An overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 16:11-15, 29-40, for Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 with the title, “Every Opportunity.” A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRO:  As many of you know, about four weeks ago, my wife Cheryl experienced a serious stroke that left her unable to use her left side. The doctor told her that had she not been walking three miles a day, this was the kind of stroke that would have either killed her, or left her in a coma. Needless to say, we are thankful that she is still with us, and after a week in the hospital, we have spent the past 3 weeks in a rehab center in Pearland, TX. I’m not going to downplay this; these have been the most devastating and difficult days in our lives. But we are thankful that Cheryl is slowly working her way back; she is taking baby steps in a walker, and getting some of her strength back in her left side. And we also know that God is using us, even at the hospital, and now in rehab. We have had numerous opportunities to share testimonies, and scripture verses that God is using to get us through this, with people here at the center. Cheryl has quoted Isaiah 48:11, her “lean on” verse in this time, to several people. Wherever we are, God wants us to use “every opportunity” He gives us, to share His word with others.

??? You might open the lesson by sharing a personal testimony like that, and then ask your group: Can you share a time when you/someone you know had an opportunity to share the gospel/His word with someone??? 

After that discussion you can then say something like: In today’s lesson in Acts 16, we see how Paul & Silas shared the gospel in some different situations in their lives. 

CONTEXT:

As we continue our study through the Book of Acts, we saw last time how Paul & Silas picked up Timothy on what we call the “Second Missionary Journey,” but the Lord did not let them continue to speak in the western part of Turkey that then was called “Asia.” But Paul had a vision (the “Macedonian Call”) of a man from Macedonia telling him to come over and help them.  This brings us to our lesson for this week from Acts 16:11-15, 29-40. 

OUTLINE:

I. First Fruits in Europe (:11-15)

II. Circumstances and Opportunities (:21-25+)

III. Sharing the Gospel (:29-32)

IV. Fruits and Fallout (:33-40)

TEXT:

I.  First Fruits in Europe (:11-15)

:11 “So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled. 14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.”

Again, you’ll want to have a map like this you can show your class, so they can see how they obeyed the Lord and went to Macedonia:

It’s notable that :11 says they “ran a straight course” to Samothrace — once they had God’s direction, they didn’t loll around where they were. They got underway. They “ran a straight course” (this is one compound word in Greek, that means “straight course/race.” 

This is a good lesson for us today too: when God gives you His direction, don’t delay any longer — get going in that direction. Some of us may be sitting on a vision or direction that God has already given you. Don’t do that; “set a straight course” and get started on what He showed you to do!

Verse 12 says then they arrived at Philippi, “a leading city of the district of Macedonia” — remember Paul had seen a vision of a man from Macedonia calling him to bring the gospel there. 

Verse 13 says on the Sabbath they went outside the city gate to a riverside, and began speaking to some women who had assembled there. 

Verse 14 says ONE person responded: Lydia, “a seller of purple fabrics.” She believed, and she was baptized.

This passage took on a new meaning for me in March of 2022 when we went on a mission trip to Bulgaria, and took a side trip to Philippi, where we saw the spot where Lydia was baptized. If you want to use one of these pictures in your lesson this week, you can. (It was freezing cold that day, but I just had to get in! How many times do you get a chance to stand in a spot like this!)

It’s so neat that THIS IS THAT RIVER that Acts 16 talks about, where the women were gathered; it is indeed just outside town, as the scripture says. It’s just a powerful reminder that what Acts describes is not myths or man-made stories, but real things that happened with real, historical people. (If you remember last week’s lesson, this is the kind of thing that William Mitchell Ramsay saw which caused him to leave the liberal view of Acts and write his book, St. Paul the Traveler, which touted the accuracy of Luke as a first-rate historian.)   

One application we see in this passage is that Paul & Silas sought out this opportunity to share the gospel. They purposefully went to the riverside, on a day when they knew people would be there, to share the gospel, and they did.

This was a “planned” opportunity to share.

??? You might ask your group: What might be some “planned opportunities” to share the gospel that we might have today???

(Some answers might include:

— Going on a mission trip

— Making a purposeful evangelistic visit to a person’s home

— Having a church event at which the gospel will be shared

We see another application in :14, where it says that when they shared, “the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.” This teaches us something important: we don’t just “talk people into” receiving Christ. No, God has to touch a heart first.

— Jesus referred to this in John 6:44 when He said “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.”

— Paul wrote in I Corinthians 2:14 “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” The Holy Spirit must help us to understand God’s truth, or we will never receive it.

This is one reason why PRAYER is so important in evangelism. You can have the best presentation, ask all the right questions — but if God doesn’t touch a heart, that person will never respond. As it says here, the Lord must open the heart. Let’s make that our prayer this week for some people on our hearts: Lord, YOU convict with Your Holy Spirit; YOU touch them; YOU draw them to Yourself. 

God did touch Lydia’s heart, and she did respond — making her “the first convert in Europe.” Europe would in time become more of the center of Christianity even than the Holy Land or Asia. But Lydia was the first fruit in Europe — as we see in this passage. 

II. Circumstances and Opportunities (:21-25)

In the interim between the two Lifeway “focus passages,” Paul cast a demon out of slave girl who had been making her masters money, and threw Paul & Silas into prison, accusing them of causing confusion in the city (:21). 

:25 says “But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”

To me this is one of the key elements in Chapter 16: even thrown into prison, Paul & Silas looked to the Lord, and let Him use them to minister in this difficult situation. 

Here is a second kind of “opportunity” to share the gospel. This kind is not a “planned” witness, but one that arises out of our circumstances. Paul & Silas didn’t PLAN to share the gospel in that prison — it came out of their circumstances, when they were thrown into prison. 

There are a couple of very important lessons here too:

— Be aware of your testimony wherever you are. A phrase in this episode that has come to mean a lot to me is where it says that Paul & Silas were singing in prison, and it says: “and the prisoners were listening to them.” 

This is SO important. “The prisoners were listening.” They had been thrown into prison, unjustly. How were they going to respond? Complain? Riot? Sing praise to God? However they chose to respond, someone was going to be aware of it — because “the prisoners were listening”!

We need to realize today too, that “the prisoners are ALWAYS listening!” Wherever we are; whatever we do “the prisoners are listening.” People are watching, to see what you say, what you do, how you respond. 

(In 1943 Mary Churchill joined her father Winston on a diplomatic visit to Canada and the United States. Mary wore the uniform of the British Auxiliary, where she served as an officer in an anti-aircraft unit.)

“All this tour I felt so terribly responsible — my name & my uniform — I so longed to do both credit. It is exhilarating & awfully frightening to feel so many eyes on one.”

(Emma Soames, ed., Mary Churchill’s War, p. 232)

Mary Churchill realized that wearing that uniform of her country, and carrying the Churchill name, everyone was watching everything that she did. As followers of Christ, we need to realize the same thing: “The prisoners are always listening,” wherever we are, whatever we do!

Here’s another story you might consider sharing here:

Businessman Gene Warr had a great impact for Christ in the Oklahoma City area in the 1900s. “The way Gene had become a Christian was interesting. Had a home building business, and one day watched a man working who was a bi-vocational pastor. Gene commented, “If that man can preach like he drives nails, I want to go hear him.” Gene went to hear him and became a Christian.” (Max Barnett, The Possibilities of a Life,” p. 146)  That man’s work ethic ended up leading Gene Warr to Christ: “the prisoners were listening”!

??? You could ask your group: “What are some places/situations where we need to remember today that ‘the prisoners are always listening’?”

(— at work

— at Walmart!

— at school

— IN YOUR OWN HOME, with your kids! Do they see that your faith is real, and lived out there? “The prisoners are listening” in your home!

SO many applications here …)

— Then also, this challenges us: wherever you are, use that opportunity to minister for the Lord and share His word.

Here Paul & Silas were — in prison of all places — and yet they used even this as a platform to witness for Christ. 

ILLUSTR:  “… In 1636 pastor Samuel Rutherford published An Apology for Divine Grace, a book that assailed the weak theology of that day and aroused the position of Archbishop Laud’s party. Rutherford was tried in Edinburgh on 27 July 1636 and was banished to Aberdeen and warned never to preach in Scotland again. He remained in Aberdeen from 20 August 1636 to June 1638, where he was known as “the banished minister.” It is important to note that Rutherford was not imprisoned or made to suffer physically. He was exiled from his ministry and made to suffer in an even greater way by being forbidden to preach. But history repeated itself; for out of the exile came one of the most spiritual devotional books ever written. Out of Paul’s imprisonment came Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians; out of Bunyan’s imprisonment came Pilgrim’s Progress; and from Rutherford’s exile in Aberdeen came The Letters of Samuel Rutherford. Of course Rutherford did not write these letters with any thought of publication.” (Warren Wiersbe, Walking With The Giants, p. 19)

Samuel Rutherford witnessed and ministered to hundreds of people (and through the book of his letters, to millions) despite his banishment and suffering. We should seek to let the Lord use us to do the same thing: even in our suffering, be a witness and minister for Him.

???“Did you ever see/hear of someone who was in a very difficult situation, that the Lord used as a witness/minister?”???

And again, you could ask your group to think: “What are some difficult situations WE could be in today, in which we could witness for the Lord?” Not “planned” opportunities, but God-given opportunities to glorify Him through our suffering.

III. Sharing the Gospel (:29-32)

:29 “And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 

The question that jailer asked in this story is the most important question in the world: “What must I do to be saved?” This is the question everybody asks … all over the world, people want to know: “What must I do to be saved?” And different religions tell them what they think they must “do” to earn their salvation:

— Islam tells a billion people: pray 5 times a day, at exactly 5:33 a.m., and exactly 4 other times a day, give alms to the poor, and visit Mecca on a pilgrimage, and fast during Ramadan … then perhaps your good deeds will outweigh your bad, and maybe you can be saved …

–Hinduism tells another billion people: make puja sacrifices, and bathe in the Ganges River, and perhaps you will be reincarnated into a higher state of life next time, and after a series of lifetimes of good works, perhaps you may be saved …

— even some so-called Christian religions tell people: get baptized, and go to church, and give money, and keep the commandments and observe rituals and sacrifices, and then perhaps spend years paying for your sins in purgatory, and then you may be saved …

All these religions tell you what you must “do” to be saved. Had salvation depended on those things, there would have been no hope for the thief on the cross. He had no time for any of those things: he couldn’t be baptized; he couldn’t fast; he couldn’t give alms; he couldn’t do any good deeds. Had salvation depended upon good deeds; he would have had only despair.

But it’s not only that thief only who would despair; we would ALL be without hope! “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 

But just as that jailer asked the greatest question in all the world, Paul & Silas had the greatest answer in all the world! In fact, it is THE greatest news ever. The news is so good that the very content of it is called the “gospel”, which means, “good news”! What is that “good news”? The good news is that you do not have to “do” anything to “earn” your salvation, but “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved”! The reason that is the greatest news in all the world is because it tells us that your salvation does NOT depend all the things that you can do to impress God, but all you have to do is just TRUST the great thing that JESUS did for YOU on the cross! “Believe in the Lord Jesus!” We can do that! Anyone can do that! “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved”! This is the greatest, the most liberating news in all the history of the world!

Depending on the makeup of your group, you may want to give your class an opportunity to believe in Jesus and be saved today. 

Nothing greater could happen in your class than that!

IV. Fruits and Fallout (:33-40)

A. The Fruits of the jailer

33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.”

??? To start this section you could ask your group to survey :33-34 and ask: “What evidences (fruits) do you see in these verses that the Philippian jailer was truly saved?”??? and write the answers on the board.

(You might make sure you include the following in your answers/discussion:

This jailer gave every evidence of a person who really believed in Jesus, and whose life was changed as a result. Look at the evidences in these verses of how his life had been changed:
— :33 tells us that he followed through his belief by being baptized. Baptism doesn’t save you; no religious work does. But getting baptized is one of the things someone who has really been saved will want to do, to testify to their faith.
— Secondly, :32, tells us that this man provided an opportunity for the gospel to be shared with his whole household, so that they might all believe too. When you really get saved, you want other people you care about to get saved too. This jailer showed that concern.
— Third, :33 tells us that after he was saved, he went that very hour and washed the wounds of Paul & Silas, and :34 says that served them a meal. He turned around and became a servant, and a minister to others — which is what happens when you really get saved: you want to serve! (+x Peter’s mother-in-law in Matthew 8:15, immediately after she was healed, “she got up and waited on Him.”)

So this jailer showed: by his baptism, by his sharing with others, and by his good works of mercy, that he really did believe. His life had been changed. Now understand: getting baptized and telling others and doing good deeds did not save him – it was “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ” that saved him – but the deeds that the did after he believed demonstrated that his faith was real.

— And notice too his “before and after” story: before he came to Jesus, :29 says he was “trembling with fear”. But after he believed in Jesus, :34 says he “rejoiced greatly”, having believed with his whole household. Faith in Jesus had made a real difference in his life. This was no “easy believe-ism”, but a genuine life-changing faith in Jesus.

This passage makes one thing very clear: the good news they proclaimed is NOT (what some call) “easy believe-ism”; it is not a matter of just saying: “I believe that there was a person named Jesus who died on the cross.” There are too many people, especially here in the south, in the so-called “Bible Belt”, who think that because they “believe” that there is a person named Jesus – and even what He did – that they are right with God. Virtually everyone you talk to here “believes” in Jesus – and yet many of them show NO evidence of a life that has been touched and changed by Him. But a person whose life has not been changed has not truly come in contact with Jesus! Saving faith is NOT just saying “I believe in Jesus.” James 2 says “the demons also believe and shudder” … the demons know very well who Jesus is, and what He did. But they do not have a personal faith in Jesus as their Lord & Savior. James goes on to say: “faith without works is dead.” In other words, works do not save you; faith in what Jesus did saves you. But if you really have that faith, you WILL have works that demonstrate that your life has been changed because your faith is genuine.

This is what happens when a person has genuine saving faith in Jesus. II Corinthians 5:17 says, “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away; new things have come.” In other words, if you have really trusted Jesus, and He has come into your life, there will be some changes that happen in your life.. It does not mean that you will be perfect — you never will be as long as you live on this earth – but there will be change.

It is just like with that jailer. He had a “story” of change. If he were working on his “30-second elevator speech”, it might go something like this:
“Before I came to know Christ, I had great fears, lest a prisoner escape, and I would forfeit my life. One day, my worst fears came true, as an earthquake opened the prison, and I thought the prisoners had all escaped, and I would be executed. I decided to take my own life instead. But one of the prisoners explained to me how I could put my faith in Jesus, and ever since that time, I have had a peace and a joy that I never had before, and now I serve God by telling others about Jesus and by ministering to His people.”

That Philippian Jailer had a story of change in his life because of his faith in Jesus. 

??? Ask your group Sunday: Do you have a “story” like that? Do you have a story of change???

It may not be dramatic; it may just be: “as a child I was afraid of what would happen if I died, but then I found out that Jesus died on the cross to pay for my sins and give me a home in heaven, and since that time I have never been afraid of dying any more.”

Do you have a “before and after” story like that, of how you were before you came to Jesus, how you heard about Jesus, and how you have been different since? IS your life different than it was — or if you were saved as a young child, different from how it MIGHT have been? Does your life show the evidence of saving faith: Are you serving the Lord? Are you telling people about Him? Do you love to worship Him? Changing and serving and worshipping the Lord does not save you; but if you are saved, there will be a “before & after”; there will be things like this in your life. It will be the change that assures you that your salvation is real.

??? What “fruits” do you show of genuine salvation???

??? If you are wondering about the salvation of someone you know, what “fruits” do you see in them???

Jesus said “you will know them by their fruit.” Someone with real salvation will bear fruit — just like the Philippian jailer did here. 

B.  Fallout

“35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, “Release those men.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out.” 38 The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. 40 They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.”

This is an interesting section, because the city officials decided to release Paul & Silas — but Paul would have none of it. He claimed his Roman citizenship — which gave him certain protections under the law — and he claimed those rights here. 

I wouldn’t plan to major on this last section, but I think it does make a point that as Christians, although as Paul says in Philippians we are ultimately citizens of heaven, we are also citizens of the country in which we live, and we can take advantage of those rights and privileges. 

So if you have time you might ask: ??? What are some situations TODAY in which we may need to claim our citizenship in our country today???
(You/your group might cite some situations, like the baker in Colorado, who sought protection under the law for his conviction not to make a cake for a same-sex wedding; or during COVID when some governments sought to restrict the right to worship and Christians got legal relief, etc. There are times, like Paul, when we may need to use the rights we have to protect ourselves and to advance God’s kingdom.)

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Per my licensing agreement with Lifeway:

— These weekly lessons are based on content from Explore the Bible Adult Resources. The presentation is my own and has not been reviewed by Lifeway.

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