introduces a remarkable change into this phrase, viz., "The Spirit of Jesus suffered them not.' There can be little doubt that, in the mind of Luke, and probably of the early Church, there is no clear distinction between the "Spirit of Jesus' and "the Holy Spirit:" cf. Rom. viii. 9; 2 Cor. iii. 17.

8. Troas. An important seaport and Roman colony in Mysia.

9. a vision appeared to Paul. Note the Divine leading throughout this passage. The summons to Europe came to Paul direct from God. Sir W. Ramsay thinks that "the man of Macedonia" is to be identified with Luke. Luke appeared to Paul in a vision and summoned him to Macedonia.

Acts xvi. 11-18.

PAUL AT PHILIPPI.

II Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis; 12 and from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony and we were in that city 13 abiding certain days. And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which 14 resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she 15 attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she

16 constrained us. And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by sooth17 saying: the same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which And this did she many

18 show unto us the way of salvation.

days. But Paul, 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.

In obedience to the heavenly vision, Paul sailed at once for Macedonia and commenced work at Philippi. His mission resulted in three notable conversions, which typified the universal appeal of Paul's message: (a) Lydia the purple-seller represented wealth and the Jewish race; (b) the girl possessed with the spirit of divination represented the slave-class and the Greek nation; (c) the governor of the prison represented the Roman people and the official classes. Thus, rich and poor, freeman and slave, Greek, Jew and Roman, employer and employed, the commercial and official classes, alike found that the gospel preached by Paul satisfied the deepest needs of their spiritual

nature.

11. we came. Note the commencement of the "We-passages." Luke is now speaking as an eyewitness. He probably joined Paul at Troas, since the first indication of a personal note occurs in ver. 10. Samothracia. An island midway between Troas and Neapolis, in the north of the Egean Sea. Neapolis. The port of Philippi.

12. Philippi. An important town in Macedonia, about 8 miles from Neapolis.

the chief city of that part of Macedonia. R.V.," a city of Macedonia, the first of the

district." There is a difficulty about this statement, because Amphipolis seems to have been the capital of the district. There was always a rivalry between the two towns, and Luke may be purposely awarding the premier position to Philippi because of the services which the Philippians had rendered to Christians. Other scholars prefer to take the phrase in a geographical sense: "the first city of the district to which we came.

a colony. Philippi was originally founded by a settlement of Roman soldiers. As a Roman colony, it was a miniature reproduction of Rome itself as far as government was concerned.

13. where prayer was wont to be made. The R.V., following the best Greek Text, reads: "where we supposed there was a place of prayer.' There were very few Jews at Philippi, and so there was no synagogue, merely a little meeting-house by the river-side.

One of the most

spake unto the women. noticeable features connected with Paul's work in Europe is the effect produced by his message on the women of Greece; cf. xvii. 4, 12.

14. Thyatira. A city of Lydia famous for its dyes. Lydia derived her name from that of her native land.

15. her household. Another feature of the European mission is the conversion of whole households (see ver. 32 and xviii. 8). The word “household” specially refers to the slave establish

ment connected with the house.

16. spirit of divination. A literal translation of the Greek would be, "having a spirit, a Python." According to Plutarch, those who practised ventriloquism were called Pythons. The slave-girl

was supposed to be a medium through which the messages of the pagan god were conveyed to men, while she herself was in a state of trance.

17. followed Paul and cried. Compare the accounts of the action of demoniacs in the Gospels (Mark i. 25; Luke iv. 41).

Acts xvi. 19-40.

THE IMPRISONMENT OF PAUL AND SILAS. 19 And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the 20 marketplace unto the rulers, and brought them to the

magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly 21 trouble our city, and teach customs, which are not lawful 22 for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat 23 them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them 24 safely who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises 26 unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors 27 were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners 28 had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, 29 Do thyself no harm; for we are all here. Then he called

for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell 30 down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and

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

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, 32 and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the 33 Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took

them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; 34 and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when

he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. 35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, 36 saying, Let those men go. And the keeper of the prison

told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let 37 you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come 38 themselves and fetch us out. And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they 39 heard that they were Romans. And they came and be

sought them, and brought them out, and desired them to 40 depart out of the city. And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.

The conversion of the soothsayer led to a protest on the part of her employers, and Paul and Silas were brought before the magistrates, who ordered them to be scourged and imprisoned. An earthquake, however, in the night, wrecked the prison. The conduct of Paul and Silas led to the conversion of the governor of the prison. Next morning the magistrates relented, and ordered the prisoners to be set at liberty. Paul, however, insisted that their summary action, in scourging them without a trial, was an illegal affront to Roman citizens, and claimed a public apology, which was readily given.

19. the hope of their gains was gone. The