The metaphors of darkness and light are widely used in the world of literature. Dylan Thomas wrote, “Do not go gentle into that good night; rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
One of the most often repeated image patterns in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet involves the interplay of light and darkness. For example, Romeo compares Juliet to light throughout the play. Upon first sight of her, Romeo exclaims that she teaches "the torches to burn bright" (I.5.43). She’s also "the sun" who can "kill the envious moon" (II.2.3). But Juliet’s light shows best against the darkness; she "hangs upon the cheek of night / As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear" (I.5.44-45). Juliet also associates Romeo with a light that illuminates the darkness. If Juliet dies, she wants Romeo "cut in little stars / And he will make the face of heaven so fine / That all the world will be in love with night, / And pay no worship to the garish sun" (III.2.22-25).
Such metaphors are used significantly in the Bible as well. Darkness represents sin, the kingdom of this world, the domain of demons, the evil powers of Satan. We live in a world darkened by the existence of sin; ironically, the period of time we call the “Enlightenment” was an era when man emancipated himself from God, the Source of light, and in his enlightenment, man’s spiritual condition was darkened considerably. We are constantly reminded in the Bible not to walk in darkness, but that if we walk in the light, as Christ is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
We find Paul today in quite the sin-darkened place. Ephesus could be called a “center of magic”. Hughes wrote, “Ephesus was the waterhole for every kind of magician, witch, clairvoyant, and criminal. Con artists, murderers, and perverts all found the climate of Ephesus unusually agreeable.” It was a dark place spiritually, to say the least, perhaps not as sexually loose as Corinth, but a place filled with all sorts of spiritual and pseudo-spiritual things. Dark places sometimes aren’t the kind of places where Christians want to hang out—and sometimes, we shouldn’t—and yet, sometimes that exactly where we need to be, even where God puts us. Maybe your work is a place you find spiritually dark, perhaps morally repugnant. Perhaps that fact frustrates or discourages you, maybe even has you looking for a new job. That might be appropriate, particularly if the situation is such that you find yourself being influenced away from Christ, but it might well be that you are there to shine light in a dark place. Maybe the neighborhood in which you live is a dark place, but God means for you to shine there. That was certainly the case with the apostle Paul! Accordingly, of all Paul’s writings, his epistle to the Ephesians contains the most significant treatment of spiritual powers, and of the battles that Christians face against them. Certainly he wrote so extensively of the warfare that we face as Christians, a warfare between the forces of darkness and those of the Light, because of what he experienced while in this darkened city of Ephesus.
But note that Paul is not content to leave the Ephesians in that darkness, nor to have a nice, easy, laissez-faire type ministry. Instead, we find
I. Darkness Under Attack - :8-12
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12
I’m indebted to Kent Hughes today, by the way, for the great outline, and I’m sure the sermon would be better if I’d borrowed it whole, but alas, I only borrowed the outline. :8-10 – Paul began his assault on the forces of darkness with something decidedly ordinary: teaching! After teaching for three months in the Jewish synagogue and receiving a mixed reception, he rented out the lecture hall of Tyrannus. A side note: the name “Tyrannus” means “tyrant”, and we’re left to wonder how this man got that name. Either his parents were having a really, really bad week, or more likely, he got this as a nickname from some of his students who weren’t agreeable to his methods! At any rate, for two years Paul proclaimed every day the truth of the gospel, taking the disciples along and discussing the truth of the claims of Christ. They did this with such persuasiveness and regularity that everybody in the province heard the Word of the Lord.
The time when Paul used the lecture hall was between the hours of 11 and 4, when in the heat of the day most of the town knocked off for a siesta. But the business of God was so critical to Paul that he was willing to go beyond convention and meet at this unusual time, in order to get the gospel out to those willing to hear. Paul demonstrates the importance of his message by using this time to witness instead of for his own rest.
But after Paul employs a relatively “normal” means of ministering, the rest of the narrative today takes on an unusual tone. Verses 11-12 speak of the “handkerchiefs” and “aprons” that Paul wore being taken, applied to the sick, and healing taking place. Paul, a leatherworker, would have used towels/rags to mop sweat from his forehead, indeed he likely wore one as a headband, and would have girded himself with an apron as he worked.
We’re not sure whether this represented a deliberate strategy on the part of Paul, or whether these things took place more incidentally. Regardless, this reminds us of those who touched the fringe of Jesus’ cloak and were healed (Mark 5:27-ff; 6:56). God met these people where they were, superstitious as they were, and did miracles among them by an unusual means, testifying to His power over the merely magical.
Remember our rule? “Descriptive, not prescriptive.” But some folks have taken the “prescriptive” route, and so we have preachers—dare I say “religious hucksters”?—offering “prayer hankies”, enclosing in their fund-raising envelopes a piece of cloth that had been at least in their proximity as some form by which to transmit healing.
I found, for instance, the “KerneyThomas.com Testimonials Page”, regarding the “ministry” of one Kerney Thomas, who employs such tomfoolery:
“God has worked many MIRACLES because of FAITH and the ANOINTED OLIVE OIL SOAP. Many said how they felt the presence of God as they held it in their hand and you will also. The spirit of poverty has been destroyed as they washed their hands. Healing MIRACLES from cancer, aids, aches and pain to skin rashes. Your skin will also feel brand new as you bathe with the ANOINTED OLIVE OIL SOAP.
The day after I received the RED BLOOD OF JESUS PRAYER HANKY my legs, stomach, and eyes were healed.”
And then I found somebody named Don Stewart; I was able to reproduce his ad for you on the screen, offering the “Green Prosperity Prayer Cloth”, which Don Stewart has personally blessed and anointed. I’m not sure what the green is about; I’d guess it’s for money given the name, either that or Mr. Stewart is trying to be environmentally friendly…but again, if we read this text descriptively, we won’t fall into the trap that says that God is bound to use aprons and hankies today, nor should we expect it.
Note that Luke is concerned to tell us that it was God doing these miracles through the hand of Paul, and that the rags were only incidental. R.B. Rackham said that, “The manifestation of divine power was needed to convict the false power.” And so in a variety of ways, the kingdom of darkness was under the direct assault of the kingdom of God through the hand of the apostle Paul.
Verse 12 says that it was more than the healing of the sick that these aprons and hankies effected; they also had the effect of delivering people from the influence and possession of evil spirits. Today’s text reminds us that we live in a world that contains more to it than meets the eye. Some blanche at the idea of evil spirits, demons, and the like, but there’s no need to; if we can accept the existence of God, we can surely believe that there exist other spiritual forces. The gospel is more than just propositional truth that we read, nod our assent to, and go on; it is supernatural truth meant to be believed and lived out in a supernatural world. Someone has said that there are two equal but opposite errors we can make regarding the existence of supernatural powers: we can make the mistake of finding them behind every rock, or we can make the mistake of denying their existence. For most of us non-charismatic evangelicals, it would seem that we are prone to the latter mistake. To us, Paul would remind us of this truth from Ephesians 6: “…we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Paul was in the middle of a power encounter, and we’d do well to remember the same, that our enemy is not the secularist, the abortionist, the cultist, the Communist, or the jihadist; these are the deceived tools of the Enemy. Our argument, our battle, is against the forces of Satan. It is Satan and his forces that Paul engages here in Ephesus.
II. Darkness in Confusion - :13-16
Paul writes, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11). There are certain works that are done that can by their very nature be described as “darkness”. Some of them are right here in this passage. Paul says in Romans 13:12, “let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” In these verses, we see some people who try to use the name of Jesus for their own purposes, taking the name of the Light of the World but using that name to serve their own ends, not God’s.
It might sound strange that there were wandering Jews who went from place to place exorcising demons, but they enjoyed much respect. Then again, it might not sound strange; just several miles down Powder Springs Road there’s a woman who claims to be a psychic, and judging by the vehicles in the yard, she does pretty well for herself. This fellow Sceva very likely wasn’t really a Jewish high priest, but merely claimed the title for himself in order to sound impressive. The name of Israel’s God was not known, not even to be spoken aloud by unclean lips, but a man with such a title as “Jewish Chief Priest” would be seen in magical circles as one who knew that name, and could use it to work wonders.
Seven sons of Sceva, who were exorcists, decided to do just this: they invoked the name of Jesus in order to carry out their trade, but with no personal commitment to Jesus themselves. They thought that they had the “formula”, that that’s what Paul was doing, some kind of magic thing, by use of the right incantation. It was God Who was doing the miracles, and these guys were not in tune with God; they thought of the practice in magical, not in spiritual, terms. Jesus was just a name to these guys, just a word that they could use to get what they wanted, which ultimately was more money. My original title for this message was “Using Jesus”. People do that today, same as these sons of Sceva tried to do: some treat crosses as lucky charms, warding off evil in some way. Some people think that being in church has a similar effect, that God is especially pleased with them because they lumbered out of bed and parked their backsides in a church pew or seat. Or they’ll invoke the name of some “saint” to get good luck of some kind.
From Wikipedia: Christopher has always been a widely popular saint, being especially revered by athletes, mariners, and travelers. He holds patronage of things related to travel and travelers: people who carry things; against lightning; against pestilence; archers; automobile drivers; bachelors; boatmen; bookbinders; epilepsy; floods; fruit dealers; fullers; gardeners; hailstorms; for a holy death; truck drivers; mariners; market carriers; porters; sailors; surfers; toothache; transportation; and transportation workers. In other words, so-called St. Christopher is a lucky rabbit’s foot or a 4-leafed clover, one used by folks who are trying in some way to use the things of God in a magical way.
People have been trading on the name of Jesus for centuries, indeed millennia. It happened in Ephesus; it happens today. Whenever we employ the name of Jesus, or the name of God the Father, in any way other than to esteem those names with the reverence which are due them, we are guilty of violating that commandment that says, “you shall not take God’s name in vain.”
We cannot use the name of Jesus lightly. How do we do this?
• “Cussin’”
• Using the name of God without attaching reverence to it; “oh my God” might be met with an “I didn’t mean anything by it!” Which is the point exactly…
• Speaking carelessly about God’s guidance; invoking “God’s will” when we aren’t sure of His will, or “God told me…” Well, maybe He did and maybe He didn’t, but let’s be sure He did before we say He did.
How should we use the name of Jesus?
• Reverently
• Thoughtfully
• Frequently, if the above conditions are met; I’m concerned by professing Christians who seem afraid to say “Jesus”
One commentator likened this episode to a person holding an unfamiliar weapon in his hands, the weapon exploding in his face. And the result is comical, these clowns streaking away from the house, battered and bruised by this demon-possessed man with the supernatural powers of the demon coursing through him. One would expect that this was the kind of story that the church used for years to come not only to illustrate God’s power, but also to get a hearty belly laugh out of; just the image in our minds 2000 years later brings a chuckle!
III. Darkness in Retreat - :17-20
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5
Great fear fell upon people when the heard what had happened to Sceva’s boys, the name of Jesus was rightly used and praised. This healthy fear didn’t come about so much as a result of the wonderful, supernatural, unusual miracles that took place, but because of God’s judgment on those who misused Jesus’ name.
John 1:5 makes it clear what will prevail in the final analysis, that darkness will retreat: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” And according to that same passage in John, it is Jesus Who is the Light Who was to come into the world; Jesus Himself said the same thing, in both John 8 and John 9. Who is it that is overcoming the darkness here, forcing it to beat a hasty retreat? Jesus!
The people brought their valuable, but wicked objects to be burned, and the cost wasn’t an issue for them (about 50,000 days worth of wages for the average worker). “Confessing and divulging their practices” – The power of a spell was in its secrecy; to divulge it was to render it useless, and that’s exactly what these guys did; they spoke the words of the incantations, divulging them and robbing them of Satanic power—this is called “repentance”! And they got rid of all their magical paraphernalia to boot. Rackham: “This bonfire was the crowning victory of the church over its greatest enemy—evil within.”
And the fair question for us as Christ’s followers is, what things in our lives need to be burned in a bonfire? In other words, what kinds of “darkness” exist in your house? In your life? And what do you need to do to get rid of them? It is so easy to live undistinguished from the world around us; in fact, those who study such things say that the lifestyles lived by professing Christians differ little from those lived by their pagan neighbors.
Soren Kierkegaard tells the parable of a wild duck who made himself at home in a domestic barnyard, settling down to enjoy just a few moments of sumptuous corn. A few moments turned into an hour, and an hour into a day, and a day into a month, and a month into a home. When the wild ducks flew overhead and honked at him to join them, he tried, but found he’d grown fat and unable to rise. Every year they’d come by, and he’d flap his wings a little, but eventually, he didn’t even hear their calls.
Such can happen in our lives if we immerse ourselves so much in the things of this world, crowding out the things of God, that we over time become immune to the call of God to a life of holiness. To be sure, changed behavior follows an encounter with Christ; it’s not the other way around. But as is evident in Ephesus, those who come face-to-face with the holiness of God, and the zeal of God for the Name of His only begotten Son Jesus, will want to be done with the things of this world that serve to hinder holiness and restrain right living.
Darkness and light is a Biblical theme, to be sure, and the forces of darkness, at times, can seem to be having their way in this world that, to all appearances, looks to be growing more spiritually dark as time goes on. But we can be sure of this: in the final analysis, the Kingdom of Light will triumph over the legions of darkness, and we, the children of Light because we walk in the Light of Christ, will see the defeat of the darkness.
Table Talk
• Is it sometimes hard to remember that our real enemy as Christians isn’t “flesh and blood”, but rather the spiritual forces of darkness? Why do you think that’s so?
• How do we “walk in the light” and live in holiness without falling into the trap of acting as though obeying rules is what pleases God?
