Acts 16:18 But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the Name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.
Paul and his ministry team were preaching the Gospel in Philippi. Lydia offered her home to them for their ministry and they took her up on her hospitality. The hospitality of this woman resulted in the first Church in all of Europe and was their home base while they traveled around the city preaching and teaching the Gospel of Christ.
A demon-possessed slave girl came into their midst and the demon within her kept interrupting their Preaching by repeating These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation. (Acts 16:17) While the demon’s message was true, the fact that he kept repeating it over and over led Paul to understand that it was not the girl speaking but the demon who had possessed her.
After days of this continuing, Paul got annoyed and spoke directly to the demon. He DID NOT speak to the girl. He spoke to the demon inside the girl. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the Name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. (Acts 16:18)
We are not told why Paul allowed the demon to speak for so long but obviously, he said nothing until the Holy Spirit instructed him to do so. Paul did not instruct the girl to leave their meeting or get angry with her. He was not dealing with the girl. It was not the girl causing the problem.
Rather, Paul spoke directly to the demon and commanded him to out of the girl in the Name of Jesus Christ. Paul had compassion on the young girl. She had been possessed by this demonic spirit and was being used by men to make money. Paul handled this situation exactly as he should have and the Holy Spirit has included this in the Canon of Scripture as an example for us.
There are many demon-possessed people in Church today. Some of them make themselves known like the slave girl did, while others sit quietly waiting to attack someone else. When we become aware of a demon spirit ministering to someone, it is our responsibility to cast that demon out.
It is no different than praying for Healing over a person. When a sick person comes to Church, we have compassion on them and pray for their Healing. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the Elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, Anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. (James 5:14)
However, when a demon-possessed person comes into Church, in most cases they are immediately asked to leave. If (and that is a BIG IF) the person comes seeking help, the Church is mandated to respond by casting out the demon and setting that person free. This is the responsibility of the Church.
With this said, when was the last time you saw a demon cast out of someone in your Church? If the Church responded to demons as the Bible instructs us to, we would live in a much better world today. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My Name they will cast out demons; (Mark 16:16) He also said Behold I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm you. (Luke 10:19)
The Power in the Name of Jesus will…...….turn the tide……….in this world.
In the Name of Jesus Christ! Doreen
www.bettsministries.org
