From Satan’s Slave to God’s Servant: Acts 16:16-24.
Last time, we saw that Paul heard God and because of his obedience, the gospel entered Europe.
We looked at Lydia, the first person to be saved because she was searching.
Today, we’ll look at the salvation of the slave girl and the tricks Satan will use to gain access to the church.
The first thing I want you to see is that this slave girl had:
1. A Controlling Spirit. Verse 16.
This girl had supernatural powers that she could use to predict a person’s future.
She was controlled by a demonic spirit, and her masters were using her to make a profit. Today we might call her a psychic or a palm reader.
But we need to understand that not all supernatural power comes from God.
Her power was from the devil THEN and ladies & gentlemen it’s STILL of the devil today!
[Deut. 18:10-12a NLT] “10 …never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, 11 or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead.
LISTEN. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD…” (Revolting, sickening to God)
The Bible is clear that we are to have NOTHING to do with these things.
Yet every morning Christians will wake up and the first thing they pick up is NOT their Bibles but their electronic devices or a newspaper to check their horoscope.
Ladies and gentlemen I want you to know that if you play around with the supernatural apart from God Almighty you are playing with fire!
You are inviting the spirits of the darkness of this world into your lives, your homes and into your families.
So many Christians can’t seem to get rid of the evil presence in their lives.
That reason is simply because they have invited evil to move in and make itself at home!
I read about a survey that was done of 1,700 high school students.
416 of those students surveyed admitted to having involvement with Ouija boards.
We need to understand that this is not some harmless board game like Chutes and Ladders. It is a game that can easily pull a person into the realm of the underworld!
Even the makers of the game know this, and in their instruction booklet they say:
“if you use the Ouija board in a frivolous spirit, asking ridiculous questions or laughing over it, you naturally will get unnatural influences around you.”
I’m here to tell you that these are so much more than just some “unnatural influences” THESE ARE DEMONIC FORCES!
Out of those 1,700 students surveyed, 321 admitted to having some involvement with astrology or horoscopes, which originated way back at the Tower of Babel.
And I’ll say it again, the Bible repeatedly forbids this kind of activity as demonic!
Pastor Jerry Shirley says; “It’s a counterfeit guidance system which makes a mockery of God’s Holy Spirit Who promises to lead and guide us in all things.”
192 of those students admitted some involvement with palm reading for the sole purpose of telling future events.
Sister Mary palm reader may have praying hands on her sign or a full size statue of Jesus out front, but she is nothing but a servant of the dark world, a fortune teller and this is the ultimate insult to our God Whom we are supposed to trust with our future.
And American Christians can’t understand why God is not moving around us!
[2Ki 1:2-3 NIV] “2 Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, "Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury."
3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’”
So let me ask you this today, if you’re involved in any of these practices.
Is it because there is no God in America that you consult that Ouija board?
Is it because there is no God that you check your Horoscope?
Is it because there is no God that you visit that Palm reader?
Is it because there are is no God that you call on the powers of darkness?
We need to teach our children to look to God, and that it matters not what tomorrow holds, as long as we know Who holds tomorrow!
You know what’s more upsetting about the numbers from this survey?
This survey was done in a Christian School!
Parents aren’t involved enough in their children’s lives, and their children fall victim to these things, much like the slave girl who had a demonic spirit.
Many, like this girl come by it rather innocently, simply cracking open one of these doorways to darkness but when you play with it long enough it becomes a controlling spirit.
And this controlling spirit has continued to serve its original purpose… this controlling spirit became:
2. A sabotage of the church. Verse 17.
At first glance what the girl is saying doesn’t sound so bad.
What she’s saying is the truth, is it not?
But the sabotage is hidden behind the statement.
This is a dangerous and subtle attack.
This was an attempt by Satan to plant some weeds among the wheat.
Satan wanted to gain access to this infant church and get people to believe this girl was a part of their group (They’ve come to tell US about salvation). Now that statement is absolute truth BUT Satan’s goal was to get the people to believe that her power as well as the power Paul and Silas demonstrated was from the same source.
And still today people with her kind of supernatural powers attempt to attribute them to God.
But let me make something absolutely clear this morning.
God is not the source of their power!
The Bible says Satan is the father of lies…
BUT he’s not above rearranging the truth to suit his purpose!
He’s the Prince of Darkness, but he will present himself as an angel of light.
Did you know the deadliest cyanide is not in a bottle with skull and cross bones on the label? Nobody would deliberately turn that bottle up and chug that stuff down.
But put just a few drops mixed into a big jug of Kool-Aid and they’ll drink up.
It’s still just as deadly so why would they drink the poison?
Because they don’t know it’s there and they can’t see the present danger!
And today many churches are blind to the poison and will take any kind of endorsement as long as it promotes the church.
Churches consumed with numbers will have Hollywood stars on their platforms.
You can see these actors/actresses who make their filthy movies and music artist, whose lyrics are an abomination before God, stand up and “thank God” for their success.
Let me tell you something; you don’t have to dress up the gospel for people to get saved. And the gospel doesn’t need to be disguised so we can “slip it in” on someone.
The gospel can and will stand in its own strength and operate under its own power!
Churches who water down the gospel in order to attract the crowds are turning Christ into nothing more than a sideshow attraction!
First this spirit begins by controlling you then it becomes a steady sabotage…but finally I want you to see;
3. A Controversial Salvation verses 18-24.
The devil does not want you to be saved.
He will do whatever it takes to make you believe you are…
If you are truly born again, he’ll do everything he can to cause controversy.
The slave girl was liberated by the power of Jesus Christ and no longer belongs to Satan! You would think that would make the whole town happy.
But this made her masters so angry that they hauled Paul and Silas in front of the authorities and made some lame excuses as to the reason they were so upset.
“They’re disrupting our city, violating our customs, they’re troublemakers!”
If you pay any attention to the news you’ll see that today, Christians are being portrayed as troublemakers. But the real troublemakers are not the soul-winners who are trying to free people from sin. The real troublemakers are those who are trying to enslave people in sin.
Those who have a vested interest in keeping people enslaved are the real troublemakers. Those who profit from keeping our minds in the gutter, like the gambling crowd who need people to be addicted, in order for them to profit.
The alcohol industry, pornography, drug industry survive on keeping you in bondage to their product. Those doctors who write unnecessary prescriptions for pain meds are nothing more than drug dealers who keep you coming back for more and more. Even the government can be a big player in this game [explain].
Those who are keeping the racial tension alive in America right now. Those who is forcing political decisions like same sex marriage. Those who stand to gain the most from keeping America divided are destroying our nation and enslaving her people…so why do they do it?
I will give you several one word answers. Profit. Power. Prestige. Position.
Look at verse 19 “When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.”
They made up something they could pin on them, but this slave girl was saved. She was forever changed. She wouldn’t continue in her old ways even if it did pay well!
She was living [2Co 5:17 NKJV] “Therefore, if anyone [is] in Christ, [he is] a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things [Not some things] have become new.”[added]
Churches can be held in slavery too. Satan fills their minds with garbage and when a pastor stands on the Word of God, they begin to murmur and gripe until the pastor is brought up on false charges and asked to leave, only because the church has allowed Satan to gain access to the body.
I’ll tell you this much and do what you will with it BUT I wouldn’t give you a plug nickel for a salvation that doesn’t change a person’s life.
If your salvation can’t get that fridge full of booze or cabinet full of liquor out of the house and into the trash can, I wouldn’t trust it to get you to heaven.
If your salvation is not powerful enough to get you out of your pill bottle or your little plastic bag then it is not powerful enough to save you for all eternity!
If salvation can’t get your tithe out of your wallet and into the offering plate I wonder if it can get you through the gates of glory.
If your salvation can’t stop you from cussing like 40 sailors or stop you from gossiping or stirring up conflict and fighting like cats and dogs I don’t see it getting you over the threshold of death.
NOW I’m not saying we’re saved by works, I’m just repeating what we’ve seen time and time again in our messages lately.
TRUE salvation will change you!
Prayer/Invitation
