THE SONS OF SCEVA

Satan is always true to form; he will attack the very fiber of a ministry. I have observed how he subtly nips at the apostolic mantle that maintains ministerial order in ministry. Walking in the Spirit is real and it is the only way we will be able to affect the world with Christ. If there are no true watchers in the ministry the devil will subtly work his works and before we even realize it, that which was once led by the Holy Ghost would have become nothing more than a conglomerate of individual agendas.

Acts 19:13-16

13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.

14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.

15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?

16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

This will be the scenario in many religious works in the kingdom where holiness is not the standard for ministry. I cite the following scenario because it depicts the mindset formed through subtle rebellion against walking in the Spirit. The Lord spoke to me about an evangelist (whom I choose to refer to using plural pronouns instead of singular) in this way: The liberty to minister throughout the reformation had inflated pride and caused the individual to think more highly of themself than they ought. This minister had been deceived by their ability to get into a spiritual posture when it was time to do spiritual things. Preaching and praying does not make us spiritual however. God judges our lifestyles and mindsets. I relayed all of this to the individual and they agreed that I had described their true spiritual location. I instructed the minister to take the next few weeks to get themself spiritually together. They agreed and declared that they would obey God. Nevertheless, about three months later sin and overall carnality had escalated, but God in His faithfulness revisited the situation. He reminded me then that the individual was about to go into very dangerous territory to minister the Gospel. Because the minister had been to this region before and had no incident, they had become very confident that they could go back into this hostile environment and do the same. The Lord said Satan was waiting on the individual and had set a snare that could cause the minister bodily harm. It would have been spiritually legal for satan to do so because this minister could not say, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” Therefore, I was instructed by the Holy Spirit to take such a one off the field until they submitted to the word they preached.

One would think that a minister of the Gospel would be grateful for the fact that God is mindful enough of them to inform their leaders of these pitfalls and snares. In many cases however, the opposite is true. Instead of humility they become very resentful and full of iniquity. They would run from pillar to post, from one counseling session to another to state their case. The objective in each of these sessions was never to come into agreement with the chastising grace of God. Instead the objective was to get back on the field. This is the spirit of Esau. Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears (Hebrews 12:16-17). Indeed it is not a good thing for a Son to reject the discipline the Lord extends through those who serve as leaders in the Body. Those who resent the chastening of the Lord allow themselves to be defiled by roots of bitterness. This bitterness is evidence that such are not ready to enter the war with Satan.

There have been so many shipwrecked ministries in tradition. Pastors and evangelists alike have become victims of their own pride, lust and greed. Overseers were willingly blind and allowed individuals to run from church to church throughout their organizations and collect honorariums. This became an established lifestyle and mindset. They want the saints to support them, but they are not willing to live holy. They are complacent in carnality and the devil is waiting to destroy them. Such a mindset must not be tolerated in the reformation of the Church. The counsel of God will stand. It is more expedient for you to obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you (Hebrews 13:17).

To war against the counsel of God is to commit spiritual suicide. In order for the mystery of Christ to be revealed in the earth, those who work in the reformation must be holy and blameless before God and man. We have walked in promiscuity long enough and have served the Master haphazardly. The hour of perfection has come. There is no other word that can perfect us. The word given to us already is a sure word. “It is sufficient.” says the Lord. If we take the time to look into some of the prophetic utterances the Lord has spoken to us we will see that there has been much concern regarding the spiritual disposition of the vessels of ministry:

1. The Lord has commanded that the pulpits in the ministry be cleansed. Those who minister must walk in the righteousness of the word they preach.

2. Those who lead must do so by example. They must not place burdens on the people that they themselves are not willing to bear.

3. Prayer must be based upon intimacy with the Father. There is no power given to the Sons without communion with God.

4. There is a shaking of the ministry and all who can be shaken, will be shaken off.

I have for many months and years heralded these warnings, but in some cases they have been merely cast to the side as good religious sayings. The time has come for the fulfilling of those prophetic utterances and many are frustrated and even moved out of place by their response to the judgment of the Holy Ghost in the ministry. This is always the case when sin becomes a way of life for the believer. Satan is able to deceive them, because they believe that God will judge others and not themselves. Look at the righteousness that poured into the Church after the encounter of the sons of Sceva with a demon they were not worthy in character nor authorized in the Spirit to cast out.

Acts 19:17-19

17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

18 And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.

19 Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Though many such counterfeit acts of ministry seem to bring reproach on the Church and the name of the Lord, it is noteworthy to see how the Lord will use such blatant deceitfulness to magnify Himself in His people. The Gospel that Paul preached was given greater utterance and Paul and those of his camp were even more highly respected for the truth and the true power of God they possessed. The same is true today. There will be those who will depart from the faith and walk in the way of the world but yet try to continue to work ministry. The devil will trample upon them and bring them to an open shame. Some will even lose their lives in their quest for money, fame and authority. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul (Hebrews 10:39).

Beloved, allow your hearts to be turned back to the Lord, He is pitiful toward us. He will forgive every transgression and He will not penalize the righteous response to His chastening. It is profitable for the Lord to chasten and rebuke us, for it will yield peaceable fruit if we endure it.