Miracles glorify Christ
In Acts 19:13, we are discussing the area of exorcism is because we find the word "exorcist", where it appears for only one time in the New Testament. Let us look at Ephesians 2:2 at our character before becoming a Christian. Paul says, “You once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.”
The prince of the power of the air is the Devil. He is called the spirit that works in the sons of disobedience. Since the time of the fall, all men have become Satan's tools. They are born into the world functioning in response to satanic impulse. Man is a slave, then, to Satan and his demons. Like the ship is at the command of the pilot who turns and directs it as he wills, so is the life of an unbeliever driven by the will of Satan.
Now, Satan rules unbelievers in two general ways. First, he rules men by virtue of their understanding. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him.” So the natural man, the man without God, is left with only the information which is available to him apart from God. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says, “Whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe.”
The second thing that Satan dominates in the unregenerate man is the will. Though he cannot make you do something, he can certainly draw you in that by temptation. In John 8:44, Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.” So Satan then dominates men by tempting their will. Now, this is the predicament of every unbeliever.
Jesus Christ comes with power to free men. According to 1 John 3:8, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” And Hebrews 2:14 says, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.”
In Ephesians 6:10, Paul says, “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” Now, when Jesus began His ministry, He first began this by showing His power over Satan. Even when Satan tried to eliminate Him at His birth, he couldn't do it. And after His baptism, when He was inaugurated into His ministry, Jesus was led into the wilderness, not by Satan, but by the Spirit of God.
Why? Because at the very beginning of His ministry, it was made known that Jesus had victory over Satan. Satan tempted Him three times but lost out every time. And Jesus went all through His life the same way. When He came to the cross, it looked like Satan was the winner, but he wasn't. And at the cross, according to Colossians 2:15, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, Jesus made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”
The power of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only thing that can overrule Satan. Satan is the prince of this world because he dominates men's understanding and men's will. There is no human magic, no sorcery, no exorcism, no ritual, no ceremony, and there is no formula that can overrule Satan's power. Even the name of Jesus used as a gimmick will not work.
The New Testament accounts of the casting out demons reveal this: It is always a matter of authority, never of ritual. Matthew 8:16, “When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word.” What about Matthew 17:21, where it says that, 'these come out only by fasting and prayer.”? That was before the cross and was the usual pattern during the Old Testament age where they prayed and fasted.
Nowhere in the New Testament, is there any exorcism of demons from a non-Christian or a Christian. So, in this age, how do non-Christians get rid of demons?" There is only one way; that is to come to Jesus Christ. Well, what about all the unsaved people in the world? Are they all demon possessed? They are certainly all under the control of Satan.
Can a Christian have fellowship with a demon?" Yes, according to 1 Corinthians 10 they can be duped by Satan. In Corinth some Christians were coming to participate in the Lord’s Supper at the Lord’s table, and then went right back to their pagan religion. Paul says in 1 Corinthian 10:20, “the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.”
So what is going to happen to them? 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 says, “Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself.”
Many Christians have become so preoccupied with the Devil and their demons, that there are these deliverance ministries where you can go and get delivered. Listen, Jesus said in Matthew 12:28, “I cast out demons by the Spirit of God.” The only issue in the Christian's life is the issue of yielding to the holiness of God and to the Holy Spirit that eliminates Satan's power.
Look at Ephesians 6: 12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” So it is clear that we are going to struggle against demons, right? Now, if a Christian is struggling with demons, where is he going to get the victory?
Verses 13-16, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”
So the solution is not a deliverance ministry; the solution is putting on the righteousness of God. Verse 17-18, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” Of all the responsibilities that we have toward one another, there is no command to cast demons out of each other!
The bible calls us to love one another, teach one another, edify one another, nurture one another, comfort one another, build up one another, reprove one another and so forth; but it doesn't say cast demons out of one another. Now, I can rebuke your sin, and I can give you wise counsel about your sin, and I can admonish you about your sin, but I can't live a holy life for you.
Let us go back to Acts 19. You know the greatest thing we have to overpower Satan? The key to understanding that in verses 8 to 20 is in verse 20, "So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed." Of course, it wasn't written down then; God poured it through Paul, so he had the Word. The Word of God influenced the Ephesians by its proclamation, its confirmation, its competition and its conviction.
The Word arrived through Paul and was proclaimed. Verse 8, "He went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the Kingdom of God." Verse 9, “But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.”
So after three months, they started opposing Christianity in front of the whole town, speaking evil of the Way, those who had been hardened along the way. Instead of believing, instead of being softened, the longer Paul preached, the harder their hearts got. And so finally, they attacked Christianity verbally and Paul departed from them and separated the disciples' preaching daily in the school of Tyrannus.
We know that he taught for five hours all afternoon, and late at night in houses leading bible study. He was a pastor/teacher. Verse 10, “And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.” The Word just spread everywhere. And along with its proclamation was its confirmation, and this is where we begin tonight.
Verse 11, “Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul.” When God moved into an area, Paul not only preached the Word but God confirmed the Word with miracles. This was the way God worked with apostolic preaching. Today, we believe a man's message because his message is according to the Bible. But in those days, there was no New Testament; the only way to validate somebody was to witness God’s supernatural work.
Mark 16:20, “And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.” 2 Corinthians 12:12, “Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.” So in verse 11, God did miracles by the hands of Paul; God needed a human instrument. Paul would preach, and miracles would occur.
Now, the people would see Paul and not really see God doing all the work. And so they got the idea that this Paul was some kind of super being. And verse 12 says, “so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.” Here is where you get this idea of healing cloths or handkerchiefs.
The people in Ephesus were very superstitious. And when they saw these miracles coming out of Paul, they assumed the power was Paul's. And so they got Paul's old sweat cloths and they figured that those cloths could work the same thing for them. In spite of their superstition, God still did these miracles! God was confirming the Word, and He did not let their superstitions interfere.
Well, what happened as a result of these miracles? Look, at verse 12, "the diseases left them.” They were physical healings. It is ridiculous today for people who call themselves “healers” to offer their handkerchiefs for healing. In Ephesus, Luke makes a distinction between physical disease and evil spirits. Not all illnesses are caused by demons.
Let's look thirdly at the competition. When something good happens in the name of Jesus, Satan will do something counterfeit. Verse 13, “Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” They thought they had a new trick.
They had never seen anything like this. They got this idea of using the name of Jesus to get some benefit. There always will be people that take Christianity and make it something marketable. Notice the word "exorcise." It literally means, “Expelling demons by using sacred names.” It is using sacred formulas, and using the names of gods.
And this is going on today in the Roman Catholic Church. Exorcisms have been done, but they are not valid. First, there is no need for them, right? Only confession and repentance are necessary. And we have exorcisms in the occult today and they had them then, it was Jewish exorcists who also tried to do it, but none of it ever was legitimate.
Verse 14, “Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.” But look what happened. Verse 15, “And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Evil spirits can speak with a human voice. In Isaiah 8:19, it says “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter.” Did the demons know Jesus? Of course. Demons were all created as angels up until the fall.
And the word "know" means personal knowledge. This demon felt no compulsion of power to obey. They may have used Jesus' name, but there wasn't any power in it. Verse 16, “Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.” And "overpowered," means to dominate. An old manuscript includes the word "both" here.
The demon was very powerful. This must have been a total shock to them. They were used to perfect cooperation because they were working for Satan all along. Satan would make it look like they had great success in casting out demons. Why? Because that just perpetuates error. Satan kept them trapped in that counterfeit system. Satan gave them the illusion that they could.
And so this demon didn't cooperate because Christ is in control. The Lord Jesus Christ messed up the whole plan by not letting that demon leave. Luke 10:17 says, "Even the demons are subject to His Name." 1 Peter 3:22, "Angels and authorities are subject unto Him." Satan has really deceived a lot of people in this whole area of exorcism. Satan brought the competition; but Christ overruled them.
Now let us look at conviction. Verse 17, “This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.” They said, “The name of the Lord Jesus, don't use it in vain! Even the unsaved began to recognize that the name of Jesus is powerful and exceptional.
And verse 18 says, “And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds.” These people confessed their used spells. According to magic theory, the only good spell is the one that is secret. Once you divulge the secret, the spell is no good. They were giving up all their magic. People believed, confessed, and were transformed.
Verse 19, “Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.” And the word "burned" is written in the imperfect tense, which means they kept on burning. Verse 20, "So the Word of God grew mightily and prevailed." Brothers and sisters, I hope and pray that you're saturated by the Word, that you may know victory. Let's pray.