Does the Devil Know Me By Name?

In a previous post, I identified the strategy of Satan.  I showed his character and activity through what we see portrayed in God’s Word.

We know about Satan.  But here’s a question for you: does Satan know about you?

Are you even on Satan’s radar?

Read Acts 19:11-20:

11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands, 12 so that even facecloths or work aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.

13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul—but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. Then fear fell on all of them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18 And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices, 19 while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver. 20 In this way the Lord’s message flourished and prevailed.

In this passage, God is doing amazing things through the hands of Paul.  Some traveling Jewish ministers were attempting to exorcise demons from people.

  • When they tried to “use” the name of Jesus in their ministry, what did the demon say to them?  
  • What does this imply?
  • What did the demon do to them?
  • What does this passage teach us about our chances of winning spiritual battles?

The demons obviously knew Jesus, but they were also fully aware of a missionary named Paul.  He had done enough damage to their kingdom to get their attention.

But these seven sons of Sceva?  They weren’t even on the radar.  No memos were posted about their lives.  No concerns about their power.

It begs the question: do the forces of hell know me by name?

From this passage, it appears that the forces of hell have a list of humans that pose a threat towards their activity.  They have enemies.  Of course they are fearful of Jesus, but they are also aware of certain people who frustrate their plans.

Are you one of those people?  The old preacherism is that you should live the type of life that when you wake in the morning, all of hell should exclaim, “Oh, drats – he’s up!”

Spend some time in prayer and ask God to empower you in spiritual battles.  Beg him to keep your eyes alert to the enemy around you.  And ask him to work holiness and power in your life so that you can stand firm against the schemes of the devil (Eph. 6:11).  And live for Jesus and his kingdom with such intensity that it causes you to frustrate the kingdom of darkness.