Thursday, September 17, 2009

The Demons Laugh


This is the week of Evil Spirits and Demons! No I am not possessed by demons and no I did not see one under the bed. However, I have had several conversations this week with different guys about the topic of being demon possessed and the influence of evil spirits in the lives of Believers. Can a born again Christian be demon possessed or just assaulted by demons? What do you do if you know someone who is being tormented by demons? Do exorcisms really work? etc. About the same time I was having these conversations I was reading Acts 19 and I came across the following passage:

Acts 19: 13 - 16 13Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." 14Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15(One day) the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" 16Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.


Wow, how embarrassing for these guys. Not only do they get a smack down but they had to run out of the house and down the street naked! But the thing that struck me was not that they got beat up or that they had to run down the street naked, what struck me was what the evil spirit said to them - "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Who are you?! Not only did he physically abuse them but he insulted them as well. He humiliated them. These guys did not even register on the evil spirit's radar. He did not say it with a sense of fear of these guys, the evil spirit was not trembling as he said it. In my mind it reminds me of a scene from a movie where the high school geek wants to ask the prom queen out and the football stud laughs at him. You want to ask her out, HA!

As I read this I thought what would an evil spirit say to me. If I walked into a room where someone was possessed by an evil spirit what would he say? Jesus I know and I know about Paul but who are you?; the same thing he said to these seven sons or would he say Jesus I know, and I know about Paul and your name keeps coming up again and again as someone we need to keep an eye on! Is my commitment to getting the Gospel out so intense, such a priority in my life that even the demons know who I am or is my attitude towards the Gospel so lacking that all they do is laugh at me. Maybe this week can be your Demon Week, the week when you decide to make the demons take notice of what you are doing to get the Gospel to the ends of the Earth or maybe just down the street.

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