REFORMED CHURCH, BELLVILLE: SUNDAY 2 MARCH 2003: EVENING SERVICE
Our help is in the Name of the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
Beloved, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and the Lord
Jesus Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
Psalm of praise: Psalm 100:1-4.
Prayer.
Psalm 89:1,6.
Scripture reading: Acts 16:11-24
Scripture text: Acts 16:17b
"...These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation."
The devil has a way of confessing the Lord spontaneously in public.
- To people without the gift of discernment, this might seem very acceptable, even quite praiseworthy.
- But this incident reveals that the Lord does not tolerate this.
- Question: Do our lives affirm that we profess belief in the Lord?
How does the Lord experience our avowal of belief - and how do other
people experience it?
By way of contrast, there is often a reluctance among believers to confess the Lord.
- An example is found in the events recorded in Matthew 16:16,
where the Lord asked the disciples to tell Him who the people said He
was, and who they themselves said that He was.
- Only then could Peter arrive at the confession to which the
demons had spontaneously come, namely that Jesus is the Son of the
living God.
In this history which we have read together in Acts 16 we distinguish the following matters which deserve our attention:
1. The confession of the false servant
2. The discernment of the true servant.
1. The confession of the false servant
There were practically no Jews living in Philippi. That is why there was no synagogue either.
- Paul went to look for the Jews at the riverside, because he was
aware that the Jews usually had a place of prayer beside a river.
- At the riverside he indeed found some women who were praying.
It was the Sabbath. One would have been justified in expecting all the Jews to be gathered there in worship.
- That Paul found only a few women there underscores the absence of men. Why was there not a single Jewish man present?
- This fact was highlighted in the Bible to emphasize that there was no organised worship.
- In this way the Bible brings home the fact that, as far as faith was concerned, matters were at a low ebb in Philippi.
If there had been men, there would also have been someone to lead the
service -there would have been someone to read the Law, and to teach
people from the Bible.
- As was the custom in those times, Paul and Silas went to sit down
and then taught the women gathered there (cf. Matthew 5:1 and Luke
4:20).
Among the Jewish women there was a woman called Lydia.
- Lydia was probably her nickname, because Lydia was the region in which Thyatira was situated.
- Thyatira was well-known for its trade in purple dye.
- It is known to have been customary in those days to call strangers after their place of origin.
- That is why we can accept that Lydia moved to Philippi at a fairly late stage in her life.
The fact that the Bible mentions specifically that Lydia was a woman of the faith emphasizes that she was not a Jewess.
- She was a Gentile who felt at home in the Jewish religion.
- She therefore participated in the Jewish ceremonies and Sabbath usages.
- That was why she was at the place of prayer when the four men (Paul, Silas, Luke and Timothy) arrived.
Lydia had therefore been prepared beforehand by the Lord for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- That is why it is specifically mentioned that she listened to the sermon. The Lord opened her heart to respond to it.
- Clearly something happened to her which had nothing to do with any work of man.
- The Lord Himself combined the work of the Holy Spirit and the
preaching, because the natural man cannot receive or accept what is
preached.
Even after being prepared for a sermon, one can only come to true faith
as a result of the special quickening power of the Lord Himself.
The Lord reveals this very clearly in 1 Corinthians 2:14 where it is
written:
But a
natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they
are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are
spiritually appraised.
After Lydia had accepted the gospel, she was baptized. Remarkable: her entire household was baptized with her.
- Lydia could not do enough to show her gratitude. "If you have
judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay."
- There is something ironic in this, that a stranger comes to the
faith and is converted in Philippi, and that she, who is not a Jew,
invites the four ministers of religion to stay with her.
- This sacrifice, which must have brought her much inconvenience, proves the sincerity of her faith and conversion.
- Paul and his friends moved in with Lydia and went every day to the place of prayer.
- In this way the Christian church in Philippi found a centre where
they assembled for worship and from which they worked - Lydia's home.
It was, however, not to be a case of roses all the way. There was to be some adversity as well.
- Paul and the other three men were compelled to leave Philippi under very unusual circumstances.
- The events leading to this termination of their visit began as
follows: One day a female slave, who had a spirit of divination in her,
came across them.
- According to the Bible, the spirit Python dwelt in her. Some
Bibles, e.g. both Afrikaans versions, refer to this spirit as an
oracular spirit.
- Literally the Greek states that "a young slave girl with the spirit Python met us".
Python was a mythological character.
- In Greek mythology it was a dragon which guarded the oracle of Delphi, which lies at the centre of Greece.
- Apollo killed the dragon and he had a priestess who afterwards gave oracular pronouncements at Delphi.
- The name "Python" then became associated with spirits supposedly foretelling the future.
- People also referred to ventriloquists by the same name.
This young slave girl was probably able to foretell the future under the influence of some or other evil spirit.
- She was therefore nothing more nor less than one possessed of a devil.
- For that reason she acted in a manner typical of such demoniacs.
Demoniacs knew God Jesus (God) and acknowledged Him as well,
recognising Him for who He was.
- But that was just where the problem lay: the devil tried to
hinder the progress of the gospel by this acknowledgement and
affirmation of who the Lord was. This is not the same as a confession
of faith in Him as one's personal Saviour, but only an affirmation of
His Being.
The Satan knows the Lord and he knows the truth about the Lord.
- Think only of what is written in James 2:19:
"You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder."
- There are a number of examples in the Bible of demon-possessed
people acknowledging Jesus Christ in fear and trembling as the Son of
God.
- Consider the demoniac of Gadara (Mark 5; Luke 8:26 ff),
- and the demoniac in the synagogue (Luke 4:33 ff.).
- Jesus
was never happy with the acknowledgements of the devils, which is why
he always silenced them and drove the demons out of them. (See
especially Mark 1:24; Mark 5:7; Matthew 8:29; Luke 4:34).
2. The discernment of the true servant.
Paul was a servant of the Lord who, in his ministry before the Lord,
would attack and contend against all forms of evil - also against the
distorted confession or, rather, acknowledgement by the devil of Jesus
Christ as the Son of God.
- The affirmation of the slave girl regarding the nature of the Lord is true, but also only up to a point.
- It is true that the Lord is the Most High God, and it is also true that the men were servants of the Most High God.
But there was a problem about what she had to say about the way of redemption.
- Heathendom was always seeking redemption and salvation in various ways.
- In the mythological religions there was the possibility of
serving many gods at the same time and yet gaining salvation at the end
of the day.
- Now, it is quite remarkable that the Greek text does not state
that they proclaimed the way of salvation (although the translation
reads thus). Literally it states that the men proclaimed a way of
salvation.
The problem was that the people of Philippi understood this to mean
that the Christian faith was also true, i.e. one acceptable religion
among many such.
- They thought that it was one of several possible ways of attaining salvation.
- Typically of the devil, he used the truth to tell a lie through
the mouth of the slave girl, because the redemption through Jesus
Christ is the only means of salvation.
- There is no other way.
- There is, furthermore, no other religion or idolatrous worship
which could in any way be regarded as equal to the Christian faith.
The problem was even greater than this.
- The fact that the slave girl told the people who the apostles
were and what they did, gave the people the impression that the spirit
which possessed her was more powerful or greater than the Spirit/God
which the apostles were proclaiming.
- The devil wished to create the illusion that he, as it were, gave
permission for the "other" way of salvation to be followed as well.
- The situation was, to a certain extent, a parallel to that
arising when the Lord was baptized, when Satan told the Lord that he
would give Him all the kingdoms of this world if only He would worship
him (Satan).
- At Philippi the evil spirit tried to create the impression that he had equal authority in the granting of salvation.
The slave girl's opposition was unceasing and persistent. How did Paul
respond to the continuous declarations by this evil spirit?
- He responded just as Jesus Christ responded to the various
situations in which the devil affirmed his recognition of Jesus as the
Son of God.
- Nor could it be otherwise, because the Holy Spirit guided him
with precisely the same power of penetrating discernment as that which
Jesus employed in discerning the work of the devil.
- That is why Paul commanded the evil spirit in the Name of Jesus Christ to go out of the woman.
If there was, up to this point, any doubt about whether the spirit in
the little slave girl was good or evil, the answer became clear from
the subsequent events.
- The Lord Jesus is not divided in Himself. He once declared that one could not drive out a devil in the name of Beelzebub.
- The fact that this spirit was obedient to the Lord Jesus, and
left the slave girl, proved that he was not a spirit kindly disposed
towards the Lord.
It is quite remarkable how the devil takes care of his disciples.
- This little slave girl was a source of income for her owners by virtue of her demon-possession.
- There is a similarity between this and the case of Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:9 - 24).
- Her owners, however, realised that a complaint against Paul on
the grounds that she had lost her power of divination would lead
nowhere.
They therefore decided to adopt a political approach.
- They seized Paul and his companions, brought them before the
magistrates and charged them with teaching customs unacceptable to them
as Romans.
See what dimensions the matter now took.
- When the slave girl went about telling all that Paul also
proclaimed a way of salvation, they had no objection against Paul and
his teaching; but the moment their purses were affected they had
problems.
- This leaves one wondering how much value the devil's own disciples attach to what he says.
It is important for you as well not to be found in the company of people who merely say that they confess the Lord Jesus.
- Consider 1 Corinthians 5:11:
"But
actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if
he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or
a drunkard, or a swindler - not even to eat with such a one."
- The devil and his disciples have always been very consistent in doing these things.
- Nor does it mean anything for someone to concede that your faith is also true.
- The devils have always done so.
- Yet they and the Lord have nothing to say to one another.
- The Lord consistently rejected their professed acknowledgement
of Him as the Son of God, and even drove them out of those whom they
had taken possession of.
We are expected to act exactly as Jesus Christ did.
- This we can only do if we live in very close association with the
Lord Jesus and if we are guided in everything by His Holy Spirit.
- Paul had nothing or no other person to rely on to guide him in discerning someone with a false "confession" but the Holy Spirit.
This shows clearly how penetrating the discernment is of someone who truly believes in the Lord Jesus.
- The gifts we have received through the Lord's death on the cross are extremely great - if we wish to employ them rightly.
- This is especially so in view of the support we have of the Holy Spirit.
- As in Lydia's case, the Holy Spirit prepares us to have faith and to repent and come to conversion. But that is not all.
When we have been converted, like Paul and his companions, the Holy
Spirit gives us the insight to be able to discern those about us who
have false or misleading beliefs, and also the strength to break with
them.
- Judging by the actions of the Lord Jesus, and also by the actions
of the apostle Paul on this occasion, it appears that the Lord expects
of us not to associate in the field of our religious life with people
who, on the face of it, appear to share our confession.
- We must break absolutely with all falsehood. Paul drove out completely the spirit which had been dominating this woman.
There are so many people in our day who go astray - because their knowledge is inadequate or distorted.
- It is clear from this portion of Scripture that we have an urgent
obligation towards them to testify regarding the truth by presenting
the true facts.
- Doing so will enable us to eradicate the evil from the body of believers among whom we move.
- In this way the church of the Lord will remain consisting of
people who confess the Lord rightly and honestly and under the guidance
of the Holy Spirit.
This does not mean that we should live in hatred and enmity with those
with whom we differ in our religious beliefs. It does, however, mean
that we are not to surrender our principles and that we must take a
decisive stand with regard to the way in which we confess Triune God.
AMEN.
Closing prayer.
Closing Psalm 116:1,9,10.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
Rev. Dr. M.J. du Plessis
Reformed Church, Bellville.
2 March 2003.
Scripture quoted from NASB.