Acts 19: 11-15
Are You Known in Hell?
11 Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul,
12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.
13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches."
14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?"
Acts 19:11-15 (NKJV)
1. We know much about the devil and demons. Volumes on demonology, spiritism, the occult & satanism are everywhere, but the Bible is the only authoritative work on this subject: the resume’ of this wretched being.
Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! And after a tirade of egotism the Bible declares, v. 15 “yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”
Rev. 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil and satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
John 8:44 He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth,....for he is a liar , and the father of lies.
Rev. 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever.
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2. But does the devil know us. Pastors, evangelists, deacons, teachers, moms and dads. Does he know us, by name? Are there books written about us. Strategies on the demise of men like Luther, Finney, Edwards, Spurgeon, Moody. The reformation, the great Awakening, the Revival fires of Billy Sunday and Billy Graham.
Acts 19:15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?
This is the highest praise that earth or hell affords-to be be classified by the enemy as one with JESUS.
How did Paul get that way? Why did demons know Paul?
The answer: God and Paul were on intimate terms.
Because of this, While Paul lived, hell had no peace. What about us? While we live, does hell have any peace?
What was Paul’s armory? Paul more than once uses the phrase "I am persuaded".
Paul’s secret: To be dead and alive at the same time.
Galatians 2:19-20: For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
GAL 6:17 Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
Four anchors that made Paul Known in Hell:
1) Paul understood the wrath of a holy God upon sin. "Knowing the terror of the Lord he persuaded men" 2 Corinthians 5:11 Paul accounted men as lost without Christ.
2) The power of the blood of Jesus. Hebrews 7:25 "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."
3) The blessed assurance that "to be absent from the body was to be present with the Lord" 2 Corinthians 5:8 Paul could write off, stripes, imprisonments, fastings, shipwrecks, snake bites, weariness, and pain as "light affliction"- recompensed by the fact "so shall we ever be with the Lord". All the "shot and shell" of devils was wasted against Paul.
4) The final truth as an anchor to Paul’s soul was "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad" 2 Corinthians 5:10
"For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ" Romans 14:10
