Read Part One HERE
A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS
PART XVI - IV
"This morning Silas and I, Paul left Lydia's home... We have been staying there since we arrived in Philippi.... We were expecting to return to her home this evening... However, that is now what happened... Instead, we are in jail... We are not in jail becauce we committed a crime... We are in jail because we were obedient to the Lord... Let me explain... You may remember that a young girl kept following us when we were out preaching.... And she kept shouting that people should listen to us... However, I realised that the spirit who spoke through her was not the Holy Spirit... Instead, a demonic spirit spoke through her..And that is why the Lord led me to deliver her from that demonic spirit... We rejoiced that she had been set free... For that would mean she could follow Jesus.... However, not everyone rejoyed over her deliverance.... Her owners, for instance, were not happy.... They had used her to make money with her fortune telling... But their source of income had stopped the moment she lost the ability to make predictions...They had become very angry... So they had us seized and taken before the authorities...That is why we now find ourselves in prison... However, we trust the Lord that He will take care of us... He must have a purpose for us being here.... No doubt, we will soon find out what that purpose is."... Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn how Paul and Silas ended up in prison...
ATTACHMENT A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS
PART XVI - IV
Not everyone in Philippi was happy that this young girl had been set free from a demonic spirit through the ministry of Paul. And those who were not happy with what had happened to her were her owners. In fact, her owners were furious with Paul. For you see, they had been able to use this young girl to earn money with since she was able to predict things for people. However, because Paul had set her free from this demonic spirit she was no longer able to make predictions and, consequently, there was going to be financial loss for them. They did not care about this young slave girl. They only cared that she was able to make them money. And now Paul and Silas had put a stop to that.These men needed to be punished. They needed to be taught a lesson to never do such a thing again so the owners decided they should be thrown in jail to teach them a lesson as you can read in Acts 16:19-23
When her owners realised that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severly flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.
Paul and Silas may not have expected to be thrown in prison that day. But that is what happened. Did the Lord know where they were? After all, He had been the One who had sent them to Philippi.
Read Part Five HERE
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