"Demonic Challenge"

              "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

                                               ACTS 16 : 18b

         Paul's work in Macedonia off to a successful start with the conversion of Lydia and her household. But trouble comes unexpectedly, One day as the missionaries are going to the place of prayer, they encounter a slave girl "possessed with a spirit of divination." Dr. Simon Kistemaker explains that the Greek rendered "divination" derives from a word referring to Python, the mythical snake that guarded the Delphic Orade. "In later years, the term denoted a spirit of divination that dwelled in a medium," he writes. "As the priestess of Apollo at Delphi was able to predict the future, so this slave girl serves her masters in Philippi as a fortuneteller. She was an instrument of devils who used her as a mouthpiece." Her demonic bondage enables her to make much money for her masters. However, when she encounters the missionaries, she immediately cries out a truthful, yet enigmatic statement:""These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation."

        This raises several questions. Is she truly able to predict future event? We cannot be sure; the answer depend on whether God makes His plan known to satan to any extent. Also why would Satan allow this girl to make a truthful confession about Paul and his companions? The incident is similar to Jesus' encounters with demon possessed people who cried out involuntarily in His presence (Matt.8:28-29; Mark1:23-24); thus her cries may not be intentional. However, satan may be using a truthful testimony delivered in a disruptive way to frustrate Paul's ministry efforts. It is also possible the Gentiles hearing the girl being led to believe that "Most High God" is a reference to Zeus. Finally does Paul tolerate her cries for "many days"? We must remember that he lacks Jesus divine ability to detect evil spirits. Therefore, it seems likely that he refrain from acting until the Spirit reveals to him that he is facing a case of demonic possession.

        Paul finally uses his divine given authority uses his divinely give authority as an apostls, ordering the demon ""in the name of Jesus Christ" to come out. It does so right away. The girl is delivered, but Oaul's troubles are just beginning, for the girls now useless to her masters as aptofut source. In anger, these powerful Philippians has Paul and Silas seized and dragged before the city authority meeting in the marketplace.