Paul's Second Missionary Journey

Paul chose new missionary companions and set out to revisit the churches established on the first missionary journey and after that extended his trip into Greece.

Paul’s second missionary trip took him back to the churches he and Barnabas started on the first trip and then into southern Europe for the first time. In Philippi, a Roman colony and the main city in that region, Paul and his new colleague, Silas, went down to the river where they thought God-fearers would meet to pray. That’s where God opened the heart of the first convert in Europe just as He had done in Palestine and Asia Minor. Lydia listened to Paul’s message and trusted in Jesus, Messiah.

For several days, as they walked to the river prayer meetings, a slave girl psychic (she was possessed by a demon and made money for her owners by fortune-telling) drew attention to Paul’s band by shouting, “These men serve the Most High God and show clearly the path to salvation!” The demon in her knew very well who the Most High God was and that Paul was spreading His fame. But whether Paul was concerned that the Philippians would have understood “Most High God” to mean “Zeus” or whether he thought the yelling and screaming detracted from the message, he finally had enough. That day, he stopped ignoring her ranting, turned around, and spoke to the demon: “Out! In the name of Jesus Christ, leave her now!” At that moment, the demon left.

Of course, the girl’s owners were not happy with Paul. They threw him and Silas in prison on trumped-up charges of bankrupting them and disturbing the peace. But the Most High God whom they served was not done with them. He sent an earthquake, opening the prison doors and loosening their chains! Even the jailer came to trust in Jesus Christ! After they were freed, they greeted the new believers, encouraged them to stay strong in their faith, and left for the next town: Thessalonica.

Paul and Silas (with their new helper, Timothy) started churches in Thessalonica and Berea, too. But in both towns, maddened mobs of jealous Jews attacked them. Paul escaped to Athens, asking Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as they could.

While Paul waited in Athens, the idols sickened him—the city was full of them! He reasoned in the Jewish meeting place with the Jews, but he also talked with people in the streets as they shopped. Some intellectuals (Epicureans and Stoics ) heard him speak of Jesus and the resurrection, and perceiving that he was preaching something they had never heard of, brought him to the Areopagus for a public presentation of his views.

So Paul stood and addressed the forum. “It is clear to me, Athenians, that you take your religion seriously. You have many shrines. I was fascinated by one inscribed ‘to the god no one knows.’ Let me introduce you to this god you worship in ignorance: The Master of Heaven and earth, the God who made the world and everything in it, doesn’t need our temples or us to run errands for Him; He can take care of Himself. He made us; we don’t make Him. And He wants us to find Him, yet He’s not remote; He’s near. He gives us our very life. One of your poets rightly said: ‘We are His children.’ Since we are His children, how can we think we could chisel a god out of stone?

“The unknown is now known, so you need to respond. God expects a complete turnaround from people when they know about Him. He established a day when all will be judged by one He has already appointed. The Judge’s confirmation came when God raised Him from the dead.”

When Paul said “raised him from the dead,” some laughed, but some wanted to hear more. Apparently, Paul didn’t get to finish his speech that day, but some stayed and talked with Paul and believed in Jesus. Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris were two of them.