Does The Devil Fear You

So many people fear the devil. We hear stories all the time about people being afraid of ghosts, and demons, and even some Devil in the water. People here are afraid that someone will put Ju Ju on them, or even a curse. They are fearful of the Devil.

But does the devil fear anyone? Does the Devil fear God?

James 1:29 “even the demons believe and shudder”

• James was saying that even the demons know who Jesus is…

Matthew 8:29 “And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

• Jesus healing a man with two demons

Mark 1:24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”

Demons inside a man professed who Jesus was…

• Revelation 20:10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The devil knows his fate, who will win & who will lose.

Yes, the devil fears God. And if he fears God, then he also fears Jesus and the Holy Spirit who together are one God.

What about you. Does he fear you? Should he fear you? The way you live your life here on earth, are you living in a way that the devil should fear you? Does the devil see you wake up in the morning, get out of bed, and think, “Oh no, what is he going to do against me today?” Have you ever thought about that? In other words, is your day filled with bringing a worry to the devil, or is your day filled with the devil giving no mind to you because you are not affecting him in any way?

So, I want you to consider this morning this question, “Is the devil worried about you?”

Turn in your Bible to Acts 19:11-17

Overview:

o Paul is in Ephesus, and he is preparing to go to Rome and stand before Caesar to share the gospel.

o As he is in Ephesus, he is preaching the gospel and healing people in the name of Jesus Christ. It even said that the power of God was so strong on Paul that even is someone were to touch something that he had touched, that it would have the power to heal them. I don’t know about you, but that reminds me of the woman who was tormented because of her constant bleeding and so she sought Jesus, she heard he was coming to her town, so she went, and as he passed by she reached out and simply touch the cloth from what he was wearing, and she was healed. That same power that Jesus had to heal as the Son of God in human form was also given to Paul. But he knew the source, he knew that the power that he had to heal was from God and only God.

o There were some people under the order of a man named Sceva. Now the scripture tells us that Sceva was a Jewish high priest, but he wasn’t what we think of when we read of a high priest like Aaron of Melchizedek in the Bible. He may have been given this title by his own people or family because of what they did.

o So there were these 7 sons of Sceva. They were travelers who would go around and try to bring out demons from people, they were known as exorcists. But they were no doing this by the Word or power of God, they were trying to do it within their own power, and it must not have been working well since they wanted to adopt the method Paul was using. They had probably seen Paul casting out Demons and said, well we can do that. We just need to say, “In the name of Jesus”

o But look at how they tried to cast out demons, look at their words in verse 13: Acts 19:13 (ESV)

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 (urge or request) you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.”

At first, when we see the words they spoke, it seems like they carry power. They said, “In the name of Jesus.” That’s good, that is where the true power comes from. Then they said, “whom Paul proclaims.” Again, not bad. No question, Paul was acting by the authority of God, and in Acts, we see other times where he healed people and cast out demons. But look at the response of the demon in verse 15: Acts 19:15-16 (ESV)