Grace Bible Church Gillette, Wyoming

A. There had been a sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas concerning taking along John Mark. Paul and Barnabas separated and Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed to Cyprus (Ac 15:37-39). Paul chose Silas to go with him. After being commended by the church, Paul and Silas traveled through Syria and Cilicia (Ac 15:40-41)

B. [1] Paul and Silas came to Derbe and Lystra. Paul had been there on his first missionary journey. It was there in Lystra that Paul healed a lame man and the people began to call Barnabas and Paul gods, Zeus and Hermes respectively (Ac 14:11-12). It was also there that Paul was stoned and left for dead. However, he got up and walked back into Lystra (Ac 14:19-20).

C. They found Timothy, who most likely was already a believer, being called a “disciple.” Some suppose that Paul led Timothy to the Lord because Paul referred to Timothy as his son in the faith (1Co 4:17; 1Ti 1:2, 18; 2Ti 1:2; 2:1). However, most likely Timothy was led to the Lord by his Jewish mother Eunice and grandmother Lois (2Ti 1:5). Eunice and Lois were probably converted during Paul’s first visit to Derbe and Lystra.

D. As believers, we never know what circumstances the Lord will use to bring others to Himself. From a human standpoint, circumstances may appear to be negative or unproductive. But God is the one who ultimately plants the seeds of the gospel in the hearts of men and He is the one who makes them sprout.

E. [2-3] Paul “wanted” (thelō - desire) Timothy to go along on the mission trip. Timothy himself would have had a desire and a commitment to go along; otherwise, Paul would have refused to take him, as was the case with John Mark. Furthermore, Timothy had a good testimony among those in Lystra and Iconium.

F. Paul had Timothy circumcised, not because it was necessary for salvation (Ac 15:1-2), but because it was necessary for ministry among the Jews. The Jews (“all”) knew that Timothy’s father was a Greek. The Jewish people in those parts would have viewed Timothy predominantly as a Gentile while he was uncircumcised.

G. It is quite possible that Timothy’s father was dead because of the use of the imperfect tense of the word huparchō (“was” Ac 16:3).

H. This was the beginning of one of the most precious spiritual relationships of discipleship recorded in Scripture.

III. DELIVERING THE DECREES (Ac 16:4-5)

A. [4] Their mission was certainly comprised of evangelism. However, Paul was also faithfully carrying out the instructions of the Jerusalem Council. They delivered the letter and message from the the “decrees” (dogmata - ordinance, requirement) decided upon at the Jerusalem Council (Ac 15:23-29). That is, circumcision was not necessary for the salvation of the Gentiles, Gentile Christians were to abstain from fornication, and Gentile Christians were to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols for the sake of the Jews.

B. Church doctrine and policies were being established in the church and the apostle Paul was in complete compliance with them.

C. [5] In addition to these things, Paul was preaching and “strengthening” (stereo - make firm or strong) the churches in the faith (cf. Ac 14:22; 15:32, 41;18:23). As a result, there numbers were increasing daily.

D. This becomes the plan and motivation for the church today.

IV. DISSUASION BY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (Ac 16:6-8)

A. [6] Paul and Silas planned to pass through the Phrygian and Galatian region into regions of Asia. This could refer to going to some of the churches visited on the first missionary journey, like Pisidian Antioch. Most likely, it would refer to “speaking the word” (gospel) in areas that Paul had not been able to visit.

B. In either case, they were prevented by the Holy Spirit from going in that area. The Holy Spirit had “forbidden” (kōluō - hinder, prevent, or forbid, cf. Mk 10:14; 1Ti 4:3; 2Pe 2:16) their passage into Asia. The Bible does not say exactly how the Holy Spirit communicated this, but it would have been a divinely infallible intervention and prevention that was particular to the apostolic age.

C. [7] Their new direction was into the Mysian region. Again Paul “tried” (peirazō - attempt, try, or test) to go into a region, in this case, Bithynia. But they were not “permitted” (eaō - allowed, cf. 1Co 10:13 cf. Ac 19:30) to go in their intended direction.

D. Here the Holy Spirit’s name is the “Spirit of Jesus.” This can be recognized as a Trinitarian viewpoint of the early church similar to what Paul wrote in Ro 8:9-11 (“Spirit, Spirit of God, Spirit of Christ, Christ, Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead, and His Spirit”).

E. Why did the Holy Spirit not permit them to go into these other areas? The obvious reply is that the Spirit wanted them to go to Macedonia. Therefore, He led them in that direction. As we will see, there were people there whose hearts were prepared for the gospel.

F. [8] God the Holy Spirit was preeminently involved in guiding the church. They had nowhere else to go but down to Troas.

V. DIRECTION THROUGH MACEDONIAN VISION (Ac 16:9-10)

A. [9] However, the Holy Spirit was not finished guiding the missionaries. Paul had a “vision” (horama - divine communication, vision that one sees while awake), which was a means of divine revelation that God supernaturally communicated to a person while awake (as opposed to divine dreams). This was the second of five visions for Paul recorded in Scripture (Ac 9:12; 16:9; 18:9; 22:17-21; 2Co 12:1).

B. The vision was of a man from Macedonia appealing Paul for help, which would mean to come and share the gospel.

C. [10] They mission team immediately set out for the Macedonian region. They had concluded this was God’s will putting together the Holy Spirit’s divine dissuasions and divine vision. This type of divine revelation is 100% infallible because it is from God. Furthermore, it was limited only to the apostolic period (2Co 12:12; Heb 2:3-4) and not for today.

D. The introduction of the “we” passages shoe that the author Luke has joined Paul’s missionary team.

VI. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

A. Model for Ministry

B. Are visions and divine internal communications for today?

C. What is Providence?

Grace Bible Church · 4000 E. Collins Rd · PO Box #3762 · Gillette, WY · (307) 686-1516