul was a compassionate person. It was evidently the continued irritation that this girl created in Paul that God finally used to lead Paul to cast the demon out of her.

16:19-21 Clearly the actions of the girl's masters against Paul and Silas, whom the people perceived as Jews, were prejudicial. They wanted to get even for causing them financial loss (cf. 19:24-27). The market place was the agora.

"Often, if not always, the greatest obstacle to the crusade of Christ is the selfishness of men."⁶⁶²

Two magistrates (praetors) governed each Roman colony.⁶⁶³ Recently the Emperor Claudius had expelled the Jews from Rome (18:2). Consequently anti-Semitism was running especially high throughout the empire and in Philippi, which had an unusually large military population. It was contrary to Roman law for local people to try to change the religion of Roman citizens, of which there were many in Philippi. The girl's masters assumed that Paul and Silas were proselytizing for Judaism since the customs Paul proclaimed included worship of Jesus, a Jew, rather than the emperor.

"The accusation against Paul and Silas in 16:20-21 is one of a series. In Acts 16-19 we find four scenes that feature accusations against Christians, and these accusations are parts of similar sequences of events. The sequence contains three basic elements: (1) Christians are forcefully brought before officials or a public assembly. (2) They are accused, and this accusation is highlighted by direct quotation. (3) We are told the result of this attempt to curb the Christian mission."⁶⁶⁴

16:22 The crowd got behind the missionaries' accusers. The charges against them seemed so clear the magistrates evidently did not even investigate them but proceeded to beat and imprison Paul and Silas (cf. 2 Cor. 11:23, 25).⁶⁶⁵ Lictors (police) would have done the beating (cf. v. 35).

16:23-24 The jailer treated his prisoners as dangerous criminals. His treatment may have reflected his own attitude more than the seriousness of their alleged crimes.

"Jailers commonly were retired army veterans, who could be expected to follow orders and use their military skills as required."⁶⁶⁶

"He was no mere turn-key, but the governor of the prison,--probably of the rank of a centurion, like Cornelius at Caesarea, of whose history there is much to remind us here."⁶⁶⁷

"If Lydia came from the top end of the social scale and the slave girl from the bottom, the Roman gaoler was one of the sturdy middle class who made up the Roman civil service; and so in these three the whole gamut of society was complete."⁶⁶⁸

16:25-26 We can see that Paul and Silas were full of the Spirit by the way they reacted to the pain that resulted from their beating and from being locked in stocks (cf. Ps. 42:8). The other prisoners undoubtedly wondered who these men were and how they could rejoice. Perhaps some of them became Christians and members of the Philippian church. If so, Paul's exhortations to rejoice in the Lord always in his epistle to the Philippians would have reminded them of his example on this occasion. Again God miraculously freed His servants (cf. 5:18-20; 12:3-11).

"This was the first sacred concert ever held in Europe . . .

"The world is watching Christians, and when they see Christians shaken by circumstances as they themselves, they conclude that after all there is very little to Christianity; but when they find Christians rising above circumstances and glorying in the Lord even in deepest trial, then even the unsaved realize the Christian has something in knowing Christ to which they are strangers."⁶⁶⁹

16:27-28 "In Roman law a guard who allowed his prisoner to escape was liable to the same penalty the prisoner would have suffered (Code of Justinian 9.4.4)."⁶⁷⁰

This jailer was about to commit suicide and so avoid the shame of a public execution. He was certain his prisoners had escaped. God had restrained the other prisoners from escaping somehow, possibly out of fear or out of respect for Paul and Silas.

". . . were the other prisoners as terrified as the jailer at what they believed to be the magical power of two Jewish sorcerers which could bring about an earthquake? This might account for their failure to try to escape."⁶⁷¹

Whatever the other prisoners may have thought, Luke's emphasis was on the love that Paul and Silas demonstrated for the jailer by remaining in prison when they could have escaped. It was primarily this love, I think, that won the jailer over.

16:29-30 Paul and Silas' love for him, in contrast to the hatred they had received from the magistrates, the police, and the jailer, transformed the jailer's attitude. Apparently the jailer had heard the gospel from Paul and Silas previously, or had at least heard what they were preaching (cf. v. 17), but had hardened his heart against it (v. 24). Now, because of his brush with death, he humbled himself and asked how he could be saved. Another possibility is that the jailer was only wanting deliverance from his physical danger.

". . . if these were the jailer's exact words they probably meant: How can I be saved from the consequences of having ill-treated two obviously powerful magicians?' Paul uses the question as an opening for his Gospel message (verse 31)."⁶⁷²

16:31 This verse raises the question of lordship salvation most clearly in Acts. Must a person make Jesus the Lord (Master) of his or her life to become a Christian?

Most evangelicals believe that to become a Christian one need only trust in the person and finished work of Jesus Christ. It is not necessary to submit to Him completely as personal Master to be saved.⁶⁷³ Some contend that the sinner must also yield his life completely to Jesus as Master as well as Savior to be saved.⁶⁷⁴

Those who hold the lordship view insist on the necessity of acknowledging Jesus as Master of one's life in the act of receiving Him as Savior. According to them these are not two separate sequential acts nor successive steps but one act of faith. A few expressions of the lordship salvation view are these.

"The astonishing idea is current in some circles today that we can enjoy the benefits of Christ's salvation without accepting the challenge of His sovereign Lordship."⁶⁷⁵

"In most instances the modern evangelist' assures his congregation that all any sinner has to do in order to escape Hell and make sure of Heaven is to receive Christ as his personal Savior.' But such teaching is utterly misleading. No one can receive Christ as His Savior while he rejects Him as Lord. Therefore, those who have not bowed to Christ's sceptre and enthroned Him in their hearts and lives, and yet imagine that they are trusting Him as Savior, are deceived."⁶⁷⁶

"Where there is no clear knowledge, and hence no realistic recognition of the real claims that Christ makes, there can be no repentance, and therefore no salvation."⁶⁷⁷

"When we teach (whether it is Matthew, or Romans, or any other book in the New Testament--even in comparison to the Old Testament), we teach that when a person comes to Christ, he receives Him as Savior and Lord, and that genuine salvation demands a commitment to the lordship of Christ."⁶⁷⁸

"Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven' means Unless you who call yourselves Christians, who profess to be justified by faith alone and therefore confess that you have nothing whatever to contribute to your own justification--unless you nevertheless conduct yourselves in a way which is utterly superior to the conduct of the very best people, who are hoping to save themselves by their works, you will not enter God's kingdom. You are not really Christians.'"⁶⁷⁹

There are many excellent evangelical scholars and expositors who believe it is not necessary to commit one's life to Jesus fully when one trusts in Him as Savior to experience salvation. Some of their statements follow.

"The importance of this question cannot be overestimated in relation to both salvation and sanctification. The message of faith only and the message of faith plus commitment of life cannot both be the gospel; therefore, one of them is false and comes under the curse of perverting the gospel or preaching another gospel (Gal. 1:6-9)."⁶⁸⁰

"The Christian's liberty to do precisely as he chooses is as limitless and perfect as any other aspect of grace."⁶⁸¹

"A faithful reading of the entire Book of Acts fails to reveal a single passage where people are found to acknowledge Jesus Christ as their personal Lord in order to be saved."⁶⁸²

"If discipleship is tantamount to salvation, then one must continue in the Word in order to be saved, for John 8:31 says, If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed.' Continuance is absolutely demanded for discipleship. If discipleship and salvation are the same, then continuance is demanded for salvation. Yet the New Testament clearly teaches that salvation is by faith and it is a gift (Eph. 2:8-9). You have eternal life at the point of faith (John 3:36). Continuance is not a requirement for salvation."⁶⁸³

"It is an interpretative mistake of the first magnitude to confuse the terms of discipleship with the offer of eternal life as a free gift. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely' (Rev. 22:17), is clearly an unconditional benefaction. If anyone comes to me and does not . . . he cannot be my disciple' clearly expresses a relationship which is fully conditional. Not to recognize this simple distinction is to invite confusion and error at the most fundamental level."⁶⁸⁴

". . . I am not a lordship salvation person. I preach the importance of dedication to Jesus Christ. I talk about the works that follow faith. But I believe eternal life is a gift and that I receive it not by anything I do, or am, or promise to become. I take the gift that God offers."⁶⁸⁵

When people trusted Jesus Christ in Acts, what did Luke record they believed about Him?

"In Acts 2, 10, and 16--passages that present the most material about salvation in the Book of Acts--what one confessed was that Jesus was the Lord in that He was the divine Mediator of salvation with the total capacity and authority to forgive sins and judge men. He is the Lord over salvation because they have turned away from themselves or their own merit to the ascended Lord. He is the divine Dispenser of salvation."⁶⁸⁶

Other New Testament passages corroborate this testimony (2:38-39; 3:19-26; 4:12; 8:12, 35; 10:43; 13:38-39; John 20:28; Rom. 10:9-13; 1 Cor. 12:3; 2 Cor. 4:5; James 1:1; 2:1; 1 Pet. 3:15; 2 Pet. 3:18; Jude 4, 21, 25; Rev. 19:16).⁶⁸⁷ Submitting to Jesus' total lordship is the responsibility of all people, but not even all Christians do it (Rom. 6:12-14; 12:1-2). It is therefore not biblical, and it is unrealistic, to make it a condition for salvation.⁶⁸⁸

"In many places in the Acts it is impossible to distinguish whether Lord stands for Jehovah or the Christ: see Introd. p. lxxii."⁶⁸⁹

The Philippian jailer now believed that Jesus had the power to protect and deliver His own. He saw Him as the One with adequate power and authority to save. Note that he had previously appealed to Paul and Silas as "Sirs" (lit. "Lords," Gr. kyrioi, v. 30). Now Paul clarified that there was only one Lord (kyrion) that he needed to believe in, namely Jesus.

"The word Lord' in the phrase, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,' is no different than a modern equivalent such as, put confidence in President Reagan.' The term President' is his title. It indicates his position and his ability to follow through on promises. In a similar fashion, the term Lord,' when applied to Jesus Christ, indicates His position as God and thus His ability to save us and grant us eternal life."⁶⁹⁰

Paul did not mean that the jailer's whole household would be saved simply because the jailer believed. Other members of the jailer's household believed and were saved as he believed and was saved (cf. v. 15; 8:36). Personal salvation always depends on personal belief (John 3:16; et al.).

Note also in this verse, as in the rest of Scripture, that faith logically precedes regeneration, not the other way around.

"Paul and Silas did not say to the Philippian jailer, Be saved, and you will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ'! They said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved'!"⁶⁹¹

16:32 Paul went on to explain the gospel more fully. The only condition for salvation was trust in Jesus Christ. As elsewhere, references to household members trusting Christ presuppose the ability to do so. Those who were old enough and capable enough to believe did so.

16:33-34 The jailer proceeded to wash Paul and Silas' wounds. Then they washed him with the water of baptism. He did not have to keep his prisoners under lock and key, only to deliver them at the required time. He believed they would not try to escape, so he brought them into his house and treated them as loved brothers rather than as law breakers.

"The conversion of the jailer is not just one more of the many conversions in Acts but the conversion of a member of the oppressive system that is punishing Paul and Silas."⁶⁹²

16:35-36 The policemen (Roman lictors) returned to the jailer the next morning with orders to release Paul and Silas.⁶⁹³ Evidently the magistrates only intended to teach them a lesson for disturbing the peace, not incarcerate them permanently.

16:37 The Roman government guaranteed its citizens a public trial and freedom from degrading punishment such as beatings.⁶⁹⁴ Paul was now able to use his citizenship to advantage. He may have tried unsuccessfully to communicate his citizenship earlier during his arrest, or he may have waited for the right moment to do so. His claim here resulted not only in his own protection from mistreatment but in the authorities looking on his fellow believers with favor rather than abusing them. Paul demanded what he did for the progress of the gospel, not for personal glory or revenge (cf. Phil. 1:18).

16:38-39 Roman officials charged with mistreating Roman citizens faced the danger of discipline by their superiors. These magistrates meekly appealed to Paul and Silas not to file a complaint. They also wanted them to leave Philippi because popular opinion was still hostile to them due to Paul's healing the slave-girl. Furthermore the local magistrates did not want to have to protect Paul's party of foreigners from irate local residents.

16:40 Paul did not leave Philippi immediately. First, he encouraged the Christians. This group formed the nucleus of the church in Philippi that forever after was a source of joy to Paul and a source of encouragement to other believers (cf. Phil. 1:3; 4:10-16).

College: Act 16:1-40

ACTS 16

3. The Visit to Derbe and Lystra (16:1-4)

¹ He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. ² The brothers 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.

As on the first mission tour, Paul came to " Derbe and then to Lystra," though here the cities are in reverse order since Paul was now traveling east to west (see 14:6). At Lystra he met Timothy, a young man " whose mother was a Jewess and a believer." This description indicates that Timothy's mother had grown up in Judaism, but had become a Christian, possibly as a result of the preaching of Paul on the first tour. In 2 Timothy 1:5 her name is given as Eunice.

Timothy's father, however, " was a Greek." Though Judaism did not encourage marriage of Jews with Gentiles, it was not uncommon. In this situation the child would be considered by the Jews to be Jewish, taking his lineage through his mother. The language of the text implies that Timothy's father was dead.

Timothy's reputation was such that " the brothers at Lystra and Iconium (some twenty miles to the west) spoke well of him." Paul recognized in him the potential for effective service as a missionary. Because of this mixture of Jewish and Gentile elements in young Timothy's background, he had never been circumcised, and the Jews in that area knew the situation. So Paul had the young man circumcised.

Such a move by Paul may seem surprising in light of the preceding chapter of Acts. After the Jerusalem conference, why would Paul insist on circumcision here? It must be remembered, however, that the Jerusalem conference dealt with circumcising Gentiles, not Jews. As Polhill notes, there " is absolutely no evidence that Paul ever asked Jews to abandon circumcision as their mark of membership in God's covenant people." As a matter of fact, Paul himself never lost his identity as a Jew (Rom 9:1-2; 10:1; Phil 3:5-6), though he had become one who knew Jesus as the Christ.

Paul's relationship to Timothy became very close. Timothy is mentioned throughout the letters as one of Paul's companions (2 Cor 1:1; Phil 1:1; Col 1:1; 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:1; Phlm 1). Paul referred to him as a " dear son" (1 Cor 4:17; 1 Tim 1:2). Timothy must have been quite young when Paul met him in Lystra, since some fifteen years later Paul calls him a young man (1 Tim 4:12).

As Paul and Silas " traveled from town to town," they delivered " the decisions" (taÉ dovgmata, ta dogmata ) which had come from the Jerusalem Conference. Though the decrees had been addressed to Syria and Cilicia (see 15:23), they may have decided to deliver them to churches outside of this province, as well. The Antioch church had, after all, sponsored the evangelism which built these churches.

4. The Growth of the Churches (16:5)

⁵ So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

Luke now adds a brief report on the church's progress before recording the pioneer efforts of Paul and Silas into new territories. The churches " were strengthened" and " grew daily," verbs that are both in the imperfect tense to emphasize the continuous progress of these congregations. This summary follows a long list of such summaries so far in Acts (2:41,47; 4:4; 5:14; 6:7; 9:31,42).

5. The Journey through Phrygia and Galatia (16:6-7)

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.

The missionaries' road led them beyond the cities in which they had previously started churches. Traveling " throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia," they now moved strictly by the direction of the Holy Spirit. As always, Paul's work for Christ was a combination of his own careful planning and the leading of God.

Apparently the original plan was to leave Pisidian Antioch and journey westward to Ephesus. This plan would have the apostles moving through Phrygia, a district which had been divided between the Roman provinces of Asia and Galatia. Perhaps at this point Paul and his companions were " kept by the Holy Spirit" from going on toward Ephesus in the province of Asia. How this message was communicated is not stated.

If the missionaries could not go straight west, perhaps they could go in a direction leading northwest. Mysia was a district in the northern part of Asia, and presented a fruitful place for evangelism on the way to Bithynia, a district with such major cities as Nicomedia, Nicea, and Byzantium. But once again the Spirit (this time called " Spirit of Jesus" ) directed that they not travel into Bithynia. This latter divine message forced them to redirect their steps straight westward to Troas.

6. The Macedonian Vision in Troas (16:8-10)

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.

As they " passed by Mysia," they probably wondered why so many promising locations for evangelism were being neglected. Troas itself would have been worth considering for establishing a church. The city was associated from ancient times with Troy, located some ten miles to the north. Because of its location, it was an important port city with connections to much of the shipping traffic between Asia and Macedonia. Since the time of Augustus the Romans saw it as a colony city. The sizable population of Troas favored church planting, and Paul may indeed have founded a church on this visit (see Acts 20:5-12; 2 Cor 2:12).

But the text seems to indicate that not much time was spent in Troas because " during the night Paul had a vision." This incident may answer one question relating to how the Spirit was directing the missionaries. A " vision" had been experienced once in Acts already (10:3). The Spirit now used a vision again to reveal his will for future travel, communicating to Paul the need for evangelism in Macedonia.

The province of Macedonia became a Roman province in 148 B.C., though it had been a dominant power in the Greek world since the days of Philip II and Alexander the Great. Paul saw in his vision a man from Macedonia (whose identity is unknown) inviting him to come and help. Though some have assumed that the Macedonian was Luke, the evidence is weak.

Luke does seem to inject himself more directly into the journey at this point, however, by using in v. 10 the pronoun " we." Paul saw the vision, but Luke says " we" immediately prepared " to leave for Macedonia." This way of speaking is best explained by suggesting that at this point, Luke himself joined the missionary team and began traveling with them. His descriptions thus become eyewitness reports.

7. The Visits to Samothrace and Neapolis (16:11)

¹¹ From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samoth-race, and the next day on to Neapolis.

Boarding a vessel, the missionaries " sailed straight for Samothrace," a mountainous island which rose 5,500 feet above sea level. The wind was favorable and the journey from Troas took only one day. Later in Acts (20:6) a similar journey will require five days.

The following day brought the mission group to Neapolis. This city served as the port for Philippi, which lay ten miles inland. At Neapolis the Egnatian Way, one of the oldest of the major Roman roads, began its way across Macedonia to the Adriatic Sea.

8. The Visit to Philippi (16:12-40)

The Faith of Lydia (16:12-15)

¹² From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district 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 named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who 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.

From Neapolis the missionaries walked on the Egnatian Way the ten miles to Philippi. This city was also " a Roman colony," and enjoyed a rich history. Named after the father of Alexander the Great, Philip II, the city had come under Roman control in 168 B.C. At that time Macedonia was divided into four administrative districts. Thessalonica was the capital of Macedonia, but Philippi was a " leading city" in the first of the four districts. Because of its status as a colony, the city was populated with many retired Roman soldiers, but there were few Jews.

Rather than going to the synagogue as in past visits to a new city (14:1), Paul and his companions " went outside the city gate to the river." Here he met a group of women gathered for prayer. The presence of these women outside the city probably indicates that there was no Jewish synagogue in Philippi, and Paul had learned that they met instead outside of the city. Perhaps the women were required to meet here because their religion was considered suspect by the local authorities. Thus they chose a place on the banks of the Gangites River about a mile south of the city.

The Jewish character of the meeting becomes obvious in Luke's description of Lydia. She was from Thyatira, a city in Roman Asia (in the Hellenistic kingdom of Lydda). By occupation she was " a dealer in purple cloth," a trade well known in Thyatira, and a business which produced expensive material often used for royalty. She was thus a woman of some wealth, a trait also indicated by her possession of a home large enough to keep the missionaries (16:15). But by religion she is described as " a worshiper of God," a phrase used of Gentiles like Cornelius who were informally connected to Judaism.

Macedonian women had a reputation for independence by the time Paul visited. Among their legal rights were the initiating of divorce, engaging in legal transactions, and even holding honorary public titles.

Paul and his friends " sat down" with these women, taking the position assumed by teachers in the synagogue. As they spoke about the gospel, Lydia listened and " the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message." Just as the hearts of the disciples had been opened up by the Lord (Luke 24:45), so now God used the gospel to speak to her heart, and she responded in faith.

As is customary in Acts, faith is followed by baptism (see 2:38, 41; 8:13,36,38; 16:31,33; 18:8). She and " the members of her household" were baptized. As with Cornelius (10:47-48), several members of the family besides Lydia wanted to be baptized. Another " household baptism" occurs later in 16:33. There is no evidence in any of these that infants were involved. In the case of Cornelius, for example, they were " praising God" (10:46), evidence that they were old enough to make a personal decision for baptism.

Lydia then insisted that the missionaries stay in her house as evidence of her sincerity in the faith. For them it would have been a considerable relief from what they were paying for rented quarters. She was truly contributing to the work of the gospel, even offering her house as a meeting place for the believers (see 16:40).

The Slave Girl with the Spirit of Divination (16:16-22)

¹⁶ Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, " These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." ¹⁸ She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, " In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her. ¹⁹ When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. ²⁰ They brought them before the magistrates and said, " These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar ²¹ by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." ²² The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten.

During their ministry in Philippi they " were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future." The term for this spirit is pneu'ma puvqwna (pneuma pythôna), and refers to a spirit which possessed people for the purpose of uttering inspired predictions for the future. The term comes from the " serpent that guarded the Delphic oracle" where Apollo was worshiped. The word came to denote a " spirit of divination, then also a ventriloquist, who was believed to have such a spirit dwelling in his belly."

Because the Roman world was very much influenced by magic and divination, many people relied on consulting those who had power to discern the future. Even political and military leaders refused to make major decisions without consulting a diviner. The girl in Philippi was thus a valuable commodity to her owners. As Luke says, " she earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling."

After Paul met her he could not seem to rid himself of her. She kept following (katakolouqou'sa, katakolouthousa ) Paul " for many days." The spirit within her caused her to shout that Paul and his friends were " servants of the Most High God" (qeou' tou' uJyivstou, theou tou hypsistou ). In a manner which reminds us of the evil spirits crying out in testimony to Christ (see Mark 5:7), the girl's words spoke the truth, but in a manner not appreciated by Paul. What misunderstanding of the gospel might be generated by the persistent shouting of this " pythoness?"

Paul " became so troubled" that he commanded the spirit to come out of the girl. Polhill notes that Luke's language contains a bit of humor here. The same verb (ejxh'lqen, exçlthen) is used for the exit of the spirit and the exit of " their hope of making money." Luke seems to say " out went the spirit and out went their profit." The words " at that moment" describe the miraculous nature of this incident.

No wonder the owners were furious! They " seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities." No mention is made of what happened to Timothy and Luke. " Marketplace" (ajgorav, agora ) should be understood as more than a shopping mall, since it was the location of the city forum. Here they were placed before the " magistrates" (strathgov", stratçgos), the two men responsible for trying civil cases and keeping the peace. Serving under them were the " lictors," called rJabdou'coi ( rhabdouchoi ) in vv. 35 and 38. The lictors administered the beatings to those found guilty. They were pictured in the Roman world as men who carried the bundle of rods with an axe in the middle of the bundle and tied with a red band (called the fasces ).

The charges the owners brought did not mention money. They focused on arguments which would influence the case. Identifying the men as Jews would prejudice the case immediately in the minds of many Romans. That they were throwing the city " into an uproar" would concern any Roman magistrate charged with keeping the peace. Their advocating of " customs unlawful" for Romans may be a reference to attempts by Paul to win converts, since proselyting among Roman citizens met with much disapproval in the Roman world.

Finally, Paul and Silas endured a severe Roman beating. The crowd " joined in the attack," placing additional pressure on the magistrates so that they ordered the men beaten on their bare backs. This incident is one which Paul remembers later when he writes to the Corinthians about his hardships for Christ (2 Cor 11:25).

The Imprisonment (16:23-26)

²³ After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴ Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. ²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose.

Located in the same marketplace ( agora ) was the jail. Paul and Barnabas were placed " in the inner cell," a detail which emphasizes how securely they were being kept. The Roman stocks which held their feet had several holes which allowed the jailer to force their legs into a painful position, resulting in the stretching and cramping of muscles.

In spite of these hardships, Paul and Silas demonstrated the joy and hope of their faith. About midnight they were " praying and singing hymns," loudly enough that the other prisoners, even at that hour, " were listening to them." After demonstrating their power over the " pythoness," these would have been impressive prisoners.

An earthquake heightened the drama, as if a Divine response to the courage of the prisoners. Though earthquakes are common in Macedonia, this one was so violent that " the foundations of the prison were shaken." Not surprisingly, perhaps, the prison doors which probably locked with bars across the door, were shaken so that they sprang open. What was more surprising was that " everybody's chains came loose." Though this might mean that the chains merely shook free of the prison wall, it seems more probable that a miracle is being described in which even the chains around arms and legs fell loose to the floor.

The Conversion of the Jailer (16:27-34)

²⁷ The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul shouted, " Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" ²⁹ The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ He then brought them out and asked, " Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" ³¹ They replied, " Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-you and your household." ³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³ At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. ³⁴ The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God-he and his whole family.

The jailer assumed that the prisoners had escaped until he heard Paul's shout. Jailers and guards within the Roman system knew that they were held personally responsible for keeping prisoners secured (see 12:19). This jailer saw no reason to face his superiors, and was ready to commit suicide.

But Paul was able to see the jailer through the opened doors. He called to him to say that the other prisoners were still there. Perhaps they had found no opportunity to escape, or were so intimidated by these prisoners who had power over a pythoness , sang in their cell, and were answered with earthquakes, that they were too afraid to escape.

At any rate, the jailer got a torch, hurried in and " fell trembling before Paul and Silas." These events had struck fear into his heart. His response implied some acquaintance with their message. The issue of " salvation" in the context of gospel preaching involves reconciliation to God, a pardon from sin, and restoration to life. How the jailer knew of these things Luke does not say. Whether he heard reports of their preaching in Philippi, or heard about the incident with the pythoness, or drew information from the singing in the prison is not clear. Whatever the means of finding out, the jailer seemed to know enough to ask the correct question about becoming a disciple of Christ.

The response of Paul and Silas differs from previous invitations to accept the gospel truth in that faith is mentioned without the command to repent or be baptized (see 2:38; 3:19; 14:15). This fact does not mean that inconsistencies exist between the commands. The response of faith includes repentance and baptism. Faith was presented as the means for salvation with Christ as the object of that faith. This language, of course, is very similar to Paul's language in his letters (see Rom 3:21-31; Eph 2:8-9; Phil 3:8-9).

Again the " household" was included (see 16:15). But the fact that they " spoke the word of the Lord to him and all the others in his house" implies that the jailer's household consisted of members old enough to hear and respond to the gospel.

The response of the jailer was sincere. He not only submitted to baptism, but demonstrated his sincerity by taking Paul and Silas to a pool of water in the courtyard where he washed their wounded backs. In addition he invited these prisoners into his own home and placed a meal before them.

As Luke consistently shows interest in the evidence of conversions, so he does here. In some cases it was speaking in tongues (10:44) or rejoicing (8:39). Now it is hospitality, as it was in v. 15 with Lydia. The jailer was " filled with joy" and ready to offer his home as a way of assisting the missionaries.

The Departure (16:35-40)

³⁵ When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: " Release those men." ³⁶ The jailer told Paul, " The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace." ³⁷ But Paul said to the officers: " They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out." ³⁸ The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. ³⁹ They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. ⁴⁰ After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.

Very early the next morning the magistrates (stratçgoi) sent the lictors ( rhabdouchous ) who had beaten Paul and Silas to the jail. Evidently the magistrates were convinced that the lesson had been learned by Paul and Silas. Though imprisonment for breaches of the civil law was not customary, Bruce sees in their action a case of " summary correction." Satisfied that this goal had been met, they were ready to set the prisoners free.

At this point Paul revealed a fact that the authorities had not bothered to investigate the day before. He informed the lictors that he and Silas were " Roman citizens." Paul's point in bringing this to their attention was to demonstrate the unfairness in the sentence. They had committed no crime. Their ministry in the gospel deserved no stain against its reputation.

For this reason Paul wanted the record wiped clean. A public acknowledgment of the mistake by the authorities was needed. The magistrates became nervous. Taking such measures against Roman citizens, and without a trial, was a serious infraction of Roman policy. Philippi could have lost its status as a Roman colony. Roman citizenship was a rare privilege which guaranteed particular rights. Since the early second century B.C., Roman citizens had been exempted from humiliating forms of punishment. Although the protection of these rights often depended on the whim of the local magistrate, Rome frequently investigated officials accused of departing from accepted customs of law enforcement.

How a citizen managed to prove the fact of citizenship is unclear. In some cases wooden diptychs were carried by citizens as a record of citizenship, but this was not common.

At any rate, the officials came to Paul and urged him to depart from the city, apologizing and hoping for as little publicity as possible. For his part, Paul was ready to leave. But he first wanted to say good-by to Lydia. At her house he found a gathering of believers. The church was already growing. Paul encouraged them and then left the city with Silas and Timothy.

The use of the first person pronoun ends here, implying that Luke may have remained in Philippi to help strengthen the church. Later the first person begins again where Paul arrives in Philippi (20:5-6). From what Paul says in Philippians 1:27-28 it is evident that the Philippian church had to deal with suffering for the faith. Perhaps the events surrounding Paul's imprisonment had brought resentment to such a pitch that persecution broke out long after Paul's visit. The same letter shows, however, that the church never stopped supporting Paul (see 1:24-25; 4:2-3,14-19).

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

McGarvey: Act 16:11-12

11, 12. An opportunity was offered without delay, for the apostolic company to make the contemplated voyage to Macedonia. (11) " Therefore, setting sail from Troas, we ran by a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis; (12) and thence to Philippi, which is the first city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony. And we abode in that city some days. "

Samothrace is an island in the Archipelago, about midway between Troas and Neapolis. Neapolis was a seaport of Macedonia, and the landing place for Philippi. The remark that they sailed to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis, shows that they spent the night at Samothrace, which accords with the custom of ancient navigators, who generally cast anchor at night, during coasting voyages, unless the stars were out. This voyage occupied a part of two days.

Philippi was not the chief city of that part of Macedonia, as rendered in the common version, but the first city; by which is meant, either that it was the first which Paul visited, or the first in point of celebrity. I think the latter is the real idea; for it is obvious from the history that this was the first city Paul visited, and of this the reader need not be informed. But it was the first city of that region in point of celebrity, because it was the scene of the great battle in which Brutus and Cassius were defeated by Marc Antony. Thessalonica was then, and is yet, the chief city of Macedonia.

The observant reader will here notice a change in the style of the narrative, which indicates the presence of the writer among the companions of Paul. Hitherto he had spoken of them only in the third person; but when about to leave Troas, he uses the first person plural, saying, " we sought to go forth into Macedonia," and " we ran to Samothrace," etc. It is only by such a change in the pronoun employed, from the third to the first person, and from the first to the third that we can detect the presence or absence of Luke. From this indication we conclude that he first joined the company in the interior of Asia Minor, just previous to entering the city of Troas. The company with whom we are now traveling is composed of Paul and Silas, Timothy and Luke.

Introduction / Outline

Robertson: Acts (Book Introduction)

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

By Way of Introduction

But for the Acts we should know nothing of the early apostolic period save what is told in the Epistles. There are various apocryphal " Acts," but they are without historical worth. Hence the importance of this book.

Luke the Author

It ought to be possible to assume this as a fact since the work of Ramsay and Harnack on various phases of the problems concerning the Acts. Harnack, in particular, has covered the ground with his accustomed thoroughness and care in his two volumes ( The Acts of the Apostles , English Translation by Rev. J. R. Wilkinson, 1909; The Date of the Acts and the Synoptic Gospels , English Translation by Rev. J. R. Wilkinson, 1911). Ramsay’s view may be found in Chapter I of St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen , Chapter XII of Pauline and Other Studies . A good summary of the matter appears in Part V of The Synoptic Gospels and the Book of Acts by Dr. D. A. Hayes, in Robertson’s Luke the Historian in the Light of Research , and in the introduction to the various commentaries by Knowling, Rackham, Furneaux, Rendall, Hackett, Meyer-Wendt, Zahn, Blass, Campbell-Morgan, Stokes. In Part I of The Acts of the Apostles , Vol. II of The Beginnings of Christianity , edited by Foakes-Jackson and Kirsopp Lake both sides are ably presented: The Case for the Tradition by C. W. Emmet, The Case against the Tradition by H. Windisch. The Internal Evidence of Acts is discussed by the Editors, Foakes-Jackson and Lake, with an adverse conclusion against Luke. Henry J. Cadbury surveys The Tradition (the external evidence) and draws a negative conclusion likewise on the ground that the early writers who ascribe Acts to Luke were not critical scholars. A similar position is taken by Cadbury in his more recent volume, The Making of Luke--Acts (1927). But all the same the traditional view that Luke is the author of the Acts holds the field with those who are not prejudiced against it. The view of Baur that Acts is a Tendenz writing for the purpose of healing the breach between Peter and Paul and showing that the two factions came together had great influence for a while. In fact both Ramsay and Harnack at first held it. Ramsay broke away first and he was followed by Harnack. Both were influenced to change their views by the accumulation of evidence to the effect that the author of both the Gospel and Acts is Luke the Physician and Friend of Paul. Part of this evidence has already been given in the Introduction to the Gospel according to Luke.

The Author of the Gospel Also

The author of the Acts expressly states that he wrote " the first treatise ( ton prōton logon ) concerning all things, O Theophilus, that Jesus began both to do and to teach until which day he gave command through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen and was received up" (Act_1:1.). There is no room for dispute that the reference is directly to the Gospel according to Luke as we have it now. Like the Gospel the book is dedicated to Theophilus. And, what is even more important, the same style appears in both Gospel and Acts. This fact Harnack has shown with great pains and conclusiveness. There is the same interest in medical matters and even Cadbury, who denies by implication the Lukan authorship, admits identity of authorship for both books.

The Unity of the Acts

There are some scholars who are willing to admit the Lukan authorship of the " we" sections when the author uses " we" and " us" as in chapter 16:10-40; 20:6-28:31. It has been argued that Luke wrote a travel-document or diary for these sections, but that this material was used by the editor or redactor of the whole book. But, unfortunately for that view, the very same style appears in the Acts as a whole and in the Gospel also as Harnack has proven. The man who said " we" and " us" in the " we" sections wrote " I" in Act_1:1 and refers to the Gospel as his work. The effort to disprove the unity of the Acts has failed. It stands as the work of the same author as a whole and the same author who wrote the Gospel.

Sources of the Acts

Beyond a doubt Luke employed a variety of sources for this great history as he did for the Gospel (Luk_1:1-4). In fact, Cadbury argues that this Prologue was meant to apply to the Acts also as Volume II whether he intended to write a third volume or not. Certainly we are entitled to say that Luke used the same historical method for Acts. Some of these sources are easy to see. Luke had his own personal experience for the " we" sections. Then he had the benefit of Paul’s own notes or suggestions for all that portion where Paul figures from chapter 8 to chapter 28, since Luke was apparently with Paul in Rome when he finished the Book. This would include Paul’s sermons and addresses which Luke gives unless one wishes to say, as some do, that Luke followed the style of Thucydides and composed the kind of addresses that he thought Paul would make. I see no evidence of that for each address differs from the others and suits precisely the occasion when it was delivered. The ancients frequently employed shorthand and Paul may have preserved notes of his addresses. Prof. C. C. Torrey, of Yale University, argues in his Composition and Date of Acts (1916) that Luke used an Aramaic document for the first fifteen chapters of the Acts. There is an Aramaic element in certain portions of these chapters, but nothing like so pronounced as in Luke 1 and 2 after Luk_1:1-4. It cannot be said that Torrey has made out his case for such a single document. Luke may have had several such documents besides access to others familiar with the early days of the work in Jerusalem. There was Simon Peter whom Paul visited for two weeks in Jerusalem (Gal_1:18) besides other points of contact with him in Jerusalem and Antioch (Acts 15 and Galatians 2). There was also Barnabas who was early Paul’s friend (Act_9:27) and who knew the beginnings as few did (Act_4:36.). Besides many others it is to be observed that Paul with Luke made a special visit to Caesarea where he spent a week with the gifted Philip and his daughters with the gift of prophecy (Act_21:8.). But with all the inevitable variety of sources for the information needed to cover the wide field of the Book of Acts the same mind has manifestly worked through it and it is the same style all through that appears in the " we" sections where the writer is confessedly a companion of Paul. No other companion of Paul carries this claim for the authorship and no other was a physician and no author has the external evidence from early writers.

The Date

There are three views about the date of the Acts. Baur and his Tubingen School held the second century to be the date of this late pamphlet as they termed it after the fashion of the Clementine Homilies. But that view is now practically abandoned save by the few who still strangely oppose the Lukan authorship. Probably the majority of those who accept the Lukan authorship place it in the latter part of the first century for two reasons. One is that the Gospel according to Luke is dated by them after the destruction of Jerusalem because of the prophecy by Jesus of the encompassing of the city by armies. Predictive prophecy that would be and so it is considered a prophecy post eventum . The other reason is the alleged use of the Antiquities of Josephus by Luke. Josephus finished this work a.d. 93 so that, if Luke did use it, he must have written the Acts after that date. Usually this argument is made to show that Luke could not have written it at all, but some hold that he may have lived to an age that would allow it. But it cannot be assumed that Luke used Josephus because of his mention of Theudas and Judas the Galilean. They differ so widely (Act_5:36. and Josephus, Ant . XX. v, 1, 2) that Von Dobschutz ( Dictionary of the Apostolic Church , art. Josephus) argues that the two accounts are entirely independent of each other. So Luke (Luk_13:1.) alludes to a Galilean revolt not mentioned by Josephus and Josephus records three revolts under Pilate not referred to by Luke. A comparison of the accounts of the death of Agrippa I in Act_12:20-23 and Ant . XIX. viii, 2 redounds to the credit of Luke. The Josephus phase of the argument may be brushed to one side. The third view, held by Harnack and adopted here, is that Luke wrote the Acts while with Paul in Rome and finished the book before Paul’s release, that is by a.d. 63. This is the obvious and natural way to take the language of Luke at the close of Acts. Events had gone no farther and so he ends the narrative right there. It is argued against this that Luke contemplated a third volume and for this reason closed with the arrival of Paul in Rome. But the use of prōton (first) in Act_1:1 is a common Koiné[28928]š idiom and does not imply three volumes any more than first and second stories with us means that the house has three. Of course this date for the Acts puts the date of the Gospel further back either in Caesarea (57 to 59) or in Rome (60 to 62). And that means that Mark’s Gospel is still earlier since Luke used it for his Gospel and the Logia (Q) earlier still. But all these dates are probable in the light of all the known facts.

The Historical Value

It was once a fad with a certain school of critics to decry Luke in the Acts as wholly untrustworthy, not above the legendary stage. But the spade has done well by Luke for inscriptions and papyri have brought remarkable confirmation for scores of points where Luke once stood all alone and was discounted because he stood alone. These will be duly noted in the proper places as they occur. Ramsay has done most in this restoration of the rank of Luke as a credible historian, as shown in particular in his St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen and in The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament . In every instance where discoveries have been made they have confirmed the testimony of Luke as concerning politarchs in Thessalonica, proconsul in Cyprus, etc. The result is that the balance of evidence is now in favour of Luke even when he still stands alone or seems to be opposed by Josephus. Luke, as it stands today, is a more credible historian than Josephus. Ramsay dares to call Luke, all things considered, the greatest of all historians, even above Thucydides. An interesting book on this phase of the subject is Chase’s The Credibility of the Acts of the Apostles (1902).

The Purpose of the Acts

It is not easy to say in a word precisely the object of Luke in writing this book. It is not the Acts of all the apostles. Outside of Peter and John little is told of any of them after chapter 3. And all the acts of Peter and John are not given for Peter disappears from the narrative after chapter 15, though he has been the central figure through chapter 11. Paul is not one of the twelve apostles, but Luke follows Paul’s career mainly after chapter 8. Stephen and Barnabas come in also. Still ( St. Paul on Trial , 1923) argues that Luke meant the book as an apology to be used in Paul’s trial at Rome or at any rate to put Paul in the right light with the Jews in Rome. Hence the full account of Paul’s series of defences in Jerusalem, Caesarea, Rome. There may be an element of truth in this idea, but it clearly does not cover the whole purpose of Luke. Others hold that Luke had a dramatic plan to get Paul to Rome as the climax of his campaign to win the Roman Empire to Christ. The book is not a history of all early Christianity. Peter and Paul dominate the atmosphere of the book with Paul as the great hero of Luke. But one can easily see that the work is done with consummate skill. The author is a man of culture, of Christian grace, of literary power. The book pulses with life today.

The Text of the Acts

A special problem arises concerning the text of Acts inasmuch as the Codex Bezae (D) with some other Western support presents a great many additions to the Neutral-Alexandrian text of Aleph A B C. Blass has even proposed the idea that Luke himself issued two editions of the book, an attractive hypothesis that is not generally accepted. J. M. Wilson has published The Acts of the Apostles from Codex Bezae . The whole subject is elaborately treated by J. H. Ropes in Vol. III, The Text of Acts in Part I of The Beginnings of Christianity . Besides thorough discussion of all the problems of text involved Ropes gives the text of the Vatican Codex (B) on the left page and that of Codex Bezae (D) on the right, making comparison easy. Blass’s ideas appear in his Acta Apostolorum .

JFB: Acts (Book Introduction)

THIS book is to the Gospels what the fruit is to the tree that bears it. In the Gospels we see the corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying: in the Acts we see it bringing forth much fruit (Joh 12:24). There we see Christ purchasing the Church with His own blood: here we see the Church, so purchased, rising into actual existence; first among the Jews of Palestine, and next among the surrounding Gentiles, until it gains a footing in the great capital of the ancient world--sweeping majestically from Jerusalem to Rome. Nor is this book of less value as an Introduction to the Epistles which follow it, than as a Sequel to the Gospels which precede it. For without this history the Epistles of the New Testament--presupposing, as they do, the historical circumstances of the parties addressed, and deriving from these so much of their freshness, point, and force--would in no respect be what they now are, and would in a number of places be scarcely intelligible.

The genuineness, authenticity, and canonical authority of this book were never called in question within the ancient Church. It stands immediately after the Gospels, in the catalogues of the Homologoumena, or universally acknowledged books of the New Testament (see Introduction to our larger Commentary, Vol. V, pp. iv, v). It was rejected, indeed, by certain heretical sects in the second and third centuries--by the Ebionites, the Severians (see EUSEBIUS, Ecclesiastical History, 4.29), the Marcionites, and the Manicheans: but the totally uncritical character of their objections (see Introduction above referred to, pp. xiii, xiv) not only deprives them of all weight, but indirectly shows on what solid grounds the Christian Church had all along proceeded in recognizing this book.

In our day, however, its authenticity has, like that of all the leading books of the New Testament, been made the subject of keen and protracted controversy. DE WETTE, while admitting Luke to be the author of the entire work, pronounces the earlier portion of it to have been drawn up from unreliable sources (New-Testament Introduction, 2a, 2C). But the Tubingen school, with BAUR at their head, have gone much farther. As their fantastic theory of the post-Joannean date of the Gospels could not pretend even to a hearing so long as the authenticity of the Acts of the Apostles remained unshaken, they contend that the earlier portion of this work can be shown to be unworthy of credit, while the latter portion is in flat contradiction to the Epistle to the Galatians--which this school regard as unassailable--and bears internal evidence of being a designed distortion of facts for the purpose of setting up the catholic form which Paul gave to Christianity in opposition to the narrow Judaic but original form of it which Peter preached, and which after the death of the apostles was held exclusively by the sect of the Ebionites. It is painful to think that anyone should have spent so many years, and, aided by learned and acute disciples in different parts of the argument, should have expended so much learning, research, and ingenuity in attempting to build up a hypothesis regarding the origination of the leading books of the New Testament which outrages all the principles of sober criticism and legitimate evidence. As a school, this party at length broke up: its head, after living to find himself the sole defender of the theory as a whole, left this earthly scene complaining of desertion. While some of his associates have abandoned such heartless studies altogether for the more congenial pursuits of philosophy, others have modified their attacks on the historical truth of the New Testament records, retreating into positions into which it is not worth while to follow them, while others still have been gradually approximating to sound principles. The one compensation for all this mischief is the rich additions to the apologetical and critical literature of the books of the New Testament, and the earliest history of the Christian Church, which it has drawn from the pens of THIERSCH, EBRARD, and many others. Any allusions which it may be necessary for us to make to the assertions of this school will be made in connection with the passages to which they relate--in Acts, First Corinthians, and Galatians.

The manifest connection between this book and the third Gospel--of which it professes to be simply the continuation by the same author--and the striking similarity which marks the style of both productions, leave no room to doubt that the early Church was right in ascribing it with one consent to Luke. The difficulty which some fastidious critics have made about the sources of the earlier portion of the history has no solid ground. That the historian himself was an eye-witness of the earliest scenes--as HUG concludes from the circumstantiality of the narrative--is altogether improbable: but there were hundreds of eye-witnesses of some of the scenes, and enough of all the rest, to give to the historian, partly by oral, partly by written testimony, all the details which he has embodied so graphically in his history; and it will appear, we trust, from the commentary, that De Wette's complaints of confusion, contradiction, and error in this portion are without foundation. The same critic, and one or two others, would ascribe to Timothy those later portions of the book in which the historian speaks in the first person plural--"we"; supposing him to have taken notes of all that passed under his own eye, which Luke embodied in his history just as they stood. It is impossible here to refute this gratuitous hypothesis in detail; but the reader will find it done by EBRARD (The Gospel History, sect. 110, Clark's translation; sect. 127 of the original work, Wissenschaftliche Kritik der Evangelische Geschichte, 1850), and by DAVIDSON (Introduction to New Testament, Vol. II, pp. 9-21).

The undesigned coincidences between this History and the Apostolic Epistles have been brought out and handled, as an argument for the truth of the facts thus attested, with unrivalled felicity by PALEY in his Horæ Paulinæ, to which Mr. BIRKS has made a number of ingenious additions in his Horæ Apostolicæ. Exception has been taken to some of these by JOWETT (St. Paul's Epistles, Vol. I, pp. 108 ff.), not without a measure of reason in certain cases--for our day, at least--though even he admits that in this line of evidence the work of PALEY, taken as a whole, is unassailable.

Much has been written about the object of this history. Certainly "the Acts of the Apostles" are but very partially recorded. But for this title the historian is not responsible. Between the two extremes--of supposing that the work has no plan at all, and that it is constructed on an elaborate and complex plan, we shall probably be as near the truth as is necessary if we take the design to be to record the diffusion of Christianity and the rise of the Christian Church, first among the Jews of Palestine, the seat of the ancient Faith, and next among the surrounding Gentiles, with Antioch for its headquarters, until, finally, it is seen waving over imperial Rome, foretokening its universal triumph. In this view of it, there is no difficulty in accounting for the almost exclusive place which it gives to the labors of Peter in the first instance, and the all but entire disappearance from the history both of him and of the rest of the Twelve after the great apostle of the Gentiles came upon the stage--like the lesser lights on the rise of the great luminary.

JFB: Acts (Outline)

• INTRODUCTION--LAST DAYS OF OUR LORD UPON EARTH--HIS ASCENSION. (Act 1:1-11)
• RETURN OF THE ELEVEN TO JERUSALEM--PROCEEDINGS IN THE UPPER ROOM TILL PENTECOST. (Act 1:12-26)
• DESCENT OF THE SPIRIT--THE DISCIPLES SPEAK WITH TONGUES--AMAZEMENT OF THE MULTITUDE. (Act 2:1-13)
• PETER FOR THE FIRST TIME, PUBLICLY PREACHES CHRIST. (Acts 2:14-36)
• BEAUTIFUL BEGINNINGS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. (Act 2:41-47)
• PETER AND JOHN DISMISSED FROM THE SAMHEDRIM, REPORT THE PROCEEDINGS TO THE ASSEMBLED DISCIPLES--THEY ENGAGE IN PRAYER--THE ASTONISHING ANSWER AND RESULTS. (Act 4:23-37)
• ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA. (Act 5:1-11)
• THE PROGRESS OF THE NEW CAUSE LEADS TO THE ARREST OF THE APOSTLES--THEY ARE MIRACULOUSLY DELIVERED FROM PRISON, RESUME THEIR TEACHING, BUT ALLOW THEMSELVES TO BE CONDUCTED BEFORE THE SAMHEDRIM. (Act 5:12-26)
• SECOND APPEARANCE AND TESTIMONY BEFORE THE SAMHEDRIM--ITS RAGE CALMED BY GAMALIEL--BEING DISMISSED, THEY DEPART REJOICING, AND CONTINUE THEIR PREACHING. (Acts 5:27-42)
• FIRST ELECTION OF DEACONS. (Act 6:1-7)
• STEPHEN ARRAIGNED BEFORE THE SAMHEDRIM. (Act 6:8-15)
• DEFENSE AND MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. (Acts 7:1-60)
• PERSECUTION CONTINUED, IN WHICH SAUL TAKES A PROMINENT PART--HOW OVERRULED FOR GOOD. (Act 8:1-4)
• SUCCESS OF PHILIP'S PREACHING IN SAMARIA--CASE OF SIMON MAGUS. (Acts 8:5-25)
• THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH. (Act 8:26-40)
• CONVERSION OF SAUL, AND BEGINNINGS OF HIS MINISTRY. (Acts 9:1-25)
• SAUL'S FIRST VISIT TO JERUSALEM AFTER HIS CONVERSION. (Act 9:26-31)
• FLOURISHING STATE OF THE CHURCH IN PALESTINE AT THIS TIME. (Act 9:31)
• PETER HEALS ENEAS AT LYDDA AND RAISES TABITHA TO LIFE AT JOPPA. (Act 9:32-43)
• ACCESSION AND BAPTISM OF CORNELIUS AND HIS PARTY; OR, THE FIRST-FRUITS OF THE GENTILES. (Acts 10:1-48)
• THE GOSPEL BEING PREACHED TO GENTILES AT ANTIOCH ALSO BARNABAS IS SENT THITHER FROM JERUSALEM, WHO HAILS THEIR ACCESSION AND LABORS AMONG THEM. (Act 11:19-24)
• BARNABAS, FINDING THE WORK IN ANTIOCH TOO MUCH FOR HIM, GOES TO TARSUS FOR SAUL--THEY LABOR THERE TOGETHER FOR A WHOLE YEAR WITH MUCH SUCCESS, AND ANTIOCH BECOMES THE HONORED BIRTHPLACE OF THE TERM CHRISTIAN. (Act 11:25-26)
• BY OCCASION OF A FAMINE BARNABAS AND SAUL RETURN TO JERUSALEM WITH A CONTRIBUTION FOR THE RELIEF OF THEIR SUFFERING BRETHREN. (Act 11:27-30)
• PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH BY HEROD AGRIPPA I--MARTYRDOM OF JAMES AND MIRACULOUS DELIVERANCE OF PETER. (Acts 12:1-19)
• HEROD'S MISERABLE END--GROWING SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL--BARNABAS AND SAUL RETURN TO ANTIOCH. (Act 12:20-25)
• BARNABAS AND SAUL, DIVINELY CALLED TO LABOR AMONG THE GENTILES, ARE SET APART AND SENT FORTH BY THE CHURCH AT ANTIOCH. (Act 13:1-3)
• ARRIVING IN CYPRUS THEY PREACH IN THE SYNAGOGUES OF SALAMIS--AT PAPHOS, ELYMAS IS STRUCK BLIND, AND THE GOVERNOR OF THE ISLAND IS CONVERTED. (Act 13:4-12)
• AT PERGA JOHN MARK FORSAKES THEM--AT ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA, PAUL PREACHES WITH GLORIOUS EFFECT--THE JEWS, ENRAGED, EXPEL THEM OUT OF THEM COASTS. (Acts 13:13-52)
• MEETING WITH SIMILAR SUCCESS AND SIMILAR OPPOSITION AT ICONIUM, PAUL AND BARNABAS FLEE FOR THEIR LIVES TO LYSTRA AND DERBE, AND PREACH THERE. (Act 14:1-7)
• AT LYSTRA PAUL HEALING A CRIPPLE, THE PEOPLE ARE SCARCE RESTRAINED FROM SACRIFICING TO THEM AS GODS, BUT AFTERWARDS, THEIR MINDS BEING POISONED, THEY STONE PAUL, LEAVING HIM FOR DEAD--WITHDRAWING TO DERBE, THEY PREACH AND TEACH THERE. (Act 14:8-21)
• COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM TO DECIDE ON THE NECESSITY OF CIRCUMCISION FOR THE GENTILE CONVERTS. (Acts 15:1-35)
• DISSENSION BETWEEN PAUL AND BARNABAS--THEY PART COMPANY TO PROSECUTE SEPARATE MISSIONARY TOURS. (Act 15:36-46)
• THEY BREAK NEW GROUND IN PHRYGIA AND GALATIA--THEIR COURSE IN THAT DIRECTION BEING MYSTERIOUSLY HEDGED UP, THEY TRAVEL WESTWARD TO TROAS, WHERE THEY ARE DIVINELY DIRECTED TO MACEDONIA--THE HISTORIAN HIMSELF HERE JOINING THE MISSIONARY PARTY, THEY EMBARK FOR NEAPOLIS, AND REACH PHILIPPI. (Act 16:6-12)
• AT THESSALONICA THE SUCCESS OF PAUL'S PREACHING ENDANGERING HIS LIFE, HE IS DESPATCHED BY NIGHT TO BEREA, WHERE HIS MESSAGE MEETS WITH ENLIGHTENED ACCEPTANCE--A HOSTILE MOVEMENT FROM THESSALONICA OCCASIONS HIS SUDDEN DEPARTURE FROM BEREA--HE ARRIVES AT ATHENS. (Act 17:1-15)
• PAUL AT ATHENS. (Acts 17:16-34)
• PAUL'S ARRIVAL AND LABORS AT CORINTH, WHERE HE IS REJOINED BY SILAS AND TIMOTHY, AND, UNDER DIVINE ENCOURAGEMENT, MAKES A LONG STAY--AT LENGTH, RETRACING HIS STEPS, BY EPHESUS, CÆSAREA, AND JERUSALEM, HE RETURNS FOR THE LAST TIME TO ANTIOCH, THUS COMPLETING HIS SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY. (Acts 18:1-22)
• PAUL'S THIRD AND LAST MISSIONARY JOURNEY--HE VISITS THE CHURCHES OF GALATIA AND PHRYGIA. (Acts 18:23-21:16)
• EPISODE CONCERNING APOLLOS AT EPHESUS AND IN ACHAIA. (Act 18:24-28)
• SIGNAL SUCCESS OF PAUL AT EPHESUS. (Acts 19:1-41)
• PAUL FULFILS HIS PURPOSE OF PROCEEDING AGAIN TO MACEDONIA AND GREECE--RETURNING THENCE, ON HIS ROUTE FOR JERUSALEM, HE REVISITS PHILIPPI AND TROAS--HIS MINISTRATIONS AT TROAS. (Act 20:1-12)
• CONTINUING HIS ROUTE TO JERUSALEM HE REACHES MILETUS, WHENCE HE SENDS FOR THE ELDERS OF EPHESUS--HIS FAREWELL ADDRESS TO THEM. (Acts 20:13-38)
• SAILING FROM EPHESUS, THEY LAND AT TYRE, AND THENCE SAILING TO PTOLEMAIS, THEY PROCEED BY LAND TO CÆSAREA AND JERUSALEM. (Acts 21:1-16)
• PAUL REPORTS THE EVENTS OF HIS THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY--IN THE TEMPLE, PURIFYING HIMSELF FROM A JEWISH VOW, HE IS SEIZED BY A MOB AND BEATEN TO THE DANGER OF HIS LIFE--THE UPROAR BECOMING UNIVERSAL, THE ROMAN COMMANDANT HAS HIM BROUGHT IN CHAINS TO THE FORTRESS, FROM THE STAIRS OF WHICH HE IS PERMITTED TO ADDRESS THE PEOPLE. (Acts 21:17-40)
• PAUL'S DEFENSE FROM THE STAIRS OF THE FORTRESS--THE RAGE OF THE AUDIENCE BURSTING FORTH, THE COMMANDANT HAS HIM BROUGHT INTO THE FORT TO BE EXAMINED BY SCOURGING, BUT LEARNING THAT HE IS A ROMAN, HE ORDERS HIS RELEASE AND COMMANDS THE SAMHEDRIM TO TRY HIM. (Acts 22:1-30)
• PAUL'S DEFENSE BEFORE THE SAMHEDRIM DIVIDES THE RIVAL FACTIONS, FROM WHOSE VIOLENCE THE COMMANDANT HAS THE APOSTLE REMOVED INTO THE FORTRESS. (Act 23:1-10)
• IN THE FORTRESS PAUL IS CHEERED BY A NIGHT VISION--AN INFAMOUS CONSPIRACY TO ASSASSINATE HIM IS PROVIDENTIALLY DEFEATED, AND HE IS DESPATCHED BY NIGHT WITH A LETTER FROM THE COMMANDANT TO FELIX AT CÆSAREA, BY WHOM ARRANGEMENTS ARE MADE FOR A HEARING OF HIS CAUSE. (Acts 23:11-35)
• PAUL, ACCUSED BY A PROFESSIONAL PLEADER BEFORE FELIX, MAKES HIS DEFENSE, AND IS REMANDED FOR A FURTHER HEARING. AT A PRIVATE INTERVIEW FELIX TREMBLES UNDER PAUL'S PREACHING, BUT KEEPS HIM PRISONER FOR TWO YEARS, WHEN HE WAS SUCCEEDED BY FESTUS. (Acts 24:1-27)
• FESTUS, COMING TO JERUSALEM, DECLINES TO HAVE PAUL BROUGHT THITHER FOR JUDGMENT, BUT GIVES THE PARTIES A HEARING ON HIS RETURN TO CÆSAREA--ON FESTUS ASKING THE APOSTLE IF HE WOULD GO TO JERUSALEM FOR ANOTHER HEARING BEFORE HIM, HE IS CONSTRAINED IN JUSTICE TO HIS CAUSE TO APPEAL TO THE EMPEROR. (Act 25:1-12)
• HEROD AGRIPPA II ON A VISIT TO FESTUS, BEING CONSULTED BY HIM ON PAUL'S CASE, DESIRES TO HEAR THE APOSTLE, WHO IS ACCORDINGLY BROUGHT FORTH. (Act 25:13-27)
• PAUL'S DEFENSE OF HIMSELF BEFORE KING AGRIPPA, WHO PRONOUNCES HIM INNOCENT, BUT CONCLUDES THAT THE APPEAL TO CÆSAR MUST BE CARRIED OUT. (Acts 26:1-32)
• THE VOYAGE TO ITALY--THE SHIPWRECK AND SAFE LANDING AT MALTA. (Acts 27:1-44)
• THE WINTERING AT MALTA, AND NOTABLE OCCURRENCES THERE--PROSECUTION OF THE VOYAGE TO ITALY AS FAR AS PUTEOLI, AND LAND JOURNEY THENCE TO ROME--SUMMARY OF THE APOSTLE'S LABORS THERE FOR THE TWO FOLLOWING YEARS. (Acts 28:1-31)
• PAUL AND BARNABAS RETRACE THEIR STEPS, RETURN TO ANTIOCH IN SYRIA, AND THUS COMPLETE THEIR FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY. (Act 14:21-28)
• VISITATION OF THE CHURCHES FORMERLY ESTABLISHED, TIMOTHEUS HERE JOINING THE MISSIONARY PARTY. (Acts 15:41-16:5)
• AT PHILIPPI, LYDIA IS GAINED AND WITH HER HOUSEHOLD BAPTIZED--AN EVIL SPIRIT IS EXPELLED, PAUL AND SILAS ARE SCOURGED, IMPRISONED, AND MANACLED, BUT MIRACULOUSLY SET FREE, AND THE JAILER WITH ALL HIS HOUSEHOLD CONVERTED AND BAPTIZED. (Act 16:12-34)

TSK: Acts (Book Introduction)

The Acts of the Apostles is a most valuable portion of Divine revelation; and, independently of its universal reception in the Christian church, as an authentic and inspired production, it bears the most satisfactory internal evidence of its authenticity and truth. St. Luke’s long attendance upon St. Paul, and his having been an eyewitness of many of the facts which he has recorded, independently of his Divine inspiration, render him a most suitable and credible historian; and his medical knowledge, for he is allowed to have been a physician, enabled him both to form a proper judgment of the miraculous cures which were performed by St. Paul, and to give an authentic and circumstantial detail of them. The plainness and simplicity of the narrative are also strong circumstances in its favour. The history of the Acts is one of the most important parts of the Sacred History, for without it neither the Gospels nor Epistles could have been so clearly understood; but by the aid of it the whole scheme of the Christian revelation is set before us in a clear and easy view.

TSK: Acts 16 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Act 16:1, Paul having circumcised Timothy, Act 16:7, and being called by the Spirit from one country to another, Act 16:14. converts Lydia, Act 16:16. and casts out a spirit of divination; Act 16:19, for which cause he and Silas are whipped and imprisoned; Act 16:25, The prison doors are opened; Act 16:31, The jailor is converted, Act 16:35. and they are delivered.

Poole: Acts 16 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 16

MHCC: Acts (Book Introduction)

This book unites the Gospels to the Epistles. It contains many particulars concerning the apostles Peter and Paul, and of the Christian church from the ascension of our Saviour to the arrival of St. Paul at Rome, a space of about thirty years. St. Luke was the writer of this book; he was present at many of the events he relates, and attended Paul to Rome. But the narrative does not afford a complete history of the church during the time to which it refers, nor even of St. Paul's life. The object of the book has been considered to be, 1. To relate in what manner the gifts of the Holy Spirit were communicated on the day of Pentecost, and the miracles performed by the apostles, to confirm the truth of Christianity, as showing that Christ's declarations were really fulfilled. 2. To prove the claim of the Gentiles to be admitted into the church of Christ. This is shown by much of the contents of the book. A large portion of the Acts is occupied by the discourses or sermons of various persons, the language and manner of which differ, and all of which will be found according to the persons by whom they were delivered, and the occasions on which they were spoken. It seems that most of these discourses are only the substance of what was actually delivered. They relate nevertheless fully to Jesus as the Christ, the anointed Messiah.

MHCC: Acts 16 (Chapter Introduction)

(Act 16:1-5) Paul takes Timothy to be his assistant.

(Act 16:6-15) Paul proceeds to Macedonia, The conversion of Lydia.

(Act 16:16-24) An evil spirit cast out, Paul and Silas scourged and imprisoned.

(Act 16:25-34) The conversion of the jailer at Philippi.

(Act 16:35-40) Paul and Silas released.

Matthew Henry: Acts (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Acts of the Apostles

We have with an abundant satisfaction seen the foundation of our holy religion laid in the history of our blessed Saviour, its great author, which was related and left upon record by four several inspired writers, who all agree in this sacred truth, and the incontestable proofs of it, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Upon this rock the Christian church is built. How it began to be built upon this rock comes next to be related in this book which we have now before us, and of this we have the testimony only of one witness; for the matters of fact concerning Christ were much more necessary to be fully related and attested than those concerning the apostles. Had Infinite Wisdom seen fit, we might have had as many books of the Acts of the Apostles as we have gospels, nay, as we might have had gospels: but, for fear of over-burdening the world (Joh 21:25), we have sufficient to answer the end, if we will but make use of it. The history of this book (which was always received as a part of the sacred canon) may be considered.

I. As looking back to the preceding gospels, giving light to them, and greatly assisting our faith in them. The promises there made we here find made good, particularly the great promises of the descent of the Holy Ghost, and his wonderful operations, both on the apostles (whom here in a few days we find quite other men than what the gospels left them; no longer weak-headed and weak-hearted, but able to say that which then they were not able to bear (Joh 16:12) as bold as lions to face those hardships at the thought of which they then trembled as lambs), and also with the apostles, making the word mighty to the pulling down of Satan's strong holds, which had been before comparatively preached in vain. The commission there granted to the apostles we here find executed, and the powers there lodged in them we here find exerted in miracles wrought on the bodies of people - miracles of mercy, restoring sick bodies to health and dead bodies to life - miracles of judgment, striking rebels blind or dead; and much greater miracles wrought on the minds of people, in conferring spiritual gifts upon them, both of understanding and utterance; and this in pursuance of Christ's purposes, and in performance of his promises, which we had in the gospels. The proofs of Christ's resurrection with which the gospels closed are here abundantly corroborated, not only by the constant and undaunted testimony of those that conversed with him after he arose (who had all deserted him, and one of them denied him, and would not otherwise have been rallied again but by his resurrection, but must have been irretrievably dispersed, and yet by that were enabled to own him more resolutely than ever, in defiance of bonds and deaths), but by the working of the Spirit with that testimony for the conversion of multitudes to the faith of Christ, according to the word of Christ, that his resurrection, the sign of the prophet Jonas, which was reserved to the last, should be the most convincing proof of his divine mission. Christ had told his disciples that they should be his witnesses, and this book brings them in witnessing for him, - that they should be fishers of men, and here we have them enclosing multitudes in the gospel-net, - that they should be the lights of the world, and here we have the world enlightened by them; but that day - spring from on high the first appearing of which we there discerned we here find shining more and more. The corn of wheat, which there fell to the ground, here springs up and bears much fruit; the grain of mustard-seed there is here a great tree; and the kingdom of heaven, which was then at hand, is here set up. Christ's predictions of the virulent persecutions which the preachers of the gospel should be afflicted with (though one could not have imagined that a doctrine so well worthy of all acceptation should meet with so much opposition) we here find abundantly fulfilled, and also the assurances he gave them of extraordinary supports and comforts under their sufferings. Thus, as the latter part of the history of the Old Testament verifies the promises made to the fathers of the former part (as appears by that famous and solemn acknowledgment of Solomon's, which runs like a receipt in full, 1Ki 8:56, There has not failed one word of all his good promises which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant ), so this latter part of the history of the New Testament exactly answers to the world of Christ in the former part of it: and thus they mutually confirm and illustrate each other.

II. As looking forward to the following epistles, which are an explication of the gospels, which open the mysteries of Christ's death and resurrection, the history of which we had in the gospels. This book introduces them and is a key to them, as the history of David is to David's psalms. We are members of the Christian church, that tabernacle of God among men, and it is our honour and privilege that we are so. Now this book gives us an account of the framing and rearing of that tabernacle. The four gospels showed us how the foundation of that house was laid; this shows us how the superstructure began to be raised, 1. Among the Jews and Samaritans, which we have an account of in the former part of this book. 2. Among the Gentiles, which we have an account of in the latter part: from thence, and downward to our own day, we find the Christian church subsisting in a visible profession of faith in Christ, as the Son of God and Saviour of the world, made by his baptized disciples, incorporated into religious societies, statedly meeting in religious assemblies, attending on the apostles' doctrine, and joining in prayers and the breaking of bread, under the guidance and presidency of men that gave themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word, and in a spiritual communion with all in every place that do likewise. Such a body as this thee is now in the world, which we belong to: and, to our great satisfaction and honour, in this book we find the rise and origin of it, vastly different from the Jewish church, and erected upon its ruins; but undeniably appearing to be of God, and not of man. With what confidence and comfort may we proceed in, and adhere to, our Christian profession, as far as we find it agrees with this pattern in the mount, to which we ought religiously to conform and confine ourselves!

Two things more are to be observed concerning this book: - (1.) The penman of it. It was written by Luke, who wrote the third of the four gospels, which bears his name; and who (as the learned Dr. Whitby shows) was, very probably, one of the seventy disciples, whose commission (Luk 10:1, etc.) was little inferior to that of the twelve apostles. This Luke was very much a companion of Paul in his services and sufferings. Only Luke is with me, 2Ti 4:11. We may know by his style in the latter part of this book when and where he was with him, for then he writes, We did so and so, as Act 16:10; Act 20:6; and thenceforward to the end of the book. He was with Paul in his dangerous voyage to Rome, when he was carried thither a prisoner, was with him when from his prison there he wrote his epistles to the Colossians and Philemon, in both which he is named. And it should seem that St. Luke wrote this history when he was with St. Paul at Rome, during his imprisonment there, and was assistant to him; for the history concludes with St. Paul's preaching there in his own hired house. (2.) The title of it: The Acts of the Apostles; of the holy Apostles, so the Greek copies generally read it, and so they are called, Rev 18:20, Rejoice over her you holy apostles. One copy inscribes it, The Acts of the Apostles by Luke the Evangelist. [1.] It is the history of the apostles; yet there is in it the history of Stephen, Barnabas, and some other apostolical men, who, though not of the twelve, were endued with the same Spirit, and employed in the same work; and, of those that were apostles, it is the history of Peter and Paul only that is here recorded (and Paul was now of the twelve), Peter the apostle of the circumcision, and Paul the apostles of the Gentiles, Gal 2:7. But this suffices as a specimen of what the rest did in other places, pursuant to their commission, for there were none of them idle; and as we are to think what is related in the gospels concerning Christ sufficient, because Infinite Wisdom thought so, the same we are to think here concerning what is related of the apostles and their labours; for what more is told us from tradition of the labours and sufferings of the apostles, and the churches they planted, is altogether doubtful and uncertain, and what I think we cannot build upon with any satisfaction at all. This is gold, silver, and precious stones, built upon the foundation: that is wood, hay, and stubble. [2.] It is called their acts, or doings; Gesta apostolorum; so some. Praxeis - their practices of the lessons their Master had taught them. The apostles where active men; and though the wonders they did were by the word, yet they are fitly called their acts; they spoke, or rather the Spirit by them spoke, and it was done. The history is filled with their sermons and their sufferings; yet so much did they labour in their preaching, and so voluntarily did they expose themselves to sufferings, and such were their achievements by both, that they may very well be called their acts.

Matthew Henry: Acts 16 (Chapter Introduction)

It is some rebuke to Barnabas that after he left Paul we hear no more of him, of what he did or suffered for Christ. But Paul, as he was recommended by the brethren to the grace of God, so his services for Christ after this are largely recorded; we are to attend him in this chapter from place to place, wherever he came doing good, either watering or planting, beginning new work or improving what was done. Here is, I. The beginning of his acquaintance with Timothy, and taking him to be his assistant (Act 16:1-3). II. The visit he made to the churches for their establishment (Act 16:4, Act 16:5). III. His call to Macedonia (after a restraint he had been under from going to some other places), and his coming to Philippi, the chief city of Macedonia, with his entertainment there (Act 16:6-13). IV. The conversion of Lydia there (Act 16:14, Act 16:15). V. The casing of an evil spirit out of a damsel (Act 16:16-18). VI. The accusing and abusing of Paul and Silas for it, their imprisonment, and the indignities done them (Act 16:19-24). VII. The miraculous conversion of the jailer to the faith of Christ (Act 16:25-34). VIII. The honourable discharge of Paul and Silas by the magistrates (Act 16:35-40).

Barclay: Acts (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

A Precious Book

In one sense Acts is the most important book in the New Testament. It is the simple truth that if we did not possess Acts, we would have, apart from what we could deduce from the letters of Paul, no information whatever about the early Church.

There are two ways of writing history. There is the way which attempts to trace the course of events from week to week and from day to day; and there is the way which, as it were, opens a series of windows and gives us vivid glimpses of the great moments and personalities of any period. The second way is the way of Acts.

We usually speak of The Acts of the Apostles. But the book neither gives nor claims to give an exhaustive account of the acts of the apostles. Apart from Paul only three apostles are mentioned in it. In Act_12:2 we are told in one brief sentence that James, the brother of John, was executed by Herod. John appears in the narrative, but never speaks. It is only about Peter that the book gives any real information, and very soon, as a leading character, he passes from the scene. In the Greek there is no The before Acts; the correct title is Acts of Apostolic Men; and what Acts aims to do is to give us a series of typical exploits of the heroic figures of the early Church.

The Writer Of The Book

Although the book never says so, from the earliest times Luke has been held to be its writer. About Luke we really know very little; there are only three references to him in the New Testament--Col_4:14 , Phm_1:24 , 2Ti_4:11 . From these we can say two things for sure. First, Luke was a doctor; second, he was one of Paulmost valued helpers and most loyal friends, for he was a companion of his in his last imprisonment. We can deduce the fact that he was a Gentile. Col_4:11 concludes a list of mentions and greetings from those who are of the circumcision, that is, from Jews; Col_4:12 begins a new list and we naturally conclude that the new list is of Gentiles. So then we have the very interesting fact that Luke is the only Gentile author in the New Testament.

We could have guessed that Luke was a doctor because of his instinctive use of medical words. In Luk_4:35 , in telling of the man who had the spirit of an unclean devil, he says "when the devil had thrown him down" and uses the correct medical word for convulsions. In Luk_9:38 when he draws the picture of the man who asked Jesus, "I beg you to look upon my son" he employs the conventional word for a doctor paying a visit to a patient. The most interesting example is in the saying about the camel and the needleeye. All three synoptic writers give us that saying (Mat_19:24 ; Mar_10:25 ; Luk_18:25 ). For needle both Mark and Matthew use the Greek raphis (G4476), the ordinary word for a tailoror a household needle. Luke alone uses belone, the technical word for a surgeonneedle. Luke was a doctor and a doctorwords came most naturally to his pen.

The Recipient Of The Book

Luke wrote both his gospel and Acts to a man called Theophilus (Luk_1:3 ; Act_1:1 ). We can only guess who Theophilus was. Luk_1:3 calls him "most excellent Theophilus." The phrase really means "your excellency," and indicates a man high up in the service of the Roman government. There are three possibilities.

(i) Just possibly Theophilus is not a real name at all. In those days it might well be dangerous to be a Christian. Theophilus comes from two Greek words, theos (G2316) which means God and philein (G5368) which means to love. It may be that Luke wrote to a lover of God whose real name he did not mention for safetysake.

(ii) If Theophilus was a real person, he must have been a high government official. Perhaps Luke wrote to show him that Christianity was a lovely thing and that Christians were good people. Maybe his writing was an attempt to persuade a government official not to persecute the Christians.

(iii) There is a more romantic theory than either of these based on the facts that Luke was a doctor and that doctors in the ancient days were often slaves. It has been conjectured that Luke was the doctor of Theophilus, that Theophilus had been gravely ill, that by Lukeskill and devotion he was brought back to health, and that in gratitude he gave Luke his freedom. Then, it may be, Luke wished to show how grateful he was for this gift; and since the most precious thing he had was the story of Jesus, he wrote it down and sent it to his benefactor.

LukeAim In Writing Acts

When a man writes a book he does so for a reason, and maybe for more than one. Let us consider now why Luke wrote Acts.

(i) One of his reasons was to commend Christianity to the Roman government.

Again and again he goes out of his way to show how courteous Roman magistrates were to Paul. In Act_13:12 Sergius Paulus, the governor of Cyprus, becomes a Christian. In Act_18:12 Gallio is absolutely impartial in Corinth. In Act_16:35 . the magistrates at Philippi discover their mistake and apologize publicly to Paul. In Act_19:31 the Asiarchs in Ephesus are shown to be concerned that no harm should come to Paul. Luke was pointing out that in the years before he wrote Roman officials had often been well-disposed and always just to Christianity.

Further, Luke takes pains to show that the Christians were good and loyal citizens. and had always been regarded as such. In Act_18:14 Gallio declares that there is no question of wickedness or villainy. In Act_19:37 the secretary of Ephesus gives the Christians a good testimonial. In Act_23:29 Claudius Lysias is careful to say that he has nothing against Paul. In Act_25:25 Festus declares that Paul has done nothing worthy of death, and in the same chapter Festus and Agrippa agree that Paul might well have been released had he not appealed to Caesar.

Luke was writing in the days when Christians were disliked and persecuted; and he told his story in such a way as to show that the Roman magistrates had always been perfectly fair to Christianity and that they had never regarded the Christians as evil men. In fact, the very interesting suggestion has been made that Acts is nothing other than the brief prepared for Pauldefense when he stood his trial before the Roman Emperor.

(ii) One of Lukeaims was to show that Christianity was for all men of every country.

This was one of the things the Jews found it hard to grasp. They had the idea that they were Godchosen people and that God had no use for any other nation. Luke sets out to prove otherwise. He shows Philip preaching to the Samaritans; he shows Stephen making Christianity universal and being killed for it; he shows Peter accepting Cornelius into the Church; he shows the Christians preaching to the Gentiles at Antioch; he shows Paul travelling far and wide winning men of all kinds for Christ; and in Ac 15 he shows the Church making the great decision to accept the Gentiles on equal terms with the Jews.

(iii) But these were merely secondary aims. Lukechief purpose is set out in the words of the Risen Christ in Luk_1:8 , "You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." It was to show the expansion of Christianity, to show how that religion which began in a little corner of Palestine had in not much more than thirty years reached Rome.

C. H. Turner has pointed out that Acts falls into six panels, each ending with what might be called a progress report. The six panels are:

(a) Ac 1-5; Act_6:1-7 ; this tells of the church at Jerusalem and the preaching of Peter; and it finishes with the summary, "The word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem; and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith."

(b) Act_6:8-15 ; Ac 7-8; Act_9:1-31 ; this describes the spread of Christianity through Palestine and the martyrdom of Stephen, followed by the preaching in Samaria. It ends with the summary, "So the Church throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was built up; and, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it was multiplied."

(c) Act_9:32-43 ; Ac 10-11; Act_12:1-24 ; this includes the conversion of Paul, the extension of the Church to Antioch, and the reception of Cornelius, the Gentile, into the Church by Peter. Its summary is, "The word of God grew and multiplied."

(d) Act_12:25 ; Ac 13-15; Act_16:1-5 ; this tells of the extension of the Church through Asia Minor and the preaching tour of Galatia. It ends, "So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily."

(e) Act_16:6-40 ; Ac 17-18; Act_19:1-20 ; this relates the extension of the Church to Europe and the work of Paul in great Gentile cities like Corinth and Ephesus. Its summary runs, "So the word of the Lord grew and prevailed mightily."

(j) Act_19:21-41 ; Ac 20-28; this tells of the arrival of Paul in Rome and his imprisonment there. It ends with the picture of Paul "preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ quite openly and unhindered."

This plan of Acts answers its most puzzling question, why does it finish where it does? It finishes with Paul in prison awaiting judgment. We would so much have liked to know what happened to him and the end is wrapped in mystery. But Luke stopped there because his purpose was accomplished; he had shown how Christianity began in Jerusalem and swept across the world until it reached Rome. A great New Testament scholar has said that the title of Acts might be, "How they brought the Good News from Jerusalem to Rome."

LukeSources

Luke was an historian, and the sources from which an historian draws his information is all important. Where then did Luke get his facts? In this connection Acts falls into two parts.

(i) There are the first fifteen chapters, of whose events Luke had no personal knowledge. He very likely had access to two sources.

(a) There were the records of the local churches. They may never have been set down in writing but the churches had their stories. In this section we can distinguish three records. There is the record of the Jerusalem church which we find in Ac 1-5 and in Ac 15-16. There is the record of the church at Caesarea which covers Act_8:26-40 , Act_9:31-43 and Act_10:1-48 . There is the record of the church at Antioch which includes Act_11:19-30 , Act_12:25 , Ac 13 and Act_14:1-28 .

(b) Very likely there were cycles of stories which were the Acts of Peter, the Acts of John, the Acts of Philip and the Acts of Stephen. Beyond a doubt Lukefriendship with Paul would bring him into touch with all the great men of all the churches and all their stories would be at his disposal.

(ii) There is Ac 16-28. Of much of this section Luke had personal knowledge. When we read Acts carefully we notice a strange thing. Most of the time Lukenarrative is in the third person plural; but in certain passages it changes over to the first person plural and "they" becomes "we". The "we" passages are as follows--Acts 16:10-17; Act_20:5-16 ; Act_21:1-18 ; Ac 27 ; Act_28:1-16 . On all these occasions Luke must have been present. He must have kept a travel diary and in these passages we have eye-witness accounts. As for the times when he was not present, many were the hours he must have spent in prison with Paul and many were the stories Paul must have told him. There can have been no great figure Luke did not know and in every case he must have got his story from someone who was there.

When we read Acts we may be quite sure that no historian ever had better sources or used his sources more accurately.

FURTHER READING

Acts

F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts (NLC; E)

E. Haenchen, Die Apostelgeschichte (G)

F. J. Foakes Jackson and K. Lake, The Beginnings Of Christianity (A five-volume work; especially useful are Vol.

IV, The Commentary and Vol. V, Additional Notes)

W. Neil, The Acts of the Apostles (NCB; E)

Abbreviations

NCB: New Century Bible

NLC: New London Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

Barclay: Acts 16 (Chapter Introduction)

A Son In The Faith (Act_16:1-5)

The Gospel Comes To Europe (Act_16:6-10)

Europe's First Convert (Act_16:11-15)

The Demented Slave-Girl (Act_16:16-24)

The Philippian Jailer (Act_16:25-40)

Constable: Acts (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

The title "Acts of the Apostles" is very ancient. The Anti-Marcionite Prologue to the Gospel of Luke (150-180 A.D.) contains the oldest reference to the book by this name. The title is a bit misleading, however, because the book contains only a few of the acts of some of the apostles, primarily Peter and Paul.

Writer

Two lines of argument lead to the conclusion that Luke, the friend, fellow missionary, and physician of Paul wrote this book under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. First, there is the internal evidence, the passages written in the first person plural that can refer to Luke (16:10-40; 20:5-21:18; 27:1-28:16). Second, we have external evidence indicating that Luke wrote Acts. This evidence includes references by early church fathers,¹ comments in collections of New Testament books,² and editorial statements in early notes on certain New Testament books.³

Date and place of composition

The date of composition was probably in the early sixties, 60-62 A.D. In view of his emphases Luke probably would have mentioned several important events had they occurred by the time he wrote. These include the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., Paul's death in 68 A.D., and the Neronian persecution of Christians that began in 64 A.D.

We do not know for sure where Luke was when he wrote Acts. Perhaps he composed it over a period of years drawing on various sources and then put it into its final form in Rome where Paul was in confinement for two years (28:30-31; 60-62 A.D.).

"Fortunately the intelligibility and value of the book are largely independent of a knowledge of the precise situation in which it was written. While the finer points of the interpretation of Acts can still cause intense discussion among scholars, the essential themes of the book are basically clear and simple."⁴

Scope

The events recorded in Acts cover a period of about 30 years beginning with the Lord's ascension in 33 A.D. to Paul's two-year Roman house arrest that ended about 62 A.D.⁵

Purpose

There seems to have been a three-fold purpose for the writing of Acts. As with the other books of the Bible that record history in narrative form, certainly the Holy Spirit had a historical purpose.⁶ He intended to provide an inspired record of selected events that show the spread of the gospel and the church. They branched out from Jerusalem, the center of Judaism where the church began, to Rome, the uttermost part of the Gentile earth.

"Streeter suggested that an alternative title for the book of Acts might be The Road to Rome', for this is indeed the significance of Luke's work. Whatever minor motifs Luke had in mind, such as the establishment of Christianity in men's minds as a constructive and not destructive element in the social order, his main concern was to show that, in God's plan for the renewal of the life of mankind, Jerusalem, the heart of old Israel, was the goal of Stage I [i.e., the Book of Luke], while Rome, the centre of the world, was the goal of Stage II [i.e., the Book of Acts]."⁷

However the fact that Luke included what he did and omitted much other historical data indicates a second theological purpose. He showed how the plans and purposes of God were working out through history. In particular he showed how Jesus Christ was faithfully and irresistibly building His church (Matt. 16:18).⁸ This involved clarifying how God's dealings with humankind had taken a different course because of the Jews' rejection of their Messiah.

Third, Luke evidently had an apologetic purpose in writing. He frequently pointed out the relationship of the church to the Roman state by referring to many Roman officials not one of whom opposed Christianity because of its doctrines or practices. This would have made Acts a powerful defensive tool for the early Christians in their struggle to survive in a hostile pagan environment.⁹

". . . the Acts is to be seen in close literary association with the Gospel [of Luke]. They form two parts of one work, conceived in its final form as a unity, whether or not the original composition of the Gospel took place independently of the plan to produce the two-part work. Although there are other examples of literary compositions in two parts (Josephus, Contra Apionem, is one of the nearest parallels to Luke-Acts in time and cultural context), Luke's work appears to be unique among Christian writings and to have no close secular precedents in its combination of the stories of a religious leader and of his followers."¹⁰

". . . Luke in Acts is not merely concerned to draw a link between the time of Jesus and the time of the early church, as is commonly noticed, but also between the time of Israel and the time of Jesus and His church. Acts insists that the God who was at work in the history of his ancient people, Israel, bringing them salvation, is the same God who is at work in the church."¹¹

Unique features

Acts is the only New Testament book that continues the history begun in the Gospels. It is also an indispensable historical record for understanding the Apostle Paul's epistles; without it we could not understand some of the things he wrote. It is the only Bible book that records the historical transition from Judaism to Christianity. It provides basic information about and insight into the early church. And it challenges every modern Christian.¹²

Structure

Longenecker identified five phenomena about the structure of Acts that the reader needs to recognize to appreciate what Luke sought to communicate.

"1. It begins, like the [Third] Gospel, with an introductory section of distinctly Lukan cast dealing with the constitutive events of the Christian mission (1:1-2:41) before it sets forth the advances of the gospel in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth' (1:7).

"2. This introductory section is followed by what appears to be a thematic statement (2:42-47). This material, while often viewed as a summary of what precedes, most probably serves as the thesis paragraph for what follows.

"3. In his presentation of the advance of the Christian mission, Luke follows an essentially geographical outline that moves from Jerusalem (2:42-6:7), through Judea and Samaria (6:8-9:31), on into Palestine-Syria (9:32-12:24), then to the Gentiles in the eastern part of the Roman Empire (12:25-19:20), and finally culminates in Paul's defenses and the entrance of the gospel into Rome (19:21-28:31).

"4. In his presentation, Luke deliberately sets up a number of parallels between the ministry of Peter in the first half of Acts and that of Paul in the last half.¹³

"5. Luke includes six summary statements or progress reports' (6:7; 9:31; 12:24; 16:5; 19:20; and 28:31), each of which seems to conclude its own panel' of material.¹⁴

"Taking all these literary and structural features into account, we may conclude that Luke developed his material in Acts along the following lines:

"Introduction: The Constitutive Events of the Christian Mission (1:1-2:41)

Part I: The Christian Mission to the Jewish World (2:42-12:24)

Panel 1--The Earliest Days of the Church at Jerusalem (2:42-6:7)

Summary Statement: So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith' (6:7).

Panel 2--Critical Events in the Lives of Three Pivotal Figures (6:8-9:31)

Summary Statement: Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord' (9:31).

Panel 3--Advances of the Gospel in Palestine-Syria (9:32-12:24)

Summary Statement: But the word of God continued to increase and spread' (12:24).

Part II: The Christian Mission to the Gentile World (12:25-28:31)

Panel 4--The First Missionary Journey and the Jerusalem Council (12:25-16:5)

Summary Statement: So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers' (16:5).

Panel 5--Wide Outreach Through Two Missionary Journeys (16:6-19:20)

Summary Statement: In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power' (19:20).

Panel 6--To Jerusalem and Thence to Rome (19:21-28:31)

Summary Statement: Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ' (28:31)."¹⁵

Message¹⁶

If I were to boil down to one sentence what the Book of Acts is in the Bible to teach us, I would say this.

The message of Acts is that the church of Jesus Christ is God's instrument to glorify Himself in the present age. The subject of the Book of Acts, what is its primary focus of attention, is the church of Jesus Christ.

Acts contains three major revelations regarding the church that I would like to point out.

The first of these concerns is the origin of the church. Jesus Christ created the church.

During His earthly ministry Jesus Christ prepared for the creation of the church. He instructed His disciples with truth they did not fully understand at the time, and He demonstrated for them life that they did not fully appreciate at the time (John 14:6). We have this record in the Gospels.

After His ascension Christ poured out His Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. This was the birthday of the church. The baptism of the Spirit did something God had never done before in history. It united believers with Christ in a new relationship as fellow members of the spiritual body of Christ (John 14:17). Believers then shared the life of Christ in a way never before experienced. God united them with Him. The same Spirit of God that indwelt Him now indwells us. The unity of the church is not external: what we believe (creeds), how we organize ourselves (polity), where we meet (culture), etc. It is internal: who indwells us. The basis of our unity in the church goes back to the origin of the church. It began when the Holy Spirit first baptized believers on the day of Pentecost (1 Cor. 12:13; Rom. 8:9).

The second major revelation of the church that we receive in Acts concerns the nature of the church. The church is one with Jesus Christ. That is its nature. It shares one life with its risen Lord.

In Luke's Gospel our writer presented Jesus Christ as the Head of a new race. As Adam was the head of one race, Christ is the last Adam, the Head of a new race. As Adam was the first man, Christ is the second man, the Head of a new race. As the First-born from the dead, Christ is the Head of a new race.

In Acts we see the new race springing from the First-born from the dead. We see the brotherhood of which Christ is the elder Brother. We see the body growing of which Christ is the Head. The spiritual bonds that unite the members of Christ's race are stronger than the physical bonds that unite the members of Adam's race (Matt. 12:47-50). The members of the new race are feeble, faulty, and foolish, but they possess the life of Christ. Christ is manifesting His life through those who have become partakers of His life by Holy Spirit baptism. The nature of the church is that it is one organic whole empowered by the life of Christ. The Holy Spirit has joined us organically to Christ.

The third major revelation of the church that Acts gives us concerns the function of the church. The function of the church is to be the instrument of Jesus Christ, His hands and feet and mouth, to carry out His will in the world. What is the will of Christ? Let me point out three things that Acts emphasizes.

The will of God is the imparting of life where there is death. Jesus Christ ministers divine life through His human instruments. We see Peter, Paul, and all God's other servants in Acts, doing the same kinds of things Jesus did when He walked this earth. They even did the same types of miracles. Christ by His Spirit was working through them (1:1-2). References to their being filled with the Spirit reflect Christ's control of these people as His instruments. He wants to impart life through us too.

The will of God is also the manifestation of light where there is darkness. The light of the gospel shines through Spirit filled believers to bring the lost into the light of God's presence. In Acts we see Christ through the Holy Spirit choosing the persons to whom the gospel would go. We see Him indicating the places where the gospel would reach. We see Him initiating the processes by which the gospel would penetrate the darkness caused by Satan. This is what Christ wants to do today too. He wants to manifest light through us.

Third, the will of God is the production of love where there is apathy, bitterness, and hatred. Christ's love reaches through believers, His instruments, by the Holy Spirit. It produces in the believer love for the Lord, love for the brethren, and love for the world. We see this illustrated in Acts. This is what Christ wants to do through us: produce love.

In summary, these are three great revelations of the church in Acts. As to its origin, Jesus Christ created it (Matt. 16:18). As to its nature, the church is one with Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). As to its function, the church is the instrument of Christ. Rom. 6:13 says, "Present yourselves to God . . . and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

Acts also warns us of three major antagonists facing the church.

The first of these is prejudice. Prejudice means prejudging, judging on the basis of limited information.

The outstanding example of this type of opposition in Acts is the unbelieving Jews. They refused to accept the witness of the Christians. They would not tolerate the evidence the Christians presented. They became the major enemies of the church as well as missing the blessings that could have been theirs if they had acknowledged their Messiah. The church faces the same opposition today (e.g., traditional concepts as opposed to Scriptural revelation).

The root cause of this problem is lack of confidence in the Holy Spirit. Prejudice says, "I do not trust what the Holy Spirit has said in Scripture." We must always interpret experience in the light of revelation, not the other way around.

The second antagonist the church faces that Acts identifies is personal interests. By this I mean the desire for something other than the will of God.

There are several examples of this peril in Acts. Ananias and Sapphira wanted a reputation for spirituality as well as spirituality. Simon Magus wanted a supernatural gift for personal glory as well as for the glory of God. Our flesh also tempts us to serve ourselves as well as God. This is compromise.

The root cause of this problem seems to me to be lack of passive yielding to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit does not fill or control us. We are doubleminded.

A third antagonist the church faces that we also see in Acts is pride.

Two men provide perhaps the outstanding examples of this peril: Felix and Agrippa. Their desire for personal prestige determined their response to God's will. Many a person's career goals and ego needs have limited God's use of him.

The cause of this problem is lack of active obedience to the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit through His Word says "Do this," and we refuse, it is because we set our wills against His. That is pride. We need to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. In chapter 10 Peter said, "Not me, Lord."

These are three major perils to the church corporately as well as to Christians individually. Luke has warned us of them in Acts. They are major obstacles to Christ's building His church in the world.

Acts also presents three major lessons for the church that it should always keep in view.

First, the church's passion must be the glory of God. This was the driving motive in the lives of Peter, Paul, and the other faithful missionaries and witnesses that Luke recorded in this book. Their passion was not their own personal safety or their physical comfort, or the opportunity to relieve the sufferings of others, or the desire to create better living conditions in the world. They subordinated all these to God's glory in their hearts. We too must commit ourselves to glorifying God above everything else personally and corporately. My goal for this course is that it will glorify God.

Second, the church's governing principle must be loyalty to Christ. Again, the leaders of the early church modelled this for us. They put Christ's interests before their own. They were singleminded in their living. This is the evidence of their being filled with the Spirit. Their primary commitment was to letting His life work in and through them, and to carrying out His work, not their own. How loyal are we to Christ individually and corporately? John the Baptist said, "He must increase, but I must decrease."

Third, the church's power must be the Holy Spirit. The constant references to prayer in Acts show us how conscious the early Christians were of their dependence on God's power. They did not go out in self-confidence but in God-confidence. They called on Him to reveal Christ's life in and through them (4:24-30). They called on Him to direct Christ's works in and through them (12:12; 20:36). We must not only be obedient and yielded to the Holy Spirit but also dependent on Him because He is our power individually and corporately (John 15:5). I'll be praying for you this semester. Please pray for me.

Finally I would like to leave you with three challenges that grow out of the emphases of Acts.

First, what is your motivation? Why do you do what you do? What motivated the Spirit filled believers in Acts was the desire that God get the glory above everything else. Who do you want to get the credit for what you do?

Second, what is your method? How do you do what you do? Our models in Acts cooperated with God so Christ could work through them by His Holy Spirit. This involved having confidence in His revelation, yielding to His will, obeying His Word, and depending on His Holy Spirit.

Third, what is your emphasis? What do you do? In Acts the leaders of the church gave priority to what is most important to God, not to what was most important to them personally. Furthermore they emphasized the essentials, not the incidentals. Let's not get so fascinated with the incidentals, such as how God manifested His power (healings, speaking in tongues, etc.), that we fail to give priority to the essentials. One essential is that He is powerful enough to do anything to accomplish His purposes. Let's give ourselves to the task before us wholeheartedly and enthusiastically (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 1:8).

Constable: Acts (Outline)

Outline

I. The witness in Jerusalem 1:1-6:7

A. The founding of the church 1:1-2:46

1. The resumptive preface to the book 1:1-5

2. The command to witness 1:6-8

3. The ascension of Jesus 1:9-11

4. Jesus' appointment of a twelfth apostle 1:12-26

5. The birth of the church 2:1-41

6. The early state of the church 2:42-46

B. The expansion of the church in Jerusalem 3:1-6:7

1. External opposition 3:1-4:31

2. Internal compromise 4:32-5:11

3. Intensified external opposition 5:12-42

4. Internal conflict 6:1-7

II. The witness in Judea and Samaria 6:8-9:31

A. The martyrdom of Stephen 6:8-8:1a

1. Stephen's arrest 6:8-7:1

2. Stephen's address 7:2-53

3. Stephen's death 7:54-8:1a

B. The ministry of Philip 8:1b-40

1. The evangelization of Samaria 8:1b-25

2. Philip's ministry to the Ethiopian eunuch 8:26-40

C. The mission of Saul 9:1-31

1. Saul's conversion and calling 9:1-19a

2. Saul's initial conflicts 9:19b-30

3. The church at peace 9:31

III. The witness to the uttermost part of the earth 9:32-28:31

A. The extension of the church to Syrian Antioch 9:32-12:24

1. Peter's ministry in Lydda and Joppa 9:32-43

2. The conversion of Cornelius 10:1-11:18

3. The initiatives of the Antioch church 11:19-30

4. The persecution of the Jerusalem church 12:1-24

B. The extension of the church to Cyprus and Asia Minor 12:25-16:5

1. The divine appointment of Barnabas and Saul 12:25-13:3

2. The mission to Cyprus 13:4-12

3. The mission to Asia Minor 13:13-14:25

4. Paul and Barnabas' return to Antioch of Syria 14:26-28

5. The Jerusalem Council 15:1-35

6. The strengthening of the Gentile churches 15:36-16:5

C. The extension of the church to the Aegean shores 16:6-19:20

1. The call to Macedonia 16:6-10

2. The ministry in Macedonia 16:11-17:15

3. The ministry in Achaia 17:16-18:17

4. The beginning of ministry in Asia 18:18-22

5. The results of ministry in Asia 18:23-19:20

D. The extension of the church to Rome 19:21-28:31

1. Ministry on the way to Jerusalem 19:21-21:16

2. Ministry in Jerusalem 21:17-23:32

3. Ministry in Caesarea 23:33-26:32

4. Ministry on the way to Rome 27:1-28:15

5. Ministry in Rome 28:16-31

Constable: Acts

Acts

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Swindoll, Charles. "Dallas's New Dispensation." Christianity Today, October 25, 1993, pp. 14-15.

Sylva, Dennis D. "The Meaning and Function of Acts 7:46-50." Journal of Biblical Literature 106:2 (1987):261-75.

Tacitus. The Histories. The Loeb Classical Library series. Translated by Clifford H. Moore. London: William Heinemann Ltd., New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1931.

Talbert, Charles H. Literary Patterns, Theological Themes, and the Genre of Luke-Acts. Missoula: Scholars Press, 1974.

_____. Luke and the Gnostics. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1966.

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Tanton, Lanny T. "The Gospel and Water Baptism: A Study of Acts 2:38." Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society 3:1 (Spring 1990):27-52.

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Acts (Book Introduction)

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.

INTRODUCTION.

St. Luke, who had published his gospel, wrote also a second volume, which, from the first ages, hath been called the Acts of the Apostles. Not that we can look upon this work, as a history of what was done by all the apostles, who were dispersed in different nations; but we have here a short view of the first establishment of the Christian Church, a small part of St. Peter's preaching and actions, set down in the first twelve chapters, and a more particular account of St. Paul's apostolical labours, in the following chapters, for about thirty years, till the year 63, and the 4th year of Nero, where these acts end. (Witham) --- St. Luke, after giving us the history of the life, actions, miracles, sufferings, and instructions of Jesus Christ, in his gospel, here give us the life and actions of the apostles, the primitive Christians, and particularly all that relates to St. Paul, by way of an appendix. And what could he give more useful or more important to the Church, whether we consider the noble examples he offers for our imitation, or the excellent lessons for our improvement in spiritual wisdom? He describes in this book the accomplishment of many things that had been predicted by Jesus Christ, the descent of the Holy Ghost, the prodigious change effected in the minds and hearts of the apostles: we behold here the model of Christian perfection, in the lives of the first Christians, and the practice of the most eminent virtues, in the conduct of the blessed apostles; the miraculous operations of the holy Spirit, in the conversion of the Gentiles, and this wonder of wonders, the foundation of the holy Catholic Church, the establishment of the spiritual kingdom of God promised through all the inspired oracles, and the daily addition which the Lord made to his Church, of such as should be saved. (chap. 2. ver. 47. and chap. xv. ver. 5.) --- St. Luke has entitled this work, the Acts of the Apostles, that we may seek therein, says St. John Chrysostom, (tom. 5. hom. xii.) not so much the miracles that the apostles performed, as their good deeds, and eminent virtues. In appearing to give us a simple history, says St. Jerome, this holy physician furnishes us with as many remedies, to cure the maladies of our souls, as he gives us words for our instruction. (Ep. 103.) --- It is thought, that his principal design was to oppose to the false acts of the apostles, that were then in circulation, a true and authentic history of the actions of St. Peter and St. Paul. The Catholic Church has ever held this work in such great esteem, that it has not only superseded every pretended history of the kind, that preceded it, but also every ascititious one that has succeeded it. (St. Augustine, de consen. Evang. lib. iv. chap. 8.) --- It is very probable, that St. Luke wrote his acts at Rome, whilst he was near St. Paul, during the time of his confinement, for he remained with him till his deliverance. There can be no doubt that the work was written in Greek, and in a more pure and polished style, than we find in any other writings of the New Testament. St. Luke generally cites the Septuagint, apparently because he was ignorant of the Hebrew; and because, St. Paul more frequently having to preach to the Gentiles, preferred citing the sacred text in the language known in common, sooner than in Hebrew, which was understood by few. See St. Jerome, in Isai. vi. and again, tradit. Hebr. in Genes. 45. --- The Catholic Church has ever admitted this book into the canon of Scriptures; though many heretics, says St. Augustine, have rejected it. (ep. 253. and lib. de util. cred. 7.) St. John Chrysostom, (hom. i. in Acta) complains, that this book, in his time, was not sufficiently attended to, which he esteems as no less useful than the gospel itself. Erasmus, in his preface to the Acts, says, that he had, in the first instance, some notion of adding this book to St. Luke's gospel, as they are both addressed to the same person, and the Acts are not inconsiderable part of the sacred history; for, as the gospel shews the seed committed to the earth, and sown in the field, the Acts represent it as taking root, shooting up, and producing its fruit. --- The Acts have not uniformly held the same place in the Testament which they hold at present. Sometimes this book was inserted immediately before the book of Revelation, as St. Augustine and others insinuate. At other times, we find it between the epistles of St. Paul and the canonical epistles. Some persons express their surprise, that St. Luke, who was the inseparable companion of St. Paul, has not given the account of St. Paul's martyrdom. St. John Chrysostom (hom. i. in Acta) gives an excellent solution: "the apostles, and other apostolic men, wrote little, but did a great deal." The martyrdom of St. Paul, that took place in the public theatre of Rome itself, and before the eyes of all the Christians of this capital of the world, could not remain unknown, but the voyages and other circumstances of his life, too useful to the Church to be suffered to pass into oblivion, called for the exertions of St. Luke's eloquent pen, which, though admirably accommodated to an historic design, is not wholly free from Hebraisms, and Syriacisms. The Acts of the Apostles include the history of the infant Church, from the day of our Lord's ascension into heaven, till the deliverance of St. Paul, two years after his arrival at Rome, i.e. a space of thirty years, from the year 33, to the year 63 of Jesus Christ, or from the 19th year of Tiberius, till the 9th year of Nero. This golden book paints, as it were, the face of the primeval Christian Church; it places before our eyes the singular providence of God, in founding and protecting his Church, and how the apostles, (in spite of every opposition of the armed power of the whole world, to oppress the gospel,) without any foreign assistance of learning, credit, power, or expectation of any temporal advantages, but relying solely on the power of truth, and the virtue of the holy Spirit, laboured in the propagation of the faith, without intermission, till the power of God, under the ignominy of the cross, became eventually triumphant. See Wm. Whitfield Dakins, LL.D. in his prolegomena. --- It may be divided into four parts. In the first eight chapters, St. Luke gives the origin and progress of the Christian Church among the Jews. From the 9th to the 16th, he shews how widely it was spread among the Gentiles: from the 16th to the 20th, the diverse peregrinations of St. Paul, till his last journey to Jerusalem: and from the 20th to the end, with what patience he underwent innumerable sufferings, trials, and indignities, with what magnanimity he had head against the violent surges of persecution, and his astonishing equanimity under every possible calamity. --- This account, which is not continued beyond his two years' imprisonment in Rome, contains a general sketch of the history of the Church during the epoch it describes of thirty years. The leading facts therein contained are, the choice of Matthias to be an apostles, in the room of Judas; the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost; the preaching, miracles, and sufferings of the apostles at Jerusalem; the conversion of St. Paul; the call of Cornelius, the first Gentile convert; the persecution of the Christians by Herod Agrippa; the preaching of Paul and Barnabas to the Gentiles, by the express command of the Holy Ghost; the decree made at Jerusalem, declaring that circumcision, and a conformity to other Jewish rites and ceremonies were not necessary in Gentile converts; the miraculous cures performed by the handkerchiefs and aprons which had only touched the body of St. Paul; whilst the latter part of the book is exclusively confined to the history of St. Paul, of whom, as we have already seen, St. Luke was the constant companion for several years. --- The place of its publication is doubtful. A learned prelate advances, that the probability appears to be in favour of Greece, though some contend for Alexandria, in Egypt. This latter opinion rests upon the subscriptions at the end of some Greek manuscripts, and of the copies of the Syriac version; but the best critics think, that these subscriptions, which are also affixed to other books of the New Testament, deserve but little weight; and in this case they are not supported by any ancient authority. But the sentiment of this learned prelate, does not bias the opinion we gave at the beginning, and which we find confirmed by Alban Butler, in his life of St. Luke, vol. x. p. 432. where he says, "that St. Luke attended St. Paul at Rome, whither he was sent prisoner from Jerusalem in 61. The apostle remained there two years in chains; but was permitted to live in a house which he hired, though under the custody of a constant guard; and there he preached to those who daily resorted to hear him. From ancient writings and monuments belonging to the Church of St. Mary in via lata, which is an ancient title of a Cardinal Deacon, Boronius, in his Annals ad. an. 55. and Arringhi, in his Roma Subterranea, lib. iii, chap. 41. tell us, that this Church was built upon the spot where St. Paul then lodged, and where St. Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles."

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Gill: Acts (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO ACTS

This book, in some copies, is called, "The Acts of the holy Apostles". It contains an history of the ministry and miracles of the apostles of Christ, and is a sort of a journal of their actions, from whence it takes its name. It begins at the ascension of Christ, and reaches to the imprisonment of the Apostle Paul at Rome; and is a history of upwards of thirty years: it gives an account of the first Gospel church at Jerusalem, and of the progress of the Gospel there, and in Judea, by the means of all the apostles, and particularly Peter, the minister of the circumcision, and who also first opened the door of faith to the Gentiles: it shows how the Gospel went forth from Jerusalem, and was spread in the Gentile world, especially by the Apostle Paul, whose companion Luke was, that was the writer of this book; for that it was written by him is very evident from the beginning of it, it being dedicated to the same person his Gospel is, and of which he makes mention; and in the Complutensian edition the book is called, "The Acts of the Apostles of Saint Luke the Evangelist"; and so the title of it in the Syriac version is, "the Book of the Acts: that is, the history of the blessed apostles, which my Lord Luke the Evangelist collected for the saints". It was by him written in the Greek language; and we are told ^a, that there was a version of it into the Hebrew language, and which was laid up in the library of the Jews at Tiberias; and is cited by R. Azarias ^b under the name of twlweph, "the Acts": of the authority of this book there has been no doubt, among the ancients, only Cerinthus the heretic endeavoured to discredit it; and it was not received by another sort of heretics called Severiani, from Severus, a disciple of Tatian ^c. It is a most excellent and useful work, showing the first planting of Christianity, and of Christian churches, both among the Jews and Gentiles; the spread and progress of the Gospel in several parts of the world; what sufferings the apostles endured for the sake of it; and with what patience and courage they bore them; and what success attended them; and is a standing proof and confirmation of the Christian religion.

College: Acts (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION

As early as the second century the title "The Acts of the Apostles" was given to this document. Before that time the work probably circulated with its companion volume, "The Gospel of Luke." When the other three Gospels were collected and the New Testament was formed, The Gospel of Luke and The Acts of the Apostles were separated. Both were included in the New Testament as books of history.

AUTHORSHIP

Like the Third Gospel, the Book of Acts does not identify its author. Evidence must be gathered, therefore, from both within the document itself and from references to the document in early church history.

The strongest evidence within the Book of Acts is its Prologue (1:1-3). When the Prologue of Acts is compared with the Prologue of the Third Gospel (1:1-4), the similarities are striking. Both books mention the name Theophilus as the recipient. Acts refers to "the former book," implying that the Third Gospel is that book. Acts also intends to begin the story at the point that the Third Gospel ends it-the ascension of Christ. The style of Greek used in both cases is polished and formal. The implication that both works were written by the same author is unavoidable.

In addition, the passages in Acts which use the pronoun "we" imply an eyewitness account. Appearing toward the end of Acts, these passages give the impression that whoever was writing the book was also present when some of the recorded events took place. It seems that the author makes himself a companion of Paul at these points in the narrative (Acts 16:10-17; 20:5-21:18; 27:1-28:16). At other points in the record the author was content to use "they" in describing events.

Inevitably, then, the question of authorship focuses on Paul's traveling companions. Because some of the "we" sections overlap with Paul's years in prison at both Caesarea and Rome, the companions who were with him at that time become prime candidates. When Paul wrote the letters to Philemon and to the Colossians from prison, Luke was one of the companions Paul mentioned (Phlm 23-24; Col 4:10-17).

Another line of reasoning was proposed by W.K. Hobart in 1882. He analyzed the vocabulary of Acts and concluded that the language indicated that the author of Acts was a physician. This proposal did not survive the scrutiny of scholarship for long. By 1920 H.J. Cadbury offered a study which showed that much of the language which Hobart considered "technical" medical terminology was in use by such nonmedical writers as Josephus, Plutarch, and Lucian. The most that can be said for this evidence today is that the terminology of Acts is compatible with authorship by a person with a medical background.

These pieces of evidence are consistent with the external evidence. Though references to The Acts of the Apostles do not appear as early in the church fathers as do references to other books of the New Testament, they do appear nonetheless. Diognetus (A.D. 130) and The Didache (A.D. 140) allude to the work, as does The Epistle of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons (A.D. 177), according to Eusebius. The latter source quotes the words of Stephen's prayer in which he asks that his accusers not have their sin charged against them ( Ecclesiastical History V.2). Similarly, Irenaeus (A.D. 180), Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 190), Tertullian (A.D. 200), and Eusebius (A.D. 325) quote from Acts without naming their source.

In addition to this evidence, many early church writers refer to the Third Gospel as written by Luke. This is important since the internal evidence makes the author of the Third Gospel the same as the author of Acts. Such testimony comes from the Muratorian Canon (A.D. 170). Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Jerome, on the other hand, speak directly of Acts as written by Luke.

Much attention has also been given to the sources used by Luke in writing Acts. Harnack was the primary scholar who promoted the position that underlying Acts are several sources. He argued that one could detect first an "Antioch" source, then a second source describing Paul's conversion, and finally a third source which contained the "Jerusalem Caesarean" tradition. This third source, he said, was actually two sources blended together, one more reliable than the other.

Harnack's proposals ran into trouble on a couple of counts. His approach seemed dominated by a rationalism which excised the miraculous from the text. In addition his theories about the parallels between the two "Jerusalem Caesarean" sources did not hold up under the scrutiny of Joachim Jeremias and others.

Another proposal regarding written sources for Acts came from C.C. Torrey. He argued that an Aramaic source was used in the composition of Acts 1-15, but absent from Acts 16-28. This argument was made on the basis of Semitisms which he found in these earlier chapters. Later scholars argued that these terms and phrases are best explained as coming from the Septuagint or the synagogue.

Also among the possible sources for Acts are oral traditions. C.J. Hemer lists dozens of passages which he thinks are best explained as deriving from reports passed along verbally to Luke.

In recent years scholars have been far more interested in Luke as a writer and theologian than as a compiler of sources. In some cases studies have concentrated on comparing Luke's style with other ancient writers.

With the work of Hans Conzelmann in 1953 the emphasis on Luke's theology as reflected in Acts became pronounced. This perspective continues to dominate scholarly discussions today. One problem with this perspective is that it frequently ignores or denies the value of Acts as a historical record of events in the early church.

DATE OF WRITING

Acts 1:1 indicates that Luke wanted Acts to serve as the second volume of a two-volume work. For this reason Acts must be dated at the same time or later than the Gospel of Luke. The earliest dates that scholars assign to Luke are in the late 50s. Festus had already ascended to power when Acts was written, an event which is dated in A.D. 60. These boundaries fix the earliest date for Acts.

The real question is how late can Acts be dated. Some radical Bible critics have dated Acts as late as A.D. 115-130. This date reduces the chances that Luke was the author. Many scholars fix the date between A.D. 70-80. The reasons often given for this date have to do with the subject matter of Luke's Gospel, especially Luke 21:5-38. In these verses Jesus speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem. His description is so vivid that many scholars believe Luke must have recorded it after the event had occurred in A.D. 70.

One question which must arise in discussing the date of Acts has to do with the last verses of the Book. Acts closes with a description of the Apostle Paul under house-arrest in Rome. He was taken there to stand trial before Caesar. The account ends by noting that he remained there "two whole years," preaching the gospel as he waited for his accusers to arrive. Tradition indicates that he was martyred in Rome during the reign of Nero (A.D. 54-68). The question to be answered is whether Paul was martyred during this Roman imprisonment. If so, why didn't Luke record Paul's death in Acts? Is the absence of any word on Paul's death significant? Was Luke avoiding the issue in order to preserve his focus on the victorious progress of the church? If so, maybe Acts was meant to end at this point in the story. This would allow for Acts to be written later than the year of Paul's death. The date of writing could then be fixed somewhere between A.D. 70-80.

On the other hand, it may be that Luke does not record Paul's death because it had not occurred when he wrote Acts, meaning that the dating of Acts would be earlier. If Luke finished Acts before Paul's death occurred, the work must be dated somewhere in the early or mid 60s. Church tradition (especially Jerome and Eusebius) dates Paul's martyrdom in Rome around A.D. 67-68. Many scholars believe, however, that Paul was released from his house-arrest described in Acts 28. They argue that he resumed his missionary travels until the day he was once again arrested and taken to Rome. They also contend that the Pastoral letters (1, 2 Timothy and Titus) were written before this second imprisonment. If this is true, then Acts may have been written at the end of Paul's first imprisonment, or about A.D. 63.

THEME OF ACTS

Acts opens with a statement from Jesus which seems to set the tone for the entire work. Jesus promises the Apostles that they will receive power in the form of the Holy Spirit (see 1:8). He then tells them that they will be his "witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (NIV). This theme of being a witness for the gospel is carried throughout the Book of Acts. Consider the following verses in Acts:

1:22 - the replacement for Judas had to be a witness of Christ's resurrection

2:32 - Peter's sermon on Pentecost emphasized that the apostles were witnesses of the resurrection

3:15 - after healing the beggar Peter proclaimed the resurrected Christ and that the apostles were witnesses

4:20 - the apostles told the Jewish authorities they could not help proclaiming what they had seen and heard

5:32 - when the apostles were again persecuted they said they must obey God because they were witnesses along with the Holy Spirit

8:25 - Peter and John went to Samaria where they "testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord"

10:39 - Peter proclaimed to Cornelius that he was a witness to the ministry of Jesus

13:31 - Paul told the crowd in Pisidian Antioch that Jesus' followers had witnessed Christ's resurrection

22:15 - Ananias went to Paul with the message that Paul would be a witness to all men of what he had seen and heard

23:11 - God appeared to Paul encouraging him that he would testify in Rome concerning the Lord These references do not include the numerous passages in which individuals are found witnessing falsely (e.g., 6:13; 7:58; 24:1; 25:7).

As the witnesses for Christ carried the gospel toward the far reaches of the world, the church advanced everywhere. This theme is also important in Acts. The expansion of the church is presented in a historical context. Luke even dates some of the events in his record by using key Roman names and events as reference points (see 12:1, 19; 18:12; 23:24; 24:24; 25:1, 23).

As Acts 1:8 indicates, Luke shows how the gospel prevailed wherever it was proclaimed. In Jerusalem, huge numbers were baptized on the Day of Pentecost. Later, thousands were added (4:4), even though the believers were being persecuted by the Jewish authorities. Such incidents as the striking down of Ananias and Sapphira and the dissension over the ministry to Hellenistic widows did not slow down the rapid increase of converts to the gospel (5:14; 6:1,7).

Beyond the walls of Jerusalem, the gospel also found fertile ground for growth. After the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, the church in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced peace and saw its numbers increasing (9:31). Peter's work in Lydda bore rich fruit (9:35) and his raising of Tabitha in Joppa brought many to believe in the Lord (9:42).

The ever-widening influence of the gospel was felt beyond Judea and Samaria as well. Antioch saw increasing numbers of believers, especially among the Gentile populations (11:21,24). The cities of southern Galatia felt the gospel's impact as Paul and Barnabas evangelized in places like Lystra, Iconium, and Derbe (see 14:1,21). Later, Paul and Silas revisited these cities and more growth came (see 16:5). On this same missionary journey Paul and Silas even crossed into Macedonia where the results were the same (see 17:12). The gospel continued to conquer hearts and minds for Christ with each passing day.

Through all of Luke's record, the role of the Holy Spirit is highlighted. From the Day of Pentecost when he was poured out (see 2:14ff), the Spirit was essential to God's purposes for the proclamation of the gospel. When the men were chosen to administer the benevolence to widows, Stephen was appointed because he was a man full of "faith and of the Holy Spirit" (see 6:5). In Samaria the new converts received a visit from the apostles who placed their hands on them, granting them the power of the Holy Spirit (see 8:17). This was a power which Simon the Sorcerer wanted to buy (see 8:18). Philip heard from the Spirit that he was to go to the chariot of the Ethiopian (see 8:29). While Peter was preaching to Cornelius, the Holy Spirit came on the listeners, interrupting Peter's address (see 10:44). Barnabas and Saul were first selected as missionaries at Antioch when the Spirit spoke to the church (see 13:2). Their travels were guided by the Holy Spirit (see 16:7) and in Ephesus Paul rebaptized believers who had not received the Spirit (see 19:1-7). When Paul addressed the Ephesian elders, he reminded them that they had become leaders because of the Spirit's ministry (see 21:28).

While Acts emphasizes that the apostles received the power of the Spirit (1:8), it also emphasizes how they used this power. They faithfully bore witness for Christ. Acts underscores the work of the apostles, or at least some of the apostles. Roughly speaking, Acts 1-12 focuses on the work of the Apostle Peter. His role in the choosing of a successor for Judas (see 1:15ff) and the preaching on the Day of Pentecost (see 2:14ff) open the book. Almost every chapter which follows contains some report on the work of Peter. He and John heal the lame man (see 3:1-10), and then stand before the Sanhedrin (see 4:1-22). He confronts Ananias and Sapphira (see 5:1-11) and Simon the Sorcerer (see 8:9-25). He experiences the vision which results in the preaching to Cornelius and the conversion of his family (see 10:9-48). He then defends his actions before the church leaders in Jerusalem (see 11:1-18). Finally, he miraculously escapes imprisonment by Herod (see 12:1-19).

With Acts 13 the spotlight shifts to the Apostle Paul. Paul and Barnabas are sent from Antioch as missionaries (see 13:2). Their report at the Jerusalem conference is crucial (see 15:12), and though they cannot agree about John Mark, a second missionary journey is undertaken by Paul and Silas (see 15:40). The second journey is followed immediately by a third (see 18:23), and then comes the account of Paul's tragic visit to Jerusalem and his arrest in the temple (see 21:30). The rest of the book describes the series of hearings Paul endures and his transport to Caesarea and on to Rome. Paul's ministry as a Roman prisoner is the focus of the final comment in Acts. For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ (28:30-31).

THE PURPOSE OF ACTS

For years scholars have puzzled over why Luke produced Acts. Comparing the opening of Acts with that of Luke's Gospel shows that a particular disciple named Theophilus was central to Luke's motives. Was he a new convert? Was he a wealthy patron? Was he an influential Christian? These questions have no obvious answer.

Luke implies in the opening of the gospel that he had carefully researched his material (see Luke 1:1-4). He was concerned to provide a proper sequence of events. He shows awareness of other accounts which have been written concerning Jesus.

One purpose often noted is a historical one. Luke wanted to provide a historical record of the events of Jesus' life and the progress of the first-century church. Though some scholars argue that his reasons had to do with his concerns about the return of Christ, it is possible that he saw the end of the age of the apostles coming. Perhaps Luke wanted a written record of the apostles' work in carrying on the ministry of Jesus.

The immediate purpose of Luke may be indicated in his words in the opening of the gospel. He tells Theophilus that he writes so that this believer will "know the certainty of the things" he had been taught (1:4). This comment may indicate that the two-volume work was meant for Christian instruction.

The apologetic value of Acts has often been noted. Some have wondered if Luke's work was intended to serve as a defense-brief for the Apostle Paul as he stood before Caesar. The problem with this suggestion is that Luke includes so much material that has nothing to do with Paul's defense. Why would he include the birth, ministry, death, and resurrection of the Lord? Why would he focus on the Apostle Peter in the early chapters of Acts? Acts would be very tedious reading if the main purpose were a defense of Paul.

Nevertheless, it is true that much of Acts emphasizes that the believers posed no threat to the Roman empire. When the apostles are summoned before the Jerusalem authorities, their only crime is healing the lame man (see 3:1ff). When Stephen is martyred, his only fault is his zeal for the faith (see 6:8ff). Peter's imprisonment at the hands of Herod Agrippa I is due to no fault of the Apostle (see 12:1ff). Paul's hearing before Gallio is a matter of questions about the Jewish Law (see 18:12-16). The series of trials experienced by Paul repeatedly emphasizes his innocence (see 21:29; 23:29; 24:27; 25:19; 26:31). The cumulative effect of these statements establishes that the church was never any real threat to Caesar.

Beyond these purposes, Acts has a theological purpose. Luke intends to show how the apostles began the work Jesus initiated on the earth. Acts 1:1 describes Luke's Gospel as an account of "all that Jesus began to do and to teach." Acts intends to describe how the apostles continued this work of Jesus. The Gospel begins in Jerusalem and fans out over the whole Roman world to the Imperial City itself. The salvation of the Lord is, in Paul's language, "first for the Jew, then for the Gentile" (Rom. 1:16). Acts records how God used human means to send out the divine message of salvation in Christ.

THE HISTORICITY OF ACTS

Concerning the historical accuracy of the Book of Acts modern scholarship appears to be at an impasse. Questions have been raised for years about Luke's account of events. Many of the questions have been aimed at the portrait of Paul which is presented in Acts. Since the days of F.C. Baur and the Tübingen school, the issue of how Paul is presented in Acts as compared with the Pauline letters has been prominent among scholars who study Acts. The result has been a series of scholars who cast doubts upon the historical accuracy of Acts.

Drawing much of this attention has been the relationship between Acts and Galatians. Especially important to scholars are such topics as the number of visits Paul made to Jerusalem, the description of the debate about circumcision, the matter of Paul's relationship to the other apostles, the position of Paul regarding the "apostolic decrees" (see 15:19-20), and other matters relating to Paul's association with the Jerusalem leaders. In addition questions have been raised about Paul's portrait in Acts as an apostle who would carry the decrees from church to church when he says nothing of them in his letters to some of the same churches. Also a problem is the fact that Acts is silent with regard to any of these letters Paul was addressing to the churches, even though he wrote during the very time covered in Acts. Beyond this strange silence is the other important event in Paul's ministry about which Acts is so quiet-the collection for the believers in Judea (see 1 Cor 16:1-4; Rom 15:23-33).

These differences have caused some scholars to speak of the "Lucan Paul" in contrast to the "Paul of the epistles." Another scholar explains the difference (in the tradition of Baur) by referring to the "Paulinism of Acts." Luke is viewed not as a historian recording events in the ministry of Paul, but as a theologian who carefully constructs a historical explanation of Paul even if it is at odds with historical reality. The Pauline speeches of Acts, in particular, are viewed as fabrications of Luke's theological genius, motivated by the need to present Paul in terms which agree with his own theological perspective.

For many scholars, then, Acts is regarded as so preoccupied with theological concerns as to render it suspect as a historical report of events in the life of the first-century church. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries this skepticism was met with a wave of scholars who resisted such a pessimistic assessment of the historicity of Acts. Such scholars as James Smith, Henry Alford, J.B. Lightfoot, F.W. Farrar, R.B. Rackham, William Ramsay, Theodor Zahn, Adolf Harnack, Arthur McGiffert, C.C. Torrey, and H.J. Cadbury found more reasons for confidence in the historical value of Acts. The impact of Martin Dibelius, however, was decisive. His critical studies of Acts produced a significant trend toward the conclusion that Acts should be understood in terms of descriptive theology rather than history. Hans Conzelmann and Ernst Haenchen were instrumental in systematically applying the approach of Dibelius to the text of Acts. Thus a powerful stream of thought continues to influence scholars who study Acts for the purpose of clarifying the theological tendencies of early church teaching, while dismissing the historical contribution of the work.

These trends have been called into question in recent years by such scholars as F.F. Bruce, I.H. Marshall, Martin Hengel, and C.J. Hemer. But no consensus among scholars has been reached. To some extent, then, the study of Acts advances on two entirely different (if not always unrelated) tracks. Work goes on in the effort to understand the theological tendencies which shape Luke's production of the Book of Acts. At the same time other scholars look to historical and archaeological studies as potential sources for additional help in comprehending the contribution Acts makes to the historical picture of the emerging church of the first century.

Whenever scholars from the Restoration Movement have engaged in major studies of Acts, the issue of the historicity of the Book has been dominant. Alexander Campbell's Acts of the Apostles is largely a grammatical analysis of the text of Acts, but the historicity of Luke's work is assumed throughout. J.W. McGarvey's New Commentary on Acts of Apostles not only proceeds on the presupposition that Acts can be trusted as a historical representation of the events it records, but argues the point against such "infidel" scholars as Baur and Zeller. Another commentary was produced in 1896, this time by David Lipscomb. His work makes theology the primary focus, but once again the issue of the historical credibility of Acts is central.

More recent volumes have appeared which offer the same balance. H. Leo Boles produced his commentary in 1941, a study which follows in the same tradition. Don DeWelt's commentary appeared in 1958, and it is stamped with a devotional and didactic quality that makes the message of Acts practical for the believer, yet it never compromises on the assumption that Acts is reliable as a historical account. Finally, the work of Gareth Reese was pivotal. His New Testament History: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Acts is from the very start a work which argues the case for the historicity of Acts. With full awareness of the challenges from the Bible critics, Reese builds his case for the credibility of Luke's account of these events.

In this commentary our approach is to appreciate the theological motivations of Luke's work while not rejecting this record as the most valuable source we have regarding the developing church. Our confidence does not rest entirely on the fact that Luke's abilities as a historian have proven to be convincing. We also believe in the promise of the Lord to direct his servant into all truth.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Commentaries:

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Marshall, I.H. The Acts of the Apostles , Tyndale Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980.

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Polhill, John. Acts . The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman, 1992.

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Williams, C.S.C. A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles . Harper's New Testament Commentaries. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1988.

Special Studies:

Arrington, French. New Testament Exegesis: Examples . Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1977.

Barrett, C.K. The New Testament Background: Selected Documents . New York: Harper & Row, 1961.

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Beitzel, Barry. The Moody Atlas of Bible Lands . Chicago: Moody, 1985.

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Conzelmann, Hans. The Theology of St. Luke , trans. G. Buswell. New York: Harper & Row, 1960.

Cottrell, Jack. Baptism: A Biblical Study . Joplin, MO: College Press, 1989.

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Dibelius, Martin. "The Acts of the Apostles in the Setting of the History of Early Christian Literature," in Studies in the Acts of the Apostles , trans. M. Ling. London: SCM, 1956.

. "Paul on the Areopagus," Ibid.

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Dupont, Jacques. The Salvation of the Gentiles: Essays on the Acts of the Apostles . New York: Paulist, 1967.

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Esler, Philip. Community and Gospel in Luke-Acts: The Social and Political Motivations of Lucan Theology . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.

Filson, Floyd. "The Journey Motif in Luke-Acts," in Apostolic History and the Gospel , ed. W.W. Gasque and Ralph Martin. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970.

Fitzmyer, Joseph. Essays on the Semitic Background of the New Testament . London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1971.

Flew, R.N. Jesus and His Church: A Study of the Idea of the Ecclesia in the New Testament . London: Epworth, 1943.

Gärtner, Bertil. The Areopagus Speech and Natural Revelation . Uppsala: Gleerup, 1955.

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Gaston, Lloyd. No Stone on Another: Studies in the Significance of the Fall of Jerusalem in the Synoptic Gospels . Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1970.

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Hamey, L.A. and J.A. The Roman Engineers . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.

Harnack, Adolf. Luke the Physician , trans. J.R. Wilkinson. New York: Putnam's, 1907.

Harris, J.R. Testimonies , I, II. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1916.

Hemer, C.J. The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History , ed. Conrad Gempf. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1990.

Hengel, Martin. Between Jesus and Paul , trans. John Bowden. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983.

. Judaism and Hellenism: Studies in Their Encounter in Palestine during the Early Hellenistic Period , trans. John Bowden. 2 Vols. in One. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1981.

Hobart, W.K. The Medical Language of St. Luke . London: Longmans Green, 1882.

Horsley, Richard. Bandits, Prophets, and Messiahs: Popular Movements in the Time of Jesus . New York: Harper and Row, 1985.

Horton, Jr., Fred. "Reflections on the Semitisms of Luke-Acts," in Perspectives on Luke-Acts , ed. Charles Talbert. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1978.

Hubbard, Benjamin. "The Role of Commissioning Accounts in Acts," in Perspectives on Luke-Acts , ed. Charles Talbert. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1978.

Hurd, John. The Origin of 1 Corinthians . London: SPCK, 1965.

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. "The Christology of Acts," in Studies in Luke-Acts , ed. Leander Keck, J.L. Martyn. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980.

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. St. Paul the Traveller and Roman Citizen . Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978.

Richard, Earl. Acts 6:1-8:4: The Author's Method of Composition. Missoula: Scholars Press, 1978.

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Scharlemann, Martin. Stephen: A Singular Saint . Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1968.

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Spiro, Abram. "Stephen's Samaritan Backgound," in Johannes Munck, The Acts of the Apostles , Anchor Bible. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1967.

Stagg, Frank. The Book of Acts: The Early Struggle for an Unhindered Gospel . Nashville: Broadman, 1955.

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Swidler, Leonard. Biblical Affirmations of Woman . Philadelphia: Westminster, 1979.

Talbert, Charles. Literary Patterns, Theological Themes and the Genre of Luke-Acts . Missoula: Scholars Press, 1974.

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van Unnik, W.C. "Luke-Acts, A Storm Center in Contemporary Scholarship," in Studies in Luke-Acts , ed. Leander Keck and J.L. Martyn. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980.

. "Tarsus or Jerusalem: The City of Paul's Youth," trans. G. Ogg, in Sparsa Collecta . Part 1. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1973.

Veltman, Fred. "The Defense Speeches of Paul in Acts," in Perspectives on Luke-Acts , ed. Charles Talbert. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1978.

Via, E.J. "An Interpretation of Acts 7:35-37 from the Perspective of Major Themes in Luke-Acts," in Society of Biblical Literature 1978 Seminar Papters , ed. Paul Achtemeier. Missoula: Scholars Press, 1978.

Vielhauer, Philipp. "On the 'Paulinism' of Acts," in Studies in Luke-Acts , ed. Leander Keck, J.L. Martyn. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980.

Wilson, Stephen. "Law and Judaism in Acts," in SBL Seminar Papers 1980, ed. Paul Achtemeier. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1980.

. The Gentiles and the Gentile Mission in Luke-Acts . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973.

Periodicals:

Acworth, Angus. "Where Was St. Paul Shipwrecked? A Re-examination of the Evidence." JTS 24 (1973): 190-193.

Bamberger, Bernard. "The Sadducees and the Belief in Angels." JBL 82 (1963): 433-435.

Best, Ernest. "Acts XIII.1-3." JTS 11 (1960): 344-348.

Blevins, William. "The Early Church: Acts 1-5." RevEx 71 (1974): 463-474.

Bowker, J.W. "Speeches in Acts." NTS 14 (1968): 96-111.

Bruce, F.F. "Chronological Questions in the Acts of the Apostles." BJRL 68 (1986): 273-295.

Bull, Robert. "Caesarea Maritima: The Search for Herod's City." BAR 8 (1982): 24-41.

Cadbury, H.J. "Erastus of Corinth." JBL 50 (1930): 42-58.

. "Lexical Notes on Luke-Acts: V. Luke and the Horse-Doctors." JBL 52 (1933): 55-65.

Catchpole, David. "Paul, James and the Apostolic Decree." NTS 23 (1977): 428-444.

Cosgrove, Charles. "The Divine dei in Luke-Acts." NovT 26 (1984): 168-190.

Clark, David. "What Went Overboard First?" BTr 26 (1975): 144-146.

Culpepper, R.A. "Paul's Mission to the Gentile World." RevEx 71 (1974): 487-497.

Daube, David. "On Acts 23: Sadducees and Angels." JBL 109 (1990): 493-497.

Davis, J.C. "Another Look at the Relationship between Baptism and Forgiveness of Sins in Acts 2:38." RestQ 24 (1981): 80-88.

Downing, F.G. "Common Ground with Paganism in Luke and Josephus." NTS 28 (1982): 546-559.

Duncan, G.S. "Paul's Ministry in Asia - The Last Phase." NTS 3 (1957): 211-218.

Filson, Floyd. "The Christian Teacher in the First Century." JBL 60 (1941): 317-328.

Fitzgerald, Michael. "The Ship of Saint Paul: Comparative Archaeology." BA 53 (1990): 31-39.

Fitzmyer, Joseph. "The Ascension of Christ and Pentecost." TS 45 (1984): 409-440.

Gilchrist, J.M. "On What Charge Was St. Paul Brought to Rome?" ExpT 78 (1967): 264-266.

Goldsmith, Dale. "Acts 13:33-37: A Pesher on II Samuel 7." JBL 87 (1968): 321-324.

Goodspeed, E.J. "Gaius Titius Justus." JBL 69 (1950): 382-383.

Gordon, Alasdair. "The Fate of Judas according to Acts 1:18." EQ 43 (1971): 97-100.

Greenhut, Zvi. "Burial Cave of the Caiaphas Family." BAR 18 (1992): 29-36.

Haldane, Douglas. "Anchors of Antiquity." BA 53 (1990): 19-24.

Hemer, C.J. "First Person Narrative in Acts 27-28." TB 36 (1985): 97-98.

Hirschfield, Nicolle. "The Ship of St. Paul - Part I: Historical Background." BA 53 (1990): 19-24.

Hohlfelder, Robert. "Caesarea beneath the Sea." BAR 8 (1982): 42-47.

Horsley, G.H.R. "The Inscriptions of Ephesos and the New Testament." NovT 34 (1992): 105-168.

Kepple, Robert. "The Hope of Israel, The Resurrection of the Dead, and Jesus: A Study of Their Relationship in Acts with Particular Regard to the Understanding of Paul's Trial Defense." JETS 20 (1977): 231-241.

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Kilpatrick, G.D. "Acts XXIII.23 DEXIOLABOI ." NTS 14 (1963): 393-394.

Kodell, Jerome. "'The Word of God grew': The Ecclesial Tendency of logos in Acts 1,7; 12,24; 19,20." Biblica 55 (1974): 505-519.

Ladouceur, David. "Hellenistic Preconceptions of Shipwreck and Pollution as a Context for Acts 27-28." HTR 73 (1980): 435-449.

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Malherbe, Abraham. "Gentle as Nurse." NovT 12 (1970): 203-217.

Mare, Harold. "Acts 7: Jewish or Samaritan?" WThJ 34 (1971): 1-21.

Mastin, B.A. "Scaeva the Chief Priest." JTS 27 (1976): 405-412.

Meinardus, Otto. "St. Paul Shipwrecked in Dalmatia." BA 39 (1976): 145-147.

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Scott, J.J. "Stephen's Speech: A Possible Model for Luke's Historical Method?" JETS 17 (1974): 91-97.

. "The Cornelius Incident in the Light of Its Jewish Setting." JETS 34 (1991): 475-484.

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Wall, Robert. "Successors to 'the Twelve' according to Acts 12:1-17." CBQ 53 (1991): 628-643.

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Workman, W.P. "A New Date Indication in Acts." ExpT 11 (1900): 316-317.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

ABBREVIATIONS

AUSS . . . Andrews University Seminary Studies

BA . . . Biblical Archaeology

BAR . . . Biblical Archaeology Review

BiblThecSac . . . Bibliotheca Sacra

BJRL . . . Bulletin of the John Rylands Library

BTr . . . Bible Translator

ChrSt . . . Christian Standard

ed. . . . edited by

EQ . . . Evangelical Quarterly

ExpT . . . Expository Times

HTR . . . Harvard Theological Review

JBL . . . Journal of Biblical Literature

JSNT . . . Journal of Studies in the New Testament

JETS . . . Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

JTS . . . Journal of Theological Studies

n. . . . note

NovT . . . Novum Testamentum

RevEx . . . Review and Expositor

TB . . . Tyndale Bulletin

TDNT . . . Theological Dictionary of the New Testament

TS . . . Theological Studies

trans . . . translated by

WThJ . . . Westminster Theological Journal

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

College: Acts (Outline)

OUTLINE

I. THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM - 1:1-8:1a

A. INTRODUCTION OF THE BOOK - 1:1-3

B. THE COMMISSIONING OF THE APOSTLES - 1:4-8

C. THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST - 1:9-11

D. WAITING FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT - 1:12-14

E. THE REPLACEMENT OF JUDAS ISCARIOT - 1:15-26

F. THE DAY OF PENTECOST - 2:1-47

1. The Apostles Baptized with the Holy Spirit - 2:1-4

2. The Amazement of the Crowd - 2:5-13

3. The Sermon of Peter - 2:14-36

a. The Promise of Joel - 2:14-21

b. The Proclamation of Jesus' Resurrection - 2:22-28

c. Jesus the Lord and Messiah - 2:29-36

4. The Call to Repentance - 2:37-40

5. The First Church - 2:41-47

G. THE HEALING OF THE LAME MAN AND ITS CONSEQUENCES - 3:1-4:31

1. A Cripple Cured - 3:1-10

2. Peter's Address in Solomon's Colonnade - 3:11-26

a. The Power of Jesus' Name - 3:11-16

b. The Call to Repentance - 3:17-21

c. The Witness of the Prophets - 3:22-26

3. The Arrest of Peter and John - 4:1-4

4. Peter and John before the Sanhedrin - 4:5-12

5. The Debate in the Sanhedrin - 4:13-17

6. The Prohibition against Preaching Christ - 4:18-22

7. The Release of Peter and John - 4:23-31

a. Their Reunion with the Twelve - 4:23

b. Their Prayer for Boldness - 4:24-30

c. Their Power from the Holy Spirit - 4:31

H. THE UNITY AND GENEROSITY OF THE EARLY CHURCH - 4:32-5:16

1. The Sharing of Material Possessions by Believers - 4:32-35

2. The Example of Barnabas - 4:36-37

3. The Deceit of Ananias and Sapphira - 5:1-11

4. The Signs and Wonders from the Apostles - 5:12-16

I. THE ARREST OF THE APOSTLES - 5:17-42

1. The Imprisonment of the Apostles - 5:17-26

2. The Apostles before the Sanhedrin - 5:27-40

3. The Continued Witness of the Apostles - 5:41-42

J. THE CHOOSING OF THE SEVEN DEACONS - 6:1-7

K. THE ARREST, TRIAL, AND STONING OF STEPHEN - 6:8-8:1a

1. False Accusations Against Him - 6:8-15

2. Stephen's Defense - 7:1-53

a. The Old Testament Patriarchs - 7:1-8

b. Israel in Egypt - 7:9-19

c. Early Days of Moses - 7:20-29

d. The Call of Moses - 7:30-34

e. The Wilderness Wanderings - 7:35-43

f. The Tabernacle and the Temple - 7:44-50

g. The Personal Application - 7:51-53

h. The Final Witness of Stephen - 7:54-56

i. The Death of Stephen - 7:57-60

j. The Consent of Saul - 8:1a

II. THE CHURCH IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA - 8:1b-12:25

A. PERSECUTION AND DISPERSION OF THE CHURCH - 8:1b-3

B. MINISTRY OF PHILIP - 8:4-40

1. Philip in Samaria - 8:4-8

2. The Conversion of Simon Magus - 8:9-13

3. The Visit of Peter and John to Samaria - 8:14-17

4. Peter's Condemnation of Simon's Offer to Pay for the Holy Spirit - 8:18-24

5. The Return of the Apostles to Jerusalem - 8:25

6. Philip and the Conversion of the Ethiopian - 8:26-40

C. THE CONVERSION OF SAUL OF TARSUS - 9:1-31

1. The Expedition of Saul to Damascus - 9:1-2

2. The Light and the Voice from Heaven - 9:3-7

3. The Entrance of Saul to Damascus - 9:8-9

4. The Commissioning of Ananias to Visit Saul - 9:10-16

5. The Visit from Ananias - 9:17-19a

6. The Preaching of Saul in Damascus - 9:19b-22

7. The Escape of Saul from Damascus - 9:23-25

8. The Ministry of Saul in Jerusalem and His Departure for Tarsus - 9:26-30

D. PEACE AND PROSPERITY FOR THE CHURCH - 9:31

E. PETER'S MINISTRY IN WESTERN JUDEA - 9:32-43

1. The Ministry at Lydda: Healing of Aeneas - 9:32-35

2. The Ministry at Joppa: The Raising of Dorcas - 9:36-43

F. THE CONVERSION OF THE FIRST GENTILES - 10:1-11:18

1. The Ministry of Peter at Caesarea - 10:1-48

a. The Vision Seen by Cornelius - 10:1-8

b. The Vision Seen by Peter - 10:9-16

c. The Arrival at Joppa of Servants Sent by Cornelius - 10:17-23a

d. The Visit of Peter to the House of Cornelius - 10:23b-33

e. The Sermon by Peter - 10:34-43

f. The Reception of the Holy Spirit by Gentiles - 10:44-48

2. The Endorsement of Peter's Ministry by the Jerusalem Leadership - 11:1-18

a. The Questioning of the Jerusalem Leaders - 11:1-3

b. The Defense by Peter - 11:4-17

c. The Defense Accepted - 11:18

G. THE CHRISTIANS AT ANTIOCH - 11:19-30

1. Evangelism among the Gentiles of Antioch - 11:19-21

2. The Ministry of Barnabas and Saul at Antioch - 11:22-26

3. The Famine Relief Work from Antioch - 11:27-30

H. THE PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH BY HEROD AGRIPPA I - 12:1-25

1. The Martyrdom of James and Imprisonment of Peter - 12:1-4

2. The Escape of Peter from Prison - 12:5-11

3. The Report of Peter about the Escape - 12:12-17

4. The Discovery of Peter's Escape - 12:18-19a

5. The Death of Herod Agrippa I - 12:19b-23

6. The Continued Progress of the Gospel - 12:24

7. The Return of Barnabas and Saul to Antioch - 12:25

III. THE CHURCH IN THE ENDS OF THE EARTH - 13:1-28:31

A. THE FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY - 13:1-14:28

1. The Commissioning of Barnabas and Saul at Antioch - 13:1-3

2. The Arrival of Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus - 13:4-5

3. The Confrontation at Paphos - 13:6-12

4. The Arrival at Pisidian Antioch - 13:13-15

5. Paul's Address in the Synagogue - 13:16-41

a. Old Testament Prelude to Christ - 13:16-22

b. Fulfillment in Christ - 13:23-37

c. Conclusion and Warning - 13:38-41

6. The Response to Paul's Address - 13:42-43

7. Gentile Interest and Jewish Opposition - 13:44-52

8. The Visit to Iconium - 14:1-7

9. The Healing at Lystra - 14:8-13

10. Paul's Address about the Living God - 14:14-18

11. The Stoning of Paul - 14:19-20a

12. The Visit to Derbe and Return to Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch - 14:20b-23

13. Return to Antioch of Syria - 14:24-28

B. THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM - 15:1-35

1. The Visit of Judaizers to Antioch - 15:1-2

2. The Journey of Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem - 15:3-5

3. The Convening of the Council - 15:6

4. The Address of Peter - 15:7-11

5. The Address of Paul and Barnabas - 15:12

6. The Summation by James - 15:13-21

7. The Apostolic Letter to Gentile Christians - 15:22-29

8. The Reception of the Apostolic Letter by the Church in Antioch - 15:30-35

C. THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY - 15:36-18:22

1. The Proposal and the Debate about John Mark - 15:36-39

2. The Journey through Syria and Cilicia - 15:40-41

3. The Visit to Derbe and Lystra - 16:1-4

4. The Growth of the Churches - 16:5

5. The Journey through Phrygia and Galatia - 16:6-7

6. The Macedonian Vision in Troas - 16:8-10

7. The Visits to Samothrace and Neapolis - 16:11

8. The Visit to Philippi - 16:12-40

a. The Faith of Lydia - 16:12-15

b. The Slave Girl with the Spirit of Divination - 16:16-22

c. The Imprisonment - 16:23-26

d. The Conversion of the Jailer - 16:27-34

e. The Departure - 16:35-40

9. The Visits at Amphipolis and Apollonia - 17:1a

10. The Visit at Thessalonica - 17:1b-9

a. Paul's Preaching in the Synagogue - 17:1b-4

b. The Backlash from the Jews - 17:5-9

11. The Visit of Paul and Silas in Berea - 17:10-14

12. The Visit at Athens - 17:15-34

a. Paul's Preaching in Athens - 17:15-17

b. Paul's Encounter with the Philosophers - 17:18

c. Paul's Address in the Areopagus - 17:19-31

1) Paul's Acknowledgement of Their Idols - 17:19-23

2) God the Creator of Everything - 17:24-26

3) God Who is Near Enough to Touch - 17:27-29

4) God Who Judges and Demands Repentance - 17:30-31

d. The Reaction to Paul's Preaching - 17:32-34

13. The Visit at Corinth - 18:1-17

a. Paul's Arrival and Ministry with Aquila and Priscilla - 18:1-4

b. Resistance from the Jews and Paul's Decision to Preach to the Gentiles - 18:5-6

c. Encouragement in a Night Vision - 18:7-10

d. Paul's Trial before Gallio - 18:11-17

14. The Visit at Cenchrea - 18:18

15. The Visit at Ephesus - 18:19-21

16. The Journey to Caesarea, Jerusalem,and Antioch of Syria - 18:22

D. THE THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY - 18:23-21:16

1. The Journey through Galatia and Phrygia - 18:23

2. The Ministry of Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth - 18:24-28

3. The Twelve Disciples at Ephesus - 19:1-7

4. Paul's Preaching in the Synagogue and the School of Tyrannus - 19:8-10

5. The Conflict with the Exorcists - 19:11-19

6. The Growth of Paul's Ministry - 19:20

7. Paul's Plans to Visit Rome - 19:21-22

8. The Riot of Demetrius and the Silversmiths - 19:23-41

a. The Anger of the Silversmiths - 19:23-28

b. The Demonstration in the Theater - 19:29-34

c. The Calming Words of the Town Clerk - 19:35-41

9. The Journey through Macedonia and Greece - 20:1-6

10. The Visit at Troas - 20:7-12

11. The Visits at Assos, Mitylene, Kios (Chios), Samos, and Miletus - 20:13-15

12. The Meeting with the Ephesian Elders - 20:16-38

a. Paul's Summons of the Ephesian Elders - 20:16-17

b. Paul's Reflections on His Ephesian Ministry - 20:18-21

c. Paul's Expectations for the Future - 20:22-24

d. Paul's Charge to the Ephesian Elders - 20:25-31

e. Paul's Final Admonition - 20:32-35

f. The Emotional Parting - 20:36-38

13. The Stops at Cos, Rhodes, and Patara - 21:1-2

14. The Arrival at Tyre - 21:3-6

15. The Arrival at Ptolemais and Caesarea - 21:7-14

a. The Entrance into the Home of Philip - 21:7-9

b. The Warning of Agabus and Paul's Response - 21:10-14

16. The Arrival at Jerusalem - 21:15-16

E. PAUL'S VISIT TO THE TEMPLE AND HIS ARREST - 21:17-23:30

1. Paul's Reception by the Church - 21:17-26

a. Paul's Report of the Gentile Response to the Gospel - 21:17-19

b. The Proposal of James and the Elders - 21:20-26

2. The Riot in the Temple - 21:27-30

3. Paul's Rescue by the Romans - 21:31-36

4. Paul's Request for Permission to Address the Mob - 21:37-40

5. Paul's Defense to the Jews - 22:1-21

a. Paul's Early Days - 22:1-5

b. The Episode on the Damascus Road - 22:6-11

c. The Visit from Ananias of Damascus - 22:12-16

d. The Vision in the Temple - 22:17-21

6. The Reaction of the Mob and Paul's Imprisonment - 22:22-29

7. The Trial before the Sanhedrin - 22:30-23:10

a. The Confrontation with the High Priest - 22:30-23:5

b. The Division of the Pharisees and Sadducees over the Resurrection Hope - 23:6-10

8. The Word of Encouragement from God - 23:11

9. The Conspiracy Against Paul's Life - 23:12-15

10. The Discovery of the Conspiracy - 23:16-22

11. The Decision to Transfer Paul to Caesarea - 23:23-24

12. The Letter from the Tribune to Felix - 23:25-30

F. THE IMPRISONMENT AT CAESAREA - 23:31-26:32

1. Paul's Transfer to Caesarea - 23:31-35

2. Paul's Trial before Felix - 24:1-21

a. The Accusations Against Paul - 24:1-9

b. The Defense by Paul - 24:10-21

3. The Postponement of a Verdict by Felix - 24:22-23

4. Paul's Interviews with Felix - 24:24-26

5. The Ascension of Festus: Paul's Continued Custody - 24:27

6. The Visit of Festus to Jerusalem - 25:1-5

7. Paul's Appeal to Caesar - 25:6-12

8. The Visit of Agrippa II and Bernice to Festus - 25:13-22

9. Paul's Appearance before Agrippa - 25:23-26:32

a. The Presentation of Paul to Agrippa by Festus - 25:23-27

b. Paul's Address to Agrippa - 26:1-23

1) The Introduction - 26:1-3

2) Paul's Pharisaic Heritage - 26:4-8

3) Paul's Former Zeal Against Christians - 26:9-11

4) Paul's Experience on the Road to Damascus - 26:12-18

5) Paul's Obedience to God - 26:19-20

6) Paul's Arrest - 26:21

7) Paul's Continuing Preaching of Christ - 26:22-23

c. The Interchange Between Festus, Paul, and Agrippa - 26:24-29

d. The Agreement Regarding Paul's Innocence - 26:30-32

G. PAUL'S VOYAGE TO ROME - 27:1-28:31

1. The Journey from Caesarea to Sidon - 27:1-3

2. The Journey from Sidon to Myra - 27:4-6

3. The Journey from Myra around Crete - 27:7

4. The Arrival at Fair Havens - 27:8-15

a. Paul's Warning About the Coming Danger - 27:8-12

b. The Storm at Sea - 27:13-15

5. The Difficult Journey around Cauda - 27:16-17

6. The Shipwreck - 27:18-44

a. The Attempts to Lighten the Ship - 27:18-19

b. Paul's Words of Encouragement - 27:20-26

c. The Sighting of Land - 27:27-29

d. The Attempt of the Sailors to Escape - 27:30-32

e. Paul's Encouragement of the Crew to Eat - 27:33-38

f. The Running Aground of the Ship - 27:39-41

g. The Escape to Dry Land - 27:42-44

7. The Winter at Malta - 28:1-10

a. The Welcome by the Barbarians - 28:1-6

b. Paul's Ministry of Healing - 28:7-10

8. The Journey to Syracuse - 28:11-12

9. The Journey to Rhegium and Puteoli - 28:13-14

10. The Welcome at Three Taverns - 28:15

11. The Imprisonment at Rome - 28:16-29

a. The Arrival at Rome - 28:16

b. Paul's Preaching to the Jews - 28:17-29

1) Paul's Defense - 28:17-20

2) The Request for Further Information by the Jews - 28:21-22

3) The Interview with the Jews - 28:23

4) The Mixed Response - 28:24-29

12. Paul's Two Years in Rome - 28:30-31

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV