46 "Burning the Bridges to Your Past" Acts 19:11-20 | Sunday, April 26, 2026

You can remain standing. Take your

Bibles and turn to the book of Acts,

Acts 19 · chapter mention

chapter 19. Acts, chapter 19. We are in

Acts 19 · chapter mention

a verse by verse series all the way

through the book of Acts. This is sermon

number 46 out of about 60. And so we're

coming down here to the last quarter of

the book. And uh where we're at in our

text is on Paul's third missionary

journey that took him through Galatia

and Friia and then back to Asia to the

city called Ephesus. And we saw in the

first 10 verses last week that Paul laid

the foundation of this church upon the

clear and consistent teaching of

scripture. But as we all know as

believers, just because you trust Christ

as your savior doesn't mean you're

perfect from here on out. that there are

things to work through, there are

bridges to burn, there are changes to be

made in our lives. God plans not only to

redeem our eternal soul, but to redeem

our life to himself even now. And we're

going to see that here in this second

narrative account here in Ephesus, Acts

Acts 19 · chapter mention

chapter 19. Our text this morning will

cover verses 11 through verse 20. And my

prayer today for you church is that you

would see and behold the greatness of

Jesus Christ.

Let's look at Acts 19:1.

Acts 19:1

And God wrought special miracles by the

hands of Paul. So that from his body

were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs

or aprons, and the diseases departed

from them, and the evil spirits went out

of them. Then certain of the vagabond

Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call

over them which had evil spirits the

name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "We

adure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth."

And there were seven sons of onekeva, a

Jew, and a chief of the priests which

did so. And the evil spirit answered and

said, "Jesus I know and Paul I know, but

who are ye?" And the man in whom the

evil spirit was leaped on them and

overcame them and prevailed against

them. So they fled out of that house

naked and wounded. 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 which used curious arts

brought their books together and burned

them before all men. And they counted

the price of them and found it 50,000

pieces of silver. So mightily grew the

word of God and prevailed. With God's

help, I'd like to speak to you for a few

moments this morning on burning the

bridges to your past. Burning the

bridges to your past. Let's pray one

more time. Ask God to help us understand

his word.

Father in heaven, we need the help of

your Holy Spirit today to grasp the

clear truth of your word. And I pray

that we would go away today different

than how we came. That we would see the

greatness and superiority of Jesus

Christ. That it would lead us to turn

from everything that would stand against

him. May you please help us. I know that

I will fall short as a mere man, but I

trust the Holy Spirit to make

application and do his work in the

hearts of your people. I pray for those

right now who are seeking truth that do

not yet believe on Jesus Christ. I pray

that today they would see him as

supremely worthy of their faith. May you

bless your word as you have promised in

Jesus name. Amen. Thank you for standing

as we give honor to God's word. You can

be seated.

I want you to think this morning for a

moment about all the ways we describe

how hard it is to move on from our past.

How hard it is to move on from our past.

Old ways die hard.

Old roots run deep. You can't teach an

old dog new tricks. You heard that one

before?

One step forward, two steps back

or the road back is well paved. These

common sayings among others,

they remind us that when we build a life

of bad habits, it's much easier to go

back to them than it is to move on from

them. It's much harder. While some of

you in here may have come to Christ at

an early age,

others may have come from perhaps a dark

past.

If someone put together a video of your

past and projected it on this screen

behind me, you might shudder to know

what would be revealed.

It could be that for some it would

display endless nights at a bar or

mindless moments in front of a bong or

perhaps even nights on the streets with

needles beside your body. It could be a

night life of clubbing, dancing, or

music that glorified

sexual immorality,

rebellion, or perhaps it was the screams

of demonic vocals.

Maybe that's your past. There are some

who come to the light of Christ after

dabbling in a world of darkness, of

magic, sorcery, the occult, witchcraft,

or perhaps new age practices that opened

your mind to all forms of evil spirits.

Perhaps there were obsessions with the

demonic, with horror and gore and

violence in your life. Perhaps it led

you down a wormhole of movies and games

that fed your passion for that darkness.

There was something seemingly powerful

behind it, something alluring, something

attracting, some something that just

pulled you in to it.

But here's the reality for you. You met

Jesus Christ.

And when Christ first saved you, or

perhaps when he graciously restored you

from a time of wandering from him, it

sparked new life for you, new hope, real

change.

But what you quickly found was that old

ways die hard.

You crossed the bridge from darkness to

light.

But I want to tell you today that unless

those bridges are burned, there is

always potential to return.

Unless your bridges are burned, there's

always potential to return. Well, just

as old ways die hard for us, old ways

died hard for the Ephesian believers.

Ephesus, this city in Eastern Turkey

today, what was known as Asia in the

Roman Empire, it was an epicenter for

the occult. It was well known for

demonic activity, for magic, for

sorcery. The powers of evil ran wild and

the Ephesians were held firmly under its

grasp.

But when Paul came preaching the gospel

of Jesus Christ, the Ephesians were

delivered from the power of darkness and

from evil to the light of the gospel of

Jesus Christ.

But old ways die hard. We find that some

of them held on to their books, curious

arts, of magic formulas and spells of

sorcery.

that in spite of their conversion, they

had not yet severed ties with their

past. But all of that changed in this

text. There was something that happened

here that led them to burn all those

bridges back into evil and to never

return again. Everything changed.

And what they did is what all believers

must do. burn every bridge back to evil.

Why? Why should you burn the bridges to

your past? Why should you renounce every

association with evil? Our text uncovers

that answer for us this morning. It's

broken up into three parts. First, verse

11 and 12, we're going to see the

greater power of God. And then as we

look to verses 13 and 17, we'll see the

greater name of Christ.

And then in verses 18- 20, we'll see the

greater repentance of the believers. A

greater power, a greater name, and a

greater repentance led to burning

bridges. Let's consider first of all the

greater power of God. If you look at

verse 11, it says, "And God wrought

special miracles by the hands of Paul."

This phrase translated special miracles.

Its literal rendering would be powers

not experienced.

These were not common miracles. They

were not ordinary. They were unique.

They were in fact special as it says

here. The Ephesians had personally

experienced their fair share of power,

hadn't they? That they had had seen the

power of demons, the power of sorcery,

the power of magic. They had even

practiced it themselves.

According to Jewish historian Josephus,

there were also traveling Jewish

exorcists in the region of Asia. And

what they would do is they would call on

the names of of great men in Jewish

history like Abraham or Moses or

Solomon. And they would say, "I adjure

you by Solomon, the king of Israel, to

come out of him." And the demons would

come out. They demonstrated great power.

And so they've seen the darkness of

Egypt of Asia, but they've also seen the

power of the God of Israel.

But what they were seeing with Paul was

utterly different. It was special. It

was unique. It was something that they

had never experienced before. Well, in

what way? According to verse 12, as Paul

worked making tents, the facial cloths

that he had to wipe his sweat, they

would see him sitting on the table by

him and they would snatch that and they

would take it or perhaps his aprons and

they would take it to their diseased and

they would touch them and it says their

diseases departed from them. It says

that demons went out of them. That the

power of God was being carried not only

through Paul's words, but through the

garments that touched Paul's skin. This

was a power like they had never

experienced before. Now, let me say this

that there are some popular faith

healers out there today who have

hijacked this text to make it

prescriptive instead of descriptive.

This is not telling us what to do. It's

telling us what God did at that time in

a very unique place. And so there are

some who say, "If you send us in some

money to this particular toll-free

number, then we will send you a cloth

and it will heal your sickness." I want

you to understand that what God was

doing was not common to all believers.

What God was doing was special. It was

unique. But what it conveys I is that

what God was doing is he was

demonstrating in this very demonic

culture that in Christ a power had

arrived that was far greater than any

power they had experienced. And I want

to tell you today that as alluring and

attractive and powerful as the forces of

evil are, they are no match for the

power of God. God is the creator of the

universe. He made it all with but the

word of his mouth. He demonstrated his

power over all the gods of Egypt and

over all of their magicians when he

brought the 10 plagues. He parted the

waters of the Red Sea and made Israel go

across on dry ground. He brought them

water in the middle of the desert out of

a rock and mana from heaven to quench

their thirst and feed their hunger. He

even caused the sun to stand still until

Israel won a complete victory in the

days of Joshua. I'm telling you that he

holds power over all creation and he

holds power over all the satanic and

demonic forces of evil. And his power is

greater than any power you've ever

experienced or you've ever known. You

might be here today and you say, "Well,

I've been hooked on this addiction for

so long." Let me tell you, you have not

experienced the power of Christ. Though

you may have tried everything else. You

may have tried 12step programs. You may

have been in AA. You may have gone into

rehab and nothing has been able to free

you from that. Let me just ask you, have

you ever sold your life out to Jesus

Christ? Have you ever said, you know

what, I'm going to trust him as my

savior and I'm going to follow his word.

And what happens is God puts his Holy

Spirit in you who begins to transform

you and set you free from every power

that bounds you. That is the power of

God Almighty, friend.

It's the power. His power was on full

display first in his son Jesus and now

through his servant Paul. The power of

God was greater than anything they'd

ever seen. But not only did they see the

greater power of God, they also saw the

greater name of Christ.

What happens next in verse 13

is that upon seeing the unique power of

God demonstrated through Paul in the

name of Jesus, there were these

itinerate traveling Jewish exorcists who

attempted to cast out evil spirits in

the name of Jesus. They thought that

they could treat the name of Jesus just

like the name of Abraham and Isaac and

Jacob and Moses and Solomon. that he was

just another great man in Israel like

all these these others. And so they

though had no relationship with Jesus,

no personal connection to him. You'll

notice there at the end of verse 13, it

says that they said, "We adjure you by

Jesus whom Paul preacheth."

It doesn't say, "We adjure you by the

Jesus we know." They had no connection

to him, but they still tried to call his

name over them. And we're told of a

specific example of seven men. It says

in verse 14, "And there were seven sons

of one,keeva, a Jew and a chief of the

priests which did so." Now the fact that

is a chief priest and called by name

here, it indicates that these seven sons

ofKeva had religious credentials. It

indicates that they had a claimed status

by the name of their father. that they

had had some success in casting out uh

demons. But they quickly find out that

the name of Christ is greater than the

name of Abraham and it's greater than

the name of Solomon and it's greater

than the name of even their father

because we'll notice in in verse number

15 that the evil spirit scoffs at them.

It says, "And the evil spirit answered

and said, Jesus I know and Paul I know,

but who are ye?"

You get what he's saying here? He

recognizes that Jesus's divine authority

comes directly from God. And he

recognized that Paul's authority is

delegated from Christ. And so he says,

"I I know Jesus and I know Paul, but who

are you? You have no power here. You

have no authority here. And in verse 16,

it says, "And the man in whom the evil

spirit was leaped on them and overcame

them and prevailed against them. So they

fled out of the house naked and

wounded."

It's a powerful spirit

that this spirit in one man took on

seven and left them wounded and naked. I

like how one author put it. when you

were wearing pants when the fight

started, but you're no longer wearing

pants when the fight's finished. You

know you lost and they lost this battle.

But the emphasis here and the point is

not on the power of the spirit. It is on

the greater name of Jesus Christ. It

shows that this evil spirit who is so

powerful to take on seven men at one

time and it wasn't even really a

contest. This evil spirit was that

powerful. And yet what he recognized was

that he must bow to Jesus.

That if this was Jesus himself,

I must submit to him. And if it was Paul

who received authority from Jesus, I

must submit to him. Do you see? It

demonstrates that every single name that

these men would have tried to call over

this man, it all meant nothing. Only

Jesus had power over them. That's what

it demonstrates.

But notice what happens then in verse

17.

It says, "And this was known to all the

Jews and Greeks also dwelling at

Ephesus, and fear fell on them all."

This doesn't convey that they were

scared of the name of Jesus. It means

rather they respected the name of Jesus.

They revered the name of Jesus. This

scenario made them think higher of Jesus

than they ever had before. Which is why

it then says, "And the name of the Lord

Jesus was magnified." It was magnified.

See, they have come into contact with a

name that is greater than every other

name. It means that his name and his

reputation and his fame grew greater and

greater and greater as they heard more

about him. Now listen, we might debate

between who are the greatest athletes of

all time, but there really is no debate

over who has the greatest name of all

time, and that is Jesus Christ. The

Bible says that God exalted him and gave

him a name which is above every name.

That at the name of Jesus, every knee

should bow of things in heaven and

things in earth and things under the

earth. And that every tongue should

confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the

glory of God the Father. He has the

greater name. It's greater than Satan's.

It's greater than every evil spirit.

It's greater than every god. His name is

greater than every king. And it's

greater than every magician and every

sorcerer that the world has ever known.

We've seen God's greater power. And

we've seen Christ's greater name. But

finally, we see the believers greater

repentance. If you look at verse number

uh 18,

it says, "And many that believed came

and confessed and showed their deeds."

They divulged their practices. They

confessed the things that they were

still doing. And I need to point out

something to you here that you may not

catch at first glance. When it says,

"And many that believed came." This

doesn't mean that these people believed

in this very moment. It doesn't mean

that they are new converts. The word

believed is written in what we might

know as the perfect tense. That it's

something that had been completed in the

past already. They had already believed

on Jesus Christ. How? Through Paul's

preaching, but evidently

they had not severed the ties to their

past.

That they continued uh to to dabble in

the world of darkness. They kept their

spell books and their magic formulas and

their instruments of sorcery. Though

they had accepted Christ, they continued

to mess with the things of of evil. They

continued to be lured by its powers that

they had experienced in their past.

But when this evil spirit that they saw

as supremely powerful, when he

acknowledged that he must bow before

Christ, everything changed.

They came. They confessed their sins.

They dulged the practices that they were

still continuing in and they repented of

their sin. They changed. How do you know

that? It says in verse number 19, "Many

of them also which used curious arts,"

that word is talking about the magic and

the sorcery and the powers of darkness

and evil. They that used curious arts

brought their books together and burned

them before all men. They brought all

the instruments of the powers of their

past. They brought into the city streets

and they publicly renounced all

association with darkness and evil that

once held them. They changed. You know

what they did? They burned the bridges

to their past. They burned every single

bridge that would take them back to

evil.

See, and then notice

the value of these books there at the

end of verse 19. And they counted the

price of them and found it 50,000

pieces of silver. You want to know how

how much that is? One piece of silver

was a day's wage in that time. That was

all they earned in a day. And so when

you really think about this, 50,000 days

wages, it equates today to what would be

12.5 million.

That is a lot of books. That is a lot of

instruments of magic and sorcery. What

it speaks to is this. How given over

this city was to the forces of evil and

darkness. the fact that they had $12.5

million worth of magic books. They were

holy given. This is just a fraction of

the people. This isn't even the whole

city of Ephesus. This is just those who

had believed and yet they had that much.

But you know what? also speaks to the

immense glorious power of Jesus Christ

that when they saw the power of Christ

on display in this situation, they found

in him a power that was greater than

$12.5 million worth of magic books and

they threw it in the fire and burned

every bridge back to evil. The it's no

wonder that Paul wrote to these

believers in the book of Ephesians

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 and verse 21 that Christ is

far above all principality and power and

might and dominion and every name that

is named because that is what they

experienced in their lives personally.

It's also no wonder that he wrote in

Ephesians 6:12, "For we wrestle not

Ephesians 6:12

against flesh and blood, but against

principalities and against powers and

the rulers of the darkness of this world

and against spiritual wickedness in high

places. It it g it leads us to

understand that Ephesus was trapped in a

world of darkness. But when the light of

the glorious gospel of Christ shined

into this city, the people recognized

his power to be greater than anything

else they had before. And therefore, the

Ephesian believers burned the bridges to

their past because what they had in

Christ was far greater than what they

had without him. They burned their

bridges.

The question today is,

will you?

Will you burn every bridge back to evil

in your life?

Will you renounce every association with

evil? Well, why should you? Because old

ways die hard. Old ways die hard. See,

many believe on Christ but still

maintain the bridges to their past. They

they continue dabbling in the occult.

They get hung up on onto their their old

books and their old music that fills

their mind with sensual and devilish

pleasure. They they they they still turn

to the bottle to medicate their pain or

to the marijuana to chill their mind or

to the cocaine to rush their body. They

still hang on to their dark posters of

skulls and evil and violence and still

watch movies and and play games that are

directly connected to that world of

darkness and demons and Satan just like

these Ephesian believers continued to

do.

Many are unfortunately content to come

to church on Sunday, but still live a

life that mirrors the kingdom they've

been brought from rather than the

kingdom they've been brought to.

But what I want you to understand today

is that what you have in Christ is far

greater than what you had without him.

He's far greater. See, Jesus gave his

life on the cross to be a sinless

sacrifice that could cover all of your

sin. Everything that was on the other

side of that bridge, Jesus paid for it

all with the singular sacrifice of his

blood on the cross. But he rose again

from the dead and proved that not even

death itself could stand against him.

And he did not give his life on the

cross and rise again just so you could

walk the bridge back to evil. He did so

to deliver you completely from it

altogether.

He did what was necessary to remove your

sin and restore righteousness within you

that is acceptable to God to what the

Bible says reconciled you to a right

relationship with God. Jesus did that.

He's bringing you to a kingdom of

righteousness and peace in God's

presence for all eternity. Think about

what he's bringing you to. But notice

also when Jesus returns, he's going to

destroy Satan and his demons. He's going

to cast them into the lake of fire. He

will judge every evil work and every

evil man once and for all. He will He

will destroy every work of evil. It's

all going to burn up. It's all going to

be destroyed. Can I just ask you a very

clear and pointed question this morning?

Why would a believer

try to maintain the bridges back to

everything that Christ will destroy?

Think about that for a moment.

Why would I try to maintain my ties

to things that Jesus will destroy in a

way that reveals to us that they are no

help to us? That they ruin our lives.

They seek to kill and destroy, which is

what Satan tries to do. Why would I live

my life hanging on to what Jesus will

one day destroy?

Listen folks, I want to challenge you

today. Burn your bridges.

burn every bridge back to evil. Let me

be clear. I'm not saying that you need

to burn the bridge to your family or

burn the bridge to every relationship in

your life or burn everything about your

personality and who you are. God made

you who you are and God's going to make

you into something even greater than

you've ever been. But what we are

talking about is specifically the

bridges that lure you and pull you back

to the evil darkness of this world to

the kingdom that you've been delivered

from rather than taking you to the

kingdom that you're being brought to

burn every bridge. Just as these

Ephesian believers came and confessed

and divulged their practices with the

occult, there is no greater way for you

to magnify the name of Christ than to

publicly renounce all association with

evil. To show that you have learned that

the power you have in Christ is far

greater than every power you've

experienced without him. That he is

supreme. That his name is greater than

any other name. I want to challenge you

to pour the bottle down the drain to rid

your home of drugs to love those people

with with and share the gospel with them

and proclaim the name of Christ to them.

But if the time comes with those past

relationships in your life that if they

are constantly pulling you toward evil

and there's nothing you can do to pull

them toward Christ, the time must come

in your life when you burn those bridges

lest you be taken back into drugs and

back into alcohol and back into darkness

and evil. Burn every bridge, believer.

This text

calls believers to a greater repentance.

Repentance.

It's a word that means a change of mind

that results in a change of heart that

leads to a change of action. That's what

we're talking about. You recognize in

your mind that Jesus is better than all

that. And you believe in your heart that

Jesus is better than all that. And you

make decisions that prove Jesus is

better than all that.

Repentance. It's a call to burn the

bridges to the nightclub, to the venues,

to the bar scene, to smash and abandon

the music that funds and advances the

kingdom of darkness.

But also to use the voice that you once

used to highlight evil, to sing the

praises of the one who brought you out

of the kingdom of darkness into his

marvelous light, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The greater power of the greater name

calls you to a greater repentance. a

greater repentance. So I challenge you

in the same way this text should

challenge all of us. Burn the bridges to

your past because what you have in

Christ is far greater than anything you

had without him. Burn it all. Leave it

in the past. Because here's the reality.

Jesus can heal your pain rather than

numb it or medicate it.

Jesus can satisfy you in a way that

doesn't leave you waking up the next

morning filled with regret because of

how you spent last night. Jesus can give

you a true joy that evil promises but

fails to deliver.

One that leads to peace and contentment

without having all of that. Christ is

the greater power and the greater name

who should bring a greater repentance.

Believers, burn your bridges.

Confess.

Dulge your practices. Renounce all evil.

The Bible says in the book of James

James 5:14

5:14, "Confess your faults one to

another."

If you're struggling,

don't just continue to maintain the

bridge to your past.

Get a fellow church member, a Christian

friend, or even your pastor, your

pastor's wife, and just confess your

faults to one another and say, "I've

really been struggling with walking back

on that bridge to the evil I used to be

in. I'm ready to confess it. I'm ready

to forsake it. I'm ready to move on

toward everything Christ wants me to be

so I can fully experience everything

that Christ has for my life."

renounce evil so that your life can

magnify the name of the Lord. So that

here in boulder as in Ephesus we see in

verse 20. So or in this way mightily

grew the word of God and prevailed.

You want to know what Boulder needs? a

place that has all kinds of shops for

witchcraft and idolatry and wikah and

new age religions that open your mind to

all forms of evil spirits. You know what

Boulder needs? They don't need a bunch

of believers who are going to walk back

the bridges of evil and blend in with

the darkness. They need believers who

burn the bridges and stand brilliantly

shining the light of the gospel of Jesus

Christ. Who prove by our actions that

what we have in Christ is greater than

what they have without him. So that

Christ's ma name may ma may be magnified

so that they might fear and respect him

and ultimately turn and believe on him

that they could be delivered from it all

just as we have been. If you've not

trusted Christ as your savior this

morning I want you to know that he's a

greater power than anything you've ever

known, anything you've ever experienced

than whatever binds you under its spell

today. He gave his life on the cross for

you to deliver you from everything that

seeks to destroy you. He rose again the

third day and he proved that not even

the power of death could hold him down.

And if death could not hold him down,

what is there in your life that he

cannot break the chains of it and free

you from it completely?

If you'll repent of your sin today,

believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you

can be saved. Saved from what? Well,

first of all, saved from the penalty of

sin, which is death and eternal judgment

in hell. But you can also be saved from

the power of sin on your life today. He

can break you free of the addictions

that you've had. He can break you free

of the lure and the pull of evil when

you fully surrender and submit to him.

He can break all of that power in your

life. But one day is coming when he can

save you from the very presence of sin.

Can you imagine a world where there's no

abuse?

A world where there's no homeless?

A world where there's no violence, no

shootings,

no knifing?

A world of perfect righteousness

and peace in God's presence.

That's what Jesus will save you, too, if

you'll trust in him today. I encourage

you, turn from darkness to Christ.

Believe on him. Call on his name. Be

saved today. And when you cross that

bridge to Christ, and burn that bridge

to evil, you will find that everything

you have in Christ is better than

everything you had without him. Turn to

Christ. burn the bridge and experience

life in him. Our father, we come into

your presence this morning amazed at

your power.

There are some in here today who have

experienced the glorious power of your

deliverance in their life that they used

to be alcoholics or they used to be drug

addicts and you have freed them

completely from it. Praise the name of

Jesus Christ.

There are some who've been delivered

from addictions to pornography.

There are some who've been delivered

from sexual immorality. There are some

who've been delivered from the world of

darkness.

We're so thankful for that. No doubt

there are some who are maintaining the

bridges

instead of burning them. I pray they

would see clearly today that Christ is

greater.

But perhaps there are some today

who are seeking the truth

but have never believed on Jesus Christ.

I pray your Holy Spirit this morning

would bring such deep conviction to

their souls that Jesus is the way, the

truth, and the life. That he is the only

way to God.

May you please bring conviction that

they might believe and be saved. It's in

Jesus name I pray. Amen.