THE LIVING CHURCH
Meditations in the Acts of the Apostles
Acts 16:19-26

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IN THE last meditation we saw Paul being used by our Lord Jesus Christ for the purpose of delivering the slave girl from the devil possession she had been afflicted with. When she was delivered the evil use which the owners of the slave girl made of her was destroyed, and the monetary gain taken away. The result was hurt and persecution for Paul and Silas because the slave owners reacted angrily to the loss of their use of this girl. When we do good it is not readily appreciated by those whose ways are selfish and evil.

Although the slave owners were not devil possessed in the way the slave girl had been, they were certainly following the devil's agenda. The corruption of humanity due to Adam's sin and the resultant fall of humanity into sin, gives Satan a lever in the lives of human beings. His temptations are attractive and desirable. The more we give ourselves over to these evil desires, the more influence Satan has over us. When Satan finds his kingdom assaulted, as was the case in the deliverance of this slave girl, he fights back in using the lever he has in our fallen nature to cause human beings to oppose God. We have an example here in the slave owners.

Satan stimulated the evil of greed, and desire for power and glory, in these slave owners, and caused them to attack Paul and Silas. We are told in the Bible that the world lies in the power of the evil one, and so the world fights against Christ and the Gospel. In 1 John 5:19 we read "We know that we are children of God, and the whole world is under the control of the evil one." Until we are born again by the Spirit of God we are under the control of the evil one. Christ delivers the believer from this control. Jesus warned his disciples in John 15:18-25 that the world would hate them in the same way it hated Jesus.

The method that the world, influenced by Satan, is to tell lies or half truths. In this case the slave owners wanted to get back at Paul and Silas for their loss of the money and power the slave girl, under the influence of the evil spirit, gave them. The slave owners played on the fear and natural prejudice of the Philippian authorities. We see this same problem in much of the press and media today. They want to sell newspapers and make money. They analyse what the public would like to hear and read, and then go after those stories that will please their readers. Not content with this, they will tell the story being economical with the truth, telling only what fits their agenda in selling their newspapers. They don't exactly tell lies but just part of the story and play on the fears, prejudices and appetites of their readers. This is not to say that the press is all bad and that they do not fulfil an important function in our society. Without the freedom of the press evil would flourish in government and commerce, which it now does not because the press would expose it. The problem is that because of fallen human nature and the fact that the world lies in the control of the evil one, it is impossible for any human institution not to follow the devil's agenda in some measure and some corruption to result.

Paul and Silas suffered because they followed the agenda of Jesus Christ. They were the instruments of Jesus to deliver the slave girl from the devil possession that was ruining her life. Paul and Silas were also preaching the Gospel and bring the good news of God's forgiving love to the people, and many were believing and becoming followers with them of the Lord Jesus. This could only do good to the people who received the word, and to the whole community through goodness becoming more prevalent in their society. This does not suit Satan's evil purposes, nor does it find support in those who are of the world. Thus Paul and Silas were persecuted and hated. This is the cross the believer has to bear for Christ's sake. Our cross is not the general troubles of humanity which all, Christian and non-Christian, have to bear. The cross we bear is those trials and sufferings that come to us because of our allegiance to Jesus and because of our witness for Jesus. Believers must not be surprised at these trials, and must be willing for Christ's sake to take up their cross and follow Jesus. Christ will be with us and strengthen us.

Lastly, when we read of Paul and Silas held fast in the stocks and locked in a prison cell, with their bodies suffering from the pain of the severe flogging they had received, we see them singing hymns and praises to God. Here was joy of an unusual quality and power. In spite of their suffering and the awfulness of their plight, they still had joy and peace in their hearts, and this was expressed in their singing to God. This is a fact of the Christian experience. We have become forgiven and new born and received into God's family. We have the spirit of adoption where we cry within us to God as our Father - we cry "Abba, Father". We have the sense of great joy because we belong to God and his love surrounds us. We have the joy that our lives our hid in Christ with God, and so whatever our circumstances we know God is working all for our good. At such times as Paul and Silas were suffering there is the sense of God's presence and love, and the security of knowing that God is their looking after us. This is a joy and peace that the world knows nothing about and which the world cannot give. This is only the beginning of the exceeding great reward we have in Christ, and we know the sufferings of this present world cannot be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18).