(Acts 13:13) Q of Reflection:

 Why did John Mark desert his friends

and return to Jerusalem? The reason
is unknown. PROBABILITIES:
The fear of danger as
the party moved into
new and difficult areas.
The alarm in traveling
so far into unknown
PROBABILITIES:
Perhaps he was just
plain homesick
Or he may have become
unhappy because Paul
had begun to take over
the leadership from his
cousin Barnabas .
But it is plain from Acts
15:38, that it was from
some cause which was
deemed blameworthy,
and that his conduct
now was such as to
make Paul unwilling
again to have him as a
He must have done
something so serious that
Paul did not want him back
on his "team" again! Later,
Paul would enlist Timothy
to take John Mark's place
(Acts 16:1-5).
John Mark did redeem
himself and was eventually
A New Partner (Acts 15:36-41)
Paul & Barnabas agreed on the
importance of the trip, but they
could not agree on the
composition of the "team."
OBSERVATION:
Two dedicated men who helped bring
unity to the church, and yet they
could not settle their own
disagreements!
Disturbing and painful as these
Barnabas champion John Mark
(cousins, Col 4:10)
Barnabas (son of
encouragement, Acts 4:36),
gave John Mark an opportunity
to serve the Lord and to prove
himself.
For Paul, 1st missionary
journey, John Mark deserting
them (Acts 13:13) was a mark
The ministry was too
important, and the work too
demanding, to enlist someone
who might prove unreliable.
It turned into a real argument,
the only solution was for the
friends to divide the territory
and separate. Barnabas took
Mark and went to his native
Cyprus, and Paul took Silas
and headed for Syria and
Who was right?
Good and godly people in the
church do disagree;
Perhaps both men were right on
some things and wrong on other
things. Paul looked at people and
asked, "What can they do for God's
work?" while Barnabas looked at
people and asked, "What can
God's work do for them?"
Both questions are important to
the Lord's work, and sometimes it
FACTS:
John Mark ultimately did succeed in
the ministry and that Paul came to
love and appreciate him (see Col 4:10;
2 Tim 4:11; Philem 23-24).
A new partner, Silas, a chief man in
the church, a prophet (Acts 15:22,32),
and one chosen to take the Jerusalem
Conference decrees to the churches
(Acts 15:27).
"Silas" was coauthor with Paul of the
Thessalonian epistles, and he was the
secretary for Peter's first epistle (1 Pe
Lesson:
God changes His workmen, but
His work goes right on.
Now there were two missionary
teams instead of one!
If God had to depend on perfect
people to accomplish His work, He
would never ever get anything
done.
Our limitations and imperfections
are good reasons for us to depend
on the grace of God, for our
A New Helper (Timothy, Acts 16:1-
5)
Paul and Silas
Destination: from the east
First to Derbe, then to Lystra, just
the reverse of the first journey
(Acts 14:6-20).
Went from church to church,
delivering the decrees and helping
establish the believers in the
faith.
At Lystra: Timothy to replace
John Mark as Paul's special
assistant.
Timothy, probably converted
through Paul's ministry when
the apostle first visited Lystra.
Paul called him "my beloved
son" (1 Cor 4:17) & "my own
son in the faith" (1 Tim 1:2).
Timothy's mother and
grandmother had prepared the
Timothy's mother and
grandmother were the
first in the family to trust
Christ (2 Tim 1:5).
Young Timothy witnessed
Paul's sufferings in Lystra
(Acts 14:19-20; 2 Tim
3:10-11) and was drawn
by the Lord to the
Timothy was Paul's favorite
companion and coworker
(Phil 2:19-23), perhaps the
son Paul never had but
always wanted. Bcs he had
a good report from the
churches (1 Tim 3:7)
Ordained by Paul and
added to his "team" (1 Tim
Paul's next step:
Timothy circumcised,
an action that seems
to contradict the
decision of the
Jerusalem Conference.
Important spiritual
principle behind Paul's
decision.
Paul did not allow Titus to
be circumcised lest the
enemy think he was
promoting their cause (Gal
2:1-5).
Paul's concern with Timothy
Timothy would be working
with both Jews and Gentiles
in the churches, and it was
essential that he not offend
them. (see 1 Cor 9:19-23).
He became shepherd of the
church in Ephesus (1 Tim
1:3) and probably joined
Paul in Rome shortly before
the apostle was martyred (2
A New Vision (Acts 16:6-12),
“God opened the way”
 Paul tried to enter new territory
for the Lord by traveling east
into Asia Minor and Bythinia,
but the Lord closed the door.
 Even apostles were not always
clear as to God's will for their
ministries! God planned for the
message to get there another
time (Acts 18:19-19:41; see 1
In His sovereign grace, God led
Paul west into Europe, not east
into Asia.
 At Troas, Paul was called to
Macedonia by a man whom he
saw in a night vision. Paul was
quick to respond to the vision .
 What do you note by the
pronoun “we” in Acts 16:10,
12, 13…?
 Dr. Luke, who wrote the Book of
OBSERVATION:
 From Troas to Neapolis (150
miles)
It took them 2 days to make the
journey. Later, the trip in the
opposite direction would take 5
days, apparently because of
contrary winds (Acts 20:6).
Philippi lay 10 miles inland from
Neapolis
God opened Lydia's heart (vv.
13-15).
 OBSERVATION:
 Paul and his friends did not
plunge immediately into
evangelizing the city
 They rested & pray and
made their plans together. It
is not enough to know where
God wants us to work; we
Philippi (no synagogue), only a
place of prayer by the river
outside the city
Lydia was a successful
businesswoman from Thyatira, a
city renowned for its purple dye.
She was "a worshiper of God," a
Gentile who was not a full Jewish
proselyte but who openly
worshiped with the Jews.
She was seeking truth. Acts
She boldly identified herself
with Christ by being
baptized, and she insisted
that the missionaries stay
at her house.
All of her household had
been converted, so this was
a good opportunity for Paul
and his associates to teach
 God opened the prison
doors (vv. 16-40).
 OBSERVATION:
 lost people get saved,
Satan begins to hinder
the work.
 In this case, he used a
demonized girl who had
As Paul and his "team" went
regularly to the place of
prayer, still witnessing to the
lost, this girl repeatedly
shouted after them, "These
men are the servants of the
Most High God, who show
us the way of salvation!"
WHAT IS WRONG WITH
THAT? WHY DID PAUL
1.Paul did not want either the
Gospel or the name of God to be
"Promoted" by one of Satan's
slaves, so he cast out the demon.
2.Ignoring this was like making a
covenant with this girl! When the
missionaries leave the town, most
possibly the harvest would easily
identified with her practices; and
also the unsaved would not know
the difference. BEWARE! Tasha
Cobbs Leonard ft. Nicki Minaj -
REPERCUSSIONS:
The owners had no concern for
the girl, they were interested only
in the income she provided, and
now that income was gone. (The
conflict between money and
ministry, Acts: 5:1-11; 8:18-24;
19:23 ff; 20:33-34.)
Their only recourse was the
Roman law. The missionaries were
Jewish and were propagating a
Moved by both religious and
racial prejudices, the
magistrates acted rashly
and did not investigate the
matter fully. This neglect on
their part later brought
them embarrassment.
 Why didn't Paul and Silas
plead their Roman
Why didn't Paul and
Silas plead their Roman
citizenship?
(see Acts 22:25-29;
25:11-12)
Perhaps there was not
time
or perhaps Paul was
He and Silas were
stripped and beaten
(see 2 Cor 11:23,25)
and put in the city
prison.
It looked like the
end of their witness
OBSERVATION:
Instead of complaining or
calling on God to judge
their enemies, they
prayed and praised God.
The midnight hour is not
the easiest tune for a
sacred time, but God
gives "songs in the night"
Songs in the night come
only from God; they are not
in the power of men.
Ex 12:29, “At midnight the
Lord slew every firstborn in
the land of Egypt, from the
firstborn of Pharaoh who sat
on his throne to the
firstborn of the prisoner in
the dungeon, and all the
Judg 16:3, “But Samson
lay until midnight, and
[then] he arose and took
hold of the doors of the
city's gate and the two
posts, and pulling them
up, bar and all, he put
them on his shoulders
and carried them to the
Job 24:17, “For midnight is
morning to all of them; for
they are familiar with the
terrors of deep darkness.”
1 Kings 3:20, “And she
arose at midnight and took
my son from beside me
while your handmaid slept
and laid him in her bosom
and laid her dead child in
Ps 119:62, “At midnight
I will rise to give
thanks to You because
of Your righteous
ordinances.”
Matt 25:6, “But at
midnight there was a
shout, Behold, the
Acts 27:27, “the fourteenth
night had come and we were
drifting and being driven
about in the Adriatic Sea,
when about midnight the
sailors began to suspect that
they were drawing near to
some land.”
Lk 22:53, “…Every day I was
with you in the temple courts,
Prayer and praise are
powerful weapons (2 Chron
20:1-22; Acts 4:23-37).
God responded by shaking
the foundations of the
prison, opening all the
doors, and loosening the
prisoners' bonds.
They could have fled to
freedom, but instead they
The prisoners must have
realized that there was
something very special
about those two Jewish
preachers!
OBSERVATION:
It was a Roman law that if
a guard lost a prisoner, he
was given the same
There must have
been some men in
the prison who had
committed capital
crimes.
The jailer would
rather commit
FACTS:
A hard-hearted person
seeking vengeance would
have let the cruel jailer kill
himself, but Paul was not that
kind of a man (see Matt 5:10-
12,43-48).
It was the jailer who was the
prisoner,' not Paul, and Paul
not only saved the man's life,
"What must I do to
be saved?”
This is the cry of
lost people
worldwide
Faith in Jesus Christ
alone (Acts 2:38-39;
What do you understand
by v31?
The phrase "and thy
house" does not mean that
the faith of the jailer
would automatically bring
salvation to his family.
Each sinner must trust
Christ personally in order
The phrase
means
"and your
household will be
saved if they will
also believe."
OBSERVATION
Change in the attitude of the
jailer:
he washed the wounds of
prisoners.
One of the evidences of true
repentance is a loving desire to
make restitution and
reparation wherever we have
hurt others.
We should not only wash one
FACTS
The city officials knew that
they had no convincing case
against Paul and Silas, so they
sent word to the jailer to
release them.
Paul, however, was unwilling to
"sneak out of town," for that
kind of exit would have left the
new church under a cloud of
suspicion.
Were they guilty of some
crime? Why did they leave
so quickly?
What do their followers
believe?"
Paul and his associates
wanted to leave behind a
strong witness of their
own integrity as well as a
It was then that Paul
made use of his Roman
citizenship and boldly
challenged the officials
on the legality of their
treatment.
This was not personal
revenge but a desire to
While the record does
not say that the
magistrates officially
and publicly apologized,
it does state that they
respectfully came to
Paul and Silas, escorted
them out of the prison,
Paul and Silas remained
in Philippi long enough to
visit the new believers
and encourage them in
the Lord.
GRAND LESSON:
We can see that the work
of the Lord progresses
Sometimes the workers
have problems with each
other
Sometimes the problems
come from the outside.
It is also worth noting that
not every sinner comes to
Christ in exactly the same
manner.
Timothy was saved partly
Lydia was converted through a
quiet conversation with Paul at
a Jewish prayer meeting,
while the jailer's conversion
was dramatic.
One minute he was a potential
suicide, and the next minute
he was a child of God!
Different people with different
experiences, and yet all of
them changed by the grace of
Others just like them are
waiting to be told God's
simple plan of salvation.

Will you help them hear?

In your own witness for

Christ will you be daring?
BEWARE!