The Second Missionary Journey – Persecution in Philippi

Well, if you would take your Bible, turn to Acts chapter 16. Acts chapter 16. Now it has been quite a few weeks since we have been in our study, so I want to catch us up a little bit. I don't know about you, but I have needed that catching up. But we have seen that the missionary team of Paul and Barnabas split up over the sharp and public disagreement. Remember that Barnabas wanted to take John Mark along with them on the second missionary journey, but Paul refused because John Mark had quit on them on the first missionary journey. So Barnabas took John Mark and he went to Cyprus, the text tells us.

And Paul took Silas and they went through Syria and Cilicia. And Luke tells us that both teams went, strengthening the churches that were birthed from the first missionary journey. I know I have mentioned these two quotations before, but they need repeating. They really do help us. R.C. Sproul points out how God sovereignly worked in this division, even doubling the missionary work. And I would add to that by saying God sovereignly worked in this division through and by His good grace. Through and by His good grace. J.C. Ryle said that here in this circumstance we see that the best were not always at their best.

I like that because this shows us the humanity, even the sinfulness of even some of the best of Christians that we see in the scripture. But then we saw that the second missionary journey started kind of in two phases, in two places. First when Paul and Silas were sent out and commissioned by the church there at Antioch. Then we see that they went to Derby and the Lystra. And then when their direction was changed, after they were hindered by God, where to go and who to go to, we know that Paul received what is commonly called the Macedonian call. But remember what took place before the Macedonian call.

When Paul and Barnabas were in Lystra, a new worker and ministry assistant was added to the team. Of course that was Timothy. He joined the work. He traveled with him in this second missionary journey. And we will see Timothy off and on throughout the book of Acts or the rest of the book of Acts. And that leads us to the passages in the message that we were in the last time we were here at Acts. In verses 11 to 15 we saw how Paul and Silas made their way into Macedonia and specifically to the city of Philippi. And we saw the first recorded convert to Christ there in Philippi, which is the first recorded convert to Christ on European soil.

And then in verses 14 to 15 Luke told us how God opened the heart of Lydia. That was when she heard Paul sharing the gospel and preaching the gospel as they gathered together to worship there on the shore of the river. And in verse 15 Luke told us how God had birthed the church at Philippi after Lydia and others savingly believed. And he told us how those new believers gathered in Lydia's home. As a matter of fact it was Lydia who brought the idea to the table. She encouraged Paul and the others to meet in her home.

So after a rocky start because the team split up, after a new addition to the team and a new direction was given, a new work in a new region was opened for the gospel in the work of the church. Now before we continue with the second missionary journey in this new work in this new region we know the region was Macedonia and the city was Philippi. I do want to catch us back up. I want to go back to verse 6 to 15. So let's look at verse 6. And they went through the region of Fergia and Galatia having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia they attempted to go into Bithynia.

But the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So passing by Mysia they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia was standing there urging him and saying come over to Macedonia and help us. And when Paul had seen the vision immediately we sought to go into Macedonia concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. Now remember we see us language here because Luke was a part of the team at this time. Verse 11.

So setting sail from Troas we made a direct voyage to Summoth Race and the following day to Neopolis and from there to Philippi which is a leading city in the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside where we suppose there was a place of prayer and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.

And after she was baptized and her household as well she urged us saying if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord come to my house and stay and she veiled upon us. Now here we see that the work in Philippi was going great. It was doing real well. God had supernaturally guided Paul and the team to Philippi into a group that he wanted to save obviously. God birthed souls into the kingdom and the first church was formed there in Philippi. Again, the first church in European soil. So things were going great or so it seemed.

Of course we know that God is sovereign overall and that no problems, no privation, no persecution comes against his work, comes against his workers unless it is ordained of God. And that is just what happened. And broke out against Paul and the missions team as they were ministering in Philippi. Now this leads us to our verses for tonight. Verse 16 to 24. As they 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. She followed Paul and us crying out. These men are servants of the most high God who proclaim to you the way of salvation.

And this she kept doing for many days. 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, that's the spirit, came out at that very hour. 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. And when they had brought them to the magistrates they said these men are Jews and they have disturbed our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.

The crowd joined in attacking them and the magistrates tore the garments off of them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them they threw them into prison ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. Now out of these verses we really see two events. First off it's obvious that the slave girl was set free from her demonic bondage. And as we will see there's quite a lot going on here with the slave girl and her being delivered from her demonic bondage.

Then second this is obvious Paul and Silas were persecuted and they were put in prison for ruining the profit of the owners of the slave girl. Well that's how we're going to approach the verses. We will look at how the slave girl was set free and then we'll look at how the team was put into prison. So number one the slave girl was set free verses 16 to 17. The slave girl was set free. Now I know we've just read the verses but there's quite a lot going on here so I want to read them again.

As we, this would have been Paul, Silas and the missions team, as we were going to the place of prayer we could say again because we know they went there before. We were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune telling. She followed Paul and us crying out, "These men are servants of the Most High God who proclaim to you the way of salvation." And notice, "And she kept doing this for many days." 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 in it." That would be the spirit came out at that very hour.

Notice how quickly things turned for Paul and Silas. Right after people were saved, right after the church was started, Satan attacked so as to corrupt the work. But right here we have quite a few things that are really strange to us but this was not too strange to the original audience. Let me explain what I mean. And I want to make three observations here. I want us to see three, I want us to see these events in three ways. First notice the depth of this demonic activity. The depth of this demonic activity. Again, this seems strange to us in our day but this kind of thing was not unusual in their day, in their time and culture.

We may even discount these kinds of things. We may even tend to trivialize these kinds of things but that was not the case for them in that day. So let's look at just how dangerous and truly demonic this was and the depth of this demonic activity. Verse 16 tells us that she had a spirit and now all of the translations that we reference say the same thing, use the same word. But in the original language it actually says she had a python spirit and that's going to sound strange. But this comes from Greek mythology but more specific the Greek gods. And scholars tell us it was used here because the python was associated with the god Apollo.

Jim Boyce, the bible scholar, points out that Philippi, the city, was not very far from the shrine of the Pythian Apollo which was connected to the worship of the god Apollo. So this slave girl was connected to that particular manifestation of the Greek god. She was truly possessed by a demonic spirit associated with that cult in the worship of the Greek god Apollo which enabled her somehow to tell future. Now what's the point here? This was not some kind of a sci-fi comic book story. This was not something that was harmless or mildly pagan.

This girl was connected to the worship of a very demonic and satanic false god and as a result she was possessed, truly possessed by a demonic spirit that was associated with that Greek god. Now there's a lesson here. Of course the devil is not behind every bush and every rock and behind every door, I know that, but he is involved with a lot more than sometimes we give him credit. I'll come back to that. So this girl was possessed by a real demonic spirit and notice the depth of this demonic spirit. This was real. Second, notice the danger that this girl posed. We see this in verse 17. Now look at how this girl responded to Paul and the team.

Hers was not some harmless attack and confession by the girl. This was Satan's attempt to sow tares among the wheat. This was Satan's attempt to place a demonic false convert among true believers. And we see this in what she kept saying. Let me explain. She used this term Most High God which was and is an accurate Old Testament way to describe God, the one true God, the God of Israel. And she spoke of the way of salvation which was what Paul and all the others preached. But notice what she was doing in saying what she was saying.

She was loudly and boldly, day after day, declaring that Paul and the team serve God, the one true God as seen in the Old Testament scriptures. And she was loudly and boldly and repeatedly declaring that they were preaching the gospel, the way of salvation found in Jesus. And this is the great danger she posed. Satan is the father of all lives and he speaks truth when it fits in with his satanic purposes. And when Satan does speak truth, he does so so as to hide and disguise himself in his demonic servants as angels of light. Listen to 2 Corinthians 11, 13 to 14.

And see if you can see if Paul sounds like he's talking about this slave girl, especially in verse 14. Listen to the verses. Paul says, "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ, and no wonder for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." Now notice how all this comes together. Because this devilish demonic girl was agreeing with Paul and the missionary team over and over, day after day, some in the city could have easily assumed that she was a believer in Christ Jesus and a part of the new band of believers. Even those new baby Christians could have made this mistake.

And if that would have happened, then Satan would have had upon an imposter, a demonic operative on the inside of this new gospel work in this new church. You see? I like how John MacArthur says it and I'm quoting, "Some of his most effective and diabolical work is done in the name of Jesus Christ." You see? Some of his, that's Satan's, most effective and diabolical work is done in the name of Jesus Christ.

Now, you may say, "Pastor, Luke does not tell us she was trying to infiltrate the church, and the text does say she prophesied, told the future for money, so maybe she was doing this for money and more money, more gain." Well maybe so, but either way, or no matter why, she did what she did. Her motive and her purpose was dangerous and it was demonic, and I do believe that Satan's purpose was to try to get her on the inside.

Third, notice the deliverance of the girl, verse 18, "Here we see that after many days of this girl hounding the missions team, Paul had enough." Notice now the ESV, the New American Standard, the Legacy Standard says that Paul was annoyed. I'll pause right here. This is where some of the men are saying, "Yeah, I get annoyed sometimes too, maybe for some other reasons." So Paul then commanded the demonic spirit out of the girl, and it did leave her immediately.

I like what Matthew Henry says here, and I'm quoting, "Thus Paul shows the way of salvation indeed, that it is by breaking the power of Satan, and that this salvation is to be obtained in the name of Jesus Christ only." But notice that this girl was delivered by two powers, but really only one. I know that's contradictory, I'll explain. First we see that she was set free by and through apostolic power. As an apostle, Paul possessed unique apostolic authority. So he had the ability and the power to cast out demons, and we'll see this more and more throughout the book of Acts.

But then second, we see that she was set free ultimately by the power of Jesus and His name. Simply Paul did not set her free by and through His name, by and through His power, but by and through the name of Jesus. Again, Henry says that Paul shows that the way of salvation and the breaking of the power of Satan is found in, it's obtained in, the name of Jesus only. So here in verses 16 to 18, really all these verses, we see how this demonically possessed slave girl was set free.

Although she professed the right words about God, the right words about salvation found in the name of Jesus and the gospel, she was possessed in a very, very real and dangerous demonic spirit. And by and through the grace of God, she was set free. Let me read verse 18 in the Amplified. "Paul, being greatly annoyed and worn out, turned and said to the spirit inside her, a command you in the name of Jesus Christ as His representative to come out of her, and it came out at that very moment." Now what do we need to learn here? What kind of application do we need to make? There are two things that come to mind, and I'll add to it.

First, although the devil is not behind every bush and behind every rock and behind every door, he is very real and his demonic spirits are very real and active and well today. And second, no matter if someone is just lost or lost and possessed, the same Jesus saves and can save them all. So I want to add to that by saying. Some of us are praying for lost mothers and lost fathers. Some of us are praying for lost children. We have a long list of folks that we are praying for, and we may feel like they can never be saved. No one is outside of the reach of the saving grace of God. This demonic girl, dangerously demonic girl, was saved.

And those that are on our hearts can be saved as well. But one more thing here. We need to be very careful. Satan is certainly definitely behind in empowering many things in the world. And I think sometimes we fail to see it. As a matter of fact, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who does some missions work in India, and he says it's amazing. A lot of times in India, they see things as demonic. And here in the States, we see them as something else other than demonic. It gets labeled a lot of different things. But the point I'm trying to make here, we need to move on for time. Satan certainly is working in the world.

So the slave girl, she was set free. Number two, the team was put in prison. It's obvious to see. The team was put in prison. Let's read those verses, 19 to 24. But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas. Now Paul's here. I thought about it as I was studying this week. Notice Luke points out Paul and Silas. Obviously, the us language went away. I wonder if that was convenient. 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.

When they had brought them to the magistrates, that would be the rulers governing authorities, they said these men are Jews and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice. The crowd joined in, attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off of them and gave them orders to be beat and gave orders to beat them with rods. When they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he, the jailer, put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet. Their feet were stopped.

Now here is where we see how the circumstances of the team really changed fast. Again, God was in control. He definitely allowed and ordained these things. And again, we find ourselves facing something that is really strange and offensive to us. But this was normal. It was even accepted in their day, that slavery. Sadly, and surprisingly to some, slavery was a common practice in the ancient world. And in the case of this girl, we do not know how this girl became a slave or why she was a slave, but the fact that she was. Now I want to continue by making three observations. First notice the motivation of the slave owners.

According to verse 16 and 19, she was used for fortune telling, which was for profit. This truly means that by and through demonic powers, somehow she was able to foretell the future and to make some types of amazing revelations. And in their day, people like this girl were seen as very valuable and they played a bigger part in society, a more accepted part in society than we may realize. One of the resources that I study points out that in that day, no military commander would embark on a major military campaign without consulting an oracle or some kind of a fortune teller to see the outcome. And it was the same with an emperor.

They would not make any important decision or decree without doing the same thing. So simply a girl like this would have been very valuable and more sought after than we may know. This is just not a part of our culture, but it certainly was a part of theirs. So the motivation of these slave owners was financial. Verse 19 says that when they saw that their hope for gain was gone, they were mad. They were angry. They seized Paul and Silas. And second, notice the accusations of the accusation of the slave owner. Look at verse 20 and 21.

When they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, "These men are Jews and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept our practice." Now this is very simple. They seized Paul and Silas and they dragged them before the authorities, accusing them of advocating, promoting, preaching customs that were not allowed or lawful. And this was true. There were laws which forbid Roman citizens for practicing and propagating any foreign religion that had not been approved by Roman law. But notice they added to things by accusing them of disturbing the city and causing chaos.

But that was not true. Simply they were using or attempting to use Roman religious law to have Paul and Silas arrested because they lost their cash cow. They lost their slave girl. Third, notice the events that took place. Luke tells us that Paul and Silas were dragged before the rulers of the magistrates in the marketplace and we need to see what the marketplace was. The marketplace here was the central place of assembly in the town. This would be what we would see as an old public square. But it was more than a place of trade or a marketplace. This truly was the social center of the city.

Historians and scholars tell us that this was where people sought employment. It was where city officials judged court cases. This is where elections were held. This is where public discourse and debate took place. This is where the sick were brought for medical treatment. And there are more things that we can see that took place in the public square in that day. But these accusers, they dragged Paul and Silas to the public square before the city rulers, before the authorities, really even before the entire populace because this was a very public place.

And after the charges were brought forward, not only did the magistrates accuse them, but the crowd joined in the attack. And as a result, their clothes were stripped from them, they were beaten with rods, and they were thrown into prison. Of all the scholars that are read, John McCruth describes this scene the best. He says, and I'm quoting, "Any semblance of just legal procedure was nonexistent. The beating was administered by the policemen who were under the command of the magistrates.

And these policemen, these policemen-type figures carried a bundle of rods tied together, ironically, as a symbol of Roman law and justice." But look at what ultimately took place. Luke tells us that Paul and Silas were put into the inner prison, and their feet and their hands were shackled. This means they were placed in the inner part of the prison, the most secure cell in the prison. And on top of that, their hands and their feet were shackled in stocks, which were a type of wooden clamp that totally immobilized the prisoner. So here in these verses, we see how the mission's team of Paul and Silas were put in prison.

They were falsely accused, stripped down, beaten with rods, and thrown into the inner prison with their hands and feet bound in stocks. Now before we move into a few lessons that I want us to learn in what I call the conclusion, I have a question or two that I want to ask. These are rhetorical. Why is it that Paul and Silas were persecuted like this, but we are not? We've asked this all throughout the book of Acts when we've come across persecution. Why were they persecuted for preaching the gospel and doing a good deed? But we are admired and even praised for doing good deeds and preaching the gospel.

I think we all know that a very bad tornado came through our area. I think it's obvious that many Christians and churches and many Christian organizations are here doing a lot of good deeds and sharing the gospel. As a matter of fact, I saw the other day where Samaritan's Purse is here, a very well-known Christian organization. There are churches here, local churches, churches from out of state, different Christian organizations here doing good deeds and sharing the gospel. Well, why are they not persecuted? But yet Paul and Silas were. Simply this is all a part of God's providence and plan for communion.

This was God's will for them and it's not God's will for us at this time, but that day may come, that day may come. So the team of Paul and Barnabas were thrown into prison and we know the rest of the story why that was a good thing. Now as I close out these verses, notice what we have here. Back in verses 11 to 15 we saw, of course, the second missionary journey, hearts were opened in Philippi. Lydia, her heart was opened, others in her household were converted to Christ, hearts were opened. The church was born there in Philippi. Well in our verses tonight we're still on the second missionary journey, but we see persecution in Philippi.

Persecution in Philippi. Now as I close I want to give us two lessons and these come from what we've seen in these events. Here we see the strategy of the devil. Here we see how the devil works to attack the work of the gospel, his workers, and the church. First notice that Satan's first attack was hypocritical, false friendship. The demonic spirit at work in the girl tried to act and sound like she was with Paul with the mission team and the Christians. Question or two here.

How many people come into the door of churches today saying the right things, giving the right Bible answers, proclaiming the right doctrine, acting like they are one with us, one with the believers, but they turn out not to be one of us. It goes on all the time. Now I'm not saying that they are demonically possessed. What I am showing you is Satan's attack is with hypocritical, false friendship. He desires to get the lost into the church, to get tares among the wheat. And that's why we have to be faithful to hold high and adhere to biblical, meaningful church membership. We have to work hard to hold that standard high.

That is the expectation. And then also, along with that, is to practice church discipline. Now church discipline is for the believer. If any believer were to get in sin, we want to practice church discipline because we love believers and we want them not to sin. I'll give you an example of what I mean by saying that. Years ago when we were sadly going through a church discipline case, I had one of the men of our church come to me and say, "I'm so thankful I'm a part of a church that practices church discipline, so if I get into sin, it will be straightened out." But also church discipline protects the church from those that Satan uses to infiltrate the church.

Look, church, I know this is kind of, you know, this type of language, but the devil is at work on the church pew as well as on the bar stool. We automatically think that Satan is working in the shadows. You know, he's working in the drug houses and things like that. Well, he's working in the church pew as well. But second, notice that Satan's second attack was an up front attack. The devil did not use the girl but her owners, the government officials and the people. He motivated men to persecute and to attack the church and the work and the workers. Questions here. Do believers face persecution today? Of course.

Do we know any Christians or churches who face persecution? And will we face this kind of persecution one day? That may happen. But you know, some of our anchored in truth brothers and sisters in churches do face persecution. We have a good brother in India who pastors and has a seminary there. He's in the south of India. And I'll tell you, India is a very difficult place to be a Christian, especially a pastor. The Hindus and the Muslims are always on the attack. We have other anchored in truth pastors in churches in southeast Asia in some very dangerous places. We even have some brothers in some closed areas, Muslim nations.

What I'm trying to show you is this. Christians and churches who face persecution like this are closer to us than we know. But our biggest problem is friendship. What I mean by that is this. Satan sends people who are hypocritical Christians, hypocritical church friends to infiltrate the church, sadly, that is what we face more today. So the second missionary journey, this is all about persecution in Philippi. And then next time we are here in Acts, we will see that God had a plan in this persecution, in this prison, even with a very jailer who put them in the stocks and in the very center of this prison.

So let's pray, commit these things to the Lord, and then we will look at some prayer needs as we always do.