5 So the churches were made strong in the faith and were increased in number every day.
And so the church through all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was made strong; and, living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, was increased greatly.
Giving praise to God, and having the approval of all the people; and every day the number of those who had salvation was increased by the Lord.
And he went through Syria and Cilicia, making the churches stronger in the faith.
Till we all come to the harmony of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to full growth, to the full measure of Christ: So that we may be no longer children, sent this way and that, turned about by every wind of teaching, by the twisting and tricks of men, by the deceits of error; But saying true words in love, may come to full growth in him, who is the head, even Christ; Through whom all the body, being rightly formed and united together, by the full working of every part, is increased to the building up of itself in love.
Now may the God of peace, who made that great keeper of his flock, even our Lord Jesus, come back from the dead through the blood of the eternal agreement, Make you full of every good work and ready to do all his desires, working in us whatever is pleasing in his eyes through Jesus Christ; and may the glory be given to him for ever and ever. So be it.
Do not be turned away by different strange teachings, because it is good for your hearts to be made strong by grace, and not by meats, which were of no profit to those who took so much trouble over them.
So that your hearts may be strong and free from all sin before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
We sent Timothy, our brother and God's servant in the good news of Christ, to give you strength and comfort in your faith;
And early in the morning they got up and went out to the waste land of Tekoa: and when they were going out, Jehoshaphat took his station and said to them, Give ear to me, O Judah and you people of Jerusalem: have faith in the Lord your God and you will be safe; have faith in his prophets and all will go well for you.
Christ has truly made us free: then keep your free condition and let no man put a yoke on you again.
Now to him who is able to make you strong in agreement with the good news which I gave you and the preaching of Jesus Christ, in the light of the revelation of that secret which has been kept through times eternal,
And a number of those who had faith came and made a public statement of their sins and all their acts. And a great number of those who were experts in strange arts took their books and put them on the fire in front of everyone: and when the books were valued they came to fifty thousand bits of silver. So the word of the Lord was increased very greatly and was full of power. Now after these things were ended, Paul came to a decision that when he had gone through Macedonia and Achaia he would go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I have a desire to see Rome.
And the power of the Lord was with them, and a great number had faith and were turned to the Lord.
But a number of those who gave hearing to the word had faith; and they were now about five thousand.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 16
Commentary on Acts 16 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 16
It is some rebuke to Barnabas that after he left Paul we hear no more of him, of what he did or suffered for Christ. But Paul, as he was recommended by the brethren to the grace of God, so his services for Christ after this are largely recorded; we are to attend him in this chapter from place to place, wherever he came doing good, either watering or planting, beginning new work or improving what was done. Here is,
Act 16:1-5
Paul was a spiritual father, and as such a one we have him here adopting Timothy, and taking care of the education of many others who had been begotten to Christ by his ministry: and in all he appears to have been a wise and tender father. Here is,
Act 16:6-15
In these verses we have,
Act 16:16-24
Paul and his companions, though they were for some time buried in obscurity at Philippi, yet now begin to be taken notice of.
Now,
Act 16:25-34
We have here the designs of the persecutors of Paul and Silas baffled and broken.
Act 16:35-40
In these verses we have,