A Glorious Bonfire

Introduction

“Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812”

In December 1814, the Treaty of Ghent was signed in Belgium, effectively ending the War of 1812. However, due to the slow communication of the time, news of the treaty did not reach the United States or British forces in Louisiana in time to prevent the Battle of New Orleans.

On January 8, 1815, British forces launched a frontal assault on American positions at New Orleans, led by Major General Andrew Jackson. The British suffered a devastating defeat, with over 2,000 casualties, while the Americans incurred only around 70 casualties.

It wasn't until weeks later, on February 13, 1815, that news of the Treaty of Ghent reached New Orleans. The battle had been fought unnecessarily, as the war was already officially over.

In the same way, the Gospel ended the war between you and God, but our hearts are full of compartments which have not yet surrendered to the Lordship of Christ!

The Good News of the Gospel need to also arrive in order for this compartments to surrender to Christ.

“Who are these men and women who turned the world upside down?”

“They are ones that held nothing back from Jesus, and for Jesus.”

This evening, I want to show you two (2) groups of people, and chances are that you are in one of these two groups.

Those Who Wanted to Use Jesus

Acts 19:13 NIV

13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.”

We pick up our story in the city of Ephesus.

In the verses leading up to our text, we learn about all the extraordinary miracles that God did through Paul.

Sick people were healed and evil spirit left simply by touching a piece of Paul’s clothing.

After witnessing such demonstration of power, some Jews decided it would be a good idea to try out “the name of Jesus.”

You need to understand the city of Ephesus was extremely superstitious!

The city had a reputation of being a center for the learning and practice of magical arts. Kinda like the Hogwarts of its days.

The phrase “Ephesian writings” was common in antiquity to refer to documents that contain spells and magical incantations.

“No doubts, these Jews exorcists saw an opportunity to, perhaps, even monetize the name of Jesus.”

What’s Up With All These Spirit?

🤔 “By the way, Eddy, why so many spirits in the book of Acts?!”

This morning you talked about a slave girl with and spirit.

Now, we have another group of people driving out evil spirits.

😡 “This is what frustrate me about Christianity - Its all about an spiritual world that you really can’t prove its existence by scientific method. ”

✅ Granted - Scientific methods cannot prove the existence of a spiritual realm. You know what else it can’t prove?

Love. ⏸️ Compassion. ⏸️ Hate.

You can’t prove the cause of these things, but you can see the effect.

⚠️🐢 “Likewise, you can’t prove the cause of the spiritual world in a lab, but you can see the effects of this world around you, both good and bad.”

Paul once sent a letter to the Christians in the of Ephesus - the same city we are talking about here (For those of you were born in the 2,000, think of it as a printed email). He wrote…

Ephesians 6:12 NLT

12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

⚠️ “There is an spiritual warfare happening right now, in this place.”

😇 God is trying to get your attention! He wants you to know the truth!

👿 The devil, on the other hand, is doing everything he can to distract you, filling your head with lies as we speak.

“An English Preacher once said it like this…”

“Consider how precious [your] soul must be [that] both God and the devil are after it.”

- Charles Spurgeon

❤️‍🩹 Hey, Look at me! Don’t make it easy for the devil.

⏸️

Is Jesus your Lord too?

“Going back to our story, pick me up in verse 15…”

Acts 19:15–16 NIV

15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

⏸️ 😅 If you are not Hispanic, let me tell you this is the closest account in the Bible of a Chancleta-Whoppinp!

⚠️ Unlike their spells and magical incantations, you cannot simple say “in the name of Jesus” and expect everything to go away!

“In the name of Jesus” are not magical words. They mean nothing if the name of Jesus is NOT in you!

⚠️ But here is the irony: They wanted the evil spirits to submit to someone who they hadn't submitted themselves!

🔥They wanted all the perks of following Jesus, without following Jesus.

🔥 They wanted all of Jesus’ goodies, without Jesus.

🔥 They wanted the effects, but they were not willing to yield to the cause!

“I dare to say this is also the case with some of you too…”

You cry out to Jesus when you need His help, but you won’t submit your ways to Him.

You want God to bless your life, but you won’t surrender your life to God.

You want to go to Heaven, but you won’t let go of your life here on Earth.

⏸️

🔥“Jesus is fine as Savior, ⏸️ but not as Lord.”

⚠️ “The issue here, however, is that just like these Jews, sin keeps overpowering you to the point that it always leaves you naked and bleeding inside.”

No matter how hard you try, anger keeps getting the best of you.

No matter how many boundaries you set, you keep giving up your body to sexual impurity.

No matter how many followers you have on social media, you still feel alone.

No matter how many times you say, “this will be the last time”, ⏸️ 🐢 it never is…

The problem is that you keep “tagging” Jesus into your “reels” like you do with your friends.

⚡️Newsflash - You cannot tag Jesus into your stories or reels. You and I are the ones being “tagged” in Jesus’ story!

Which leads us to our second group…

Those Who Wanted to Be Used by Jesus

“For all their mimicking and counterfeit incantation, something good came out of this…”

Acts 19:17 NIV

17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.

You Can’t Fake It For Long

🤨 Why did the fear of God came upon these people? Wasn’t it the evil spirit who overpowered them?

Yes! But what did the spirit say?

“Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” (Ac 19:15).

I can imagine the spirit going something like this:

“I know who Paul is - He has caused great damaged to our realm!”

“I definitely know who Jesus is! He is the one who defeated us…”

“But, who are you again?!”

“Here is what the people of Ephesus realized in that moment: 🔥 I cannot fake my way into Heaven!

“Sure, I can fake it long enough to fool my Youth Leader, or my friends.”

“I can fake it so long and so well that even I fool myself!”

“But I cannot fake it to these evil spirits.”

They know who I am.

They recognize one of their own.

🔥 If these evil spirits know that my christian faith is nothing but a fraud, how much more God the Father, who knows all things and search the hearts of all men and women?

⏸️

Moreover, they learn that you cannot profess Jesus, and serve yourself.

You cannot confess Jesus with your lips, and serve yourself with your hands.

You cannot have two persons sitting in the throne of your heart ♥️.

In the words of the missionary to China, Hudson Taylor:

“Christ is either Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all.”

- Hudson Taylor

The people of Ephesus got the point. Meet me again in verse 18 (Acts 19:18-20).

Acts 19:18–20 NIV

18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

What an incredible scene! When I look at this revival, here are three (3) things I notice:

1) It Is Public

They openly confessed all they have done.

😫 You are probably thinking, “Why does it always have to be public?!”

And you are right! It doesn’t always have to be public.

“But here is what I’ve found over the year…

The ones that are too concern with a public decision, are the ones who care too much what other will think of you.”

🔥 You are more concerned about defaming your own imagine than about the image of God which you’ve already defamed.

Do you want to know how I know that? 💣 Because I was one of them!

“Whenever God convicted me of my sin…”

I always wanted to deal with it privately.

I didn’t want people to know that I was broken and that I didn’t have it figured out.

But when I finally began to open up, and share with other how God was dealing with me.

You know what I discovered?

There are scores of people just like me!

… And no longer I felt I was walking alone.

2) It Calls for Action

Their public confession was matched by a public act of obedience.

They began to bring their sorcery scrolls (books) and burning them in front of everyone.

Unlike today, books back them were really expensive.

Luke, who’s the human author of the book of Acts, estimates that the total value of all the books burned was 50,000 drachmas.

The drachma was a silver coin, and one (1) drachma represented a day’s work.

The first time I had a job that paid me by the hour, I began to see things differently.

💵 If I wanted to buy something on Amazon or go to Starbucks, I would calculate how many hours I needed to work to pay that back!

😅 I have to admit, it did not always worked! But it helped putting things into perspective.

💣 The value of all the books they burned represented 160 years worth of salary!

💭 You are probably wondering, “Couldn’t all that be sold instead? I mean, that’s A LOT of money!”

“Let me answer you with a story…”

Back in my days we had this thing called “Tazos” (Flippos?).

They round and flat (like a coin), and made out of plastic. On both sides they had pictures of Pokemons.

The way you played that game was, with one tazo, you are trying to flip over your opponent’s tazo. Every time a tazo got flipped, the other person needed to pay one tazo to his/her opponent!

Here is the thing, the game was addictive and I was GOOD at it!

One day I get convicted by the Holy Spirit that this game has basically become and idol in my heart, and as such, I needed to let it go.

So, one day I come around my friends who were also playing Tazos, and I drop all my Tazos in front of them! It looked like a Piñata just burst open in front of them!

- Everyone is going crazy trying to get my Tazos, and I, for once, felt good about it.

- I felt so good about it, that I thought to myself: Maybe I can keep playing Tazos, win more Tazos and then give them over to my friends again! (😅 Like a Robin Hood of Tazos!)

And then the Holy Spirit convicted me again and told me…

🔥💣 “You are NOT giving up your idol. You are simply refurbishing it.”

⏸️ Here is the bottom line:

🔥 “You don’t negotiate with your idols.”

🐢 “You bring them at the foot of the cross, and let Jesus handle them!”

Another Missionary to Ecuador said it like this,

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

- Jim Elliot

3) It’s the Work of the Holy Spirit

“As much as I want to persuade you to surrender your life to Jesus, I cannot produce this conviction in you.”

This is the work of God!

Did you notice that the name of Peter or Paul or any other apostle is missing from these verses?

🐢 Peter didn’t ignite this revival.

Paul was nowhere to be seen.

It was the Holy Spirit working in the hearts and minds of these people.

It was God who confronted them that their beliefs did not match their behavior.

It was God who reminded them that He cannot be fooled.

It was God who showed them their idols and compelled them to burn them!

⏸️ It was God who called them to surrender.

💭 You are probably wondering, 🤔 “How do I know it’s the God, the Holy Spirit working in me?”

“I wish I could tell you a simple, once-size fits all answer.”

❤️‍🩹 “And to be completely honest with you, I ask myself that same question all the time!

“But here is one thing I’ve learn to be true…”

“If you ever feel the urge to do the right thing…”

It doesn’t matter how bizarre it may sound.

It doesn’t matter how costly it may be.

It doesn’t matter how painful it may feel.

[…] 🔥“If the effect is going to be becoming more like Christ or loving your neighbor better, then I dare to say the Holy Spirit is behind it.”

Conclusion

⏸️

“As a matter of fact, I believe the Holy Spirit is already working in some of you right now.”

⚠️“I believe that, as we’ve been learning about these men and women who held nothing back from Jesus and for Jesus, 🐢 that the Holy Spirit has been confronting you about things that you are currently holding back from Jesus.”

Maybe you’ve been holding back your plans for the future.

Maybe you’ve been holding back your relationship with your boyfriend or girlfriend.

Maybe you’ve been holding back something as simple as your video games, and yet, that simple thing has cause you great trouble.

Maybe you’ve been holding back your eyes, or your hand, or your feet.

Maybe you’ve been holding back resentment, you simply won’t allow yourself to forgive them wrong that has been done to you.

“Just as these men and women had an opportunity to surrender their books for Christ, I want to give you an opportunity to surrender that which you are holding back from God.”

⚠️ The idea is not just to surrender these things, but as you surrender them at the foot of the cross, you are free to embrace everything God is calling you to be!

✝️ “In a moment, I going to invite you to responde to the Holy Spirit. But before I do that, I know there are some of you that have yet to respond to Gospel.

For some of you, the most important thing you can surrender tonight is your heart ♥️.

“Eddy, but I thought I missed my opportunity last night!”

“You know what - ⏸️ we are not here trying to push our agenda. We want to join God in what He is already doing in your life, and if He has been working in you today, we want to give you another opportunity.”

“In a minute a will give you an opportunity to respond…”

⚠️ “I will only ask that, if you want to come forward, but you have already trusted in Christ as your Savior, to hold up for one second.”

Are you read?

[Call Salvation Forward]

[Call Boys Forward]

[Call Girls Forward]

[Close with Prayer]