In Acts chapter 19, we're going to read verses
13 through 17. 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. Seven sons of one 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 and subdued all of them and overpowered
them so that they fled out of the house naked
and wounded. 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. We've seen that Paul is
coming to Ephesus, this place full of paganism
and the occult. Spiritism and witchcraft. And
many other things. But we see that the gospel.
Comes into Ephesus. And that it's effective.
That it's powerful. That it's mighty. That it's
working. We see that the gospel is coming into
Ephesus. That it's actually conquering. Overcoming
and defeating. The devil's kingdom, it's pushing
back the darkness. It's pushing out the darkness
from Ephesus. We know that ever since Genesis
3, verse 15, there has been a conflict and a
battle raging in this world when God spoke curses
to the man, to the serpent, and to the woman.
We read in Genesis 3, verse 15, And I will put
enmity between you and the woman, and between
your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on
the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.
The Lord is preaching the gospel to Adam and
Eve, and he's declaring a curse on the devil
himself. But he's also teaching us that there's
going to be enmity. There's going to be hostility.
There's going to be conflict between the offspring
of the serpent, the devil, and the offspring
of the woman, those who would believe in the
promise. Those who would have faith. Those who
would call on the name of the Lord throughout
the ages leading up to Christ. and those who
would trust in Christ as the fulfillment of the
promise following His entrance into history and
the incarnation. So there's a battle that's raging
in the world, and it's been raging since the
fall of man. And it will continue to rage until
the Lord Jesus Christ returns from heaven in
glory. We see that the Apostle Paul actually
speaks of this in the book of Galatians. The
Apostle Paul says in Ephesians chapter 6, he
says, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the
strength of His might. Put on the full armor
of God so that you will be able to stand firm
against the schemes of the devil. Then he goes
on and he says, for our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against
the powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness
in the heavenly places. That last part, it literally
says, it literally says in the Greek, against
wicked spirits. Paul is telling us that this
is the true that's taking place behind the scenes
in the world. We're actually told a little earlier
in the book of Ephesians by the Apostle. We read
in verses 8 -10 of chapter 3 of the same epistle,
To me, the very least of all saints, this grace
was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable
riches of Christ. And to bring to light what
is the administration of the mystery which for
ages has been hidden in God who created all things.
And then listen to this, brothers and sisters.
So that the manifold wisdom of God might now
be made known through the church to the rulers
and authorities and the heavenly places. The
apostles telling the Ephesians. That the purpose
of redemption, the purpose of the church, is
to display the manifold wisdom of God, not to
the people in this world, but to the spiritual
forces in the heavenly places. The cosmic powers.
God is displaying His splendor, His glory, His
majesty. He's displaying His manifold wisdom.
to rulers and authorities and the heavenly places
by saving sinners. John Calvin calls the church
the theater of redemption. Now, that begs the
question, if the church is the theater of redemption,
who is looking on? Who sees what's taking place?
Who is observing? Who is watching this great
act of redemption that's occurring? Rulers and
authorities in the heavenly places. This is the
purpose of redemption. To bring God glory. To
display His glory and His wisdom in all the cosmos.
In all the world. To all creatures. To all beings.
To all powers. To all rulers. Authorities. This
is one of the grand purposes and schemes of redemption.
Now when we consider these realities, and these
spiritual realities, we always have to be cautious.
And we always have to be sober. And we always
have to approach them with an attitude of victory.
Now as Paul comes into Ephesus, we have to recognize
that this is the same attitude. That he had.
The Lord Jesus. Has. And he demonstrated in and
throughout his ministry. Absolute. Authority.
And power. Over wicked spirits. Over evil and
unclean spirits. You remember when he was tested.
In the wilderness. You remember at the end. What
does he do? He tells the devil. Go away. And
what does the devil do? He obeys Him. Do you
remember the Gerasene demoniac in Mark chapter
6? The Lord Jesus is coming over the lake and
there's this picture of this crazy, wild man
who's naked, who's cut, who's beaten, who's bruised.
And the Lord Jesus and His disciples are getting
out of the boat. And as they're getting out of
the boat, There's this insane man that's running
full speed after the Lord. And it carries this
idea that he just slides on his knees to the
Lord. And he says, what do you want with us?
The Holy One of God. The man knew who Christ
was. And the demon named Legion seeks permission
from Christ to be going into the swine, into
the pigs. He seeks permission. He implores, he
begs the Lord Jesus, the Holy One of God, not
to send them to torment before the appointed
time. Why are they begging with the Lord Jesus?
Why are they imploring him? Why are they seeking
permission? Because they are in absolute, complete,
and total submission to him. He has absolute,
perfect, and complete authority over the devil.
over evil spirits, unclean spirits, and demons
in this world. And we see the same is exactly
true of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians, in Ephesus.
The same thing is true. The Lord Jesus was absolutely
effective in bringing forth the kingdom in his
ministry and driving out the devil. And we see
the same is true of the Apostle Paul. in Ephesus.
He had authority that was delegated to him. The
Lord Jesus exercised his authority perfectly
in and through the apostle. He was always effective
when it came to these evil spirits. And we see
that it wasn't this great difficulty for the
apostle, was it? We see that it wasn't this great
and terribly difficult thing that he had to deal
with because it was even through aprons and handkerchiefs
that these things were taking place. That the
power of God was so upon and with the Apostle
Paul and his message that men and women were
being delivered from their diseases and that
men and women were being delivered from evil
spirits and their... and their oppression that
they experienced from these spirits. Now why
is it that the Apostle Paul has the same authority
as the Lord Jesus Christ in his ministry? It's
because the Apostle Paul is preaching the same
gospel that the Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed.
It's because the Apostle Paul is advancing the
true gospel of Christ in... Ephesus. He's advancing
true religion. He's advancing Christianity. He's
advancing the church, the work of God, and God
is blessing him and God is working in and through
him. Today, we come to this episode, we see this
fiasco with the seven sons of one Sceva, or one
man, and they seek to... Cast out an evil spirit
simply by using the name of the Lord Jesus as
an incantation. Today we're going to consider
the men involved in this. We're going to consider
the two major errors of these men. And then we're
going to see the failure of these men. Their
abysmal failure. They do not succeed in any way
whatsoever. They fail at replicating and bringing
about that which the true gospel can accomplish.
They are incapable and inadequate at doing what
Paul himself could do in the power of the Spirit
of God. So who were these men that were involved?
Well, the text says, that 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. We see a little bit more
information in verse 14. Seven sons of one Sceva.
So who were these men? Well, they were Jewish
young men. They were sons of most likely a leading
priestly person. They were most likely brothers.
We don't know for certain, but they were probably
brothers. And they were traveling or itinerant
exorcists of the Jewish sort. Now, it's interesting
that they're in Ephesus, isn't it? Where the
occult... is so rampant, where spiritism is so
prevalent, it's interesting that these men who
have as their occupation exercising evil spirits,
that they're in such a place populated with these
things. Now, it makes sense in one level, but
it also makes sense on another level, considering
they're probably doing pretty good business in
Ephesus. They're probably making pretty good
money and remuneration for their work and for
their exorcism. They're probably gaining a name
until the Apostle Paul comes into town. Until
the gospel makes its way into Ephesus. The Lord
Jesus himself actually makes mention. Of these
exorcists. These sons. Not these in particular.
But we see in Luke chapter 11. Where the Lord
Jesus himself condemns. Exorcism in general.
We see. He speaks of these things in Luke chapter
11. Specifically we read in verses. We'll start
reading in verse 14. Speaking of the Lord, and
he was casting out a demon, and it was mute.
When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke,
and the crowds were amazed. But some of them
said, He cast out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler
of the demons. Others, to test him, were demanding
of him a sign from heaven. He knew their thoughts
and said to them, Any kingdom divided against
itself is laid waste, and a house divided against
itself falls. If Satan also is divided against
himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you
say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul, and
if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, listen to
this, by whom do your sons cast them out? So
they will be your judges. The Lord Jesus himself
recognizes that the sons of the Jews were exorcists.
But here's the thing. Who does the Lord Jesus
say that the sons of the Jews were casting out
demons and the power of? What are the implications
of that text? He's saying that these sons are
actually casting out demons by? The very accusation
that they're making against him. The power of
Satan. The sons of the Jews are casting out spirits
by greater and stronger spirits. And what's the
result? They always end up worse. At the end
of that text, we see that that spirit's going
to go and get seven other spirits and bring it
back and dwell and live and make it his permanent
abode in that individual, leaving the individual
worse than they were at the beginning. The Lord
Jesus condemns it, but he also recognizes that
this was a practice, and it's a practice that
had made its way to Ephesus. There were two major
errors that these men took part in and that they
have. It wasn't just the fact that they were
exorcists and they ought not to be. And they
ought not to be taking part in this practice
that our Lord forbids and condemns. But the first
has to do with their knowledge of the gospel.
Listen to what these men say. In verse 13, what
they use, how they say, and how they plan to
cast out this evil spirit in this man in Ephesus.
They say, I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.
So obviously, these men knew about the Lord Jesus.
These seven sons of one Sceva, they knew of Paul's
preaching. They knew about the message. They
knew about the Gospel. They probably witnessed
some of these extraordinary miracles. They understood
and they saw and they recognized the effectiveness
and the power of the Gospel. They knew about
the Jesus that Paul himself preached. But here's
the issue, brothers and sisters. It was second
-hand knowledge. These men knew nothing of that
gospel themselves. They only wanted to use the
gospel. These men had never personally enjoyed
or experienced the realities of the gospel in
their own lives. These men knew about it. They
knew of it. They had working knowledge of it.
But brothers and sisters, they did not personally
experience those realities in their own soul.
They may have even sat under Paul's preaching
himself. Think about that. These seven sons of
one schema, they may have been in Paul's audience
at one point in time. They heard this man preach
of Christ, heard this man proclaim the glorious
realities of the kingdom of God and the power
of God. And they sat under it and they sat under
it and they sat under it. Maybe, we don't know.
But they went away from that and they weren't
changed. They witnessed it. They saw it. They
knew about it. They comprehended it to a degree
with their minds. But brothers and sisters, they
knew nothing of the Gospel themselves. They did
not believe the Gospel. It was second -hand knowledge.
It was not personal knowledge of Christ and the
Gospel. They could not say, it is my Gospel.
It was Paul's Gospel. It was the Jesus whom Paul
preached. These seven sons of one Sceva are like
so many today in the church and around the church.
There's so many individuals today that know about
the gospel. They know of Christ. They know so
-and -so's Christ. They know Jesus, who's so
-and -so's Savior and so -and -so's Lord. Maybe
it's mom's Jesus whom she preaches. Maybe it's
dad's Jesus whom he preaches and he knows. Maybe
it's my brother's Jesus whom he knows and loves
and he has experience with and he loves. Maybe
it's my sister's. Maybe it's my son or my daughter's.
Maybe it's my wife's or maybe it's my husband's
Jesus whom they know and whom they preach about.
But you yourself don't know anything of it. There's
no personal knowledge. There's no personal faith
in that gospel which you know about. Can you
say, with the author of Song of Psalms, My beloved
is mine, and I am my beloved's. Can you say,
Christ is mine. He's all mine. I love Him. He's
my Savior, my Lord. He saved my soul. He spared
me from hell. He saved me from my sins. He spared
me from wrath. And I know it. Can you say that?
Can you say that Christ is pleased with you because
He has justified you in His righteousness? Does
He know you? Does He take note of you? Does He
look upon you? Does He love you? Are His affections
on you? Do you delight in the Lord Jesus Christ
and the reality that He delights in you? Or is
it all second hand? Is it knowledge of and knowledge
about and there's no actual personal experiential
reality taking place in the soul? Do you know
personally by faith the Lord Jesus Christ? Are
you able to say, it's not their gospel. It's
my gospel. It's my Christ. He's my Lord. He's
my Savior. Brothers and sisters, the gospel is
meant to be known. And enjoyed personally. It's
meant to be known and enjoyed in your own soul.
Between you and God. Listen. Redemption is about
you being reconciled to God. That's what the
gospel is about. The gospel is not primarily
about these horizontal things over here and over
here. The gospel primarily has to do with you
as a sinner being reconciled to a holy and a
righteous God. That's what the gospel is about.
Do you know that reality? Is there faith in your
heart? The Christian is the one who knows. The
living God through the Lord Jesus Christ. The
Christian is the one who experiences these realities
in their souls. The Christian is the one who
reads this book, brothers and sisters, who reads
the Word of God. And they have an affinity for
the Word of God. Do you know why? Because the
realities in the Word of God appeal to their
heart and they can say, I know that. They go
and they read and they study the Psalms and they
see the psalmist delighting in God and His Word
and His law. And they say, I delight in Him and
His Word. I wish I delighted more. There are
realities which are tested and tried and proved
in our own souls. We read about Paul in Romans
chapter 7 as believers and we say, I know that
reality. I know the conflict. Between my remaining
sin in my own heart and the new man that I've
been made into. I know that I want to do these
things so often. But I don't. We know the realities
the Word of God speaks of. We can relate to them
intimately. Because they're actual true realities
in our souls. A believer is one who knows these
realities for themselves. They know that Christ
loves them. And they know that they love Christ.
I wonder how many today here present have fallen
into the same error as these seven sons of one
Sceva. Knowing about the gospel. Having a second
hand knowledge. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. But
never knowing it. Themselves. That was the first
error of these men. But there was another error.
And the second has to do with the reality. That
they were seeking to use the gospel. For their
own. Selfish. Purposes. The text says. That these
seven sons of one Sceva. 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. These men knew that the gospel
was effective. These men knew the power of God
was with the gospel and with Paul. These men
knew that the name of the Lord Jesus cast out.
Evil spirits. They knew it worked. They understood
it worked. They saw it and they probably witnessed
it. And so they said to themselves, we want to
use that. Ultimately, these men saw the usefulness
of the gospel. They saw the usefulness of the
name of Christ. They saw the usefulness of what
Paul was doing. And they sought to pragmatically
and selfishly use it for their own ends. Again,
like so many in the church today. So many in
the church today want what the gospel can offer,
but they don't want the gospel itself. So many
today see the usefulness of the gospel. The usefulness
of Christianity. It's becoming very popular in
modern culture for men, strong men, supposedly
moral men, to say, I'm a Christian now. I see
that it works. I see that... It's the basis for
society and flourishing. I see that that's how
reality functions. They want the benefits. They
want the blessings. They want the social capital.
They want the reputation. They want the supposed
morality that comes with it. But brothers and
sisters, listen to me well. Those men don't want
the Gospel. They don't want the Lord Jesus Christ.
They want what Christianity can offer them. And
there's many others. How many view the church
as a tool for making friends? How many view the
church as a means of finding, establishing, and
enjoying community at long last? How many find
the church as a means to the end of relationships?
Finding a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Finding
friends that will like me and that I can relate
with. Someone that will pay attention to me.
Someone that will give me safety and security.
Someone that will pay attention to me and my
personality. Some people use the church as a
means of finding a platform. As a place where
they can speak, where they can serve. But brothers
and sisters, listen to me. That's not the purpose
of the church. That's not the purpose of the
gospel. The purpose of Christianity, the purpose
of gospel, is the reconciliation of sinners to
a holy and a righteous God. There are benefits
and there are blessings, brothers and sisters,
for they flow from and they come out of knowing
Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord. They come out
of repentance and faith, a genuine, authentic,
true, personal knowledge of God. People don't
understand. When you rightly come to the Gospel,
you're not going to any longer think about what
God can do for you. When a person rightly comes
before a holy God with genuine humility and genuine
contrition, broken and trembling before Him,
do you know what they all of a sudden get consumed
with? Do you know what overtakes them? Do you
know what overwhelms them? His grace and His
mercy. They're overcome with the reality, not
what God can do for me, but what Christ has in
reality done for me. They're overtaken with the
reality that the Lord Jesus Christ has been so
gracious and merciful, and now they're overcome
by the Gospel. They're overwhelmed by it. We
don't. Use the gospel, brothers and sisters.
The gospel is not a tool. The gospel overcomes
people. It lays hold of people. It dominates
those who rightly come to it. It transforms them
and changes them. It changes their whole outlook
on the world. These men. just like so many today,
sought to use the gospel for their own selfish
purposes. The gospel saves sinners, brothers
and sisters. It's not a tool to be used, a tool
to be instrument, or a tool to be utilized for
your own plans and purposes. It's something that
changes your life. that transforms you and sanctifies
you and grows you and matures you in grace. It's
what brings you to the living God. These men
fell into this trap and they sought, in their
unbelief, to use the true gospel for their own
ends. Now, this doesn't end well for them. We
see this in verses 15 -16. And in verse 17 as
well, we see the failure of these men in these
verses, really in the response of this evil spirit.
We read in verse 15, And the evil spirit answered
and said to them, I recognize Paul, and I know
about, I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul,
but who are you? Now, one of the things we have
to understand about this text is it says the
evil spirit answered them. It wasn't the man
that answered them. It was the spirit dwelling
in the man. One of the most common occurrences
and nearly universal in all demon possession
throughout history is that the one possessed
speaks in a voice not their own. So this evil
spirit responds to these seven sons of one Sceva
in an abnormal and strange voice, saying, I recognize
the authority of Jesus. I know him. I would submit
to him. I would obey him. I recognize the authority
of Paul. I know him. I would submit to him. I
would obey him because of his relationship with
Jesus. Because he's been given authority and
delegated authority and God's power works through
him. I would obey him and I would submit to him.
But the evil spirit says, now, who are you? I
don't know you. I don't recognize your authority.
I don't have to obey you. I don't have to submit
to you and I'm not going to. In fact, you're
going to submit to me. You're going to be subdued
and overpowered and beaten and humiliated and
ashamed because you thought you could command
me. It's evident that this evil spirit does not
recognize any authority being with these men.
And that's not the biggest issue. The biggest
issue is not that the evil spirit does not recognize
authority to these men. The biggest issue is
this, brothers and sisters, God has not given
authority to these men. God does not recognize
these men. It is not his gospel and they are
not his apostle. They have no right. as unbelieving,
unregenerate sinners to even appeal to the authority
of Christ. They have no right to do so. They
can't pray to Him. They can't proclaim His Word.
They can't appeal to His authority. They just
want to use the message for their own purposes.
What's the outcome for these seven sons of one
Sceva? We're told. 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 the house naked and wounded. 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. We see clearly.
that God was not with these men. His blessing
was not with them. His power was not with them.
His favor was not with them. This was not the
true gospel, but they were seeking to do that
which the gospel alone can do. This whole fiasco
demonstrates the insufficiency. and the inadequacy
of anything other than the true gospel of Jesus
Christ to deliver men from the domain of darkness
and to transfer them to the kingdom of God's
beloved Son. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ
can illuminate a sinner's heart and mind, allowing
them to see the glory of God in the face of Christ
Jesus and the blessed gospel. Only the gospel
that proclaims the right Christ and the right
work of Christ can save a person. It's only the
Jesus that Paul preached which saves brothers
and sisters. But this gospel does save. It makes
men new. It transforms men. It brings them out
of death. and into life. It makes men who have
been dwelling and living in darkness as sons
of obedience according to the course of this
world under the power and authority of Satan.
And it brings them into God's blessed kingdom
as those who willingly love and submit to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Freed from sin, death, hell,
and wrath. And fills them with the Spirit of
God. And makes them new creatures in Christ.
So that it can be said of them. Greater is he
that is in you. Than he that is in the world.
Brothers and sisters. It is only the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Which Paul proclaimed. Which we
have in the scriptures. Which saves sinners.
And overcomes and defeats and conquers. Sin,
death, and hell. Christ alone is the salvation
of sinners. Christ alone breaks through the darkness
and brings forth the kingdom of God, brothers
and sisters.