The failure of science is not that they discover something; they don’t realize that someone made it. That someone is God. There has to be a maker, a creator. They take evidence and make it a god. Look further. Evidence leads to God who is creator of all.
Acts 16:16 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.
The girl claimed to have a magical gift. People today follow the dark arts in fortune telling, reading cards and such. Some will believe anything and everything. Witchcraft is real, but the deception comes when people believe there are good witches and bad witches. It’s all of the devil. There are people who read the paper every day, first the obits and then their horoscope. If you believe this kind of thing you are misled and beguiled by Satan. There is one truth beyond the realm of what we see: the light of God and the darkness of Satan. We came into the world lost. Satan works through sin in our life. If we continue in sin the power of darkness has us fooled. There is a way of salvation in plan site if we will just believe it.
Here Paul and Silas and the others were in Philippi. A certain girl was owned by some men and they used her to charge people to read their fortunes and wow them. The gift was of Satan because she was possessed with a devil. None of this stuff is of God. The demons know more than we do. They know about God and Jesus. Demons are fallen angels who can never be saved. They follow their master, Lucifer or Satan. God cast Lucifer out of heaven with a third part of the angels when he tried to take over control. That’s why a lake of fire was created. Demons work through the hearts of men. We’re up against these forces of evil if we’ve never taken Jesus as Savior. No matter how you’ve tried on your own to do the right thing, you are not saved on your own.
When devils are in the presence of truth they have to speak it. When in the presence of true Christians they know it. Paul and the people with him passed this girl and the demon sensed the presence of the Lord. He knew they knew Jesus and quit telling lies and cried out what we see in verse 17. These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. I can see her owners wondering if the girl was crazy. She was to have a controlled gift but now she’s pointing to Paul and those with him saying they have the gift, one given the moment they received Jesus Christ. At that time they did in fact receive the gift of God–eternal life through Jesus Christ. They were saved.
This girl was the living of these men as they made money through her. The devil will tell you that you can prosper on your own. The only one who ends up prospering is the devil. The world tells us that inner peace and forgiveness of wrongs is found in many ways, not just one. Everything but God and his Son falls short. Who pays for this mistake in believing other ways are ok? The lost person. Look at television and movies and publications. Whose making a killing? The devil is. The loser is the one who believes it all. This girl was now showing that salvation is known through the person that Paul and his friends knew.
Everyone of us knows about God enough to believe. People know enough to use the names of God and Jesus in vain and to make fun of people who have allowed God into their hearts. If they know enough to make fun of Christians, they know enough to be saved. This girl followed Paul around. While they may have been unaware at first, Christ, who was in their hearts, cast the net out to her. One line went to her and the other to the devil in her. It pulled her to them and the demon away from her. She followed them around several days. The devil in her had to tell the truth. It made the girl know there was something in her that shouldn’t be there.
Not every sinner is demon possessed but every sinner is sin possessed. The only one who can free a person from that sin is Jesus. What more convincing do we need? Romans chapter 1 says we are without excuse. Later on it says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Do you have church in your heart? It’s not enough. Do you have scripture in your heart? It’s not enough. It’s not enough to believe things. Have you taken Jesus Christ into your heart? Do you believe he suffered and died for your sin and arose the third day? He’s alive right now and we can believe. God has given everyone the measure of faith to believe in him.
Paul told the demon to come out of the girl. Did he argue with Paul? No! The power of Jesus was speaking as Paul spoke the truth of the Lord. Later that night the Philippian jailer would ask Paul what he had to do to be saved and would be told to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. When Paul told the demon to come out of the girl, it came out. This allowed this girl to fall on her knees and ask Jesus into her heart. She was free of the devil and darkness and became a child of the light. The way of salvation is through Jesus. He said I am the way, the truth, and the life.
The way of salvation is through the voice of God’s people speaking out and the power of the Holy Spirit. The devil would like to take every soul to hell. The only way of salvation is to call on the name of the Lord, believing he’s the son of God and that he died for your sins. Admit you’re a sinner and ask him to save you. Don’t give into the devil. Jesus has a hook in our soul. Come closer to him. The hook in the devil will pull him away from you and you can have Jesus residing in your heart.
The choice is yours. A few steps to take bring a lifetime of freedom. The way of God is clear to us all.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 