Luke says The Disciples received

power – dunamis – miraculous strength and ability

authority – exousia -dominion, jurisdiction to act

Luke alone mentions that they received both these things

Luke wanted to make especially clear that both are necessary and both come from God

Jesus grants them two specific powers

The power to cast out demons

And the power to heal

And they are to perform these miracles in connection with preaching the good news

But men can gain supernatural abilities in one of two ways

First, God Himself can grant these abilities

But there is a second source of supernatural power

The enemy is the prince of the power of the air

He has true spiritual power

Not greater than God’s and always subject to God’s authority

The scripture calls this kind of power divination or sorcery or witchcraft

The young boy is under the control, of a demon who can force the boy to hurt himself and to act in a hysterical and bizarre fashion

The scene would no doubt scare anyone who might watch it

It would bring great fear, especially upon those who might sense the same could happen to them

And that was the enemy’s principle purpose

The fear it created intimidated those who saw it

It brought doubt and dread into the minds of both the crowd and – no doubt – the apostles

It magnified the strength and power of the enemy in the minds of those who saw it

And it helped the enemy in his efforts to thwart God – not because of what happened to the boy, but because of what effect it had on people who saw it, especially on God’s people

If we learn nothing else about demons, remember this

He who is in you, is greater than He who is in the world (1John 4:4)

But let’s also be clear on this

Scripture never provides a single example of the enemy able to directly control a believer’s body in the way depicted here

And much less could the enemy indwell it

On the contrary, Jesus’ healing of demonic possession or torment, as in the case of this young boy, are all experiences that predate the person’s conversion to faith – never after

So when we encounter someone exhibiting these kind of behavior traits, no matter what they may claim, God is showing us someone who is not His child – but rather someone under the control of the enemy.

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