May the mumbling commence!
The power of Jesus’ name is NOT the power of magic or sorcery. To heal people and cast out demons is NOT a matter of saying the right words or holding your body in just the right position. The power of Jesus’ name has nothing in common with deceptions and lies.
The power of Jesus’ name is about the power of truth and the power of relationship. Both truth and relationship take time to develop and fully understand. Indeed, we will never fully understand the truth that Christ represents until we pass onto the next world. These are hard lessons. They are lessons that the seven sons of Sceva forgot or paid no attention to. Read from Acts chapter nineteen:
God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
Some 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." Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then 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.
When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. (Verses 11-20)
If we were to stop at the first sentence, we might wrongly conclude that the power of Paul was magical. It seemed too good to be true. Paul spoke and healed in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. There seemed to be nothing to it.
So the seven sons of Sceva used the name of both Jesus and Paul. Maybe these names were enough sometimes. The Scripture says one day an evil spirit challenged them, “I know Jesus and Paul, but who are you?!?” The seven sons of Sceva ran away from that evil spirit naked and bleeding – humiliated.
Anytime we strive to serve in the sake of Jesus’ name, we must be doing more than throwing around the name as if it were some lucky charm. To evoke Jesus’ name does not automatically condone all that is being done. Many things have been done in the name of Christ that were and are contrary to the spirit of Christ.
Let us spend time getting to know Jesus – develop that relationship with Christ and with our Christian brothers and sisters. That is how we will learn what it means to minister and serve in the name of Christ. If we can discover the will of Christ and we choose that will for our own, then we will see God bless our efforts beyond our wildest imaginings. It will not be a magic recipe. It will be truth living through us.
Just as the sorcerers of Paul’s day, let us confess our evil deeds. Let us jettison the mountains of books and multiple step processes that will cause revival. There is no quick fix or magical solution. Develop relationships with God and His people. It takes time, but the time spent is well worth it. In fact the worth of rightful relationships far outstrips the worth of all the making the church grow recipes that are out there.
Then we will know even as we are fully known.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
No comments:
Post a Comment