Paul Confronts Evil Spirits
- Encounter With a Sorcerer (Acts 12:14-12)
- Confrontation With a Fortune-Teller (Acts 16:16-18)
- Christ Exalted Through Supernatural Manifestation (Acts 19:11-20)
Central Truth: Every evil spirit is subject to the power and authority of Jesus Christ.
Focus: Affirm that evil spirits are subject to Jesus Christ and that we should worship Him as Lord.
Evangelism Emphasis: By His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus Christ gained victory over sin for all who will trust in Him.
Key Scripture (Acts 16:18): "Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour."
1. Fighting the Christian Faith
a. fighting the christian faith
Key Scripture (Acts 13:4-8): The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper. 6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
Spirit Discernment
The discerning of spirits is made possible by the Holy Spirit and involves the whole range of spiritual powers present in a given situation. Through intense illumination, the Spirit enables a believer to discern what is in the human heart and what is the truly of the Holy Spirit among God's people.
-- French Arrington
b. demonstrating the Lord's Power
Key Scripture (Acts 13:9-12): Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
c. confrontation with a fortune teller
Key Scripture (Acts 16:16-18): Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.
3. Christ Exhalted Through Supernatural Manifestations
a. extraordinary acts
Key Scripture (Acts 19:11-12): Some 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.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
b. an evil spirit's question
Key Scripture (Acts 19:13-16): Some 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.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
c. powerful effect
Key Scripture (Acts 19:17-20): When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.[a] 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
