September 8th

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to On the Way with Tony Crisp. Each weekday, Dr. Crisp will be discussing biblical passages, people, places, and prophecies. Tune in daily to start your day right and deepen your understanding of how to better walk the way and enjoy the journey. Here's your host, Dr. Tony Crisp.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Welcome to On the Way. This is Tony Crisp, and this is the 365 Bible Reading Plan. Today is September the 8th, and our passage for today is Acts chapter 16. Well, the second missionary journey is well on its way. Then Paul and his entourage came to Derby and Lystra, and behold a certain disciple was there named Timotheus, one who honors God, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek, was Hellenist. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. In other words, Timothy was a young man who was Jewish. Why was he Jewish? Because his mother was Jewish. This is what determines whether someone is Jewish is whether their mother is Jewish, not whether their father is Jewish, because the paternity up until recently could not be told by DNA. So if you were of natural birth of a woman who was a Jew, then that's obvious you were a Jew, and so this is it. And so she had married a Greek, and so the Bible says that Paul wanted to have him go with them. Why? Because the brethren, the rest of the disciples there, said now that Timothy really has great potential. He loves the Lord, he's a good student, Paul. You should take him with you. He's going to be a great protege. So Paul wanted to have him go on with him, that is, on the journey. So he took him and circumcised him. Now why would Timothy not be circumcised? Because his father wasn't circumcised. That was something that Jews did, not the Greeks. They would not cut each other. They would not cut their children, but rather they would be natural. And so the Jews, this was a sign of the Abrahamic covenant. And so Paul knew that it would be asked whether Timothy was circumcised if he went into certain Jewish synagogues. And so they would say, Are all of these men Jews? And he would say, Yes, they are. Yes, they all are. This would help them to not be a stumbling block. This is Paul's idea. He said he would do this. He was going to circumcise him. This is what verse 3 says, because of the Jews that were in that region, for they all knew that his father was a Greek, and so they would have asked him, Well, is this boy circumcised because his dad's a Greek? And he said, Of course he is. And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep. What decrees? Which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. Remember, this is after Acts 15, after the Jerusalem Council. And so all the Gentiles needed to know, and the Jews need to know what the council had said, who was made up of only Jews, by the way. And so this is what they had said. That's right. The Lord's half brother James, who presided over the Jerusalem Council, Peter and Barnabas and Silas and Paul, all of them were there. And they decided this. So they were telling them this is what they decide. You don't have to be a Jew in order to be saved. You don't have to become a Jew in order to be saved. So the churches were strengthened. Now the word strengthened means that they were established. They were made to take hold. They were balanced. They had the proper foundation in the faith. And they increased. This is a word which means that they were overflowing. It wasn't just meaning they were having additions and some multiplication. This is the word for exponential growth. They were overflowing. How were they overflowing? In arithmo. Arithmo. So where we get our word arithmetic in numbers. This is the word in the Torah for the book of Numbers. It is arithmoi. And so this is they were increasing in numbers, not just in stature, not just in growth, not just in spiritual growth. They were growing in numbers. Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach in Asia. Now that's not the continent. They were already on the continent of Asia in Turkey, modern day Turkey, but this is the Roman province of Asia. And after they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, which was north and east, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they came to the ancient city of Troy called Troazir, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night, a man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. Now if you'll notice from verse nine to the end of the verses I just read, verse ten, that everything changes. So passing by verse eight, by Mysia they that's a pronoun they came down to Troaz. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night, a man of Macedonia, and stood and pleaded with him, saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. Now look at verse ten. Now after he, Paul had seen the vision, immediately not they, but we that's first person plural. We now Luke is the writer, is now with them. So what does that mean? They met up at Troy. Maybe he was a practicing physician in Troaz. Maybe he was a traveling physician and just was there in Troaz. But he was practicing in Troy, an ancient Troy, the city of Troaz, and now we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach all of this first person pronouns. And so Luke is now part of the entourage of Paul. Therefore, sailing from Troaz we, and from now on it's we. Before this it was they. Why? Because Luke, the writer of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, took in hand to write this, and so Luke, without saying, Hey, this is when I got on board, I Luke, was a no, he just says from now on it's a we thing, not a they thing. And this is what a good writer would have done. He would have not called attention to himself. Why? Because that's not the purpose to call attention to oneself. And so they went to preach the gospel. Therefore, sailing from Troaz, we ran a straight course to Samothrace. Now that is just right off the coast, part of the Greek Isles, and the next day came to Neapolis. Now that is the port city that is closest to Philippi. I've been there on occasions, beautiful, absolutely beautiful, at the foot of a hilly terrain. The road, the Ignatian way, picks up there. That's an ancient Roman road, and it goes right to Philippi. Now it says about Philippi, and from there we came to Philippi, which is the foremost city, the leading city of that part of Macedonia, and comma, a colony. Now a colony of Rome, you can look that up in your dictionaries. A colony of Rome was usually called a colony because it was usually expatriates, it was usually military men who had served in the Roman army, and now they would be given a place to live, land to go and get for almost nothing or nothing, and it would be mainly a military uh place, and all of these ex military men would go there. And the Caesars knew once they did that they would have a loyal following that could be raised in a hurry if need be to help secure the interest of the Roman Empire and the Roman Republic. And that's exactly what happened here. This was a colony, which means not only that it was mainly made up of military people to begin with, but also they were given tax breaks, they were given special relationships, they didn't have to ascend to Rome to do things, they could make decisions on their own. They were like almost an ancient Greek city-state, only was called a colony. And the history books validate what Luke says here from a political and geopolitical standpoint. And so it was a colony, but it was part of the province of Macedonia. And they were staying in that city for some days. Now on Shabbat we went out of the city, Luke said, to the riverside where prayer was customarily made. And we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now this is fascinating. Why? Because in order to have a synagogue, you have to have at least a minion. That's ten men. And so what this tells us about this ancient colony, where it was mainly Roman military retirees that came there, that there were not even enough Jewish men in Philippi, there were not enough Jews there to even start a synagogue. That's right. So this tells us a lot about the culture. You just have to read behind the scenes here. Because they were going outside the city if they uh had have had any Jews there to mount anything, especially men, at least ten, they would have formed a synagogue somewhere inside the city. But there wasn't even enough to have that. So on the Sabbath day, they went outside the city to a riverside, and the river runs right beside Philippi. It's a beautiful, beautiful, I wish I could just show it to you right now. It's just absolutely breathtaking area. Beautiful valley. So they went out there and they met a certain woman named Lydia. She was a cellar of purple, that is the purple dye that the city of Thytira was known for. And she was worshiping God, and the Lord opened her heart to heed the things that were spoken by Paul as he preached that Jesus is the Messiah. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, If I you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and say, so she persuaded us. Now legend has it, that is, by word of mouth in the early fathers, that Lydia was the supporter of the Apostle Paul from that day on, and would have sent to him, made sure that he was taken care of as he went on his journeys. In other words, uh she was a benefactor that gave him support over and over again. And so then you have the story beginning in verse sixteen of the slave girl that the Apostle Paul and Silas cast out demons from her, and when they did, they were seized because of the fact that the people that had that she had worked for were no longer getting income from her. They knew that their golden goose had just been cooked, and so they dragged them in the marketplace. They did everything you can imagine to humiliate them, and it says in verse twenty, and they brought them to the magistrates and said, These men being Jews exceedingly trouble our city, and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans to receive or observe. Then the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. When they had laid many stripes on them, they caned them. Then they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer that they be kept securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in stocks. But at midnight Paul and Silas were not a bit worried, they were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaken from sleep, seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. Why? Because they would have tortured him and then killed him, as he had let these prize, high level, high value prisoners go. But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, Don't harm yourself, we're all here. Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, and he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Then they said, Trust on the Lord Jesus Christ, trust on Jesus as the Messiah, and you will be saved. You and your household can be saved. Then they spoke the word of the Lord unto him and all who were in his house, that is, they preached the gospel to them. That's what that means. And he took them that same hour of the night and washed their stripes. Why? Because they had been caned, they had been beaten and then thrown in this dungeon that was dirty and was not fit for anyone. And immediately he and all his family were baptizoed. They were immersed. And that was immediately. I love it that King James used the word straightway. When do you need to be baptized? Immediately. When do you need to be baptized? Straightway. Well, wait just a minute. I want to call I want to wait till mama comes in. Now mama's going to be here in six months and let's do it then. Well, it's not about mama. Well, you know, I'd like to wait until it gets warmer. Well, it's not about getting warmer. Well, I'd like to wait. Well, in the Bible, the pattern is straightway. As soon as possible. Why? Because God has radically changed your life and you need to let everybody know that by showing you have identified with the message that's being preached. You've identified with a new message. You've died to your old way of life, your old belief system, and you're being raised to walk in a new life, a new belief system, a new way with a new master, a new rabbi. And that needs to be done as quickly as possible. You say, Well, is it wrong? It's not a matter if it's wrong. That's the wrong question to be asking. We need to ask what's the best. How do we best glorify God? We do that by obeying it. The pattern of the Bible is to be baptized as quickly as possible. Now you say, Well, that's just not convenient. Well, honestly, the Christian life's not about convenience at any point. And so when it was day, the magistrates sent for the officers saying, Let these men go. Now I would say the Bible doesn't say it, this is Tony. I would say they found out that Paul was a Roman citizen. And if that being the case, they knew they were in a heap of trouble if word got out that they had without trial, without any kind of rights being read, no Miranda Rites, nothing, that they had beaten them openly, publicly, and they had humiliated a Roman citizen, a citizen who was born a citizen, born a Roman. That's the apostle Paul, that's Saul of Tarsus. And so they reported, let them go, so the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul, saying, The magistrates have sent to let you go, now therefore depart in peace. And Paul said, uh, well, they've beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. See, Luke was probably a citizen of Rome as well, and he was probably right in there with them. And now do they put us out secretly? No, indeed. Notice the exclamation point. No way, Jose. Now that's Tony, that's a paraphrase. No, indeed. Let them come themselves and get us out. And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard they were Romans. Oh no, what have we done? I thought they were Jews. Why did you tell me, Joe, that they were a Jew? I can't believe that. Now you should have asked, well, you're out. And I can just imagine, just like it would be day, people are people. Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out and asked them to depart from the city. So they went out of the prison and near the house of Lydia. And when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. Oh my goodness, what a story of the goodness and mercy and graciousness of God. And it's there for us all as we walk on the way. This is Tony Crisp.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Thanks for listening to On the Way with Tony Crisp. Tune in every weekday for information on biblical passages, people, places, and prophecies. Fridays are for your questions. Email your questions to questions at TonyCrisp.org. Then just listen for your question to be answered on Friday's podcast. That's Questions at TonyC R I S P dot org. Thanks for listening and have a blessed day on the way.