PROCLAMATION
“And
God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul … Then certain of the
vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil
spirits the name of The Lord Jesus, saying, ‘We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul
preacheth.’ And there were seven sons of
one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, ‘Jesus
I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?’ Then the man in whom the
evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them,
so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.” Acts
19:11-16 (NIV)
EXPLANATION
These
are the acts of the apostles of Jesus, The Christ, as written by Luke, the
physician, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God. Here Luke
records that while Paul was in Ephesus, he met twelve disciples of John, the
baptizer, and baptized them in the name of The Lord Jesus. He laid his hands of them and they received
The Holy Spirit. (Acts 19:1-7) The Lord God did extraordinary
miracles through Paul. Even the handkerchiefs that he had touched
cured the sick. (Acts 19:11-12) Seven Jewish exorcists tried to copy
Paul and invoke the name of The Lord Jesus to call out the evil spirits from
demon-possessed individuals. However, the evil spirit turned on
them, and beat them severely. This became known all throughout
Ephesus and the name of The Lord Jesus feared and held in high
honor. (Acts 19:11-20) About the same
time a silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines for the goddess
Diana, caused a riot when he told the people of Ephesus that Paul had
discredited their goddess Diana by turning the people to Christ. (Acts
19:23-29) Only after the town clerk
spoke did the angry crowd quiet down. (Acts 19:30-41)
APPLICATION
If
you do not know Jesus, The Christ, or The Lord God, it is not wise to call on
His name. If you are non-believer, you should only call on Him to
confess your sins and to ask Him to come into your life as your personal savior. Otherwise,
you probably should not call upon his name. The Lord God is not to
be played with. Unfortunately, today many people who do not have a
relationship with Him use His name in their casual conversation and in profanity. We
are not to use the name of The Lord God in vain. (Exodus 20:7) If
you are not going to reverence Him, or ask Him for salvation, then you should
not talk about Him, or try to invoke His powers. These seven men
learned that the hard way.
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