:11-16 Are You Known In Hell? March 8, 2015

God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" 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." (NIV84)

You don’t see them very often anymore, but there was a time when going to a post office meant that you got to see who was on the US government’s Most Wanted list. These were the men who were considered “armed and dangerous”, the men whose very names struck fear into those on the side of justice, truth, and the American Way. If Hell had a post office, would your picture be in it? Do you strike fear into the demons who are on the side of injustice, untruth, and the Satanic Way? I ask the question because in the reading for this morning seven sons of a man named Sceva, who was some sort of Jewish priest, were going around attempting to drive out evil spirits. These charlatans tried to steal what they believed to be the magic formula of Paul, saying, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” They apparently didn’t know or believe in Jesus, but if they could drop his name as a means of making a name for themselves by driving out demons and making a buck or two besides…hey, why not? But the demon wasn’t having any of it. The demon said “Jesus I know.” Well, of course. He was Public Enemy #1, his picture taking up an entire wall in Hell’s post office. If they could take him down, none of his followers mattered, for without their Savior and champion, they posed no danger and would in fact be captives of and his demons forever. One problem, though. They hadn’t been able to take him down. Every time they encountered Jesus, they lost. When the Devil had a showdown in the wilderness with Jesus, he had to finally retreat, unable to win the victory by getting Jesus to sin. When demons encountered Jesus in the , Jesus drove them out of people. They could shriek and they could shout, but ultimately the demons had to flee like scalded dogs. Yes, Jesus they knew—and trembled. James speaks of the demons as believing there is one God—that is, knowing who the true God is—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. James says that they know this true God—and shudder. (James 2:19) Here in our reading the demon speaks words that indicate he shudders when confronted with the name of Jesus. Maybe somewhat surprisingly, he also shudders at the name of the apostle Paul. The demon not only recognizes Paul as someone who is not on his side, but apparently as someone who also has power over him. It’s somewhat surprising to think of a demon acknowledging that Paul, that a human could have power over a demon. But it really shouldn’t be that surprising. When Jesus sent out seventy-two of his followers in Luke 10 they “returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’” (Luke 10:17) At the end of the of Mark, Jesus promised his disciples that these things would continue to happen, saying “These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons…” (Mark 16:17). So when Paul drove out demons in the name of Jesus, the demons knew that they had to submit. Jesus they knew about and feared, and they knew about and feared Paul, too. Hell’s post office had a picture of Paul, saying, “Watch out for this man! He’s armed, and he’s dangerous!” But even though he was outnumbered 7 to 1, the demon in our reading did not fear the sons of Sceva at all. The demon even said dismissively, “Who are you?” Then the demon caused the man he was possessing to jump on and overpower all 7 sons so badly that they “ran out of the house naked and bleeding.” Now let’s go back to the question asked a few minutes ago: “If Hell had a post office, would your picture be in it?” Or to put it another way, is your name known in Hell? If your name is spoken in Hell, what reaction do the demons have to it? If your picture is posted in Hell, where and how is it posted? If we’re honest with ourselves, we would have to admit that there is good reason for our name to be known in Hell—that if the Devil and his demons were to hear our name, they would say, “Him? Oh yeah. We know him. He’s a sinner. He’s going to Hell one day. We even have his picture posted…in our trophy case.” Or maybe they’d say, “Yeah, we know her, I guess. But we don’t waste a lot of time on her. But then we don’t really need to. We don’t send any of our best demons to her to tempt her—because she’s more than willing to rush into sin on her own. She’s going to Hell, and she’s racing to get there. She’s not much of a concern for us. She may be on the list of Top Ten sinners, but she’s not on our Top Ten Most Wanted list. We don’t want her—because we already have her. Soon enough she’ll be joining us in Hell forever, as she deserves for her many sins.” A reason our name wouldn’t be known in Hell? We haven’t done the work of salvation, like Jesus has. We haven’t done the incredible amount of serving and work and shown the unstinting devotion that Paul has. We haven’t even lived lives of faith that would match some of those around us this morning. All that is true enough, and it’s even good that we know and confess it. In fact, it’s part of scaring the daylights out of the Devil and his demons. As soon as someone does what we did earlier this morning, as soon as someone confesses their sins against God with a humble heart, sirens start going off in Hell, for some names that were solidly in black are in danger of shifting. And when you take to heart the promise that the name of Jesus means that your sins are paid for and forgiven, you’d better believe that your name is known in Hell. And feared. Because the Devil has no answer for repentance and faith in forgiveness through the name of Jesus. When you say with Paul, “I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day” (1 Timothy 1:12), then you, like, Paul are known in Hell.

Oh, the Devil knows about you, and he hates what he knows. He knows that faith that trusts in the name of Jesus is a faith that then shows itself in resisting the Devil. As surely and as confidently as Jesus drove out demons, as surely and as confidently as Paul drove out demons in the name of Jesus, we who are armed and dangerous because we have the sword of the Spirit—that is, the Word of God which proclaims the name of Jesus—can surely and confidently call the Devil by name, and say, “Get behind me, Satan!” (Matthew 16:23) And he will. As James says, “Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) But if you want to really make the demons shriek at the mention of your name, begin to proclaim the name of Jesus. Nothing is more fearsome to the Devil than a believer who proclaims the name of Jesus, who tells others about Jesus their Savior. That is like nails on a chalkboard to the Devil. That’s one reason the demon knew the name of Paul so well. Not only was Paul a believer who knew how to repel the attacks of the Devil, but Paul was also a soldier who was himself going on the attack against the Devil and Hell. When Paul is talking to king Agrippa late in the book of Acts, he says that when he was called by Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was also put on the front line in the battle against Hell: Then I asked, “Who are you, Lord?” “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” the Lord replied. “Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (:15-18) Yes, God was using Paul to shine the saving light of God’s grace on those whom the Devil and the Demons had shrouded in the dark veil of Hell’s lies; and the chains of sin’s slavery were being opened by that, letting those people go free from the one way trip to Hell they had been on! You know what else makes the Devil cower in fear at the mention of the name of a believer? It’s a fearsome thing to fight a battle against someone who believes they have nothing to lose, nothing to be protected, no limit as to how far they will go in order to win. How can you deal with a person who is that devoted to their cause? That was the Apostle Paul. Imagine how the name of Paul became almost a mythical name in Hell when he wrote things like, “For me, to live is and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) Or when the Devil pressed on him as fiercely as he pressed on Job, when Satan gave Paul his best shot, and Paul responded with, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:7-10). The Devil had to think, “With what can I defeat someone who is so connected to the name of Jesus?" For the Holy Spirit who is at work in God’s children just keeps on motivating and strengthening believers to keep on ‘fighting the good fight with all of God’s all-powerful might, knowing that they can’t lose – for Christ’s eternal victory is theirs – and so is Heaven when their life here is over!

And if I haven't made it clear already, let me make it clear now: If you want Hell to know you, make sure that you know Jesus. Once you know Jesus and his work for you, your name will be known in Hell. Once you know Jesus, live for Jesus, acting and speaking in his name. Then your name will terrify Hell. And when you die and are taken to Heaven, your name will certainly be known in Hell. Your picture, however, will be taken down from the wall of Hell’s Most Wanted. Because even Hell will have to admit at that point that no matter how much they want you, they will never be able to have you. But might there be some rejoicing in Hell anyway, knowing that they no longer have to contend with you in the fight here on earth? Perhaps. Satan and his demons are kind of stupid that way. Because they will soon find that they are left to contend with those believers in whose presence you glorified and to whom you proclaimed the name of Jesus—a name which they will use to drive out and defeat the Devil. In the end, the Devil will know a lot of names the way he knew the name of the Apostle Paul. He will know those countless thousands of names as countless thousands of losses, for they trusted in one name--the name of Jesus. Amen.