Extraordinary Things

Acts 19: 17

And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 

Paul traveled to Ephesus where he found a group of believers who only had the baptism of John.  On hearing this Paul laid his hands on them baptizing them in the name of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit came upon them. They began speaking in tongues and prophesying. The nucleus for the church had been formed! I love it! It is so cut and dried!

For about 3 months Paul taught boldly about Jesus in the synagogue until some were not receptive and began speaking evil of the Way. So he left and began teaching in the hall of Tyrannus. This continued for 12 years. Amazing! To be under Paul's teaching for 12 years! The results: all the residents of Asia had heard the gospel message both Greeks and Jews. The command of Acts 1:8 was being obeyed. 

God was doing extraordinary things at the hands of Paul so much so that even something he had touched had power to heal both physically and spiritually. It looked so easy to some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists. As they began to cast out evil spirits, they did it through the name of Paul saying by the Jesus Paul proclaims. However, this did not fly in the face of the evil spirits. They simply said, Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you? And the evil spirits in the man jumped on them and overthrew them. They ran away wounded and naked. [ more humiliation] As you would expect, when this became known, fear spread throughout the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled.  Such power in Jesus! The result: many believers who practiced magic arts came, confessed, and brought their books for a book burning. The value of all these books was 50,000 pieces of silver. [6 million in today's currency] So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. 

There are two great warnings in this passage.[v. 1-20] Don't mess with spiritual things unless you are truly spiritual! Everything looks easy in the hands of a professional. The same goes for those who are truly spiritual. We only see the outward appearance of their lives. We do not see the surrender of their hearts. Really, trying to have this power apart from the Holy Spirit and a surrendered heart is just another fleshly activity, an activity motivated by jealousy. Most people want the limelight, but the truly spiritual person wants Jesus to have the glory. 

And secondly, eliminate from your life the things from your past that will drag you down. Jesus is all or He is nothing. These people saw explicitly what would happen if they tried to blend their old life with their new life. Sadly, people like to hold on to what they have, to what has given them validation or credence. But once people are saved, Jesus must be the only validation! All is said or done to the glory of God. Personal glory is trumped by God's glory! 

Father,

Thank You for teaching me this morning. I do give the glory to you in all things. Help me to see clearly what is in my heart. Have Your Spirit enlighten me so that I might confess and clean out the corners of my heart so that only You are glorified.

In the mighty name of Jesus,

Amen