Spiritual Name Dropping

Acts 19:15 “And the evil spirit answered and said to them, ‘I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?'”

Hey, did I tell you that I got to be with the champion golfer, Jack Nicklaus, and Miss America 2015, Kira Kazantsev, last weekend?

In our world today there are many people who like to name drop. You know the kind – after getting an opportunity to meet someone famous or influential, they regularly insert that person’s name into every conversation. This action causes the name dropper to feel bigger and more important than they really are.

This is not a new vice. It has been around since the beginning of the human race. Paul encountered it in his journeys and one such story is recorded in Acts 19. Paul had passed through the upper country and had come to Ephesus, an ancient Greek city. While he was there “God was performing extraordinary miracles through him so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them as well as evil spirits.”

This power so impressed some of the traveling spiritists of the country that they attempted to release people from Satan’s hold by saying the name of Jesus, clarifying their statements by naming Jesus as the one Whom Paul preaches. In their attempt to use the name of Jesus as a magical charm, an evil spirit answered them from within Satan’s victim and said, “I recognize Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?”

This incident turned out badly for these name-droppers. They thought that they could get in on the action. They planned to use God’s power by speaking the name of Jesus without really knowing Him. No one was fooled – least of all the demons who enslaved this victim of Satan’s power. They recognized the name of Jesus and the name of Paul, but saw through the guise of these evil men. In great strength the possessed man leaped on the seven impostors and then subdued and overpowered them so that they had to flee from the house naked and wounded.

Yet even in this incident the name of Jesus was magnified. The story made the headlines and became known to all who lived in Ephesus. Great fear fell on the entire city and many turned to God in belief. In fact, in a great show of faith these new believers brought their magic books and began burning them at a huge public bonfire. The word of the Lord continued to grow mightily as a result.

Though it is exciting to have an opportunity to meet celebrities and fun to mention these influential names in conversation, a better question might be, “Do you really know them?” Don’t try to gain prestige or power by name dropping, especially when it comes to the name of Jesus.

The spirit world is very real, and evil is just as prevalent now as it was then. But be very careful.  There is power in the name of Jesus, but if you wrongly use it, you won’t fool anyone.

Love,

Mama