Acts 19:13 - Meaning and Application

The preachers of the gospel were sent out to fight against Satan, and in that fight Christ went out conquering and to conquer. Driving evil spirits out of people who were possessed was one clear sign of Christ’s victory over Satan. But these verses show that Christ triumphed over that great enemy in more than one way, not only in people forced under Satan’s power, but also in people who had willingly given themselves to him.

First, we see the shame of some of Satan’s servants, a group of wandering Jews who claimed to be exorcists, people who tried to drive out evil spirits. They used Christ’s name in their wicked magic, and they paid dearly for their arrogance. They were Jews, but they were loose, wandering Jews who moved from town to town to make money by fortune-telling and spell-casting. They pretended to cure diseases and help people who were troubled in mind or acting wildly, and they called themselves exorcists because they used commanding words in their tricks.

Superstitious Jews tried to give these magic arts some respectability by claiming Solomon, Israel’s wise king, had invented them. Josephus says Solomon wrote charms for healing diseases and driving out demons so they would not return. Christ seems to refer to this when he says, “By whom do your children cast them out?” (Matthew 12:27). In Ephesus, among these wandering tricksters, were seven sons of Sceva, a Jew and chief priest (Acts 19:14). It is sad to see the family of Jacob sink so low, and even sadder to see a family from Aaron’s line, which was set apart for God, join hands with Satan.

Their offense was that they tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus to command evil spirits. They did not do this because they trusted Christ or honored him, as some had done when they cast out demons in Jesus’ name, even though they did not follow with his disciples (Luke 9:49). These men simply wanted to keep trying any method that might help their evil trade. They said, “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches,” as if they were saying, “We will see what this name can do.” They were not saying they believed in Jesus, depended on him, or had any authority from him.

This was a wicked abuse of Christ’s name. If evil spirits had yielded to an oath spoken in Jesus’ name by men who did not believe in him, they would have argued that this proved nothing. If the spirits had refused, these men would have said Christ’s name was weaker than the other names they used. The exorcists in the Roman Catholic church, who claim to cast out evil spirits by charms they do not understand and cannot use in faith, follow in the steps of these wandering Jews.

God did not let this insult stand. The evil spirit gave them a sharp answer: “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?” (Acts 19:15). The spirit knew that Jesus had defeated all powers, and that Paul had authority in Jesus’ name to cast out demons. But what power did these men have? Who had given them any right to use Jesus’ name? This answer was brought out by God’s power, to honor the gospel and shame those who misused Christ’s name. People and groups may pretend they have great zeal for Jesus and Paul, and claim their authority, but when the matter is examined, it often turns out to be only worldly interest, even hostility to true religion.

Then the man in whom the evil spirit was living attacked them. He overpowered them in his rage, defeated them and their spells, and proved too strong for them. They ran out of the house naked and wounded, with their clothes torn off and their bodies hurt. This is a warning to all who claim Christ’s name but do not turn away from sin. The same enemy who beats them through temptation will also beat them through fear. Saying Christ’s name over the devil will not protect them. If we resist the devil with true and living faith in Christ, he will flee from us. But if we try to use Christ’s name, or even his words, as a kind of magic formula, the devil will overcome us.

This event became widely known among the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus. Everyone in the city was talking about it. The result was that people were filled with fear, because they saw both the devil’s malice and Christ’s power. They also saw that Christ’s name was not to be treated lightly, and that his religion could not be mixed with pagan superstition. At the same time, God was glorified, because the name of the Lord Jesus, by which his faithful servants cast out demons and healed sickness without resistance, was shown to be above every other name.

Second, we also see some of Satan’s servants turning away from him, with clear proof of their change. Those who had done wicked things confessed them (Acts 19:18).

Many who had believed and been baptized had not yet been as open as they should have been in confessing their sins. But when they saw these signs of the greatness of Jesus Christ’s name, they became deeply afraid. They came to Paul, or to some of the other ministers who were with him, and confessed the evil lives they had lived. They also admitted the secret sins their own consciences accused them of, things the world did not know about, hidden deceit and hidden uncleanness. They showed their deeds, humbled themselves, gave glory to God, and warned others.

These confessions were not forced from them. They were willing confessions, made to ease troubled consciences after the recent miracles had filled them with fear. Where there is real sorrow for sin, there will be a plain confession of sin to God in every prayer, and to any person we have wronged when the situation calls for it.

Many who had practiced magic and other secret arts also burned their books (Acts 19:19). The Greek word means “useless busying,” people occupied with things that do not truly concern them. These books covered magic, fortune-telling, astrology, casting birth charts, speaking to spirits, interpreting dreams, and predicting the future. Some think the list may also include plays, romances, love poems, and indecent poetry.

Their consciences were more awakened than ever, and they now saw how evil those practices were. So they gathered their books and burned them in public. Ephesus was well known for these practices, and people there even called spells and charms “Ephesian letters.” This made their public rejection of these arts especially honorable to Christ and his gospel.

They did not just agree that the arts were evil and promise to stop. They felt they must burn the books as well. In this way, they showed holy anger against their former sin. Like idolaters who, when they repent, tell their idols to go away (Isaiah 30:22) and throw their silver and gold idols to the rodents and bats (Isaiah 2:20), these converts took a godly revenge on the things that had helped lead them into sin. The same books that had once pleased them now became hateful to them.

They also showed that they were fully resolved never to use those arts again. They did not keep the books around in case they changed their minds later. Since they were firmly set against returning to them, they burned them. This also removed a temptation. If the books had stayed in their homes, they might have looked at them again later, grown curious, and been drawn back.

Those who truly repent will keep as far away as possible from the things that led them into sin. They also kept these books from harming others. If Judas had been there, he might have said, “Sell them and give the money to the poor,” or, “Buy Bibles and good books instead.” But who could know whose hands those dangerous books might later reach, or what harm they might do? The safest thing was to throw them all into the fire. People who have been rescued from sin will do all they can to keep others from falling into it, and they will be especially careful not to place temptation in another person’s way.

They also showed how little they valued the wealth of this world. The value of the books was counted, probably by people who tried to stop them from burning them, and it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver, which some estimate at about fifteen hundred pounds in our money. The books were likely rare, perhaps even banned, and so were expensive. They may have paid that much for them, but since they were the devil’s books, they did not think that buying them could ever excuse selling them again.

They also publicly showed their joy that they had been turned away from these evil practices, just as Matthew did when Christ called him away from the tax booth and he made a great feast. These new believers joined together in this public burning, and they did it before everyone. They could have burned the books privately in their own homes, but instead they agreed to do it together and in public, so that Christ and his grace in them would be more honored and everyone around them would be helped.

So the word of God grew powerfully and kept spreading in Ephesus and the surrounding area (Acts 19:20). It is a blessed sight when God’s word grows and prevails like that. It grows widely when more and more people are brought into the church, especially when those least likely to yield are overcome by the gospel and brought into obedience to it. It also prevails deeply when those who believe grow in knowledge and grace, strong sins are put to death, bad habits are changed, long-standing evil customs are broken, and even pleasant, profitable, and popular sins are given up. Then Christ goes on conquering and to conquer.