The number of Jews at Philippi appears to have been small, as there was no synagogue in the place. But the apostle, as usual, goes first to them, even when it is only a few women come together by the river side. (Acts 16) Paul preached to them, Lydia is converted, the door is opened, and others also believe. It was in this unpretending place, and to these few pious women, that the gospel was first preached in Europe, and the first household baptized. But its quiet beginnings, and its peaceful triumphs, were soon to be disturbed by the malice of Satan and the covetousness of man. The gospel was not to be advanced in the midst of heathenism with ease and comfort, but with great opposition and suffering.
As the apostle and his companions were going to the oratory, or place of prayer, a damsel possessed of an evil spirit followed them, and cried, saying, “These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation.” At first, Paul took no notice of her. He went on with his own blessed work of preaching Christ, and winning souls for Him. But the poor possessed slave persisted in following them, and in uttering the same exclamation. It was a malicious attempt of the enemy to hinder the work of God, by bearing a testimony to the ministers of the word. It will be observed that she does not bear testimony to “Jesus,” or to the “Lord,” but to His “servants,” and to “the most high God.” But Paul did not want a testimony to himself, nor a testimony from an evil spirit, and he, “being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.”
As the damsel could no longer practice her arts of soothsaying, her masters saw themselves deprived of the gains which they had hitherto derived from that source. Enraged at the loss of their property, and moving the multitude to side with, them, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the magistrates. As they were well aware that they had no real charge to bring against them, they raised the old cry of “troubling the peace”—that they were attempting to introduce Jewish practices into the Roman colony, and to teach customs which were contrary to the Roman laws. And, as it has often been since, the clamor of the multitude was accepted in the place of evidence, examination, and deliberation. The magistrates, without further inquiry, commanded them to be publicly scourged and cast into prison. And thus it was; these blessed servants of God, wounded, bleeding, and faint, were handed over to a cruel jailor to keep them safely, and he added to their sufferings by making their feet fast in the stocks. But in place of Paul and Silas being depressed by their bodily sufferings and the gloomy walls of a prison, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame and pain for the sake of Christ and in place of the silence of midnight being broken with the sighs and groans of the prisoners, they “prayed and sang praises to God: and the other prisoners heard them.”
If Satan is not without resources to carry on his evil work, God is not without resources to carry on His good work. He now makes use of all that has happened to direct the progress of the work of the gospel, and to accomplish the purposes of His love. The jailor is to be converted, the Church is to be gathered out, and a witness set up for the Lord Jesus Christ, in the very stronghold of heathenism. At midnight, while Paul and Silas were singing, and the prisoners listening to the unusual sound, there was a great earthquake. God enters the scene in majesty and grace. He utters His voice, and the earth trembles: the prison walls are shaken; the doors fly open, and every man’s fetters fall off. And now, what are Roman prisons? —what are Roman legions?—what is the whole power of the enemy? God’s voice is heard in the storm: but the violence of the tempest is succeeded by the still small voice of the gospel and the peace of heaven.
Awakened in a moment by the earthquake, the jailor’s first thoughts were of his prisoners. Alarmed at seeing the prison doors open, and supposing that the prisoners were fled, he drew his sword and would have killed himself. “But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here.” These words of love broke the jailor’s heart. The calm serenity of Paul and Silas—their refusing to avail themselves of the opportunity to escape—their tender concern for him—all combined to make them appear in the eyes of the astonished jailor, as beings of a higher order. He laid aside his sword, called for a light, sprang into the prison; and, trembling, fell down at the apostle’s feet. His conscience was now reached, his heart was broken, and there was something like the violence of an earthquake agitating his whole soul. He takes the place of a lost sinner, and cries, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” He does not say, like the lawyer in the tenth of Luke, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” It was no question with the jailor of doing something for life, but of salvation for the lost. The lawyer, like many others, did not know himself as a lost sinner, therefore he does not speak about salvation.
In reply to the most important inquiry that human lips can ever make, “What must I do to be saved?” the apostle directs the mind of the jailor to Christ—“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” God gave the blessing, and the whole house believed, rejoiced, and were baptized. And now all is changed; the jailor takes the prisoners into his own house—his cruelty is changed into love, sympathy, and hospitality. In the same hour of the night he washed their stripes—set meat before them—rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. What an eventful night! What a change in a few hours! and what a joyful morning dawned on that happy house! The Lord be praised!
Like Darius of old, the magistrates appear to have been disturbed during the night. The news of the earthquake might have reached them, or that Paul and Silas were Romans. But as soon as it was day, they sent word to the jailor to “let those men go.” He immediately made known the order to Paul and Silas, and wished them to depart in peace. But Paul refused to accept his liberty without some public acknowledgment of the wrong he had suffered. He also now made known the fact that he and Silas were Roman citizens. The famous words of Cicero had passed into a proverb, and had immense weight everywhere; “To bind a Roman citizen is an outrage, to scourge him is a crime.” The magistrates had evidently violated the Roman laws; but Paid only demanded, that as they had been publicly treated as guilty, the magistrates should come and publicly declare that they were innocent. This they readily did, seeing what wrong they had done. “And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.” The apostles readily complied with the magistrates’ request, left the prison, and openly entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them and departed.
We would only further add before leaving this memorable chapter, that it is very pleasant to find in Paul’s epistle to the Philippians, the proofs of an attachment which bound them together, and which continued from “the first day” even until Paul’s imprisonment at Rome. His affection for his beloved Philippians was wonderful. He addressed them as—“my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.” And he acknowledges, with no small joy, their unwearied fellowship with him in the gospel, and the many practical proofs of their loving care and tender sympathy for himself. As early as his residence at Thessalonica they thought of his need. “For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.” Phil. 4:15-19.
PAUL AT THESSALONICA AND BEREA.
Paul and Silas now directed their course to Thessalonica. Timothy and Luke appear to have remained behind in Philippi for a short time. Having passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, Paul and Silas arrived at Thessalonica. Here they found a synagogue. It was a commercial town of great importance, where many Jews resided. “Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures.” The hearts of many were touched by his preaching; and a great multitude of devout Greeks, and women of high station, believed. But Paul’s old enemy again appears. “The Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out unto the people. And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.” These verses may suffice to give us the character of the universal enmity of the Jews against the gospel and against Paul its chief minister.
The apostle had evidently preached to the Thessalonians the truth respecting the exaltation of Christ, and His coming again in glory: “Saying there is another king, one Jesus.” Hence the constant allusion to “the coming of the Lord,” and to “the day of the Lord,” in Paul’s epistles to that church. From what Paul says in his first epistle we learn, that his labors were most abundant, and greatly owned and blessed of the Lord to many souls. 1 Thess. 1:9, 10; 2:10, 11.
The apostle now proceeded to Berea. Here the Jews were more noble. They examined what they heard by the word of God. There was great blessing here also. Many believed; but the Jews, like hunters after their prey, hastened from Thessalonica to Berea, and raised a tumult which forced Paul to leave the place almost immediately. Accompanied by some of the Berean converts, he directed his course to Athens. Silas and Timotheus were left behind.
Paul’s visit to Athens.
The appearance of the apostle in Athens is an event in his history of great importance. It was, in some respects, the capital of the world, and the seat of Grecian culture and philosophy; but it was also the central point of superstition and idolatry.
It is very interesting to observe, that the apostle was in no haste to enter upon his work here. He allowed time for reflection. Deep thoughts, and how to weigh up everything in the presence of God, and in the light of the death and resurrection of Christ, filled his mind. It was his first intention to wait for the arrival of Silas and Timotheus. He had sent back a message to Berea, that they were to come to him with all speed. But when he saw himself surrounded with temples, and altars, and statues, and idolatrous worship, he could keep silence no longer. As usual, he begins with the Jews, but also disputes daily with the philosophers in the market place. Christianity and paganism thus openly confront each other; and, be it observed, the apostle of Christianity was alone in Athens; but the place swarmed with the apostles of paganism; and so numerous were the objects of worship, that a satirist observed, “It is easier to find a god than a man in Athens.”
Some scornfully derided what they heard, others listened and wished to hear more. “Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods; because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.” Thus we learn what Paid in his daily conversation had been pressing on the attention of the people, and the different classes of philosophers. It was “Jesus and the resurrection.” These words had made the greatest impression, and remained the most distinctly in their minds. What a new thing, and what a blessed reality for souls! The Person of Christ; not a theory: the fact of the resurrection; not a gloomy uncertainty as to the future. The minister of Christ lays bare to the learned Athenians their fearful condition in the sight of the true God. Nevertheless, they sought to have a fuller and more deliberate exposition of these mysterious subjects, and they brought Paul unto Areopagus.
This place, we are told, was the most convenient and appropriate for a public address. The most solemn court of justice had sat from time immemorial on the hill of Areopagus. The judges sat in the open air, upon seats hewn out in the rock. On this spot many solemn questions had been discussed, and many solemn cases decided; beginning with the legendary trial of Mars, which gave to the place the name of “Mars’ hill.”
It was in this scene that Paul addressed the multitude. There is no moment in the apostle’s history, or in the history of the first planting of Christianity, more deeply interesting or better known than this. Inspired by feelings for the honor of God, and filled with the knowledge of man’s condition in the light of the cross, what must he have felt as he stood on Mars’ hill? Wherever he turned his eyes, the signs of idolatry in its thousand forms rose up before him. He might have been betrayed, under the circumstances, to have spoken strongly; but he mastered his feelings, and refrained from intemperate language. Considering the fervency of his spirit, and the greatness of his zeal for truth, it was a remarkable instance of self-denial and self-command. But his Lord and Master was with him, though to the human eye he stood alone before the Athenians, and the many foreigners who flocked to that university of the world.
For wisdom, prudence, sound reasoning, and consummate skill, Paul’s address stands alone in the annals of mankind. He did not begin by attacking their false gods, or by denouncing their religion as a satanic delusion, and the object of his utter detestation. Zeal without knowledge would have done so, and been pleased with its own faithfulness. But in the address before us, we have an example of the best way of approaching the minds and hearts of ignorant and prejudiced persons in every age. May the Lord give wisdom to all His servants to follow it!
His opening words are both winning and reproving. “Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.” He thus begins by acknowledging that they had religious feelings, but that they were wrongly directed; and then speaks of himself as one who was ready to lead them to the knowledge of the true God. “Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.” He wisely selects for his text, the inscription, “To the unknown God.” This gives him an opportunity to commence at the lowest step in the ladder of truth. He speaks of the oneness of God, the Creator, and the relationship of man to Him. But he soon leaves the argument against idolatry, and proceeds to preach the gospel. And yet he is careful not to introduce the name of Jesus in his public address. He had done so fully in his more private ministrations: but he was now surrounded by the disciples and admirers of such names as Socrates, Plato, Zeno, and Epicurus—and he sacredly guards the holy name of Jesus from the risk of a comparison with such. He well knew that the name of the lowly Jesus of Nazareth, was “to the Greeks foolishness.” Nevertheless, it is easily seen, that towards the close of his address, the attention of the whole audience is concentrated on the man Christ Jesus, though His name is not mentioned in the whole speech. Thus he proceeds, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” Here the patience of his audience failed—his discourse was interrupted. But the last impression left on their minds was one of eternal weight and importance. The inspired apostle addressed himself to the consciences, not to the intellectual curiosity, of the philosophers. The mention of the resurrection of the dead, and the judgment of the world, with such commanding power and authority, could not fail to trouble these proud and self-indulgent men. The essential principle, or the highest aim of the Epicurean philosopher, was to gratify himself—that of the Stoic, was a proud indifference to good and evil, pleasure and pain. Need we wonder then, that this remarkable assembly should have broken up, amidst the scornful derision of some, and the icy indifference of others? But in spite of all, Christianity had gained its first and noble victory over idolatry; and, whatever may have been the immediate results of Paul’s speech, we know it has been blessed to many ever since, and that it shall yet bring forth much fruit in many souls, and continue to bear fruit to the glory of God forever and forever.
Paul now departs from among them. He does not appear to have been driven away by any tumult or persecution. The blessed Lord gave him to taste His own joy, and the joy of angels, over penitent sinners. “Among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a, woman named Damaris, and others with them.” But in the military city of Philippi, and the mercantile cities of Thessalonica and Corinth, the number of conversions seems to have been much greater than in the highly educated and polished city of Athens. This is deeply humbling to the pride of man, and to the boasted powers of the human mind. One epistle was written to the Philippians, two to the Thessalonians, and two to the Corinthians: but we possess no letter written by Paul to the Athenians, and we do not read that he ever again visited Athens.