God's Dominion

Acts 16:19-21 When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

THE slave girl no longer (v.16) had a spirit by which she predicted the future. Paul and Silas have cast an evil spirit from her. Her furious owners lost a lucrative income. But the slave owners do not attack the evangelists for their financial lost. Instead, they charge that Paul and Silas were advocating customs unlawful for us Romans. In other words, the slave owners attacked God’s gospel that proclaimed Jesus’ dominion – his lordship – over all.
   History tells us the Romans were very jealous about their gods. Roman citizens rejected new religions, which included the segment of faithful Jews, who obeyed the LORD God’s laws. At one point some Jews were banished from Rome.
   The accusers attack on the Jews quickly stirred the crowd and the authorities against Paul and Silas.
 
Acts 16:22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23a After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison.
 
How violently the people reacted! We’ll see this kind of evil passion against Paul again. For many days he had been speaking the gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God. A new church was formed in Lydia’s house. No one seemed to notice until Paul’s public display of Jesus’ dominion over evil spirits. The people of Philippi did not fear God’s power to drive out the demon. They only saw a threat to their pagan culture. Psalms 36:1 An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. 2 For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.
   This the condition of the sinful heat. It desires to have dominion over God’s goodness. Satan wants us to hold tightly to a culture that worships him.
   But Jesus has come to break evil’s grasp and to establish his reign throughout the world. The LORD prepared the Jews for this: Daniel 7:14 The Son of Man was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
   This is the truth the unbelieving world labels Unlawful. All Christians know Jesus’ dominion is everlasting. Many in Philippi are about to learn Jesus’ proclamation of dominion, “The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all.” (John 3:31)