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Don't Get Beat Up

by Jerry Ousley  
7/24/2015 / Christian Living

When discussing demons there is one story that has always fascinated me. I think of it each and every time I teach on this subject. It's found in Acts 19:13-16. I'd like to read all four verses to you. It says, "Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, 'We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.' Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, 'Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?' Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded." Folks I know that this was a very serious matter, but it always tickles my funny bone.

So, here it was. It seems that some of the Jews, who had not believed in Christ, had witnessed Paul casting out demons by the authority of the name of Jesus. Apparently they had a group of people identified as "Itinerant Jewish Exorcists." If I understand it correctly, these guys traveled from place to place in attempt to rid people of evil spirits. When they saw Paul casting out demons successfully they thought to themselves, "Hmmm maybe he knows something we don't" (little did they realize), so they decided to do the same thing. They used the words "We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches." They had no idea that these were just words unless spoken by one who had given their life to Christ, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and used as an ambassador - a representative of Christ. It wasn't the words but the authority of the One behind them.

So here are seven brothers, sons of a man by the name of Sceva who was a Jewish priest. Apparently they were part of the "Itinerant Jewish Exorcists." They found a man who had an evil spirit and spoke the formula just as they had heard Paul do. I believe that they expected the evil spirit to just come out - But their plan back-fired big time. We are told that the demon actually spoke to them through the man saying in my own words, "I know who Jesus is and I know who Paul is, but guys I have no idea who you are!" He attacked them and that one single man (under the influence of the demon of course) sent all seven of Sceva's sons running for their lives hurt and stripped of their clothes. I wonder what all the townsfolk thought as these seven holy men came running out of the house into the street screaming and naked as a jay bird? We aren't told anymore about it than this but if I were a betting man I'd say they either went to Paul (after their egos had healed) and became Christians, or they resigned their positions as "Itinerant Jewish Exorcists" and went back home.

The point of this story is that as believers we have all power over the evil spirits roaming this world. Of course we need to be prepared. We need to study and know what the Bible says on this subject and understand what Jesus said about prayer and fasting, but the basic tool is found in each of us who have come to Christ and given ourselves to Him. That tool is none other than the Holy Spirit who lives in us. But if we haven't paid the price (the being prepared part) and if we don't know Jesus Christ, then we'd better leave those evil spirits alone.

I have never cast a demon out of a person so I have no authority to criticize those who claim that they have. I'm not even going down that road. But I do believe that relative to demon possession is the temptations of evil that each and every believer faces on a daily basis. Listen, nearly everything we do is affected in some way by the spirit world either good or evil. I don't believe that things happen to us by chance.

When some who don't know Christ are confronted with situations they have no idea what forces may be behind them and frankly may not even care, that is until they have no other resource and in that case many then turn to the Lord. If you are a Christian you have the most powerful force on earth living inside of you the Holy Spirit. You can resist evil temptations. You can reclaim any stronghold in your life that the devil seems to still be holding. It won't be an easy battle by any means and it may seem that victory is impossible. But stand firm and strong on the Rock Jesus Christ and there is no evil spirit anywhere that can stop you.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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