JUST BE QUIET
Text: Acts 16:16-24
Introduction
1. One of the things that I love about preaching through a book of the Bible chapter by chapter, paragraph by paragraph, and verse by verse is that it forces me to preach about topics that are difficult to talk about. But they are topics that the congregation needs to hear.
2. Today is one of those texts. The topic that today’s text deals with is demons. It is not a topic we like to talk about, but we need to hear because they are real. We need to know they exist and how to deal with them.
3. That’s what today’s text shows us.
4. Read Acts 16:16-24
Transition: The first thing we need to know about demons is…
I. We Have Authority Over Them in Jesus’ Name (16-18).
A. Demon-Possessed Slave Girl
1. In the city of Philippi, the Lord dramatically changed the lives of three people. The first one, Lydia, we talked about last week.
2. Today we will discuss the second, a demon possessed servant girl. Luke begins the narrative by saying, “One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. She earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes.”
a. Luke continues his first-hand account of the missionary journey by telling us they went back to the place of prayer, which was outside the city at the riverbank.
b. On their way, they encountered a slave girl who was possessed by a demon that enabled her to tell the future.
c. In the Greek, it says she had a “python spirit,” which was something that goes back to Greek mythology.
d. Later the word was used to designate a person who had the power to tell fortunes and was thought to be inspired by the serpent called Python (Arrington, 619).
e. Fortune telling was popular in both Greek and Roman culture, and they used numerous methods trying to see the future, from interpreting omens in nature to communicating with the dead.
f. This slave girl had an evil spirit inside of her, and she made her masters rich by interpreting signs and fortune telling. Her masters were using her unfortunate condition for personal gain.
3. Next, Luke tells us in v. 17, “She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”
a. Now, what the slave girl was saying about the missionaries was true, they were servants of the Most High God, and they had come to tell them how to be saved.
b. So, if what she said was true, why did it annoy Paul so much?
c. Well, if Paul allowed this continue, he would appear to be linking the gospel with demon related activity. In doing so, he would damage the message of Christ by linking it to Satan.
d. We see this same kind of activity happening in the world today.
e. People use the ability to tell the future for personal gain.
f. Some of them are fakes and charlatans, and others do it through demonic influence.
4. Now, we see Paul take authority over the situation. In v. 18 Luke tells us, “This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her.”
a. Apparently, the young slave girl followed them around every day.
b. Finally, Paul had had enough of this nonsense. Our text tells us he became exasperated and so irritated that he turns toward the girl, speaks directly to demon inside of her saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!”
c. Notice that he doesn’t speak to the girl, but directly to the demon. He wasn’t upset with the girl, but rather with the demon because it was the one causing the trouble.
d. Paul takes authority over the demon in the “name of Jesus Christ.” Notice that Paul doesn’t confront the demon in his own authority, but in the mighty name of Jesus.
e. It is true that demons are powerful, and in and of ourselves we are no match for them.
f. However, they are no match for the powerful name of Jesus Christ!
g. It is obvious that it was no match for the name of Jesus because it immediately left the girl.
h. There is no match in the physical or spiritual realm for the authority of Jesus Christ!
B. They Will Cast Out Demons in My Name
1. Illustration: “Yes, Satan is real, but so is Christ, and someday Satan will be defeated, and Christ will rule forever. Don't be deceived, but open your heart and mind to Jesus Christ, and put your life into His hands.” (Billy Graham).
2. We have authority over Satan and his demons in Jesus’ name!
a. “These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages.” (Mark 16:17).
b. “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.” (1 Jn. 4:4).
c. The first thing I need to tell you church, if you are here today and you have dabbled in witchcraft (including Wiccan), astrology, tarot cards, fortune telling, psychics, or Ouija Boards, you need to stop immediately, repent, and seek God’s forgiveness and healing.
d. The world and the devil would have us believe that these things are harmless, but I assure you they are not! They can do serious harm to your spirit.
e. But the good news is that we have the authority over Satan and his demons in Jesus’ name!
f. Notice that Jesus says that we will cast out demons in his name, and Paul casts out this demon in our text “in the name of Jesus Christ.”
g. We cannot do this in our own strength and power, but we can do it in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
h. Jesus won the victory for us with his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead.
i. We can walk in that victory in the mighty name of Jesus!
j. We can do this because greater is the Spirit inside us than the spirit that is in the world!
k. We have the victory in Jesus’ name!
Transition: But you will find that this is an…
II. Unpopular Opinion (19-24).
A. Mob Quickly Formed
1. Not everyone looks at things the way we do as Christians.
2. Not everyone was happy with the girl’s deliverance from the demon. In vv. 19-21 it says, “Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. 20 “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials. 21 “They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.”
a. Paul’s actions made the girls masters angry.
b. They could care less about the girl’s well-being; no, they were upset because they lost their cash cow.
c. Since the girl no longer had the demon living inside of her, she was no longer able to do her fortune telling.
d. So, they drag Paul and Silas to the marketplace before the authorities.
e. Their accusation against the missionaries was that they were teaching customs that are illegal for Romans to practice, but more importantly, they were Jews causing an uproar.
f. Now, these magistrates had one job— keeping the peace.
g. If they let things get out of hand and news of it reaches Rome, they would be out of a job at best and maybe thrown in jail.
3. Next, Luke tells us, “A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. 23 They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. 24 So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.”
a. These people were upset with Paul and Silas for putting an end to their source of riches.
b. So, they twisted the truth enough to cause a mob to revolt against Paul and Silas.
c. So, to satisfy the angry mob, the magistrates ordered that Paul and Silas be beaten with wooden rods.
d. “Unless the accused persons were Roman citizens, they were normally beaten before the trial as a means of securing evidence, or as they say on TV, “beat a confession out of them.”
e. The Roman magistrates’ employees, called lictors, carried wooden rods in bundles, and with these rods they beat Paul and Silas.
f. Sometimes, as they did here, the accused were stripped first. Public beatings served not only to secure evidence but also to humiliate those beaten and to discourage their followers. (Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Ac 16:22).
g. After their beating, Paul and Silas were thrown into jail, and the jailer was told to make sure they didn’t escape.
h. Perhaps the stories of the apostles escaping from prison, like Peter did back in chapter 12, had gotten around.
i. So, the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in stocks.
B. Worldly Point of View
1. Illustration: “What you see depends not only on what you look at, but where you look from.”
2. The world may look at us as if we have lost our minds, but it is only because the devil has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts.
a. “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” (2 Cor. 4:4).
b. The world will tell you that there is no such thing as the devil or demons, and they will say we have lost our minds.
c. But they do not believe because they have their eyes and minds blinded by the devil, and he does not want us to believe he exists so that he can keep from serving Christ.
d. But let me tell you, there is a devil and demons, and their mission is to deceive, lie, and twist the truth so that we will not turn from our sins and accept Christ.
e. That is why we need to know the truths of God’s Word and understand the authority we have in Jesus’s name!
f. We will not fight someone we don’t believe exists, and that is exactly where the devil wants us.
g. Yet, our God is greater than he is, and he has given us the victory.
h. It doesn’t matter what the world thinks; what matters is what God says!
i. Jesus said on the cross, “IT IS FINISHED!”
Conclusion
1. When it comes to dealing with demons...
a. We have authority over them in Jesus’ name.
b. But it’s an unpopular opinion.
2. What’s the point preacher? While it’s true there are demons, it is truer that Jesus has won the battle! So, stand in the authority of Jesus’ name!
