Seven Sons Of One Named Sceva

In Acts chapter 19, we're going to read verses

Acts 19 · chapter mention

13 through 17. 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. 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 the house naked

and wounded. 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. We've seen that Paul is

coming to Ephesus, this place full of paganism

and the occult. Spiritism and witchcraft. And

many other things. But we see that the gospel.

Comes into Ephesus. And that it's effective.

That it's powerful. That it's mighty. That it's

working. We see that the gospel is coming into

Ephesus. That it's actually conquering. Overcoming

and defeating. The devil's kingdom, it's pushing

back the darkness. It's pushing out the darkness

from Ephesus. We know that ever since Genesis

Genesis 3:15

3, verse 15, there has been a conflict and a

battle raging in this world when God spoke curses

to the man, to the serpent, and to the woman.

We read in Genesis 3, verse 15, And I will put

Genesis 3:15

enmity between you and the woman, and between

your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on

the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.

The Lord is preaching the gospel to Adam and

Eve, and he's declaring a curse on the devil

himself. But he's also teaching us that there's

going to be enmity. There's going to be hostility.

There's going to be conflict between the offspring

of the serpent, the devil, and the offspring

of the woman, those who would believe in the

promise. Those who would have faith. Those who

would call on the name of the Lord throughout

the ages leading up to Christ. and those who

would trust in Christ as the fulfillment of the

promise following His entrance into history and

the incarnation. So there's a battle that's raging

in the world, and it's been raging since the

fall of man. And it will continue to rage until

the Lord Jesus Christ returns from heaven in

glory. We see that the Apostle Paul actually

speaks of this in the book of Galatians. The

Apostle Paul says in Ephesians chapter 6, he

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

says, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the

strength of His might. Put on the full armor

of God so that you will be able to stand firm

against the schemes of the devil. Then he goes

on and he says, for our struggle is not against

flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against

the powers, against the world forces of this

darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness

in the heavenly places. That last part, it literally

says, it literally says in the Greek, against

wicked spirits. Paul is telling us that this

is the true that's taking place behind the scenes

in the world. We're actually told a little earlier

in the book of Ephesians by the Apostle. We read

in verses 8 -10 of chapter 3 of the same epistle,

To me, the very least of all saints, this grace

was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable

riches of Christ. And to bring to light what

is the administration of the mystery which for

ages has been hidden in God who created all things.

And then listen to this, brothers and sisters.

So that the manifold wisdom of God might now

be made known through the church to the rulers

and authorities and the heavenly places. The

apostles telling the Ephesians. That the purpose

of redemption, the purpose of the church, is

to display the manifold wisdom of God, not to

the people in this world, but to the spiritual

forces in the heavenly places. The cosmic powers.

God is displaying His splendor, His glory, His

majesty. He's displaying His manifold wisdom.

to rulers and authorities and the heavenly places

by saving sinners. John Calvin calls the church

the theater of redemption. Now, that begs the

question, if the church is the theater of redemption,

who is looking on? Who sees what's taking place?

Who is observing? Who is watching this great

act of redemption that's occurring? Rulers and

authorities in the heavenly places. This is the

purpose of redemption. To bring God glory. To

display His glory and His wisdom in all the cosmos.

In all the world. To all creatures. To all beings.

To all powers. To all rulers. Authorities. This

is one of the grand purposes and schemes of redemption.

Now when we consider these realities, and these

spiritual realities, we always have to be cautious.

And we always have to be sober. And we always

have to approach them with an attitude of victory.

Now as Paul comes into Ephesus, we have to recognize

that this is the same attitude. That he had.

The Lord Jesus. Has. And he demonstrated in and

throughout his ministry. Absolute. Authority.

And power. Over wicked spirits. Over evil and

unclean spirits. You remember when he was tested.

In the wilderness. You remember at the end. What

does he do? He tells the devil. Go away. And

what does the devil do? He obeys Him. Do you

remember the Gerasene demoniac in Mark chapter

Mark 6 · chapter mention

6? The Lord Jesus is coming over the lake and

there's this picture of this crazy, wild man

who's naked, who's cut, who's beaten, who's bruised.

And the Lord Jesus and His disciples are getting

out of the boat. And as they're getting out of

the boat, There's this insane man that's running

full speed after the Lord. And it carries this

idea that he just slides on his knees to the

Lord. And he says, what do you want with us?

The Holy One of God. The man knew who Christ

was. And the demon named Legion seeks permission

from Christ to be going into the swine, into

the pigs. He seeks permission. He implores, he

begs the Lord Jesus, the Holy One of God, not

to send them to torment before the appointed

time. Why are they begging with the Lord Jesus?

Why are they imploring him? Why are they seeking

permission? Because they are in absolute, complete,

and total submission to him. He has absolute,

perfect, and complete authority over the devil.

over evil spirits, unclean spirits, and demons

in this world. And we see the same is exactly

true of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians, in Ephesus.

The same thing is true. The Lord Jesus was absolutely

effective in bringing forth the kingdom in his

ministry and driving out the devil. And we see

the same is true of the Apostle Paul. in Ephesus.

He had authority that was delegated to him. The

Lord Jesus exercised his authority perfectly

in and through the apostle. He was always effective

when it came to these evil spirits. And we see

that it wasn't this great difficulty for the

apostle, was it? We see that it wasn't this great

and terribly difficult thing that he had to deal

with because it was even through aprons and handkerchiefs

that these things were taking place. That the

power of God was so upon and with the Apostle

Paul and his message that men and women were

being delivered from their diseases and that

men and women were being delivered from evil

spirits and their... and their oppression that

they experienced from these spirits. Now why

is it that the Apostle Paul has the same authority

as the Lord Jesus Christ in his ministry? It's

because the Apostle Paul is preaching the same

gospel that the Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed.

It's because the Apostle Paul is advancing the

true gospel of Christ in... Ephesus. He's advancing

true religion. He's advancing Christianity. He's

advancing the church, the work of God, and God

is blessing him and God is working in and through

him. Today, we come to this episode, we see this

fiasco with the seven sons of one Sceva, or one

man, and they seek to... Cast out an evil spirit

simply by using the name of the Lord Jesus as

an incantation. Today we're going to consider

the men involved in this. We're going to consider

the two major errors of these men. And then we're

going to see the failure of these men. Their

abysmal failure. They do not succeed in any way

whatsoever. They fail at replicating and bringing

about that which the true gospel can accomplish.

They are incapable and inadequate at doing what

Paul himself could do in the power of the Spirit

of God. So who were these men that were involved?

Well, the text says, that 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. We see a little bit more

information in verse 14. Seven sons of one Sceva.

So who were these men? Well, they were Jewish

young men. They were sons of most likely a leading

priestly person. They were most likely brothers.

We don't know for certain, but they were probably

brothers. And they were traveling or itinerant

exorcists of the Jewish sort. Now, it's interesting

that they're in Ephesus, isn't it? Where the

occult... is so rampant, where spiritism is so

prevalent, it's interesting that these men who

have as their occupation exercising evil spirits,

that they're in such a place populated with these

things. Now, it makes sense in one level, but

it also makes sense on another level, considering

they're probably doing pretty good business in

Ephesus. They're probably making pretty good

money and remuneration for their work and for

their exorcism. They're probably gaining a name

until the Apostle Paul comes into town. Until

the gospel makes its way into Ephesus. The Lord

Jesus himself actually makes mention. Of these

exorcists. These sons. Not these in particular.

But we see in Luke chapter 11. Where the Lord

Luke 11 · chapter mention

Jesus himself condemns. Exorcism in general.

We see. He speaks of these things in Luke chapter

Luke 11 · chapter mention

11. Specifically we read in verses. We'll start

reading in verse 14. Speaking of the Lord, and

he was casting out a demon, and it was mute.

When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke,

and the crowds were amazed. But some of them

said, He cast out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler

of the demons. Others, to test him, were demanding

of him a sign from heaven. He knew their thoughts

and said to them, Any kingdom divided against

itself is laid waste, and a house divided against

itself falls. If Satan also is divided against

himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you

say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul, and

if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, listen to

this, by whom do your sons cast them out? So

they will be your judges. The Lord Jesus himself

recognizes that the sons of the Jews were exorcists.

But here's the thing. Who does the Lord Jesus

say that the sons of the Jews were casting out

demons and the power of? What are the implications

of that text? He's saying that these sons are

actually casting out demons by? The very accusation

that they're making against him. The power of

Satan. The sons of the Jews are casting out spirits

by greater and stronger spirits. And what's the

result? They always end up worse. At the end

of that text, we see that that spirit's going

to go and get seven other spirits and bring it

back and dwell and live and make it his permanent

abode in that individual, leaving the individual

worse than they were at the beginning. The Lord

Jesus condemns it, but he also recognizes that

this was a practice, and it's a practice that

had made its way to Ephesus. There were two major

errors that these men took part in and that they

have. It wasn't just the fact that they were

exorcists and they ought not to be. And they

ought not to be taking part in this practice

that our Lord forbids and condemns. But the first

has to do with their knowledge of the gospel.

Listen to what these men say. In verse 13, what

they use, how they say, and how they plan to

cast out this evil spirit in this man in Ephesus.

They say, I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.

So obviously, these men knew about the Lord Jesus.

These seven sons of one Sceva, they knew of Paul's

preaching. They knew about the message. They

knew about the Gospel. They probably witnessed

some of these extraordinary miracles. They understood

and they saw and they recognized the effectiveness

and the power of the Gospel. They knew about

the Jesus that Paul himself preached. But here's

the issue, brothers and sisters. It was second

-hand knowledge. These men knew nothing of that

gospel themselves. They only wanted to use the

gospel. These men had never personally enjoyed

or experienced the realities of the gospel in

their own lives. These men knew about it. They

knew of it. They had working knowledge of it.

But brothers and sisters, they did not personally

experience those realities in their own soul.

They may have even sat under Paul's preaching

himself. Think about that. These seven sons of

one schema, they may have been in Paul's audience

at one point in time. They heard this man preach

of Christ, heard this man proclaim the glorious

realities of the kingdom of God and the power

of God. And they sat under it and they sat under

it and they sat under it. Maybe, we don't know.

But they went away from that and they weren't

changed. They witnessed it. They saw it. They

knew about it. They comprehended it to a degree

with their minds. But brothers and sisters, they

knew nothing of the Gospel themselves. They did

not believe the Gospel. It was second -hand knowledge.

It was not personal knowledge of Christ and the

Gospel. They could not say, it is my Gospel.

It was Paul's Gospel. It was the Jesus whom Paul

preached. These seven sons of one Sceva are like

so many today in the church and around the church.

There's so many individuals today that know about

the gospel. They know of Christ. They know so

-and -so's Christ. They know Jesus, who's so

-and -so's Savior and so -and -so's Lord. Maybe

it's mom's Jesus whom she preaches. Maybe it's

dad's Jesus whom he preaches and he knows. Maybe

it's my brother's Jesus whom he knows and loves

and he has experience with and he loves. Maybe

it's my sister's. Maybe it's my son or my daughter's.

Maybe it's my wife's or maybe it's my husband's

Jesus whom they know and whom they preach about.

But you yourself don't know anything of it. There's

no personal knowledge. There's no personal faith

in that gospel which you know about. Can you

say, with the author of Song of Psalms, My beloved

is mine, and I am my beloved's. Can you say,

Christ is mine. He's all mine. I love Him. He's

my Savior, my Lord. He saved my soul. He spared

me from hell. He saved me from my sins. He spared

me from wrath. And I know it. Can you say that?

Can you say that Christ is pleased with you because

He has justified you in His righteousness? Does

He know you? Does He take note of you? Does He

look upon you? Does He love you? Are His affections

on you? Do you delight in the Lord Jesus Christ

and the reality that He delights in you? Or is

it all second hand? Is it knowledge of and knowledge

about and there's no actual personal experiential

reality taking place in the soul? Do you know

personally by faith the Lord Jesus Christ? Are

you able to say, it's not their gospel. It's

my gospel. It's my Christ. He's my Lord. He's

my Savior. Brothers and sisters, the gospel is

meant to be known. And enjoyed personally. It's

meant to be known and enjoyed in your own soul.

Between you and God. Listen. Redemption is about

you being reconciled to God. That's what the

gospel is about. The gospel is not primarily

about these horizontal things over here and over

here. The gospel primarily has to do with you

as a sinner being reconciled to a holy and a

righteous God. That's what the gospel is about.

Do you know that reality? Is there faith in your

heart? The Christian is the one who knows. The

living God through the Lord Jesus Christ. The

Christian is the one who experiences these realities

in their souls. The Christian is the one who

reads this book, brothers and sisters, who reads

the Word of God. And they have an affinity for

the Word of God. Do you know why? Because the

realities in the Word of God appeal to their

heart and they can say, I know that. They go

and they read and they study the Psalms and they

see the psalmist delighting in God and His Word

and His law. And they say, I delight in Him and

His Word. I wish I delighted more. There are

realities which are tested and tried and proved

in our own souls. We read about Paul in Romans

Romans 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7 as believers and we say, I know that

reality. I know the conflict. Between my remaining

sin in my own heart and the new man that I've

been made into. I know that I want to do these

things so often. But I don't. We know the realities

the Word of God speaks of. We can relate to them

intimately. Because they're actual true realities

in our souls. A believer is one who knows these

realities for themselves. They know that Christ

loves them. And they know that they love Christ.

I wonder how many today here present have fallen

into the same error as these seven sons of one

Sceva. Knowing about the gospel. Having a second

hand knowledge. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. But

never knowing it. Themselves. That was the first

error of these men. But there was another error.

And the second has to do with the reality. That

they were seeking to use the gospel. For their

own. Selfish. Purposes. The text says. That these

seven sons of one Sceva. 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 men knew that the gospel

was effective. These men knew the power of God

was with the gospel and with Paul. These men

knew that the name of the Lord Jesus cast out.

Evil spirits. They knew it worked. They understood

it worked. They saw it and they probably witnessed

it. And so they said to themselves, we want to

use that. Ultimately, these men saw the usefulness

of the gospel. They saw the usefulness of the

name of Christ. They saw the usefulness of what

Paul was doing. And they sought to pragmatically

and selfishly use it for their own ends. Again,

like so many in the church today. So many in

the church today want what the gospel can offer,

but they don't want the gospel itself. So many

today see the usefulness of the gospel. The usefulness

of Christianity. It's becoming very popular in

modern culture for men, strong men, supposedly

moral men, to say, I'm a Christian now. I see

that it works. I see that... It's the basis for

society and flourishing. I see that that's how

reality functions. They want the benefits. They

want the blessings. They want the social capital.

They want the reputation. They want the supposed

morality that comes with it. But brothers and

sisters, listen to me well. Those men don't want

the Gospel. They don't want the Lord Jesus Christ.

They want what Christianity can offer them. And

there's many others. How many view the church

as a tool for making friends? How many view the

church as a means of finding, establishing, and

enjoying community at long last? How many find

the church as a means to the end of relationships?

Finding a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Finding

friends that will like me and that I can relate

with. Someone that will pay attention to me.

Someone that will give me safety and security.

Someone that will pay attention to me and my

personality. Some people use the church as a

means of finding a platform. As a place where

they can speak, where they can serve. But brothers

and sisters, listen to me. That's not the purpose

of the church. That's not the purpose of the

gospel. The purpose of Christianity, the purpose

of gospel, is the reconciliation of sinners to

a holy and a righteous God. There are benefits

and there are blessings, brothers and sisters,

for they flow from and they come out of knowing

Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord. They come out

of repentance and faith, a genuine, authentic,

true, personal knowledge of God. People don't

understand. When you rightly come to the Gospel,

you're not going to any longer think about what

God can do for you. When a person rightly comes

before a holy God with genuine humility and genuine

contrition, broken and trembling before Him,

do you know what they all of a sudden get consumed

with? Do you know what overtakes them? Do you

know what overwhelms them? His grace and His

mercy. They're overcome with the reality, not

what God can do for me, but what Christ has in

reality done for me. They're overtaken with the

reality that the Lord Jesus Christ has been so

gracious and merciful, and now they're overcome

by the Gospel. They're overwhelmed by it. We

don't. Use the gospel, brothers and sisters.

The gospel is not a tool. The gospel overcomes

people. It lays hold of people. It dominates

those who rightly come to it. It transforms them

and changes them. It changes their whole outlook

on the world. These men. just like so many today,

sought to use the gospel for their own selfish

purposes. The gospel saves sinners, brothers

and sisters. It's not a tool to be used, a tool

to be instrument, or a tool to be utilized for

your own plans and purposes. It's something that

changes your life. that transforms you and sanctifies

you and grows you and matures you in grace. It's

what brings you to the living God. These men

fell into this trap and they sought, in their

unbelief, to use the true gospel for their own

ends. Now, this doesn't end well for them. We

see this in verses 15 -16. And in verse 17 as

well, we see the failure of these men in these

verses, really in the response of this evil spirit.

We read in verse 15, And the evil spirit answered

and said to them, I recognize Paul, and I know

about, I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul,

but who are you? Now, one of the things we have

to understand about this text is it says the

evil spirit answered them. It wasn't the man

that answered them. It was the spirit dwelling

in the man. One of the most common occurrences

and nearly universal in all demon possession

throughout history is that the one possessed

speaks in a voice not their own. So this evil

spirit responds to these seven sons of one Sceva

in an abnormal and strange voice, saying, I recognize

the authority of Jesus. I know him. I would submit

to him. I would obey him. I recognize the authority

of Paul. I know him. I would submit to him. I

would obey him because of his relationship with

Jesus. Because he's been given authority and

delegated authority and God's power works through

him. I would obey him and I would submit to him.

But the evil spirit says, now, who are you? I

don't know you. I don't recognize your authority.

I don't have to obey you. I don't have to submit

to you and I'm not going to. In fact, you're

going to submit to me. You're going to be subdued

and overpowered and beaten and humiliated and

ashamed because you thought you could command

me. It's evident that this evil spirit does not

recognize any authority being with these men.

And that's not the biggest issue. The biggest

issue is not that the evil spirit does not recognize

authority to these men. The biggest issue is

this, brothers and sisters, God has not given

authority to these men. God does not recognize

these men. It is not his gospel and they are

not his apostle. They have no right. as unbelieving,

unregenerate sinners to even appeal to the authority

of Christ. They have no right to do so. They

can't pray to Him. They can't proclaim His Word.

They can't appeal to His authority. They just

want to use the message for their own purposes.

What's the outcome for these seven sons of one

Sceva? We're told. 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 the house naked and wounded. 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. We see clearly.

that God was not with these men. His blessing

was not with them. His power was not with them.

His favor was not with them. This was not the

true gospel, but they were seeking to do that

which the gospel alone can do. This whole fiasco

demonstrates the insufficiency. and the inadequacy

of anything other than the true gospel of Jesus

Christ to deliver men from the domain of darkness

and to transfer them to the kingdom of God's

beloved Son. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ

can illuminate a sinner's heart and mind, allowing

them to see the glory of God in the face of Christ

Jesus and the blessed gospel. Only the gospel

that proclaims the right Christ and the right

work of Christ can save a person. It's only the

Jesus that Paul preached which saves brothers

and sisters. But this gospel does save. It makes

men new. It transforms men. It brings them out

of death. and into life. It makes men who have

been dwelling and living in darkness as sons

of obedience according to the course of this

world under the power and authority of Satan.

And it brings them into God's blessed kingdom

as those who willingly love and submit to the

Lord Jesus Christ. Freed from sin, death, hell,

and wrath. And fills them with the Spirit of

God. And makes them new creatures in Christ.

So that it can be said of them. Greater is he

that is in you. Than he that is in the world.

Brothers and sisters. It is only the gospel of

Jesus Christ. Which Paul proclaimed. Which we

have in the scriptures. Which saves sinners.

And overcomes and defeats and conquers. Sin,

death, and hell. Christ alone is the salvation

of sinners. Christ alone breaks through the darkness

and brings forth the kingdom of God, brothers

and sisters.