Hello and welcome to the Women’s Weekly Bible Challenge! I’m
Lisa Ann Spencer.
Last week we ended our study with Lydia, the first European
Christian convert. Today we begin our study, When the Holy Spirit Speaks to
Women, in Acts chapter 16 in
Philippi, the chief city of Macedonia.
A CERTAIN DAMSEL
Acts 16:16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a
certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought
her masters much gain by soothsaying: 17 the same
followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most
high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. 18 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.
The Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, does not address the damsel; instead, He speaks to the
spirit, WHICH IS A “HE” BECAUSE these SPIRITS ARE associated with devils or
fallen angels which in the Scriptures ARE ALWAYS MALE.
We assume that the spirit was controlling the damsel, but we
must not imagine that it was against her will. We might inquire how it is
possible for a spirit to lead anyone. A
spirit in Scripture is not only associated with devils, but with the words that a person hears and
speaks. The way a spirit influences a person is through the words that they
hear and believe.
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing:
the words that I speak unto
you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Galatians 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye
the Spirit by the
works of the law, or by the hearing
of faith?
The damsel who had
the spirit of divination is not mentioned again, so we are left to wonder what
became of her after she was loosed from this evil spirit, but also from the
persons who were masters. And consider
that we are not told whether her masters were male or female, for they could
have been either.
ACTS CHAPTER 17 –
TRULY HONORABLE WOMEN
Last week we saw how Paul was opposed by so-called “honourable women”
of Antioch during his first APOSTOLIC journey (Acts 13:50). Now we will consider many “chief women” of
Thessalonica, and truly “honourable women” of the city of Berea (Acts 17:12).
Click here to read Acts 17:1-4
Paul and Silas visited “a synagogue of the Jews” for 3
weeks. When speaking to Jews, Paul
always began by preaching that Jesus Christ was the Messiah that was promised
to Israel, and that He suffered death and rose from the dead, all according to
the Old Testament prophecies.
Acts 17:4 And some of them believed, and consorted with
Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief
women not a few.
As usual, the unbelieving Jews, moved with ENVY, caused
uproar against Paul and Silas. The
brethren, those who had believed Paul’s gospel, sent them away by night to the
city of Berea. Paul again goes into a
synagogue of the Jews.
Click here to READ ACTS 17:10-12
The Bereans took the time to compare what Paul taught about
Christ to the Old Testament prophets. Because of this, many believed!
Acts
17:12 Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.
📓 NOTE: We can pause here
to read Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians and understand that Paul is writing
to these chief
Greek women as well as the men.
It helps us to understand that we can apply what we read in the letters
to the Thessalonians to ourselves as women.
Once again, the unbelieving Jews in Thessaloniki heard that
Paul was preaching in Berea and stirred up the people against Paul, so the
brethren sent them away.
ATHENS, GREECE – A
woman named Damaris
Paul travels to Athens Greece where he delivers his famous
speech on Mars Hill. You can read his
speech in Acts 17:16-31.
In the following verses, Acts 17:32-34,
we see a woman who heard the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul, and she
believed. Scripture has recorded her
name, Damaris, for all eternity.
CORINTH – Aquila and
Priscilla
BACKGROUND:
The next woman we encounter in the book of Acts is Priscilla,
the wife of Aquila. Both Aquila and Paul were new to the city of Corinth, and
both were tentmakers, so Paul lived with them.
Paul reasoned in the synagogue at Corinth and persuaded both Jews and
Greeks that Jesus is the Messiah. The
unbelieving Jews blasphemed. (We have previously learned that blasphemed means they resisted, contradicted and
spoke against the Holy Spirit’s message that Jesus revealed to Paul.)
It is here where God makes his SECOND DECLARATION, through
the Apostle Paul, that He is turning to the Gentiles. REMEMBER THAT IT IS THE
HOLY SPIRIT SPEAKING THROUGH PAUL!
Acts 18:6 And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed,
he shook his raiment,
and said unto them, Your blood be upon
your own heads; I am clean:
from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.
Paul leaves off teaching in the synagogue and begins
teaching in a house that shared a wall with the synagogue. This is a little funny
and very informative because it gives us the physical context for the sign gift
of TONGUES operating in the Corinthian church.
The sign of tongues was plainly stated to be for unbelieving Israel.
1 Corinthians 14:22 Wherefore tongues are for
a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe
not:
What was spoken for the unbelieving Jews through the gift of
TONGUES could be heard by those in the synagogue through the shared wall!
Paul continues to teach in Corinth for a year and 6 months
(Acts 18:11), and yet a while longer (Acts 18:18). Then Paul sailed back to his home-base in
Syria, Priscilla and Aquila sailed
with him. They stopped in Ephesus where Aquila and Priscilla remained. Having been with Paul daily, learning the
doctrine that he was teaching, they were both grounded in sound doctrine. It is my personal belief that Paul
purposefully left them there to establish a church as this is the first time
the city is mentioned.
It is very interesting to note that PRISCILLA is mentioned 6 times
in Scripture, never without her husband, and always given equal recognition. Of the 6 mentions in Scripture, she is mentioned
last 3 times, and first 3 times:
- · Acts 18:2 Aquila and Priscilla
- · Acts 18:18 Priscilla and Aquila
- · Acts 18:26 Aquila and Priscilla
- · Romans 16:3 Priscilla and Aquila
- · 1 Corinthians 16:19 Aquila and Priscilla
- · 2 Timothy 4:19 Prisca and Aquila
Together, Aquila and Priscilla took Apollos unto them (we
assume, into their home) and expounded unto him THE WAY of God more perfectly (more
completely; they brought him up-to-date).
The Scripture could have said that Aquila took Apollos and corrected him, but the Bible says that the
husband and wife team both took him and taught him correct doctrine.
CONCLUSION
The Holy Spirit, through Paul, spoke to many women,
including the chief women of Thesoloniki and the honorable Greek women of
Berea. The Holy Spirit, speaking through
the Apostle Paul, taught Priscilla and Aquila sound doctrine, by which word
they were able to perfect Apollos.
It encourages me, as a woman and a wife, that these women have been
preserved in God’s word forever. It is
God’s will that all men be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth (1Timothy 2:3-4). You and I can be about
God’s business, because just like Priscilla, we are equipped with the sound
doctrine of the word of God, which thoroughly furnishes us unto all good works.
I hope you’ll join me in our next lesson as we continue our study, When the Holy Spirit Speaks to Women, Part 8.
The material covered in this blog can be viewed here:
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