You have to have faith for that to work

So we finished up last week by talking about how Paul spent 2 years in the city of Ephesus preaching and teaching the people there. And we talked about how his ministry wasn’t contained to the city of Ephesus alone, but it spread out far and wide to the point where everyone living in Asia at the time had the opportunity to hear the gospel. As we continue reading in chapter 19 this morning we’ll see some of the details of how God was using Paul’s ministry to reach the people of Ephesus and the surrounding area for the kingdom. Let’s start reading this morning with the next couple of verses following where we left off last week. We’ll pick up in verse 11.

Acts 19:11–12 CSB

11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands, 12 so that even facecloths or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.

This is an interesting passage. Luke starts off here talking about “extraordinary miracles.” Now you have to realize here, all miracles are extraordinary. That’s why we call them “miracles.” But Luke is trying to emphasize here that these healings are not the same as others he has already talked about. This isn’t like Peter and John healing the lame beggar outside the temple. What we see here is God using inanimate objects to carry healing power from Paul to the sick. And not only that, Paul didn’t even have to be present for it to be effective.

The verses talk about facecloths and aprons. Remember Paul is a tentmaker by trade. And these aren’t the little lightweight, backpacking tents that we may be used to today. The tents that Paul was making were living spaces. They would have been the house for a family. So they were huge. And they weren’t made of the thin, lightweight stuff we use today. There was no nylon or polyester or poly/cotton blend. These tents were made of heavy, woven fabric. There were multiple layers of fabric and leather and animal skins in order to keep the rain out, and keep the heat out during the day and in during the night. This was heavy, sweaty work. So Paul would have likely worn some type of apron to protect his clothes, and he would have had towels, rags, something, to wipe the sweat off of his face and arms periodically. And it was these aprons and towels that people were carrying to the sick who would be healed, and to those who were possessed by demons and the demons would leave. Just the presence of these rags and aprons were enough to drive off evil spirits.

Now this may seem kind of far-fetched to us. “You mean to tell me that a sweaty rag or a dirty apron was enough to heal someone from sickness or drive a demon out of someone who was possessed.” Well, yeah. You have to remember, this is not unheard of. In Luke chapter 8, he tells us the story of a woman who simply touched the hem of Jesus’s robe and was healed. And earlier in Acts we saw people being healed simply because Peter’s shadow passed over them as he walked by. But the key to the healing in both of these examples, and in the passage we read this morning, is not in the item, the apron, or the rag, or the robe, or even in the shadow. The key to the healing that occurred lay in the power of God and in the faith of the recipients of that healing. These people believed that they could be healed through the power of God, and God healed them. He did it in an unexpected manner, but he healed them nonetheless.

Now let’s keep reading with the next verse.

Acts 19:13 CSB

13 Now some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!”

Acts 19:13–14 CSB

13 Now some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.

Remember, Ephesus was a center of pagan worship. It was a city where you could find all kinds of evil practices going on both day and night. So it should come as no surprise that there is quite a bit of demonic activity there. And the other thing that should come as no surprise is that there was no shortage of con men living in the city trying to make a quick buck. Some of these con men billed themselves as “exorcists” who could get rid of the evil spirits. Much like “psychics” today, they would give some generalized mumbo-jumbo, separate the person from their money and be on their way. But some of them saw what was going on with Paul and with the healings and getting rid of evil spirits and they decided to get in on the game. They probably thought that Paul was just another one of them who had figured out a good gimmick to make a few more bucks than the next guy so they decided to make use of his gimmick. Now let’s keep reading and see how it works out for them.

Acts 19:13-

Acts 19:14–17 CSB

14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this. 15 The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul—but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded. 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.

Remember, Ephesus was a center of pagan worship. It was a city where you could find all kinds of evil practices going on both day and night. So it should come as no surprise that there is quite a bit of demonic activity there. And the other thing that should come as no surprise is that there was no shortage of con men living in the city trying to make a quick buck. Some of these con men billed themselves as “exorcists” who could get rid of the evil spirits.

Acts 19:14–20 CSB

14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this. 15 The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul—but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded. 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. 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. 20 In this way the word of the Lord flourished and prevailed.

Acts

Acts 19:14-

So we have these seven sons of a Jewish high priest who have gotten in on this money making scheme like all the other con men. Doesn’t really sound like too much of a stretch considering everything we learned about the priests back in Jerusalem at the temple does it? Money making schemes seem to be par for the course with these guys. So these seven sons of the high priest, Sceva, are running their scam about getting rid of evil spirits and they say, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!” But things don’t go as planned this time. No, this time the spirit looks at them and answers. He says, “You know what? I know Jesus. I know Paul. You I don’t know.” And then the spirit makes the man who it was possessing jump on them and beat them.

Now I want to point out a couple of things here.

First, and probably obviously, the demons know Jesus and they know those who follow him. The evil spirit here answers, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul.” This should come as no surprise to us. We see several times in the gospels when Jesus encounters demons and they know who he is.

I want to read a couple of those accounts. The first is in Mark 1:21-26

Mark 1:21–26 CSB

21 They went into Capernaum, and right away he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. 22 They were astonished at his teaching because he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not like the scribes. 23 Just then a man with an unclean spirit was in their synagogue. He cried out, 24 “What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 25 Jesus rebuked him saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit threw him into convulsions, shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him.

Mark 1:21-

And then just a few verses farther on in that same chapter

Mark 1:32-34

Mark 1:32–34 CSB

32 When evening came, after the sun had set, they brought to him all those who were sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town was assembled at the door, 34 and he healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

The second account is also in the book of Mark chapter 5

The next account is also in the book of Mark chapter 5

Mark 5:1–13 CSB

1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him. 3 He lived in the tombs, and no one was able to restrain him anymore—not even with a chain—4 because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you before God, don’t torment me!” 8 For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 “What is your name?” he asked him. “My name is Legion,” he answered him, “because we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region. 11 A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. 12 The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there.

Mark 5:1-

In all of these accounts we see that the demons know Jesus for who he is. They recognize him as the Son of God. And we also see that Jesus has power and authority over them.

But it’s not just Jesus himself who has authority over the demons. Jesus’s followers have the power to cast out demons in his name. tells us this about the early days of Jesus’s ministry here on earth.

Mark 3:13–15 CSB

13 Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, to send them out to preach, 15 and to have authority to drive out demons.

Mark 3:

We see several times through the scriptures this power being used, but the key is that it is in the name of Jesus. I won’t read through the whole account but we saw this once with Paul already back in chapter 16. If you’ll remember there was a slave girl following him and Silas around and Paul turns to her and says, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And the demon leaves her right away.

That’s the same basic concept we have here in chapter 19, except God is using the inanimate, intermediary objects of the rags and aprons, but the healing and demon exorcism is still being accomplished by the name and the power of Jesus.

And that brings us to the second thing that I want us to get out of this passage in . These seven sons of Sceva are using the name of Jesus so why was the demon able to turn on them and attack them? Why wasn’t it driven out by the very name of Jesus? When I was reading through this and picturing this scene in my mind, it reminded me of an old movie I watched in high school called “Fright Night”. It was a spoof on the horror movie genre that came out back in 1985. The big bad guy in the movie was a vampire and in the climactic scene the vampire hunter faces off against him and he pulls out a cross and holds it up in front of the vampire. Now if you know anything about the legends of vampires you’ll know that they supposedly can’t stand the sight of a cross. So the vampire starts choking and gasping and then you slowly you realize that he’s laughing and he looks at the vampire hunter and says, “You have to have faith for that to work, Mr. Vincent.”

That’s what happened with these sons of Sceva. They tried to use the name of Jesus like a magic talisman. And yes, there is actual power in the name of Jesus, but the true power, the authority of the apostles to drive out demons, came not just from the name of Jesus but from the relationship that they had with the person of Jesus.

And the same thing is true for us today. There are so many people in our world today who claim the name of Christian as a type of magic talisman. It’s their “Get out of Hell free” card. They think, “Oh I was raised in a Christian home,” or, “I go to church every week,” so they think they’re good. But it’s not just about calling yourself a Christian. It’s not just about the name of Jesus, it’s about having a relationship with him.

Jesus told us this himself in the gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 7:21–23 CSB

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’

Matthew

When the spirit of truth clashes with the spirit of evil, there is no contest—God will win every time.

If you were to find yourself in a situation facing off against an evil spirit, would it recognize you? If you were to speak the name of Jesus in the presence of an evil spirit would it obey the command to leave, or would it answer you with something along the lines of the vampire in that movie, “You have to have faith for that to work.”

But even more importantly than facing an evil spirit, what about facing Jesus in the Last Days? When you stand before the judgment seat of God, as we all will on day, will Jesus welcome you in to the kingdom as an adopted brother or sister, child of the King. Or will he say to you, “I never knew you. Depart from me.” It’s not just about the name, it’s about the relationship. If you don’t have that relationship with Christ, come talk to me after the service. Let me introduce you to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Let me introduce you to the name that is above every other name.

Would you pray with me?