13  The  Powerful Word  (Acts 19:8–20)

And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. And this took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. And God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. 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.” And 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 that house naked and wounded. 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. Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. 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. So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing. (19:8–20)

Ever since the Fall, members of the human race have been in rebellion against God. Having (so they think) torn God’s “fetters apart, and cast away [His] cords from [themselves]” (Ps. 2:3), they imagine themselves to be free. In reality, they have become enslaved to sin (John 8:34; Rom. 6:17) and Satan (1 John 5:19). The apostle Paul reminded the Ephesians:

Satan manipulates fallen men by two means. First, he influences their minds. “A natural man,” wrote Paul to the Corinthians, “does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Cor. 2:14). Lacking the Holy Spirit’s illumination, unregenerate men and women fall prey to Satan, who seeks to blind “the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4).

This is confirmed by the spiritual strategy for war with Satan’s kingdom given in 2 Corinthians 10:3–5, where Paul writes:

We are waging war against ideas, proud philosophies and thoughts in an effort to tear down human idealogies and bring every thought captive to Christ. That can be done only with the truth of Scripture.

Second, Satan exerts a sinister influence over the fallen human will, though he cannot force it to act. He does so by temptation, both externally; through the evil world system and internally through sinful human nature. Jesus expressed the fearful effect of that influence to the Pharisees when He said, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father” (John 8:44).

Satan does not have things all his own way, however. Into this fallen, rebellious, evil world “the Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). His death on the cross assured Satan’s ultimate defeat:

When the glorious earthly kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ comes, Satan will not be permitted to tarnish it with his presence (Rev. 20:1–3). Released for one last burst of evil activity at the end of that Millennium, he and all his wicked, rebelling forces, both angelic and human, will then be cast into the lake of fire forever (Rev. 20:10–15).

The earthly ministry of Jesus Christ foreshadowed Satan’s ultimate defeat. From the very outset, He exercised absolute power and authority over Satan and his demons. Tempted three times by Satan himself, Jesus emerged from the struggle victorious. The gospels are replete with examples of His power over the demonic realm. Matthew 17:14–18 relates one such incident:

Mark 1:32–34 yields another insight into Jesus’ amazing power over demons:

Not only did Jesus have the authority to cast out demons, but He also had such absolute control over them that He could forbid them to speak. Mark 5:1–13 describes one of the most terrifying examples of demon possession in all of Scripture:

The cure of even this individual, infested with numerous demons, posed no difficulty for Jesus. He commanded them to enter the pigs, so that all watching would have no doubt that they obeyed Him. It was a dramatic display of His power over the spiritual forces of evil.

The demons exhibited a terror that stems from their knowledge of their ultimate fate. Luke 4:33–35 relates that

Aware of the fate that awaited him—eternal destruction in hell—the demon fearfully asked if this was the time and if Jesus was going to destroy him on the spot (cf. Matt. 8:29). Interestingly, while men through the centuries have debated Jesus’ identity, the demons have no such doubts. This fallen angel knew that he was in the presence of “the Holy One of God,” and such awareness terrified him (cf. James 2:19). It should be noted that in this instance, as in all the instances recorded in the gospels, there was no struggle. Jesus spoke, and the demons instantly acquiesced.

Jesus also extended His power over demons by delegating it to some of His followers. During His earthly ministry, He sent out seventy of His disciples to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom. When they returned they exclaimed, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name” (Luke 10:17). The twelve were given power over demons (cf. Matt. 10:8). Acts 5:16 records that “the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits; and they were all being healed” by the apostles. Through the ministry of Philip the evangelist, “in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice” (Acts 8:7). Encountering a demon-possessed girl in Philippi, “Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!’ And it came out at that very moment” (Acts 16:18).

Such miraculous power over demons was unique to a few individuals during the apostolic age, being basically one of the “signs and wonders and miracles” that constituted “the signs of a true apostle” (2 Cor. 12:12). By the time Hebrews was written, its author spoke of such miraculous signs in the past tense:

The fascination, seen today in some Christian circles, with exorcising demons is without biblical support and dangerous. The assumption that a believer has authority to command demons and Satan, or to bind them, is fiction. Even Michael the archangel would not be so bold (cf. Jude 9). And reducing the Christian life to a demon hunt obviates believers’ biblically mandated responsibility to pursue true sanctification by holiness and godly living.

Nowhere in the epistles is there any promise to Christians that they can deliver the unsaved from demons. Nor is there any command for believers to exorcise demons out of each other. Nowhere in Scripture are demons ever cast out of believers. Since there is no evidence in Scripture that demons reside in Christians, it is not surprising that there is no record of demons ever being cast out of believers. Indeed, the definitive New Testament passage on spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:10–17) emphasizes the believer’s victory through the means of a righteous, holy life armed with the Word. (For further discussion of these issues, see my books Charismatic Chaos [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992] and, particularly. How to Meet the Enemy [Wheaton, III: Victor, 1992].)

The weapon Christians are to wield in their personal battle with the forces of darkness is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17). As it is through the power of the Word alone that the intellectual fortresses of Satan fall, so Christians by that truth can successfully battle Satan and his demon hosts. Even the book of Acts, which records the apostles’ evangelistic ministry, emphasizes the preaching of the Word over signs, wonders, miracles, and exorcisms. And in Acts 6:4 the apostles defined the priorities of their ministry in the church: “We will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”

This rich text shows how powerfully the Word of God dominated the city of Ephesus. Verse 20 summarizes the passage: “So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.” The power of God’s Word is evident through its proclamation, confirmation, competition, conviction, and domination.

PROCLAMATION

And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. And this took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. (19:8–10)

The first step in unleashing the power of the Word is to proclaim it, and Paul did just that. He had established cordial relationships with the Ephesian Jews on his previous, brief visit (18:19–21). Returning to Ephesus, he found the door still open, so he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. The imperfect tense of parrēsiazomai (speaking out boldly) emphasizes the continual nature of Paul’s proclamation. Boldness was a hallmark of apostolic preaching (Acts 4:29) and of Paul’s desire for ministry (Eph. 6:19). The content of his preaching was uncompromisingly confrontational; he held back nothing out of fear of rejection or hostility. Paul spent three months boldly proclaiming the gospel in the synagogue, his longest stretch in any synagogue, except possibly at Corinth. During that time, Paul was reasoning with the Jews and persuading them about the kingdom of God. Reasoning is from dialegomai, from which the English word dialogue derives. Paul did not merely lecture, but again was responding to their questions and challenges. Persuading is the present participle of peithō, and means “to convince by argument” (cf. Acts 28:23). He was obviously in the midst of a whole congregation of unbelieving Jews. Yet he unflinchingly and directly challenged their whole religious system, calling them to repent and believe in Jesus as their Messiah and God.

Preaching the kingdom of God encompasses more than the eschatological thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth. To teach the kingdom of God is to teach the things concerning Christ and salvation (cf. Acts 28:31) and righteousness (Rom. 14:17). It is to teach how to enter the sphere of salvation and live there in communion with God.

Although Paul was able to minister in the synagogue for an unusually long time, the inevitable finally happened. Some of the Jews became hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude. Hardened is from sklērunō, a word always used in the New Testament to speak of a heart hardened against God (Rom. 9:18; Heb. 3:8, 13, 15; 4:7). The imperfect tense of the verb shows that the hardening was a process. Over the course of Paul’s three-month ministry in the Ephesian synagogue, some hearts gradually hardened against the gospel. When the truth is rejected repeatedly, it hardens the heart, and the message of salvation becomes an “aroma from death to death” (2 Cor. 2:16). Their refusing to repent and believe the gospel is classified as being disobedient, since belief is a divine command (Acts 17:30; cf. Mark 1:15).

The outward manifestation of their hardened inward disobedience manifested itself not only in a refusal to repent and believe but also in speaking evil of the Way. As the capitalization in the New American Standard Bible text suggests, the Way was an early title for Christianity (cf. Acts 9:2; 19:23; 24:14, 22). Paul’s opponents began an aggressive public campaign of slander before the multitude in an attempt to destroy the apostle’s influence with them.

Realizing nothing was to be gained by remaining in the synagogue any longer, Paul withdrew from there and took away the disciples (those who had repented and confessed Jesus as Lord), and began reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. Tyrannus may have been the owner of the lecture hall or a philosopher who taught there. If he was a teacher, his name, which means “our tyrant,” may be a nickname given him by his students. Some New Testament manuscripts add that Paul taught in that school from the fifth to the tenth hours (11:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.), perhaps the time when Tyrannus would have dismissed his students for the midday rest. F. F. Bruce, for example, wrote:

Paul did not go off duty at 4:00 P.M. but continued ministering well into the evening hours (Acts 20:31), no doubt instructing from house to house.

Paul maintained this grueling schedule for two years, with the result that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. Without (as far as is known) ever leaving Ephesus, Paul, through his converts, evangelized the entire province of Asia (cf. v. 26). During this time, the churches at Colossae and Hierapolis, and probably also the seven churches of Revelation 2–3, were founded. Paul’s very effective strategy for evangelism was to teach the Word, make disciples, and let them spread the gospel. Spiritually reproducing Christians are the heart of any successful method of evangelism.

So the kingdom of darkness was effectively assaulted by the proclamation of the gospel.

CONFIRMATION

And God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. (19:11–12)

To provide incontrovertible evidence that the message was true, God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul. Such miraculous confirmation was a standard feature of apostolic preaching. In the absence of a written New Testament by which to measure someone’s teaching, God used signs and wonders to authenticate His message (2 Cor. 12:12; Heb. 2:3–4; cf. Acts 2:22).

Steeped in superstition and failing to understand that Paul was merely the human channel for God’s power, the Ephesians did some amazing things. The handkerchiefs, or sweatbands, and aprons Paul wore during his tentmaking labor were even carried from his body to the sick. The idea that healing power could be so magically transmitted was prevalent in the ancient world (cf. Matt. 9:21; Acts 5:15). That the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out through those means does not commend that method (as some would-be healers would have people believe). It must instead be viewed as nothing more than God’s accommodation to the mentality of those people. And it further proved that Paul was from God and thus spoke for God. As a doctor, Luke carefully distinguishes between diseases and afflictions caused by evil spirits to make clear that not all illness stems from demonic causes.

The miracles God performed through Paul were essential to convince the Ephesians that he was from God. Impressed with him as the messenger of God, their hearts were prepared to hear his message of salvation.

COMPETITION

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.” And 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 that house naked and wounded. (19:13–16)

Seeing the potency of the name of Jesus, some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists decided to add it to their repertoire of incantations. As John Polhill explains,

Like Simon Magus (Acts 8), the exorcists thought the power of the Spirit operative in the apostles was no more than their own fakery or demonic activity, and could be manipulated for their own ends. Accordingly, they 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, of course, were not Christian Jews, since they only knew Jesus as the one whom Paul preaches. Exorkistōn (exorcists) appears only here in the New Testament. It derives from a root word meaning “to bind with an oath”; ancient exorcists attempted to expel demons by invoking the name of a more powerful spirit being. Exorcists were common in the ancient world, even among the Jews (Matt. 12:27; Acts 13:6). Their fanciful spells and ritual formulas were very different from the absolute authority delegated by Christ and exercised by the apostles.

The name of Jesus is no magical charm to be used by whoever wants to use it, as these exorcists soon learned the hard way. They addressed the demon with the incantation “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Unlike Paul, however, they did not know the Person they named nor have His power delegated to them. Luke adds the parenthetical note that seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. Nothing further is known of Sceva, and there was never a Jewish high priest by that name. Either he was a member of one of the high priestly families, or, more likely, he appropriated the title to impress his clients. That is not unlike those charlatans in our own day who falsely claim to be doctors or professors.

Though they may have fooled the gullible Ephesians, these would-be exorcists could not fool the demon. He knew that they did not have any power over him. Speaking through the voice of his human victim, the evil spirit scornfully said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” He knew very well who Jesus was, and was aware that Paul had received supernatural power over the demonic realm from Him. By demanding of the exorcists “who are you?” the demon challenged their authority over him.

The exorcists, of course, had neither the right to use the name of Jesus nor the power to command demons, so the demon attacked them viciously. With the supernatural strength that sometimes accompanied demon possession (cf. Mark 5:3–4), the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all seven of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. Battered, defrocked, and humiliated, they beat a hasty and ignominious retreat. They were no doubt shocked that their attempted exorcism had so utterly failed. Presumably, Satan had allowed them in the past to appear to succeed. It can be helpful to remember that Satan’s kingdom is inconsistent and random. Even his demons do not act consistently, and they form a house divided against itself, which cannot stand (Matt. 12:25–26). Here, however, God overruled the confused efforts of these fools for his own purposes.

This story vividly illustrates the danger for any who assume messianic or apostolic power over demons and Satan and thus carelessly meddle in the supernatural realm.

Satan would have wished these sons of Sceva to succeed, so that the domain of darkness could compete with God, as Pharaoh’s magicians did with Moses (Ex. 7:22). But the attempt to provide competition for the Word was thwarted. In fact, it completely backfired and only brought greater conviction among the Ephesians of the power of Jesus’ name and the truth of Paul’s preaching.

CONVICTION

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. Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. 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. (19:17–19)

The would-be exorcists’ fate soon became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus. As a result, fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. The tremendous reality of the name (encompassing all that is true about Him) of Jesus was evident to everyone. They recognized that He was no one to trifle with but someone before whom to bow in faith. Shaken by what had happened, and recognizing the futility of pagan magic, many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. Thus they displayed the turning from sin that marks genuine repentance. Praxeis (practices) here refers to their secret magic spells, which were generally believed to be rendered useless if they were divulged. They turned from their magic as the Thessalonians turned from their idols (1 Thess. 1:9).

Not content with merely ruining their spells by revealing them, 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. They destroyed all their magic paraphernalia publicly, in the sight of all. The staggering value of it, noted as fifty thousand pieces of silver (equivalent to 50,000 days’ wages for an average laborer), was given to indicate Ephesus’s widespread involvement in the magic arts.

DOMINATION

So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing. (19:20)

Luke’s brief summary statement (cf. Acts 6:7; 12:24) pulls the passage together and emphasizes the dominant position the Word of God achieved in Ephesus. All the satanic forces of the occult and magic arrayed against the Word could not overpower it. The bold preaching of the gospel, the confirming miracles, the defeat of the exorcists, the resultant awe and respect for the name of Jesus, and the public repudiation of the magical arts demonstrated the invincible might of God’s Word.