Lechem Panim #190 “The Girl With A Python Spirit” (Acts 16:16-24) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome to the show today. If you have your Bible, go ahead and look with me at Acts 16. That’s Acts 16. You will remember that Paul is on his second missionary, having with him Silas, Timothy (whom they picked up in Lystra), and now Luke (the author of the book of Acts). Now God has re-directed them as they have sought to share the Gospel. They tried to enter Asia, but God prevented them. They tried to enter Bithynia, but again God prevented them. So they end up in Troas, where God finally reveals to them where they are to go, giving Paul a vision of a man from Macedonia calling out “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” (16:9) And so they go to Macedonia, coming to the city of Philippi, a leading city of the district of Macedonia. And on the Sabbath they go to a place of prayer by the waterfront where they meet a group of women who have met there for Bible study. They sit down with them and share the Gospel with them and a woman named Lydia converts and is baptized along with her entire household. And so is started the Philippian church.

Satan Moves In-- But as the church in Philippi took root, Satan moved in to attack it, just as he had done in Samaria (8:9) and in Cyprus (13:6ff). And he tries the same two strategies he always tries. First, he tries to infiltrate the church and then (when that doesn’t succeed) he resorts to persecuting the church. And in our passage today we will see both strategies at play: Infiltration and then Persecution. Let’s begin by looking at his attempt at infiltration. Go ahead and look with me at verse 16. Luke writes…

Acts 16:16 (ESV)— 16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.

The Place of Attack-- Now I find it interesting that when Satan chooses to use this emissary of his is when Paul and his companions are going to the place of prayer. And that is because it is when the Church comes together to study God’s Word and engage in prayer that Satan is most in danger of having his plans and purposes thwarted. And so we have to be prepared. Because when God moves in a special way, Satan moves right in to try to sow in tares and dissension. And here the tare was in the form of a slave-girl whom the text said had a spirit of divination. Now the Greek text actually literally here reads “a python spirit.” And for you and I that immediately calls to attention the snake in the Garden of Eden. But it’s interesting, the phrase “a python spirit” actually [derives from Greek mythology, in which the Python was a snake that guarded the famous oracle at Delphi. Eventually, the Python was killed by Apollo, the god of prophecy. Since it was believed that Apollo spoke through the oracle at Delphi, the term “python” came to refer to anyone in contact with Apollo. In modern terms, she was a medium in contact with demons.] And those demons apparently were helping her to see and know hidden things and was being used by her masters for profit as a fortune-teller. Now fortune-telling was big business in the Greco-Roman world by both Greeks and Romans. In that culture, any commander who was about to set out on a major military campaign or any emperor who was about to make an important decree would first consult an oracle to see if things would turn out good or ill. Now that made this girl a source of real profit for her owners. However, when the Christians are going to the place of prayer, Satan leads this girl to them and it says…

Acts 16:17 (ESV)— 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days.

A Sneaky Merger-- Now you and I, when we first look at this, might think that this is a good thing. After all, people know and no doubt believe in this girl’s clairvoyant abilities. So isn’t this good advertisement for the Church? Actually no; this was really bad because it was a subtle and very dangerous attempt for Satan to infiltrate one of his own into the Church, sowing a tare among the wheat. You see, what was happening was this girl with a demon was saying things that were absolutely true. And not only were they true, but she (or I should say the demon) was even using [biblical terminology. The term Most High God was an Old Testament designation of the God of Israel (Ps. 78:35; Dan. 5:18) {But} She also spoke of the way of salvation.] And Satan will often speak truth when it suits his purposes. He is the father of lies, but he knows (and we know this too) that the best lies are those that have some truth mingled in. He draws people into false belief all the time by emphasizing some true thing or genuinely beautiful aspect of that false belief. Now here what we have to understand is that because this demon-possessed girl was agreeing with Paul and his followers, people were going to come to the natural conclusion that she is a part of that same group. And appearing as part of the Christian Church, she could do great damage to the followers and cause of Christ.

Bad Publicity-- And so what we learn is that no matter how good publicity from Satan might at first appear, we don’t want that kind of publicity. In Mark 1:34 and Luke 4:41 Jesus silenced the demons rather than let them speak on his behalf. He did not want Satan to do His advertising. And neither did Paul. Furthermore, while her owners had reduced her to nothing more than a source of income, Paul genuinely cared for the girl. And so it says in…

Acts 16:18b (ESV)— Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

The Second Weapon-- And so we see that Satan’s attempt at infiltrating the church to destroy it from the inside did not work; he was cast out. But now we will see that he turns to his second weapon: persecution, where he attempts to destroy the Church from the outside. But as we will see, Satan’s attacks again will fail; and more than that, God will bring great fruit out of this persecution. And this is something that God is renowned for. He is able to bring about awesome things often in the bleakest of trials or the darkest of circumstances. I love what Paul writes in Romans 8:28...

Romans 8:28 (NIV)-- 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

He Experienced This-- Now that is a beautiful promise; but you know I think it is made all the more meaningful when we consider who penned it; because Paul, throughout the course of his entire ministry, face I meant the absolute worst of circumstances. And yet he was still able to pen this. Why? Because he saw demonstrated time after time God doing this for him in his own life. And you and I can know that God will do the same thing for us as well. No matter what we are facing, scripture promises that God is right in the middle of that storm with us and (though our ship might be getting tossed about) He is still guiding us in those circumstances to His perfect plan and purpose for us.

Some Key Examples-- God did it with Joseph in Egypt, who was sold into slavery by his brothers. He raised Joseph up to become second in command over all of Egypt. And because of that he could provide for the needs of his family but also save many lands from starvation from famine. Later, even though Israel was sent into captivity because of their going after other gods; in the midst of that captivity God raised up people like Daniel, Ezekiel, Ezra, and Esther to bring deliverance and hope to His people. And even out of the greatest evil ever committed, the murder of the Son of God, God brought about His greatest provision; salvation from sin and death. And up until this point in the book of Acts (in chapters 4,5,7,8, and 12) we see that every single time the Church is persecuted, it ends up being bigger and stronger on the other side of that persecution. And that pattern doesn’t stop; and our passage today here in Acts 16 is just another example of it. Look at verse 19, where the reaction of the slave girl’s owners is given…

Acts 16:19-20 (ESV)— 19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city.

Anti-Semitism-- Now note how they highlight the fact that Paul and Silas are both Jews. There’s strategy in this; because there was a lot of anti-semitism going on at this time. I say that a bit tongue-in-cheek because they seem to be persecuted at all times and in all places. But notably at this time the anti-semitism was very high and about this time [Emperor Claudius {actually} issued an order expelling the Jews from Rome (Acts 18:2).] And so observe how the owners only grab Paul and Silas, but leave Timothy (who was only half-Jewish) and Luke (a Gentile) alone. They choose the ones that will be most repugnant and suspect before the magistrates and the crowds. And after bringing them, they say that they are the cause of disturbing the entire city, which was completely false. But they say the way they are doing this is by (verse 21)…

Acts 16:21 (ESV)— 21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.”

The Charges-- And technically that was true because [There was a law forbidding Roman citizens to practice any foreign religion that had not been sanctioned by the state, although this law was rarely enforced.] But they certainly were not causing any kind of mass confusion like what these men were accusing them of. As the text highlights, they were angry merely because of their loss of the profits they were gaining from the slave girl. However, they are able to stir the crowd into a frenzy, as it says in…

Acts 16:22a (ESV)— 22 The crowd joined in attacking them,

No Investigation-- And the rulers amazingly, without bothering to investigate the charges or give Paul and Silas a fair hearing and a chance to defend themselves (any of [the highly prized standards of Roman justice.], which by the way would have revealed to the rulers that Paul and Silas were also Roman citizens) they just give in to the mob. It says in…

Acts 16:22b (ESV)— and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.

Lictors-- [The beating was administered by the lictors (the “policemen” of vv. 35, 38), who were under the command of the magistrates (v. 35). Each lictor carried a bundle of rods tied together—ironically, as a symbol of Roman law and justice. With those rods they brutally beat the men, a punishment Paul endured three times (2 Cor. 11:25).]

Acts 16:23-24 (ESV)— 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison {(so in other words, “maximum security”)} and fastened their feet in the stocks.

​Trust in Him-- He was not taking any chances. But like Herod in chapter 12 and the Sanhedrin in Acts 5, the rulers in Philippi were going to learn that no prison is strong enough to hold those God means to be released. Because despite the Python spirits of this world, God is always with those who lean on and trust in Him. Let us always remember that and (in a similar way) trust Him. Let’s do so. Amen.