ACTS CHAPTER 19:13-41,
“Rescuing Souls From The Occult In
By
Jim Bomkamp
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at the beginning of the third missionary journey
1.1.1.
We saw that Paul had left
Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus and that they continued on in that church
planting work by hosting a church in their house
1.1.2.
We saw that Priscilla and
Aquila met up with a man named Apollos, and that he was preaching in the
synagogue and was mighty in the scriptures, preaching accurately about the
Christ, however he had only learned of the ministry of John the Baptist
1.1.2.1.Priscilla and Aquila took Apollos aside and explained the scriptures
more clearly, probably explaining that the Messiah had already come, had died,
been buried, and raised from the dead, and that now men could be saved through
Him
1.1.3.
Then, we saw that Apollos
went over to
1.1.4.
We saw that the foundation
that Paul laid was excellent and that many in the church became very mature in
their faith, for later on when Paul wrote his epistle to the Ephesian church he
taught them of the highest and most sublime of Christian truths
1.2.
In our study today, we are
going to see how that there was a huge amount of practice of the occult
occurring in Ephesus, and then the Lord began moving in the city and rescuing
people out of it
1.2.1.
We see first of all, that
what kicked off the Lord’s working in a mighty way was that there were Jewish
exorcists going from city to city and trying to cast out demons, and that 7
sons of a man named Sceva attempted to cast out a demon by the Name of Jesus
whom Paul preached
1.2.1.1.These men got beaten up badly by the demons and even had their clothes
ripped off of them by these demons
1.2.2.
When the people from the
city of
2.
VS 19:13-16 - “13
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.” 14 And seven sons of one 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 and subdued all of them
and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”
- In
2.1.
Though the
Israelites were strictly forbidden in their law to communicate with evil
spirits, in the Lord’s day as well as during this time in
2.2.
God has given us as Christians authority over the devil and demons.
2.2.1.
In Matt. 10:1, as Jesus was commissioning His disciples to send them out on an intern
missionary journey, He told them of the authority which He had given to them to
cast out demons, “10:1 And having summoned His twelve disciples, He
gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every
kind of disease and every kind of sickness.”
2.2.1.1.In Luke 10:17, we read that upon
returning from their missionary internship the disciples had cast out demons
and they were rejoicing that even the demons were subject to them.
2.2.2.
In Mark 16:17-18, before Jesus was taken up to heaven He told His disciples about the
miraculous works that would follow those who were true believers in Him, “17 “And
these signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast
out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents,
and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them; they will lay
hands on the sick, and they will recover.””
2.2.2.1.Jesus didn’t say that this
authority was limited to those who were apostles or even leaders within the
church, but rather He referred to ‘those who have believed’.
2.2.2.2.Note here that Jesus did not
tell His disciples that they should tempt the Lord by drinking poison or
picking up snakes, however God can and will heal His people according to His
perfect will for their lives.
2.2.3.
Examples from the book of Acts of demons being cast out through God’s
people
2.2.3.1.Peter
2.2.3.1.1.Acts 5:16: “16
Crowds gathered also from the towns around
2.2.3.2.Paul
2.2.3.2.1.In Acts
16:16-18,
we saw Paul cast the demon out of the diviner slave girl in
2.2.3.2.2.In Acts 19:12 (our last study), we saw
that people were always making off with Paul’s handerkerchiefs or aprons and
taking them to the sick and demon-possessed and that their demons would leave
them.
2.2.3.3.Philip
2.2.3.3.1.In Acts 8:6-8, we saw that Philip, who
was a man who was just a deacon in the church in Jerusalem, came to Samaria and
began to preach the gospel and a great revival ensued and the Lord performed
healings and cast out demons through him, “6 And the multitudes with one accord
were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the
signs which he was performing. 7 For in the case of many who had unclean
spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who
had been paralyzed and lame were healed.”
2.2.4.
In John 9:38-40, we see that the disciples came to Jesus and told him of their concern
because they met a man who was not part of their group and he was casting out
demons through the Name of Jesus, “38 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone
casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to hinder him because he was not
following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who
shall perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of
2.2.5.
I have mentioned all of this so that you could see that Christ has given
to us as Christians His authority to have power over demons through ‘the Name
of Jesus’.
2.2.5.1.Going then as Christ’s
authority, we represent Him as we go forth in His Name, and as we are allowing
ourselves to be led by Him, and as we discern God’s will in situations, we can
claim the very authority of Christ when we pray, cast out demons, and even pray
for healings and spiritual giftings.
2.2.5.2.For instance, my wife and I
have taught our kids since they were born that they do not need to fear the
devil or evil spirits because they have authority over the demonic realm
through Christ, and as His representative.
We teach them to take all of their fears to Christ in faith and prayer.
2.2.6.
On this day, these 7 Sons of Sceva went to Spiritual Warfare 101 Class
2.2.6.1.This story reminds of how I
came to learn about spiritual warfare, for it was only after getting beat up by
the devil that I came to realize that I needed to have Christ’s strength to
fight this kind of warfare. Most of us
seem to learn this lesson the hard way.
2.2.6.2.The first lesson to be
learned is that ‘You have an adversary’.
2.2.6.2.1.Before coming to Christ,
none of us really have many if any problems with demons or the devil, however
after coming to Christ we suddenly realize that we have found ourselves in the
middle of a battle in the spiritual realm, and that it is very difficult to
simply do good and follow the Lord with all of our hearts.
2.2.6.2.2.After coming to Christ we
begin to learn that there really is a devil and that he doesn’t have a red
suit, horns, and carry a pitch fork.
Rather, he is a fallen angel who is very powerful and bent up destroying
our lives and keeping as many people out of heaven as he can. He can be very cunning and he will often
catch us in his snare at that moment when we least expect it. Therefore we must always keep up our guard
and expect him to try to trip us up and make us fall into some sin.
2.2.6.2.3.In 1 Peter 5:8, Peter wrote to us to say
that the devil is hunting us and wanting us to be his prey, therefore we must
be alert and watchful, “8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your
adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour.”
2.2.6.3.In Ephesians
6:12, in
that chapter that teaches us how to do battle in spiritual warfare, Paul wrote
about the fact that in the things that occur to us in our lives, that there are
spiritual forces behind people moving and motivating them, and that though we
may suffer persecutions through the hands of people that there is a force
behind what they do, “8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your
adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour.”
2.2.6.4.In 2 Cor. 10:4, Paul wrote about the fact
that the weapons of the warfare that we are in as Christians is not to be
fought in the strength of our own flesh, but that our weapons must be divinely
powerful, “4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely
powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”
2.2.6.5.Don’t do as the 7 sons of
Sceva did and expect to duke it out with the devil and win, you will always
lose the battle if you fight it in the power of your own strength.
2.2.7.
In James 4:7, James teaches us a very valuable lesson, for he says that we must first
‘submit’ ourselves to God and His will for our lives and then we are to resist
the devil, and if we will do this the devil will then flee from us, “7 Submit
therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
2.3.
These Jewish
exorcists had not applied James 4:7 and first submitted themselves to Christ,
and the lesson to be learned from them is the same as the lesson we learned
from the man Simon Magus, who was a magician, who wanted to buy the ability
through the Holy Spirit to lay hands on people and have them receive the Holy
Spirit.
2.3.1.
The lesson is
that one must be living in the truth in order to be used by God in ministry, as
an agent of God and the truth.
2.3.2.
Where people
are at with the Lord means everything as to whether or not they can be used as
His instrument.
2.3.3.
Wicked men
and women must never be allowed to have an office or role in the church, even
though they are supposedly trying to take a stand for the truth.
3.
VS 19:17 - “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 magnifyed.”
- Fear fell upon all those living in
3.1.
The Lord
allowed the seven sons of Sceva to be overpowered and wounded by a demon
possessed man when they tried to cast demons out of, in order that He might
demonstrate further the credibility of Paul’s ministry.
3.1.1.
Through
Christ, Paul had absolute authority over the demons, however these men used the
same name of Jesus, but they had no power over the demons.
3.2.
Satan always
loses in the end when he torments people, as we see here when all the people
saw the 7 sons of Sceva beaten up badly by a demon-possessed man. The people ended up turning to Christ in
droves.
3.2.1.
Satan thought
that he was defeating Christ when he had Him nailed to the cross, however the
cross ended up being the device through which Satan’s power was overthrown.
4.
VS 19:18-19 - “18
Many also 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 began burning them in the sight of all; and they counted up the
price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.” - Many people turned to Christ from the occult,
and many people burned their occultish books in the sight of all
4.1.
The Lord was
working in the lives of these Ephesian people to such an extent that they ‘kept
coming confessing and disclosing their practices’. One person has said that whenever a mass
revival has occured in history past,
people began publicly confessing their sins, as was happening here in
4.2.
In mass,
people were also giving up things from their life which were hindering their
walk with the Lord. Those who ‘practiced
magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of
all’. The people were being freed from
many demonic strongholds in their lives as a result of burning these objects used in the practice of
the occult religions.
4.3.
Luke records
the huge price that all of the occult books would have brought had they been
sold instead of burned. They burned them
rather than sell them because they would not have wanted anyone else to stumble
as they had been stumbling, from these books.
4.4.
Any kind of
spiritism is strictly forbidden by God as scriptures such as Deut. 18:9-13 reveal,
“9 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall
not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. 10 “There shall
not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through
the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who
interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a
spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 “For whoever does these things is
detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable things the Lord your
God will drive them out before you. 13 “You shall be blameless before the Lord your
God.””
4.5.
My wife reminded me today that in 1 Chron. 10:13-14 that it was because of King
Saul’s disobedience and because he sought council from the witch of Endor, who
was a medium, that God took his life, “13 So Saul died for his trespass
which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he
did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of
it, 14 and did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore He killed him, and turned the
kingdom to David the son of Jesse.”
4.6.
After coming
to Christ, Christians often continue to allow many things in their lives which
are keeping them in some form of bondage, and hinder their testimony before the
world. Christians ought to come honestly
before the Lord and ask Him to search their hearts and see if their is anything
that they have held onto from their previous non-Christian lifestyle that is
holding them back from being used greatly by the Lord.
4.6.1.
After coming
to Christ, as a new believer I didn’t know anything about what the scripture
teaches about occult practices, and I hung around some people who claimed to
believe in God or in Christ, and yet they also were into some of the occult
world as well. One lady I hung around
with told me that now that she believed in Christ she only practiced white
magic, and therefore there was nothing wrong with what she was doing. Another guy would get with people and pray to
Christ and then do Tarot Card readings for them, hoping that Christ was speak
to them through that medium. One lady
had previously been a witch before believing in Christ, but afterwards she
practiced Taoism and Buddhism. Myself,
yes your pastor, I even bought a deck of Tarot Cards and was doing readings for
friends and family members and mailing them to them. I also didn’t quit doing drugs right away
because I didn’t know that they were wrong, and I even was still doing
psychedelic drugs for awhile. I don’t
want to go into the details too much of what happened in my life as a result of
these occult involvements, however because of them I ended up pulling away from
the Lord and just a few weeks after coming to Christ I was deeply backslidden,
and I stayed in that state for over a year.
I want to tell you that that year was the worst year of my life, and I
was in a much worse place that year than I had ever been previously. I’m lucky to have lived through that year.
4.6.2.
Any kind of
occult involvement opens up a door to demonic influence in a person’s life, and
even though as a Christian you might not be able to be possessed by a demon,
you can certainly be demonized and have your body, soul, and spirit tormented
by demons.
4.6.3.
Jon Courson
told this story on CSN one day. He said
that there was once a man who wanted to buy a house that was owned by this old
man. He coveted this house greatly, and
he tried on many occasions to buy the house from the man, but the old man
wouldn’t sell to him. Finally, the old
man had gotten tired of the man’s pestering him so he told the man that he
would sell the house to the man but only on the condition that the man let him
do whatever he wanted to do with just one nail that was in a back room of the
house. The man thought about it and then
agreed. Well, what the old man did was
then to hang a dead dog on that nail.
Day after day, the house began to stink more and more. Soon it was filled with flies, then with
maggots, then insects of all kinds and rodents.
The stench became horrid. The man
came day after day and begged the old man to take the dead dog down from the
nail, however the old man wouldn’t cooperate.
Finally, the man signed back over the deed to the house to the old man
and said, ‘You can have this house because I cannot live here anymore’. The old man had gotten back the house and
also had the man’s money. This story
illustrates that if we Christians allow just even one thing in our life that is
against God’s will for us, that that very thing will eventually drive us away
from God if we don’t remove it from us.
It will be as a wedge in our lives and soon we will allow many other things
into our lives which are also against God’s will, and it will not be until we
finally turn everything over to God that we will begin to find His perfect will
for our lives and be blessed and used by God.
5.
VS
19:20 - “20 So the word of the Lord was growing
mightily and prevailing.”
- The Word of the Lord was spreading and
expanding mightily
5.1.
Luke records
in this verse the tremendous fruit that the Lord was producing in the ministry
of the word, in preaching and teaching, through Paul in the area there in
5.2.
I notice that
this incredible revival that was taking place in Ephesus is described as ‘the
word of the Lord…growing mightily and prevailing’, and yet today we see that in
many ‘so-called revivals’ that are taking place all over the world there is no
emphasis in teaching or even in the preaching of the Word of God, it is all on
signs and wonders and waves of the Spirit coming through. I am more than skeptical of any ‘so-called
revival’ that is not based upon the preaching and teaching of the Word of
God.
6.
VS
19:21 - “21 Now after these things were
finished, Paul purposed in the spirit to go to
6.1.
Paul had
initially wanted to go to
6.2.
Paul also had
a desire to go to Rome, not as a tourist, but rather as an evangelist, as he
saw that Rome was the center of the then known world.
7.
VS 19:22 - “22
And having sent into
7.1.
Paul sent to
Philippi, Timothy and Erastus, while he himself stayed an unknown period of
time in
8.
VS 19:23-27 - “23
And about that time there arose no small disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For
a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of
Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen; 25 these he gathered
together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our
prosperity depends upon this business. 26 “And you see and hear that not only
in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away
a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods
at all. 27 “And not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into
disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as
worthless and that she whom all of
8.1.
Paul had to
leave
8.2.
Paul was a
threat to those who made idols in every place in which he went because when
people turned to the living God, they got rid of their idols. When Christianity came upon the earth,
idolatry was prevalent all over the earth.
However, within 300 years of the church’s existence, idolatry was
removed from a big part of the world.
8.3.
These people
were not concerned a bit about whether or not what Paul was teaching and
preaching was true, they were concerned only about losing the profit that they
made by making their idols. There is
always the potential for big money to be made in the business of religion, and
these men saw their livelihood going up in smoke because of the way God was
moving in
8.4.
Demetrius
himself declares the success of the apostle Paul’s ministry, as he tells them
that ‘not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded
and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with
hands are no gods at all’.
8.5.
When a
person’s god cannot defend himself, then his god is a pretty poor excuse for a
god. Demetrius tries to defend and
protect his gods, and in particular the god ‘Artemis’, saying that if the men
did not do something that Artemis ‘should even be dethroned from her
magnificence’.
8.6.
This temple
of ‘Artemis’, or ‘Diana’ as it is called in Latin, was a temple that housed a
meteorite which had fallen out of the sky and it had an image on it of a woman
who had many breasts. This was
supposedly an image of herself that Artemis threw down to earth.
9.
VS 19:28-31 - “28
And when they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out,
saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 And the city was filled with
the confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, dragging along
Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from
9.1.
This crowd of
craftsmen and makers of idols were filled with rage, and they began to shout,
‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’. It
is almost as if they were either trying to convince themselves of this as much
as others, thinking that if they said this enough times that they would defend
and protect their god Artemis.
9.2.
Luke records
that the city was filled with ‘confusion’, and that they rushed into the
theater and dragged out Paul’s traveling companions, Gaius and Aristarchus.
9.3.
Outside Paul,
in his typical fashion, wanted to go into the theatre and address this crowd as
he had addressed so many other crowds, however the other disciples and some
Asiarchs had the wisdom to not let him go into the midst of this crowd in the
theater who would have torn him to shreds.
10.
VS 19:32 - “32
So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the assembly was in
confusion, and the majority did not know for what cause they had come together.”
- There was mass confusion in the crowd
10.1.
Luke records
the irony in this crowd, since most of them did not even know why they had come
together, and some were shouting about one thing and others were shouting about
other things.
10.1.1.This is a picture of the world that is in rebellion
against Christ, most of the time they do not even know what they are doing or
what they believe, when it comes right down to it. They are simply united against God and
thereby against what is “truth”.
11.
VS 19:33-34 - “33
And some of the crowd concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him
forward; and having motioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a
defense to the assembly. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a
single outcry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, “Great
is Artemis of the Ephesians!”” -
Further confusion ensues
11.1.
Luke records
that some in the crowd had thought that a man named ‘Alexander’ had called this
crowd together, however when ‘Alexander’ stood up to address the crowd and deny
the charge, some in the crowd realized that he was a Jew, and they thought of
Judaism, Paul, and Christianity as all the same sect, and therefore they went
into a big uproar for two hours, shouting, ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’
12.
VS 19:35-41 - “35
And after quieting the multitude, the town clerk *said, “Men of Ephesus, what
man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is
guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, and of the image which fell down
from heaven? 36 “Since then these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm
and to do nothing rash. 37 “For you have brought these men here who are neither
robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 “So then, if Demetrius
and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against any man, the courts
are in session and proconsuls are available; let them bring charges against one
another. 39 “But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the
lawful assembly. 40 “For indeed we are in danger of being accused of a riot in
connection with today’s affair, since there is no real cause for it; and in
this connection we shall be unable to account for this disorderly gathering.”
41 And after saying this he dismissed the assembly.” - The town clerk quiets and dismisses the
crazed mob
12.1.
We see in
these verses how that God used a town clerk in
12.2.
This town
clerk was actually a tool of Satan, as he patronized Paul and his companions,
and at the same time tells the crowd that these men also believe in Artemis,
and had not blasphemed her or her temple.
12.2.1.This did not help the work of evangelizing the
Ephesians.
12.2.2.The town clerk tells the multitude that there is not a
man who does not know or believe in the god ‘Artemis’, or ‘Diana’.
12.2.3.He speaks assuredly to the crowd that the facts about
‘Artemis’ are ‘undeniable facts’.
12.2.4.As a result of this certainty that all accepted and
believed in ‘Artemis’, there was nothing that the crowd needed to prove, and
therefore he sought to cause the crowd ‘to keep calm and to do nothing rash’.
12.3.
When those in
the world patronize us Christians and our Christianity, then we are actually in
peril, and the gospel message will actually be hindered, not advanced.
12.4.
Furthermore,
the town clerk tells the crowd that the traveling companions of Paul ‘are
neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess’, ‘Artemis’.
12.5.
The town
clerk seeks to get the people to proceed with legal recourse concerning the
traveling companions of Paul, if they have any basis for doing that.
12.5.1.He tells them that if the crowd did not calm down and
do things in a lawful manner, then they may suffer some severe repercussions
with the Roman law, and be accused ‘of a riot’.
12.6.
I don’t know
exactly when this event occurred, but before we leave Ephesus, in 1 Cor.
15:32 Paul mentioned the high cost he paid to come and preach the gospel
and build up the church here in Ephesus, for at Ephesus he was placed in an
arena and made to ‘fight with wild beasts’, “32 If from human motives I
fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not
raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”