"Do The Demons Know You?" Sermon: Acts 19:11-20

“Do the Demons Know You?”
[Acts 19:11-20]
September 26, 2010 Second Reformed Church

Do the demons know you? If you were confronted by a demon, would it know you? How would it react?

Luke give us some details of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus:

First, Luke tells us that God worked extraordinary miracles through Paul as a witness and a confirmation of the Truth of the Gospel. Paul was not only able to heal through the laying on of his hands, but God worked through the handkerchiefs (literally, “sweat rags”) and aprons that touched Paul’s skin. When these pieces of cloth were laid upon the sick and the demon-possessed, their diseases left them and the demons exited their bodies.

This was an unusual and extraordinary proof that God did at that time. It is not a promise that such things would or should continue – or that such things would happen with anyone else’s sweat rags. If I gave you my shirt after worship, it would do you no good – unless, perhaps, you needed a shirt and you washed it – but it would not heal you or drive a demon out of a demon-possessed person.

Today there are people who sincerely belief that such things are still happening. There are also plenty of charlatans – con-artists – trying to get people to believe that they have the ability to do miracles through their sweat rags.

In the Middle Ages, in order to raise money, the Roman Catholic Church came up with the idea that the honoring of relics of saints could help reduce the suffering of loved ones in Purgatory and even help deliver the living from illness. This practice continues today.

If you turn your TV on Sunday morning, you’ll find the con-artists. There’s one I’ve seen who is all about increasing wealth. If you send him money, he will send you his green handkerchief, and you will become wealthy. This is not biblical – this is a con.

Now, are there people who are healed or have a change in their finances after following the con-artist’s instructions? There probably are. But such things happen today only in the Providence of God and not by magic handkerchiefs.

There were con-artists in first century Ephesus: the seven sons of Sceva – a high priest – were itinerant exorcists. There was a tradition in ancient Judaism that engaged in occult practices – in witchcraft – and by the first century, there was a great interest in the occult – witchcraft was respected and practiced among the people – even among the Jews – in clear violation of God’s Law: “There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or a charmer or a medium or a wizard or a necromancer, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord” (Deuteronomy 1810-12a, ESV).

Now, that is not to say that the seven sons of Sceva were not successful exorcists. We have every reason to believe that they were successful. They had had enough success that they were making a living out of casting demons out of people – or doing something, anyway. But we also see that they were opportunists – they didn’t just rely on God or on a method prescribed in the Scripture – they looked for any new means or way to achieve the end that they were trying to accomplish. We have a saying today, “the ends justifies the means.” That is what they believed it – it doesn’t matter how you accomplish what you are trying to do – what matters is that you accomplish it.

We know this is true because Luke tells us, “[they] undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits.”

The sons of Sceva were Jews – non-believers – but they attempted to use the Name of Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. And we are certain they were non-believers because they qualified their exorcism, by saying, “I adjure you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.” There were saying, “I cast you out in the Name of Jesus – who I don’t believe in – but Paul does.”

And the sons of Sceva and their supports would say, “So what? If using Jesus’ Name delivered these people from demon-possession, isn’t that all that matters?” The answer must be “no.” Why?

First, we need to remember, as we see in Job chapter one and two, the devil and his demons can do nothing unless God permits it. So, if someone has become demon-possessed, God has – at least – allowed it for His Own Reason.

Second, to use the Name of Jesus without believing in Him was to claim authority that they did not have. They were calling on Someone Whom they didn’t believe in and expecting His Support of they “efforts.”

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, to use Jesus’ Name in an exorcism, when they didn’t believe in Jesus, was to use Jesus’ Name in vain. And God will not allow His Name to be used in vain – not even to deliver someone from a demon.

This might be a good place to let you know that demons are real. Angels exist and demons exist. The difference between an angel and a demon is that the angels follow God and the demons are the angels who followed Satan – Lucifer – the devil – who is also an angel who fell

Unlike the movies and other places you hear of demons and the devil – they are not hideous creatures. Paul writes, “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (II Corinthians 11:14, ESV). In other words, to look at an angel and a demon, you might not be able to tell one from the other. And, as we see in the Scripture, they can appear in human guise, as well.

Of course, we do not normal perceive angels and demons with our senses; they normally appear invisible to our senses. But as we see in the Scripture, there are times when angels appear in a form such that we can see them. That is not a reason to doubt their existence, however. Based on the Scripture, we can be sure that the angels and demons are among us – even in this sanctuary.

And the demons know Jesus. They hate Him; they do not worship Him, but they know very well who He is. James writes, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder ” (James 2:19, ESV). And when Jesus confronted them and exorcized them, they confessed Who He is, “And behold, they cried out, ‘O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?’” (Matthew 8:29, ESV).

So with all this in mind, we return to our text: the seven sons of Sceva come to a possessed man, not believing savingly in Jesus, but they have seen Paul cast out demons in Jesus’ Name, so they say, “I adjure you by the Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.” And how does the demon respond, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” “I know Jesus – He is the Son of God – the One Who will judge us on the last day. And I know Paul – he is a servant of the Son of God. But you – you do not serve the Son of God. You do not believe in Jesus as the Savior. Who are you to call on His Name? Who gave you the authority – the right – to try to cast me out in His Name?”

The demons are not omniscient – they don’t know everything – but they can tell a believer from an unbeliever. A believer has God the Holy Spirit dwelling in him, and the demon cannot enter. The unbeliever has only himself – God does not indwell him.

You may have told your children or grandchildren not to play around with the things of the devil – with Ouija boards and fortunetellers and spells and so forth – because it is dangerous to play with the demonic world. But is it even more dangerous for a non-believer to play with the things of God.

We may remember what happened when Uzzah touched the Holy Ark – which was forbidden: “And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there before the ark” (II Samuel 6:6-7, ESV). Uzzah did not recognize the ark as holy to God and profaned God by touching it, so God killed him.

We may remember more recently, in Acts chapter 5, Ananias and Sapphria sold a piece of land to give the money as an offering to the Church. And when they brought only a portion of the money, they were asked if it were the whole amount, and they lied, and God struck them dead for lying about their offering. They were free to offer whatever gift they wanted – above the tithe – but they did not realize that the offering is an act of worship, holy to God, and in lying, they profaned God, so God killed them.

The sons of Sceva did not take the Name of Jesus as Holy. They did not believe in Him savingly. So when they tried to use His Name against the demon – as just one more magic spell – one more amulet in their bag of tricks – God allowed the demon to rebuke them and ask them how they could profane the Name of God in what they were doing.

And the demon – inside of the man he was controlling – jumped on the seven sons of Sceva and beat them and tore off their clothes and sent them running from the house. That’s one thing Hollywood gets right – demons are strong – not stronger than God – but they are strong – they are nothing to fool with – especially if you don’t believe savingly in Jesus.

And three things happened:

First, all of the Jews and all of the Greeks in Ephesus heard what happened. This was big news, and it spread fast.

Second, fear fell upon all of the Jews and all of the Greeks, and the believers extolled the Name of the Lord Jesus. Why?

The non-believers were in fear because they had just seen seven of the best-known exorcists beaten, stripped, and thrown out of a house by a demon. They were afraid of the power and authority that the demon had.

The believers were in fear because seeing how God values the honoring – the hallowing – of His Name – that God would give the demon authority to attack these humans – made them look at themselves and their lives and consider if they were hallowing God’s Name – if they were treating God’s Name as Holy. And they weren’t, which is why –

Third, “also many of those who were now believers came,” – that’s very important – “also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.”

Some of the Christians – some of the believers – some of the Christians – who were real believers – the text is clear they were believers – some of them had continued to practice witchcraft, thinking they could serve Jesus and work witchcraft. They didn’t think it would be a problem – until they realized that Jesus is the Holy God and He will not allow His Name to be used in vain. Then, they feared, and they hauled out all of their books and other magic items which were inconsistent with the Christian faith and burned them in the public square, so everyone would know.

The scrolls they burned – their books – were valuable because books were rare, and these books – of witchcraft – would have been even more rare. Luke tells us that they estimated the value of what was burned at fifty thousand pieces of silver. Now, if it were the more common piece of silver, fifty piece of silver equaled three months pay. So, fifty thousand pieces of silver, would equal three thousand months pay – or about two hundred and fifty years pay. They took the Holiness of God seriously enough to burn two hundred and fifty years pay.

And due to this response, “the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.” When the Christians acted like Christians and did all they could to follow after God in thanksgiving for the gift of His Son – “the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.”

What does this mean for us?

First, let us understand that God works through whomever God wants and however God wants. In the early days of Christianity, God did many profound miracles through people and through objects. We don’t see that today, and we ought to be on our guard against people who try to sell us magic handkerchiefs and other nonsense.

Second, let us believe what God has told us in His Word: angels and demons are real – and powerful – but they can only act as God allows them to act. And since Christians are indwelt by God the Holy Spirit, Christians cannot be demon-possessed.

Third, let us understand that the Name of God is Holy, and we are to keep it holy. We are to let other know that it is holy and strand up when the Name of God is misused. There is nothing “French” about using Jesus’ Name in vain. God is angered when we do, and we should not be surprised if God shows us His Displeasure.

Fourth, let us turn away from all those things which are inconsistent with the Christian faith. Of course, we aren’t like the Ephesians – we don’t dabble in witchcraft – right? I googled, “psychics in Essex County” and I got 5,690 results. The horoscopes are listed in the TV Guide each week. Do any of us have “good luck charms”?

Is there anything in your life that is inconsistent with the Christian faith? The answer, of course, is “yes.” Let us do everything we can to turn from those things which are offensive to God.

But let us also see the encouragement in this passage: the text is quite clear that these were Christians who were practicing magic – witchcraft. They did not lose their salvation for their sin. You and I have not lost our salvation for our sin – thanks be to God None of us is holy yet, but we ought to be striving with everything we are – and by the Power of the Holy Spirit Who lives in us – to continually grow in holiness – to become more like Jesus. When we find something in our life that is inconsistent with the Christians faith, we ought to repent of it and do what is right.

And hear what the text tells us – the demons know who the Christians are – and in Jesus’ Name, they are afraid of us, and will try to lead us into temptation that we might sin against God. But God is stronger than the devil and all his demons, so let us have faith in Him and follow Him, believing in Jesus and proclaiming His Gospel.

Let us pray –
Sovereign God, we bow before Your Holy Name. Help us to be good witnesses and faithful sons and daughters before the world. Let us be recognized as Your children by man and angel and demon alike. Help us to stand for You in difficult times and resist the ways of the world that are contrary to Your Word and Will. May we be known as You are known. And may it be to Your Glory. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.