When Demons Rage — E.A. Johnston

The Demonic Confrontation in Acts 19

I have a very disturbing message to bring before you today, friends, but it needs to be preached because we need to be aware of what's taking place in our society today. In the book of Acts, in chapter 19, beginning in verse 11, we read,.

And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul, so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

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

And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

This striking passage of scripture speaks of demonic activity where the demon overpowers these seven individuals, these seven sons of Sceva, who are completely powerless to deal with this demon. And the demon prevails against them, beating them up, stripping them of their garments, and wounding them, sending them on the run.

Violence, Satan, and Intensifying Demonic Activity

I believe we live in a day friends, right before the return of Antichrist, where we are seeing increased demonic activity in the land. Every time you see the news media report another mass shooting, you are witnessing demonic activity.

Why do you think someone intentionally goes out to gun down strangers? It's demons brother, demons. Demons who have taken control of an individual, and through that demon possessed person, those demons rage, murder, and destroy.

The title of my message today friends is, When Demons Rage. We live in a violent society, and we have seen the violence is ratcheting up with increased activity. I believe the reason for this is Satan knows he is a defeated foe, whose time is short, right before the Lord's return.

And in these last days in which we live, these end times, there is a noticeable increase in demonic activity. Now, you will never hear a news anchor, or a talking head on TV, or attribute mass killings to demonic activity, but that is exactly what is taking place.

The Church's Spiritual Declension and Impotence

And sadly, the church is so stupefied by her spiritual declension, that you won't hear the church is saying that these recent mass shootings are carried out by demons inside of people. Nobody wants to talk about it, and become a target of criticism.

So the church deals with it by her silence, because she is impotent to do anything about it. No, the reason for the mass killings, the media tells us, is better gun control, social problems, environmental or psychological issues.

But nobody is telling you the truth, that it is a spiritual problem, it's demonic activity. We live in a sex crazed society, that has rejected the God of the Bible, and the church has so compromised herself, that she is completely powerless, like these seven sons of Sceva.

The Church's Loss of the Spirit's Authority

I believe the words of Alan Redpath, best sum up why the church today is so powerless, like these seven sons of Sceva. Listen to his words. Today, the Christian church is helpless, behind the scenes, and away from the public arena.

We are facing powers of darkness, too strong for us, because somewhere in our personal lives, we have forfeited our right to the Spirit's anointing, His authority, and His power. In His absence, all we can do, is substitute planning, and organization, schemes and techniques.

Repentance, Prayer, and a Fresh Baptism of Power

Well, I believe Alan Redpath hit the nail on the head. Few are prevailing in prayer today, to push back the darkness in our communities, until the church repents, and confesses her lack. Demons will continue to rage.

What the church needs is a fresh baptism of power, from on high, but to get that costs something, and few are willing to pay the price, while demons rage, and wreck hell among us.