"Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, 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? And 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 19:13-16
This man was not anointed of God because the spirit said "who are ye", meaning himself and not Jesus Christ. We need the anointing power of God in our lives and not to get so caught up in ourselves that we forget really who our maker is and who has full control.
We need to put God first in our lives that way when we go to our daily environment that when somebody looks at you they see Jesus and not you. We need to have the anointing to where when we can call on the name of Jesus at any time or place and there is power and its not just some name you heard but it is a name backed up with a supernatural power, the power of Jesus Christ.
Marshall McGee
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Chapter 19 is one of my favorite witnessing tools of baptismal doctrine, Paul asks 12 followers if they've received the Holy Ghost and to what baptism they were baptized. He instructs them to be RE-baptised in the name of JESUS! Titles obviously aren't enough. Then after the Jesus name baptisms the Holy Ghost falls on them all.
Next we see the awesome healings by handkerchiefs and/or aprons from the Lord through Paul. The seven sons of Sceva who were unable to perform an exorcism and failed to do so and the evil spirit leaped on them and overcame them after mentioning that it Knew Jesus and the apostles but not them.(there are volumes to consider about within this subject)
They had a great book burning which also got a lot of attention in those days which prompted untold numbers of people to come to the saving grace of our Lord. This great gospel that Paul was expounding on the people had caused loss of great income for a lot of the locals who tried stirred up a riot.
How powerful the name of Jesus! We follow his true doctrine that he gives us and it overflows within us, To God be the glory!!! As at Ephasus, we to do a cleansing of evil things from our homes, hearts, and minds and receive his awesome grace in forgiveness and adoption to become heirs of the Kingdom. praise God!
Steve Moon
