“Do You Know Jesus Christ?”

“Do You Know Jesus Christ?”(Acts 19:11-20).
Following yesterday’s meditation that we should not stop the anonymous Christian, a friend raised this genuine concern:
“Jesus said we should not stop them – those who perform miracles in His name but do not belong to ‘us.’ There are actually cults who call themselves Christians, but their practices don’t even reflect the Christ you and I know. Even right in our churches, there are those who form themselves in cliques under the picture of Christ but do dubious and malicious things that do not represent Christ. Should we still give them blind eyes?”
We cannot give them blind eyes. Discernment is important in our pilgrim’s progress.
Jesus was categoric in saying, “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of God.” Some will even tell him, “but we cast out demons in your name,” and he will tell them, “I do not know you.” While at Ephesus, “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul…” Some charlatan miracle worker Jews who “went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, ‘In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, had seven sons who were doing this, until one day the evil spirit answered them, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I know about but who are you?’ The man with the evil spirit pounced on them, overpowered them, and gave them a snake beating.
Yesterday, we stated that the anonymous Christian are those in the world who are inside the intersection. The sons of Sceva surely were not in the intersection, but the man who the disciples wanted to stop was within the intersection.
Our paths may seem right in our own eyes, but God sees differently. We do not sit in the counsel of the LORD to know his intentions.
However, the LORD’S ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts. What happened to the sons of Sceva became an evangelistic tool. When people heard the news, “they all were seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly…In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.”
What happened to the seven sons of Sceva can happen to any of us who call on the name of the Jesus of a preacher without personally knowing Jesus the Lord.
These days, it is common to hear expressions like “God Of Chosen,” “God Of Apostle Y,” or “God of Prophet X,” etc!
What the sons of Sceva did is what in later days Nongqawuse did in South Africa that led to the Xhosa cattle killing disaster! Nongqawuse heard a confused message of the resurrection of the dead from her illiterate uncle who served as cook to missionaries. She prophesied for the Xhosans to kill their cattle, and they would resurrect in greater numbers.
My friend, even the evil spirits know the Lord Jesus Christ. What about you? Do you really know him?
Weekend prayer: Holy Spirit, guide my steps for an intimate relationship with Christ. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
28/03/2025.