Acts 16 Nkjv (2024)

FAQs

What does Acts 16 teach us? ›

THEME: Joy in all Things: Acts 16 displays the beauty of Christian joy, that joy is not tied only to triumph in the faith but also defeat. Acts chapter 16 starts off with Paul and Silas embarking on Paul's second missionary journey. The journey begins with them finding Timothy and training him up in the Gospel.

The focus of this scene is the power of Jesus over all the spirits of the world, but we might well ask whether and how there could be a more complete freedom for this woman. The story simply leaves her behind, nameless, disturbing, and perhaps a reminder of the continuing need of liberation for so many.

NLT The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. KJV (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

NLT When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to have his own private lodging, though he was guarded by a soldier. KJV And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him.

Acts 16 begins with Paul circumcising a Jewish man, Timothy, to prevent difficulties in preaching to older Jews as the boy grows into church leadership. Paul's second missionary trip finds the church growing east, into Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth (Acts 16:11—18:18).

O Holy Spirit, God who is present within me, help me to know your will. Help me discern your timing. Guide me to the places where I can be most useful to you at the time that is most advantageous to grow your kingdom, to bless your children, and to reach the lost.

Chapter Summary

After expelling a demon from a fortune-telling girl, city officials illegally beat and imprison Paul and Silas. An earthquake frees them of their chains, but they stay and bring the jailer and his family to Christ.

The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the Gospel of Luke.

Paul and Silas have been imprisoned, wrongly, at least from a certain point of view. It is true they "advocate customs that are not lawful" in the Roman Empire (Acts 16:20–21). Specifically, they are spreading the worship of a deity—Jesus—that is not authorized by the Roman government.

And Galatians 3:14 says that we “receive the promised Spirit through faith.” So, as we meditate on the word of God, faith comes by that word (Romans 10:17), and in and by this faith we experience the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. So we seek him by meditation on the word, and belief in what we hear and see.

What is Acts 16 verse 9 commentary? ›

God provides that direction through a vision. In it, according to verse 9 a Macedonian man stands and begs Paul to “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” This offers Acts 16's preachers and teachers an opportunity to explore how God erects barriers and opens doors to mission in the 21st century.

It was not clear to the Jews that the Samaritans were included in those who were far off. It seems that God held back from giving the Spirit to the Samaritans so that Peter and John, apostles from Jerusalem, could witness their conversion and then testify to it back in Jerusalem.

Acts 16:31 In-Context

31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.

Verses 27-30 tell us that when the jailer saw that the prison doors were opened and that everyone's chains were off, he thought they had all escaped. And he despaired. They tell us it was customary for a jailer, if he allowed a prisoner to escape, to have to serve the punishment for the prisoner's crimes.

A slave girl (KJV: “damsel”) had been following Paul, saying (Acts 16:17), “These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.” Not at all something you would expect Paul to be upset about, even if Paul knew it was the spirit of divination that caused her to say these things.

Even in prison, Paul and Silas seized the opportunity to serve God. As they chose to be a light for Jesus, it brought others to Christ. Their story reminds us that when we allow Christ's light to shine in the darkness, we can be a beautiful example of His grace, mercy and power.

Within the facet of Acts 16, Luke defines salvation through the two incidences of the slave girl and the jailer. During the encounter with the slave girl, Luke narrates an invocation of the name of Jesus Christ. In answer to the jailer's question, believing in the Lord Jesus was put forward in response.

Instead, as a Gentile worshiping the God of the Jews, Lydia was seeking more, and she listened to Paul proclaim the good news. Paul's “best laid plans” had been re-routed to this road less traveled. The LESSONS FROM LYDIA include looking and listening and praying and following.

Acts 16:16–24 shows that religiously confused Gentiles can hinder Paul's ministry as much as Jews. Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke are in Philippi on the border of Macedonia and Greece. When Paul expels a demonic spirit from a slave girl, her owners accuse Paul and Silas of illegally promoting a foreign god.