Acts 19:13

Acts 19:13 says, 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.  There were certain vagabond Jews who decided they world cast out demons in the name of Jesus. These were really Jews in name only who went around the country making money from telling fortunes and prophesying.  There are people today who are Christians in name only who attempt to use Christianity to make money.  For example, some people go to church because it is good for business or their image but have no real desire to follow God's will. These vagabond Jews took it upon themselves to call over those with evil spirits.  They were going to cast them out in the name of the Lord Jesus, Whom Paul preached.  They did not know Jesus as their personal Savior but only knew what Paul preached.  We may know everything that has ever been preached or taught about Jesus, but until we have a personal relationship with Him, we had better be careful about claiming to do anything in His name.  Verse fourteen adds, And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.  This states that there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jew and the chief of priests, who did this. Being the sons of the chief of priests did not keep them from trying to profit from their religion and attempting to discredit Paul.  Matthew Henry points out that if they could do what Paul did without believing it would show that there was nothing to be gained by following Christ.  I know I stated in an earlier post that there was no example in the Bible of there being a great struggle when an evil spirit was commanded to "come out in Jesus's name" and that is still true.  Doing anything in Jesus's name is more than throwing the phrase in as we are doing it.  For something to be done in Jesus's name means there has to be a personal relationship with Him, it must be His will for it to be done, and we must have faith in His ability to do it, and God must get the glory.  Verse fifteen continues, And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?  The evil spirit told them that "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?"  If we are going to attempt to do something in the name of Jesus, we had better be sure that we have accepted Him as our Savior and Lord and are empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Verse sixteen states, 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. Then, the man possessed of the evil spirit jumped on them and ran them out of the house naked and wounded.  If I see a movie or a book being promoted where a demon is overpowering a professed man of God, I know at least two things.  The first is that I am not going to watch or read it, because it is blasphemous.  The second is that the "man of God" is either has very little faith and is acting under his own power or has no faith at all.  When a Christian acts in God's name and under His power, there is no battle. The victory was won on the cross.  Verse seventeen adds, And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. People heard about this, both Jews and Greeks, or Gentiles, and a great fear fell on them, and they magnified the name of Jesus so some good came out of the situation. Verse eighteen continues, And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.  Many people believed and came and confessed their sins and showed their deeds. If we encounter Christ, we must believe and confess our sins, and then we can start doing good works for Him.  Our deeds should show our faith.  Verse nineteen concludes, Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.  Those who had books of curious arts brought them and burned them, and the price of them was fifty thousand pieces of silver.  This was a book burning that was costly to those who were burning them, but they willingly burned them.  We should get rid if anything that stands between God and us, no matter the material cost.