demons

Blaspheming the Spirit.

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 22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” 25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. 30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. – Matthew 12:22-32 ESV

Matthew continues to arrange the events of Jesus’ life in order to provide further proof of His claim to be the Messiah. He had come declaring Himself to be the long-awaited King of the Jews and calling the people to repentance. The Kingdom they had been eagerly and patiently anticipating had come.

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” – Matthew 4:17 ESV

Mark records that, immediately after Jesus had been baptized by John, He declared Himself to be the fulfillment of all the Messianic prophecies found in the Old Testament.

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” – Mark 1:14-15 ESV

But the Jews were having a difficult time reconciling their expectations of the promised Messiah with what they were witnessing in the actions of Jesus. Yes, they were amazed by His miracles and attracted to His message, but He did not act or look like a king. He had no royal retinue, only a small, ragtag group of disciples made up of former fishermen, a tax collector and other assorted nobodies. Apart from His miracles, there was little about Him that would have led the people to see Him as the Messiah. Which is why, even after having watched Him cast out another demon, they responded, “Can this be the Son of David?” Actually, their question can best be translated as, “He can’t be the Son of David, can He?” They were filled with doubt and misgivings. They wanted to believe He was the Messiah, but they were having a difficult time resolving their dreams with reality.

The Pharisees, fearing that the people were being swayed by Jesus’ miracles and rhetoric, declared Him to be operating in the power of Satan.

“It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” – Matthew 12:24 ESV

Beelzebul was another name for Satan. These religious leaders could not deny the reality of Jesus’ miracles. They had been eye-witnesses of many of the healings Jesus had performed and had just seen Him cast the demon from the blind and mute man. But they were unwilling to attribute the power of Jesus to God, instead accusing Him of being under the influence of Satan.

Jesus responded by revealing the non-sensical nature of their accusation. Why would Beelzebul, the prince of demons, provide Jesus with power to cast out demons? What benefit would Satan gain from such an arrangement? In fact, Jesus reveals the self-destructive nature of such a plan.

“…if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?” – Matthew 12:26 ESV

Then Jesus turned the tables on the Pharisees, asking whether their own “sons” were casting out demons by the power of Satan as well. Jesus had not been the first to exorcise demons. We know from the book of Acts, that there were others who at least attempted to do so.

13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. – Acts 19:13-14 ESV

So, how did the Pharisees justify the actions of such people? Were they also under the influence of Satan? Jesus concluded that the reasoning of the Pharisees was flawed and highly biased. They were rejecting Him, and in doing so, they were rejecting the arrival of His Kingdom. And Jesus blatantly contradicted their assessment, claiming to be operating by the power of the Spirit of God. Not only that, His demonstrations of that power were proof that the kingdom of God had come.

“But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” – Matthew 12:28 ESV

With the arrival of Jesus, the Kingdom of God had broken into the earthly realm. In the opening chapter of his Gospel, Matthew recorded the announcement of the angel regarding the virgin birth of Jesus, a fulfillment of the promise of God.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).” – Matthew 1:22-23 ESV

Jesus was God incarnate, God in human flesh. His birth made the presence of God tangible and touchable.

He is the image of the invisible God… – Colossians 1:15 ESV

No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us. – John 1:18 NLT

But they refused to acknowledge Jesus as God. And rather than admit that Jesus was operating under the power of the Spirit of God, they attributed His actions to Satan, an action Jesus described as blasphemy. But He was very specific in His accusation, declaring them to be guilty of “blasphemy against the Spirit.” And then He dropped the bombshell that this kind of blasphemy was unforgiveable in nature. They could say all they wanted against Him and be forgiven, but their decision to blaspheme the Spirit of God was unforgivable.

In essence, Jesus was declaring that His power to heal had been given to Him by the Spirit of God and was proof that He was the Messiah. To deny this proof was to reject the testimony of the Spirit of God. It was to refuse to accept Jesus as who God, through the Spirit, declared Him to be. If you recall, when Jesus was baptized by John, the Spirit of God descended on Him in the form of a dove, and God declared, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17 ESV). The coming of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus had been accompanied by the verbal, audible testimony of God. Jesus was His Son.

By attributing to Satan, the works done by Jesus, made possible by the indwelling Spirit of God, the Pharisees were rejecting the power of the Spirit and the testimony of God. The unforgiveable sin is the rejection of Jesus as Messiah. For this sin there is no forgiveness, “either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:32 ESV). The Pharisees would be forgiven their verbal abuse of Jesus, if they eventually accepted Him as their Savior and Lord. But if they continued to deny the testimony of God and the visible proof of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus, they would not be forgiven.

The interesting aspect of this whole encounter was that the Pharisees were blind to the reality of Jesus’ claim because they denied the proof of the Spirit of God. They were devoid of the Spirit themselves. The apostle Paul would later write:

So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. – 1 Corinthians 12:3 NLT

And John would also provide further insight into the Spirit’s illuminating role in man’s ability to recognize Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God come in the flesh.

This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. – 1 John 4:2 NLT 

But the Pharisees, lacking the presence of the Spirit of God, were incapable of recognizing the Son of God. And Jesus declared them to be aligned against Him, operating in direct opposition to His divine mission.

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” – Matthew 12:30 ESV

The battle lines were drawn. The King had come. The Son of God had taken on human flesh and was in the process of fulfilling the divine will of His Heavenly Father. But the Pharisees represented the forces of this world, aligned against the redemptive plan of God. And their hatred of Jesus was going to end up destroying them. While they would eventually succeed in putting Jesus to death, they would fail in their efforts to put an end to His rule and reign. They could deny His claim to be the Messiah, but they could not deny His right to rule as King of kings and Lord of lords.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

They Did Not Repent.

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13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. – Revelation 9:13-21 ESV

How bad does it have to get before the world will recognize that God is not to be trifled with? What will it take to bring the nations to their knees before their Creator God? According to the book of Revelation, quite a lot. In this second half of chapter nine John reveals his vision of the sixth trumpet judgment. And what he is about to describe is going to be far worse than anything he has mentioned thus far. And it was set up by his warning in verse 12: “The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.”

This sixth trumpet blast will signal the beginning of the second of the three woes. And while the first woe brings demonic persecution upon the unbelieving population of the earth, it will not result in their deaths. In fact, John noted that those whom the locusts or demons torment “will long to die, but death will flee from them” (Revelation 9:6 ESV). But with the second woe, death comes with a vengeance. One-third of the earth’s population will suffer death at the hands of God. During the five months of relentless torment by the demons, many will want to die and even attempt to take their own lives, but they will fail. Death will escape them. But with the second woe, death comes calling and it is all on God’s time table and according to His divine agenda.

John mentions that he heard something from heaven. This time, instead of a vision, he hears a voice calling out “from the four horns of the golden altar before God” (Revelation 9:13 ESV). We’re not told how he knew the location from which this voice called, but based on his description, it may be that the voice was that of the angel mentioned in Revelation 8:3:

And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne…

John heard the voice call out to the sixth angel, commanding him to “release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates” (Revelation 9:14 ESV). But who are these angels and why are they bound? Due to their description as being bound, it would seem that these are fallen angels. The book of Jude provides us with insight into their identity.

And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day… – Jude 6

These fallen angels have been kept in confinement by God, awaiting the very day that John is describing and he tells us they have “been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year” (Revelation 9:15 ESV0. This is yet another clear reference to, and reminder of, God’s sovereign hand over all things, including the coming day of judgment. These four fallen angels had been locked away by God and with a future purpose in mind. Their confinement had been preordained and the timing of their release perfectly orchestrated to occur precisely as God had planned it. And the purpose behind their release is unquestionably clear: “to kill a third of mankind.” They will not torment. They will not harass. They will not possess. They will bring death.

The location of their captivity and place of release is important to note. The river Euphrates had formed a natural barrier between Israel and their enemies to the northeast, the nations of Assyria and Babylon. This river plays a significant part in the end times story, and is referenced a second time by John later in his book. He describes seeing this same river drying up, creating an entry point for the enemies of God to begin their assault on Jerusalem.

The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. – Revelation 16:12 ESV

The river runs through the land most closely associated with Babylon, and that city figures prominently in the end times chronology. We know from the Genesis account, that this particular river and the region through which it flowed, provides a link all the way back to the creation story.

10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. – Genesis 2:101-14 ESV

Everything is coming full circle. God is returning to the scene of the crime, where Adam and Eve rebelled against God. And Babylon stands as the poster boy for mankind’s moral, religious and political rebellion against God. This land, long associated with the Garden of Eden, became a wild garden where idolatry and immorality grew unchecked, and the pride of man became personified by the nations who rose up out of its sin-saturated soil.

And God is going to deal with the wicked and rebellious. He calls for the release of the four fallen angels, who will bring with them an army of unprecedented and almost unfathomable size. John states that they will number 200 million. Is this a literal army? Is it made up of human beings or demons? John doesn’t tell us. But he does say, “this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths” (Revelation 9:17 ESV). What is it that John is seeing? We can’t be sure. But the fantastic nature of his description would seem to indicate that these are not human soldiers, but demonic forces of some kind. What’s interesting to note is that these forces, whoever they are, do not wield swords or spears. John states that fire, smoke and sulfur came from the mouths of the horses. It is these three things, which John calls plagues, that will bring death to one-third of the earth’s population.

There are many who believe John’s mention of fire, smoke and sulfur is a reference to modern weapons of warfare, including guns, tanks, aircraft, etc. But there is no reason to assume that God must accomplish this event by ordinary means. He is not obligated or relegated by our existing technology. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah without help from modern-day weapons of mass destruction. If anything, the book of Revelation seems to imply that God is going to reduce to insignificance the achievements of mankind. He will bring forces to bear that no man has ever seen or could have ever imagined or invented. God’s destructive powers are on the same level as His creative powers. The God who spoke forth the universe has more than enough power to call for its destruction without the help of human technology or the latest advancements in state-of-the-art weaponry.

Who God uses to enact His judgment and what resources He calls forth to bring it about are far less important than the John’s sad assessment that the two-thirds of those who survive this devastation will remain stubbornly unrepentant and unwavering in their commitment to reject God.

20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. – Revelation 9:20-21 ESV

Millions upon millions of their fellow citizens will die right in front of their eyes, but the survivors will remain unmoved and unrepentant. It will be business as usual. They will continue to worship their false gods and to live their immoral lifestyles just as they always have. What a stunning statement regarding man’s stubbornness and self-destructive bent. Rather than bow the knee to God, they will prefer to die at His hands. What is truly sad is that idolatry is essentially the worship of anything other than the one true God. There are no other gods. And all that we worship in this world is nothing more than a false representation of or stand-in for God. In his first letter, John warned us:

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. – 1 John 2:15-17 ESV

These people will love the world more than God. They will worship the things of this world. In essence, they will worship the demonic forces that control the things of this world. The book of Deuteronomy makes it painfully clear that this is true.

16 They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;
    with abominations they provoked him to anger.
17 They sacrificed to demons that were no gods,
    to gods they had never known,
to new gods that had come recently,
    whom your fathers had never dreaded. – Deuteronomy 32:16-17 ESV

And those who survive this coming destruction will continue to worship the very source of their own misery. Rather than turn to God in repentance, they will turn back to those things that brought God’s judgment upon them. They will worship the creation instead of the Creator. They will continue to love the things of this world, even as they see the world disintegrating before their eyes.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)  Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

 

A Desire for Death, But Not Deliverance.

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1 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.

12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come. – Revelation 9:1-12 ESV

Chapter eight ended with the pronouncement of three woes.

“Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!” – Revelation 8:13 ESV

Now, in this first half of chapter nine, John will describe what the first of those three woes will be. It comes in conjunction with the fifth trumpet blast and brings with it even more horrific judgments upon the earth – this time aimed at the people living on the earth. John records that he saw “a star fallen from heaven to earth” (Revelation 9:1 ESV). This is not the first time John has seen such a vision. Back in chapter eight, verse 10, he wrote: “a great star fell from heaven” (Revelation 8:10 ESV). This was in conjunction with the third trumpet. And in chapter six, he records that, with the opening of the sixth seal, “the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale” (Revelation 6:13 ESV). But in this chapter, there is something different about this particular star. In this case, John repeatedly refers to this fallen star as an individual.

…he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. – Revelation 9:1 ESV

He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit… – Revelation 9:2 ESV

This would appear to be a person or some form of angelic or demonic being. The fact that he is described as having fallen from heaven would seem to eliminate the possibility of this being a human. And John does not describe seeing the star actually falling from heaven, but only as a star “fallen to earth from heaven.” In Luke 10:18, we have the words of Jesus describing Satan in this same fashion: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” So, this could be a reference to Satan. Others believe that this is simply an un-fallen angel, sent by God on a divine mission. But the use of the Greek word, piptō, would seem to eliminate this option. It is a word that, in most cases, is used to convey either a position of worship (falling prostrate) or the process of being cast down from one place to another, as a form of judgment. So, it seems more likely that John is seeing either Satan himself or a fallen angel, whom God is giving authority, in the form of a key, to open the bottomless pit. The actual word in the Greek is abyssos, and it is a sort of prison for demons. In fact, we are told later in the book of Revelation, that Satan himself will be confined to this same place during the 1,000 years of Christ’s millennial reign on earth.

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. – Revelation 20:1-3 ESV

This “fallen star” is allowed to open up the bottomless pit and, in so doing, he releases a horde of locust. There are so many that they appear like smoke swirling up out of the pit. Like bats exiting a cave at dusk, these demonic creatures will swarm the earth, wreaking havoc and destruction upon the earth. But notice that the focus of their activity will be directed at human beings. Unlike normal locusts, that destroy vegetation, these demons will specifically target “only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads” (Revelation 9:4 ESV). Anyone who has come to faith in Christ during the days of the tribulation will be protected from this menace. It will be only those who have rejected Christ as their Messiah and Savior, who will suffer the effects of these demonic creatures. And it is hard not to deduce that these are demons based on John’s bizarre description of them.

7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. – Revelation 9:7-10 ESV

What John sees defies explanation or description. He has difficulty putting into words what appears before his eyes. But it is clear that these are evil and inhuman creatures who are bent on tormenting mankind. And that torment, while only five months in duration, will be so intense, that the people on earth will long to die, but they will be prevented from taking their own lives. Verse 11 tells us that these creatures have a leader. “They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.” Abaddon is a Hebrew word and Apollyon is its Greek equivalent. They both mean “destroyer.” Some have assumed that this is a reference to Satan himself. But this could just as easily be a reference to a particular demon who has the title of “destroyer” and is responsible for leading this demonic horde as they torment humanity. The bottom line is that this presents to us a vivid picture of the spiritual warfare that is going to take place in the last days. The forces of Satan will be released upon the earth, and their destructive power will be targeted on the unbelieving world. Those who have placed their faith in Christ during the tribulation will be protected. This is reminiscent of the plagues that fell on the land of Egypt. God protected the people of Israel, preventing the full brunt of His wrath, in the form of ten plagues, to fall on them.

But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die. – Exodus 9:4 ESV

Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail. – Exodus 9:26 ESV

In spite of all the persecution these tribulation saints have to endure, they are being protected by God. The enemy can do nothing to them without the express permission of God. But for all those who have rejected Jesus as their Messiah, the forces of evil will have a field day with them. They will long for death. They will wish for relief from the torment they suffer. But they will not cry out to God in repentance. They will prefer death to salvation and eternal life. Even in these difficult days, the lost will stubbornly refuse to call out to the only one who could save them. And yet, these demonic forces can only torment, not destroy. They cannot take the lives of their victims. That is God’s prerogative. Only He can give life and take life away. And there is more in store for these people. This is only the first of three woes, and the intensity of God’s judgment is only going to increase. And John warns: “behold, two woes are still to come.”

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)  Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

 

New Life in Christ.

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8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. – Acts 19:8-20 ESV

pauls-third-missionary-journey

In Ephesus, Paul would have one of his longest and most spiritually prolific periods of ministry. He would remain in the city, ministering among its people for two years. And Luke tells us that, during that time, “God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul” (Acts 19:11 ESV), and he proceeds to describe just how extraordinary they were. 

…even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. – Acts 19:12 ESV

This is unlike anything we have seen up to this point in Luke’s story. While both Peter and Paul had performed miracles of all kinds, including the healing of the lame, the exorcising of demons and, in Peter’s case, the raising of someone from the dead, we have no previous mention of anyone being healed by handkerchiefs or aprons. But we do have a precedent established in Luke’s gospel, when a woman was healed simply by touching the garment of Jesus.

42 As Jesus went with him, he was surrounded by the crowds. 43 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding, and she could find no cure. 44 Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped.

45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, this whole crowd is pressing up against you.”

46 But Jesus said, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.” 47 When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed. 48 “Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” – Luke 8:42-48 NLT

The key to this woman’s healing was her faith. She believed that Jesus had the power to heal her, but was only doubtful that she might be able to get His attention. So, she simply touched His robe and was completely healed, and Jesus commended her for her faith.

It would seem that the very same thing was taking place in Ephesus. We are not told why this particular form of healing seemed to be prevalent there, but it most likely had to do with the fact that Ephesus was a hotbed of demonic activity due to the large percentage of sorcerers and magicians who practiced their trade there. The people of Ephesus were used to seeing strange and inexplicable things take place. Some, no doubt, was the result of demonic activity, while much was the work of charlatans and religious fakes. So, it would seem that God was confirming Paul’s ministry and message through these out-of-the-ordinary signs and wonders. Luke even indicates that Paul’s reputation in the city had grown to such a degree that a group of traveling Jewish exorcists tried to improve their success rate at casting out demons by saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” (Acts 19:13 NLT). Here were Jews, who didn’t believe in Jesus trying to use His name to further their own ends. And as Luke indicated earlier in this chapter, Paul had found the Jews in Ephesus resistant to his message, forcing him to abandon his efforts to reach them. He had spent three months ministering in the synagogue but had been met with met with unbelief on the part of some, who had publicly ridiculed Paul’s message regarding Jesus. As a result of the stubborn resistance of the Jews, Paul had moved his daily discussions into a public hall owned by a man named, Tyrannus. And, for two years, Paul would continue to use this facility to hold meetings with all who were interested in hearing His messages about Jesus. Luke indicates “that people throughout the province of Asia—both Jews and Greeks—heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:10 NLT).

Paul’s presence was having an impact. His preaching, teaching, and miracles, all done in the power of the Spirit of God, were setting him apart and drawing crowds to hear him, in much the same way as the messages and miracles of Jesus had done. But some were drawn to Paul’s power, not his message of salvation. They were attracted to his miraculous ability to perform signs and wonders, not his offer of eternal life through Jesus Christ. And Luke describes the seven sons of Sceva, whose father was a leading Jewish priest. These men were attempting to cast out demons in the name of Jesus, but had no relationship with Jesus. And it would appear that their efforts had been successful, until one particular occasion, when they met resistance from the demon there attempting to exorcise. Now, their previous exorcisms were most likely nothing more than shams. They were simply utilizing the name of Jesus in their fake exorcisms in order to attract the attention of the people and prove that they had the same power Paul had. Since these men were not believers in Jesus, they had no power to cast out demons. And if their efforts were demonic in nature, it would have made no sense for them to cast out a demon. Jesus made this point clear when He had been accused of casting out demons in the power of Satan.  

24 But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.”

25 Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart. 26 And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided and fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive. 27 And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said. 28 But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.” – Matthew 12:24-28 NLT

These men had no power to cast out demons. Satan would not have empowered then to cast out one of his own. That would have made no sense. And, as unbelievers, they had no access to the Spirit of God, so they had no ability to cast out demons by the power of God. And when they eventually ran across a real demon, they were in for a real surprise. When they had tried to cast out the demon in the name of Jesus, it had responded, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” (Acts 19:15 NLT), and then, Luke records that the demon-possessed man attacked them. They ended up running for their lives, beaten and stripped of all their clothes. They discovered the true nature of spiritual warfare. It is not a show or a game to be played. And Paul would later write to the believers in Ephesus, warning them:

10 Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 6:10-12 NLT

Demonic activity must have been high in Ephesus. And with the increase in the number of believers, the resistance on the part of Satan grew in strength and intensity. The encounter of the seven sons of Sceva with the demon had made an impact. It left the people in even great awe of Jesus. It attracted more people to the teaching of Paul. And Luke indicates that many of those who had placed their faith in Christ confessed their sinful practices, most likely a reference to their participation in sorcery and the occult. No doubt, some of those who had been involved in exorcisms, witchcraft and demonic activity, had a change of heart when they saw what had happened to Sceva’s seven sons. And as these individuals came to faith in Christ, they were moved by the Spirit of God to change their behavior. And Luke reports that their life change was tangible and costly.

19 A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars. – Acts 19:19 NLT

They were giving up their old ways. They were turning from darkness to the light. And Luke tells us that their visible signs of repentance and rejection of their former lifestyles caught the attention of others in the city. As a result, “the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect” (Acts 19:20 NLT). The message of the gospel was leaving its mark. Not only were people coming to faith in Jesus, they were experiencing remarkable transformations in the way they lived they lived their lives. It was not going to business as usual. The indwelling presence of the Spirit of God was empowering these people to experience new life in Christ. And Paul would later write about this life-transforming power.

17 …anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. – 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 NLT

New life. New nature. New hope. New power. The old life is gone; a new life has begun. That is the message of the gospel.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)  Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

 

Protection For Our Affections.

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I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? – 1 Corinthians 10:15-22 ESV

As far as Paul is concerned, this is all about our affections. It is about what we love and choose to make a priority in our lives. As Paul addresses the issue of idols and meat sacrificed to them, he is not implying the idols really represent other gods. In fact, he says that when the pagans offer sacrifices to their idols, they are actually sacrificing to demons. The fact that the gods they worshiped were non-existent did not make their activity any less sinful. They were giving their affections to something they believed existed. They were associating themselves with a god that represented an alternative to the one true God. And they were joining in with those who shared their beliefs, participating in worship and the giving of sacrifices together. When they held their feasts, they were doing so with those who were of like mind.

Paul uses the Lord’s Table to illustrate what he means. Paul asks the Corinthians to consider that when they take the cup and the bread together as part of communion, “is it not a participation in the body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:16 ESV). It was a common celebration and commemoration of their shared belief in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. And when the Israelites made sacrifices to God at the altar in the tabernacle of temple, did they not do so with a sense of shared belief in God? And aren’t the pagans doing the very same thing? In participating together in their sacrificial services, feasts and celebrations, they are expressing their common bond as worshipers of their particular god – whether he is false or real. And when the Corinthians joined in with them, they were aligning themselves with the pagan worshipers and their false gods – or as Paul indicates, demons.

Paul’s line of reasoning was proceeding as follows. Christians who eat the bread at the Lord’s Supper thereby express their solidarity with one another and with Christ. Likewise Jews who ate the meat of animals offered in the sacrifices of Judaism expressed their solidarity with one another and with God. Therefore Christians who eat the meat offered to pagan gods as part of pagan worship express their solidarity with pagans and with the pagan deities. – Thomas L. Constable, Notes of 1 Corinthians, 2007 Edition

There is a spiritual dimension or aspect to virtually everything we do. We are spiritual beings and their is a spiritual battle taking place all around us, hidden from our view, but as real as the air we breath. Paul warned the Ephesians about this spiritual war. “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” Ephesians 6:12 NLT). There is very little in life that is not impacted and influenced by this unseen spiritual conflict. While we may view a particular action or activity as amoral, being neither right or wrong, and not prohibited by God, we need to walk carefully. We need to examine our motivation. We need to check our affections. We need to ask ourselves why this activity or item is so important to us. Would we be unwilling to give it up if the circumstances required it? There were those in the Corinthian church who were eating meat that had been sacrificed to false gods. They were even participating alongside pagan worshipers at the feasts associated with these false gods. But their rationale was that these gods did not exist, so their activity was perfectly acceptable. But Paul warns them that if their participation causes a brother or sister in Christ to stumble, then they are wrong. Not only that, by joining in the feasts alongside idol worshipers, they are expressing a unity with them. To the rest of the world, both pagan and Christian, they appear to be one with those who worship false gods. And as if that was not bad enough, Paul indicates that they are really associating themselves with demons.

There are a great many things that we are free to do as followers of Jesus Christ. But that does not mean that all of them are things we should do. We are free to read books other than the Bible. But it is essential that we give thought to the content of the books that we read. We are free to watch TV and movies as believers. But not every show is one we should expose ourselves to. We need to examine the content and to consider the message that it is sending. There are very few movies that do not have an agenda behind them. The world we live in is heavily influenced by the unseen spiritual battle taking place behind the scenes. Satan will use any resource available to him to influence our affections and affect our dedication to God. It always goes back to our affections. When God commanded that the Israelites were to have no other gods before Him, He was not suggesting that these gods actually existed. He simple knew that man was wired to worship. He was created to share his affections with God, but was fully capable of giving those affections away.

When Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment given by God, He responded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37 ESV). The greatest challenge we face as Christians involves our affections. Do we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind? The answer is no, because we can’t. We are incapable of doing so. But that does not mean we are not to try or to make it a high priority in our lives. The enemy wants to get our minds off of God. He wants to distract our affections from God. He wants our souls to be satisfied by something other than God. There is a spiritual battle taking place all around us. And Satan is subtly using the seemingly innocuous and inconspicuous things of this world to deceive us. Our lack of belief in the demonic realm does not make it cease to exist. Just because we don’t see the spiritual warfare taking place all around us doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It is because the battle in invisible that we need to arm ourselves with the spiritual weapons provided to us by God. We need spiritual discernment. We need divine assistance to fight a battle that is invisible, yet real. That is why Paul told the Ephesians, “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm” (Ephesians 6:13 NLT). God offers us protection for our affections. He provides a way of escape. “God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT).

Day 60 – Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30

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Needy. Persistent. Humble.

Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30

“But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, ‘Lord, help me!’” – Matthew 15:25 NLT

Jesus makes a rare journey with His disciples into the predominantly Gentile region called Tyre and Sidon. Once there, He is approached by a Gentile woman who has a desperate and pressing need. Her daughter is possessed and tormented daily by a demon. This woman, a non-Jew, comes to Jesus, the Messiah of the Jews and begs, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!” (Matthew 15:22 NLT). She knows who He is. She is fully aware that He is the Jewish Messiah and she is a Gentile. But her need is great and she has heard about His power and authority over the demonic world. So she takes advantage of His appearance in her “neck of the woods” and pleads with Him to heal her daughter.

The following exchange is a fascinating one. Especially to our western minds. Matthew records that Jesus made no response whatsoever. That would have been normal for most Jews. They would have had little or nothing to do with any Gentile, especially a woman. Evidently, His silence did not deter her. She continued to beg. It was the disciples who finally spoke up and urged Jesus to send her away. You hear no mercy. You sense no compassion. Why? Because they had none. She was a Gentile. These men had experienced what it was like to cast out demons and see people set free from spiritual torment. But that had been among their own people. This woman was a “dog” in their eyes. Jesus knows what they are thinking, so He tells the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep – the people of Israel” (Matthew 15:24 NLT). And Jesus is simply telling the truth. He was sent initially to the people of Israel, His own people – the chosen people of God. But they were going to reject Him and His message of hope, redemption and restoration would be made available to all people – in keeping of God’s promise to Abraham that through him He would bless all the nations of the world. Jesus was a descendant of Abraham and it would be through Jesus that all those who accept His invitation would be blessed – regardless of their nation of origin. This was still hidden from the disciples at this point. He is their Messiah. He is going to be their Jewish king. Any relationship He is to have with Gentiles will be like that that David, His predecessor had – as a conquering king.

Jesus, knowing what the disciples are thinking about this woman, tells her, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs” (Matthew 15:26 NLT). I can see the disciples nodding their heads in agreement. They’re thinking, “You tell her Jesus!” Even the woman agrees with His statement. She knows her place and the prevailing Jewish sentiment about her kind. “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table” (Matthew 15:27 NLT). This woman’s response is humble and incredibly wise. She knows she has no right to come begging Jesus for help. She isn’t even a Jew. But her desperate need drove her. She could not demand Jesus to do anything. But she could humbly and persistently ask. She acknowledged her place as a humble slave, no better than a common dog beneath the table of its master. She knew Jesus could help her. She believed He had the power to set her daughter free. Like the woman with the issue of blood, she took a risk and reached out to the only one who could help her. And He did. Jesus responds, “Dear woman, your faith is great. Your request is granted” (Matthew 15:28 NLT), and her daughter was instantly healed.

It’s interesting that some of the greatest examples of faith were displayed by those outside the nation of Israel. It seems that they needier the person, the greater their faith. The more desperate their circumstance, the more determined they became to seek help from Jesus. Even among the Jews, prostitutes and others like them – those the community labeled sinners – made their way to Jesus. They were outcasts and rejects in their society, but they found help and hope in Jesus. Gentiles who had nowhere else to turn, knew that they could turn to Jesus and not be rejected. It was their need that motivated them. It was their need that humbled them. It was their need that drove them to go out of their way to seek help from Jesus. And it is still that way today. Needy, humble and persistent. That is how we need to remain in our relationship with Jesus. We must never lose sight of our tremendous need for Him. Our powerlessness and hopelessness apart from Him should constantly humble us and cause us to return to Him with renewed hope and gratitude for His help. We must be persistent and passionate in our pursuit of Him. This woman was.

Jesus, I want to remain needy, humble and persistent. I want to keep my eyes focused on You, but also never lose sight of my daily need of You. I don’t want to feel so confident in my relationship with You, that I fail to see my need for You. I bring nothing to the table that makes me worthy of Your love or attention, other than my belief that You are who You are and that You alone can make a difference in my life. Amen.

Ken Miller

Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org