April 5. Acts 16. George Lymbouris

“Sirs What Must I Do to be Saved”

Greetings from Luke, a fellow traveler with Paul as he planted churches in Asia Minor, and, as he did this, I recorded all his work for eternity. As you may remember, Paul and Barnabas parted ways earlier, Barnabas and John Mark going to Cyprus, and Silas and Paul going to Derby and Lystra where we met Timothy, a true believer in the Lord whose mother was a Jewess Christian and his father a Greek, and who showed himself a very capable person in preaching the word of God.

Paul, Barnabas, and Timothy visited the towns in these areas (in south-central modern-day Turkey) spreading the word of God and planting churches.” As they went through the towns, they passed on the decrees that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the Gentile believers to obey” (v4)

It came to pass that during these church plantings, we were confronted with a major decision: “where do we go next? East or West”. In Troas, the answer was revealed to us. We met a man from Macedonia, the birthplace of King Phillip and Alexander the Great, and he pleaded with us to come to Macedonia and preach there. ‘”   After Paul saw the vision, we attempted immediately to go over to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. “(v10) Thus our path was decided: Go west toward Europe - so we did.

Let me tell you about some of our experiences. As a scribe of this memorable journey, I took it as an oath to record everything we encountered as unbiased and as truthful as possible.

Our first major stop was Philippi at the farthest end of Macedonia and we prayed with the Christians of the city. In this gathering we met a woman named Lydia who worshiped God, so Paul baptized her in the name of Jesus. ‘” After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me to be a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house.” And she persuaded us.”’ (v15) As it turned out Lydia and her household were the first Europeans baptized in the Lord. Boy was I glad Paul agreed to Lydia’s hospitality, for I needed a good rest.

Another memorable experience occurred while we were in Philippi. Paul and Silas took Timothy and me wherever they went spreading the word of God and planting churches. There was one incident that stood out, which I recorded in astonishment and grand reflection.

There was a woman following us yelling ‘“These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” ’ (v17) This lady was a slave of a diviner who was making a profit from her boisterous outcries. After several days of this annoyance, Paul quieted the lady in the name of Jesus Christ, and she was silent. Her profitmaking hustle was stopped, and her patrons, upset because of losing profit, asked the authorities to arrest Paul and Silas. Of course, worried about my colleagues, and to record their mishap as a true scribe, I went along with them into prison.

What happened next, I would not believe it unless I was there. They were whipped and placed in the most inner cell of the prison. ‘After they had beaten them severely, they threw them into prison and commanded the jailer to guard them securely.  24  Receiving such orders, he threw them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.’ (v23-34) I stayed outside the cell waiting to see how they were being treated and recording all that they were going through.

At midnight the only sound in the prison was Paul and Silas praying and singing hymns with their jail guards. All of a sudden, a massive earthquake hit, shaking the walls and opening the doors, and unlocking the stockade chains. There was silence and darkness and confusion, even I didn’t know where my two comrades had gone. All I heard was a sword being drawn by a guard and yelling that he was going to kill himself because his prisoners had escaped. Then in a surprisingly loud voice, I heard Paul, ‘” Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”  29  Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell down trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas.”’ (v28-29) I saw and heard all this and recorded it. The grateful guards turned toward Paul and said, ‘” “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”’ (v30)

Paul and Silas, the consummate preachers of God’s word, told the guards what they had to do: ‘”Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”’ (v31) and that same night, Paul and Silas baptized the guards and their entire household. A celebration followed with great rejoicing. And following the festivities, Paul and Silas asked to be returned to their cell so that the guard’s life, now a brother in Christ, would be spared of any harm. Of course, I followed and recorded all I saw.

It so happened, the next day, that the magistrate was willing to let us go free, but, the honorable Paul, rejected the offer. After all Paul and Silas were Roman citizens and demanded better treatment after being whipped and chained. They wanted the magistrate to formally set them free. they said’” They themselves must come and escort us out!” (v37) Knowing Paul and recording all the events of my journey, I truly felt that he was not acting pridefully due him by of his Roman citizenship, but rather, that he wanted to preach the word of God to the entire Roman Empire, and all of Europe, and this was his intention in making such a show of bravado. We stayed at Lydia’s home with her household and encouraged each other, and then we left.

Amen