ACTS

INTRODUCTION
Following the Jerusalem meeting, Paul returned to Antioch where he spent some time teaching and preaching.
Luke records that "after some days Paul said to Barnabas, 'Come, let us return and visit the brethren in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.'"
Barnabas wanted to take John Mark along, as in the first missionary journey (John Mark being a cousin of Barnabas), but Paul felt strongly that Mark was not ready for the ardors of a second missionary effort. Paul and Barnabas had a strong disagreement over this, so Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus (where they had gone on the first journey).
Paul chose Silas (otherwise known in Paul's Epistles as Silvanus - the Latin version of Silas) to accompany him. Being commended to the grace of the Lord, Paul and Silas left through Syria for Cilicia.

Derbe, Lystra, and the Selection of Timothy to Accompany Paul and Silas (Acts 16:1-5)
Arriving at Derbe they went on to Lystra where they found Timothy whose mother was Jewish believer and whose father was a Gentile. Timothy was commended to Paul by the brethren. Understanding the sensitivity of the Jews, Paul had Timothy circumcised. As they traveled from city to city they delivered the decision of the Apostles and Elders in Jerusalem regarding Gentiles not being required to keep the Law, but being encouraged to be sensitive to Jewish dietary and moral principles. It was for this reason that Paul had Timothy circumcised and not simply because the Law required it. The case of Timothy is interesting since Timothy was not really a Jew, being half Jewish, and was therefore not required by either Jewish custom nor Law to be circumcised. This is a striking example of Paul carrying out the encouragement of the Jerusalem leaders to be sensitive to Jewish concerns.

The Macedonian Call (Acts 16:6-10)
Passing through the region of Phrygia and Galatia the Holy Spirit forbad Paul and Silas to preach in Asia. We have no knowledge of how and why this took place, other than God intended Paul and Silas to go on to Macedonia (Paul's fist incursion into Europe). What we can learn from the language used by Luke is that the instruction was taken seriously, the Holy Spirit forbad them preaching in Asia at this time. At Troas Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia beseeching him "Come over to Macedonia and help us." Paul, Silas, and Timothy immediately crossed over the Aegean Sea to Samothrace, and Island in Thrace, then went on to Neapolis in Eastern Macedonia.

At Philippi (Acts 16:11-40)
As soon as Paul and company arrived in Neapolis the went on to Philippi, the leading city of that area of Macedonia. Macedonia was a Roman colony, Thessalonica (which we shall shortly enter) was the capital city of Macedonia. That Macedonia was a Roman province is important to what we will shortly learn of Paul as he is beaten and placed in jail in Philippi.
At this point we encounter the fascinating shift from "they" to "we" indicating that the author of Luke-Acts now has become a member pf Paul's party. After leaving Philippi the "we" section changes back to "they", indicating that the author of Luke-Acts is no longer a member of the traveling group. Most conjecture that the "we" person included Luke, the physician, and that his home at that time must have been Philippi.

In Philippi there apparently was no synagogue, but Jews met at a rive site to pray. There Paul met Lydia, a Gentile business women from Thyatira, who was a "worshipper of God." She believed Paul's preaching, and with her household was baptized. Lydia invited Paul and his company to stay with her at her house while in Philippi.

On another occasion on the way to the riverside place of prayer Paul encountered a slave girl with a spirit of divination (a form of fortune telling apparently as a result of an indwelling spirit. We should remember that Paul lived in an age when spirit's forcibly overpowered people and used them. We do not understand all that was involved, but recognize the reality of such powers which are addressed in numerous places in the New Testament. Jesus himself had on many occasions cast out evil spirits, indicating that whatever they were they were opposed to God and God was opposed to this phenomenon.) Her ability to foretell the future brought a good income to her owner. She recognized Paul as a servant of God who proclaimed the way of salvation. After a while, Paul frustrated by her speaking out, called the spirit out of her. This angered her owners who had Paul and Silas arrested, beaten, and thrown into prison. So serious were the magistrates that the jailor put them in the inner prison and fastened them in stocks (chains). About midnight while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening, a great earthquake shook the prison and destroyed it. Fearing that Paul and Silas had escaped, the jailor was about to take his life. Paul called out that they were all there. So moved was the jailor that he asked the astonishing question, "Men, what must I do to be saved?" We are not informed exactly what prompted this question, but the jailor must have known what Paul and Silas had been preaching, and in all probability had heard them singing and praying to God. Whatever it was, he recognized that Paul and Silas had a message or instructions he needed to hear. Paul's answer was "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." Obviously the man knew he needed to be saved, but did not know how to believe, so Paul and Silas "spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all that were in his house" so that they could believe. Immediately the man wanted to be baptized and we read that the man took Paul and Silas "the same hour of the night, and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once, with all his family."

We learn several important lessons from Paul's ministry to Lydia and the jailor.

1.) When Lydia and the jailor believed they wanted to be
      baptized, which they immediately did.
2.) Before one can be baptized for salvation one must
      learn about Jesus in order to correctly believe in
      Jesus.
3.) Believing in Jesus causes one to want to be baptized,
      that is, to be united with Jesus through baptism.
4.) Baptism involves salvation.

The day after the earthquake, the magistrates sent police to the jail with instructions to release Paul and Silas. Paul, however, refused to leave without an apology from the magistrates, for they had beaten him, a Roman citizen, without trial, and it was against the law to beat a Roman citizen in this manner. When the magistrates heard this they came and apologized and asked them to leave the city. After they had visited Lydia and encouraged the brethren, they left Philippi.

At Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-9)
Passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, cities in Macedonia, they arrived at Thessalonica, the capital city of Macedonia, and seat of Roman government of that region.
After Paul's fashion, they went to the Synagogue and preached. Some of the Jews were persuaded, as were many devout "worshippers of God", and f several leading women in the city. This upset the Jews who gathered a crowd and had Paul and Silas arrested. After taking security ( a bond) from Jason, they let Paul and Silas go. the brethren sent Paul and Silas away by night, fearing the Jews.
What is interesting about this experience is that in just a few short weeks Paul and Silas established a congregation in Thessalonica, which prompted the writing of two letters to Thessalonica, which we know as 1 an 2 Thessalonians.

At Beroea (Acts 17:10-15)
Again , Paul entered the Synagogue to preach. Luke records that the Jews in Beroea were more noble than those at Thessalonica in that they were willing to study the Scriptures daily. Many of the Jews believed, as did a number of Gentile worshippers of God, both men and women. Luke mentions here again that many of the women that believed were leading women. It is Luke's purpose to show that Christianity attracted people of position and wealth as well as the poorer people. Unfortunately, the Jews from Thessalonica followed Paul to Beroea and soon began to bring opposition against Paul. The brethren immediately sent Paul off by sea, but Timothy and Silas remained in Beroea. We will note later that Paul sent Timothy, or left Timothy with some of the new congregations to strengthen and encourage them in his absence. Paul made his way to Athens, the leading city of Achaia, and one of the chief centers learning and philosophy of the ancient world.

We learn an important point from the Beroeans. They were willing to study the Scriptures daily! The Scriptures were obviously the Old Testament Scriptures since the New Testament had not yet been written. It is, however, only from studying the Scriptures that one can truly learn from God, and come to an understanding of faith and God's will.

At Athens (Acts 17:16-34)
One wonders why Luke spent so much time describing Paul's stay in Athens! It certainly was no because of the wonderful reception he received, or the nature of the church he established! In fact we hear nothing further in the New Testament of a church in Athens, or of Pauline letters being written to the church in Athens. Then why more space devoted Athens than to Philippi and Thessalonica? And equal space devoted to Athens and Corinth would lead one to think that the work in Athens resulted in a church similar in importance to that at Corinth!

The answer lies perhaps in Luke's purpose in writing Acts! The gospel spread from Jerusalem through Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world, or the part of the world with which Luke and Paul had to deal, Rome, the political capital of the world, and even Athens, the intellectual capital of the world.

Luke tells us that while Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy at Athens he was deeply concerned (his spirit was provoked - Acts 17:16) over the number of idols in the city. this must have been somewhat of a surprise to Paul. Paul would have been aware of the extent of Gentile idol worship, having grown up in Tarsus, which like Athens was one of the intellectual capitals of the world in his day - the university of Tarsus second only to that of Athens, but perhaps it was the number of idols in the city that drew his attention and concern.

Following his normal practice, Paul taught in the Synagogue in Athens and argued with the Jews and Gentile "worshippers of God" that frequented the Synagogue. However, unlike Thessalonica and Beroea, we read of no great results from his preaching and teaching in the Synagogue in Athens. He continued his teaching and debating with the the learned of Athens (the Epicureans and Stoic philosophers) every day in the market places where such debates would normally have taken place.

On one occasion they brought Paul to the Areopagus (A high point in the city also called Mars Hill near which the Council of Athens met to debate issues related to the city and its government. The Areopagus is adjacent to the market place of Athens and also adjacent to a major road that led to the market place. Tradition has it that it was at Mars Hill that Paul preached his now famous Mars Hill speech. A bronze plaque marks the traditional site of this speech.)

On the map below note the Agora (market place), the Eleusinion (Temple to Demeter, the goddess of grain), and the Acropolis in which were several Greek Temples, the best known being the Parthenon).

"Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. ²³For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, ²⁵nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. ²⁶And he made from one every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation, ²⁷that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us, ²⁸for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ ²⁹Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the Deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, a representation by the art and imagination of man. ³⁰The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent, ³¹because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead."

When the Greeks heard Paul's teaching on the resurrection they made fun of him because Greeks rejected any form of resurrection. Such matters would have been strange (alien) to the Greeks since Greek philosophy in general rejected any concept of the resurrection of a physical body - a doctrine abhorrent to Greeks - since the body was conceived by Greeks to be weak and corruptible. To take the dead body which the spirit had finally shed and replace it in the prison of a corruptible body made no sense to Greeks. Paul would have to contend with this again in Corinth, and for this wrote in 1 Cor 15 that to reject the resurrection of the body was tantamount to rejecting the resurrection of Jesus which is a fundamental and central doctrine of the Christian faith. Note Paul's argument in 1 Cor 15:1-5; 12-19:

¹Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, ²by which you are saved, if you hold it fast—unless you believed in vain. ³For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, ⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, ⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

¹²Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; ¹⁴if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.

Paul fully realized that the doctrine of the death and resurrection of Jesus would not be appreciated by Gentiles and would be rejected by Jews, for in 1 Cor 1:18-25

¹⁸For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart." ²⁰Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. ²²For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Although most of the Athenians rejected Paul's teaching, a few of them joined Paul and believed, among them a prominent Areopagite (one of the leading Athenian citizens and member of the Athenian city council) named Dionysius and a woman named Damaris.

Somewhat disappointed by his reception (this was one of the low points in Paul's ministry in which he reflects in 1 Thess 2:17-3:5) Paul left Athens and traveled a short distance (about 50 miles) to Corinth, a leading commercial city of Achaia (Greece). Click here to go to view a map showing Athens and Corinth.

At Corinth (Acts 18:1-17)
Paul's stay at Corinth (about 1 1/2 years) was one of the most significant periods of his ministry. Corinth was an ancient city with a questionable past, but in the time of Paul it was no worse than any other important city close to a sea port. Corinth was the seat of Roman government for the Roman Province of Achaia (Greece).

When he arrived in Corinth he met a Jewish family, Aquila and his wife Priscilla who were natives of Pontus, but who had been residents in roman until all Jews were banished from Rome by the Emperor Claudius. This would fix a date for their being in Corinth at about AD 49. We will note another event below (Gallio) that helps us establish some form of Pauline Chronology with Paul being in Corinth sometime during the years AD51/52. Aquila and Priscilla, like Paul were tent makers by trade. We do not know when Paul learned this trade, but we know from other biblical references that he worked with his hands to earn a living. Because he shared a trade with Aquila and Priscilla he stayed with them for a while.

As was his custom, Paul preached and taught in the Synagogue as long as he was permitted by the Jews. As was the usual case, however, after several Jews became believers Paul was rejected by the Jews. (Crispus and Sosthenes, both rulers of the Synagogue, became believers. We learn from 1 Cor 1:14-16 that Paul baptized both of these men, among others.)

Many of the Corinthians believed Paul and were baptized into Christ. (One should read 1 Cor 1,2 to complete the story of Paul's work in Corinth.) The church in Corinth became an important congregations and an important base for Paul in his mission work. Later, however, Paul ran into conflict with some of the leaders in Corinth and had to rebuke them severely in his correspondence with them. In the end, however, they worked through their problems and were reunited with Paul.

The Jews brought Paul before the Roman Proconsul of Achaia, Gallio, and accused him of causing trouble in Corinth. Gallio recognized that the problem was a religious one and refused to rule on the case. In their spite the Jews dragged Sosthenes out and beat him, but Gallio paid no attention to this.

While he was in Corinth Timothy and Silas returned form a visit to Thessalonica with good news of the church there. It was at this time that Paul wrote the two letters to the Thessalonians that we have in our New Testament.

After a considerable stay in Corinth Paul left the city and sailed for Syria Antioch.

Back in Antioch (Acts 18:18-21)
Paul took Aquila and Priscilla with him as he traveled to Syria. At Cenchreae (one of the sea ports near Corinth on the Aegean Sea) Paul had his hair cut in order to meet the requirements of a vow. Luke does not explain the nature of the vow, however, the Nazarite vow, which Jews took seriously as described in Num 6:9, 18 called for shaving the head as part of the vow. The Nazarite vow was taken by Jews as a sign of dedication to God and His purposes. Possibly Paul did this to signify his sensitivity to Jewish cultural values, but as a Jew he might have taken this vow seriously as a sign or pledge of his devotion to God and his, the Apostle's, ministry.
Paul then set sail from Ephesus for Caesarea and Antioch.

	1.	Barnabas and Paul differ over whether to take John Mark on the second missionary journey. Paul takes Silas and Barnabas takes John Mark as they split up and go different ways.
	2.	Paul and Silas receive the Macedonian call and cross the Aegean Sea into Macedonia and Europe. Congregations are established in Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea, Athens, and Corinth.
	3.	Paul preaches in Synagogues and prayer places and converts both Jews and Gentile "worshippers of God" in every city.
	4.	The Jews follow Paul and Silas from city to city instigating persecutions.
	5.	Paul's experience in Athens is disappointing to him, but some coverts are made. He preaches his famous Mars Hill sermon at the Areopagus.
	6.	His stay in Philippi is challenging but rewarding in that he converts Lydia and the Jailor and their households. The church in Philippi becomes one of the congregations that supports Paul through the years in his mission work.
	7.	The church in Thessalonica later receives two letters from Paul.
	8.	Paul spends 18 months or more in Corinth and Corinth later receives several letters from Paul, two of which are in our New Testaments.

Summary and Discussion

1) Summarize in your own words the content and thrust of Paul's Second Missionary Journey. Who
     went with Paul on this journey, and who did not? Discuss the reasons for this change.

2) Discuss briefly what happened after the Macedonian call and Paul and Silas' mission effort in
     Macedonia. How successful was Paul's mission in Macedonia? What was unique about the Jews
     in Beroea?

3) Discuss Paul's experience in Athens and the content of his preaching at Mars Hill and the
     Areopagus. How successful was Paul in Athens?

4) Discuss the circumstances of Paul's extended stay in Corinth, how does this relate to the
     Thessalonian church and the dating of Paul's missionary work.