Demons, Spiritual War, and Certain Victory
Acts: The Second Missionary Journey • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 44:59
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Introduction:
If you have your Bibles let me invite you to open with me to the book of Acts chapter 16.
We are all to some degree a product of the culture we grew up in.
We most naturally see the world through the lens of the values, beliefs, and priorities of our culture.
One of the more memorable experiences for me in college was leading a Bible study for my soccer team.
Of my 30 or so team mates, only a few were American.
In a class room on our college campus we had a Bible study for our team with young men from England, Ireland, Scotland, Czechoslovakia, Peru, Columbia, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, and so on.
Most were not Christians, but the differences in their view of the world were vast.
I remember very clearly one of my European team mates standing up and making a bold case for Atheism and for naturalistic causes in all things.
He didn’t believe in anything beyond what he could see, touch, feel. No spiritual world, and no creator… only scientific method.
No matter he couldn’t answer any of life’s fundamental questions with his Atheism, but it was the worldview he inherited.
After his case for Atheism, other team mates disagreed pretty adamantly.
The South American, Latin American, and the Caribbean team mates argued for the existence of something spiritual in the world, because they had seen the work of evil spirits in their country.
The demonic presence in witch doctors and paganism that they had experienced and seen was real.
It caused great fear, and they concluded that if there was that kind of an evil spiritual world, there has to be some kind of good spiritual world.
The first century world of paganism and Greek mythology, was very much a world full of people who were aware of the spiritual realm.
As we turn to Acts chapter 16 this morning, we turn to a world in which many of us are unfamiliar and even uncomfortable.
We live in a culture that trivializes and commercializes the world of demons and evil spirits so much so that we don’t take such things very seriously, nor do we give much thought to the spiritual world around us.
The dichotomy in that room with my team mates helped me understand what I think is the strategy of evil spiritual forces across different cultures.
In cultures most influenced by secularism and the denial of anything spiritual, evil spirits seem to work in secret, using seemingly naturalistic ways to attack people, because if those people realized that their was a spiritual world, they might run to Jesus.
In cultures most influenced by paganism, multiple gods, and superstitions….., evil spirits seem to work in more obvious and frightening ways…., for when those people see the work of evil spirits, they run in fear to their paganism, to their rituals, and to their superstitions used to ward off the evil.
John Piper writes,
“In non-modern cultures, Satan’s shrewdness plays on people’s true awareness of his reality and controls them with fear. In modern cultures, he holds people in his sway incognito, happy with their disbelief in his reality, as he leads them by the illusion that their deification of self is an experience of autonomy and freedom, when, in fact, they are in perfect sync with his desires”
- John Piper
We, however, don’t want to be bound by our cultural expectations.
Paul encourages us not to be conformed to the world but transformed by the renewing of our mind that we might be able to discern what is good.
We want to be more influenced by the Bible than we are by the culture.
And the Bible very much wants to prepare us for what is truly a spiritual war.
So with that, lets read about a clash of both the spiritual and the cultural in Acts 16:16-24.
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.
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. 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.
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.
21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.”
22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.
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 and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Lets Pray
Truth #1 Demonic Spirits Are Real
Truth #1 Demonic Spirits Are Real
Notice how Luke introduces this slave girl.
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.
Luke introduces the demonic activity as if it is a normal occurence.
This is a part of his world
Its not that Luke, the author of this book, is an uneducated person from deep in a jungle somewhere who just equates things he can’t understand to spiritual stuff.
The book of Luke and the book of Acts are literary, historical masterpieces, and Luke himself was a physician. He is a sharp guy.
But Luke and Paul recognize that they live in a spiritual world.
He introduces the lady as one who has a “spirit of divination.”
Now that word is very interesting in light of the Biblical story.
The greek word for “divination” here is the word “python”
In Greek mythology the word refers to an enormous female dragon (or snake) called Python.
I don’t think its an accident that this linguistic connection developed….. the connection between evil spirit and the word python.
When we talk about evil Spirits, we are talking about a cosmic battle that began with the snake in the garden of Eden.
According to Genesis, a spiritual being embodied as a snake rebelled against God’s rule and tempted Adam and Eve to rebel against God.
The book of Revelation likewise refers to Satan as the dragon, the ancient serpent
There is a spiritual reality occuring all around us all the time…
the Spirit of the python, the snake, Satan, is still working to draw people away from the one true God.
In this case, the spirit of the python, is using spiritual power to provide monetary value to the people.
The spirit has taken control of this slave girl,
and through her provides fortune telling services to her owners.
Luke says in verse 16 that she
brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.
There is no word here of this being a scam or a lie or pretend.
There at least seems to be some acknowledgement that the spirit of divination has some kind of ability.
Clients would have supposedly been informed on how to protect themselves from misfortune or how to harm their enemies in conflict.
The demonic spirit is exercising real power in order to keep people from turning to and trusting in the true God.
This is consistent with the New Testament’s teaching.
The Biblical author’s regularly warn us of the scheming of evil spirits.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
In 2 Corinthians 2, Paul is urging for the members in Corinth to forgive one another…, listen to this argument for why.
11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Demonic spirits are real and they are scheming, devouring, and blinding people to truth.
But what of this scenario specifically?
The girl possessed by the evil spirit sees Paul and Silas, and she begins to follow them around making a proclamation.
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.”
What are we to make of this?
Either the demon is so frightened by the presence of the Holy Spirit of God in these men and is crying out in hopes of mercy…
OR the demon is scheming to Sabotage their witness by distorting their message and attaching himself to it.
At first glance you think the Demon is proclaiming right doctrine,
but upon closer look the proclamation is only a half truth and it could have caused some considerable confusion in the streets of Philippi.
There are three potential problems with the proclamation of this demonic spirit.
Firstly, When a pagan Greek person referred to the Most High God, they often had in their minds Zeus… the highest god among other gods in Greek mythology.
Secondly, the way the demonic spirit describes the message actually would lead hearers to believe that Paul and Silas’ message is one message of salvation among many.
The ESV doesn’t capture this, but the original language has no definite article.
Here how the CSB translates the proclamation.
Christian Standard Bible Chapter 16
17 As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you
This is not a true representation.
Jesus is THE way of salvation, not one of the ways among others in the pantheon on Greek gods.
Definite articles in grammar matter.
and thirdly, the fortune tellers proclamation and pursuit of Paul and Silas likely tainted their witness.
It could have made it appear as if the demonic ministry of the fortune telling slave girl was congruent with and in partnership with Paul and Silas’ message bout Jesus.
as if Jesus was a part of the same spiritual system as the slave girl’s fortune telling service.
That was certainly not the case, and thus all of these factors may have contributed to Paul’s very negative response.
Look with me at verse 18.
18 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 came out that very hour.
Truth #1 Demonic Spirits Are Real
Truth #2 Jesus Has All Power and Authority over Demons
Truth #2 Jesus Has All Power and Authority over Demons
The apostle Paul shows no fear in the face of demonic activity.
He demonstrates the kind of faith we can have in the name of Jesus Christ
By virtue of his apostleship, Paul certainly had more authority than you or I do,
but he does not appeal to his own authority…,
he appeals to the authority of King Jesus.
This is not a spell, or a ritual, or a formal process of exorcism that Paul followed.
He simply gives a command in the name of Jesus Christ, in submission to Jesus Christ, for the glory of Jesus Christ.
And this demonic presence abandoned his post and left that very hour.
The emphasis is not on the exact words he said or how Paul approached this situation…,
The emphasis is on the authority of Jesus Christ over all evil forces that Paul trusted in.
When Paul speaks directly to our role in the spiritual war against evils like this demon…, he doesn’t articulate a specific pattern of speaking so that you can defeat spiritual forces...,
He only articulates the kind of spiritual armor you must wear as you go into battle…
Ephesians 6 articulates these that we must wear every day.
the belt of truth,
the breast plate of righteousness,
shoes made read by the gospel
the shield of faith in Jesus,
the helmet of our salvation
the sword of God’s word
and the responsibility to pray at all times.
Again the emphasis of the text is that Jesus overcomes demonic spirits,
and its our TRUST and RELIANCE upon Jesus to do what is necessary to give us the victory in the spiritual war.
As we trust Jesus and confront the evil forces of the world, we can confront those forces with a kind of confidence that the real power is on our side.
Demons tremble at the name of Jesus because they know their end.
They know the end of the story.
They know that Jesus will one day cast all evil into the fiery and eternal pit of hell itself.
We know this from Jesus’ regular encounters with the demonic. Consider just one example from Matthew.
Jesus’ encounters a man possessed by a legion of many demons and upon being confronted by Jesus they cry out.
29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
Even the demons seem to know the end of the story.
Jesus will destroy them.
We, therefore, as God’s children do not have to fear enemy forces who tremble at the name of our Lord and Savior.
We don’t have to fear, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t have to fight.
Its called a spiritual war for a reason.
Paul rebuked this particular demon who was manifesting itself loudly and publicly…,
Paul called on the authority of Jesus’s name and commanded this demon to leave…
but then the real trouble started…
Paul had to face the wrath of the general public who actually loved the demonic power.
Lets keep reading.
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.
21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.”
22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.
The slave girl possessed by this demon was not operating in isolation,
but rather she was tied to an entire enterprise.
She was empowering a money making scheme for her owners.
When the demon was confronted and removed, people lost money, their lifestyles were affected,
and it wasn’t long before the city was outraged with Paul.
They had struck a nerve that ran deep into the cultural, societal identity of Philippi.
Therefore, Paul and Silas had to pay.
We will see similar reactions in other cities where Paul ministers.
And I think the pattern remains consistent today.
Truth #3 Demonic Spirits Intertwine Themselves with the Broader Culture
Truth #3 Demonic Spirits Intertwine Themselves with the Broader Culture
There is a reason that the spiritual war is described as being against the “schemes” of the devil.
He has been laboring to allure humanity away from the one true God for a long time,
He is experienced.
and one of the ways he does this is by entrenching wickedness into the very culture so that the economy itself depends on a commitment to the evil spirits at play.
He aims to entrench wickedness so deeply into the culture that it becomes a value itself, a virtue, to be praised, rather than a vice to be avoided.
Satan wants to normalize wickedness and even turn it into a seemingly profitable enterprise.
The Philippian city and magistrates saw Paul’s confrontation with the demon possessed girl as an a front to their whole society…,.
the accusation is brought in verse 20…,
“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.”
and thus Paul and Silas were declared enemies of the state and of the culture
They were different then the world they were occupying and they were hated for it….
and thus Paul and Silas fulfilled what Jesus, himself, had prepared his disciples for.
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
Christian, we do not fit in here.
Christian, we should not fit in here.
C.S. Lewis says this:
“There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.” -C.S. Lewis
We Christians will not be chameleons in the world.
We will be countercultural.
We will be different.
We will think different.
We will speak differently.
We will prioritize our lives differently.
And to those who turn to Jesus in faith, our lives will be like sweet smelling aroma. To others, it will be the stench of death.
Listen to how Paul puts it.
14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,
16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
Christians, we believe that
Life starts at conception, and that babies in the womb are precious and should be protected because they bear the image of God.
We believe that that marriage between a man and a woman is God’s idea given to humanity for their good.
We believe in the absolute truth that we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God but that God has made only one way of salvation from our sins through faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus and his subsequent and glorious resurrection.
We believe you do not earn your salvation by your works, but you receive it only by grace through faith.
We believe that the truly good life, the joyful life, the fulfilled live, is a life lived in total submission to our Lord and Savior.
He is the living water that quenches our thirsty souls.
He is the living bread, that satisfies our hungry hearts.
Its not sex, money, power, fame, or comfort that will lead to abundant life. its Jesus.
Jesus says,
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
If its true that demonic spirits seek to intertwine themselves with the broader culture, then truly Christian convictions will always be at odds with this temporary world we occupy.
And as we wage the spiritual war to lift high the name of Jesus… we will endure the difficulties of the warfare.
Paul and Silas did just that.
22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.
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 and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Paul and Silas were not in the wrong for casting out that demon and freeing that slave girl from its power.
They were not wrong in the message they proclaimed.
Yet in this moment it would have been tempting to question everything you had ever done.
after public embarrassment, beating, and now the smelly, dark, hopeless pit of a ancient Roman jail…
it would be hard not to think that the demonic forces of the world had actually won this one.
But let me end with just a little sneak preview of the next weeks sermon…
with broken and bruised bodies, in the darkness of a prison…, in what appears to be a loss for team Jesus…
you hear this sound….
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,
What appears to be lost ground in the kingdom expansion project… is really just new opportunity.
This is our final truth.
Truth #4 God’s Sovereignty Is Not Threatened By Demonic Scheming
Truth #4 God’s Sovereignty Is Not Threatened By Demonic Scheming
This is the spiritual reality of the spiritual war.
When Satan attacks children of God who are pursuing the mission of God…,
he only ever unintentionally accomplishes the plan of God
Satan wanted to shut Paul and Silas up….
God wanted to give them a different stage on which to sing.
Christian, this is how we get to live our lives.
We can be confident that every attack of the enemy on a child of God whether it be spiritual, mental, or physical… is in fact under the sovereign power and authority of King Jesus.
Jesus is always 10 steps ahead.
In the same way that Satan’s attack of Jesus on the cross was actually the will of God to provide salvation to the world….
Satan’s attacks on us, will be in the hand of a Sovereign God who steers our lives for God’s glory to all the nations.
Of all Satan’s attacks it can be said what was said of Joseph’s brothers in Genesis 50..
20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Therefore we can say with the apostle Paul.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
This is why Martin Luther could write 500 years ago…,
“An though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, We will not fear , for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us, The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; His rage we can endure for lo, his doom is sure. One little world should fell him.” - Martin Luther
So what are our takeaways this morning.
Takeaway:
#1 Be Aware of the Spiritual War
#2 Be Prepared for the Spiritual War
#3 Be Assured of God’s Sovereignty
