Thursday, April 5, 2018

The Only Worthy....


Cast out spirits and healed the sick.

Matt 8:16 When the even was come, they brought unto him (((JESUS))) many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick

Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and HEALED the child.

Luk 9:42  And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father. 

Paul commanded the spirit to come out, and that same hour he did.

Act 16:18  ...Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour

Cast out.
Rebuked.
Commanded in Jesus' name.

For those who know that someone is possessed by an evil spirit perhaps seeking to heal the person is the right course of action. Maybe 'rebuking' the unclean spirit, and 'commanding' the unclean spirit, is what we should do.  But I don’t have the gift of discerning unclean spirits if there is such a gift. Maybe the Holy Spirit reveals to all who need to know, I have to believe this will happen if God wills us to recognize unclean spirit possession.

When we suspect but can't confirm we have to have our reasons for suspecting don't we? There have to be hints of what we imagine possession to be like.

Perhaps fits of pure rage are being exhibited. What caused the rage? Is it inexplicable? Is it triggered by unmet desires of instant gratification? Or is it bizarre behavior of another sort being shown. Maybe there are several actions that cause us to believe something other than mental illness is going on.

Do we dare try to heal someone of demon possession if they aren't possess?

We have to remember this--

Act 19:13  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. 
Act 19:14  And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 
Act 19:15  And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 
Act 19:16  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. 
Act 19:17  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. 

The following if from a previous study we did--

Vagabond Jews- exorcists.  These men knew what Paul was doing and they- being exorcists wanted the same fame. They went to where there were those filled with evil spirits and this time they used the name of Jesus, the Jesus Paul preached hoping it would cause the evil spirits to leave.

Act 19:14  And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 

Act 19:15  And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 

The evil spirit ANSWERED. The evil spirit told them it knew Jesus and Paul, but not them.  The evil spirit knew that Jesus and Paul could rebuke it, that they had power, power given to them by the Father God. These men weren't known in that way, they weren't known to have the power of God, the Holy Spirit wasn't working in these men- not even the sons of the chief of the priests, Sceva.

Act 19:16  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. 

The man filled with the evil spirit attacked them and they ran out of the house naked and injured.  They had no power over the evil spirits, none. If they thought using Jesus' name or Paul's name would work for them they were very wrong. FAITH is the power. TRUE BELIEF is the power.  You cannot fake truth, you cannot fake belief. God knows our hearts and He knows our truth, we may fool others, but God cannot be fooled, not ever!

Act 19:17  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. 
Act 19:18  And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. 
Act 19:19  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. 
Act 19:20  So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. 

The evil spirits had power over even the sons of the chief of the priests of the Jews.  This knowledge made people realize the truth that Paul preached about Jesus. They believed, they confessed, they let their deeds be brought to light.  Not only that… MANY who used curious arts - EVIL- brought those books and burned them before everyone. They burned these books filled with evil knowledge at the price of fifty thousand pieces of silver!  Today that would be several MILLION dollars' worth of books! Several million dollars of evil knowledge destroyed by those who finally realized the evil it was as they turned their lives over to Christ, to follow Him, to love Him.

Truly the word of God is powerful!  The truth prevailed!

(End of previous study)

No one was surprised there were Jewish exorcists going about to work exorcisms, there was nothing strange about that. What was revealed was these particular exorcists had NO power to CALL OVER THE man possessed by the evil spirit using the name of the LORD JESUS. They said to the evil spirit-  'We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.'

Definition of adjure
adjured; adjuring
1 : to command solemnly under or as if under oath or penalty of a curse
2 : to urge or advise earnestly

From <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adjure>

They were commanding the evil spirit solemnly.  All they had to say is they were commanding that evil spirit and the evil spirit stopped them before they could say more.

Casting out demons is a serious thing! If someone tries to cast out evil spirits and they are not known by Jesus, then there is a chance they could be severely attacked.  No, not all false exorcists are attacked, Satan will allow what he will. If it suits him to allow an exorcism to take place falsely, he will allow it.

The point here is that it isn't something to take lightly.

May God help us as we discuss this more tomorrow, seriously contemplating how to go about performing an exorcism. 

Please, Heavenly Father, we pray to you and thank you in advance because we know you hear our prayers. Please, guide us, let us be wholly YOURS all through Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR now and forever!!!!!!!!  Forgive us because we are unworthy, the only worth we have is claiming Jesus Christ as the Only worthy!

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