Acts 16:16-24

                                                                 Acts 16:16-24

Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

 

Things do not always go according to our plans.  We never know the consequences of our actions beforehand.  God’s plans for our lives are often hard for us to discern and can leave us in situations that may seem to have escaped His control.  Of course, He never is out of control, and neither is the world in which we live.  No matter how difficult or unexpected our worlds may become, God is always in perfect control.

 

THE ANNOYANCE: It is dangerous to underestimate the power of Satan and his demons.  As Paul and Silas were ministering in Philippi, they were preaching the Gospel and meeting with those gathering at the place of prayer.  However, there was a demon possessed lady who would follow them around announcing that they were servants of the most high God and preachers of the way of salvation.  What she was saying was absolutely true.  However, an endorsement like this coming from a lady who had her reputation as a servant of Satan was a hindrance and annoyance to what Paul was trying to accomplish.  Paul recognized this as an attack from Satan and cast the demon out of this young lady.  Demons can be scarry and they do have power, but they are not more powerful than God.  We can trust in His power but must not underestimate the power of Satan.

 

THE ACCUSATION: The demon possessed servant was a source of income for her masters because the demon allowed her to predict the future.  Satan is not omniscient as God is.  Satan does have powers that are different from ours and is a master at deception.  It is hard to explain or even understand exactly what this girl was able to do for her masters.  The point is that from their perspective, she was more profitable to them as a person afflicted with demon possession than she was without the demon.  These evil slave owners were exploiting this woman for their gain.  Those without Christ will constantly manipulate others for their own gain without regard for the pain they inflict on others.  They are determined to hurt Paul as he had caused them harm by freeing their slave.  They begin to make accusations in the public square about how Paul and Silas were political rebels.  It did not matter that their accusation was a lie.  They were not promoting unlawful practices.  As we advance the Gospel, it is important to prepare for unjust and false accusations.

 

THE ATTACK: It one thing to be falsely accused.  It is another thing when those accusations turn into a public flogging and imprisonment.  Paul had a strategy for reaching Macedonia: go to the leading city, start at the place of prayer, preach the Gospel, disciple leaders, leave a church.  Getting whipped in public and thrown in jail was not a part of that strategy.  Sometimes God’s strategies for reaching an area are different than ours and will often be uncomfortable to us.  I am sure that as Paul and Silas where being locked up with bloody and aching backs, they were asking one another about where that man from Macedonia in Paul’s vision might be.  It is important for us to remember that just because the circumstances we face are not to our liking; it does not mean that God is closing the door to us for ministry in that place.  Our strategies rarely involve suffering.  God’s strategies often call for suffering.  We must not allow this to discourage or dissuade us.

 

APPLICATION: We may not understand the power of Satan, but we can have confidence that the power of God is greater.  We may not understand why God allows His servants to suffer false accusations and persecution, but we can have confidence that He know what He is doing and trust Him in all these circumstances.  Be flexible when God makes unexpected and even difficult changes to our strategies.  Don’t become discouraged in times of suffering it is often God’s path to fruitfulness.