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Daily Devotions

Philippians

Philippians 
Day 
Day 1

"Come over to Macedonia and help us."

Text: Acts 16:9

THE FAMOUS MACEDONIAN CALL

The apostle Paul was given a special vision one night as he prayed and contemplated his missionary activities. Visions were sometimes given by God, especially in the era of the apostles.

“So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of
Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying,
‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’
Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we
sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the
Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.”
Acts 16:8-10

WHO MADE UP THE TEAM TO ANSWER THE MACEDONIAN CALL?

The text above says that this Vision was given to Paul alone. That marked him as the leader of the team that went over to Macedonia. But who were the other members of the missionary team? Take time to read Acts 16. From a careful reading of the text, we are able to note the following members that made up the team.

1. Paul

a) He was the leader of the team.
b) He led by virtue of his calling as an apostle of the Lord.

2. Silas

a) Silas was one of the leading men in the church of Antioch (Acts 15:22).
b) He was also known to have the gift of prophecy (Acts 15:32).
c) Paul chose him as his new partner after the fall-out with Barnabas (Acts 15:40).

3. Timothy

a) Paul chose Timothy as his young protege (Acts 16:1-3).
b) They travelled and served together (Acts 16:4-5).

4. Luke

a) Luke is traditionally accepted as the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts.
b) In the famous “we” passages Luke writes as an eye-witness.
i) “We sought to go to Macedonia.” (Acts 16:10)
ii) Luke was with Paul when he began his ministry in Philippi.

PAUL AND SILAS JAILED

The Book of Acts only mentioned that Paul and Silas were in jail. The lack of mention of other names (like Timothy and Luke) sometimes cause people to think that only Paul and Silas ministered in Philippi. However a careful study of Acts 16 would suggest that at least four people went to Macedonia in answer to the vision that was given to the apostle Paul. We are not informed as to why only Paul and Silas were jailed. The most likely reason could be that they play a more prominent role than Luke and Timothy and thus they were attacked.