The good, the bad and the ugly.
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Paul in Ephesus
Paul in Ephesus
Paul and the 12 Disciples.
Jesus Changed Everything!
BC/AD
For us it changed with his death, resurrection and ascension.
Day of Pentecost.
Samaritans: Holy Spirit didn’t come on them until Peter and John came.
Gentiles: the Holy Spirit came upon them while Peter was speaking.
These 12 did not know of Christ.
10 This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
This morning we will look three different scenarios in the Acts.
11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,
12 so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.
13 But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
14 Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”
16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
17 This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.
18 Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.
19 And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
20 So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.
God’s miracles through Paul
11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,
Miracles are a suspension of the natural laws of earth.
12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.
19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
5 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.
I believe it is possible that there are places in this world where the truth of Christ is new information and signs and wonders occur, we just don’t hear about it.
I also am not arrogant enough to put a limitation on God.
The fact that we are here in on this rock hurling through space around a sun is evidence of a miracle.
That said, I do not need signs and wonders to believe.
But Luke emphasizes that the signs and wonders were so strong through Paul that,
12 so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.
This isn’t unprecedented.
People healed when Peter’s shadow hit them.
The bleeding woman healed when she touched hem on Jesus’ robe.
It is God who heals through faith. But he doesn’t heal everyone.
Miracle is God testifying what Paul said was true.
There is a popular logical fallacy that is taught today.
Argument from silence
If someone didn’t speak against it, they approve of it.
“Jesus never condemns homosexuality in the bible, therefore it is not wrong.”
That’s a stupid argument.
Paul did write about the sin of homosexuality
The miracles of God through Paul confirm what Paul was saying is true.
IN THE NAME OF JESUS
IN THE NAME OF JESUS
13 But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
14 Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”
16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
God and Christ are not your magic words.
4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,
5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
We don’t pray in the name of Jesus because doing so holds some power we can wield.
We pray in the name of Jesus because it is through Him, and only through Him, we have access to the Father.
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
18 Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.
19 And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
This is the purification of the Church.
It starts with repentance. The Jews had to repent of the Idol they had made, which was the Law.
The Gentiles had to repent of their belief in other Gods.
But that is just the beginning.
Everyone that finds their way into the church is not a follower of Christ.
Those that are made new, still bring baggage.
Before we started this series, how many of you through that God changed Saul’s name to Paul on the road to Damascus?
Saul who was also called Paul......
As our knowledge increases and the Potters hand continues to mold us, thing come up that we have to confess and let go of.
That is what is happening here.
These folks were born in to Pagan worship and pagan thinking.
The New Testament Letters are all about correcting theology.
The Church is full of hypocrites, me being the biggest. But He’s not done with us.
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,
10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
Book Burning
Book Burning
If you Google Book burning, it is always portrayed as a bad thing. Nazi Germany is referenced and it is always seen as a reference of quenching knowledge and suppressing truth.
This account is different.
This is about letting go of sin.
Following Christ will cost you everything.
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
But know this…When you get to the point when you are giving things up to follow Christ, you will be eager to pay it.
26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.
27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?
29 “Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,
30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
31 “Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
32 “Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
33 “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.