Acts 16:18, commentary and pictures

At Philippi Paul, grieved and acting under the Spirit of God after she had followed and cried out for many days, turned and commanded the evil spirit in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her, and it left that same hour immediately. Though her words declaring the apostles servants of the most high God showing the way of salvation were true, it was Satan speaking through her voice to mingle his sophistry and deception with the truth, divert attention, and make the apostles seem to share his spirit in order to weaken their influence. Evil devising and evil work must therefore be rebuked even when clothed in true words, lest Satan creep in to undermine faith. Her deliverance was real, for she was freed from satanic influence and restored to herself, quiet and peaceable and in her right and sound mind, and she chose to become a meek disciple and follower of Christ. An evil spirit can still be driven out in the same way by a command in the name of Jesus Christ with most earnest prayer and wrestling with God through those who have a living connection with Him.

Setting and Deliverance

This belongs to the carrying of the gospel beyond the confines of Asia Minor into Europe, after the night vision at Troas on the borders of the Mediterranean Sea in which a man of Macedonia called for help to come over into Macedonia. That vision admitted of no delay, and Paul with Silas and Timothy and Luke immediately crossed from Troas by Samothracia to Neapolis and on to Philippi, the chief city of that part of Macedonia, to preach the gospel there.

At Philippi the damsel had a spirit of divination, and unlike others possessed by demons who suffered greatly, she had welcomed satanic influence in order to obtain supernatural power and had no conflict with the demon. Her soothsaying and divinations brought her masters much gain and strengthened idolatry, supplying an income that would be entirely cut off if the gospel work continued.

After she followed and cried out for many days, Paul, being grieved and acting under the Spirit of God, turned and commanded the evil and afflicting spirit in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her, and it came out that same hour immediately. Her continued silence testified that the apostles served God and that the demon had recognized their authority and obeyed their command. She was freed from satanic influence and restored to herself, becoming quiet and peaceable instead of causing trouble, peaceful and in her right and sound mind, which showed the deliverance was real. She then chose to become a meek disciple and follower of Christ.

The deliverance ended all hope of gain from her soothsayings and divinations and alarmed her masters for their craft, since their source of income would be entirely cut off if the apostles continued. It also threatened many others in the city who gained money through satanic delusions, and fear of a power that could so effectually stop their work raised a mighty cry against the servants of God. This brought false charges before the magistrates, mob violence sanctioned by the authorities, scourging, and imprisonment in the inner prison with feet in stocks.

Satan's Deceptive Strategy

Although the damsel uttered good and apparently favorable words declaring Paul and Silas to be servants of the most high God who showed the way of salvation, it was Satan speaking through her voice in the midst of God's work. He sought by that utterance to mingle his sophistry and deception with the truths taught by those proclaiming the Word of God. The favorable sound of the words did not change their source, for they came from the spirit of divination rather than from God.

Her repeated cries over many days harmed the gospel by diverting people's attention from the truth. They made the apostles appear to share the same spirit as Satan's agent, as if their work stood on common ground with hers. Satan used those cries to turn people against the disciples and to weaken their influence.

Evil devising and evil work must therefore be rebuked even when clothed in true words. Satan creeps in with sophistry to undermine the principles of faith, and the same danger exists today through those who should be praying for understanding of the Scriptures. Scientific sophistry must be purged from every heart and believers must settle into the living principles of present truth, for if such devising is allowed to go unrebuked they will suffer the consequences. Satan can still speak through a human voice in the same way now, so unless there are men and women who stand as firm as a rock and as true as steel to principle, God's people will not know when the devising of the enemy comes and will not recognize it.

Rebuke and Deliverance Today

Paul's command is an example of deliverance from satanic power through prayer and through the authority and strength of Jesus, with the afflicting spirit leaving immediately at his word in the name of Jesus Christ. An evil spirit can be driven out by a command given in the name of Jesus Christ, and this provides the model for rebuking Satan's power and seeking the dispossession of a person under demonic influence. Such work calls for earnest prayer and for help from people who are connected with God.

Demon possession in the present is to be met as in ancient times, for the case now is like those cases then. The possessed person is surrounded by evil angels who at times control him in a strange, revolting way, so that he thinks, speaks, and acts under satanic agencies and does revolting things that cast him into despair. He has no power to escape the snare alone, and connection with spirits and theosophy is his curse. His only hope is to present his case before brethren who have a living connection with God, and the more he is pressed into the work of God with those connected with God the less power Satan has over him. The spell will be broken only by most earnest wrestling with God, and Satan must be rebuked as in olden time in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, asked in faith for the Lord to do, and He will hear prayer and fulfill His word to have the man dispossessed.

An evil spirit can be rebuked in the name of the Lord, for prayer and rebuke in the Lord's name caused the evil spirit troubling a child to leave, and the child became calm and slept. The verse means rebuking a corrupt spirit in a person in the name of Jesus Christ. That rebuke confronts a minister who uses phrenology to make money, falsifies, discourages souls, wrongly declares married couples unfitted for each other, and leads others to trust in telling fortunes instead of God, doing far more harm than good.