The Divine Power of God on Display

There are many false deities that are mentioned in the Bible that pagan nations worshiped. There was Amon, the chief god of Egypt. Asherah, the Canaanite goddess, and Baal a Canaanite and Phoenician god of fertility and rain., whom Elijah mocked both and their worshipers, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!” 1 Kings 18.

The Sidonians worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of war and fertility. Dagon, was the god of the Philistines. In 1 Samuel 5:1–7, the Philistines brought the ark of the covenant into the temple of Dagon, to show that their god had victory over Yahweh. Dagon then fell down before the ark and was smashed, signifying the death of the deity.

Baal-Zebub the deity of the Philistines. Bel, the chief deity of Babylon. Molech, the deity of Ammon, whom they would sacrifice their children to Lev. 18:21, and Artemis, the Greek goddess whom the Ephesians worshiped.

None of these false deities possesses the Divine power of God and Jesus Christ. As we will see in our text today, the Divine power of God is on display at Ephesus. 

We as believers don’t need to consult false deities; they’re powerless to save, and powerless to help. We only need to look to our Divine, powerful God to help us in our time of need.

Acts 19:11–12“And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 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.”

God is said to have been doing extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul. God allowed Paul to do these extraordinary miracles to authenticate that Paul’s message came from God. This was often the case, why God did miracles through Jesus during his earthly ministry to validate that God was working through Him (Acts 2:22), and as well as the apostles who did signs and wonders and miracles to authenticate their message to unbelievers (Acts 5:12; 2 Cor 12:12).

And there were no better audience for God to use Paul to do extraordinary miracles than the Ephesian people who were devoted to worshiping the false deity Artemis, they held to all sorts of superstitions. 

It is obvious that the Ephesians had heard and some may have witness that miracles had been done by Paul, that they would take the cloths or aprons that Paul wore and took them to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. No wonder Luke describes that God was doing extraordinary miracles, for God’s Divine power was on display that the Ephesians had never seen before by their false god Artemis. God wanted these pagan people to know who the real God is so that they would believe Paul’s gospel message for their salvation. We have seen the Divine power of God on display through Peter in the Acts 5:14-15. God will display his divine power to draw unbelievers to believe, and to strengthen the faith of believers.

Acts 19:13–16“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.” Now seven sons of one named Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 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.”

The word about the miracles power that was being done by the name of Jesus who Paul was preaching had reached the ears of the Jewish exorcists that they went from place to place, and attempted to invoke/command over those who had evil spirits and they recited the name of Lord Jesus whom Paul preaches. Now you must understand these Jewish exorcists were magicians and in those days magicians and sorcerers would share, sell and buy magic tricks. This was big business just like magicians, sorcerers and spiritist today who get rich using tricks and demonic activity.  These Jewish exorcists tried to command evil spirits, not by the will of God, nor did they know Divine power of God, nor were they trying to do so by faith in Jesus Christ, for the text reveals that they weren’t even followers of Jesus Christ, they said “I implore you by Jesus whom Paul preaches,” not who they are preaching, they were using Jesus’ name as if was the secret magical words that would drive evil spirits from a person. 

In v.14 we are told that others had tried to pick up on using the name of the Lord Jesus whom Paul preaches. Luke says that there were seven sons of one named Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who was probably a self-proclaimed chief priest, these seven sons were doing this. And when they had attempted to use Jesus’ name to drive out a evil spirit from a man, the evil spirit that was in that man answered and said to them, I recognize Jesus. You best believe demons recognize Jesus because of His divine power and authority He has over them.

Luke 8:26–33“Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when He came out onto the land, a man from the city met Him, one who was possessed with demons and had not put on any garment for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. Now seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.” For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times, and he was bound with chains and shackles, being kept under guard. And yet breaking his bonds, he was driven by the demon into the desolate regions. And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they were pleading with Him not to command them to go away into the abyss. Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain, and the demons pleaded with Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission. And when the demons came out of the man, they entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

The evil spirit told these seven sons of Sceva, I know Paul. They were aware that God was using Paul to drive out evil spirits by the power of the name of Jesus Christ. Yes, demons believe there is  one powerful God, and they tremble (James 2:19). This prompted the evil spirit to say to the seven sons of Sceva, “but who are you?” And the evil spirit that was in that man recognized that the seven sons of Sceva had no divine power to drive him away or destroy him; that man who had the evil spirit, leaped on them, subdued all seven of them, and utterly prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This shows you the power a person can have when they are possessed by demons. The legion of demons that were in the man that Jesus delivered was seized by these demons repeatedly, and he was bound with chains and shackles, and kept under guard, but each time he would break his chains and shackles and get away. This is true today. I’ve seen a guy in my neighborhood take on several police while under the influence of demons because he had smoked a sherm stick. They could barely subdue him. 

In our text these seven sons of Sceva were overtaken and beaten by one man who had an evil spirit, but the divine power of God that worked in one man, Paul, evil spirits were being cast out by his cloths and aprons. Truly, the Divine Power of God was on Display.

Here’s a lesson to all of these so-called exorcists and false preachers who go about declaring and decreeing demons to be cast out by the name of Jesus. They'd better be careful because demons will say, But who are you? And the end results could be devastating.

Acts 19:17“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.”

Word of what happen to the sons of Sceva spread rapidly to all, both Jews and Greeks that lived in Ephesus concluded that the name of the Lord Jesus was more powerful than evil spirits and it cause fear/phobos/terror/reverence fell on everyone, and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified/megaluno means to esteem highly, to get glory and praise.

From praise to confession of sin

Acts 19:18“Also, many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. Notice that those who had believed were convicted by their practice of magic spells and they kept coming, confessing and disclosing their magical spells.

From confession of sin to turning away from sin

Acts :19:19 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. So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.”

Those who came to believe in Jesus, who practiced magic spells, gathered their books and began to burn them in front of everyone. They gave up all their books that were valued at fifty thousand pieces of silver; this was a visible testimony before everyone that knew they were practicing magic spells, and that were living pagan lifestyles behind. These believers didn’t want any reminder of their pagan past. Unfortunately, many professing believers still hold on to their sinful entertainment such as film and music, pornography, and other sinful lifestyles, and are not willing to let them go. Mere confession of your sins means nothing if there isn’t a turning away from your sins. Confessing your sins means nothing if you are not willing to destroy the things that caused you to sin and leave your sinful lifestyle behind.

v.20 that the name of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing. This lets you know that the Divine Power of God was on display and the power of the name of Jesus had a profound effect on those who believed, confessed their sins, turned their lives over to Jesus, and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ with others.

The Divine Power of God is still on display, and the name of Jesus hasn’t lost its power. Satan has no power to stop the gospel of Christ. I pray that this message today will cause you to look within yourself and confess and turn from your sins and inspire you to share your faith with others.