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Scripture reading – Acts 16
* Please note that words and phrases in brackets are the author’s amplification.
Background for Acts 16
Our study of Acts 16 follows Barnabas and John Mark’s departure to Cyprus, leaving Paul without the man who had served as his co-laborer in ministry since the church in Antioch set them apart and sent them out as missionaries (Acts 13:2-3). Imagine the rumors that circulated when some heard of the division between Paul and Barnabas, especially if they knew the disagreement over John Mark had sparked Barnabas’ sudden departure.
Good men sometimes disagree, and it doesn’t necessarily come down to one man being right and another wrong. I believe differences often arise when believers hold different perspectives shaped by their spiritual gifts. For example, Acts 4:36 describes Barnabas as “the son of consolation,” meaning he was an encourager and comforter. He likely wanted to give the young man a second chance. John Mark was also his kinsman, “sister’s son to Barnabas” (Colossians 4:10). By contrast, Paul determined not to take John Mark with him, remembering that he “departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work” (Acts 15:38). (Take heart: years later, Paul wrote of the same young man, “he is profitable to me for the ministry” [2 Timothy 4:11].)
Barnabas and John Mark departed for Cyprus, and “Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches” (Acts 15:40-41).
Acts 16
Paul’s Introduction to Timothy (Acts 16:1-3)
One of the great models of spiritual mentorship appears in the opening verses of Acts 16, where we read, “Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus” (Acts 16:1a). Timothy would become Paul’s “own son in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:2). Paul commended him for his godly heritage (2 Timothy 1:5) and for his training in the Old Testament scriptures “from a child” (2 Timothy 3:15). Timothy was of mixed parentage, with his mother being “a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek” (Acts 16:1).
Although Timothy was young (1 Timothy 4:12), he “was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium” (Acts 16:2). Therefore, Paul decided to take Timothy with him on his travels and “took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek” (Acts 16:3).
The Start of a New Mission Team (Acts 16:4-9)
A new mission team was formed as Paul, Silas, and Timothy visited the churches established during Paul’s first missionary journey, delivering “the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem” (Acts 16:4). “And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily” (Acts 16:5).
When Paul sought to preach in Asia, and then in Bithynia, the Holy Ghost forbade them, and they came down to Troas (Acts 16:6-8). There the Lord directed Paul through a vision of “a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us” (Acts 16:9). Notice that the narrative changes from “they” to “we” in verse 10, which suggests that Luke, the author of Acts, joined the company at Troas. Recognizing the Lord’s leading, Paul and his companions “immediately… endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them” (Acts 16:10). They sailed by way of Samothracia to Neapolis, the port serving Philippi (Acts 16:11).
Paul’s Arrival in Philippi (Acts 16:10-15)
Paul finally came to Philippi, “the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a [Roman] colony” (Acts 16:12). Philip II of Macedon (father of Alexander the Great) had fortified the city and named it for himself, drawn by the gold mines in the nearby mountains. After the Battle of Philippi in 42 B.C., Rome settled veteran soldiers there. After his victory at Actium (31 B.C.), Octavian (later Augustus Caesar, Rome’s first emperor) established Philippi as a Roman colony, and its citizens were proud to be governed as Romans.
Philippi had no synagogue, so on the Sabbath, Paul sought out a place where Jewish people gathered for prayer. There, “out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made,” Paul and the others “sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither” (Acts 16:13). Among those women was “Lydia, a seller of purple… whose heart the Lord opened… And when she was baptized, and her household,” she “constrained” Paul and his company to abide in her house (Acts 16:14-15).
The Miracles and Injustices Suffered by Paul and His Company (Acts 16:16-24)
Paul’s ministry in Philippi soon caused what some might call a “hullabaloo” (i.e., uproar, tumult, clamor). He and Silas came to the authorities’ attention when Paul cast out a spirit of divination from a young slave girl who “brought her masters much gain by soothsaying” (Acts 16:16-18). When her owners realized they had lost their source of income, they sought revenge. They dragged Paul and Silas into the marketplace before the magistrates and stirred up the townspeople against them (Acts 16:19-22).
The citizens of Philippi showed prejudice against Jews, 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” (Acts 16:20-21). This may have happened around the time Emperor Claudius commanded all Jews to leave Rome (Acts 18:2).
Paul and Silas were not given a fair trial, as Roman law required for its citizens (Acts 16:37). In their haste to quiet the mob, the magistrates never inquired about their citizenship. Paul and Silas were beaten with many stripes, cast into the inner prison, and their feet were fastened in the stocks (Acts 16:22-24).
Midnight in the Philippian Jail (Acts 16:25-34)
Rather than despair, “at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them” (Acts 16:25). “And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed” (Acts 16:26). Supposing the prisoners had fled, the keeper of the prison drew his sword to take his own life (a Roman guard who lost his prisoners could forfeit his own life; see Acts 12:19).
Most men would have been tempted to flee. Yet Paul cried out, “Do thyself no harm: for we are all here” (Acts 16:27-28). In the darkness of that night, the trembling jailer asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:30-31). That same hour, he washed their stripes, was baptized, and “rejoiced, believing in God with all his house” (Acts 16:33-34).
Paul and Silas Depart Philippi (Acts 16:35-40)
The next day, the magistrates sent word to release Paul and Silas. Paul, however, reminded them that they had “beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans,” and required the magistrates to come themselves and bring them out (Acts 16:35-39). After visiting Lydia and comforting the brethren, Paul and Silas departed (Acts 16:40), “and when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica” (Acts 17:1).
Copyright © 2026 – Travis D. Smith
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The post Paul’s Thunderous Visit to Philippi (Acts 16) appeared first on “From The Heart of A Shepherd” by Pastor Travis D. Smith.
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