ACTS 16:16-32

THE SLAVE GIRL'S

FREEDOM AND THE
PHILIPPIAN JAILER
Presented by Group II
OUTLINE OF
Story
Characters

TOPIC Story Summary

Lesson of the story
Links/References used
THE STORY:

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. 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.” 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.
THE STORY:

When her owners realized that their hope of making

money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and
dragged them into the marketplace to face the
authorities. They brought them before the magistrates
and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our
city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for
us Romans to accept or practice.”
THE STORY:

The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas,

and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and
beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged,
they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was
commanded to guard them carefully. When he received
these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened
their feet in the stocks.
THE STORY:

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and

singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were
listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent
earthquake that the foundations of the prison were
shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and
everyone’s chains came loose.
THE STORY:

The jailer woke up, and when he saw the

prison doors open, he drew his sword and
was about to kill himself because he thought
the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted,
“Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
THE STORY:

The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell

trembling before Paul and Silas. He then
brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must
I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in
the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you
and your household.”
Characters in the Story

PHILIPPIAN
PAUL SILAS SLAVE GIRL JAILER
Paul the Apostle, commonly
He was a leading The girl A guard guarding
known as Saint Paul and also
known by his Jewish name Saul member of the Early possessed by an them who changed
of Tarsus was an apostle who
taught the gospel of Christ to Christian community evil spririt that his point of view
the first-century world. He is who have about salvation and
generally considered one of the enables her to
most important figures of accompanied Paul was baptized by
the Apostolic Age and in the prophesy. She
mid-30s to the mid-50s AD he
the Apostle on Paul and Silas in the
founded several churches parts of his first and
was later on set prison.
in Asia Minor and Europe. He
took advantage of his status as second missionary free through Paul
both a Jew and a Roman
journeys and Silas.
citizen to minister to both
Jewish and Roman audiences.
STORY SUMMARY:

Paul and his companions were

probably going back to the riverside
where people met for prayer when
they were aproached and followed
by a slave girl.
STORY SUMMARY:

She was possessed by a demon who gave her the

power to know and tell things that by her own
senses and experiences she would not know. Her
masters (those who had purchased her and
owned her) were able to turn this supernatural
“gift” to profit.
STORY SUMMARY:

In the scriptures, this was strictly forbidden. Leviticus 19:31,

“Turn ye not unto them that have familiar spirits, nor unto the
wizards; seek them not out, to be defiled by them: I am
Jehovah your God.” Deuteronomy 18:10-11, “There shall not be
found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter
to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an
observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer,
or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a
necromancer.”
STORY SUMMARY:

“The girl cried, "These men are the servants of

the most high God, which shew unto us the way
of salvation. 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.”
STORY SUMMARY:

Because she could no longer make money for them, her

masters became angry at Paul, accused him with false
charges, and had him beaten and cast into prison. I
encourage you to read this entire chapter. We learn
that Paul and Silas were cast into a dungeon with their
legs in irons. In spite of that terrible treatment, we
read in verse 25, “And at midnight Paul and Silas
prayed, and sang praises unto God:
STORY SUMMARY:

And the prisoners heard them.” All of a sudden

there was an earthquake. The prison doors flew
open and the stocks on their feet came undone. It
was then that the jailer became desperate,
thinking all the prisoners had escaped. As he
raised his sword to kill himself, Paul stopped him
STORY SUMMARY:

“But Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.” The jailer was
overwhelmed by this, realizing his life had been spared. He
had seen something different in these men, and now they had
resisted the urge to flee from prison. In verse 30, he asked
them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul’s answer was
rather short, but powerful. As I said at the beginning, the
verse that the Lord used to lead me to Himself is found
here. Acts 16:31 tells us, “And they said, Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
LESSON OF THE STORY:

We too, were slaves of our own struggles, problems

and/or desires. To be free from it, we must have
faith. It is simple faith and work in the Lord Jesus
Christ that brings salvation to all who will believe.
LINKS/ http://answersfromthebook.net/can-you-please-
explain-the-meaning-of-acts-1616/
REFERENCES https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?

USED search=Acts+16%3A16-31&version=NIV
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_16