"The Power
of Real Relationship"
MF Blume
April 13,
1997 pm
1Joh 3:8 He that committeth sin
is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose
the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Acts 19:11-20 And God wrought special
miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the
sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the
evil spirits went out of them. 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 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. 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. And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed 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.
When a child of God shouts praise, and he/she truly has a relationship with
God, fear rocks the hearts of the spirits of hell.
- Holy Ghost earthquakes crack
the devil's gates.
- The enemy knows that such
a child of God is threatening and they do not know what to expect!
A revival occurred in Ephesus
without Paul even leading it.
- Paul's name was mentioned,
he did not initiate the revival.
- Strange reason for this
revival
- 7 sons of a man named Sceva
saw Paul's works and felt they could perform them also.
- I get the hint that these
men were known to be religious.
- "The seven sons of Sceva"
- Felt their religious experience
was just as good as Paul's.
- Their's was a dead religion.
- Were they baptized?
- No.
- Were they filled with God's
Spirit?
- Evidently not.
- For "Greater is He (Holy
Ghost) that is in you than he in the world. "
They saw a man who was demon-possessed
and attempted to "exorcise" the devils out.
- God's people are not "exorcists"
- "Exorcists" did nothing
to help this man.
- The devils spoke out of
the person, using his vocal chords.
- They heard the sons refer
to Jesus and Paul.
- So it looks like these men
tried getting the benefits without having given their lives.
- Just continue in their religious
fame
Maybe they felt outdone by Paul,
so they proved they could do it, too.
- Though man knew of the Sons
of Sceva, obviously the devil was not impressed
"We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul
preacheth."
Jesus smashed
every plot the enemy devised.
Paul preached
Christ so fully and totally believed and totally gave himself to do God's
will
The devils thought...
- "Yes, Jesus is proper authority.
We recognize that. His name is feared throughout all the Kingdom of Hell."
- "Yes, Paul does preach Jesus.
We know Paul's name. Even when we had him beaten, in hopes of making him
stop, trying to get him to react to love for self more than love for Jesus,
in prison he worshipped! Paul preaches Jesus so much and so forcefully that
we shake with fear when he comes to town."
- Paul was genuine.
- He had the real thing!
We see that 7 boys had watched
Paul do his great work for God
- Others watched too, though
no one could see them
- The enemy.
- "But we do not know who
these 7 boys are. We are aware of no threats ever made by them. We see nothing
in them to be afraid of. We have no fear of these men."
- And the demons used the
man's body and tore upon the boys
- 7 men could not keep him
down.
- All 7 of them ran out of
the house naked and wounded.
When devils seen nothing to fear
in the seven sons,
- They then defeated these
men.
It says they were sons of Sceva.
- Why did it not say they were
"sons of God?"
- Obviously no real experience
with God.
- Fact was that Sceva stood
out more in their minds than did God.
The whole city of Ephesus heard
about this
- They heard what the devils
said and what supernatural strength the man used against the 7men.
- And the city realized something
which moved into a revival.
IT DOES MATTER HOW YOU LIVE!
When the populace heard that
7 men were thrown out by a single person who was possessed, and that person
was used by the devils to SAY that they knew JESUS and they knew PAUL, and
showed FEAR for these two NAMES, the people thought about what Paul preached.
- They recalled that Paul preached
to give your life to Jesus fully.
- They remembered that Paul
preached a message which a group of followers who were of the radical John
the Baptists' group accepted and were baptized in Jesus' name and were filled
with the Holy Ghost.
Acts 19:4-6 Then said Paul, John verily baptized
with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe
on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When
they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them;
and they spade with tongues, and prophesied.
And they added two and two together,
and realized that that man Paul was not kidding and that his words were actually
TRUTH! They realized THEIR LIVES DID MATTER!
- This is not about just attending
a church!
- The seven sons were probably
good religious men.
- But they had no POWER
- Many go to Church, BUT GOD
WANTS YOUR LIFE
- They saw Paul's dedication.
- They may have laughed at
him when he was in town, but they were not laughing now.
- They realize THEY NEED THE
HOLY GHOST like Paul preached it.
- The devil himself listens
to the commands of one who is Holy Ghost filled and has given one's life
to Jesus.
The devil knows he faces God's
power itself when a COMMITTED believer tells him to go!
Look at the list of names in Hebrews
11
- Roll call of the heroes of
faith
- More than man knows these
names.
- Satan gathered as much as
he could about them -"When will they be here? If they're here, I'm out of
here!" -Devil said, 'Avoid these guys"
- World has too many church-goers
and not enough hell-gate destroyers.
- Church arise! ! !
- Satan is bold enough to
attack our country and drag it into
- Atheism and agnosticism
-let's return the favour and drag him down to hell. -we need holy boldness
to strike him!
BUT FIRST OF ALL, WE NEED TO LIVE
FOR HIM FULLY AS DID PAUL
IT DOES MATTER HOW YOU LIVE!
- A man named Paul who preached
that it did was recognized by mere mention of name by devils.
- And when the devils tore
7 grown men, but said they were afraid of Paul, the city realized the power
of this JESUS!
- You must be in the place
of God which Paul preached to be right with God.
- Not just anybody is like
that.
- It does matter how you live!
! !
- If any old person could
do that without any dedication, then the 7 sons of Sceva should have.
- AND REVIVAL BROKE OUT!
Strange repercussions hit true
believers
- Its not coincidence
- The true believer knows
he's hurting hell
How DID Paul preach Jesus?
Acts 19:4-6 Then said Paul, John
verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that
they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ
Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and
they spade with tongues, and prophesied.
Those who may think they can coast
along and are never concerned about HOW THEY LIVE each day should take the
lesson that Ephesus learned.
Give yourself to JESUS
- There is a real host of angels
and unseen spirits
- Do not just got to Church
- Get the Holy Ghost!
- Come to church and sing
in the Spirit
- Come to church and worship
in the Spirit
- Live the life and have the
life!
- The real thing!
- POWER OF REAL RELATIONSHIP.
- Between you and the glory
of heaven, spirits stand in the way
- Punch a hole through their
forces and bring down the glory! ! !
- Get that power inside you
and shake the enemy when he hears mention of your name, due to your dedication
to God.