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Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.

  Good morning. So what did Paul tell the jailer that he must do to be saved? Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. That seems simple enough. Because the word believe can be used in more than one way, sometimes there is a mistaken idea of what it means. You can believe that something is so in your head without it affecting your actions. This “believe” comes from a change in heart, and hence, a change in actions. When you believe something in your head, that belief can change overnight; when you believe with your heart, that does not change very easily. Notice that Paul said not only would the jailer be saved but also his household. That is not necessarily a guarantee that that will happen in all instances. It did happen with Lydia in Philippi which we just read about. Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. After he had taken care of their wounds, the jailer and his household were baptized. In the...
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Suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains where unfastened.

  Good morning. And so what happened when Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns instead of complaining? Suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains where unfastened. Pretty cool, right? When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. Remember that there were no lights like we have, and he could not see clearly that the prisoners were still in their cells; he assumed that they had escaped. He knew that the penalty for letting them escape was death. Paul said, do not harm yourself, we are all here! There was probably a lamp where the jailer was; and so the prisoners could see him, but he could not see them. He called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before them. He brought them out, and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Since he called fo...
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When her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities.

  Good morning. So the demon has been cast out, and everything is hunky-dory; not exactly. When her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities. Notice that there is no mention of “we“. Luke did not get dragged along with them. When they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, these men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans. That does not sound like any kind of crimes that need to be punished. The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore the robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. Then they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. There it would be dark and dank. It would either have been very hot or very cold. ...
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They found a woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

  Good morning. They found a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira (where one of the churches in Revelation was located), a seller of purple fabrics (this city was famous for its dyeing works, especially royal purple – i.e. Crimson – roll Tide!), a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us to come into her house and stay. It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. Following after us, she kept crying out, saying, these men are bond servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation. The Greek would normally be translated “a” way of salvation; which would mean there was more than one way. Whether it was that or the fact that a servant of the devil was doing the proclaiming, Paul was extremely agitated....
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They passed through the region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; ... , and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them

  Good morning. They passed through the region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and later they were trying to go into another place, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. Why does it say Holy Spirit one moment, and the Spirit of Jesus in the next? I know that a lot of people would say that it was just for variety in writing; but I think that there was actually a distinction in what happened. When it says they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia, I think it meant that there was an out loud verbal communication – “Thus saith the Lord”. When it says the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them, I believe it meant that within them they felt this uneasiness about going into that region. We have all been this way at times – conflicted within and without. They come to Troas. Finally, a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. What...
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Paul chose Silas and left; being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord.

  Good morning. Barnabas and Mark went to the island of Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left; being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. So Paul had the stamp of approval by the church in Antioch. That does not necessarily mean that he was right in his argument with Barnabas. So Paul went back to all the churches that he had established previously (like he was wanting to do with Barnabas); but my Bible says that he went in the reverse order from before. At one of the places, he found a disciple there named Timothy – yes THE Timothy. He was the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. Paul writes in second Timothy: I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I’m sure that is in you as well. Paul wanted Timothy to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. My Bible says t...
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Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brethren with a lengthy message

  Good morning. They arrived at Antioch and delivered the letter to the congregation. The two that came with them from Jerusalem, Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brethren with a lengthy message. That does not mean that they had a lengthy, “thus saith the Lord…” Prophets can also give messages, just like the pastor. That becomes important later in the 14th chapter of first Corinthians. After spending some time there, they went back to Jerusalem. After some days Paul said to Barnabas, let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are. We do not know whether or not that was of the Lord, but it is normally a wise thing to do. Barnabas wanted to take John Mark along with them also. But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them and had not gone with them to the work. And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from on...
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