Study #61: The failed exorcism by the sons of Sceva resulted in a great revival in Ephesus (Acts 19:13

Study #61: The failed exorcism by the sons of Sceva resulted in a great revival in Ephesus (Acts 19:13 - 20)

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The Golden Ratio outline of Acts Chapter 2.3:

Acts, Chapter 2.3: The Gentiles of Ephesus violently opposed the efforts of Paul to teach the Word (18:23 - 20:38)

§Unique Introduction: Aquila, Priscilla, and Paul guided disciples of John the Baptist to a better understanding of the Gospel (18:23 - 19:7)

¶Opposite Aquila and Priscilla guided Apollos, a disciple of John the Baptist, to a better understanding of the Way of God (18:23 - 28)

¶Opposite Paul guided twelve disciples of John the Baptist to a better understanding of the Gospel, including baptism (19:1 - 7)

§Complement Body: The silversmiths in Ephesus instigated a riot against Paul and his preaching against idolatry (19:8 - 20:12)

¶Opposite Paul worked for two years to train his converts in Ephesus in the Word of God (19:8 - 12)

¶Opposite The failed exorcism by the sons of Sceva resulted in a great revival in Ephesus (19:13 - 20)

¶Complement While Paul was staying in Ephesus, the silversmiths instigated a riot against him (19:21 - 28)

¶Complement The mob of angry idolaters praised their idol Diana loudly and enthusiastically (19:29 - 20:1)

¶Unique Paul raised Eutychus from the dead while preaching in Troas in Asia Minor (20:2 - 12)

§Complement Conclusion: Paul preached a final message of warning to the elders of his church at Ephesus and said goodbye (20:13 - 38)

¶Complement In Miletus, Paul preached a message of warning to the elders of his church at Ephesus (20:13 - 31)

¶Complement Paul said goodbye to the elders of his church at Ephesus (20:32 - 38)

We continue our study of the Book of Acts, Chapter 2.3 with the second paragraph in the Body Section, which has the Golden Ratio design of “OO-CCU”; or, two opposites, two complements, and one unique.

¶Opposite The failed exorcism by the sons of Sceva resulted in a great revival in Ephesus (Acts 19:13 - 20)

Opposite Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon themselves to call the Name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We command you by Jesus whom Paul preaches!” And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, who did so.

Opposite And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

Complement And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the Name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

Complement And many that believed came, and confessed, and showed their deeds. Many of them also who practiced witchcraft brought their books together, and burned them before all men; and they counted their price, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Unique So the Word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

Comments: While Paul was in Ephesus, training his Bible students in the Word, some false prophets were busy as well.

“Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon themselves to call the Name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We command you by Jesus whom Paul preaches!” And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, who did so.” (Acts 19:13-14)

They thought that they could cast out evil spirits, like Paul did, but without the New Birth. They were mistaken!

“And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.” (Acts 19:15-16)

The spirit world is a very dangerous place, my friends, because without the infallible guidance of the Word of God, the Holy Bible, and without the God of the Bible as our Savior and Redeemer from sin to protect us from Satan and his demons, we are helpless to defend ourselves from Satan and his demons. Do not falsely imagine that you can deal with Satan yourself, because you will end up like the sons of Sceva.

There are only two types of beings in the spirit world: God and angels.

The angels are divided into good angels who still obey God; and the evil angels who fell away from God long ago: they are called demons, who are led by the archenemy of God: Satan.

When we are born into this world, we are lost and separated from God by our sins. When we become accountable to God as young children, we begin to sin; and those sins begin to destroy us and draw us deeper and deeper into the control of Satan and his demons. The more we sin, the more we are controlled by Satan; and that control only gets stronger and stronger through our entire life until we die; and then our souls are cast down into Hell, where we must suffer the punishment of our sins until the Great White Throne Judgment. Then God will give a sentence of punishment in the Lake of Fire that is appropriate to the sins that we have committed in our lifetimes, and then we go to that terrible place, which is worse than Hell; and we can never get out and we can never die, because we are made in the image of God, who cannot die!

Thank God for Jesus! Amen.

This is why we need to be saved, because without Jesus Christ as our Savior, there is no hope for Eternity; but with Him as our Savior, then, thank God, our souls are saved from going to Hell; and if we yield our lives to serve Jesus Christ every moment of every day, then we are also delivered from the power of sin and from the power of Satan.

The sons of Sceva were lost, and were still living outside of the Kingdom of God; and they were controlled by Satan and his demons; but they did not understand this. When they tried to command the demons to leave in the Name of Jesus, they were attacking their own spiritual master; and their master the devil rebuked them: one man who was possessed by an evil spirit attacked seven men and won!

The lesson is this:

1) Satan and his demons are far stronger than any human; do not attempt to cast out demons from anyone unless

___a) You have been born again through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ: this is the most important.

___b) You have been trained in the Word of God with formal Bible training: this is important, because if you don’t understand the Scriptures, you don’t understand the spirit world at all. Satan will destroy you, because you will not be able to recognize him or those he uses as his slaves.

___c) You are totally surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ in every part of your life: this is important, because if you have sins in your life that have not been repented of, then Satan will have a doorway into your life (or, a beachhead) that he can exploit to attack you. In order to be effective as a warrior in the spirit world, you must be totally armored with the armor of God, as explained in Ephesians 6:10-18.

___d) You are filled with the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. This is also important, because the Holy Spirit and the Word of God go together:

“also take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (which is the Word of God)” Ephesians 6:17.

The power of the Holy Spirit within, and knowledge of the Word of God in our hearts makes us invincible as we go to battle with Satan and his demons in the spirit world. But without them, we are like a soldier without his armor and weapons. Then we are spiritually weak, even when we are saved and know the Lord as our Savior.

Here is how you can be filled with the Spirit of God and his Word (this assumes that you are a true born-again Christian; this will not work if you are not saved):

First, spend some time praying and getting right with God. Confess every known sin and repent of them; and surrender your life to do the will of God.

Then, read the Bible, out loud, for at least an hour. Use the Kingdom Study Bible, please.

When you read the Bible text, and say the words of God out loud, the Holy Spirit will fill your soul in an amazing way! You will feel the glory of God on your brow and you can go forth to do battle against Satan and his demons with the full armor of God on your soul.

When you command the demons to leave in the Name of Jesus Christ, they MUST obey you! Not because of you, but because you are a servant of the most high God, and because you are filled with the Holy Spirit of God and with his Word.

If you do these things, then you will never suffer the spiritual defeat of the seven sons of Sceva; and God will use you to do great things. Amen.

The spiritual defeat of the sons of Sceva made the people of Ephesus realize that the Apostle Paul was serving the one true God, and that Jesus Christ, whom Paul preached, was the Savior of the world, and they needed to be saved!

“And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the Name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many that believed came, and confessed, and showed their deeds. Many of them also who practiced witchcraft brought their books together, and burned them before all men; and they counted their price, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the Word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.” Acts 19:17-20

And the people who had been saved threw out and burned their books on witchcraft and the occult, along with their idols of Diana (Acts 19:26); and this started a great revival among the people of Ephesus, Amen!

I believe that the same thing can happen today. Many profess to be Christians, but their homes are filled with idols of false gods, their music library is filled with satanic rock music, their home or computer is filled with evil pornography; no wonder that you have no desire to read the Bible anymore! This explains why you haven’t been in church for months or even years! What do you think would happen if you did what the people of Ephesus did? You would have spiritual revival in your life!

Christian friend, get rid of your ouija boards, rock and rap music records, Catholic idols of Mary and the saints and other false gods, and books on the occult and witchcraft, along with books of false religion of all kinds, such as the Quran! The reason that you have no revival in your life is because you have filled it with evil things that belong to the devil! As long as you have these wicked things in your possession, Satan will have an open door into your life to attack you, and to make you spiritually weak! Do not sell them, burn them if possible!

“You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire. You shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it to you, lest you become snared in it: for it is an abomination to Jehovah your God. Neither shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you become a cursed thing like it. You shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly abhor it: for it is a cursed thing.” Deuteronomy 7:25-26

Friend, if you would like to know the one true God, and you want to go to Heaven instead of Hell when you die, then you must first know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior from sin.

If you know that you are a sinner; and you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and was crucified on a cross to pay for your sins; and that He was buried and rose again from the dead on the third day, victorious over sin, Hell, and the grave, here is a prayer that you can use to be born again and become a child of the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ:

“Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned against YOU. I am no good, and you are righteous! You are my only hope for salvation! I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, you were buried, and you rose again from the dead on the third day. I want you to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Please come into my heart right now. Forgive me for all my sins, and save my soul. In the mighty Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!”

If you have turned from your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and only Savior from sin, please message me through Facebook and let me know that you have done that, so that I can pray for you and rejoice with you in what God has done in your life. Amen.