Acts 19:11-20

                                                             Acts 19:11-20

And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

 

The Spirit of God was clearly at work in the city of Ephesus.  The miracles, opposition and the transformation of lives is evidence that God had a special plan for this place.  Where the power of God is most evident, we also usually see the power of Satan at work as well.  There is a spiritual battle raging for the souls of men and we dare not take it lightly. 

 

THE POWER OF GOD TO BRING HEALING: Miracles serve a two-fold purpose.  The first is to demonstrate the power of God at work through the life of a witness of Christ.  The second is to bring healing or comfort to people who are facing suffering.  God was at work to bring many in this region of the world to Himself.  He was using Paul to communicate that message and was demonstrating the authenticity of Paul’s message through extraordinary miracles.  However, the greatest miracle that can ever occur is the transformation of life that God brings to the hearts and lives of people who trust Christ.

 

THE POWER OF SATAN TO INFLICT HURT: It is a dangerous thing to pretend to be something that you are not when dealing with satanic beings.  Apparently, these seven sons of Sceva were Jewish exorcists who were watching Paul and decided to imitate him and even evoke his name in their attempt to cast out daemons.  The result was not a positive one.  The daemons empowered the person to attack them physically and they had to flee from the person without clothing and beat up.  This reveals so much about the character of Satan and his daemons.  They hate people and seek to hurt them in any way they can.  Their desire is to see the image bearers of God dead and suffering torment for eternity separated from communion with God.  

 

THE POWER OF JESUS TO MAKE HOLY: As impressive as physical healing is to us, the greater miracle in this passage was the spiritual healing.  People who came to know Jesus and were inhabited by His Spirit became convicted of their sins of idolatry and spontaneously brought their artifacts to the public arena an burned a small fortunes worth of books and things used in their worship of false gods.  Jesus died to set us free from sin.  When He come into our lives, He gives us liberty to be able to live in obedience to Him and His Word.  The Holy Spirit performs this ministry of making us holy and conforming us to the image of Christ.  The things that cause us to sin should be removed from our lives that we might walk in freedom from sin that captivates us.

 

APPLICATION: Trust in the power of God to heal and liberate people from sin.  Evangelize and minister to others in the confidence of the Spirit. Beware of the dangers of Satan and his schemes while striving to reach and serve those he has hurt. Examine our lives to see areas where repentance is required to promote holiness.

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