Who Are You?

Acts  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
0 ratings
· 2 views
Notes
Transcript

Introduction

Proverbs 3:5–6 KJV 1900
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.
Good morning!
We’re continuing our journey together through the book of Acts this morning.
We have been following Paul’s missionary journeys, as he travels throughout the whole region, now on his third major trip.
If you have a bible with maps in the back, it’s very likely one of them has a reference to Paul’s travels.
Back in chapter 13, sometime around 46 A.D. (or 47 A.D.), Barnabas and Saul were set apart by the Holy Spirit and sent out on their first missionary journey by the church at Antioch. They sailed to the island of Cyprus, then went up into the mainland of modern-day Turkey, then back down and around.
His second journey starts in chapter 15, and makes a larger loop, reaching all the way up to Philippi, and down to Corinth, then over to Ephesus before going back to Galilee.
His third journey, which we’re in now, leads him on a very similar route, back up to Ephesus, as the good Lord willed him to return.

Review

Let’s quickly review the beginning of chapter 19, which we read last week.
Previously, on ACTS:
Acts 19:1–6 LSB
1 Now it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper regions and came to Ephesus and found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard if the Holy Spirit is being received.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 Then Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying.
So, this was the beginning of the church in Ephesus!
It’s a church founded in Christ,
Confessing him as Lord
Repenting of Sin
Baptized
Living for God
As we continue reading, we’ll get even more of a taste of what some of that looked like, and it was pretty amazing!
I have to be honest with you, this is one of those time I wrestled with God over how to preach this passage and why this passage of all passages is the one we’re doing the first week with kids in the service.
I say that because this is a pretty graphic and intense scene, which gives me the chills just to think about!
But, that’s why I want to also just say right off the bat that, as much as we need to acknowledge its reality, we do not need to fear the spiritual realm.
If at any point you find yourself doubting this, just turn your mind to 1 John 4:4, and I highly encourage you to memorize this:
1 John 4:4–6 LSB
4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are from God. The one who knows God hears us; the one who is not from God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Alright, let’s dive in.

Acts 19:11-20

Acts chapter 19, starting in verse 11.
Acts 19:11–20 LSB
11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that cloths 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 invoke over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I implore you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Now seven sons of one named 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, subdued all of them, and utterly prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And 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 Also, many 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 were 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.

Initial Reaction

Again, my initial reaction to this story is that it kind of gives me some chills. The first part of this story is pretty spooky! It’s a chilling reminder of the very real and present spiritual nature of the universe, a glimpse into what normally goes unseen and unheard by human eyes and ears.
While many of us in Western culture tend to dismiss the realm of spirituality, the church around the world acknowledges it and literally sees it. This was certainly the case for Paul in Ephesus, and the struggle in this city was very real indeed! It was to this church that he later will write these words: Eph 6:10-12
Ephesians 6:10–12 LEB
10 Finally, become strong in the Lord and in the might of his strength. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil, 12 because our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
And in Romans, he describes the result of such valor:
Romans 8:35–39 LSB
35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction, or turmoil, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were counted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We are more than Conquerors, through Christ! Remember, lean not on your own understanding…we don’t want to go into the thick of it without any protection!
There is a very real battle going on!
The fact that there are exorcists in the Jewish community shows you that they took it seriously too, even to the extent that these brothers have made it their occupation. Jesus encountered demons, and this group of exorcists encountered demons.
**************************

Motives?

Mike and I went back and forth on this for a while, trying to figure out what motivated the sons of Sheva to use the name of Jesus.
As Christians, I think we can sometimes be quick to judge the motives of these “professional religious dudes” who made it their occupation to exorcise demons. In the cultural context of Ephesus, it’s easy to imagine how easily their motives could turn to greed, fame, or power. The seven sons of Sciva we're doing things for in Jesus name but did not know him. Of course we balk at that! We who are so enlightened! The point of Christianity is not about religious activity. It's about a relationship with Jesus Christ, right?
These guys just don’t get it! And yet, I would hesitate to label them as “fakes” just based on their actions.
After all, they ARE professing to follow the one true God, and the news about Jesus is just that...still pretty new, and confusing.
******
MIKE: If you study the Torah, you understand the power of “the name”. It seems that in this case, understanding the power of “the name” and how the name carries with it power and authority, it would make sense for them to try to invoke the name of Jesus.
Acts Explanation of the Text

The expression translated “evoke the name” (ὀνομάζειν … τὸ ὄνομα) refers to the incantation of a formula that includes a name regarded as having the power to drive out evil spirits (τὰ πνεύματα τὰ πονηρά) from people. The belief that names have magical potency, that a higher power that resides in the knowledge of the name of a person or a god, is attested in numerous pagan texts.

However, I like how this is summed up:
Acts Explanation of the Text

The name of Jesus is not a magical device; only those empowered by God can liberate people from evil spirits. What is important about Paul is not his name or that Paul uses the name of Jesus in exorcisms, but the fact that Paul acknowledges the power of Jesus as the Lord and thus drives out evil spirits in the name of Jesus—a fact that is known in the spirit world.

That the name of Jesus was held in high esteem might also refer to the fact that it was not just considered a “magic incantation” but something to be feared and revered as the name of God would be.
μεγαλύνω - translated “esteem” in the CSB and “exalted” in the LEB is most often translated as “exalted, glorified, magnified.”

Fear fell on them:

What was the result of all this?
Acts 19:17 CSB
17 When this became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, they became afraid, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high esteem.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom, and the beginning of any church. And, ironically enough, the fear of the Lord liberates you from the fear of the world.
2 Timothy 1:7 NLT
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
Both the miraculous healings and the spiritual encounter pointed people to Jesus, and it moved them to repent. Remember, we talked about the concept of repentance last week.
We know this, the proof of their God-fearing repentance is shown in their actions:
Acts 19:18–19 CSB
18 And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices, 19 while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.
They believed in Jesus.
They confessed their sins/practices.
They changed their ways.
Acts Explanation of the Text

Someone evidently computed the value (τιμή) of these books: they were worth 50,000 silver coins (ἀργύρια; here: Attic silver drachmas), which amounts to the yearly wage (with no days off) of 137 workers.

If you added up the annual wages of every adult in this church, then multiplied it by 2, that would be a similar amount of value that was left behind by those who repented.
Books were expensive. But more than the value of the books was the reality that they could not turn back to them again. They were done with that life. That is repentance. There was no safety net - the books were gone.
And they did this publicly! In a city where, for all of Ephesus’s downfalls, they could still afford to be out in the open about all this, which is kind of cool. There are some places where Christians need to be secret about their faith in order to preserve their lives. But in this case, they were able to make a bold statement that Jesus was worth living for!
Acts 19:20 CSB
20 In this way the word of the Lord spread and prevailed.
I love that the word “prevailed” is used here. It was a battle. God’s Word prevailed against the demons, spiritual forces, society, witchcraft, etc.
I want to bring up a very important point here. It can be empowering to think of ourselves as battling demons, however I must urge you to remember Paul’s caution against battling against flesh and blood.
If you do sense there may be a real spiritual concern in your life, I pray that your first inclination would be to pray, and lean into your church community, rather than to go vigilante and do anything rash.

Conclusion

SO, what is the point of this story?
We’re not told the motives of the Jewish exorcists, so as fun as it is to speculate, that can’t really be the point of the story.
If the motive is not the point, then what is the point? Why the pieces of cloth being used to heal people? Why this bizarre, demonic spiritual encounter?
Well, artifacts imbued with power was a very popular and familiar concept for the people in that city, so I think it was just the most convenient way of showing the power of Christ, as we know Paul would never have claimed any of the power as being his own, but it would have very effectively caused a "stir" of excitement, which is just what was needed at the time.
Any of you like to “stir the pot?” IYKYK There’s a time and a place for those of us who like to stir things up, and this story shows that.
I'll be honest with you, if I imagine myself in the place of the sons of Sheva, I would be so resolute and stubborn in my faith that I would easily dismiss these stories as the work of charlatans or common magicians, like Pharaoh's court magi. However, if I went into a house and said "let's try invoking this guy's name, and risk offending YHWH, just in case he really is from HIM."
Then, the spirit says "Yeah I know THAT guy AND the guy who's working for him, WHO ARE YOU?
If I wasn't busy getting stripped down and beat up by the guy I would fall on my face before YHWH right there, declare Jesus as lord and beg him to allow me to wash his feet or dress his wounds.
At this point, the message is clear for everyone, no matter whether they put more stock in physical artifacts they can see, or wildly bizarre spiritual experiences, there is no room left for disbelief but for the very hardest of hearts. And, we also know that even the hardest of hearts can be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is and always has been true. No amount of tangible "proof" or "evidence" will convince someone who has already chosen not to believe in the gospel, but the impact for those who do choose to believe is essentially limitless.
Also, the miracles of Paul and even the demons attacking the dudes, is making sure that all the glory, and all the fame is pointed toward God, and not toward ourselves.
Meditate again on this passage:
Proverbs 3:5–6 KJV 1900
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.

Benediction

1 John 4:1–6 LSB
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are from God. The one who knows God hears us; the one who is not from God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more
Earn an accredited degree from Redemption Seminary with Logos.