2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES
Wednesday in the Word
Second Baptist Church
April 6, 2025
Acts 16:6-34
Verses 6-10. Paul and his friends were traveling in one town because the Holy Spirit kept them from preaching in Asia, which is what we call Turkey now. They were seeking opportunities to preach! but the opportunities did not present themselves. The bible says the Holy Spirit kept them from preaching. They wanted to preach there and were willing to preach in Asia, but the Lord did not allow it.
Sometimes God leads by locked doors. Now I must make a difference between locked doors and closed doors. Closed doors look locked, but the difference is a closed door can be opened if it is not locked. As Christians doors are either locked or unlocked. Unlocked doors we can enter; locked doors we cannot. And just because the door is closed doesn’t mean you should not pull on the door. Saints have to learn how to pull on doors to see if they are locked or not. When we find locked doors, there is no need to pull on them all day and night. Too often we get frustrated when the door we wanted to go through is locked. We try to force our way in the door but it is not budging. A locked door won’t budge, but an unlocked door will. Paul and his friends approached another place that the Spirit of Jesus, another name for the Holy Spirit, would not allow them to enter the town and thus they were forced to move on. They first wanted to move southwest into Asia, but they couldn’t so they traveled north west, as they traveled more northwest they came to the border of Mysia and the spirit did not allow them to go into Mysia so they had only one place to go after that and that was Troas which lies on the coast.
Sometimes leads by limiting our choices. Paul and his friends end up in Troas because that was the only town nearby. They knew God wasn’t sending them back east, and they knew God wasn’t leading them North or south, so the only choice they had was east and that was Troas. God limited their choices. Often times we are not capable of making the right choice unless God limits the choices we have to make.
Paul had a vision of a man in Macedonia begging for them to come to Macedonia. Paul concluded that God was leading them to sail across the sea to Macedonia. Paul would have never considered Macedonia unless his choices were limited and the doors to preach in other places were not locked. God speaks to Paul in a dream about something that Paul might not have considered earlier in the trip. If God would have told Paul this earlier in his trip, Paul might have dismissed the idea. Sometimes we are not ready to hear what God has to say until the timing is just right. Sometimes we are at a stage in our life where God has to allow us to go round in circles until we are ready and where he is sending us is ready for us.
Verses 11-15. Paul and Silas along with others have been led by the Spirit of God to the Macedonian area. This missionary group sailed directly to the Island of Samothrace, and then on to Neapolis, the port city of Philippi, some ten miles inland. After finding a place to stay, Paul and the others looked for “the place of prayer” on the Sabbath. It was not uncommon for Jews in a city to establish a place of prayer near the river of a Gentile City. Paul and the others looked for a place of prayer. While searching for some Jews, they found outside the city a group of women who had gathered. One of the women was a businesswoman by the name of Lydia. She was a dealer of purple cloth from Thyatira who worshipped God. She was rich but still in need of a savior. She was a Gentile but nevertheless a worshipper of God. What is interesting is that Paul looks to find some Jews, but he actually finds some God fearing Gentiles. We have to be willing to share with whomever God places in our path. Paul shares the gospel with Lydia and the Lord opened her heart to hear the message of Jesus and receive him as Lord. Apparently Lydia was not the only one who heard, but her whole household heard and received Jesus. They were all baptized, and Lydia invited Paul, Silas and the others to rest at her home while they were in the city. Normally Paul would have searched for Jewish men, but God leads him to a Gentile woman. Sometimes God will lead us to share the gospel with someone we are not expecting to meet. God’s plan is far more complex than our own. God leads Paul to a rich woman, who is able to provide lodging for these missionaries.
Verses 16-18. It appears that Paul and Silas would travel back and forth from Lydia’s home to the place of prayer. Paul and Silas stayed with Lydia for a while and were in the habit of taking the same route from her house to the place of prayer. On one occasion a slave girl, who through a demonic spirit told fortunes, began to harass them. The slave girl told fortunes for her slave owners and they made a lot of money from her. The same demon that gave her powers to tell fortunes was disturbed by the presence of Paul and Silas. This demon led the girl to mock the men as they traveled back and forth. This went on for many days, and finally Paul was troubled so bad that he turned to her one day and spoke to the demon and commanded that it come out of her in the name of Jesus Christ. Upon Paul’s command, the demon left the slave girl. Notice Paul spoke to the demon. Paul recognized that the girl was not his problem but he spirit controlling the girl. Too often we make the problem the people and not the enemy behind the scenes. Lydia was rich and independent, but she needed the Lord. This slave girl was poor and a slave and she needed the Lord as well. Paul had not planned to help this girl get free from this demon, but their encounter led him to minister to her needs. Many times we don’t act on someone’s need/issue until it begins to bother us.
Verses 19-21. Sometime later the slave owners realized that the girl could no longer make them any money. The slave owners were mad and they wanted to get to the people who were responsible for their loss of revenue. Nothing gets people more upset than losing revenue. The slave owners discovered that Paul and Silas were responsible, and that they were part of a missionary group of Jews. The slave owners had Paul and Silas arrested and brought before the magistrate. The slave-owners made accusations that Paul and Silas were teaching the people customs that were unlawful for them to practice as Roman citizens. The slave-owners did not know that Paul was in fact a Roman citizen, and it was unlawful for a Roman citizen to be handled by the authorities that way. They just assumed he was only a Jew.
Verses 22-24. These men had encouraged the crowd to attack Paul and Silas and the magistrates ordered that Paul and Silas be whipped and thrown into jail. Without a trial, and without any semblance of “due process” of law, these two men were beaten, thrown into prison,. The jailer was told to keep watch over them and he did by placing them in the inner cell chained by the feet. You do realize that sometimes God is going to allow you to get into some situations so that you can help get someone else out. Sometimes it is about your friends, your co-workers, your wife, your husband, your children or your family. We have to begin to see the bigger picture here. We have to begin to see that God is doing something bigger than what we can even imagine. Nothing just happens. There is always a reason. The leading of God is not always so cut and dry. God has a jailer in mind and the only way Paul is going to minister to this jailer is to be thrown in jail on some trumped up charges.
Verses 25-26. Paul and Silas were convinced that where ever the Lord led them, he had a plan for them there. They were in jail, but knew God had a plan, they were chained, but free to move in the spirit, they were bound in shackles, but free in their faith. Their situation was imprisonment, but their attitude was freedom. The children of God must know that it doesn’t matter what you situation is; God is still in charge. You can still have peace, and you can still be an overcomer. Paul and Silas are in jail, and at midnight they begin to do what only a child of God can do, they began to lift their voices to God in prayer and praise. So much so that all of the other prisoners were listening. Did you ever think that if you hadn’t been in that situation, that the people you met would have never met you and seen your faith in God? People are watching, so you have a chance to let the world know that God can keep you even in the midst of trials and tribulations. I dare you to begin to pray to God and praise God for what he is doing in spite of your circumstances. I dare you to look at your trouble and began to pray and offer praise to the Lord. Paul and Silas were doing what every believer should be able to do. Trust God. They trusted God and they stood on God’s. The scriptures say that as they were singing and praying the jail was shaken to its foundation. The jail was shaken by an earthquake to the point that the chains and the jail doors were loosened.
Verses 27-28. The noise of the earthquake and the prison falling apart awoke the jailer. The jailer saw the prison doors opened and just assumed that the prisoners had escaped. This jailer knew this would cost him his life so he took out his sword and thought to kill himself and save himself from the public humiliation that would come when this was found out. The jailer did not know that he was actually a prisoner about to be set free as well. The jailer didn’t know that he was actually chained to sin, and that these prisoners that he was in charge of were actually sent to set him free. Paul sees the jailer and tells him that he doesn’t need to worry because all of the prisoners are still present and accounted for.
Verses 29-34. The jailer had called for lamps and torches to see what had happened, and to see who was talking to him. When he reaches Paul and Silas, he falls at their feet. This jailer realized that the God that they were preaching about was responsible for their deliverance. The jailer asked the men what he must do to be saved. Paul and Silas told him that he needed to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. On that night the jailer was saved and all of those in his household. They were saved and baptized that very night. The jailer took them to his house and washed their wounds and gave them something to eat. Salvation had come to this man’s house and the scriptures say he was filled with joy. God had to take Paul and Silas through false accusations, beatings, imprisonment, and an earthquake, all so a man and his family might get saved,
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