Jesus I Know & Paul I Know, But Who Are You?

Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.”

Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”

Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds.

Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.

So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

Acts 19:11-20

Paul don’t even need to lift a finger. His handkerchief alone touching the sick would be sufficient to heal them. That’s the power of righteousness.

But the exorcists (in our context, refers to modern day false preachers and prophets) who tried catching a free ride by using the names of Jesus and Paul, were instead laughed at by the demons. Jesus, I know Paul I know. But who are you?

But the drama didn’t stop there. These exorcists came to drive away demons in Jesus name, but instead they were seen to have been striped naked, wounded and subsequently driven away by the demons.

And further we read that those who practiced false healing, heard of what happened and they came to surrender all their false teachings’ books and peripherals to be destroyed.

The value of all their things being burned is said to be worth 50,000 silver shekels. In today’s currency, 50,000 shekels would have been valued in the region of US$117,000.00. This is as good as burning up two brand new Mercedes Benz.

That was how serious the drama gotten after the preachers were told, who are they. These false preachers and prophets not only misused the name of Jesus for their own benefit but they are also inherently powerless against the demons. They don’t have power over the devil, they don’t have power over evil spirits and they probably do not even have power over their own sins.