Acts 19: 8 Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God. 9 But some became stubborn, rejecting his message and publicly speaking against the Way. So Paul left the synagogue and took the believers with him. Then he held daily discussions at the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for the next two years so that people throughout the province of Asia—both Jews and Greeks—heard the word of the Lord. 11 God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. 12 When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled.13 A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. 15 But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.
When God's power is unleashed, it really needs to be God-led and Spirit-guided. God was showing His power to heal, cast out demons, and as verse 11 says "perform unusual miracles." God's hand was so evident in Paul that handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were placed on sick people and they were healed of their diseases. In our modern-day world, we would have trouble with this kind of power being unleashed and doubt would surely come into play because it was too unusual. This did not stop God from doing great miracles through Paul, but the desire to have this power was too enticing for some.
The Jews who had been after Paul during his journeys decided they were going to try to match the power God was showing through Paul and get some notoriety themselves. The following verses tell what happened. Verse 13 A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!”14 Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this.15 But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?”16 Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.
They quickly found out that this power was not for everyone and specifically not for them and the result was being beaten and overthrown by the spirit and attacked. When it is the power of God that is seen, it means that God has a plan for it and His power is much more powerful than the devils. Paul's power came from the Lord, but the Jews were just trying to imitate what he was doing, thinking anyone could do the same. They found out quickly that this spiritual battle was nothing to be trifled with at all. When God moves we can't manipulate it to make it work for us. God releases His Spirit how and when He wants to and it is not for our glory, but His. The ones who tried to imitate what Paul was doing were the sons of a priest named Sceva and they quickly realized that demons don't just fall because we say some words or mention a name and those sons got beat up by the demon who did not recognize them as having power at all.
All of this was based on the Jews wanting to "beat" Paul for being religious when Paul was not religious at all, but he was full of the Holy Spirit and let the Spirit guide him. God honors our walk when we bow to the leading of His Holy Spirit and get ourselves out of the way. Our attitude should always be to honor God and not honor ourselves to get people to follow us. I was in a church where God was doing great work and some of the ministry I was leading seemed to be leading in that work of God. Right in the middle of all the growth in the ministry I was leading a guy came up to me and said, "Wow, you are the reason all of this growth is happening." A shudder came over my spirit and I quickly had to say "Oh this is only a move of God, not me." The conviction I felt by the Spirit to keep anything of me out of the mix was overpowering and I was glad. When God moves, God gets the glory, not us. The sons of Sceva apparently thought differently about who gets the credit and they got beat up by a demon because of it.
As believers, we realize that the leading of the Spirit of God is a must. Romans 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. Religious people have no power, but those who live in the Spirit, have the power of the Spirit, and live in the Spirit!
Then God, who gives us the power to live our lives, also equips us to see that power in the right frame of mind and for the right reason. Which means it is not for personal gain.
The Pilgrimage Continues.
David Warren
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