"This week at service Pastor Marty mentioned he wanted to be famous in hell? What did he mean by that? I was confused. Thank you."
Second time attending
Dear ______________,
Thanks for your question. In the book of Acts, which gives us the history of the early church, you can read the account of "sons of Sceva" in Acts 19:11-20. Apparently, there were a couple of young men who were trying to cast out demons from people in the name of Jesus, even though they themselves were not believers in Jesus. The demons paid no attention to the presumed "authority" of the two pretenders.
There are a number of things we can take away from the passage. Among them:
1. Only believers in Jesus Christ have the protection of Christ against demonic forces.
2. Only actual believers in Jesus Christ have any power, in the name of Jesus, over demonic forces.
3. The demons of hell know who the pretenders and who the real Christians are.
4. If your name is known in hell, you are a dangerous person to the plans and power of hell.
Therefore: I aspire to be famous in hell. I want the forces of darkness to know that they have no power over me and that Jesus is using my life and words to rescue many from the perils of hell.
Hope that helps. See you next Sunday.
4 comments:
Yes, that was shocking. If anyone was not paying full attention, that was sure to jar them back to the present.
I would have said, "I want my name to be famous in hell." But that's okay, I know exactly what you are talking about, and the Scripture that refers to is an exciting passage! Maybe I'll talk about that at the food pantry this week.
it's dangerous what things sound like out of context. i was just listening to your sermon from last week and my 5 year old son says, "did he just say jesus is gross?"
(in reference to your exposition of malachi 2:3.)
anyway, i thought it was funny how certain things perk up the ears. i guess that was god's point in that verse!
Would not a Christian who is known in hell be infamous and not famous?
Yes, technically. Thanks for the clarification. Thought I think most understood my meaning.
Post a Comment