|
Sunday Sermon Outline STUDIES IN ACTS OF THE APOSTLES-
PART 62
Chap.16,
verses 16-18- brings us to the second of 3 individuals who are
converts to Christ at “as we went to prayer”- on the journey back to the
riverside for prayer, they are met by a woman with powers of
divination =
pythonos- this was a
well-known mythical serpent or dragon that lived near the
This particular kind of possession by an
unclean spirit manifest itself in a ventriloquism or use of the voice box of a
human. This young woman
was used by her “handlers” through soothsaying=
manteuomena- taken from
a word describing someone as “mad” or like a howling person. Obviously, this is a serious case of
demonic-possession where the woman is in bondage to this evil spirit of
deception. While certainly we
believe that demons cannot know the future, yet they may observe people so as to
deceive them by “revealing” something thought to be prophetic. This use or “prostitution” of this poor
woman in her bondage reveals the utter depravity of such men. They made money while she suffered the
abuse and torment of possession. Greed and lust for money drove them- I
Tim.6:10. Their disregard for her
welfare indicates how sin makes people into predators and abusers of
others-Rom.1:31. Secondary to their desire, but essential
to Satan, was an attempt to mar the gospel by its association with such
demons. “the same followed….cried..”- the imperfect tense is used for “cried” indicating continued
action from the past. Vs.18 says
“this she did for several
days”—the persistence shows more than chance meeting—rather an effort
to degrade the gospel. “men of most high God…show us the way of
salvation”- The missionaries could not afford to have the gospel
connected with such pagan and illicit behavior as this demonic
woman. We might ask how does such demon
possession occur to being with? 1) The lost are subject to the influence
and even control of demonic beings – see II Tim.2:26, Matt. 12:45 and
Rev.12:9 2) Such power over men is the result of the
fall (generally) and deception (locally)-
John 8:44,
II Cor.4:4, II Thess.2:9-10 3) Generally, demons were seen as promising
illicit information—in Lev.19:31, the Hebrew word for familiar
is ‘ob =ghost,
spirit and for wizard is yidd’oni from yada=to
know. Thus, many demonic
people claimed to be able to give knowledge that others did not
have; thus, the work of the astrologer who found information (future) in the
stars. The opportunity to have such
illicit knowledge seduces men/women into compromise with
evil. 4) Recall that Satan attributed
“knowledge of good and evil” to eating the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—which
was a lie. Page
2 5) Unclean spirits appear to have desires
to control the bodies of human beings- Matt.8:31,
is part of fallen nature as it
satisfies a (perverted) sense of significance. 6) Individuals who yield themselves to the
power of sin (Rom.6:16) will often also be yielding themselves to
the power of darkness due to their simultaneous rejection of truth – see II
Thess.2:10-11. Truth is the only
consistent barrier to demonic power 7) Cases of children being possessed are
limited and reflect some aspect of parental or family involvement with
illicit knowledge. “being grieved” =diaponetheis- to work laboriously, (passive) –to be worked
up or displeased [NKJV- greatly annoyed]. Paul then exorcises the demon,
commanding it to come out of her, which it did the same
hour. He
mercifully acted to release her from this bondage. This illustrates the true power of
Christ over all beings through his suffering and exaltation- Col.2:15,
He is the Good Shepherd who
protects his sheep from evil powers- Heb.13:20 and I Peter
2:25. |