The Name
of the Lord Becomes Well Known in Asia
[Acts
chapter 19, verses 13-22]
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Last
week when we completed part one of Acts 19, the apostle Paul had
amassed an enormous amount of healing power through the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit. He was actively accessing this implanted power –
power that he did not possess himself, but which had been imparted by
his baptism with the Holy Spirit of the risen Lord Christ Jesus.
Untold scores had been healed of various diseases or medical
conditions, possibly even thousands. All this was occurring in the
city of Ephesus, in what is now western Turkey. It was to the church
there that the Book of Ephesians in the New Testament was written.
There were also some other disciples who were driving demons out of
victims of demonic possession, and that is where we will begin this
week's lesson. So let's all start off together at verse 13.
“13)
Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke
the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They
would say, 'In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command
you to come out.' 14) Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest,
were doing this. 15) One day the evil spirit answered them, 'Jesus I
know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?' 16) Then the man who
had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave
them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and
bleeding.”
(Acts 19, verses 13-16)
Demonic
possession is very real, and it is not something that can be trifled
around with. The 1970's movie, “The Exorcist” barely scratched
the surface when it comes to something as serious as demonic
possession. These 7 sons of Sceva, as the apostle Luke relates,
evidently thought they could drive out demons by a human combination
of determination, focus and faith. While all three are certainly
worthy of consideration as it applies to our topic, there is one
missing ingredient that is vitally important to ministry – the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. Remember last week's study when Paul
asked in verse 2 of chapter 19 if the brothers at Ephesus had
received Holy Spirit baptism? They had no knowledge of the Holy
Spirit, meaning they also had no understanding of Christ's
resurrection. When asked whose baptism they had, they replied,
“John's”, meaning John the Baptist. John the Baptist, you will
recall from our study of Luke's gospel, had been executed decades
previously by King Herod. No one knows the exact date of his
execution, but it was probably in the years 28-29 AD (Matthew
14:1-12; Mark
6:14-27; Luke
9:9) after Herod the Tetrarch imprisoned John the Baptist in 27
AD (Matthew
4:12; Mark
1:14) at the behest of Herodias his brother's wife whom he took
as his mistress. (Matthew
14:3-5; Mark
6:17-20)
It
is likely that, like the believers Paul found at Ephesus, the 7 sons
of Sceva had John's water baptism but not that of the Holy Spirit.
Why is this significant? Because no one can drive out demons except
by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Things that are solid cannot
drive out spiritual things any more than one can mix oil and water.
In that instance, neither can drive out the other, nor can they be
mixed together. In the same way, it is not possible for someone
without the baptism of the Holy Spirit to drive out demons, let alone
be effective at it (see John's
gospel chapter 3 for the meaning of Holy Spirit baptism). So,
when Sceva's sons tried to drive the demon out of their 'customer' in
verse 16, “....
the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them
all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked
and bleeding.”
That's what you get for playing around with real demons, like Sceva's
sons were doing. You'll be lucky to survive such an encounter as
that, and that's no joke either. And now let's move on to part 2 of
this week's ongoing lesson.
“17)
All the people in Ephesus – Jews and Greeks – learned about this
and were filled with fear and gave great honor to the Lord Jesus. 18)
Many of the believers began to confess openly and tell all the evil
things they had done. 19) Some of them who had used magic brought
their magic books and burned them before everyone. Those books were
worth about fifty thousand silver coins. 20)
So in a powerful way the word of the Lord kept spreading and growing.
21) After these things, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, planning to
go through the countries of Macedonia and southern Greece and then on
to Jerusalem. He said, 'After I have been to Jerusalem, I must also
visit Rome.' 22) Paul sent Timothy and Erastus, two of his helpers,
ahead to Macedonia, but he himself stayed in Asia for a while.”
(Acts 19, verses 17-22)
So
the incident with the 7 sons of Sceva caused a sensation throughout
that part of the world. People everywhere, “.... were
filled with fear and gave great honor to the Lord Jesus. Many of the
believers began to confess openly and tell all the evil things they
had done.”
Confession, as you just read, is an integral part of practicing
Christianity. In fact, Christianity in the absence of confession and
repentance is really not Christian at all. The Bible tells us to
confess our sins, errors, imperfections and faults, first to God and
then to each other. Openness with one another is a requirement of
Christianity, and keeping our relationships honest and open is vital
to living Christianity as a lifestyle rather than merely as a set of
beliefs. Moreover, nobody can fool God. They would only be kidding
themselves.
“19)
Some of them who had used magic brought their magic books and burned
them before everyone. Those books were worth about fifty thousand
silver coins. 20) So in a powerful way the word of the Lord kept
spreading and growing.”
This occurrence in verse 19, where fifty thousand silver coins would
equal roughly $750,000 in today's money (assuming one ounce of silver
per coin), is what I would call an example of true repentance. Any
time you have a group of people willing to throw away what could have
amounted to their life's savings for their newfound belief in a
blessed Savior and Redeemer, I'd call that genuine faith and
repentance any day of the year.
Following
all these things, Paul stayed in various places in the province of
Asia (not the continent), vowing to visit Jerusalem and his old
enemies there before working his way towards Rome. “He
said, 'After I have been to Jerusalem, I must also visit Rome.' Paul
sent Timothy and Erastus, two of his helpers, ahead to Macedonia, but
he himself stayed in Asia for a while.”
Now Macedonia is fairly close to where the country is situated today,
although their borders do not correspond exactly. The province of
Asia, as it was known back then, comprises the western half of modern
Turkey, and that is where Paul remained as he preached, taught and
planted churches. He had no itinerary, no schedule, and no paycheck,
and yet he was in his element because he was doing what God had
called him to do, and he did so with fervor and purpose. He was
living his life to the fullest, which is precisely what we all need
to be doing, if we're not doing so already. Never worrying about
money, where he would spend that night, what he would have to eat, or
whether his sandals would wear out, Paul was called to be an apostle
because Paul was a man who knew how to get his priorities straight.
Few
people are like the apostle Paul. So few know how to get their
priorities straight. They don't know what truly matters in life.
Their lives are filled with social media skimming, TV show and movie
streaming, video games, virtual reality, and pornography. All some
people want to do is have fun all the time. Unfortunately, life
simply doesn't work like that, nor was it ever designed to. So for
this week, your assignment is to find out what really matters to you
the most. If it's any of the above things, or if it's an addiction,
you're on the wrong track. But please don't get mad at me for writing
this. I'm just a guy who really cares and who really wants to help.
But, if you are already doing these things, then keep up the good
work. And next week we'll move on to part 3 of Acts 19.
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