Acts 19:13-15
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?"

It is not unusual for me to get prayer requests from people who are not followers of Jesus Christ, simply because they know that I am a pastor. They will often preface their request for prayer with something like, “Hey…I know that you have a connection to the Big Guy upstairs…would you put in a good word for …” In essence, this is what these Jewish exorcists were doing. They did not know Jesus personally but they liked what they saw. You may have heard the saying, “You want your cake and eat it too.” It is our human nature to want to satisfy our flesh and have the best of Jesus at the same time. Of course we know that this is impossible. The apostle Paul said in 2 Cor 6:14, For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? Our flesh and the Lord will never mix! This is why it is such a glorious thing that through faith in what Jesus’ sacrificial death accomplished, our flesh has been crucified and we know God through knowing Jesus. We must be ever so thankful that we know Jesus…not intellectually though that is nice…but most importantly that we know Him in our hearts. The text in Acts goes on to tell us that this Jewish chief priest got himself in a heap of trouble presuming to throw out the name of Jesus without really knowing him. The tragic and yet somewhat humorous end to this story is found in Acts 19:16-17, Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them (the Jewish exorcists), overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. I am sure that many of the people watching this took note, “Make sure I never call on the name of the Lord…unless I am sure that I know who He is!” Thanks be to God that we not only know Jesus…but that we have immediate access to God through such intimate knowledge.

Father, thank you for this reminder in Scripture that when we call upon the name of Jesus…we are calling on someone whom we know. What a loving God you are to provide a way for us to know you. Thank you Jesus for the sacrifice you made that we might be able to call on your name…without ever going through anyone else. In Your name we pray…Amen!

Have an awesome week full of the knowledge of who Jesus is in your life and how much he loves you. May you have a constant smile on your face and a thankful heart as you picture these guys running off naked…all because they called on somebody they didn’t know.