Acts 16

In Lystra, Paul meets Timothy who he will later write the epistles to that are in the New Testament. He evidently thinks a great deal of him and later calls him his "son in the faith." I have to admire Timothy for being willing to be circumcised so that Jews In Lystra are not alienated. Paul was very against circumcision in Jerusalem. He argued against Titus being circumcised but here is a adapting to the circumstances he is in. Something he will often do in
the future. I would call this an Isaac-like experience.

We can see in this chapter how Paul is following the promptings of the Spirit. He avoids several cities and the Spirit forbids him to go into Asia and Bithynia, all because he's needed in Macedonia so he goes there to the city of Philippi. Luke, who is writing Acts, has evidently joined them at this point. The ruins of Philippi are still there and there is a stream that still runs by the city as Luke describes.

There are two modern parallels to what happens in Philippi. The authorities arrest Paul and Silas and throw them in prison and have them placed in stocks. They don't know that Paul is a Roman citizen and this is illegal for them to do. While in prison, they sing hymns and preach to the prisoners. There is an earthquake and the keeper of prison fears they have escaped for which he can be executed. He ends up listening to their message, believes and is baptized. In England, a rector (pastor) send a sheriff to have Wilford Woodruff arrested. Wilford invited the sheriff to hear him first before he was arrested and the sheriff agreed. After hearing his sermon, the sheriff was baptized and confirmed along with seven others. The rector then sent two of his associates to spy on what was being preached and they were baptized. After that the rector didn't send anyone.

Paul's being led by the Spirit as to where he should go reminds me of the story President Monson told in conference awhile back. There was a girl in another city who was deathly ill and told her parents that President Monson would come and give her a blessing. Her parents knew the chances of that happening were non-existent since they didn't know him and lived thousands of miles away. But the little girl prayed that he would come and bless her and kept telling her family that she knew he would. Unaware of any of this, President Monson felt impressed by the Spirit to change his up-coming stake conference assignment from one city to the city this little girl lived in. As he was sitting in stake conference, he was told about a girl who was ill. He felt impressed to leave the conference and go give the girl a blessing. He appeared at the home of the little girl, much the surprise of her parents, but not to her.