Responses to the Gospel

MEMORY VERSE: “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” —Acts 16:31

ACTS 16:12-23

PAUL’S first missionary stop in Macedonia was Philippi. On the Sabbath day he “went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made.” He found a number of devout women, who had gone there for a prayer meeting, and he witnessed to them. Among these women was one named Lydia. She was from the city of Thyatira and was “a seller of purple.” She became a believer and was baptized. The record states that the Lord “opened her heart.”

Then Lydia said to Paul and his fellow workers, “If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there.” They accepted the invitation. It is thought that the little group of believers which resulted from Paul’s ministry in Philippi held their meetings in the home of Lydia.

How refreshing this experience must have been for Paul and Silas and the others who were with them! This became one of the ideal congregations in the Early Church. When later Paul was imprisoned in Rome he wrote to the brethren in Philippi, saying, “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now; being confident of this very thing, that he which began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”—Phil. 1:2-6

Paul knew that it was the Lord who began the good work in the hearts of the brethren at Philippi. Had not the Lord miraculously directed him and Silas to go there rather than to other fields into which they had planned to enter? And, as we have noted, the Lord had opened the heart of Lydia, the first convert in Philippi, as was true of others who later believed. Men less humble than Paul might well have written that they had established the church in Philippi, but Paul gave credit to the proper source, which was the Lord.

Paul had learned well this lesson of the Lord’s part in connection with the selection and building up of his people. To the brethren at Corinth he wrote, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” (I Cor. 3:6) Our planting of the seeds of truth, and the work of watering, either by us or by others, would not bring forth fruit unless the Lord gave the increase. Only the Lord can cause the seeds of truth to spring forth and mature in the hearts of the believers.

Paul and Silas soon ran into difficulty in Philippi. There was a young girl in the city who was “possessed with a spirit of divination,” who “brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.” This girl followed Paul and the others, saying, “These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation.” She did this for several days, until, as the New English Bible says, Paul could not stand it any longer.

Then Paul said to the spirit of which the girl was possessed, “I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.” Since Paul was grieved by the testimony given by this girl, it must have been that he detected in it an attitude of insincerity, perhaps even of derision. In any case, he knew that no good could come from a testimony prompted by an evil spirit.

When the girl’s masters realized what had happened and that the source of their revenue was gone, they became very angry, and they “caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the market place unto the rulers, and brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.”

Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison, even into an inner dungeon of the prison, and their feet were locked in stocks. Thus the blessed experience resulting from their witness had quickly turned into a trial. But they were not dismayed, nor had the Lord forgotten them. That night they sang hymns in their dungeon prison. An earthquake shook the prison, the doors were opened, and everyone’s hands were loosed.

The keeper of the prison awoke and, seeing all the doors opened, concluded that the prisoners had escaped and that he would be executed for negligence. He would have killed himself, but Paul assured him, saying, “Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.” The prison keeper was greatly impressed and asked what he might do to be saved. In the words of our memory verse, Paul replied, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and verily thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Obviously, this refers to a genuine heart belief, manifested by works of dedication to the Lord. Thus the Lord had opened the hearts of others to the Gospel.

QUESTIONS

Who was responsible for the first church in Europe?

Relate the story of the imprisonment of Paul and Silas in Philippi.

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