Okay, let's turn in our scriptures
to Acts chapter 16. I'm anxiously wanting to get to the
story of the Philippian jailer because it's such a beautiful
picture of salvation by our sovereign, gracious God. But there's an
intervening event that I want us to spend a little bit of time
looking at this morning. a little intervention of just
a few verses. So Lydia is converted and Lydia
has Paul and the disciples at her house and they go from her
house to a house of prayer, a place where they could worship God,
a place where Paul could preach the gospel, a place where Lydia
and the others who were converted from that meeting and the subsequent
meetings in Philippi could meet. It was just a gathering of the
church and they went there regularly. And that's what we come to in
verse 16, and I'll just read these few verses here. And it
came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with
the spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters
much gain by soothsaying. The same followed Paul and us,
and cried, saying, these men are the servants of the Most
High God, which show unto us the way of salvation. And this
she did many days, but Paul, being grieved, turned and said
to the Spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to
come out of her. And he came out the same hour. And when her master saw that
the hope of their gains was gone. They caught Paul and Silas and
drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers." It is extraordinary,
isn't it? When we come to the scriptures
and especially we come to the gospels, we see more demonic
activity than we do in most of the rest of the scriptures put
together. And the answer, I think, is really simple, isn't it? That
the demons are exposed and come to the surface in the presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so it is with the preaching
of the Gospel. When the preaching of the Gospel comes, then all
of a sudden there is opposition that arises. The world is at
peace. Satan keeps his palace and his
goods are in peace. And he can keep them in peace
in a multitude of different ways. The road to hell is extraordinarily
broad. You can crawl along in the gutter,
or you can walk along in the top of the main street in all
of the sunshine and glory, and you can look down on all of those
to the left of you, to the right of you. It's all the broad way
to hell. There are many, many ways. But
our God has his sovereign way, and any time we come to speak
and think of Satan at all, we don't want to give him much oxygen
by allowing us any thoughts that he has any control whatsoever
when it comes to the things of the Lord. He is God's devil,
and he does God's bidding. in this world, and he doesn't. When it comes to this meeting,
we see in this meeting that the Lord Jesus Christ just comes
and he just casts him out with a word. There is no fight between
them. Our God reigns. And that's how
this passage begins, doesn't it? In Acts 16, 16, it says,
and it came to pass. It came to pass. That's a remarkable
phrase, isn't it? What's the it in it came to pass? What's the it? The it's a simple
it, isn't it? It's God's eternal purposes in
his covenant of grace from the foundation of the world. The
it is God doing what Romans 8.28 says. He's working all things
together for the good of those who love God and are called according
to his purpose. It's his purpose. The it is his
purpose. It's remarkable. How many times
do you think it's been used in the scriptures? 452 times. God doesn't need to repeat
it 452 times, but we are extraordinarily forgetful. All we need is the
slightest little thing to come into our world that throws us
off our course and we've got all of our ducks lined up in
a row and then all of a sudden it falls apart and we think,
what's going on? God is what's going on all the
time. All the time. And as it came
to pass, They are on their way, as we
went to prayer, from Lydia's house to the place where Paul,
Silas, Timothy and all the others that had been gathered in that
brief stay in Philippi, as we went to pray. They went regularly
to a place of prayer. They went there many days, it
says in verse 18. This damsel followed them for
many days. I think the first thing I want
us to note in all of this, other than the fact that it's God's
absolute sovereignty in all of these things, is that it's extraordinary,
isn't it, that this is the first experience in Europe of demons
standing in opposition to the gospel. But it's such a beautiful
picture, isn't it? It's as we went, as we went. I'd just like for you and me
to ponder the number of times we've been interfered with as
we went. as we went to prayer. How often when we go to prayer,
how often when we come to put aside things of this world and
put aside the things that matter least for the things that matter
most, we get distracted as we went to prayer. As we went, in
the act of these men going to worship God, this is Satan begins
his first work against the gospel. We are just hindered, aren't
we? I don't know, I can just speak for myself. The number
of times you go to prayer, don't you, and immediately you're thinking
about all the nonsense and the rubbish in this world. Dear,
oh dear, the flesh is weak, brothers and sisters, and the distractions
that people have from coming to worship God are multitudinous
and almost entirely without merit or meaning. It's as we went,
No one, none of God's servants are going to make legalistic
rules about church and other things. But the reality is that
God says, as we went, we're going to be distracted. And God, I
pray, will cause us to be like Paul and these others, and they
just continued going. The distractions continued many
days, and they just kept on going. And a certain damsel, And a certain
damsel, there was a certain lady called Lydia. There'd be a certain
jailer, Lord willing, we'll look at next week. There are always
certain ones. Everything that God does is with
certain ones. There is just a personal dealing
of God with his people. A certain one, a certain damsel
possessed with a spirit of divination met us. It's a certain damsel. It's an awful situation that
this certain damsel is in, isn't it? There is no question that
all, according to the Scriptures, all of Adam's fallen race are
dead in trespasses and sins. And we need nothing more than
to look around and look into our own lives and we'll see the
truth of what Paul says, the Holy Spirit says in Philippians
2, it says, and you he has quickened, he's given you life, who were
dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience." He's actually at work in the children
of disobedience, all of them, all over the world, among whom
also we had our conversation in times past. So don't look
down your nose at them and say, well, look at those ones over
there, because you had your conversation, according to God, in times past.
in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath. You looked
exactly like, and acted exactly like, the children upon whom
God's wrath will fall. That's what you were. That's
the pit from which you have been dug. That's the rock from which
you have been hewn, brothers and sisters. Who makes you to
differ? What have you ever earned to make you any differ? Why would
you want to boast about anything that we have? We were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others, but God who is rich in
mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us. The love of God
is a great love and the love of God is a particular love for
these particular people. Even when we were dead in sins
has quickened us together with Christ. By grace you are saved
and has raised us up together and made us to sit together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus. It is the journey, isn't it?
The Lord Jesus came from the greatest of glory to the greatest
of ignominy in this world. And he takes his people from
the greatest of ignominy in this world and takes them to the highest
seats of glory. He's raised us up together, made
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the
ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace
in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are
ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Four. because we are His workmanship. We are his masterpieces, brothers
and sisters in Christ, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. And it came to pass. And it came to pass that God
set his love upon Lydia before the foundation of the world.
God had Lydia's name written on his heart. when he died on
Calvary Street, our great Saviour God carries the names of his
people on his shoulders and he carries the names of them in
his heart and he takes them into the Holy of Holies and he takes
them in there on the basis of blood atonement. Our Lord Jesus
Christ will have the reward of all of his trials. So this Poor Damsel. She had all of that burden that
we've read in Ephesians 2. But she had a greater burden.
She had a greater burden like that poor Gadarene demoniac. Like those possessed that come
to the Lord Jesus. or bring their possessed children
to the Lord Jesus, she was possessed with the spirit of divination. That word divination is the word
python. It's extraordinary, isn't it?
She's possessed with the spirit of divination. The prophetess
at Delphi, you might have heard of the Oracle of Delphi, which
is just down the road from Philippi, effectively, just on the other
side of the peninsula there. But the prophetess there was
called Pythia. And there were many, many, many,
many of these gods and goddesses that were similarly similarly
proliferated in that ancient world. It's interesting, isn't
it, when we were in India I learnt that the word yoga, which is
really a common word these days and considered a mild, innocent
sort of thing to be doing, really good to stretch your body and
relax your mind and everything else. The Sanskrit word yoga
means to be yoked. And the purpose of yoga, according
to a fellow who should know told me, was that they believe in
Hinduism that there's a serpent curled up in the base of your
spine. And the purpose of yoga is to
unleash and to control the serpent and the serpent to control you. For those who have any understanding
of the scriptures, it's just a horrifying thought. She was
possessed with this spirit of divination. It ruled her, it
controlled her, How it was exhibited, we're not sure, but generally
they were people who acted as soothsayers and seers. She was able to prophesy, she
was able to tell fortunes, she was able to find lost things,
she was able to guide people into ways that would cause them
to gain greater wealth and prestige. No wonder the scriptures remind
us again and again that the children of God are to have nothing to
do with them whatsoever, ever. Thou shalt not suffer a witch
to live, says Exodus 22. You're not to have anything to
do with them. You're not to have any regard for them whatsoever
in any way at all, which simply means when it comes to things
like horoscopes and all the other nonsense that we have that proliferates
this world, don't touch it, is what God says. You'll be defiled
by it. You'll be defiled by it. It's
extraordinary, isn't it? That the man from Macedonia says,
come over, the one who met Paul in the vision in Troas, he says,
come over into Macedonia to help us. It's in Acts 16 verse 9. But they had so much help, these
people, didn't they? These Philippians had just about
everything the world could wish to offer them. They were a Roman
colony. They were a wealthy colony. They had power, the power of
the Roman Empire. They had the prestige of being
this particular city that had been named a Roman colony because
of the things that went on there hundreds of years beforehand.
They had a remarkable history, these people. As you go on and
read in Acts, you'll find that the Greeks were full of philosophy.
They had all the philosophical things in the world. Homer and
all of those guys were there. They had all of this philosophy.
They had religion coming out their ears. When Paul walked
around Athens, he couldn't believe how many gods they had there.
And Philippi would have had them all. And then they had all the
superstitious nonsense of all of that fake demonic religion. And then they had these demonic
appearances. They had these guides, like this
woman, to help them. They had so much help. But the
man from Macedonia says, come and help us. Come and help us.
The one help, the one help the people that have all of those
things need, the one help that helps, is that they needed the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul had absolutely no question
about what the help was. They came, he says, come over,
and he came, and he finds that group of women. But there was
this woman, as Paul had gathered that little fellowship together,
and Paul no doubt gathered them as often as he possibly could,
and he preached to them as often as he possibly could, and Silas
as well, and a great place for Timothy to be learning at his
master's feet. This woman comes along and disrupts
them. And she brought her masters much
gain. See, there was great power and
wealth to be won from these things. Why do people still do horoscopes
and all that other nonsense? It just proliferates, isn't it?
You can go to festivals and big events where it's just full of
it all. It always makes money. No one does it for free. These
men had got much gain and much power. You might recall in Acts
chapter 8, verse 9, there was a man called Simon Magnus in
Samaria, and he had a lot of people following him, and he
was a man of some power and influence. But he'd seen a greater power.
He'd used sorcery, it says, and bewitched the people of Samaria,
giving out that himself was a great one. They'll always want your
money. They'll always want you, and
they'll always want to extol themselves. They'll always want
to put their name at the top of the law. To whom they all
gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, this man
is the great power of God. They'll all attribute these things
to something spiritual. Simon Magnus, you might recall,
Elemus bar Jesus in Acts chapter 13. He'd actually, by use of
these things, there was a sorcerer, it says in verse 8 of Acts 13, and he withstood Paul and the
others. He had actually gained access to the consul of Rome. There he was at the very seat
of power in Cyprus. They had both won power and wealth. But she brought her masters,
this poor demon-possessed girl, a damsel, she brought her masters
much gain. The reality is it's just natural
for the natural man to use all others for their gain. It might be, for some, a gain
in self-righteousness, and they'll be able to compare their good
deeds and their good acquisitions. You get to our stage in life,
and you get very bored of the conversations of your compatriots.
They're either wanting to tell you what they have, or where
they have been, or where they are going. I find it very, very
hard not to yawn these days because it's so repetitive. You just
get together with him and you think, here they are, I'm about
to be told something wonderful about themselves. There is just, in the heart of
the natural man, a shocking self-glorification in all I'm a regenerate man. They want
to boast about themselves. They want to boast about their
good deeds. They want to boast about their power over others. The religious ones want to boast
about their power over their sins and over their failings.
But see, all unregenerate man glorifies self. That was the
poison of the garden that flows in our veins, brothers and sisters.
You will be as gods, said Satan to our first parents. And long as I have the opportunity
to exercise my God-like behaviour, it's fine. As long as you're
in submission and you're acquiescing and you're propping up my status
as someone God-like. It's only the Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's only the Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ which comes and reveals the evil that's in the
heart of man and reveals the evil that's in all man. And it's only the Gospel that
comes and reveals the wickedness and the deceitfulness of Satan. But the thing that's extraordinary,
as you probably noticed in Acts chapter 16, she comes with complimentary
things. This demon-possessed girl, she
came following, the same followed Paul and us, verse 17, and cried
saying, these men are the servants of the Most High God, which shall
unto us The way of salvation. Is there anything wrong in what
she said? Is there one lie in all of that statement? The first thing we need to see
from this is that when Satan begins his assault on the Gospel,
when Satan comes along to you, children of God, his first attack
is always going to be a subtle attack. It's always going to
be subtle, and it's always going to come as if he's in agreement
with the apostles and the apostles' ministry. The number of times
I've had people come to me, and no doubt come to you as well,
and say, well, we really agree with you about what you're saying.
We really think it's good that you talk about God being absolutely
sovereign. We really do agree with a whole
lot of what you're saying. And we really think it's wonderful.
I've had people come here and say, we love the fact that you're
so zealous, you people, for God. God's servants are extraordinarily
nervous about compliments ever. And God's servants have every
good reason to be so. Satan is a subtle deceiver of
people. He did. This demon did speak
the truth, didn't he? He said, your servants, your
bond slaves, you men, your bond slaves, and you bought with a
price, and you're under orders, and you're ambassadors from God. And he says, you're the servants
of the Most High God. She uses the words that Daniel
used to describe God. She used the words that the Psalmist
used to describe God. In Psalm 57, I will cry unto
God, Most High God, that performeth all things for me. They remembered,
verse Psalm 78, 35, they remembered that God was their rock and the
high God their redeemer. You might recall that when Melchizedek
came to Abraham after the conquering of those six kings, Melchizedek
came and it's declared that he is the priest of the most high
God. So they came to the Lord Jesus
with flattery, didn't they? That man came to him and said,
good master, Nicodemus came to him and said, we know that you're
a teacher sent from God. We know that God's with you.
He didn't have a clue who the Lord Jesus Christ was, and he
didn't have a clue who he was. When the man came along and said,
it was, good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
And the Lord gives him the second half of the Ten Commandments,
and he said, well, I've done all these. So he didn't come
to calling the Lord Jesus good because he wanted to learn something.
He came because he thought he was good. Good master. There is none good but God. God alone is good. And all that's good in this creation
comes from Him. You see, this poor girl, even
with all of her unique powers, even with all the power and money
and wealth and prestige she brought to these other ones, she was
still a slave. She was still owned and she was
controlled by wicked, self-serving men. All natural men robbed God of
his glory as creator and sustainer. But she came, a demon possessed
girl, speaking these words of truth, speaking these words which
seemed to be complimentary Even the demons, when they met
the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospels, they said, what have
we to do with you, Jesus, thou Son of God? Have you come to
torment us before time? They knew that there was a time
of judgment and justice for them. They said, you're the Holy One
of God. Jesus, thou Son of the Most High
God, When the people in Nazareth heard
the Lord Jesus preaching, they marvelled at his gracious words. They marvelled with each other.
They probably marvelled with him. Minutes later, having declared
who God is and how God saves people, they took him out to
the edge of that hill to kill him. This is A great clash, isn't
it, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes. There is an exposing of
man and there is an exposing of demons. But our Lord Jesus Christ, as
I said earlier, is an absolute sovereign always, and His servants
have a purpose in this world. His servants have a purpose in
this world, and that purpose is to preach the gospel. This
went on for many days, and Paul ignored her. If you have anything
to do with charismatic and Pentecostal things these days, the first
thing you have to do is be able to identify the demon and cast out
the demon, the demon of lust and the demon of greed and the
demon of this and the demon of that. Paul ignored her, ignored
her for days and days. Verse 18. He suffered the cries of the
damsel for many days. You see, Paul didn't see exorcism
as a high priority, nor did he accept any compliments from her.
And he doesn't require her assistance in his appointed work. See, what
has the Kingdom of God to do with Belial? They show us the
way of salvation. She didn't walk in the way of
salvation. They show us the way of salvation. And what's Paul's response? Firstly,
his response is to ignore her. In verse 18, have you ever read
verse 18? This she did many days, but Paul being grieved. He thought nothing of her compliments
whatsoever. Paul being grieved. He turned, she was behind him,
and he spoke to the spirit. He says, I command thee in the
name of Jesus Christ to come out of her, and he came out immediately. You see, it was the promise,
isn't it? Everything that happens in the gospel accounts, everything
that happens in Acts is a reflection of the gospel accounts of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Where Paul is, the Lord Jesus
Christ is. Where his gospel is, he is. He promised his disciples, didn't
he? He promised the apostles, these signs shall follow them
that believe. In my name shall they cast out
devils. In my name shall they cast out
devils. And when they'd done that work
of casting out devils in Luke 10, 20, and they came back and
they were rejoicing, they said, even the demons submit to us.
And the Lord turned to them and said, Rejoice not that the spirits
are subject unto you, but rather rejoice. What do people, God's
people rejoice in? Rather rejoice because your names
are written in heaven. The one bit of advice from all
of the scriptures is stay away from all of that as long as you
possibly can. Don't dabble in it, don't look
at it, don't get involved in it in any way whatsoever. It
is always a means to bringing you down. And our God just has to speak
a word and Satan is gone. He just had to speak a word.
He spoke a word from a distance and they are gone. He came out
that hour. He came out immediately. Let's have a break.