Does the Devil know you by name?
Does the Devil know you by name?
In this chapter 19, Paul spends about two years in Ephesus as base for reaching the rest of the then Asia province of the Roman Empire. Many events transpired during this period and notably are: 1. Paul meeting the 12 disciples who had not received the Holy Spirit. 2. Paul’s dedicated daily teaching at the school of Tyrannus; 3. Paul’s encounter with the local magicians and the resulting revival; and, 4. The great riot in Ephesus. It is a worthy observation to see a big change in society because of Christianity and its impact to the point that businesses that catered to idol worship closed. This is why there was the riot (please read it for yourself 19: 23-41). In focusing our study, we will try to answer two questions that are posed as a result of the recorded events. First, “Does one need a baptism of the Holy Spirit after one has believed”? The other question is “Does the devil know you by first name as he knew Jesus and Paul?
Let’s allow the text to speak to us as we answer these questions and make other observations.
Acts 19: 1-22
1While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when[a] you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." 3So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's baptism," they replied. 4Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." 5On hearing this, they were baptized into[b] the name of the Lord Jesus. 6When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues[c] and prophesied. 7There were about twelve men in all.
8Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. 11God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12so 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.
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.
17When 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. 18Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. 19A 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.[d] 20In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
21After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. "After I have been there," he said, "I must visit Rome also." 22He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.
Here are my observations in addition to the ones you may have (Read epistle to the Ephesians).
1. Something tells me that there must have been observations in behavior of the disciples that warranted Paul to ask them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” vs. 2. Paul would later record in Galatians 5:22 the fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control). The same can be asked of us today. When we are not exhibiting any of these fruit of the Spirit one could conclude that we lack the Spirit of God. We must not grieve and quench the Holy Spirit that is in us (Eph 4:30).
2. The disciples at Ephesus explained the kind of baptism they had received as that of John’s baptism. John himself talks about another baptism “But one more powerful than I will come, … He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Luke 3:16. That one is Jesus and Apostle Paul now tells the disciples, Jesus has come and has sent the Holy Spirit as He had promised. “On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus” vs.5. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the same as the “in-filling” (not a one time dose) of a person who has believed with the Spirit of Christ who died for us. See Ephesians 5:18-20 as Paul later writes to the same church at Ephesus. Are you giving thanks to God for everything? That is a good sign of His Spirit.
3. “When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, they spoke in tongues and prophesied” vs. 6. Does this mean that everyone who receives the Holy Spirit speaks in tongues as did the apostles in Acts 2:4,11 and Cornelius household in Acts 10:46? One thing we cannot deny is that they spoke in tongues as recorded. My take is that speaking in tongues and prophesying are outward evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit in these lives. These are not the only evidence. The Holy Spirit chose to confirm His presence by these manifestations since they were not initiated by the disciples who spoke. In all these cases there was immediate need for the outward confirmation. Do believers speak in tongues these days? Sure some do and I do but listen to Paul in 1 Cor. 14.
4. Notice the great miracles God did among the people. Even Paul’s “handkerchiefs and aprons” became instruments God used for healing and for driving out evil spirits. These are similar to Apostle Peter’s shadows being used to heal the sick in Acts 5:15. Is this now the practice for the church? Go for it if God tells you to. But do not make a religion out of it as some have abused it and are now selling “healing handkerchiefs” for money. Judge the fruit of these preachers.
5. Who said there is no comedy in the Bible? You have to laugh after seeing the sons of Sceva run naked. So “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” vs.15. If we have the Spirit of Christ, then the devil will know us as he recognized Paul. Do you have the Spirit of Christ that makes the devil run from you? Magic stops with Christ. Notice the books that were burned. These were people’s source of income. A new life in Christ will cause and bring outward change in our lives and even cause some to change their profession (for example, the red-light district).
Do you have the Spirit of Christ? Whether you speak in tongues or not, we are to show forth fruit. Has anything changed in you and around you because of the impact of the presence of Christ in you? We have been called “new creations” in Christ for a reason. Old things have passed away and all things have become new. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. Let’s live daily with this truth and exercise our authority in Christ as did the early Church. Amen.
In this chapter 19, Paul spends about two years in Ephesus as base for reaching the rest of the then Asia province of the Roman Empire. Many events transpired during this period and notably are: 1. Paul meeting the 12 disciples who had not received the Holy Spirit. 2. Paul’s dedicated daily teaching at the school of Tyrannus; 3. Paul’s encounter with the local magicians and the resulting revival; and, 4. The great riot in Ephesus. It is a worthy observation to see a big change in society because of Christianity and its impact to the point that businesses that catered to idol worship closed. This is why there was the riot (please read it for yourself 19: 23-41). In focusing our study, we will try to answer two questions that are posed as a result of the recorded events. First, “Does one need a baptism of the Holy Spirit after one has believed”? The other question is “Does the devil know you by first name as he knew Jesus and Paul?
Let’s allow the text to speak to us as we answer these questions and make other observations.
Acts 19: 1-22
1While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when[a] you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." 3So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's baptism," they replied. 4Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." 5On hearing this, they were baptized into[b] the name of the Lord Jesus. 6When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues[c] and prophesied. 7There were about twelve men in all.
8Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. 11God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12so 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.
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.
17When 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. 18Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. 19A 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.[d] 20In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
21After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. "After I have been there," he said, "I must visit Rome also." 22He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.
Here are my observations in addition to the ones you may have (Read epistle to the Ephesians).
1. Something tells me that there must have been observations in behavior of the disciples that warranted Paul to ask them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” vs. 2. Paul would later record in Galatians 5:22 the fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control). The same can be asked of us today. When we are not exhibiting any of these fruit of the Spirit one could conclude that we lack the Spirit of God. We must not grieve and quench the Holy Spirit that is in us (Eph 4:30).
2. The disciples at Ephesus explained the kind of baptism they had received as that of John’s baptism. John himself talks about another baptism “But one more powerful than I will come, … He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Luke 3:16. That one is Jesus and Apostle Paul now tells the disciples, Jesus has come and has sent the Holy Spirit as He had promised. “On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus” vs.5. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the same as the “in-filling” (not a one time dose) of a person who has believed with the Spirit of Christ who died for us. See Ephesians 5:18-20 as Paul later writes to the same church at Ephesus. Are you giving thanks to God for everything? That is a good sign of His Spirit.
3. “When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, they spoke in tongues and prophesied” vs. 6. Does this mean that everyone who receives the Holy Spirit speaks in tongues as did the apostles in Acts 2:4,11 and Cornelius household in Acts 10:46? One thing we cannot deny is that they spoke in tongues as recorded. My take is that speaking in tongues and prophesying are outward evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit in these lives. These are not the only evidence. The Holy Spirit chose to confirm His presence by these manifestations since they were not initiated by the disciples who spoke. In all these cases there was immediate need for the outward confirmation. Do believers speak in tongues these days? Sure some do and I do but listen to Paul in 1 Cor. 14.
4. Notice the great miracles God did among the people. Even Paul’s “handkerchiefs and aprons” became instruments God used for healing and for driving out evil spirits. These are similar to Apostle Peter’s shadows being used to heal the sick in Acts 5:15. Is this now the practice for the church? Go for it if God tells you to. But do not make a religion out of it as some have abused it and are now selling “healing handkerchiefs” for money. Judge the fruit of these preachers.
5. Who said there is no comedy in the Bible? You have to laugh after seeing the sons of Sceva run naked. So “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” vs.15. If we have the Spirit of Christ, then the devil will know us as he recognized Paul. Do you have the Spirit of Christ that makes the devil run from you? Magic stops with Christ. Notice the books that were burned. These were people’s source of income. A new life in Christ will cause and bring outward change in our lives and even cause some to change their profession (for example, the red-light district).
Do you have the Spirit of Christ? Whether you speak in tongues or not, we are to show forth fruit. Has anything changed in you and around you because of the impact of the presence of Christ in you? We have been called “new creations” in Christ for a reason. Old things have passed away and all things have become new. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. Let’s live daily with this truth and exercise our authority in Christ as did the early Church. Amen.
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