Acts 16:16-18
King James Version (KJV)
16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.
Replies
I enjoyed reading everyone's response. So on point. I agree with Pastor Light, Pastor Lashawn and Gail Weeks.
Awesome God!!!
Anj
The obvious problem here was this woman is demon possessed and she following Paul around for days chanting, from the moment the girl first saw Paul, she followed him and his companions around, shouting, “These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17). Day after day, she continued to follow Paul and shout her chant. This demon Pythia (the priestess) promoted Paul for "many days" as having the true plan of salvation. There was no more influential prophetess than the Python-priestess. She was routinely paid for her prophecies. Paul found it annoying and finally, he couldn’t bear it any longer. Believing that the girl's psychic abilities stemmed from possession by a spirit, he ordered the demon to depart. We see here also that this shows that demon possession existed then and does now, but even so; we see the power of God working through his holy emissary, God showed His great power through Paul. At the command of Paul and the name of the Lord Jesus the demons had to depart and the young girl was free from Satan’s enslavement. Even demons has to submit to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul and his companions took notice of a damsel who had a spirit of divination, in this time of ignorance and idolatry, the devil led men captive at his will and he could not of gain such adoration from them as he had, if he had not pretended to give oracles to them. The damsel brought her masters much gain by soothsaying, many came to consult this witch and none came but with the rewards of divination in their hands. The damsel followed Paul and his companions saying these men are the servants of the most high God, who can show us the way to gain salvation, as these men were on their way to pray, she did this several times, and Paul taking notice rebuked her because he thought it did them a prejudice rather than a service, so Paul silenced her by casting the devil out of her, he commanded the evil spirit to come out of her, Paul commanded the evil spirit to come out of her, he said I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her, and by this he would show that they were servant's of the living God, the spirit came out of the damsel that same hour.
The text of Acts doesn't mention the slave girl again. Her story is important in the context of the ancients' belief in demonic possession as a way to explain the girl's extraordinary powers. But the power of God working through his holy emissary, Paul, showed a greater power one that restored the girl to wholeness. Thanks to Paul, she was free of her demonic imprisonment. Although the Bible doesn't say that the exploited slave girl then became a Christian, it seems likely. He who is without sin be the first to cast a stone.
What sticks out to me the most is that the spirit was consistent. The next thing that stood out to me was the fact that Paul allowed the spirit to be, until the point that he (Paul) was grieved. God does not need the enemy to validate who he is. God is God all alone. It was all done by a command of authority.
God hates divination because it leads people to seek satanic intelligence for guidance in their lives instead of God and His Word. We cannot mix the guidance of the Holy Spirit with that of Satan without getting into problems.
The dictionary defines divination as, "the practice of attempting to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge by occult or supernatural means." God's Word goes a step further by showing that people who practice divination are controlled or possessed by supernatural spirits which enable them to receive information beyond the human realm at a particular time. However, we are not of this world. We are God''s children from above, the third heaven, where God dwells. We have to walk in our God given authority anddominion and pull down the strongholds and take back everything that Satan has stole.
AFTER A WHILE YOU WELL GET TIERD OF A SPIRIT GRIEVEING YOU AND YOU WILL HAVE TO CAST THAT SPIRIT OUT OF THAT PRESON.WITH THE POWER OF GOD AN WITH LOVE.
God has given us everything we need to defeat the devil.He has given us Power and His authority. The word of God. Speak the word and let the word do the work. The Power of the Holy Ghost invested in you. The Blood of Jesus That keep us covered and protect us from dangers seen and unforeseen. The whole armor of God. To shield and protect us. Fasting and praying because some things come only through fasting and praying. He has given us the Keys to the kingdom of heaven that what soever we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and what so ever we loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Bind those demons and loose them out of your situations. and command them to go to the dry place in the name of Jesus. Just like Paul we have to COMMAND that demon to COME OUT in the Name of Jesus. Use your God given AUTHORITY over those spirits. Don'task COMMAND.
Paul used the authority that was given to him to command the demon spirit to flee in the name of Jesus. We all have been given power and authority but sometimes we fail to use our gifts....
THERE"S POWER IN JESUS!!
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