A Study in Acts
Part 21
We are continuing our study in Act 16. Paul is on his second missionary trip. He is with Silas having split from Barnabas over taking Mark with them.
Acts 16: 8-15: 8. So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9. 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.'' 10. 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. 11. Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, 12. and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days. 13. And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. 14. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. 15. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.'' And she constrained us.
Paul was stopped by the Holy Spirit from to preach in Asia, what we know of as Turkey. Shortly after this Paul has a vision and is called to Macedonia which is modern day Greece. He had now brought to Gospel to Europe. Macedonia is still part of the Roman Empire. They travel to Philippi. Here Paul establishes a church.
They stayed in Philippi for several days, finding no synagogue. If you remember, we had discussed that a synagogue would be present if there were 10 Jewish men in the city. Evidently there were not even this many. So, on the Sabbath they went out to a place where prayer was customarily made, probably where the few Jews in the city and proselytes met. Notice no men are mentioned in this verse. They discover a group of women who met there. Paul begins to preach and teach and what he says touches the heart of a woman from Thyatira, named Lydia. Thyatira was a location of many craft and trade guilds. To trade one had to be a member of a guild. Being a seller of purple, a dye most likely made from the madder plant roots. It was very expensive. Since we do not see her husband mentioned, many believe she may have been a widow, who possibly took over her husband’s business. Anyway, she hears the Word, God opens her heart to receive it and she and her household are baptized. She begs Paul and his group to stay with her. Notice here, that Luke begins telling the story in the first person here. Many scholars believe Luke may have been living in Philippi and this is where He met Paul.
Acts 16:16-18: 16. Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.'' 18. And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.'' And he came out that very hour.
This is a young slave girl, possessed of a demon of python, spirit of divination. It may sound like it is speaking a good truthful thing. But it is a warped version of the truth. This girl following them around is distracting worshippers from the truth. This is becoming more and more prevalent in our society today and we don’t even acknowledge it. We play with taro cards, read our horoscopes, go to fortune tellers thinking this is all harmless, but it is not. It opens doors we do not, as believers need to open. Society of this time was based on sorcery and idol worship. Not the idol worship of ancient cultures such as Baal. But the Roman and Greek gods and goddesses, Caesar proclaimed himself a god and demanded worship. Demon possession was prevalent in the times.
This is an interesting spirit. Very powerful and one of its seats of power was Philippi and the city of Thyatira. It attacks worship, prayer, squeezing out the life of Christ in a person and area. One of its tools is distraction and misdirection.
Ephesians 6:12. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
This is not a lesson on demonology. We as mature Christians, must recognize the truth and confront it in God’s timing and strength. Which is what Paul did.
We see that despite setting this girl free, many were upset especially the owners of the girl and Paul and Silas ended up in jail.
Acts 16: 19-40: 19. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. 20. And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, "These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; 21. "and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.'' 22. Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. 24. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25. But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed.
Paul and Silas set someone free from the devil and suffer for it. We need to remember in our own lives and walk, not everyone will appreciate your faith and beliefs. Not everyone, in church and out will understand the works of the Almighty. Imagine if you will a church where this may have occurred. Some may say, “What in the world was Paul thinking. She was speaking the truth; they do represent the most high God.”
James 2: 19. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble!
Demons know and believe in the existence of God. They believe and tremble. That is why this girl was able to say what she did because they do believe in and know there is one God. We must be able to distinguish, discern the spirits. The only way you are going to be able to do this is staying in the word, prayer and having an open heart to the things of God. Don’t plunge head long into a situation you do not know how to handle. Not everyone is given the ministry of deliverance, but all believers have the power to cast out demons.
Mark 16:17: 17. "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
You have the power in the name of Jesus to cast out demons, but you must walk in wisdom and power and know how to proceed to do it.
Let’s close with this. As I said before not everyone will be happy with or satisfied with the real power of the presence of Jesus. Paul and Silas ended up beaten and put in the inner prison. Probably the inner most, lowest most part of the prison, with no ventilation, no light and no air circulation. They were not only in this foul place but also placed in stocks. Stocks have not changed over the centuries. They were generally strong wooden pieces with places for the arms and legs, you had to sit in them with your arms and legs sticking out of the holes. I do not think this cell had a concrete floor, so I imagine they were sitting in cold mud or dirt. This is a horrible situation, but as we know, Paul and Silas did not let it stop or hinder them or their testimony. At midnight, instead of trying to rest, or crying out to the Lord, “Why God?” What were they doing? Praising God. Worshipping God. Glorifying God. I know we have heard this a million times, but when it is the darkest, don’t stop, Praise God. As we sing so often, ‘MY PRAISE IS MY WEAPON. The Word tells us God inhabits the praise of His people. This beautifully demonstrated here, they praise, God responds with deliverance through an earthquake. God has a plan and He will do whatever it takes to complete that plan in your life. Many are martyred for the word of God, early in their lives. God’s ways are not our ways, Jesus said this would occur. It is hard for us at times to understand but we have to leave it in God’s hands and keep going.