The gospel reaches Europe
May 1, 2009 (Friday)
This Friday blog is part of a series on the life of the Apostle Paul. We are currently following him and his companions, Silas, Luke and Timothy on the second missionary trip. Last Friday we saw them set sail from Troas to Macedonia. They arrived at the port city of Neapolis, then walked 12 miles to the city of Philippi, a Roman Colony.
Here in Philippi there was a prayer group meeting at the river side. The missionaries joined them in prayer and shared their message about Jesus as the resurrected Messiah. One person who believed their message and was baptized was a business woman named Lydia, a textile dealer from Thyatira. After her baptism, she invited the missionaries to her Philippi home.
The missionaries kept meeting with the prayer group, and one day on their way to the meeting, Paul cast out a demon from a fortune teller, a young slave girl. Immediately her greedy owners saw their slave was of no more use, so they seized Paul and Silas, yelling false accusations at them, and were soon joined by a mob that beat them up. The local officials then put them in jail, without giving them a chance to testify that they were Roman citizens. It was illegal to treat them like this.
During the night, Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God. Suddenly there was an earthquake. The jailer, a Roman military man, thought his prisoners had escaped and was about to commit suicide, but was assured by Paul that all the prisoners were still voluntarily secure. The jailer and his household accepted Christ as Savior and were baptized that very night. The next day the local officials released Paul and Silas, begging them to leave the city. After visiting the believers at Lydia’s home, they went on their way, walking 100 miles to Thessalonica, where they continued to share the gospel.
Paul continued telling people about Jesus for years, paying an awful price in suffering in many places. What a wonderful servant of the Lord!