Acts 19:11-20 (12)

The 2003 Las Vegas show put on by Seigfred and Roy was supposed to be like any other night among the hundreds of performances that they had done with Mantacore the 7’ 400 pound lion. But this day for some reason would prove to be anything other than routine. As several mistakes and miscalculations led to confusion that caused the lion to attack its handler nearly killing him, onstage. The lion ended up bitting him in the neck and dragging him off stage. the event left Roy paralyzed fighting for his life.

Our Story today will leave 7 men fleeing for thier lives.

Counterfeiting the Gospel

The real power of the Gospel is not in miracles or feats of power but transformed lives.

The Purpose of Miracles (vs. 11-12)

Often times people ask God to delivers them from thier sicknesses and diseases but do not expect that God would do a transformative work in us.

We must remember that the main actor of this narrative is not Paul but rather God. Consistent with the overarching theme of the book, “all that Jesus continued to do and teach”. Though Paul is the agent, God is clearly the source of the miracles and the one who is to receive glory. Paul is not doing this for his own glory but to validate and authenticate the message of the Gospel.

Every where you turn to in the scriptures when you see miracles happening they are always associated with faith in the Word of God, that is what they are designed to do.

Acts 5:15 ESV

so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.

Luke 8:44 ESV

She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased.

The miracles that the 7 sons of the high Preist attempted to do did not do this.

The Pitiful attempts to match the miracles (vs 13-16)

Like the Egyptian magicians of Moses day. These men were no match for the power of God.

2 Timothy 3:5–9 ESV

having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

Construction: drill

Unfamilair weapon in the hands of the enemy they were messing with things they knew nothing of. Like fireworks that have gone bad they blew up in thier hands.

We do great harm when we merely trifle with the gospel and yet reject its claims. Luke would have his readers know that the message of the Gospel is not something to mess with.

But this is certainly how people treat it today, is it not? I want all of the benefits of the church, the fellowship, the feelings that we pacify for fulfilling our duty to come to church on Sunday, or the social network, of the fun activities and food.

In one sense we are like these 7 sons of Sceva that we think that we can come and reap all of the benefits and remain unmoved by the gospel. God wants us to to leave here naked and wounded not physically but spiritually. Come as you are but you must leave changed. Stripped of your pride and self. That is what the Gospel does, it transforms us and prevails over us so that we might be saved through the power of the Gospel and changed here and now.

It is no accident that Luke compares the fact that this Demon overpowered and mastered these 7 men here. We hear this demon say Jesus I know Paul I recognize but who are you, indicating that these men were not believers. The fact that they involked the name of Jesus whom Paul procliams indicates that these men are unfamiliar and not convinced themselves.

1 Corinthians 4:19–20 ESV

But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.

It is not the involking the name that makes the difference but believe in that name.

The most ironic thing is that Jesus name actually was extolled in this incident just not by the 7 sons of Sceva.

The reason that people become plagued with demons and evil spirits and it does happen today, is that they have learned to believe in lies. They have believed that drugs or sex or magic potions or spells will solve all of their problems.

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves (the devils) are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight. Preface to Screwtape Letters C.S. Lewis

The solution is not exorcists or casting out demons or evoking the power of someones name, but in the power of the Gospel. We become set free from lies by believing the truth. These men likely saw Jesus as any other name that they could seek to manipulate.

The Power of the Word to make new. (vs. 17-20)

Upwards of 7 million dollars up in smoke. This was no attempt to sell them to someone else or hide them in the closet just incase you might want them again some day. No the only proper response was to destroy them.

The secret arts, - Ephesus is the center of the magic arts. To divulge their secrets is to cause their power to be null and void. The Magicians code, never reveal your secrets. These men worked their arts in secret behind closed doors, but the believers brought it all into the broad daylight.

Such is the proper response from us as believers. God calls us out of our former life. He calls us to complete surrender. You see we want our cake and eat it too. If we eat it its gone and we cant have it.

We want to shove our sin in the closet and instead of mortifying it, instead of putting it to death. the problem is that we go by the closet every day when we get dressed.

One of my favorite quotes I even have a t shirt with the saying. “Be Killing sin or sin will be killing you. John Owens “Mortification of Sin.”

This was the problem with the Israelites, they did not completely destroy the nations them and they intermarried with them and were drawn away by foreign gods.

We often want to quick fix, we want some exorcist to come and heal us from the demon of lust or the demon of alcohol. In the name of Jesus I extol you as if we could some how command demons at will. No it is not that simple brothers and sisters, transformation comes about through the normal every day decisions to allow the word of God mastery over us. There is no hocus pocus not magical potion or incantation to be said.

CONCLUSION:

Bear Fruit in Keeping with repentance.

TENSION that we feel is the same tension that is felt in this story. The tension is between the Paul and the Sons of Sceva. The word of God prevails. They same tension is played out every day in our lives, is the Word of God going to prevail in this area of my life? Or am I going to