ESOCS Devotional 8 July 2025 – The Supremacy of Christ’s Authority
MEMORY VERSE: “And this did she, many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.” Acts 16:18 KJV
TEXT: ACTS 16:13-22
And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. 14 Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.
16 Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” 18 And this she did for many days.
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. 19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.
20 And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; 21 and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” 22 Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods.
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Even in contemporary times, there has never been a shortage of persons who, in the guise of Christian ministry workers, employed extraneous sources to perform magical arts, in the name of miraculous signs and wonders (Acts 8:9-12). In our text, there were certain wicked and false spiritual workers who employed the services of demon-possessed soothsayers. They made so much monetary gains through the divination of these false prophets. However, seeing the true servants of the Most High God, the evil spirit in their victim cried out. She declared the apostles as true ministers of the Lord, who go about with the message of salvation (Acts 8:4-8).
When the disturbance became unbearable, Paul, in a feat of anger commanded the evil spirit out of the enslaved girl. This infuriated the masters of the girl, and they levied false accusations against the true men of God. However, despite the undeserved treatment meted out to the apostles, the name of the Lord was promoted in that city. The difference between the supreme power of God and the false claims of sorcerers and magicians was established (see Daniel 3:24-25).
This write-up therefore serves as a call to all true and determined ministers to go all out, undeterred, to fish out and destroy the works of darkness going on in our nations, in order to establish the truth of the Gospel, as well as the true miracles of God, as distinct from false workers of iniquity (Mark 16:17-18).
CHALLENGES
- The early apostles and disciples were maltreated and humiliated. But did that stop them from declaring the truth?
PRAYER POINT
- Lord God of Israel, grant me your unfailing grace to continue against all odds.
FURTHER READING: Daniel 7:1-14; 7:15-27; Acts 16:1-12
ESOCS Devotional 8 July 2025
