The Sons of Sceva

I was studying the book of Acts last week, and we had a wonderful Bible Study with one of our new converts (Sis Alvirda). Almost 20 people came to the Bible Study and we talked about (Mattew 16:19-23) the Apostles having the keys to the kingdom and Jesus telling them whatever they bound in earth shall be bound in heaven. It really renewed my passion for the Apostolic Faith, and my conversion from Catholicism heavily hinged on the understanding of this scripture. I have always and still strongly hold to the conviction of the One Holy Catholic (Universal) and Apostolic Church - and I feel that Protestantism is as wrong as Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox are. The fact is all of these "man-made" traditional teachings are founded on the doctrine of the trinity. In the scripture we discussed (Matthew 16) it was Peter's revelation of who Jesus truly was that allowed Peter to have the "keys" to the kingdom. Without the revelation of Jesus Christ, there is no salvation no matter what church you claim to be a part of. This revelation comes from God, Jesus told Peter "FLESH AND BLOOD HATH NOT REVEALED THIS UNTO YOU, BUT MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN." I believe that it is imperative that people receive the correct and Biblical revelation of Jesus Christ as taught by the Apostles, which is the uncompromisable stand on the Monotheism of the Godhead (Deut 6:4, Mark 12:29) and the understanding that Jesus is JEHOVAH manifested in flesh.

Colossians 2:9 "... in Him dwelleth ALL of the FULNESS of the Godhead BODILY"

1 Timothy 3:16 "... God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory"

2 Corinithians 5:19 "... God was IN Christ, reconciling the world unto HIMSELF"

To believe the trinitarian Godhead, you cannot agree with 2 Cor 5:19, because no doubt it wasn't the second person of a triune God that came into the flesh, because the ONE that came into flesh was RECONCILING the world BACK TO HIMSELF. That means God BECAME flesh and died at Calvary to reconcile the world that turned away from Him BACK TO HIMSELF.

Now, as I was looking into this, I got a revelation later that evening after the Bible Study was over. I was preparing for a sermon to preach the next evening and found the following verse that completely coorelated to the Apostolic teaching and the result of someone NOT having the true Revelation of Jesus Christ whom the Bible calls the "sons of Sceva".

Acts 19:13-16
(13) 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.
(14) And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
(15) And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
(16) And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

I looked up the Greek definition of Sceva and this is what I found:

Σκευᾶς
Skeuas
skyoo-as'
Apparently of Latin origin; left handed; Scevas (that is, Scaevus), an Israelite: - Sceva.

Now if you are still reading this, I am going to put all of this together and hopefully you can enjoy the revelation of the Word of God as much as I am (a week later I am still eating on it).

In Mark 12, Our LORD told the gatherers that the greatest commandment is "HEAR O ISRAEL, THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE" (Deut 6:4) and then after His statement He asks the crowd a question.

Mark 12:35-37
(35) And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David?
(36) For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
(37) David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.

This is where the "left handed Israelite" fits in. The fact that Jesus gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom and gave Him authority to bind things on earth and heaven, means Peter (and the Apostles) had great power to preach the Gospel and UNLOCK the Kingdom of God for man. Without the proper understanding of the Godhead, much like the Sons of Sceva saying the "Jesus that Paul preaches", our world is packed full of false prophets that have no Power or Authority to preach the things that they do. God is not pleased with "prosperity" preaching, "charismatic (carelessmatic) movements", or any group that doesn't Baptize their converts in the name of Jesus Christ. The reason the Apostles did this (Acts 2:38, 8:12-16, 10:44-48, 19:1-6, 22:16) is because they understood who Jesus was and they preached this Gospel without compromising. The real thrust of the Apostolic ministry is to "Seek and to Save that which is Lost". I stand strongly today that many preachers in our world are "left-handed" Israelites, they have no power against the world, no power against evil spirits and their congregations are like the "chosen-frozen" no power of deliverance, no seperation from ungodliness, and full of fables, traditions, and false teachings. This is why our country has become weak, the false churches have not stood for God, and people have been fed a lie, they do not understand who Jesus is and they are as corrupt as the sinners and the world around them. That is why our pop culture is so rebellious, that is why our youth are without hope, their religious examples were like the sons of Sceva and have failed their generation. Our only hope is to take the burden and responsibility of carrying the torch of Truth to our troubled time and be an example of what a true Apostolic Christian should be. If we can get a hold of the keys that Peter had, God will empower us with His Spirit to be what we must be. The keys are John 3:5, obeyed in Acts 2:38, repentance of sins, baptism in Jesus Name, and being filled with God's Holy Spirit. When this happens to a person, no matter how wretched or sinful, God empowers that indiviual to become His witnesses (Acts 1:8) and that is not Jehovah Witness - they don't have the keys either. The real witness is a Jesus name Apostolic that knows who their God is and worships Jesus Christ as both LORD and SAVIOR. The answer to the question that Jesus asked, is that Jesus is BOTH the LORD of David and David's Son. (Acts 2:36) and when you get this Revelation, you will understand why you must be baptized in Jesus name for the remission of your sins. You will know the power of the Holy Ghost that will transform you from the inside out. God give us revival in our day, pour out your Spirit upon all flesh. In Jesus Name!