Spiritual Prison Pete Kersker - Sep 22, 2026 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days (Acts 16:11-12 NIV). Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke traveled to Philippi, in the region of Macedonia, led by the Spirit of God. The LORD wanted them to spread the good news: Jesus is the Christ. They would have gone to the local synagogue to meet, but the Jewish presence in this prominent Roman colony was so small that they could only find a few Israelite women at a "place of prayer." Lydia, as we saw last week, was one of them who believed, was baptized, and offered her home as a "home base" for their ministry. Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling (Acts 16:16 NIV). While ministering in the area, they encountered an imprisoned woman. She wasn't in a physical prison, although she was a slave. She was actually enslaved by the evil spirit that empowered her to predict the future. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved” (Acts 16:17 NIV). The same spirit that imprisoned this woman, however, recognized that Paul was showing people the way to be saved. Those in the spiritual realm have no doubt. Jesus is the Christ. That means that he died to provide salvation to all people. It also means that Jesus is King of all kings and Lord over all lords. Even the evil spirits recognize; whatever Jesus says, goes. She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her (Acts 16:18 NIV). Did you think that spirits are real? Did you know they realize that Jesus is the Christ? Why do you think some of them try to take people captive, even though they know Jesus is their Savior and King?