WHO ARE YE?

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

And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul (See Acts 19:1). These miracles were used by God to confirm the New Testament preaching of the apostle Paul, who taught His inspired message of eternal salvation made available through His Son, Jesus Christ - the promised Messiah of Old Testament prophecy. It is evident that many people that witnessed these special miracles,whichGod wrought by the hands of Paul, desired these powers for their own personal gain. These people were vagabond Jews that traveled about claiming to have the miraculous power of casting out evil spirits from those that were demon possessed. They claimed to be exorcists, and they coveted the powers demonstrated by the apostle Paul.

Although the subject of demon possession has been, and will continue to be, debated by bible scholars, I understand it to have been specifically allowed by God in order to confirm His power over Satan, and establish His New Testament doctrine, until the Holy Spirit writers recorded it and made it available to all people of the earth. It is specifically referred to in the years of Christ's ministry on earth, as well as during the early years of New Testament Christianity. The casting out of satanic devils was demonstrated by Christ (See Matt. 4:24, 8:28-34). Some consider these incidents to refer to mental illness. Many diseases and maladies were often said to be caused by Satan possession (See Matt. 12:22 & Luke 13:10-17). However, Matthew 4:24, Mark 1:32, Luke 6:17-18, and Acts 16:18 seem to make a distinction to those that were demon possessed and those having sicknesses and diseases.

Nevertheless, when these vagabond Jews, who practiced exorcism, witnessed God's miracles performed by the Holy Spirit-inspired apostle, they took note of the words used by Paul to cast out demons. And, in order to give their practice of exorcism more credibility and authority, they began using the same words as Paul in their own incantations, saying, We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth. The fact that they sought other ways to practice exorcism practically assures us that these Jews were deceivers that, under false pretense, practiced witchcraft and other forms of sorcery to defraud others for personal gain. Here, they chose the tried and proven practice that Paul used to cast out demons and cure diseases, by attempting to do so in the name of Jesus.

Among these vagabond Jews ...were the seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, who practiced exorcism using these forms of "black magic." And, when they attempted to imitate Paul's God-given power of performing miracles, the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? What a great affirmation of the power of God, which was used to confirm the gospel message of Christ, that Paul preached in their presence. These vagabond Jews neither believed nor attempted to confirm Jesus Christ as the Son of God, yet they attempted to perform miracles in His name. This, in itself, assures us that the spiritual benefits and blessings God offers to all people of the world can only be gained by believing in Christ and being baptized into His body, the church of Christ. It is only those that have submitted themselves to God that have the assurance that if they resist the devil, ...he will flee from you (James 4:7).

Notice what happened to these false practitioners that pretended to have the ability to perform miracles in the name of Jesus, in whom they did not know or believe. As they attempted to cast out these Satanic demons, 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 result from this incident was that 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. And many that believed came, and confessed, and showed their deeds. 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. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed (Verses 16-20 following the lesson text). The question is: Who are ye?