Acts 19:11-20

Introduction

[READING - Acts 19:11-20]

Acts 19:11–20 NASB95

11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. 13 But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. 18 Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. 19 And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.

[PRAYER]

[ILLUS] Jesus taught in the the synagogue and then left. He entered Peter’s home and found Peter’s mother-in-law suffering from a high fever. They knew that Jesus was powerful so they asked Him to help her (Lk. 4:38). Jesus rebuked the fever, and it left. She got up, immediately better, and began to wait on those with Jesus (Lk. 4:39).

What Jesus did was miraculous, and soon word got out. Before the sun went down that day, people brought to Jesus anyone who was sick, and Jesus healed them (Lk. 4:40). They brought to Him those who were demon possessed, and Jesus set them free (Lk. 4:41). They could hardly wait to see what He would do the next day!

The next morning while it was still dark, Jesus went to a secluded spot to pray (Mk. 1:35). The crowds were searching for Him because more people were looking for miraculous healing or deliverance. Peter and some others found Jesus and said, “Everyone is looking for you,” (Mk. 1:37).

What did they expect Jesus to say in that moment? Perhaps they expected Him to say, “Well, you found me. Let’s go heal some more people and cast out some more demons. Let’s give the people what they came for; let’s give ‘em a miracle!”

But Jesus didn’t say that. Instead…

Mark 1:38 NASB95

38 He said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.”

The purpose for which Jesus came was not to perform miracles but to preach the Word, the Good News of salvation for all who trust in Him.

Did Jesus perform miracles?

Tons of them.

Were they amazing?

Incredibly amazing.

But the miracles were meant to authenticate Jesus as Messiah and verify His message as true.

The miracles weren’t the point, the Gospel of Jesus Christ was the point.

[CONTEXT] In Acts 19:8-10 Luke told of Paul preaching the Gospel in Ephesus. First it was in the synagogue and then in the school of Tyrannus. This took place for two years until, as Acts 19:11 says, “all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.”

But what evidence could Paul provide for the veracity of his preaching? How were the people in Ephesus to know that what Paul preached about Jesus was real?

The answer to that question came in the form of extraordinary miracles performed by the hands of the Apostle Paul.

Without a written NT by which to authenticate a messenger and verify his message, the Apostles and their preaching was often authenticated and verified by the miracles they performed.

They preached that there was power in the name of Jesus to forgive sins and demonstrated that power in the name of Jesus by performing miracles.

As Paul told the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 12:12…

2 Corinthians 12:12 NASB95

12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.

Every miracle the Apostles performed was about exalting the name of Jesus and authenticating the message of salvation through faith in Jesus.

The miracle points to the message, but the message is bigger than the miracle.

May the Lord give us eyes to see and hears to hear this morning.

[LS] Let’s notice Acts 19:11-20 in three PARTS…

Major Ideas

PART #1: Extraordinary Miracles (Acts 19:11-12)

Acts 19:11–12 NASB95

11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.

Now, as I’ve already mentioned, Paul has been teaching and preaching in Ephesus for two years, “so that all who lived in Asia hear the word of the Lord,” (Acts 19:10).

Let me reiterate that this is the main thing—that people hear the word of the Lord.

The word of the Lord is the Gospel message, the Good News that God has provided salvation through the perfect life, sacrificial death, and triumphant resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Hearing this message is crucial because it is by grace that we are saved through faith (Eph. 2:8), and that faith comes from hearing the word of Christ (Rom. 10:17).

So that more would hear the word of Christ as preached by Paul in Ephesus, “God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,” (Acts 19:11).

What are we to think of the miracles performed in Acts 19:11-12?

A miracle is, according to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, an “extraordinary and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws.”

The miracles in this passage were surely extraordinary.

Miracles are extraordinary by definition, but Luke calls these “extraordinary miracles,” which means that they were rare works of divine power even when compared with other rare works of divine power.

Sometimes instead of extraordinary they are called singular, special, or unusual.

What made these miracles extraordinary was that they were being performed indirectly through Paul’s handkerchiefs or aprons, i.e., the rags he used to wipe his brow as he practiced his tentmaking trade.

These rags were taken by others to those who were physically sick and spiritually oppressed, and the result was that the diseases left and the evil spirits went out.

For the sick and oppressed this was a welcome result.

Nature nor science could explain this.

“GOD was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands (and handkerchiefs) of Paul,” (Acts 19:11).

As extraordinary as they were, there are other miracles similar to them in the NT.

A woman had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years. She had spent all her money on doctors and had only gotten worse. She heard about Jesus and His healing power and thought that if she could only touch the fringe of His cloak she would be made well.

She was right. She touched the fringe of His cloak, and the bleeding stopped (Matt. 9:20-21). That lady was healed just by touching Jesus’ clothes.

When many people were believing in Jesus in the early days of the church thanks to the powerful preaching of Peter, people brought their sick into the street so that perhaps Peter’s shadow might fall on them as he passed by (Acts 5:15).

Luke doesn’t say specifically, but the implication seems to be that God healed some people just using Peter’s shadow.

Should this surprise us? No.

Our God is all-powerful! If He wants to use aprons and shadows to heal the sick and set free the oppressed, He can do it! Nothing is impossible for Him!

Our God is also supremely compassionate! Even if people are misguided in thinking that Peter’s shadow or Paul’s apron can heal them, God may still heal people through such means because He is so compassionate toward them.

But theologically to define a miracle as simply an “extraordinary and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws” will not suffice; that definition falls short because it doesn’t include anything about what God is revealing through the miracle. Remember: the miracle isn’t the point, but the miracle is making a point.

When the widowed woman’s son was raised from the dead by the prophet Elijah, she said afterward, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth,” (1 Kgs 17:24).

The widowed woman surely rejoiced that her son was raised, but the point of his raising was so that Elijah’s message would be recognized as the word of the Lord.

When John wrapped up his account of the life of Jesus, he says that Jesus did many other signs or miracles in the presence of His disciples but John recorded the miracles in His gospel so that people would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and have life in His name (John 20:30-31).

The miracles weren’t the point, but they were making a point about Jesus.

He is the Christ.

He is the Son of God.

If we believe on Him for salvation, we can have life in His name.

What’s the point of these extraordinary miracles here in Acts 19:11-12? What do they reveal?

They reveal that Paul is a man of God, and the word of the Lord in his mouth is true. And what is that word in Paul’s mouth?

Jesus is the Christ.

Jesus is the Son of God.

If we believe on Him for salvation, we can have life in His name.

But not everyone preached that message because not everyone believed that message; but that didn’t some of them from trying to commandeer the power in the name of Jesus for their own gain.

It didn’t turn out well.

PART #2: The Seven Sons of Sceva (Acts 19:13-17)

Acts 19:13–17 NASB95

13 But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.

In different translations, Sceva is called a Jewish chief priest, the chief priest, or even the high priest. The Jewish historian Josephus provides us with a list of the high priests and none are named Sceva, so either Sceva belonged to one of the families of the chief priests or he and his sons were charlatans using titles like chief priest or high priest to fool some gullible Ephesians.

Sceva’s seven sons went to a man with an evil spirit and tried to cast it out by employing the name of Jesus. The demon within the man said, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” (Acts 19:15).

Then the possessed man beat these seven sons of Sceva leaving them bleeding, naked, and running for their lives.

God would not give credence to these frauds. He would not allow them to perform any miracles in the name of Jesus because they didn’t know Jesus; they did not believe the message of Jesus; they certainly did not preach the message of Jesus; and they were not authorized to perform such miraculous works as the Apostles were.

Sceva’s seven sons had tried to use the name of Jesus in vain and paid the price.

No one who was witness to their embarrassment would believe anything they had to say.

But the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.

The result of every genuine miracle performed in the name of Jesus is that the name of Jesus is magnified.

Peter performed miracles, but Peter’s name was not magnified.

Paul performed miracles, but Paul’s name was not magnified.

Other Apostles performed miracles, but their names weren’t magnified.

Miracles performed by the power of God in the name of Jesus Christ whether performed by Peter, Paul, or another Apostle always resulted in the name of Jesus being magnified!

We may not be trying to perform an unauthorized miracle in the name of Jesus, but we need to be honest about why we are seeking miracles in the name of Jesus.

[ILLUS] A young woman’s husband was in terrible condition. It was cancer and the doctors said there was no hope. She had not given up hope, however, and publically requested that people join her in begging God for a miracle.

As I read the story, my heart broke and I prayed that God would heal her husband, but I also wondered why she wanted this miracle.

Did she want the miracle because she loved her husband and wanted him to be around for her in the years to come? Certainly.

Did she want the miracle because she wanted her husband to be there for their children in the years to come? Absolutely.

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting her husband to be healed for those reasons.

But I hope you will not think me too callous for wondering if the magnification of the name of Jesus ever crossed her mind.

I don’t think it did.

I don’t think it would have crossed mine either unless I had spent some time thinking about miracles from the biblical perspective.

From the biblical perspective, miracles are not about me and what I want but about Jesus and who He is.

I think we often say, “Oh yes, I want the miracle because I want Jesus to be glorified,” but if we are completely honest we often want the miracle for more self-serving reasons. We want the miracle for our joy, our happiness, our comfort, our ease, but rarely do we honestly want the miracle for His glory—for the magnification of the name of the Lord Jesus.

But to want a miracle for any other reason is to misunderstand the point of miracles.

PART #3: Believing, Confessing, and Burning (Acts 19:18-20)

Acts 19:18–20 NASB95

18 Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. 19 And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.

The people heard about what happened to the seven sons of Sceva, and they heard about what the evil spirit said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” (Acts 19:15)

Some of the Ephesians then understood that Jesus had authority over evil spirits and had delegated that authority to His Apostles, specifically in this case to the Apostle Paul.

This meant that Paul’s message concerning Jesus was true, and having believed that message, they confessed their occult practices and burned their magic books.

This was no small sacrifice because the books were worth about 50,000 pieces of silver or about 136 years worth of wages.

Salvation leads to sanctification, and sanctification is always worth the price even if it is costly.

We shouldn’t hold on to something sinful just because we have a lot of money invested in it.

The financial hit is worth it to walk more closely with Jesus.

The extraordinary miracles, the episode with the seven sons of Sceva, and the example of the repentant burning their magic books, led to the word of the Lord continuing to grow and prevail.

The miracles in Ephesus pointed to the message of salvation in Jesus Christ.

You don’t really need a miracle, but you do need to believe this message of salvation concerning Jesus.

Conclusion

[PRAYER]