Acts 16:16-24

Chapter 56

Prayer

Almighty God, thou hast shown us that there is an open way from earth to heaven, from darkness to light, from death to life. We find all this liberty and advancement in Christ Jesus, Son of God, God the Son. Once our foundations were in the dust, but now we see heavenly places and heavenly liberties beyond, so that all things are ours, and all spaces, and our souls have come into a great inheritance, and are rich with an infinite estate. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. Thou hast touched our souls with the pain of a deep discontentment. We are now dissatisfied with time, and earth, and sense, and all things that can be held in the hand; and we yearn for an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, bright with thine own glory and imperishable as thine own duration. This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. "These are thy glorious works, Parent of good." These are thy new creations, thy continual resurrections, thy triumphings over death and night, and thy setting up of life and light and glory infinite. So, then, we stand in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; and we stand as on a rock that cannot be broken or overthrown, and that will never crumble away. This is our Father's house. This is the strong foundation. This is a place found for souls that scorn the temptations of time, and long with wordless, painful, joyous yearning for whole heavens of liberty and service. We know that we have passed from death unto life by these new impulses of the soul. These are not the inspirations of earth, for thorns cannot bring forth grapes, neither can the dust grow the fruits of heaven. So, then, we know that we have an unction from the Holy One, and are free men, and are standing upon the right of a new charter, written and signed with blood. We are the sons of God astounding love! amazing grace! condescension Divine! that we who once wandered from God are brought back again amid the welcomings of angels and the trumpets of heaven! This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. We have left the ground of the dead; we are no longer in the churchyard, but in the living sanctuary of the living God, and our mouth is opened every day with new hymn and psalm and shout of joy. The Lord continue his daily favor according to our daily need and pain, until the last little grey day of time shall vanish, and our souls shall pass, in the purity of infinite whiteness, into the inner places. Bless our daily bread, and it will do us good. Breathe upon us when we lie down to sleep, and we shall forget our sorrow for a while and our weariness shall become young strength. Pity us when we think we see and yet are blind of soul. Save us from the embarrassments which vex and entangle every life. May ours be the spirit of righteousness, lofty honour, and noble fidelity and constancy to things commanded of God. Then shall we have no perplexing questions vexing the conscience with many a doubt, and clouding the life with many a fear; but ours shall be the path of the just, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Remember our dear ones at home, so sick, so weak; longing to go, yet willing to stay; filled with wonder about the future, and pained with distress about the past. The Lord send comforting angels into chambers where human voices are lowered into whispers. The Lord himself be the Physician of those who need him most, and give them hope of soul where there cannot be recovery of body. Sit down beside the weary one and talk a while, and in listening to the voice Divine may human weariness be forgotten. Guide the young along the perilous road, where the tempters lie, where the mockers laugh, where the pits are deeply dug and well concealed. The Lord guide them, protect them, save them, and in old age give them a pure song. Be with us at home and abroad, in privacy, in public, everywhere a conscious, living, loving presence. So then our sins shall be forgiven in thy grace, and at the Cross of pain and blood and death we shall seal the covenant that saved us, and our hearts shall enter into a new joy. Hear thy people when they say from their hearts and with their voices, Amen and Amen.

Act 16:16-24

16. And it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain maid having a spirit of divination [G. a spirit, a Python. Python denotes (1) the Delphic dragon; (2) as here, any such soothsaying demon; (3) any ventriloquist. See lxx., Leviticus 19:31 ; Isaiah 8:19 , etc.] met us, which brought her masters [the Philippian Divination Company; a common and most lucrative speculation in that sceptical and superstitious age, Acts 8:9 ; Acts 13:6 ; Act 19:19 ] much gain by soothsaying.

17. The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, These men are servants [slaves] of the Most High God [ Luk 4:41 and Mar 5:7 ], which proclaim unto you [the spurious "us" of the A.V. included the demon] the [G. "a"] way of salvation.

18. And this she did for many days. But Paul, being sore troubled [G. "worn out"], turned and said to the spirit, I charge thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her [ 1Co 10:20 ]. And it came out that very hour.

19. But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone [note the motive of this the fir it Gentile persecution, 1 Thessalonians 2:2 . The Greek has "come out" for "gone." The "hope of their gain" and the demon parted together], they laid hold on Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the market-place [where were the civil courts and the city (civil judges ] before the rulers,

20. and when they had brought them unto the magistrates [G. "prætors." Those having Roman military authority, as Pilate, would be more properly styled "rulers," and the Greek city judges the "magistrates"], they said, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city [G. "our city, though they are Jews." The one subject race despises the other, and then is basely proud to call itself Roman],

21. and set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to receive, or to observe, being Romans.

22. And the multitude rose up together [with the masters and the city judges] against them: and the magistrates [the prætors, seeing this.] rent their garments off them, and commanded to beat them with rods [ 2Co 11:25 ].

23. And when they [ i.e., the lictors at their command] had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely [the use of the imperfect tense in the Greek not only indicates Luke's presence, but also the designed publicity of these proceedings, whereby the angry mob was appeased. See Act 16:35 ]:

24. who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks [his zeal exceeded his orders].

Violent Transitions of Experience

NONE can bear such testimony to the real nature of goodness as bad spirits. How the fallen angels could preach! How eloquent upon goodness and purity could Satan himself be! I speak not now of those who have never been in the sanctuary and have never known what a vision of purity really is; I am speaking of fallen souls; spirits that have left their communion with God and taken up with other fellowships. Such souls could tell much of the real nature of goodness. They see it from another standpoint. They did not know how bright the light was until they felt the burden of the darkness. They could speak with all the vividness which comes of conscious contrast. Could not he say much of friendship who has lost it and gone over to the ranks of the alien? Could not he speak tenderly of home who has abandoned it and wandered in the wilderness where there is no way? Memory would become a source of inspiration. Reflection would open whole heavens for a moment, and show their concealed but wondrous light. So with the spirit that has known God and wandered away from him; it could speak with a barren and mocking eloquence not without soul-touching pathos of salvation, redemption, pardon, and coming heaven. But Christianity will not have such service. The poor damsel cried truly and rightly, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation"; but her co-operation was declined. The devil can have no part or lot in Christian service. He is not in it! Though his word be true, his tone is wrong: yea, though he reads God's own Bible word by word, his spirit stains whatever it touches; and the very pureness of the Divine truth might run risks of attaintment if touched by diabolic powers. What Paul could have done with this aid! How he could have been master of the situation! How he could have turned upon all those who held in captivity the infatuated girl, and said to them, "She is our ally; she knows the truth, and is not afraid to proclaim it, nor is she ashamed of its representatives and servants; she is our co-minister, and we are thankful for her aid"! These temptations are not without force; they operate upon human attention and confidence today. We say: "The thing spoken is true, therefore the men speaking it may also be true." The logic is bad; all history condemns it. That is one of the instances of reasoning that ought to be true; but such is the subtlety of the human heart, and such its inconceivable depravity, that it is possible for the devil to speak truly regarding God and Christ, but the truth being devil-spoken, is not to be received upon such authority. Why not? Because the authority would not stop there. Take one draught at the devil's well, and you shall have another; and he is so cunning of wrist and finger, he can twist the vessel so as to be deceiving your eye and be drawing bitterness when you thought he was drawing sweetness poison in vessels thought to be full of life. Have nothing to do with him. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Apostolic character was beautifully developed under such temptations as these. We see from such incidents better than we could do from merely doctrinal statement the pureness and nobility of the apostolic mind and the magnificent independence of truth. In the hands of the Apostles the truth did not go a-begging for patronage. When the Apostles handled this mighty theme, they did not ask any one to bear a part of the burden whose hands were not as clean as the new-fallen and untrodden snow. When will the Church refuse the bad man's money? When will God's Church say, No! to patronage that is not inspired by prayer? The Church is craven. She will take money from men who are damning the world six days out of seven to the utmost of their ability. She will lay the foundations of her tabernacles and temples upon money which is devil-won and devil-rusted. She is not grand. She is afraid of being poor. The Apostles many a time might have received aid, such as that which is described in the text. The very same kind of aid was offered to Jesus Christ himself; but he would never accept it. What could be more helpful than to have a spirit as from another world saying day after day, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation"? It would then seem as if the world had joined in chorus to attest the identity and authority of the men. But in apostolic days the Church was heroic in poverty and invincible in weakness. We have come to totally false ideas about the Church, its station and influence, and its relation to worldly helps and props, and such co-operation as comes from questionable quarters. No Church can be poor, nor can any Church be weak. If it is a Church, it has Christ's presence; therefore poverty and weakness are impossible in its history. Now, what whining we have about our "poor" churches and our "weak" churches! There are no such things! You must get rid of that sophism, or you will be mere church-mongers and church-mechanicians, having lost the spirit of Divine pride, the heavenly, lofty haughtiness that disdains ill-gotten and ill-offered wealth or patronage.

"And when her masters saw " They made a profit out of her. They were "her masters." One wonders that deluded people do not learn good lessons from the very language which is employed in describing them. One wonders that the poor drunkard does not learn wisdom from the mocking laugh that follows him when he totters out of the den where he lost his manhood. It is possible that some of ourselves may be under the influence of evil "masters." There are many kinds of intoxication; there is an intoxication of vanity, as well as of blood; there is a titillation of selfishness, as well as a gratification of the palate. We may be profitably used by crafty "masters"; we may be made a convenience of only, and we must protest against this. The selfish man would make slaves of us all. It is in the nature of selfishness to make slaves. Why do we not see these things and stand upon eternal principles? Sometimes this young man, or that, may be put forward to ask questions or make impertinent statements, or, as it is called, "break the ice." Older and craftier men may be making experiments upon your green youthfulness. What is your position in society? Are you dupes or are you dupers? Tyrants in the sense of the text, or slaves, as was this poor soothsaying damsel? Christ would have us all free. "If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." Christ offers liberty. He has a yoke, but it is easy; He has a burden, but it is light. He is Master, but by the right of purity and by the claim of redeeming grace. Christ's is not the mastery of strength that cannot be resisted, but of almightiness so complete that it can be gracious. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The appeal of Christ is an appeal to reason; to the highest thought; to the noblest confidence; to the most unselfish impulses. Yes, a mastery; but by its completeness a benediction; a sovereignty Divine; not in strength only, but in tenderness.

"And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone " The bad man has a larger sphere in which to make money than the good man has. The good man is limited; the bad man is unlimited. Think what they were doing! Living upon this brain-bewildered damsel; making merchandise of her; always there to take the money she made. These men would sell the altar! Such men would sell the very Church of God. Such men would defile the dead for money; yea, they would sell their fathers' bones for gold. Do not imagine that this is an ancient instance with a haze of romance about it, belonging to immemorial time; it is the work of today; the damnation of the present hour. There is no stopping-place in selfishness short of the very destruction of the universe. For selfish interests you cannot stop and say, "Enough." This horse-leech was ever sated with blood. Begin, therefore, early to resist the devil. "It is not all gold that glitters." There are some sovereigns that cannot be changed, and that burn the holder's hand. There are some coins that honest fingers dare not touch. You may not have great wealth, but every penny is honest copper, and every sovereign honest gold, and it goes quite a long way in buying and selling. It has a peculiar power of multiplying itself under the touch of honest hands. Do not call yourself poor if you have today's honestly gotten dinner waiting for you. That is a proof that you shall also dine to-morrow. No good thing shall be withheld from them that walk uprightly. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." "I have been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." Crafty masters, dealers in superstition and quackery, may have their gain-bringing damsels taken away from them, but they who bank in heaven have effects inexhaustible.

Look at the spirit of the damsel's masters. When Paul and Silas were brought into the market-place unto the rulers, the masters said, "These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans." What liars they were! Not a word did they say about the "gains." They were concerned for the "city"; they were honestly excited about the morals of the community! Not for the world would they have old traditions touched or old harmonies thrown into discord. What liars they were! Here is the crime of today, the miserable crime of working from one motive and trying to get credit for another. That is a contemporaneous offence. It is not a gray, historic, antiquated trick, but part and parcel of our own individual experience. It was practised yesterday; it is being practised today, and to-morrow the practice will be continued. The real motive of the masters was they were angry with the Apostles who had taken away their "gains." The pretended motive of the masters was "customs" were being taught which it was not lawful for Romans to observe. Do we not sometimes hate in our hearts a man, and oppose him, and do all manner of evil to him, and then say that we have no personal envy or jealousy, but are concerned about some great question or public good? How professing Christians can tell lies! They can hunt a man to death, and over his cold bones can say they never had any personal ill-will to him, but they were concerned for customs and manners and traditions quite apart from all personal bearing and colour. This is human nature; and yet there are persons who quite disdain the idea of the doctrine of original sin or original depravity! They clasp their little babes in their arms and hug them and kiss them with the kisses of love and say, "No! No! Original depravity! Bless thee, no! No!" "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." We must not judge by action, as the magistrates in this case judged; but by motive, by inner thought, by spiritual intent may we so judge ourselves. A man wants to leave your service, or a particular neighbourhood, or a particular church, or a particular club, society, or fellowship. He will not tell the real reason, but he scourges his ingenuity to find some plausible reason for his action. Being so minded, he will find one; and he will speak it so loudly as to drown the inner voice, which is saying to him all the time, "Liar! liar!" The Gospel will have truth in the inward parts. The Gospel will have no pretence, mental reservation, or moral obliquity. It says, "Let your Yea be yea, and your Nay, nay, for whatsovever is more than these cometh of evil." This is a square Gospel; it will have all things at right angles. It will insist upon trying all our work by the square and plummet of heaven. It would revolutionize the work. Why do not men receive it as the mightiest moral disinfectant, the only spiritual emancipation, because the only Divine redemption? Search your hearts and see whether the tongue has not often been subpoenaed to tell many lies. See to it whether you have not been acting from one motive whilst trying to get credit for another. "Search me, O God, and try me, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." "Thy word is keen and sharp, keener than a two-edged sword, piercing to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow." I would live a life that asks to be tested and searched by the just criticism of Heaven. But this is impossible. So come to me, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, and take up thine abode with me, and make me more than conqueror in life's daily fight. Thou, Triune God, knowest that I can look a lie. Make me so true of heart that the face and the voice may also be true. Why do not men receive this doctrine? It is because it is very hard; because it, first of all, breaks down selfishness, corruptness of will, perversity of imagination; because this doctrine will not only be our theologian, but our moralist; will not only talk to us on Sunday, but keep our books on Monday; will not only tempt the theological imagination to high metaphysical discussion, but test weights, scales, balances, measures; and have truth at home, in the shop, in the Church everywhere. What wonder that its founder was torn limb from limb, and left a blasted thing upon a Roman cross!