05-10-2026 - IMPRISONED, BUT NOT A PRISONER - Acts 16:16-40

  MESSAGE BY PASTOR ROB INRIG

               FROM BETHANY BAPTIST IN RICHMOND, BC.

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I invite you to pray together: O Father of mercies and God of all comfort, our only help in time of need: We humbly beseech thee to behold, visit, and relieve thy sick servants for whom our prayers are desired. Look upon them with the eyes of thy mercy ( Vicky O, Nancy R, Tere G, Liz N, Stevie A, Socrates D, Sara's mom H, Margarita G,   Rosy Ch, Patricia L. Lina J.  Magda- Laci M.  Gloria F, Miguel A H. Silvia H, Manuel D, Brianda M, Alejandro M, Natalia M, Oscar ND, Juan Carlos V.   Comfort them with a sense of thy goodness; preserve them from the temptations of the enemy; and give them patience under his affliction. In thy good time, restore them to health, and enable them to lead the residue of their life in thy fear, and to thy glory; and grant that finally they may dwell with thee in life everlasting; And for those who have departed and are in eternal sleep, waiting for you to come, and with joy they will live eternal life with you. 

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

You can add names from family and friends who need prayer

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Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 

As we walk through the book of Acts we are now in the city of Philippi where we see Paul and Silas encounter a slave girl, a fortune teller with ‘a spirit of divination’.  This term, ‘a spirit of divination’ is literally pneuma pythons which means the spirit of the python - the snake which is the symbol of the prophetesses at the oracle of Apollo at Delphi.

In our technological world, we tend to relegate things like demon possession to the uneducated in far off places where a multitude of gods are worshipped. They doing their best to make sense of the world.  Yet the spirit of the snake is still very much with us.  In some cases, its snake like presence acting as you would expect - its appearance undeniable.  Its stranglehold inescapably tight.  Its death sentence predetermined.  Some years ago I was in India where I had been invited to minister to Dalit pastors - the Dalit a huge population but regarded as less than human.  As we travelled the country, the presence of demonic pythons very evident.  

But in our part of the world, the python’s presence not evident, at least in the same way, but its actions no less dangerous.  

Don’t miss that this slave girl is doubly bound - bound to her masters, onlookers not caring she is no more than somebody’s cash machine. Those ‘benefitting’  from her services aren’t the least bit concerned  about any injustice done to her, they only interested in how what she offers benefits them.  But that captivity is nothing compared to her real captivity - the demonic inhabiting her.  It is by that power, we’re told she is able to, ‘divine the future’.    

That she’s able to discern the future is only partially true because Satan is not omniscient, he only knowing what he will do. That said, he does know what God has said is to come and it’s that future he wants to change, using enough truth to cover over the lies he wants to plant.  He mixing some truth with lie, as he did with Jesus in the wilderness, still doing that today.  

His mission no different than what was done to God’s command in the Garden of Eden and His instruction to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  What Adam and Eve fail to understand is that they are only being offered the knowledge of evil - more accurately the experience of evil. In their relationship with God, they were already living out the experience of good, evil unknown to them, and with a bite, all of that changed.  Because in truth, that really is all Satan can offer. His presentation may not be dressed as evil but that’s all he’s got to give.

Under the cover of attraction, he stalks, he deceives and he lies as he goes about bringing pain.  And mixed with things that are good, people are unable to see the hook beneath any offers that are made.  The ecstasy of the drug showing no evidence of the price to be paid;  the physical that attracts, no indication given where that attraction may lead; the achievements accomplished with no reference to the ledger of debt that’s being kept. 

This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”  And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.  :18.

Given that this demon possessed girl is affirming Paul and Silas’ words as true, it may seem surprising that Paul acts to silence her.  But God making it clear, we are to never listen to Satan.  His voice is never credible.  He only using truth to plant his lies.  This is clearly evident in what follows. 

When her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.  :19     

Paul and Silas’ crime? - freeing a girl from demon possession but how much support for her owners’ accusations are they going to get for that?  There is no evidence of any crime. The two accused posed no danger.  They’d done no hurt.  No exploitation.  No powering over.  There was no theft.  No fraud.  No deception.  No schemes.  Their crime simply - things spoken and a rescue made - freedom given to a girl who had been abused.  Abused by men and more profoundly, abused by demons.  Freedom to a girl who had been imprisoned.

So if their accusers wanted public support for the ‘crime’ they were alleging, they needed to report it differently than financial loss for them.  To do that, they took Paul and Silas into the marketplace where the pursuit and currency is cash. There they stirred things up to help others feel the threat of financial loss.  That what happened to them would soon happen to others. Others needed to feel vulnerable. That what was experienced by the few will soon be experienced by the many.  

These guys are ‘exceedingly troubling our city’.  With those accusations made, suspicions were planted.  Economic disaster ahead - these outsider Jews bringing the destructive.  

And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” :20,21.

By now fear and anger have ignited the multitude which have the magistrates acting in knee jerk response.  Don’t miss how these men begin their accusations to the magistrates - These men, being Jews. From opening words, establishing a divide.  Different from us. Men introducing different values, different practices.  Men that threaten.  As phrased, ‘that’s what Jews do’. 

Toxic ideas like these that for centuries have been used to discredit, to villainize,  to dehumanize - in this case what is still very much in play in our world today - that Jews are less than, they are different, they act in ways that do others harm, they are to be regarded with suspicion and contempt.  With these, beliefs are planted; attitudes are shaped; atrocities are justified. Why? because these things originate from the demonic who from the beginning of time have wanted to destroy God’s chosen people and more importantly, wanted to end God’s plan that through the line of Judah, Messiah Jesus that a kingdom of the redeemed is coming. 

Consider the evidence presented by these defenders of the public good that Paul and Silas were teaching, Customs that are not lawful.  

Yet what were these unlawful customs?  It’s true Paul has been teaching to worship a God that is foreign to them, who he says is the way of salvation rather than the gods Romans previously worshipped. This teaching about Jesus made worse because Paul’s teaching is demonstrated by power that has cast out the demonic.  Their so-called god, Diana upon which their economy flourished couldn’t do that, their worship of Caesar as deity, with all his military power couldn’t do that.  

But the introduction of this disruptively unlawful has nothing to do with custom - it’s about money and power and the influence associated with that.  What Timothy observes proving true, For the love of money is the root of evil 1 Tim 6:10.

Their judicial robes set aside as the magistrates act in concert with the mob.  If there were any question whether the actions taken were demonic, the treatment they received removes all doubt.  The ‘crime’ not even close to the punishment given - stripped, beaten with rods, thrown into prison.  These far beyond the offense.  Added to that, these men are thrown into the inner prison where only the most serious and most dangerous were housed.  For added measure, placed in stocks, feet locked in, chained tight.  Actions to humiliate, abuse and defeat.   

Likely most of these actions were done with few giving any thought to the legality of such things.  Why would they?  Those in question were criminals, worse, they were outsiders who had come to tear down everything valued, everything believed in.  So who cares what was done to these who threaten our way of life.  The magistrates acting in response to multitude not to the evidence.  But as we will learn in short order, the magistrates would soon care because what they had done to these Roman citizens was far beyond anything that should have been done. 

At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them  :25.

As Ray Pritchard observes, You learn your theology at midnight.  Learning and truly embracing what you really believe when hard times come. No one understood that better than Paul. 2 Corinthians enumerates his hardships: I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked  11:23-27.

Despite the suffering and the injustice, Paul and Silas doing what it makes no sense to do, praising God.  They not sleeping while their jailer was. Not sleeping is one thing but praying and singing hymns to God - a different thing altogether.  Praying I get - because that’s what I would be doing.  God this isn’t fair, this isn’t right.  How could You let this happen?  Where were You when the false accusations were made?  Why have us do what we did for this girl and things ending up like this?  This is so wrong.  Yet we see none of this.  Their prayers and hymns not of protest but of praise.    Praise that takes us to a different place than just what we see and emotions that tell us what we should feel. Praise OF God - for who He IS - Supreme God, LORD over all, His power beyond anything they and we can even begin to imagine.  Praise TO God - that this God of Glory is their personal God who knows them, loves them, cares for them and even in this mess, is with them and Praise FOR God, their King of kings and Lord of  Lords, His final victory not yet but His praises loudly expressed, His worth celebratorily sung. Praise that isn’t meditatively felt but boldly proclaimed so all will know. 

Let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, ... giving thanks to His name.  It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night Heb 13:15, Ps 92:1,2  A song of thanksgiving as Psalms 50 tells us.

Hardly what their torn open, pain throbbing backs should be allowing.  In their spirits knowing that even in their captivity, they were free.  In their apparent defeat, they were victorious.  Their actions not for others to hear but for their hearts to express.

Had they just focused on the darkness, the chains, the injustices, they might have missed the miraculous that’s about to come.  Instead they praised not for answers given but for the One they served. Praise doesn’t mean that hard times won’t come and answers we long for will come.  It means trusting in God’s character and trusting in God’s Word. That what He says is true. Truth is, praise is what we are called to do even when sometimes that praise is an act of faith, our first expressions in whispers, stumbling words and tears. Praise not because of what is felt but because of what is chosen. Yet as first praise is spoken, far greater  volume comes, far greater belief takes hold. Praise that grows as we take hold of God who says He will never leave, never forsake, never let go.  The psalmist telling us, God inhabits the praises of His people Ps 22:3.  Inhabits in times of suffering and heartbreak and inhabits in times of joy when life is good.  In this case, praise first, power next.  I often doing the opposite, praising after I’ve see the evidence of power that is done.

Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, Do yourself no harm for we are all here  :26-28.

An earthquake and prison doors opening, its timing miraculous. Chains falling off?  harder to attribute that to an earthquake so definitely miraculous elements to that but the miracle that’s somewhat harder to figure out is connected to Paul’s, Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.

All here?  What do you mean, all here?   Sure, all attending and accounted for in the first few minutes, people disoriented, getting their wits together, but as minutes pass?  Shackles off, doors open, darkness giving cover, a few steps and gone.  But nope - all here.  

In the practical, I’d guess an all here pause due to what prisoners listened to as they heard Paul and Silas praying and singing praises to God.  How was that possible?   These 2 led through the various levels of the prison to be placed in the inner prison.  Cellmates wondering what were the offenses of these new arrivals? - the march to the inner prison and the application of the stocks was extreme.  No minor offenses got you placed in the bowels of the prison.  The prisoners in the wall lined cells knew why they were there - the crimes done, the lifestyles chosen, the people violated.  

But these two?  And the offenses they’d done? That would have been absurd to the truly criminal  Surely there had to be far more to the story than what had been said.  And then we are told, the prisoners in the deep of prison’s darkness, The prisoners were listening to them. 

Not listening because they were being kept from sleep but I think listening because what they heard didn’t make sense. They guilty of nothing, yet here.  At the same time what they listened to was making sense of things they had never considered in their lives.  That these 2 had hope they never had.  That they, who had every right to speak words of anger, words of complaint, doing none of that.  These prisoners singing of a relationship with God that wasn’t ritual.  This God they heard of wasn’t One to be feared or placated but a God who was praised even when circumstances should have meant anything but.  I think, other than God’s hand, this is why they were still ALL here.  They needing to know the Jesus of whom Paul and Silas spoke.  What the slave girl had said was true, These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.

Though we can’t say that for certain for the prisoners, we  can say it for certain for the keeper of the prison.  He in the first moments of the earthquake was ready to take his life, knowing that as the keeper of the jail, his life was forfeit if any prisoner escaped.  No doubt he would have wished his life ending by earthquake, rather than having to take his own life.

But in what follows, what a picture:

Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”  :29,30

And there we have it, the power of the gospel, God’s great news, in one simple sentence, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

Believe that Jesus is LORD - Messiah, Son of God.  Believe that He went to the Cross to forgive your sin. Believe that When we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness 1 Jn 1:9. Believe that we turn from who we were and follow Him.  Believe that God is always working even when we cannot see  Jn 5:14.  

Belief for you and I that in our hard times, our life isn’t working in the way we had hoped times, that the Lord Jesus is still Ruler over all.  Saviour of our lives.  Forgiver of our sin.  Not one of many.  Not some religion to cling to, some beliefs to follow, some partner to have.  He is LORD - God’s promised One.  The LORD of glory who we will one day see.  The LORD who is worthy of our trust, worthy of giving everything over to Him.  He who didn’t come just to improve our lives or get us through this life but to give us new life.

I can’t speak to the difficulty you may be in right now.  The hard, the painful, the trapped, the unfair but I know the One of whom Paul and Silas spoke - Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.  

For eternity - that most important of all of which you need to be sure.  But also Lord over where you find yourself right now.  His Lordship to which we must bow.  

Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.  And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household  :32-34.

Know this - the world, its rulers, our circumstances; nothing can put us someplace where God is not.  Are you in the deepest pit of despair?  God is there with you. Are you in chains of habit that hold you fast? God is there with you.  Have you been rejected by friends, by family, by employers because of Jesus.  

God is there with you - wanting you to know Him and experience His power in your life.  God’s promise in the ugly and in the hard - our unfiltered pain poured out to our God who loves us and cares for us.   Want a place of reminder?  Dig into the Psalms - particularly 40-49 and pray those for yourself. 

That power to change the things you are going through - perhaps but far more, to change you and who Jesus wants to be in your life.  All possible when we bow and submit our will to Him.  He not asking to be guest but to be your Lord.    This Jesus - King of kings and LORD of Lords.

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