CRITICAL REMARKS
Acts 16:16. A certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination.—Better, a female slave (Galatians 4:22) having the spirit of a pythoness, or, according to superior authorities, a spirit, a python. “The python was the serpent worshipped at Dephi, as the symbol of wisdom, from which the Pythian priestesses and Apollo as succeeding to the oracular power of the serpent took their distinguishing appellative” (Plumptre).
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Acts 16:16-18
The Cure of a Pythoness; or, the Slave-girl and the Apostle
I. The slave-girl.—
1. Her abject condition. A bond-servant, the property of several masters, who may have received her by inheritance (Alford), and who had an interest in her valuable gift, a supposed power of divination.
2. Her reputed power. That of divining or prophesying, which caused her to be regarded by the people of Philippi as a python—i.e., as a person inspired by Apollo, like the priestess at Delphi.
3. Her real character. Not a ventriloquist (Augustine, Holtzmann), though Plutarch asserts the term python was frequently employed to describe such, but a demoniac whose insane ravings were palmed off by her crafty owners as inspired utterances.
4. Her truthful ejaculation. “These men are servants,” etc. Not to be supposed she merely uttered words of the apostles either heard by herself or reported to her by others. Her cry an involuntary because a supernaturally inspired testimony to the character and work of the apostles, similar to that borne to the Saviour by the demons whom He encountered (Matthew 8:29; Mark 3:11; Luke 4:41; Luke 8:28).
II. The apostle.—
1. His sore trouble.
(1) If Paul’s grief took the form of indignation, as in Acts 4:2, then its object was not the woman, who was an involuntary victim of the demon, or her saying which was true, but either her inhuman masters who made gain of her misery, or the evil spirit which had enthralled her and maliciously designed by her utterance to hinder the work of the apostles.
(2) If of sympathy, then it was directed exclusively towards the suffering girl whose sad case he pitied.
2. His delivering command.
(1) To whom spoken? To the evil spirit in the girl. Paul unmistakably recognised the personal existence of evil powers.
(2) In whose name? That of Jesus Christ (compare Acts 3:6), who had come to destroy the devil and his works.
(3) In what terms? Come out of her: in imitation of his Master’s language (Mark 1:25; Mark 5:8; Luke 4:35; Luke 8:29).
(4) With what effect? Immediate healing. “It (the evil spirit) came out that very hour.”
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Acts 16:17. The Dignity and Duty of Christian Ministers.
I. Their dignity.—Servants of the most high God.
1. By creation. Formed by His grace.
2. By purchase. Through His Son’s blood (Isaiah 43:21; 1 Corinthians 6:20).
3. By dedication. As the result of their own con secration (Psalms 116:16).
II. Their duty.—To proclaim unto men the way of salvation as:
1. Divinely provided.
2. Clearly revealed in Scripture.
3. Humanly easy. By faith instead of works (Romans 3:28). Positively certain. “He that believeth shall be saved” (John 6:47); Absolutely exclusive—in fact, as the only way (Acts 4:12).
Acts 16:18. Satan’s Devices.
I. We are told here that as they went to prayer—probably in the same place by the river-side where they originally met—a young woman, a female slave, possessed by an evil spirit, who brought her master much gain by fortune-telling, met them, and cried after them continually. It appears by this that the power which evil spirits were permitted at that time to exert over men was not confined to the land of Judæa, but was known in other countries also. It shows us the power of the devil directly in connection with the idolatry of the ancient world, that he was working in this way, and in others, to keep mankind in bondage, at a distance from the living God.
II. We are told in the next place after what way this woman, under the influence of the evil spirit, acted towards the preachers of the gospel—“The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation.” It was not, we may be sure, with any friendly object that such a declaration was made. The very appearing in this way to praise its preachers might be in itself a means of drawing them into disrepute.
III. We have related to us finally in the text the way in which St. Paul dealt with this interference to which he was exposed. He bore with it for a considerable time—“This did she many days.”
And now, what lessons may we learn for ourselves from this history?
1. It teaches us, in the first place, to recognise the power of Satan as working in the various false religions and forms of error which are prevalent in the world. But Satan’s power in supporting false religion has been exerted not only in heathenism, but in the corruptions of Christianity. When the apostle Paul (2 Thessalonians 2) is foretelling the coming of the man of sin, he describes him (Acts 16:9) as one “whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders.”
2. We learn also, from what has come before us to-day, a device which Satan, through his agents, sometimes employs for the hindrance of the gospel, and that is, leading them outwardly to join with it. Men would have said, “There is one of Paul’s converts,” and they would have classed all together as one band of fanatics and hypocrites. But that was not one of Paul’s converts at all. That was a distinct work of Satan, stirred up to do him injury. The one is never to be confounded with the other.
3. There is one other lesson which we are to learn, and it is a most happy one, from the way in which St. Paul is described as expelling this evil spirit in the text, saying, “I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.” We learn this from it, that the name and power of our Lord Jesus Christ is the one force by which the power of the devil is to be overcome. It is said (Revelation 12) concerning the contest which Christians carry on against him—“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.” There is no plea but that even to the very last; but that is all-sufficient. Again, to meet the temptations of the devil, when he would lead us into sin, the name of Jesus Christ is the effectual defence.—M. F. Day.