Acts 19 Through it All, I have learned to trust in Jesus

 

Scripture: Acts 19:11 Paul found great support from God

Title: Through it all I have learned to trust in Jesus


Acts 19:1 Paul's journey took him back to the believers in the southern valley of Turkey and then over the pass and down into Ephesus. He found some disciples who had learned of faith from Apollos, who was now in Corinth. 2 Paul asked, "Have you received the Holy Spirit?" They responded, "We have not heard about the Holy Spirit." 3 He asked about their baptism, and they talked of John's. 4 Paul said, "John's baptism was for repentance, but he told us to believe in the one coming after him, referring to Jesus." 5 They said they wanted to be baptized in the name of Jesus. 6 Paul laid his hand on their heads and the Holy Spirit poured over them and the spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 They were a group of twelve men. 

In some ways, the baptism of the most churches today is more like the baptism of John. When we share the good news with someone, we often talk about the head changes that will come; i.e. forgiveness, eternal life, changing our lifestyle, etc. We seldom talk about the coming of the Holy Spirit, expecting miracles in our lives, and seeing the power God has to offer. Why is that? Because we don't expect to see the "flashy" type miracles of Paul's day, like exorcisms, healings, and demonstrations of power.

Why don't we see the signs and wonders today? I personally think it has something to do with us. I know it has a lot to do with God's timing and when He needs miracles done, but we might be a factor also.

God does miracles to draw a crowd and bring people to Jesus. If He were to do a miracle in our presence would be talk about it or just accept the answered prayer? Would we name the name of Jesus and give Him the credit or just make it seem like a nice coincidence? If God has a purpose in the doing the miracle and we don’t share our belief that He is at work, why would He choose to do more miracles around us? Just a thought.

We want miracles to make our life or the life of our friends better. We ask for healings and help to ease the burden of this life. Do we have a heart for salvation? Do we care if others come to know Jesus? Would we see more miracles if we set our heart on God's agenda? I think, yes 

Why are we so timid? A lack of faith. When we believe God can, do we also believe God will? Has our faith been trained to expect little or more? How big is our God?

Acts 19:8 Paul went to the synagogue and there began to teach about Jesus and the kingdom of God. He stayed there almost three months. 9 Of course, the reaction was mixed, and some became hard hearted and turned against anything related to Jesus. Paul went out and took the disciples to the school of Tyrannus and continued to teach. 10 He taught there for another two years, and it came about that people throughout Turkey, both Jews and Greeks were hearing about Jesus. 

11 Paul found great support from God as he was able to perform miracles by touching people and 12 even some people took articles of clothing from Paul and touched their friends, and they were healed of diseases and set free from the evil spirits.

Now, I have taught for almost fifty years and have never had the results Paul did. I will speak of the healings I have seen and the exorcisms I have been a part of but a season of ongoing miracles, no. I could feel bad, but I trust that God has His timing and is doing His work through me. When He is ready for me to have people healed or set free, it will happen. But I do not stop praying and asking. And I do not stop talking about the work He is doing in my life when the opportunities arise. 

Acts 19:13 Paul encountered some Jewish exorcists trying to use the name of Jesus to help people who had evil spirits in their lives. They said, "I command you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches, come out." 14 The exorcists were sons of a Jewish chief priest named Sceva. 15 The evil spirits spoke to the seven sons, "I am aware of Jesus, and I know about Paul, but I do not know you." 16 And immediately, the man with the spirit, attacked them and overcame them such that the seven rushed out of the house naked and battered. 

Let's talk about Healing. I believe there are four causes to sickness in this world; there is sickness in the world because of the fall, we make bad choices, there is a demonic presence, and it could be something God does for His glory. In the same way, there are four broad categories related to healing; advances in medicine, we change our behavior, we exercise power over satan, and God desires us to be healed. It is important for us to look at illness and healing from a well-rounded perspective. It is God who enables the research people, whether they believe it or not, to come up with new cures. It is God that brings ideas to our attention that help us make better choices about our lifestyle. It is God who teaches us about victory over satan, and it is God who brings about answers to our prayers so that people around us will hear about the work of God and give Him the glory. God does not choose to heal everyone every time there is a need. I cannot explain that. I can only observe this to be true. My task is to believe in His power over disease, over our choices, over satan, and that He is in control of things that happen in this life. So, I pray, I ask, I believe He can, and I trust He will in His way and in His time.

Let's talk about Exorcism. I believe anyone can have an evil spirit tempt or torment them. And I believe we have control over letting them in and letting them stay. Discernment is necessary to understanding the presence of a demon in someone's life. It is not a decision to take lightly. Many of the symptoms of demonic attachment can appear like physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual ailments in life. Satan has always tried to deceive and coverup his work. Only spiritual ailments might need an exorcism. An exorcism should be performed by someone who is familiar with the process, aware of the need for prayer support, has a since of Christ given authority, and is working with a person who truly wants to be set free.

Some people think the demonic is just a primitive belief and now that we have advanced in our society we don't need to believe in this any longer. In our society, the existence of evil spirits is only seen as a great subject for the movies. And this weekend a number of movies came out related to evil, horror, and terror, and they received some of the highest ratings from the critics and the viewers. That says a lot about our society and the need for us to speak more about Jesus.

Interesting that the sons of Sceva were trying to cast out the demons in the name of "the Jesus whom Paul preaches." They did not know Jesus, they just knew there was power in that name. And they encountered a demon who knew the rules of engagement. The authority lies in the name of Jesus, i.e. the whole of who He is, not the word, Jesus. Martin Luther says in his hymn, “All hail the power of Jesus’ name,” “one little word shall fell him,” speaking of the name “Jesus’ causing the destruction of satan’s works. There is power in the name when spoken by someone who knows the authority given by Jesus. The demons were not afraid of a person who did not know Jesus personally, who did not have the authority of Jesus within them. And they overpowered the seven exorcists at one time through the viciousness of one man. 

Acts 19:17 Word of this spread throughout Ephesus, to both Jews and Greeks. People were in awe and lifted up the name of Jesus. 18 More and more came forward, believed in Jesus, and confessed their evil practices. 19 They began to burn their magic books in front of the onlookers. The price of the books totaled over fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Can you imagine the number of books related to magic that were in that community over 2000 years ago and the people who practiced that witchcraft were willing to sacrifice their books because of the power of the name of Jesus they were now experiencing? Many, even today, are willing to “burn their books” because of finding the power of Jesus in their lives.

There were books I wanted to give away when I came to know Jesus, but then I thought, it they are not good for me, why should I pass them on to someone else. I threw them away, In rummage sales, if I find a book that would not be good for others to read, I might buy it and destroy it.

 Acts 19:20 And the word of the Lord continued to prevail. 21 Paul sensed the time to move on had come and he decided to make a trip through Macedonia and Achaia and then on to Jerusalem. After that he planned to visit Rome. 22 He sent Timothy and Erastus ahead of him to Macedonia while he remained in Turkey for a little longer.

“Sensing the time to move on.” I don't know if you have ever "known" that it was time for you to do something. You feel an urge or think a thought that leads you to change the way you are doing things. That can be the work of the Holy Spirit, leading you away from evil and into the good of God’s plan. And Paul sensed it was time to return to Jerusalem, by way of the churches he had founded. He sent his followers ahead to let the churches know he was coming soon.

 Acts 19:23 Because of Paul's preaching a division began to grow in the city of Ephesus. 24 A silversmith named Demetrius was earning quite a bit of money from the community by making images of the goddess Artemis. 25 Demetrius gathered the craftsmen in this business together and let them know their future earnings were at stake because of the teachings of Paul.  26 He told them how Paul had not just been teaching these things in Ephesus but around Asia and he had persuaded many people to follow this Jesus. "Paul calls our idols worthless. He says they are not gods at all." 37 He continued to talk about the danger that the idol making trade would fall apart and Paul might even find a way for the temple of Artemis to be deemed worthless. He suggested Paul would make plans to dethrone their goddess and have people cease to worship her. 

Demetrius was interested in the goddess of Artemis because it was making him a lot of money. He was protecting his income, his job, his welfare, his livelihood. It does not appear that he was interested in his god. We do not even know if he believed. He was not so much opposed to Paul’s teaching about Jesus as he was of losing his business. 

What kind of god needs human protection? What kind of god will go out of existence and no longer be worshipped if Paul or we continue to lead people "astray." Sometimes we in the church feel as though we need to defend God from the accusations of others. In reality, He can take care of Himself, and we are under His protection, not the other way around. We are not called to defend God, but to tell the world about our experience with Him; how He has changed our life for the better. We are His witnesses, not His protectors.

Acts 19:28 When the craftsmen listened to Demetrius, they grew in their anger towards Paul and shouted, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"   29 This threw the city into a state of great confusion, and many grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions, dragging them into the theater. 30 Paul wanted to go in and help his friends, but others held him back. 31 Even some of his friends inside the theater sent word to him warning him not to come in. 32 But inside the theater the place was in chaos, shouting different things and many did not even know why they were there. 33 Then the Jews pushed Alexander forward and he tried to get the attention of the crowd to speak. 34 Some in the crowd realized he was a Jew and they started an outcry that lasted two hours, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" 35 The town clerk finally settled the crowd down and spoke, "Men of Ephesus, everyone knows that our city guards the temple of Artemis and protects the image that fell from heaven. 36 "Since this is common knowledge you need to keep calm and not be so rash. 37 "These men you have brought into the theater are not robbers or blasphemers. 38 "Demetrius, if you have a complaint against anyone, you know the rules, bring them before the courts when they are in session. 39 "Let things be handled lawfully and properly. 40 "Today, we are coming very close to having a riot without a cause making if very difficult to explain this unruly gathering." 41 And he sent the crowd away to their homes.

While God did not step in and quickly solve the problem and Paul was forced by his friends not to get involved, yet, in time "all things worked for good." Whether we encounter signs and wonders, healings, exorcisms, or just a steady life of the joy of knowing Jesus, all is in His hands. Our calling is to live a life of faith, trusting in His provision and care, and believing that He watches over us.

We might not have the flare of experiences happening around us. We might need to look for the miracles in our life. But when we do take the time to look, when we trust, we will begin to see, Jesus is with us. 

Blessings upon you as you continue to walk your journey of faith and share with those around you of the hope that Jesus has placed within you. I bless you in the name of Jesus with joy and love and encouragement as you live out your week in His company.

Edd Breeden

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