Wannabe Exorcists

Acts 19:13

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.

Acts 19:15

And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know,  Paul I know; but who are ye?

In this rather hilarious account of a botched up "exorcism", we observe some serious truths that we see played out even today.

1) In the name of the Lord 

So apparently, these con-exorcists operated "in the name of the Lord Jesus", and even brought the apostle Paul's name into the picture! This clearly illustrates the fact that, merely invoking the name of the Lord does not make an act authorized! Over and over, we want to emphasize that "in the name of the Lord" simply means "with the authority of the Lord". This is exactly what Jesus was preaching about in Mat 7:21-23. Authority is not established by mere profession but by following exactly what God had commanded.

2) Even the devils knew Jesus and Paul

We are reminded of James 2:19

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

And among many passages in the gospel accounts, Luke 4:41 summarizes it all -

And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.

Wow...if even devils, the minions of Satan acknowledge and fear God and His Son and His authorised servants, what says of the men who deny and especially those who seemingly profess yet deny with their beliefs? 

The manifestations of devils and evils spirits no longer happen today, with the ceassation of miracles, yet the concepts remain applicable. Today, we can too be similarly overcome by "devils" (cf. V.16), of we do not have proper authority in what we do! And yes, it does not matter how loudly and sincerely we declare it to be "in the name of the Lord" but only that it is according to God's will.

On the other hand, we too can be recognized and be feared by Satan and his minions, just as Paul was when carry proper authority from God by following what He Wills. As James exhorted us in James 4:7 - Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

The Devil is powerless against us! Until we allow him to...

Let us not be as the wannabe exorcists, deceiving people and themselves, and getting their due punishment, but be true priests of the royal priesthood, feared by the devil, and accepted and pleasing unto God, that we might be fruitful in our Christian walk and finally receiving our reward in heaven.

Thou Art Mad?

Acts 12:15

And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel.

It is interesting to note that while the brethren were conscientious and fervent to even bother to gather to pray (v. 5, 12), that in spite of the fact that they lived in the miraculous age, that it was not any ordinary person but the apostle Peter who was imprisoned, that they were still caught in unbelief and denial.

Makes us think what exactly were they praying for!

What is even more incredulous was that they could even suggest a much less plausible explanation of Peter's "angel" appearing. Where did they even get that idea?

Observe what James wrote:

Jam 1:6 — Jam 1:8

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Paul expressed the same sentiment

1 Timothy 2:8

I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

Now quite obviously, we know that not everything we ask will be granted. Other than doubt, there are times we may ask amiss (Jam 4:3). But oftentimes, it is just because God knows better. Paul still had his "thorn in the flesh" (2Co 12:7-9). Even Jesus was not granted that "the cup pass from him" (Mat 26:38,39).

But to be surprised and even doubt that our prayers were answered reveals a state of immaturity. This mentality is similar to that of the apostles/disciples when they heard of Jesus' resurrection (cf. Luke 24:9-11). 

It remains for us to continually grow in our faith and ask in faith, i.e. according to His Will and with firm conviction, knowing that God hears, and God knows, and God cares that we will receive ultimate good from Him (1Pe 3:12).

Enter Not Into The Path of the Wicked

Proverbs 4:14-15

Enter not into the path of the wicked,

and go not in the way of evil men.

Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it,

and pass away.

And here we have the 4 step approach to keeping ourselves from the path of the wicked - aka sin.

1) Avoid it

As Paul puts it in 1Th 5:22 - Abstain. And from all APPEARANCE of evil. Yes, anything that looks like it, avoid. That is the first and most powerful way.

2) ok so what if it unavoidable? Do not get close. Circumvent it. Have u ever noticed we tend to drift toward something we have our attention on? Wherefore the key here is to keep our focus on the straight and narrow. If we can’t avoid, let us at least not go near. 

3) What if we still gravitate towards it? The next step is to turn away! Don’t let ourselves crash right into it. It is also from this stage that faithful brethren come in play by pushing us away, because at this stage, it becomes more apparent to others.

4) stage 4 is more of a follow up to a successful stage 3. Don’t just stop there when our backs are against evil - walk away! Get out! As Paul puts it “flee”! (2Ti 2:22) And reset ourselves to the pre stage one condition.

But know this - at every successive stage, it gets easier to progress but more difficult to pull away! Wherefore, it is so important for us to remain sensitive and vigilant that we keep ourselves in the stage 1 state, should temptation come our way. And the key to that? Constant, consistent, and concentrated study of the Word AND careful and concerted (I.e. taking the whole counsel, sparing no effort) application of IT to our lives. 

Let us all help one another and encourage and exhort one another to stay in the strait and narrow and to greater spiritual heights!

Kicking Against the Pricks

Acts 9:5 (KJV) 

And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

The proverbial expression used here - "to kick against the pricks" has reference to oxen kicking against the ox goad, the implement that a farmer uses to drive the oxen. The action which of course serves no practical purpose except rather only inflicting pain and injury to the ox itself. 

Which is exactly what Paul is doing to himself. Not physically of course, but if continued in his persecuting of the church, he will ultimately suffer eternal damantion along with other unbeliever

What is interesting is that why did Jesus not tell Paul directly but had to go through Ananias? (v. 6) 

We can understand this on 2 fronts - 

1) It was for Ananias' sake. We read of the hesitation of Ananias in view of Paul's notoriety in persecuting the church (v. 13, 14). This was to allow Ananias to first hand see for himself the power of God in conversion (c.f. V. 21,22). And he being a person of good report among the Jews (c.f. Acts 22:12), was an exellent candidate to subsequently vouch for Paul. 

2) This is the pattern that God established for preaching the gospel. We are all familiar with the Great Commission (Mat 28:18-20). Sometimes people will argue that Jesus was only addressing the apostles (Mat 28:16), yet forget in v.20 the instruction to "Teach(ing) them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you", and that we see this commandment playing out in the book of Acts, particularly v. 8:4. Paul reiterated God’s beautiful pattern of spreading the gospel in Romans 10:15 - 

And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

Thus it remains vitally important for us today to not "kick against the pricks" but to continually a abide by God's Word, which includes the spreading of the Gospel to the best of our personal capacity.

Him Shall Ye Hear

Acts 3:22

For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.

And this was the fulfilment of the prophecy made by Moses 1500 years ago as we read in Deut 18:15.

Not only Moses but indeed many of the prophets after him prophesied of Jesus (v.24). Jesus had earlier revealed to the apostles/disciples all the things written of Him in the Old Testament (Luke 24:27; 44). How could they have missed it? One word - prejudice. As the apostle Paul would later write of in 1 Corinthians 1:23 -

"But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;"

The Jews were expecting a heroic prophet king like David, who was able to deliver them from the clutches of Rome, as did Moses who led them out of Egypt, as did Hezekiah who defeated insurmountable odds overnight. Even His disciples were mistaken (Act 1:6).

Yet this was not to be, because Christ's Kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36).

And thanks be to God, for we can all be part of His Kingdom, regardless of our gender, race, nationality, social status. So long as we hear Him and render due obedience. Praise God for such a Prophet, Priest and King!

Power of the Word

Pro 3:19 — Pro 3:20

The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.

By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

The power of wisdom, understanding and knowledge comes from His Word!

As the Psalmist wrote

Psalms 33:6

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

Psalms 33:9

For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.

Psalms 147:15

He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.

Psalms 148:5

Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.

Also echoed by the NT writers -

2 Peter 3:5

For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

Hebrews 11:3

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Above all, it is the power of God (the gospel) unto salvation (Rom 1:16) and the very standard with which we will be judged (Jhn 12:48)

It remains for us to hold and uphold His Word that we might be found pleasing in His Sight and finally lay hold to that crown of life!