The Other Character

Yesterday in our morning service we looked at how evil can and will speak into our lives using the story in Acts 19 about the 7 sons of Sceva. We discussed how if these 7 sons were here today they would probably have 3 things they would like to say to us and they would be #1 "the voice of evil takes on many forms." #2 "Satan's kingdom is aware of who you are." And #3 "you can't use Jesus' name effectively if you're not convinced of His power." And the entire theme they would like to get across to us would be "Don't try this on your own!"

Now today as I've been reflecting on this true story again about this demon possessed man beating these 7 grown men until they ran off bleeding and naked I've stumbled upon another truth that was invisible to me before. And this truth isn't just about these 7 "religious" men trying to use Jesus' name as some Harry Potter type of "magic word" to exercise the demonic presence from this other character in the story, but it's more about the fact that the force of evil made it's residence inside of this man.

First I noticed that while we don't exactly know the individual names of these 7 men, we do know who's sons they are. Because they're recorded as belonging to the Jewish Chief Priest Sceva. So we can see by this fact that they are of Israeli descent and are evidently well versed in the religion of Judaism. But while we do have an idea of these 7 mens background and who they are, the possessed man in this story remains nameless for posterity.

Why is that?

Now I know this story's all about the fact that you can't defeat evil if you don't have a personal relationship with Christ. But what about the other character in this story? What about this nameless man who is tormented and controlled by evil?

Just look at what this man single handedly achieves (with the help of evil of course). When they came to exercise him they confront him and they say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." But the evil spirit in this man tells them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then he puts the hurt to all 7 of them.

So my thought is that maybe this mans remaining nameless displays the fact that none of us are immune to evil being able to work in or maybe even through our lives. Just a hypothetical question but what if we were to write our name in the blank space where this mans name would be? You see this story shows me that if it's allowed to, evil can voice itself through our vocal cords, personify itself through our flesh, and even inflict emotional and physical harm to those around us most likely scaring them for life.

So here's a few questions we should probably ask ourselves everyday.

1. Do we make sure that we're always in the "right spirit"?
2. Do we always watch what we say, or even how we say it when speaking to, or even about others?
3. Do we always weigh the consequences and the affects of our actions towards others?
4. Which type of personification are we permeating through our actions and our words, helpful or hurtful?

I know one thing. I wouldn't want to be like the 7 sons of Sceva and get a beat down every time I'm confronted by evil in my life, but on the other hand, I never want to be like the other character in this story either!