Are You Known in Hell?

Some of you who have worked for a family business know that sometimes it doesn't matter how well or poorly you do your work, but what matters is who you know; or rather, who knows you. In our spiritual warfare we have a similar issue. It truly matters whom we are known by.

"What do you mean?" you may be asking. Well let's take a look at a story in the Book of Acts. Acts is a book about the very beginning of the Christian Church, and in it we find much wisdom and instruction. Here we have a story of Paul, one of the great apostles, and how he was affecting those around him. His name was well known in the area, to the extent that some wannabe prophets used his name in their attempted demon extortion.

"In the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches," they quoted. Impressive, huh? They used the very name of God, under the authority of the man they had seen do the same thing and guess what happens. The demons tell the seven guys that they have indeed heard of Paul and know the name of Jesus, but they have no idea who these seven foolish men are. So instead of leaving the posessed like the seven men had planned, the demons decided to chase and torture them.

So, what can we learn from this? Many things, I believe. Today I want to focus one of the things here that I hadn't really noticed before reading out of a new (for me) book titled "Why Revival Tarries" by Leonard Ravenhill. A very good read. Mr. Ravenhill points out that Paul's name was known by these demons. Why? Because Paul was a warrior. Paul was a spiritual combatant. These demons knew Paul's name because they feared him.

Why would demons fear one man but not seven? Did they miss the math lesson where seven is definately bigger than one? Nope, that has nothing to do with it. They feared Paul, not for Paul's sake but for the sake of what Paul did. Paul was not a warrior for himself. Paul was a warrior in Christ. The seven men had no power because they had not done what Paul had. They expected the battle to be won in public. But that is not how it works. That is never how it works.

What does that mean, you may ask. Simply put, it means that we don't do our spirituual battling in front of other people. We do it alone with God. How? In prayer. In communion with God. No Christian will win any battle by standing strong and fighting alone. The only way we can win is by kneeling and admitting that the battle is not ours, but the Lords.

Conclusion

In the end, where does this leave us? It leaves us before the Throne of God. We must first come there as humble, broken, unworthy servants before we can be used for His Will. To do otherwise is only a futile attempt on our part to do God's work. God does not need our inteligence or wisdom, He needs our surrender. Only in surrender to Him can we be useful soldiers on this battlefield.