John Wesley

Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to select men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.

“With the whole Church - Which therefore had a part therein; to send chosen men - Who might put it beyond all dispute, that this was the judgment of the apostles and all the brethren.”

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond these essential requirements:

“These necessary things - All of these were necessary for that time. But the first of them was not necessary long; and the direction concerning it was therefore repealed by the same Spirit, as we read in the former Epistle to the Corinthians.”

You must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.

“From Adam to Noah no man ate flesh at all; consequently no man then ate blood. When God allowed Noah and his posterity to eat flesh, he absolutely forbade them to eat blood; and accordingly this, with the other six precepts of Noah, was delivered…”

Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they…

“Let us go and visit the brethren in every city where we have preached - This was all that St. Paul designed at first; but it was not all that God designed by his journey, whose providence carried him much farther than he intended.”

Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, so he took him and circumcised him on account of the Jews in that area, for they all knew that his father was a…

“He took and circumcised him because of the Jews - The unbelieving Jews, to whom he designed he should preach. For they would not have conversed with him at all, so long as he was uncircumcised.”

After the Holy Spirit had prevented them from speaking the word in the province of Asia, they traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia.

“And having gone through Phrygia - And spoken there what was sufficient, as well as in the region of Galatia, being forbid by the Spirit (probably by an inward dictate) to speak as yet in the proconsular Asia, the time for it not being come.”

And when they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them.

“Coming to Mysia, and passing it by, as being a part of Asia, they attempted to go into Bithynia; but the Spirit suffered them not - Forbidding them as before.”

During the night, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

“A vision appeared to Paul by night - It was not a dream, though it was by night. No other dream is mentioned in the New Testament than that of Joseph and of Pilate's wife.”

As soon as Paul had seen the vision, we got ready to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

“And here he does it only in an oblique manner. Nor does he throughout the history once mention his own name, or any one thing which he did or said for the service of Christianity; though Paul speaks of him in the most honourable terms…”

On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river, where it was customary to find a place of prayer.

“We went out of the gate - The Jews usually held their religious assemblies (either by choice or constraint) at a distance from the heathens: by a river side - Which was also convenient for purifying themselves.”

Among those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God.

“A worshipper of God - Probably acquainted with the prophetic writings whose heart the Lord opened - The Greek word properly refers to the opening of the eyes: and the heart has its eyes, Eph. i, 18.”

And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.”

“She was baptized and her family - Who can believe that in so many families there was no infant? Or that the Jews, who were so long accustomed to circumcise their children, would not now devote them to God by baptism?”

When the girl’s owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the marketplace.

“The magistrates - The supreme magistrates of the city. In the next verse they are called by a title which often signifies pretors. These officers exercised both the military and civil authority.”

And after striking them with many blows, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to guard them securely.

“They laid many stripes upon them - Either they did not immediately say they were Romans, or in the tumult it was not regarded. Charging the jailer - Perhaps rather to quiet the people than because they thought them criminal.”

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

“Paul and Silas sung a hymn to God - Notwithstanding weariness, hunger stripes, and blood. And the prisoners heard - A song to which they were not accustomed.”

But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself! We are all here!”

“With a loud voice - Through earnestness, and because he was at some distance. Do thyself no harm - Although the Christian faith opens the prospect into another life, yet it absolutely forbids and effectually prevents a man's discharging himself from this.”

Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

“Sirs - He did not style them so the day before. What must I do to be saved? - From the guilt I feel and the vengeance I fear?”

But Paul said to the officers, “They beat us publicly without a trial and threw us into prison, even though we are Roman citizens.

“They have beaten us publicly, being Roman - St. Paul does not always plead this privilege. But in a country where they were entire strangers, such treatment might have brought upon them a suspicion of having been guilty of some uncommon crime, and so have…”

Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.

“These were more ingenuous - Or generous. To be teachable in the things of God is true generosity of soul. The receiving the word with all readiness of mind, and the most accurate search into the truth, are well consistent.”

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply disturbed in his spirit to see that the city was full of idols.

“While Paul was waiting for the - Having no design, as it seems, to preach at Athens, but his zeal for God drew him into it unawares, without staying till his companions came.”

Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?”

“He seemeth to be a proclaimer - This he returns upon them at the 23rd verse; of strange gods - Such as are not known even at Athens. Because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection - A God and a goddess.”

So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, where they asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

“The Areopagus, or hill of Mars, (dedicated to Mars, the heathen God of war,) was the place where the Athenians held their supreme court of judicature. But it does not appear he was carried thither as a criminal.”

Now all the Athenians and foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing more than hearing and articulating new ideas.

“And the strangers sojourning there - And catching the distemper of them. Some new thing - The Greek word signifies some newer thing. New things quickly grew cheap, and they wanted those that were newer still.”

For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.

“I found an altar - Some suppose this was set up by Socrates, to express in a covert way his devotion to the only true God, while he derided the plurality of the heathen gods, for which he was condemned to death: and others, that…”

Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

“Neither is he served as though he needed any thing - or person - The Greek word equally takes in both. To all - That live and breathe;-in him we live; and breathe - In him we move. By breathing life is continued.”