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Category: Acts for a 21st c. Church

Acts of the Apostles + a History of Christ’s Church

Acts of the Apostles 1-28

Acts of the Apostles:
+ The first century Church SHARED Christ while suffering severe persecution.
+ Luke records a historic account of the Church which gives 21c Christians a context to SHARE the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.

Read more about the Early Church & add your COMMENT on Scripture.

ACT now.

+ SHARE the Gospel history witnessed in the CURRENT chronological SERIES from ACTS of the APOSTLES.

Signs of Release from the Bondage of Culture
The Bondage of Culture and Corruption
The Shaking of Earthquakes
σεισμός – seismos
Signs by the One God of Power!
Acts 16:
Sorry, my public judgment was a mistake
Returning to the Jailer
The Bondage of Culture and Corruption

.. that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

This is only reference to ‘bondage’ in the English Standard Bible — BONDAGE is not a very popular word of cultural correctness — and “bondage of culture” does NOT occur in any version of the Bible (though the NKJV mentions bondage more than two dozen times).

The Shaking of Earthquakes

IF you will examine the events of ACTS of the Apostles carefully as has Luke, then you will see what some would call ‘natural events,’ such as the Philippi earthquake in Acts 16 by which Paul and Silas had the bondage of their shakles released, as one of many signs of power over nature, the idolatrous ‘mother‘ of many proclaiming the bondage of culture.

The Keeper of the Philippian Prison

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken.

And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. – ACTS 16:25-26 ESV

Wooden bonds shackled to their feet – a chain bondage to a stone floor or base of the wall of their deep prison cell. THEN AN EARTHQUAKE!

Just then? (What a coincidence of ‘mother nature.’)

Just when the witness of Paul and Silas heard by the prisoners had been singing to God?

σεισμός – seismos

Even the idolaters of the bondage of culture know this, yet minimize God’s power.

“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes G4578.

Signs by the One God of Power!

and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
Gospel of Luke 21:11 LSB –

“But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake.
Gospel of Luke 21:12

Isn’t this what has just happened to the apostles Paul and Silas in a Philippian prison?

Acts 16:
- .. a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.
- Paul .. said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.
A spiritual bondage to the darkness of evil forbidden by Almighty God. And a bondage of culture to profit from knowledge unavailable to others.
- ..her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.
- The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison
These magistrates were Roman leaders. The slave girl’s owners may also have been Roman OR these evil masters of the girl may have been Hellenist (Greek) men of Philippi clinging to the bondage of culture, not only theirs but that of their Roman overseers.

If you missed it previously READ more about the Culture of Philippi

The slave girl of spiritual bondage AND the local bondage of culture of her Philippian owners had proclaimed prophetically:

“These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”

Yet the local Philippian owners of this girl bound to sin and under the bondage of culture – the slavery of differences:

“These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. ²¹They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.”

Is it customary for culture to beat its prisoners without a trial?

Yes, if the loudest of crowds can rule over their rulers with impunity.

It is our own bondage of culture which refuses the Savior Jesus Christ who sent his apostles and Gospel into all the world to free sinners from death.

Sorry, my public judgment was a mistake

So just go quitely away from our culture of bondage (to what we insist on doing).

35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.”

(We are moving down the cultural commanding chain of command here.)

36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.”

But Paul said to them,

“They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly?

No! Let them come themselves and take us out.”
Acts of the apostle Paul 16:37, sending out his reply to Philippian Roman magistrates through their jailer

The Legacy Standard Version [below] may be more helpful in understanding the cultural connection of this injustice.

But Paul said to them, “Having beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans, they have thrown us into prison. And now are they sending us away secretly?

No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out.”

Paul now draws a line in the sand by his refusal to go away quietly.

He challenges a Roman bondage of culture claiming public justice of their Pax Romana.

(Working back up the Roman chain of command ruling Philippi.)

38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens.

³⁹So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city.

The political leaders of this leading Roman city have publically punished men for crimes and having served an overnight sentence in the stocks they ordered their punished prisoners to go away and don’t come back.

But Paul’s witness of righteousness in Christ demands that these apostles remain in town after this public incident.

⁴⁰So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia.

Paul and Silas then visit Lydia and their NEW church in the place where Christ’s apostles were first sent and welcomed — Philippi at the eastern edge of Europe and in the very heart of the Roman Mediterranean Empire.

What’s just happened?

FAITH of two apostles singing at midnight in a prison in Philippi and THEN an earthquake!

They might have been killed in a collapsing cell in the lowest part of this jail!

BUT it’s more than just a shaking of the ground — this pivotal sign from the All-powerful God of heaven to whom Paul and Silas had prayed and praised. The prison doors are also opened yet no prison trys to escape. They wait in the darkness for the light of the hope of Paul and Silas.

Returning to the Jailer

²⁷When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped..

..the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself..

“Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”

²⁹And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said,

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹And they said,

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Acts of the Apostles 16:31b – Paul’s reply to his jailer in Philippi who asked, “What must I do to be saved?”

And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.

³⁴Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.
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We have already examined the cultural bondage of the public court and its magistrates, who later attenpted to apologize and send them away quietly.
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The faith of the apostles had been public before prison, public in prison, public at the house of Lydia and the house of their Philippian Jailer.

FAITH in the Lord Jesus is a matter of PUBLIC witness every day and in every place.

And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.
Acts of the apostles 16:40b

To be continued…
March 22, 2023
The Keeper of the Philippian Prison
What is your experience as the keeper of something important?

Have you ever been the one of importance kept safe in some place?

(Were YOU ever the prisoner OR a jailer guard charged as the keeper a prisoner for justice?)
Prison and Prisoners
S.O.P. – Prisons of Roman Cities & Colonies
Who is this Philippian keeper of prisoners for Magistrates of the Court?
Scenario of a night in the Jail of Philippi
Acts of Awesome Faith
Psalm 142 – You Are My Refuge
Prison and Prisoners

IF the only light you ever see seeped filtered though a hole in the ceiling of your cell WOULD YOU SING?

(Likely, neither would I.)

Roman prisons were nothing to sing about, but that didn’t stop Paul and Silas.

S.O.P. – Prisons of Roman Cities & Colonies

Imprisonment was not a sentence under Roman statutory law.. Incarceration (publica custodia) .. was intended to be a temporary measure prior to trial or execution; abuses of this principle occurred but were officially censured. Located near the law courts, the [prison (carcer) with a dungeon (oubliette)] was used as a jail or holding cell for short periods before executions and as a site for executions.
Source: Wikipedia Commons

Of course this Philippian carcer of the Roman colony is bound by the same same rules for jailer and prisoner alike according to Roman Law and the SOP manual of its occupying Legions of this Greek-speaking European colony of Macedonia.

φυλακή – Strong’s translates G5438 in the following manner: prison (36x), watch (6x), imprisonment (2x), hold (1x), cage (1x), ward (1x).

Paul and Silas end up in the ‘temporary’ place near the agora and forum where they have already been punished severely by flogging under the jurisdiction of a Roman Magistrate for unspecified crimes against culture and misdemeanors for which they will most likely be run out of town rather than executed.

Therefore, this evening they have been placed into the care of a prison keeper (jailer) in Philippi for final disposition of their case in the morning.

Previously:

A cultural clash at the Agora in Roman Philippi

ACTS 16: 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.

.. they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

Who is this Philippian keeper of prisoners for Magistrates of the Court?

φυλάσσω –

Strong’s G5442 – phylassō, Probably from φυλή (G5443) through the idea of isolation
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NOTE, however the same responsibility of the Roman 'keeper' of prisoners AND the jailer's two Roman prisoners, apostles sent out with the message of the Jerusalem Council to communicate interpretation of the LAW for these Gentiles as well as the few Jews of Philippi. 
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to guard
- to watch, keep watch
- to guard or watch, have an eye upon: lest he escape
- to guard a person (or thing) that he may remain safe
- to guard i.e. care for, take care not to violate
  - to observe
- to observe for one’s self something to escape
  - to avoid, shun flee from
  - to guard for one’s self (i.e. for one’s safety’s sake) so as not to violate, i.e. to keep, observe (the precepts of the Mosaic law
Source: BlueLetterBible.org

And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.
ACTS of the Apostles 16:4 KJV – Mission of Paul, Silas and Timothy

Scenario of a night in the Jail of Philippi

A guard of the second watch [9 pm] comes on duty and shouts down to you in the hole and other prisoners in cells near you, “Lights out!” He then extinguishes the candle above expecting all to go to sleep.

Unlike the other prisoners YOU and your brother have been locked in here with wooden stocks bound to your ankles and chained to the floor of your cell.

What now?

We prayed for a while. Out loud. In fact, we recited much scripture as we prayed. Other prisoners complained to us, but after no intervention from the keeper assigned to this second watch they had no choice but to sleep (or just ignore us).

A little later we hear sounds through the darkness of the third watch [midnight-3 am] keeper coming on duty.

Silas starts singing and Paul joins his voice to the familiar Psalm:

Acts of Awesome Faith

As we continue with the Acts of Paul, Silas and Timothy in Philippi put yourself in their place — an uncertain and unpleasant prison of the moment. Hear the cries of each soul cast into the trembling darkness — the fear of God resounding in each heart.
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What Psalm? (For they knew so many from faithful worship.) 

YOU may find other PSALMS on TalkofJESUS.com which will encourage you in such dark circumstances: https://talkofjesus.com/shaken/ 

Perhaps this: The LORD is My Salvation from Psalm 27:13 OR
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Psalm 142 – You Are My Refuge

A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.
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With my voice I cry out to the LORD;
with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD.
I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.

When my spirit faints within me,
you know my way!
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
Look to the right and see:
there is none who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
no one cares for my soul.

I cry to you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
Attend to my cry,
for I am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me!
Bring me out of prison,
that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me,
for you will deal bountifully with me.
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Suppose that you are another prisoner listening to the apostles sing..

And then, something happens!

Acts of Paulos and Silas

δικαίωμα Παῦλος δέ Σιλᾶς

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken.

And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.

When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice,

“Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”

29 And [he] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.

“Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all,” Paul will write a decade later to the church in Philippi from a prison in Rome.

Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
ACTS of the apostles 16:30-31 ESV – Keeper of the Philippian jail to Paul & Silas, followed by the apostles’ answer.

Acts of the Apostles 16 – To Be Continued in the light of a new day in Philippi
March 16, 2023
A cultural clash at the Agora in Roman Philippi
a Roman Government of Greek Culture

The Roman-built forum in Philippi with its bustling traditional Greek agora resembled the forum in Rome (cover-photo remains of the Roman forum pillars shows some of the grandeur of these most-public areas of the Empires greatest cities.

Archaeological Site of Philippi: General view of the forum

Similar-sized pillars in the foreground of the Philippi Forum and agora (to the R) in this aerial view of the archaeological ruins at Philippi gives us a glimpse at the size and importance of this Macedonian City-State namesake of the father of Alexander the Great – a second Rome at the head of the Aegean.
a Roman Government of Greek Culture
Agora
Philippi was ROME in western Macedonia.
Acts of Paul and Silas
More about Philippi’s Forum & Agora
Democracy of the Marketplace
Roman Forum

Agora

Romans call it the public square, others the marketplace — Greeks called it the agora.

From their own ancient traditions people worshiped there, bought and sold goods, conducted most public aspects of government over the governed and frequently gathered at the agora for general celebrations of social life preceding both religious and private parties.

Everybody’s there for business seven days a week. The agora was where the paths of the powerful crossed publically with every-day classes of the city-state and also slaves employed to the gain of all.

The Hellenist agora suited Rome as a place where Roman citizens could mingle with their colonists in Macedonia or any other defeated foe. Roman government was conducted formally from an adjacent forum and pavement for and gathering of citizens, people or slaves before the Prefect.

You may not agree with my overview of the agora condensing some 500 years back to ancient Greece up to the era of Rome’s first century dominance of all of Europe, but as always check my sources for more details. More later.

Philippi was ROME in western Macedonia.

.. and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Acts of the Apostles 11:25b NASB

We began an introduction to Philippi last time which partially answered what Alexander the Great has to do with a second missionary journey of the apostle Paulos and Luke’s account of the ACTS of this 1st c. A.D. Roman citizen in a city of Greece.
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a few additional thoughts that may change your mind about the significance of Philippi
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- Greece is NOT a country
- City-States of ancient Macedon & Greece were separate from each other
- Democracy gave way to Empire
- Philippi was named for Emperor Alexander’s father
- Alexander died in the same Susa of Persia and Babylon where the Jews had been taken previously
- Augustus Caesar (mentioned in Luke’s Gospel) is the same Octavian who had defeated Brutus and Cassius in the Battle of Philippi
- Roman roads connected the land all across Eurasia
- Philippi as a port between Rome and Alexandria was strategically important SO..
Rome had rebuilt Philippi as a ROMAN city.

Think of Philippi as a 1st c. New YORK City to Roman colonies of a ‘new world’ similar to expansion seventeen centuries later when a current Roman conquest to the west Britannia would rule the seas.

Enter Paul and Silas apostles sent into all the world from a gateway Roman city of Philippi.

Acts of Paul and Silas

“These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”
v. 17b – a slave girl who had a spirit of divination

“I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.”
v. 18b – Paul, to the spirit in her

And it came out that very hour.

We don’t know how many more days have passed in Philippi, but Luke records that the young slave girl no longer has any demonic power to profit her owners. And of course these influential men want justice against any men who have impeded their profit by evil means.

19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

More about Philippi’s Forum & Agora

We need to see the Philippi of A.D. 50 as Roman citizens and Hellenist merchants of this important city would have viewed this scene of commerce interrupted by these out-of-towners.

ruins of Forum in Philippi adjacent to agora

agora, in ancient Greek cities, an open space that served as a meeting ground for various activities of the citizens.

Agora – source Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “agora”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Dec. 2017, https://www.britannica.com/topic/agora. Accessed 13 March 2023.
- surrounded by public buildings and by temples. Colonnades, sometimes containing shops, or stoae, often enclosed the space, and statues, altars, trees, and fountains adorned it.
- the agora influenced the development of the Roman forum and was, in turn, influenced by it. The forum, however, was conceived in a more rigid manner than the agora and became a specific, regular, open area surrounded by planned architecture.
- meetings devoted to ostracism were still held in the agora, where the main tribunal remained.
- A distinction was maintained between commercial and ceremonial agoras
- Men accused of murder and other crimes were forbidden to enter it before their trials. Free men went there not only to transact business and to act as jurors but also to talk and idle
  - source: Britannica
Democracy of the Marketplace

²⁰And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said,

“These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. ²¹They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.”

22 The crowd joined in attacking them,

and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.

23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.

24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

ACTS of Paul and Silas — To Be Continued…
March 13, 2023