On our Own or With God?

Acts 19:11-20

English Standard Version (ESV)

¹¹ And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, ¹² so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. ¹³ Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” ¹⁴ Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. ¹⁵ But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” ¹⁶ And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷ And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. ¹⁸ Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. ¹⁹ And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰ So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2019:%2011%20-%2020&version=ESV)

Make no mistake, it was not Paul that was doing great wonders nor was it his body, it was the Lord Jesus Christ through Paul.  Verses 11 and 12 reminds me of the story where the lady just touched the hem of Jesus garment and was healed.  She had enough faith to believe that if she merely touched Him then He would do a great wonder in her body.  It was not the touching that healed but it was her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  The same had to be true in these verses.  It wasn’t the body of Paul that was healing, it was the faith that these people had that the Lord that Paul spoke of was the One that could heal.

However, some Jews thought it would be wise to cast demons out in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as Paul did.  The verses tell us they were Jews, not Jews of The Way, but Jews who had not repented of their sins and did no proclaim Jesus as Lord of their life.  They were Jews that wanted the best of both worlds.  They probably wanted some recognition like Paul had.  Instead, they got a big beating and a great surprise!

I found the response of the evil spirit to be very interesting.  He replied that he “knew” Jesus.  This is someone who he knew Him yet he rejected Him.  Even the evil spirits know Jesus.  As recorded in Isaiah 14 beginning in verse 12, Lucifer, the one who thought he could be ruler was cast out of heaven.  You wonder how in the world he and his followers could make this choice but it comes down to jealousy and wanting to be in control.  Ouch!  Jealousy can result in total destruction.  Wanting power at all cost can cost you your life.  It can result in living through someone else as the evil spirits did.  Have you ever thought of that?  Evil spirits have no place to go except to live through others.  There is more to just knowing Christ we must be totally committed to Him and accept His ways.  When we try to do it on our own then we are not trusting Him just as the evil spirits decided to do it on their own.  What is even more shocking is that they recognize those who do know the Father.  Wow, evil spirits have power, make no mistake about that!  They may not know us but they recognize that we represent our Father.  They recognize when we have the power through Jesus Christ to cast them out but they do not know us. 

As a result of these men who were foolishly trying to see what would happen if they did as Paul did was a great beating.  Because of this action many were cast into fear and because of their fear of God they believed upon Him and His power.  Many brought their evil practices and burnt them.  They recognized who they had been serving and chose to rid their lives of such things.  The Word spread faster because of the fear of God.  In our society today people try to paint God as a loving and forgiving God.  They try to ignore the fact that He is a just God and will rule against those who do not recognize His power.  There is not enough fear of God in the lives of the people today.  As a result people are living more and more for themselves and less and less for God. 

We should be striving each day to please God, not because it is works that saves us, but because we are a Child of God.  We should not be living a life for the money, prestige, or power but because we fear our God and want others to know of Him before destruction befalls them.  We have no power except that which God has placed within us and then it is not our power but His.

As you seek Him today recognize who He is.  He is the “I AM” the One who WAS and IS and IS to come.  When He comes, will He find you faithful or will He find you trying to do it on your own?

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila