The book of Ephesians Pt. 2 Gospel Preaching. God's Holy Word Prevailed!

We continue to examine how the church at Ephesus began. Notice how Paul wanted to preach in Asia, but the Holy Spirit directed him to travel to Europe and preach at Philippi. Then Paul passed through Ephesus and preached to the Jews who wanted to hear more. However, Paul did not stay because he was traveling to Jerusalem. 

Later, Paul did arrive at Ephesus and found 12 Jewish disciples who only knew the preaching of John the Baptist. Paul showed how John was pointing people to Jesus Christ, and the twelve men believed. Paul then began preaching in the synagogue with all purposefulness. Paul's labor was an intense ministry marked by some Jews believing but many opposing the gospel of Christ. 

God did special miracles through Paul

Acts 19:11  And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: 12) 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. 

One important key in Paul's ministry was that "God wrought" miracles by Paul, to certify that the apostle was indeed a spokesman for the One True Living God of heaven. God used signs and wonders to certify His prophet during the Old Testament and He did the same for the New Testament apostles. (See Exodus 4:1-17, Mark 16:40 for examples). 

God received the glory because He did the work of doing miracles, signs or wonders by the hand of Paul. The apostle was a channel of God's blessing to mankind at that time. "Special miracles" were those works that people recognized were not done by any natural forces or ordinary power. These were mighty works wrought by God. 

An awesome display of the power of God was needed because paganism with all its sensuality and debauchery had a tight grip upon the minds of the populace. Luke gives us a partial description of miracles that God did among the Ephesians. Articles of clothing that belonged to Paul, like handkerchiefs or aprons were taken to sick people. The result was that their illnesses were cured and demons were cast out of them. 

 Paul was a tentmaker and often worked with his hands making tents in order to support his gospel ministry. 

Often when God is at work in a mighty way, the devil seeks to subvert the working of God. This case was no exception.

Spiritual darkness is real.

Acts 19:13-16  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 adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 14) And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 15) And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 16) And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 

Here we have an intriguing account of Jewish exorcists having their deception exposed for all to see. The words "vagabond Jews" refers to a group of Jews who wandered like Gypsies from place to place. The historian Josephus tells us that these particular Jews were addicted to practicing sorcery  that they connected with King Solomon. 

"Exorcists" in this text means that they sought to cast spells or create charms to cast out evil spirits. Jesus recognized their practices, though they did it for monetary gain instead of for the glory of God (See Matthew 12:27. Luke 9:49-50). 

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and so it would seem that the vagabond Jews sought to imitate the success of Paul's ministry. They attempted to cast out demons "by Jesus whom Paul preacheth." These Jews did not know Christ Jesus at all. They did not personally know Paul. 

However, the text does put on display the power of the name of Jesus Christ coming from God through the lips of the apostle Paul. The exorcists wanted to duplicate what Paul did so they could get more people under their control and make more money casting spells or doing exorcisms.

A man named Sceva was connected to the chief priests at Jerusalem. He had seven sons who did exorcism in the manner just described. In this text, the result of their failed attempt is astounding. An evil spirit answered them. If any people did not believe in the unseen world of spiritual darkness, they were certainly aware and afraid when they actually heard a demon speak. 

The demon said "Jesus I know and Paul I know." He recognized Jesus Christ as the Son of God as every single demon Christ encountered did (See for examples, Matthew 9:32-33; 12:22-32; Luke 4:31-37; 8:26-39). 

But, the demon had no respect to the seven sons of Sceva because there was no power of God in them. Therefore, the demon possessed man overpowered Sceva's sons with demonic strength. Sceva's sons ran away naked, injured and disgraced. 

God's mighty work caused sinners to quake and repent.

Acts 19:17-19  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. 18) And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. 19) 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 fifty thousand pieces of silver. 

This startling event made a profound impact upon the community of Ephesus. 

First, great fear fell upon all the Jews and Greeks who lived there. The curtain was pulled back on the sons of Sceva. Now the people knew that there was spiritual warfare and that the sons of Sceva were on the wrong side of this conflict. Jesus Christ was the true power of God, risen in glory and triumphant over the devil, all the fallen angels, hell, death and the grave. 

Second, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ was magnified, highly exalted. Jesus was glorified just as the Father said He would do, by giving Jesus a name that is above every other name (Philippians 2:5-11).

Third, many came to make a public profession of faith and showed their works of repentance. The word "came" means that the people kept on coming one wave after another because so many people, including Christians were under the evil influence of Sceva's sons. It is a sad reality that many who professed to "know God" among Jews and gentiles were engrossed in these practices. 

Believers made a fresh start by confessing their sins and renouncing any involvement with the occult. They were shocked to discover how badly they were fooled by soothsayers, magicians and exorcists, and they repented. The sorcerers were put to shame just as the false prophet of Baal were at Mount Carmel by Elijah the prophet (1 Kings 18:20-40). 

Fourth, a great number of people burned their books on magic. Many people who believed in witchcraft, necromancy and other powers of darkness gathered all of their magic books containing worthless spells, incantations and they burned them in the sight of all men. The word "burned" describes a continuing fire that grows in intensity.  There were so many books and parchments that it took time to gather them up and consign them to the flames. 

This is additional evidence of how the genuine reverential fear of God fell upon Ephesus. 

The Word of God conquered all opposition. 

Acts 19:20  So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. 

As this paragraph closes, notice the final exclamation point that God put on His work in Ephesus. 

He ended the devilish deception of sorcerers by exposing them for agents of Satan. God caused the faith of many professing believers to be shaken and more people were born again. Also, many believers who were caught up by the deceptions of Sceva's sons, truly repented of their participation in the occult and burned books of magic worth a considerable sum of money.  

Even though lives were transformed, repentance broke out, and the devil's partners were on the run, it pales next to what happened with the scriptures. Luke says the Word of God grew mightily and prevailed. 

The Word grew in clarity of exposition and message because of Paul's Spirit led preaching. It grew in the intensity of its impression as seen in the way that people responded with faith, repentance and denouncing the occult practices. It grew in how extensively it spread so that all they in Asia heard the Word of God. 

The Word of God prevailed by shining God's overwhelming Light into the spiritual darkness and exposing occult practices that enslaved people. It overwhelmed the souls of professing Christians who dabbled in the occult by bringing an overpowering conviction of sin upon their hearts. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

The seeds for spiritual success were sown when Paul reasoned with some of the Jews at Ephesus on his way to Jerusalem. More seed was sown when Paul found twelve disciples of John the Baptist at Ephesus and who turned to Christ in faith when Paul shared the gospel with them. 

Many times God is at work in other people's lives and we are not aware of it. We must be people who faithfully sow the good seed of the Word of God (Matthew 13) and who water the seed while counting on God for a fruitful harvest (1 Corinthians 3:6-8). 

Are we faithfully sharing the Word of God with other people?

Have we truly experienced the fear of God in our lives? We experience the fear of the Lord when the Spirit of God uses the Word of God in our heart to expose our sin, show us the holiness of God, and instructs us to confess and forsake our sins.  

Are we highly exalting the name of our Lord Jesus Christ? When God is at work in human hearts, people will exalt and lift up the only name that can save them from hell, the name Jesus Christ. 

Are we repenting of sin like the Ephesians did when Paul preached the Word? They were not just sorrowful. They were moved to action and eliminated the evil influences from their lives. 

Have faith in the power of God's Word. God chose the foolishness of preaching His Word to save those who will hear it and heed it. Do not give up on that relative, friend, co-worker or loved one because the scriptures can change their life. 

May the Lord find us faithfully praying for the lost and readily sharing the Word of God with all the people that we can. He is still on His throne, still saving people, and still calling the backslider to repentance. 

May we choose to glorify God in every aspect of our lives.

Bob