June 29--Demons and Deliverance

2 Kings 15:1-16:20 Acts 19:13-41 Psalm 147:1-20 Proverbs 18:4-5

Demons and deliverance--there is a recent Hollywood movie called "The Rite" that is based in part on the experience of a priest who exorcised demons. Several weeks ago, my missionary friend, Solomon, told a most compelling story of an experience with "exorcism" that he had in a small town in the Ukraine. In short, he very reluctantly helped cast demons out of a woman. In doing so, he spoke in English and the demon spoke back to him in English. He used the name of Jesus and the young woman was set free following a violent and prolonged time of prayer and struggle. Most remarkably, following her deliverance, the humble Ukrainian lady understood and spoke no English. This past week, another friend, Andrew, told how the New Testament book of Acts came to life for him on his first ever mission trip. Similarly, he ended up the reluctant participant in restraining and praying for a woman in the name of English that she too be set free from demonic possession. Again, the name of Jesus, this time in Spanish, was the key to her successful deliverance.
Today's passage from Acts 19:13-20 tells of a demon-possessed man who beat up his would-be Jewish deliverers. They were using Jesus' name and that of Paul, but they were not followers of Jesus. Before he beat them up, the man queried, "I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?" (Acts 19:15) It's a story that many people today might dismiss as fiction or at best a misunderstanding of an encounter with a mentally ill person. However, as Solomon and Andrew and many others I have heard and read tell, the story in Acts is as true today as it was 2,000 years ago. For Andrew at least, as for the people in today's reading from Acts, that experience with demons and the name of Jesus brought him and others to a life-changing understanding of the power of Jesus. Andrew now works for "I Am Second" taking people on mission trips and spreading the Good News OF JESUS here in the U.S.
Jesus' power to set me free, to set you free, to set anyone free, is Good News. Perhaps contemporary movies like "The Rite" will help people believe that. Perhaps mission trips and testimonies by missionaries like Solomon and Andrew will make the truth of Acts more credible in a modern society that wants to attribute natural causes to everything. For me, and I hope for you, these contemporary experiences will help us see the truth in today's readings. May we then apply it when we have the opportunity, here or in another country. May we help people be free, and have eternal life, by believing in and making Jesus Lord and Savior! May it be for us as it was in Acts 19:17-18 where "The story of what happened spread quickly all through Ephesus, to Jews and Greeks alike. A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored. Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices." That's deliverance--turning from sin to belief and freedom, from denying Jesus to honoring His name with fear and reverence, from being controlled by the powers of evil, to living in the Holy Spirit power that only Jesus can provide!

Blessings,

Pastor Paul