The Prison

“When Persecution’s torrent-blaze

Wraps the unshrinking martyr’s head;

When fade all earthly flowers and bays,
When summer friends are gone and fled;

Is he alone in that dark hour

Who owns the Lord of love and power?

Or waves there not around his brow

A wand no human arm may yield,
Fraught with a spell no angels know,

His steps to guide, his soul to shield ]”

“None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry I have received of the Lord Jesus.” — Acts xx. 24.

he Apostle, when he entered Troas the day before, had probably very much the feelings of his great ancestor Abraham, of whom we read that “he went out, not knowing whither he went.” It has been indeed supposed that Paul had some serious thoughts at this time of going to the city of Rome. He wished to carry the gospel of his Divine Master within hearing of the world’s capital, and the palace of the Caesars. God was at a future time to fulfil his wish; but he graciously “hindered” him now. It shows how far better the Lord knows what is the right path for us than we know ourselves. If Paul had trusted to his own wisdom and guidance, and cone direct at this period to Italy, he would have shared in the violent expulsion which took place of all the Jews from Rome by the edict of Claudius. The time would have been wasted which he profitably employed elsewhere. He could feelingly say of a kind Providence afterwards, regarding his intentions of visiting the city of the Tiber, “Oft times I purposed to come unto you, but was let (or hindered) hitherto.” The striking vision mentioned at the close of the last chapter “hindered” him at present, and determined his journey to the regions of Macedonia.*

We have also just referred to a new name added to their little band — that of Luke. As he is not only the companion of the Great Apostle, but his biographer, we may well pause, on this the first mention of him in the narrative, to say a few words regarding his history. If you look at the chapter in the Acts describing their leaving Troas, you will see that the plural pronoun “we” is used for the first time. “After he had seen the vision, immediately we” (indicating that Luke was one of the number) “endeavoured to go into Macedonia.” t

Luke, or Lucius, was most probably, from his name, not a Jew, but a Gentile by birth. The opinion, too, has been hazarded, that he had been once a slave at Rome — that he had there practised the art of medicine in his master’s family — and that, after a certain period, in reward for his services, freedom had been conferred on him. He seems to have returned thence to his native city of Antioch;J and while there, carrying on his profession as a physician, § he was brought

* Lewin, vol. i, p. 224. t Acts xvi. 10.

t Eusebius and Jerome. § Col. iv. 14.

under the power of the truth as it is in Jesus. Some have thought that he acted as a ship surgeon, or what is equally probable, he was what in modern days we call (in connexion particularly with China) a “medical missionary’’’’ — a physician inspired with love to the “Great Physician of Souls,” and who, while he exercised his healing art on the bodies of men, at the same time tried to lead them to “the balm in Gilead, and the Physician there.” It is interesting thus to think of this earnest man, sailing about from island to island in the vast Archipelago with healing medicines alike for soul and body. It is interesting to think of him, also, as the attendant and friend of our apostle on this and a future voyage. I have recently spoken of Paul’s dangerous illness in Galatia; it is not at all improbable that he may have sent a message to the beloved physician to meet him at Troas, and give him the benefit of his medical skill and Christian counsel. One of the last short entries in the Great Apostle’s life tells us at once of the faithful and devoted friendship of this Christian physician, and Paul’s estimate of his services. He is mentioning, with a sorrowing heart, how all had forsaken him; but he adds, “only Luke is with me.”* The little band are now fairly on their way. A prosperous wind brings them in two days to the north of Greece. They seem to have anchored for the first night at the island of Samothrace, where the mountains rise to a great height above the sea, forming a landmark to the Grecian sailors for a long distance, and regarded by these Pagan mariners of old with a sacred reverence. Neptune, the god of the sea, in the heathen mythology, was supposed to have his throne

* 2 Tim. iv. 11.

on the cliffs of Samothrace; from thence it was thought he had looked down on the scene of the Trojan war, animating its heroes; and the caves which he made his ordinary dwelling were imagined to be deep down in the ocean, between Imbros and Tenedos. Such were the false but beautiful dreams of the heathen world, which a feeble pilgrim, who had now moored his bark near these fabled caverns, was to be instrumental more than any other in dispel] ing for ever! From thence they sailed north-west to the harbour of Philippi; it was called Neapolis, or “New City” (now Cavallo), situated in a sheltered bay or haven. Here travellers landed when they wished to pursue the Via Egnatia, the great military road which led to Italy. Between Philippi and this port-town, a distance of ten miles, was a craggy ridge, rising steep from the sea, by which it was necessary for the apostles to cross. We may imagine them pausing when they reached the summit, and seating themselves on one of the masses of rock, which modern travellers speak of, looking down on the prospect on either side. Behind them their eyes would rest upon a vast wilderness of blue waters, with Mount Athos rising in the far distance; on the inland side they would behold a spacious plain, watered by many little streams, the richly wooded valley of Seres running towards the west. Situated in the midst of these streams, on account of which it was originally called Crenides, or Fountains, is the town of Philippi. The city, I need not say, from its name, was built by Philip of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. In its immediate neighbourhood there was a famous hill, called “Bacchus-mount,” rich in golden treasure, from whose mines the king was said to have

THE PRISON. ltfl

gained annually one thousand talents. The town itself was enclosed with a wall, which stretched down on either side from the fortress. Two American missionaries, who some time ago travelled in that region, give us some interesting details about the present appearance of Philippi. They observed the ruins of the castle on the top of the hill, and traces of a forum, the seat of justice — perhaps the very same within which we shall presently find Paul and his companion standing, and submitting to the rods of the lictors. The ruins of a palace, built of the finest white marble, is the grandest of the old monuments still existing, although it is fast disappearing under the hands of the Turks, who are despoiling it to form their gravestones.* Those who have read Roman history know well how famous Philippi and its neighbourhood was, from being the scene of a great battle. Here Brutus and Cassius, Octavius and Antony, pitched their camps. The two former were defeated; and, at their own request, slain by the hands of their comrades, rather than fall into those of the enemy. In honour of the victory, Augustus declared Philippi to be in future the capital of the province, and seat of the government. Paul is about to make it renowned as the scene of a greater moral victory, with weapons which are not “carnal, but mighty, through God, to the pulling down of strongholds.” Philippi itself was a sort of little Rome, it was peopled by Romans, its citizens spoke the Roman tongue, and prided themselves in Roman manners and customs. There were few Jews, indeed so few, that there was not even a synagogue. Their only place of worship was one of the Proseuchce, — slight and uncostly

* Dwight and Schauffler, as quoted by Dr Kitto.

buildings for prayer and religious service. Some of these were open at the top, and exposed to the weather. They were most generally situated in a grove, or under a tree, either by the sea-side, or, more commonly still, by the banks of a river, as many of the Jewish ceremonial observances required water for performing ablutions.* The one at Philippi was outside the city, by the banks of the river Gaggitas, or Zygactes, — a word which means “pole-break,” and which is said to have been so called by the Greeks from another absurd legend they had, that one of their false gods, Pluto, in crossing it broke the pole of his chariot on the banks! t A few women, “proselytes of the gate,” as they were called, believers in the God of Israel, Sabbath after Sabbath had been accustomed to meet here for prayer, both those who were by birth Jewesses, as well as other residents in the town. Among these there was one of the name of Lydia, a stranger from a province hi Asia, for it is expressly said she belonged to “the city of Thyatira.” This city had been long celebrated, and, indeed, is to this very day celebrated, % f°r its purple dye; and she was one of many who made her livelihood by selling it. It was among this handful of lowly women that the glorious gospel of the blessed God was first preached in Europe! In no splendid temple, or gorgeous cathedral, but at a simple prayer-meeting in an oratory by a river side! The heart of Lydia was

* Home’s Introduction, Olshausen, Epiphanius, &c. j- Appian iv. 105, as quoted by Lewin.

So far back as the time of Homer we read of the Lydian purple — “And as by Lydian or by Carian maid, The purple dye is on the ivory laid.” — Iliad. Dr Kitto gives the following extract from Sir Emerson Tennant’s Letters from the Mgean — “Large quantities” (of scarlet or purple cloths) “are sent weekly to Smyrna for the purposes of commerce.”

opened as Paul and Silas unfolded the great salvation. She was convinced that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the true Messiah, and Son of God, and in His name she and her household were immediately baptized. It is striking here to observe how God finds out his people, and brings them under the power of the truth. Lydia was an inhabitant of one of those very cities in Asia where Paul had been “forbidden “. to preach. Probably she lived almost constantly at Thyatira; but her passing visit at Philippi was ordained and overruled by a higher Hand to bestow a nobler “citizenship” upon her! She was just following her wonted trade as “a seller of purple,” when the Lord sent his servants to declare to her the way of life. It is another of the many striking examples given us in His Word, of how He delights to meet His people in the ordinary business and employments of life. He called Matthew when he was seated at his toll-bar — Peter and Andrew at their nets, and here he meets Lydia when in a strange city she has taken up her abode to prosecute her trade. It teaches us the great lesson — that we do not require to leave the duties of life in order to be religious. With that Christian love and hospitality, so common in these primitive ages, this earliest convert at Philippi took the apostles to her own house, and made them take up their abode during their stay at Philippi. This was the first of many proofs of personal kindness Paul received at the hands of the Philippians Four times we find during his life did they liberally contribute to supply his wants; and we shall afterwards see how his Roman dungeon was cheered with the gifts of their bounty.

God seemed to smile upon these early labours of his servants at Philippi. The church grew, men and women were added to it, and for “many days” their teaching was allowed to go on undisturbed. A terrible furnace, however, was at hand — although grace was to be given these faithful men to pass boldly through

I must proceed to tell you the cause of this “fiery trial” which was about to “try them.” There were some wicked heathen masters, whose female slave or servant had “a spirit of divination,” or “spirit of Python” — that is, the Prince of darkness had sent some of his evil spirits or agents to take possession of her mind; for at this time, when Jesus, the true light, had come into the world, the powers of darkness seem to have exercised an unusual influence over both the bodies and souls of men. This female, by wild gestures and words, and ravings, called “oracles,” practised on the weakness of the ignorant by pretending to foretell the events of the future. The Greeks and Romans supposed such unhappy persons to be possessed by the god Apollo, and that through his agency they had this “spirit of divination.” Apollo was often called by the title of the “Pythian Apollo,” — Python being a serpent which he was said to have destroyed with arrows, so soon as he was born. These masters thus made a gain of this poor girl, getting money from those whose future history or fortune she pretended to read. Paul and Silas seem, after the conversion of Lydia, to have been in the habit of going for some time to the oratory at the river’s side. The number of hearers was daily increasing, and the devout women had probably brought with them their relatives and friends, to listen to the words of eternal life. The “possessed” slave had followed the apostles several times when they were on their way

thither, crying after them, “These men are the slaves of the Most High God.” She may possibly have been herself a Jewess; she may have had some idea about the coming of the Christ; and the preaching of Paul may have produced some singular effect on her mind,* for she added, “They show unto us the way of salvation.” Day after day she seems to have returned to the same spot, repeating her wild ravings. Paul feared lest such a testimony might bring discredit on their cause, and wishing to show the superiority of the Christian religion to the powers of imposture, he turned round on one of these occasions, and in the name of his Divine Master rebuked the evil spirit. It immediately came out of her, and the sufferer was restored to her right mind.

You may imagine the rage and anger of her masters when they saw the demon expelled, and all hope of further gain gone. They resolved to have a full revenge, and they knew the multitude would heartily second them. Accordingly, they seized on the apostles, and dragged them before the magistrates in the forum, or market-place. They accused them of having thrown the whole city into confusion, and of unlawfully trying to introduce a new religion among Roman citizens. I have already mentioned that some offending Jews had shortly before been driven from Rome; the Philippians doubtless thought they might well follow the example. The violence of the mob was great, and the magistrates gave orders to the lictors to strip the two apostles and scourge them. What a sad and sorrowful sight, these holy men dragged along to receive this fearful punishment! Their garments are

* Lewin.

torn off their backs; * the lictors untie their “fasces,’ or bundle of rods, made of elm wood, and these descend upon them in heavy blows. Paul may have all the time been calling out, with righteous indignation, “Scourge me not! It is at your peril if you do, without even the form of a trial. I am a Roman! “t But if he did, they refused to hear. His voice was drowned in the clamour. There is no doubt this was regarded by the apostles not only as a severe, but as a degrading punishment. It was much more cruel than the Jewish manner of scourging, which Paul once endured. The latter was inflicted with leathern thongs. Moreover, by the Jewish law, they were restricted to forty stripes. The apostle, in referring to the ills he had endured at the hands of his countrymen, says, “Five times I received forty stripes save one.” Thirty-nine seems to have been the usual number; but in the case of the Roman rod-scourging, he speaks of suffeiing stripes “above measure.” There was in it no limitation. J We have already noted the occasion of the reference in his letter to the Corinthians to the “perils of waterfloods,” and “perils of robbers.” Here we have another, which he speaks of in the same passage, “Thrice was I beaten with rods.” §

But the Praetors in the present case were not contented with the scourging; they gave the jailer strict orders to keep them “safely.” It was a significant

* “The lictors being sent to inflict punishment, beat them with rods, being naked.” — Livy, ii. 5. ‘.’ He commanded the men to be seized, and to be stripped naked in the midst of the forum, and to be bound, and rods to be brought.” — Cicero, quoted by Barnes.

t Cicero, Verr. v. 57.

t Or Kitto’s Bible Illustrations.

§ ?, Cor. xi. 25,
the ritisoN. 187

hint to deal as harshly with them as he might. Faint and bleeding, they are hurried away to a dark prison; their limbs, still quivering under the scourge, are thrust into the stocks, and so fastened that they will be unable to move them.* No wonder Paul should, in an after period, when he was writing to the Thessalonians, speak of the way in which he was “shamefully treated at PkilippL”f It must be observed, too, that it was the inner prison into which the apostles were thrown, — doubtless one of those dark cells that had such a terrible name in the Roman world, where the heavily-bound captives were left to endure the tortures of a living death! “We must picture to ourselves something very different from the austere comfort of an English jail. .... The inner prisons of which we read in the ancient world, were like that ‘dungeon in the court of the prison’ into which Jeremiah was let down with cords, and where ’ he sank in the mire.’ They were pestilential cells, damp and cold, from which the light was excluded, and where the chains rusted on the limbs of the prisoners.” J We can think of the apostles, when, under the guidance of a rough jailer, they passed from cell to cell, and heard the clanking which told of miserable beings who were already their inmates. They have reached the appointed dungeon, and have bidden farewell to the cheering light of day; but they are not downcast. Though they have nothing to expect but a dreadful morrow, there is an inner sun-

* “(;vlov, nervus. A wooden block furnished with holes, into which the feet were put, and, according to the severity of the torture, stretched far from one another. Origen, in his extreme old age, was obliged to bear this torture, and for several days to lie in such an instrument, with limbs far spread out from one another.” — Olshausen On Acts, p. 557.

t 1 Thess. ii. 2.

t Howson and Conybeare, vol. i. p. 326.

shine which is lighting up their souls, which the poor jailer, as yet, knows nothing of. The magistrates who so cruelly condemned them, are now perhaps sleeping tranquilly on their pillows, but suffering seems to have banished sleep from the eyes of the prisoners. We may picture to ourselves the deep darkness that has gathered around them; perhaps the tempest howling piteously through their vaulted cell, and now and then, when there was a pause in the storm, the heavymeasured tramp of the sentinel reminding them of their terrible situation. Or shall we imagine the storm has spent itself ‘? It is the stillness of the midnight hour! The other prisoners are startled from their chains by a strange and unwonted sound j it is the two Jews, brought, on the previous evening, who are making their dungeon resound, not with piteous groans and lamentations under the torture of their torn backs and fettered limbs, but with songs of joy and praise. “Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God!” What these praises were, we are not told. They probably were the songs of the sweet Psalmist of Israel, many of which were so suitable to their case. Their voices would join together in earnest entreaty, that the same God, who had rescued Joseph of old when “his feet were bound with fetters of iron,” would “hear the groaning of the prisoner, and free them that were appointed to death.” How strange the feelings of those must have been who were listening to them! — wretched outcasts, robbers, murderers, thieves, rebels, traitors, profligates.”* How strange for them to hear, in such a place, sweet strains of gratitude and love! — no complaining under their torture, but, perhaps,

* Howson and Conybeare, vol. i. p 328.

like Stephen, or Stephen’s Lord, praying for their very enemies, and committing their cause to the God they served.

At that very moment, when prayer and praise were ascending together at midnight, an earthquake shook the prison walls to their foundations. The bands of all the prisoners are loosed — the doors are shattered on their hinges, and fly open! It is God Himself, who has “heard them while they are yet speaking” — come to give them release. Do they immediately avail themselves of the opened doors to make their escape? We might have thought so; but no! Paul and his companion had work to do in that prison; they had troubled souls to comfort and save; and, forgetful of themselves, they remain quietly in their cell. There is one much agitated spirit, who, roused by the earthquake’s crash, comes rushing into them with a flaming torch in his hand: it is the morose and hard-hearted jailer, who feels that his honour and his life are at stake. He knows the terrible vengeance that will wait him on the morrow if one prisoner be missing. In a state of hopeless despair, he draws his sword, and is about to plunge it into his heart, in order to escape certain infamy and disgrace. It was one of the false maxims of ancient Paganism, that there was something meritorious in self-destruction. We have, a little ago, noted it in the case of two Roman generals, Brutus and Cassius. Cato was guilty of self-murder in Utica; and it was doubtless the same mistaken idea which prompted, at this moment, the jailer of Philippi to attempt suicide, and rush unprepared into the presence of his God. But Paul cries out, “Do thyself no harm, for we are all here!” The keeper must have been struck with the conduct of these noble-minded prisoners. He had just been listening, doubtless, to their prayers and praises; he may have heard of the good news of salvation that had been for several days preached by them in the city; he may have heard the ravings of the “possessed” Pythoness, proclaiming them to be messengers from Heaven; the terrific earthquake shook the walls of his seared and hardened conscience as well as of the prison; he wondered at the conduct of these two suffering Jews; he had treated them with nothing but harshness — they had returned nothing but kindness; the door was open for their escape, but they remained still, only to speak words of comfort to him. His heathen heart wondered, and trembled. Holding a blazing torch {Greek, “lights”), he rushed into their cell with the anxious question, “What must I do to be saved1?” It was, doubtless, a far higher salvation the poor man was in search of, than mere safety from the vengeance of Roman prsetors. His sins, more terrible than a scourge of scorpions, rose up before him. The answer was joyfully given — “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved, and thy house.”

What a strange scene immediately followed: the trembling jailer and his family were standing, in wonder and terror, in the apostles’ inner cell — the glaring torch-light nickering on the damp walls! Along with them, we may believe, other prisoners, loosed from their fetters, crowded around, and listened to a strange sermon from the lips of the scourged Christians, at that strange hour, and in that strange place. We may imagine what it would be. Jesus! — His work — His life — His agony — His death — would be fully unfolded. The storm was changed into a calm. Like Elijah in the wilderness, after the earthquake and the hurricane came the “still small voice.” The jailer grasped that golden assurance which Paul himself had seized at a similar hour, — “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.”

The first place Paul preached at in Europe was a river-side; the second, in a dungeon at midnight! Truly God is not confined to temples made with hands. He could make a pillow of rude stones to Jacob, and a Roman dungeon to “the chief of sinners,” the gate of heaven! Nor is He confined to any particular manner of bringing His people under the power of the truth. Generally He employs means. In the case of Lydia, the means was a prayer-meeting. Prayer ascended — prayer was heard — her heart was opened. But He can work, too, independently of instrumentality. He sometimes shows how his grace can triumph over every obstacle, — a rough heathen jailer, whose only prayers before were probably his dreadful oaths, is brought in a moment to the foot of the Saviour’s cross!

We believe that more in that Roman prison than the jailer had their hearts touched that night, — other criminals there, were probably made the monuments of the same wondrous grace. The simple history of Luke completes the interesting account. He, who was so lately a stern jailer, now becomes a Christian friend; he feels that he owes his two prisoners a debt which never could be repaid; he does his best to show them how much he felt it; he takes them first of all to the fountain or well in the prison-court,* and there washes their wounds. In the water of the same cistern, he

* See the picture, beginning of the chapter.

and his household are at the same time also baptized. He then conducts them to his own dwelling, and sets food before them. They rejoice together in one blessed Saviour, who, in a nobler sense, “proclaims liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” Can we not picture that strange family scene? While yet the town of Philippi was hushed in sleep, all ignorant of what had taken place that night in its gloomy prison, — the jailer seated in his own house, with his relatives gathered around him, — his eye every now and then filled with tears of mingled sorrow and joy, as he casts them upon the two holy strangers who had been the means of ushering him into the glorious liberty of the children of God!

What takes place in the morning? The tidings of the earthquake reach the ears of the Roman magistrates. In their fear and terror, they send orders by their lictors, “Let these men go.” We know the superstitious ideas attached by Romans of old to an earthquake; they invariably imagined it to indicate the anger of their gods, and it would not be difficult, in the present instance, to refer it to this cause. The magistrates began to tremble when they reflected on their own conduct. Such an outrage on law! Indeed, if their doings had been reported to the Proconsul of Macedonia, they might even have been called to answer at Rome in the presence of C?esar, and be deprived of the powers of magistracy for life.* They were very anxious, therefore, to hush the matter up; but Paul was a lion-hearted man as well as a true Christian, and he nobly and bravely sent word back that they would not go in that underhand way until their judges came

* Biscoe On tJie Acts; Livy, iv. 9; Cicero’s Orations against Verves, &c.

and made an apology; for they had violated the very laws they were there set to uphold. “They had beaten them publicly and uncondemned, being Romans.” “Nay,” says the apostle, “let them come themselves, and fetch us out!” * The praetors saw at once that they had exceeded their powers, and might be severely punished for their illegal treatment of “Roman citizens.” So they had to go themselves to the jail, and beseech the apostles to depart. What a humiliating position for these proud Roman magistrates! See them now coming as suppliants to the prison doors, as Paul had required, and courteously leading out those whom, the day before, they had unmercifully scourged!

We must not suppose, from the apostles’ resolute conduct on this occasion, that there was anything like revenge, or want of meekness and submission to injury. If they had left the prison merely at the solicitation of the rulers, without asking an apology, it would more than probably have been said, that they had bribed the jailer, whose fears they had worked upon, and thus made their escape. This would inevitably have damaged their own reputation and the success of the gospel in the city and neighbourhood. On the other hand, their bold and manly conduct, followed as it was by the magistrates coming personally to request them to leave their cells, must have told with powerful effect on the minds of the Romans, and prepared the way for the future preaching of the truth in Philippi. Had Paul, on his return in future years, been only known there as a poor Jew, who had left the public jail covered with scourging and contempt, he

* Acts xvi. 37.

would have attracted little attention; but Paul, the bold and manly Roman citizen, who had the fortitude to protest against an unjust and iniquitous act of tyranny, had the way paved for that happy success among rich and poor which attended his labours, afterwards, in the same town. If he had demanded no such apology, he would have gone away with the name of a “pestilent fellow” and a “coward.” As it was, he departed an innocent and a brave man — a holy, patient, and devoted Christian. As an excellent writer observes on this subject — “St Paul, in this instance, affords us a remarkable example of the union of the two Christian duties, firmness and forbearance. He compels the magistrates to humble themselves, and to reverse their unjust sentence, by going to the prison in person and fetching him out; but he does not, as he might have done, institute a rigorous prosecution against them, and subject them to heavy penalties for an obvious violation of the well-known Roman law.” * Unmoved by the past cruelties which had been inflicted on them, Paul and Silas repair to the house of their first convert, Lydia. There they meet other Christian brethren, who have assembled to receive the apostles’ farewell Uessing. Timothy and Luke are left behind to nourish the infant church planted in the city of Philippi. Although Lydia and the jailer, with their houses, are the only converts specially mentioned, we have reason to believe that many others, during the weeks of that memorable visit, were added to the church. “Paul and his companion, full of gratitude and courage, set out on another stage of their great missionary journey.”

* Blunt’s Lectures on St Paid.