2023-1-8 Paradox in Spiritual Warfare

PARADOX IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE (Acts 16:16-24) January 8, 2022 Read Acts 16:16-24 - Two robins leave their perch to eat worms. But then one says, "I'm so full I don't think I can fly back up the tree." The other says, "I can't either. Let's just lie in the warm sun for a while." But no sooner do they fall asleep than a fat tomcat gobbles them up. As he sits licking his face he thinks, "I just love baskin' robbins." Listen - so does our Enemy. The danger is real - especially when we ignore the war, expecting life to be easy! I Pet 5:8: "Be sober-minded: be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." We're at war. Our text today gives us 3 critical points to help us engage effectively. I. Believers are at War Spiritual warfare is usually hidden, but once in a while it breaks into the open like here. 16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl (young 10-14) who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. Literally, she had a "python spirit" a title used in Greek mythology to describe anyone in touch with Apollo with the ability to foretell the future. So, this demon-possessed girl was thought to have the ability to tell the future. These people came to be called ventriloquists - because they often used different voices - like Linda Blair in The Exorcist. They were troubled people, but this girl's owners were making a fortune. She began to follow P&S screaming, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation." Free publicity, right? "Most High God" was a much-used designation in the OT. And "way of salvation" is certainly what Paul was teaching. Demons who met Jesus inevitably addressed him as God. The demons know and tremble, James says. But in a Gentile context, like Philippi, where they knew nothing of the OT -the phrase "Most High God" was used of various Greek gods, especially Zeus. To some, these screams suggested Paul was a servant of Zeus. But what is really telling is the phrase "the way of salvation." That sounds good, but that's not what Luke wrote. The text actually reads, "a way of salvation". There is no definite article. The Philippian Gentile audience would have heard, here is a servant of Zeus or other high god telling you A way of salvation. Satan is using this poor girl to confuse, hinting multiple gods and ways of salvation. It's a confusion that's invaded our own evangelical Xn circles? I kid you not. In a recent Ligonier study when self-confessed evangelical believers were asked their opinion of the statement: "God accepts the worship of all religions including Xnty, Judaism, and Islam," 46% of them agreed or somewhat agreed! The Enemy has found some baskin' robbins - Xns asleep at the switch on the fundamental issue of Jesus being the only way to God. Just prior to death, Billy Graham wrote in Xnty Today, "If you asked a man directions to NYC and he said, 'Oh, just take any road you wish, they all lead there," you would question either his sanity or his truthfulness. Yet, we have come to believe "all roads lead to heaven." People say, 'Do your best,' 'Be honest,' and 'Be sincere - and you will make it to heaven.' Jesus Christ, who journeyed from heaven to earth and back to heaven again - who knew the way better than any man who ever lived - said, 'Enter ye in at the strait gate' (Matthew 7:13). He concludes, "Jesus was narrow about the way of salvation." All roads lead to heaven is the Enemy's lie! This angel of light is still sowing seeds of confusion today just as he did in Philippi 2,000 years ago. But look when this happened! 16 As we were going to the place of prayer." That's telling. The battle took place as they went to pray. Bc, the Enemy wasn't the girl, nor even her handlers. Eph 6: 12 "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Spiritual warfare is - spiritual! We can argue, fight, persuade, whatever, but until we invoke the spiritual power of God, we are helpless in this warfare. No wonder they were attacked going to pray. So, does our prayer life reflect the war that we're in? John Piper warns, "Prayer is a walkie-talkie for warfare, not a domestic intercom for increasing our conveniences." Prayer isn't primarily for our comfort. It's a cry for help amid spiritual war. How Satan will work to make us apathetic about prayer. Anything to keep us out of the war room. But that's our help! II. Ultimate Victory is a Certainty Now, here's some great news. We're at war, but the outcome is guaranteed. 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour. Paul became annoyed - deeply disturbed. He's human. He's not some made-up plastic hero. The credibility of the Bible is shown by the humanness of its characters. Paul is clearly disturbed bc he doesn't want Satan advertising him. But more importantly, she's got the message wrong. "Most High God" to the Gentiles suggests a top god, not an only god. And salvation would have been a vague term to them. So, Paul turns and says, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour." Imagine the relief of that little girl. Suddenly this demonic master is gone. It wasn't Paul; it was Jesus; and when He came in, the demon had to go. That victory was already won. When? I Jn 3:8b: "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." How? Col 2:13 "And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him." The war rages on for the moment. But victory's assured. It's just a matter of God's timing. In WWII, with the successful landings on D-Day in June, 1944, the war was effectively won. Hitler's defeat was imminent. But the war raged on for another year. So with us. The war rages on. But the victory was won at the cross. The full realization awaits God's timing, but believe me, the end result is not in doubt. The war is won, and it will end when God says so. In, Pilgrim's Progress, Xn, on His way to the Celestial City, encounters many threats. One night as he heads a lodge, he spies two lions in the path. He is paralyzed with fear. His traveling companions Mistrust and Timorous turn back. Xn nearly turns as well, but then the porter at the lodge, Watchful, cries out to him, "Is your strength so small? Do not fear the lions for they are chained, and are placed there as a trial of faith, and to discover those that have none. Stay in the middle of the path, and no harm shall come to you?" This is why John could say I Jn 4:4b, "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." He proved it at the cross followed by the empty tomb! At the cross every human need is satisfied. Lydia had all the world could offer, but was guilty, empty and seeking. At the cross this refined lover of beauty found in the bloody face of Jesus, ultimate beauty in the King who gave up all His glory for her. And the slave girl, who needed deliverance, found at the cross the One who was enslaved Himself - that He might set her free. This is the wonder of the cross. The place of ultimate human humiliation and weakness is also the place of ultimate divine glory as Jesus took our place to redeem us from sin's power and ugliness. This is why Jesus, who said several times during his life that his hour had not yet come, said just before His arrest, Jn 12:23 "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." By faith, Lydia and the slave girl - from opposite ends of the human spectrum - became part of that fruit. Are you part of that fruit? Has Jesus death availed for you? III. Winning is Costly So, ultimate victory is assured, but there is a price to be paid. The ultimate price was Jesus' death on the cross. Nothing else come close to that in terms of suffering or value. But Jesus' followers are given the privilege to suffer with Him for the sake of the gospel, and that's what we see next. 19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers." There's a great play on words here. In v. 18, the demon "came out" the very hour Paul commanded it to. Then in v. 19, the owners saw "their hope of gain was gone (literally came out)." So when the demon came out, so did the profitability of this evil partnership. Just like that, they were out of business - and not happy. They seized Paul and Silas, dragged them to the agora (the place of commerce and courts in Greek cities), and lodged charges with the magistrates. The charges were trumped up, of course. They just wanted revenge, but they needed something that would stick in a Roman court, so they get clever: 20 "And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, "These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. 21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice." They played the race card - appealing to the anti-Semitism of the Romans. They claimed these Jewish guys were advocating customs unlawful to Romans. It wasn't true - but it stuck. They created a mob, and the magistrates were quick to join in: 22 "The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods." Later - in II Cor 11:25, Paul says, "Three times I was beaten with rods," and here is one of those times. They were sent to jail, and the jailer, in fear for his life, sent them to the deepest, darkest part of his prion block, and then "fastened their feet in stocks." Once at Williamsburg, VA, we took pictures in the stocks that were outside the jail there. These were nothing like that. These not only secured prisoners against escape, but tortuously splayed their legs out creating incredible pain and muscle cramps. Their beaten backs were shot through with pain. This jailer was making points with the rulers. So, a question - if Paul could cast out a demon in Jesus' name, why couldn't he just stop that mob, those rulers, that jailer in Jesus' name? Why suffer? We'll answer next week. But it is enough to know this suffering shows the value of Christ to His glory. He's worth more than any suffering. Any time the gospel touches a secular worldview there will be a price to pay. Later in Ephesus, so many people responded to the gospel that the sale of little silver statues to Diana had greatly diminished. The silversmith union got all up in arms calling for Paul's head on a platter until cooler heads prevailed. 1900 years later in London, Booth's Salvation Army was so effective that the liquor trade was affected. Historian Richard Collier writes, "Persecution was great from the beginning.... The liquor dealers worked hard to have Booth kicked out of East London. The police were no help; in fact, they often accused Booth's followers of being the cause of all the trouble.... Beatings were not uncommon: in 1889, at least 669 Salvation Army members were assaulted-some were killed and many were maimed. Even children were not immune; ruffians threw lime in the eyes of a child of a Salvation Army member. The newspapers ridiculed Booth." Persecution. But is that not what Jesus said to expect: Jn 15:20b: "A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you." Expect it. Embrace it like Paul did when he said in Col 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, the church." This is a war we'll win, but not without cost, a cost we are privileged to pay for the sake of the glory to follow. Conc - Jill Briscoe was awaiting a flight on Sept 11, 2001. As news began to filter out about the 9/11 disaster, she noticed a woman nearby dressed in an army uniform. She soon became completely unnerved and began to sob. Mrs. Briscoe approached her and asked if she could be of any help. The young woman replied that she was a soldier being deployed. But with this news, she was petrified about what would happen next. She finally commented, "I didn't join the army to go to war." She hadn't really counted the cost. Jesus talked about the need to count the cost before following Him. He ends by saying in Lu 14:33 "So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." I hope you've counted the cost. Jesus did - and He renounced all for us on the cross. Now we have the chance to do the same for Him. But with the assurance as He was raised again, so ultimate victory in Him is ours. Any price we pay will be more than offset by the glory to come. Let's pray. DONE 7