使徒言行録16:16-24 Acts 16:16-24,

Are any of you interested in fortune-telling? Among various forms of fortune-telling, astrology is probably the most popular. Astrology is the belief that a person’s personality and destiny are determined by the positions of the stars in the sky at the time of one’s birth. However, it is absurd to think that a person’s personality and destiny are determined by the stars. Each of us has been given our own life by God, so one’s personality and destiny are not determined by the stars. Besides astrology, there are other forms of fortune-telling, such as reading palm lines to predict one’s fortune or using playing cards to predict the future. But it’s also absurd to think that one’s future can be determined by palm lines or playing cards. In short, fortune-telling is superstition.

Paul preached Jesus’ salvation in Philippi, there was a girl who specialised in fortune-telling. In verse 16 of today’s Bible passage, it says, “As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.” This slave girl was probably possessed by some evil spirit and was giving oracles about people’s futures. Moreover, she was receiving money from those who heard her oracles and using it to enrich her owners. When you think about it, this girl was being used as a tool for her owners’ financial gain, so she was a pitiful person without any freedom.

This girl followed Paul and his companions, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” Indeed, that was true. However, because this girl persistently followed them, Paul and his companions could no longer preach the salvation of Jesus to the people. So one day, Paul addressed the spirit that had possessed this woman, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And the evil spirit came out of her. Jesus had performed the miracle of casting out evil spirits, and Paul had been given the same power. Then the evil spirit that had been possessing the girl came out of her, and she was set free from the evil spirit. Paul and his companions were no longer hindered from preaching Jesus.

However, there was those who suffered a loss because of this incident. They were the owners of the slave girl. Since the slave girl had stopped fortune-telling, the owners could no longer make money. In anger, they accused Paul and Silas before the magistrates of Philippi, saying, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” However, Paul had done nothing to disturb the order of the Roman Empire. He had merely driven out the evil spirit from the woman who had been practising divination. Despite this, Paul and Silas were arrested by the magistrates, beaten with rods, and thrown into prison. How terrible! We too, even though we have done nothing wrong, may be bullied or suffer hardships because we believe in Jesus. This is called “persecution.” When we face persecution, we might think, “How cruel!” But at such times, let us remember Jesus, who was crucified for our salvation, and let us be patient.

What did Paul and Silas do when they were thrown into prison? Did they get angry and say, “How dare they treat us like this when we’ve done nothing wrong!?” No, they did not. Instead, they prayed and sung hymns in the prison. What happened next will be told next week.