Elephant in the Room — The Lies in Our Culture - Monday
Today’s Verse
Acts 19:13
Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” (ESV)
Have you ever lost a fight?
If you know me at all, you know I’m not quick to spar—not physically, not verbally. But I do have a lot of experience playing (and losing) games. I come from a family of somewhat competitive card game players; someone even got my dad a shirt that says, “I don’t play games, I win games.” And it’s true. I don’t know what sort of hidden card he has up his sleeve, but even in games of pure chance, he wins. Frequently. And on days like Labor Day, when the Newland side gets together, people start smack-talking about who is going to win, because everyone knows they can, but only one will. And inevitably, the night goes long because everyone wants to prove that they were right, that they can win.
On Sunday, Scott told a story from Scripture that had much higher stakes than a game of Nertz. And in the end, the loser walked away with a bit more (or less?) than injured pride. These men literally fled the scene naked and wounded. Now that’s rough.
In Acts 19:11-20, a group of seven Jewish exorcists faced an evil spirit saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” I’m sure they expected the evil spirit to scream in fear and leave, but the response was quite the opposite. Notice the words they used, “the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Not “Jesus whom we proclaim” or “Jesus whom we know as Lord” or even “Jesus the Messiah”. No, they clearly didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus; they just saw Paul causing a lot of commotion in the name of Jesus and thought they’d try it out for themselves. Their stance was weak, and their relationship with Jesus started and ended with a name. The evil spirit responded, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?”
Uh, oh.
“And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”
See, these seven men made one massive mistake: they tried to use Jesus by proxy as some sort of good luck charm. They knew of Jesus, and they thought that was good enough.
Folks, King Jesus will not be used like a good luck charm. He doesn’t play games like that. He wants your heart, not just to be another word in your vocabulary.
APPLICATION
Your relationship with Jesus isn’t something someone else can have for you. Do you know Jesus?
The redemption of this story comes in verses 17-20, where the residents of Ephesus extolled the name of the Lord Jesus, confessing their sins and “divulging their practices” (that is, leaving behind the parts of their lives that preached another faith).
What is standing in your way of a personal relationship with Jesus? We’d love to talk with you.
PRAYER
Lord, help me to follow You with my whole heart, and not simply with my mouth. Teach me to love as You love that others may come to know You.
