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"Friends Tell Friends about Jesus" Acts 16:16-32

by Clancy Nixon

Church of the Holy Spirit

Ashburn, Virginia

May 20, 2007

www.HolySpiritAnglican.org

Good morning, friends! Today is honor a friend Sunday. We honor friends today,

because the Bible tells us to give honor where honor is due. True friends show us the

love of God. This is my message today: "Friends Tell Friends about Jesus." Let's say

that together: "Friends Tell Friends about Jesus."

I love Jeff Milrod's story of his conversion. I paraphrase, but it goes something

like this. One evening, Jeff's old friend Tom Pokorni came to visit him with some good

news. Tom had become convinced that Jesus is the messiah; that Jesus had changed his

life; and that Jeff needed to know Jesus as his savior, too. Jeff is a Jew, and he had many

questions for Tom, and they talked all night long. By morning, Jeff had all his questions

answered, became convinced that the gospel is true, and so he received Jesus. Now

THAT is a friend one who will stay with you until you receive Jesus. Would that we all

had such friends. "Friends Tell Friends about Jesus."

What is a friend? C. S. Lewis says lovers look at each other face to face, being

absorbed in each other; while friends are side by side, absorbed in some common interest

or mission. Friends see the same truth, or care about the same truth. If you have no

interest other than making a friend, you will have a hard time making any. Friendship is

about something else besides just each other. That is why we make new friends

throughout our lives, as our interests change and our mission changes.

Let's look at today's appointed lesson from the book of Acts, the story of Paul

and Silas being thrown into prison, and their mighty deliverance by God. Open your

Bibles to Acts chapter 15, starting at verse 37, page 1095 of your blue pew Bibles. This is

the disagreement and split of Paul and Barnabas. Barnabas wanted to bring Mark along

on the next missionary trip, but Paul disagreed, because Mark had deserted them in

Pamphylia when the going got rough. Verse 39: "They had such a sharp disagreement

that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, and Paul chose

Silas...." Paul and Barnabas are friends and comrades, but they go their separate ways

over Mark. Barnabas name means encourager, and his patient mentoring of Mark pays

off, as Mark later becomes Peter's close companion, and Mark authors the gospel that we

read today. Paul is more task-focused than people-focused, so he chooses a proven leader

for the mission. Silas the friend Paul is looking for, since they are both looking at the

same mission the mission to the Gentiles more than the mission to each other.

Who is Silas? Look at Acts 15, verse 22. Silas is "a leader among the brethren,"

that is, in the Jerusalem church at the time of the Council. Silas was chosen to accompany

Paul to Antioch with the letter from the Jerusalem Council explaining the minimal

requirements for believers in Jesus who were not Jews. Like Paul, Silas was a Roman

citizen, which helped them a great deal when they were persecuted in this story. Verse

32: Silas was a prophet, who encouraged and strengthened the Gentile believers in

Antioch. C. Peter Wagner, famed missiologist, says that Paul and Silas worked well

together, partly because they did not have the same gift. Both Paul and Barnabas had the

gift of apostle see Acts 14:14 - but Silas was a prophet, not an apostle. Apostles want to

be in charge. Silas became Paul's friend as they worked side by side, clear about their

roles.

Verse 16: Once in Philippi, Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke were on their way to a

prayer meeting at the riverside. They met a slave girl who was possessed by a spirit of

divination or fortune-telling. The Greek text calls it a "Python Spirit." What was the

python spirit? That was the snake spirit that dwelt at the city of Delphi, place of the

temple to the God Apollo, and seat of the Delphic oracle. The priestess at the oracle was

a woman known as Pythia, because she was empowered by the Python Spirit. Apollo

inspired many pythonesses, his female devotees, with clairvoyance. Apollo was no god,

but in reality was a powerful demonic spirit of prophecy. This spirit could foretell the

future accurately because that same spirit controlled the area before Paul arrived there,

and could influence the future. (Wagner) These spirits are NOT your friends!

Now this spirit of python possessed this slave girl in Philippi. The girl had no

power to speak on her own; rather, the spirit took control of her body, and so the words

from the girl's mouth were not her own. The text tells us that the owners of the slave girl

made a bundle of money from the utterances that came from this girl. This could have

happened only if these utterances were mostly true. You can't expect a steady income

from guessing alone. The Python spirit said of Paul and his friends, "These men are

servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation." While this

statement was true, her manner of delivery verse 17, shouting it - and her repetition

dong this for days - tipped Paul off that this was a demonic spirit. Demons are deceivers,

and the deception here was to associate Paul with the demonic. Mark tells us, in the first

chapter of his gospel, of a similar spirit who tried to entice Jesus by saying, "I know who

you are the Holy One of God!" But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come

out of him!" James, brother of Jesus, says "Even the demons believe and tremble!"

(2:19)

In my own ministry, I have encountered many such spirits. Spirits not only

possess, meaning take over people's bodies and personalities. Much more often, spirits

oppress people without taking away their free will, and just harass them, making their

life more difficult or painful. While I have never been possessed by a spirit, I have been

delivered from multiple demonic oppressions that came through my family line, and

some others that I picked up by my own bad choices. Many times demonic oppression

can cause physical disease or harm. This is a fairly common occurrence. Many weeks, I

encounter some spirit or other.

In John 14 and 15, Jesus calls us friends. He has given his friends authority to do

his work. You and I have been given authority to deal with these spirits. Many of us have

not learned how to discern or deal with spirits. In Mark's version of the Great

Commission, we have been given authority to trample on snakes like the python spirit.

Most of us just miss them because we can't tell that they are there. If you suspect

demonic activity, use your God-given authority and just tell that thing to go away. Most

times, it will. If you aren't sure how to deal with it, ask someone who has gifts of

discernment of spirits and exorcism to confirm your discernment. With your friend

present, tell it to go away in Jesus name, to go to Jesus for him to deal with it. You can

call me. In deliverance, it's good to have two believers present. Not only do Friends Tell

Friends about Jesus; Friends help friends send demons packing!

One woman came to me a while ago with a medical problem with her back a

painfully deformed spine. When I prayed for her, I discerned a demonic oppression. In

the spirit, in my mind's eye if you will, I could see a small but hideous living spirit, a

demonic creature which was attached to her back at the painful place. Having discerned

it, I told her about it, and then told her we would tell it to go away. Using the name of

Jesus, I took authority over that thing, and told it to go away. I rebuked that thing till I

had peace that it was gone. This woman's back was freed from pain immediately, and

her spine has moved toward wholeness. Moreover, she also began to experience more

joy in her relationship with God. Episodes like this are fairly common. Friends tell

demons about Jesus, and the demons flee!

While many believers do not experience this kind of encounter with spirits, I

believe that this kind of encounter is what Christ intended for us to be the normal

Christian life. We know from the scriptures that we are in a spiritual battle with the

forces of darkness. We are about establishing God's kingdom, and pushing back the gates

of hell. We do that by telling friends about Jesus, and by telling the demons to go away in

Jesus' name, too. If you want to read a good "how to" book on this subject, I suggest

Francis MacNutt's book Deliverance from Evil Spirits.

Paul rebuked the Python Spirit, and it fled. The slave girl's owners were

incensed, since they just lost their cash cow. The girl could not foretell the future without

the Python spirit in her. So the owners have Paul and Silas dragged before a magistrate,

accused of causing a riot, and without a trial, they are beaten and thrown in prison. Put in

chains and stocks, they lie exhausted, bleeding, cramped, but notice what they do. They

don't complain, even though they had much to complain about. Where were Timothy

and Luke how had they escaped? That magistrate had no right to order a Roman citizen

beaten with a cane. Instead of cursing men, they praised God. They did not complain

verse 25- instead, they prayed and sang hymns! They were in a spiritual battle, and praise

is an effective weapon all its own. Devils hate praise to God.

God answered their prayers and praise with a miraculous earthquake that loosed

all the chains but did not damage the structure of the building. As the jailer was about to

kill himself because prisoners were freed on his watch, Paul intervenes. The jailer knew

whose prayers were responsible, and he asks Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved.

Of course, there is nothing the jailer can do to add to what Jesus Christ has already done.

They tell him, verse 31, to "Believe in the Lordship of Jesus, and you will be saved."

Notice that both Paul and Silas witness to the jailer. Friends help friends tell others about

Jesus. The jailer became their friend, washing their wounds and taking them into his

house for a meal. The jailer and his household believed in Jesus, and so were baptized

immediately. Friends tell friends about Jesus.

John Stott says that in Acts 15, we read of three conversions: Lydia, the seller of

purple cloth; the slave girl who was delivered; and the jailer. Lydia was likely a rich

merchant; the slave girl was at the very bottom of the social rung; and the jailer was

likely a middle class Roman, a retired soldier. These three were the foundation of the first

church in Europe, which was the church at Philippi. In those days, the head of a Jewish

household prayed every day a prayer of thanksgiving that God had not made him a

woman, a slave or a Gentile. In Acts 15, we see representatives of each of these three

despised categories redeemed and united in Christ. Lydia is a woman; the possessed girl

is a slave; and the jailer is a Gentile. Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28: "There is neither Jew

nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Jesus

desires to be a friend to every person, no matter their social class, sex, or ethnic group.

Tell a friend about Jesus today. Amen.