Paul Encounters False Religion at Ephesus (Acts 19:11–22)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, October 26, 2025

There is a war going on, but we cannot see it. A battle is underway, but we may not be aware of it. The enemy speaks words to bring us down, but we may not hear them. We are all under attack, but we may not be aware of it. We cannot perceive this war because it is a spiritual war. There is a spiritual battle going on. It is real, though we cannot see it, touch it, taste it, feel it, or hear it.

As a Christian, to deny this spiritual war greatly jeopardizes one’s relationship with God. As a Christian, to deny this spiritual war will keep one from being on the offensive rather than the defensive. As a Christian, to deny this spiritual war will mean being attacked. A Christian who denies spiritual warfare is like an aircraft carrier during World War II sitting in front of a German U Boat. A Christian must recognize the war that is taking place in the spiritual realm.

I mentioned attacks. You may wonder, “What do these attacks look like?” As a Christian, the attacks that we will experience are usually temptations to sin against the Lord. You may not realize it, but the main way we will experience this war that is going on is when you are attacked. The enemy, the devil and his forces, breaks through from the spiritual into the carnal world and attacks with an enticement to sin. And all sin is against the Lord (Psalm 51:4).

A Christian can experience other attacks from the enemy. However, I think this mainly happens when we invite the attack.

Paul is in Ephesus, and he encounters false religions. In the passage that we will look at, we see people in a position to experience demonic attacks. These people were not Christians. Yet, Christians must take the spiritual realm seriously.

My theme is: The seven sons of Sceva impersonate Paul, are beaten up by a demon-possessed man, and many are saved.

1. First, let’s look at what leads up to the spiritual warfare event.
   1. Acts 19:11-12:
   2. ¹¹ And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, ¹² so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.
   3. Notice in verse 11, the passage talks about all that has been going on. Many people have been healed, and Paul has done miraculous things.
   4. Verse 12 tells us how far things have gotten. Now, they take handkerchiefs and aprons from Paul, and if they touch other people, they are healed. Also, the evil spirit would leave the person. So, this verse recognizes that this had to do with physical healing as well as demonic possession.
   5. Before we proceed, please note that this is not a form of witchcraft. There are two other instances in the Scriptures where something similar occurred. One is with Peter in Acts 5:15, the people wanted his shadow to pass before them.
   6. Another occurrence of something like this is in Luke 8:44, when a woman with an issue of blood came and touched the edge of Jesus’s cloak to be healed.
   7. All these incidents bring glory to God and not to man.
   8. We’ll see that as the narrative goes on.
   9. One thought is that Luke must have really enjoyed writing this one. This is filled with humor in every way.
   10. So, that is what is going on to lead up to this.
   11. They are in Ephesus, and Ephesus is full of witchcraft.
   12. One writes:
   13. Ephesus was reputed as a center for magic. The famous statue of Artemis, the centerpiece of her temple, was noted for the mysterious terms engraved on the crown, girdle, and feet of the image. Referred to as the “Ephesian scripts,” this magical gibberish was considered to have great power.²⁵ It was not by accident that Paul’s encounter with magic took place in Ephesus, nor is it a surprise that his converts there had been involved in such practices. Magic was part of Ephesian culture. Nor should one question the integrity of these Ephesian Christians who only now openly forsook such ways. Salvation involves a process of growth, of increasing sanctification. And after all, the Ephesian spells were not that remote from the horoscopes and board games that supposedly communicate telepathic messages with which many Christians dabble in our own day.^[1]
2. Now, in the next few verses, we have impostors.
   1. Acts 19:13-14: ¹³ Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” ¹⁴ Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.
   2. Jewish people are faking and impersonating Paul.
   3. It was common back then to have exorcists who went around trying to make a name and money for themselves. This case is no different. These individuals were impostors; they were fakes. They were not real.
   4. It is a big deal to fake who you are, right?
   5. My dad was a police officer before I was born. But he got to keep the uniform after changing careers. My brother and I used to try to get him to put it on. My dad used to tell us that it was a big deal to impersonate a police officer, and you cannot do that.
   6. Now, if it is a big deal to impersonate a police officer, what about impersonating one of Jesus’s handpicked apostles? One would think that is a big deal.
   7. This honestly is a big deal.
   8. More than one set of men is doing this, but the Bible gives us one example.
3. In verses 15-16, we have the case study.
   1. Acts 19:15-16:
   2. ¹⁵ But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” ¹⁶ And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
   3. Seven sons of Sceva: So, Sceva is their dad, and he is apparently a Jewish High Priest. There was a Jewish historian named Josephus, who listed all the High Priests, and this individual is not one of them. But it could be that he is a pagan high priest. It could be that he was an illegitimate high priest; it could also be that he was from the high priest family. So, there are different options here.
   4. Think about this, though: the High Priest is the only one to enter the Holy of Holies. Think about that with what happens. But to his credit, he may not have known what his children were doing.
   5. With him being a high priest, the people might have thought there was a special type of power within him.
   6. So, his sons impersonate Paul and try to cast out demons in his name.
   7. The demons talk through the man they possessed. Then the man becomes supernaturally strong, and the demon says, “Jesus, I know; Paul, I am familiar with; you, I don’t know.” The demon beats them all up and sends them on the street naked.
   8. Now, the translation might have missed something. The Bible says that the demon beat them all up, which is all seven sons. However, that could also be translated as “two.” So, there could have been two or seven.
   9. They are then thrown out on the street naked, which could mean with torn clothes.
4. What happens after this (Acts 19:17-20)?
   1. Acts 19:17-20:
   2. ¹⁷ And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. ¹⁸ Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
   3. Now, people see this. The word spreads.
   4. First, in verse 17, the Bible says that Jews and Greeks see this. Then it says, “The name of the Lord was magnified.” That is what we are here for.
   5. So, now many people are saved.
   6. Verse 18 states that those who believed now came out and confessed.
   7. What this really means is that they got rid of their occult stuff.
   8. See the next verse. They take them out on the street and burn them. They have a big bonfire getting rid of stuff.
   9. Sproul shares:
   10. Books were very expensive in the ancient world. The library of ancient Ephesus is still standing; it is a magnificent edifice that was richly endowed with books. Most of the books that filled that library pertained to the occult, books that promised power over nature and diseases. Yet the people were so stricken in their conscience by the truth of the power of the Holy Spirit that they saw immediately the difference between the real and the counterfeit, and they went and got the books for which they had spent much money and burned them.^[2]
   11. Verse 20, the Word of God spreads.
5. How do we apply this?
   1. Sproul shares:
   2. Satan does have power. He does not have the power of God, and whatever power he has is forbidden altogether for the Christian. Once we are committed to the things of God, we are to turn our backs completely on the things of darkness and the kingdom of Satan. If you want true power that will edify, come to the power of the cross.^[3]
   3. Do you get rid of stuff? Do you put the past behind you?
   4. Notice that spiritual warfare is real.
   5. Ephesians 6:12: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

 What you need to know: As a Christ follower, you have Jesus within you. You are possessed by God! Also, Jesus said we are not alone (Matthew 28:20). Lastly, put on the armor of God (Eph 6:10-12).

Pray

²⁵ See B. M. Metzger, “St. Paul and the Magicians,” Princeton Seminary Bulletin 38 (1944): 27–30.

^[1] John B. Polhill, Acts, vol. 26, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 405.

^[2] R. C. Sproul, Acts, St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 330.

^[3] Ibid.