“ And it came to pass, —as we went to prayer—, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: 

The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, “These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. “ —-And this did she many days——-. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, “I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. “ And he came out the same hour. 

And when her masters saw that —the hope of their gains was gone,— they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, And brought them to the magistrates, saying, “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. “

And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. 

And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. “ —- Acts 16:16–25 (AV)

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The Man with 2 Names - Trouble in Philippi

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Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke are staying at the house of Lydia in Phillippi, and have been there for sometime. They met her on the Sabbath day, by the river, a place where -prayers- were wont to be offered up. 

This is the first departure we see in the missionaries approach - the normal process was to declare the Gospel to the children of Israel in the - synagogue - and any gentiles that “feared God” who happened to be in that audience. They are here, in this synagogue-less city, because the Spirit showed them a vision of a person ( symbolizing a people ) .... praying for help! So, on His day, they go to where people are seeking Him.... great guidance for any that are looking to follow their example!

So... God heard the prayers of the pagan, and wicked... and sent them His apostles... but doesn’t the Bible say He does —not—- hear the prayers of the wicked? 

Here it is in Isaiah, 59:1–4 (AV): “ Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: —-But——your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, —-that he will not hear.—-For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.....   

....... Isaiah 59:9–11 (AV): Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.”

WE NEED HELP!!!!

Our country and world right now is full of anger, divisiveness, hatred, fear, depression.....we see gross injustice, and the atheists mock... “Where is God in all this? Why doesn’t He do anything? You guys better pray louder, for it doesn’t seem like He is listening... or... give up your delusional thinking and get with our program...”

On the contrary....God has seen this play out multiple times and in many seasons. 

• In the days of Noah... wickedness was rampant... and He flooded the world. 
• In the day of Abraham, He rained down fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. 
• He sent a reluctant Jonah to Nineveh to tell those people to repent ... or He would destroy them. ( and they did...and were saved... )
• He warns His people in Isaiah here of impending judgement for their sin. 
• And He has appointed a day of Wrath, and a day of Judgement when every soul must give account... but till then... people need help and Salvation! 

Isaiah 59:15–20 (AV): Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: ———and the LORD saw it, and it —-displeased him—- that there was no judgment. 

And he saw that there was ——-no man—-, and -wondered- that there was no intercessor:    therefore -his- arm brought salvation unto him; and -his- righteousness, it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. 

According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence. So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. 

When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. “

The Lord knows man is desperately wicked, and can’t save Himself. It is His Grace, that He bears our iniquities and still gives us food, sun, and rain.... and also Saves us sovereignly! ( If the Lord should mark/remember iniquity, who then could be saved? No one!  )...... He may turn away His face for a while, but His Love for us draws Him back!

We said , in our post last week, that the Spirit was maneuvering the missionaries away from dangerous areas for the time being... because the enemy had been cast to the earth, filled with wrath, for now his time is short. His home was in Pergamom... later to become a Revelation church location....!! There is another connection... Lydia , we are told, is from Thyatira ... another Revelation church location... and Thyatira is located in the province of .... wait for it.... Lydia!!! Check out the map we posted last week... ?

Here is the Spirit of the Lord lifting up a standard against the enemy.... answering the prayers of Macedonia, and laying the foundations for the Thyatira church too! Hallelujah!

Prayer is very important! So much so, that in our text, we see Paul and the missionaries, engaged in regular prayers after Lydias’ household is saved. It is on the way to these prayer gatherings that this “prophet” servant girl starts shadowing them and drawing peoples attention to them. 

What irritated Paul so much? His action in casting out this spirit precipitated a series of events that landed him and Silas in jail! This girl was telling the truth after all .... the only clue we have is that she began making a habit of it ? ... “for many days”.... 

Ok ... it was probably pretty cool days one, two, three.... but after sometime ( note that she was not IMMEDIATELY shut down ) ... (a) it probably became irritating (b) possibly .... there is a hint of mocking... a sneer... a sardonic jab at the “ most high “ God and ( look at ) His raggedy messengers of salvation... we can relate to that based on comments on our posts even today ?.... the foolishness of preaching indeed!    ...(c) it was probably a distraction to have her yelling that, while people were trying to pray..... so he shut her up. 

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Which is what we do... if our Page offends you, block us... easy... done! If you post comments that are vile, hateful, mocking, condescending and void of facts ,understanding, and logic, you will be banned. (You can continue to read our posts on the website if you want ... you will just not be allowed to interact here) If your comments are not logical, coherent, or related to what we are talking about, or off topic entirely.... they will definitely not be liked, and may even be deleted. ? 

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These men are doing the Lords work, under His leading and guidance, being faithful to what He has asked them to do. It doesn’t immediately appear that they are under His protection!

Clothes ripped, beaten with “many stripes” , thrust into the “inner prison” ( the Hole ) with their feet confined in stocks. How could He do this to them? What was going through their mind as they were being manhandled, stripped and whipped? This isn’t fair? .... this sucks!???... we are sure it did! Why didn’t God step in to rescue them?

It’s all about timing. Last week, it was pointed out to us that, despite being warned to preach the gospel in Asia, later, 7 churches ( in Asia!) sprang up in the areas the missionaries were asked to avoid! This wasn’t a case of racial discrimination by the Spirit, it was a matter of timing. God does act, as we see in the verses immediately following our text this week, with a mighty witness to the prisoners, and extending salvation to the jailor and his household with an “earthquake” that not only opens all the doors, but also looses every chain.... a most unusual earthquake.

Paul and Silas are not afraid. In every situation, we should follow their excellent example. 

Trust that God has allowed the situation in your life for a purpose... and with the trial ( if it is one ) gives you the strength to -endure it.... - , not open an exit hatch to let you bail. Bailing you out would defeat His purposes in using that trial to grow your faith, character, and using it to minister to those around you. 

He does not say you will not walk through fire or raging waters, or that storms will never beat upon your house... He says He will be WITH you -  in the midst of all that, and  be the Rock that prevents your house from falling!

Go to Him in prayer... give Him the situation and the problem.... then rest in Him to deal with it. Praise Him for His presence, and grace and favor .... and be amazed at what He will do! It’s never what you expect and it exceeds all expectations... Hallelujah!!

Prayers and Praise and Worship. This is the first time we see SINGING .... mentioned after the Ascension, and Paul and Silas are the first P&W team... and their first concert is in jail!!! ? Yeah... rebel rock!! ?

It may be really difficult to sing right now. Unemployment, unrest, a deadly pandemic, isolation from friends and family. But we can sing.... do not not be afraid of the darkness in this midnight age..... you WILL have food on your table, and a roof, and your health. Your faith in Him is going to be tested...but be assured, Victory is just over the horizon. 

Prayer and Praise. Trials draw us back to pray to Him, and we honor Him who delivers us from ALL trials by offering up the fruit of our lips, the sacrifice of Praise !

The prayers of Lydia were answered. The prayers of Macedonia were answered. The prayers of Paul and Silas were answered. Our iniquities will NEVER EVER AGAIN separate us from the eternal favor and kindness of God... and our fervent prayers are guaranteed to be effectual!

WE are priests ... persons that represent a people... to God... that must pray for this world, that is our profession, so we must pray ...always and for all things. HE will give us what we need to keep doing it! 

We may not feel worthy, but He has clothed us in His own righteousness.... so that we can, every one of us, unite in this wonderful job, with Him!

“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points —tempted  {tested} — like as we are—-, yet without sin.

Let us —therefore— come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. “  : Hebrews 4:14–16 (AV)

Hallelujah!