Legit
Just because we can talk the talk, it doesn't mean we can walk the walk.
God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that when the handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ‘I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.’ Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit said to them in reply, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?’ Then the man with the evil spirit leapt on them, mastered them all, and so overpowered them that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. When this became known to all residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, everyone was awestruck; and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised. Also many of those who became believers confessed and disclosed their practices. A number of those who practiced magic collected their books and burned them publicly; when the value of these books was calculated, it was found to come to fifty thousand silver coins. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. - Acts 19:11-20
Have you ever watched someone and said, "I can do that," only to find it is a lot more difficult than you thought?
Today's reading from The Acts of the Apostles is all about being legitimate in our faith. The sons of Sceva thought they could control demons because they saw and heard Paul, but they learned imitation wasn't enough.
They were overpowered by the evil spirits and sent out naked, to embarrass them before the world.
This can happen to us when we pretend to be something or someone we are not. We may be found out and embarrassed before our friends and family.
What is interesting here is that the people who practiced magic burned their books. Since their books were the source of their power, this was significant. They needed the books to be able to cast spells. But in Christ, there are no special words one must speak to be effective.
You don't need words in a book to be like Jesus or Paul. You just need faith.
Now we may not be any more successful at casting out demons as the sons of Sceva were, but that doesn't mean we are not able to make a difference in the world. We can call upon the Holy Spirit to help us when we are confronted by evil, and we need the power to resist or defend.
Unlike the sons of Sceva, the more we try to imitate Christ, the deeper our faith will become, and the more power we will have over evil in this world.
More to come...