Know God, Know Power. No God, No Power
Notes
Transcript
There is a huge difference between knowing somebody and knowing about somebody.
When we really know somebody we have a concern and a liking for that person. To know someone in a relationship will cost us. It will cost us time, money and loyalty.
There are some benefits in a close relationship. But when we just know about someone we have no benefits.
If I had a relationship with the president of the US that would be a great benefit. Just think, if I was in a sticky situation the president has power and authority… He has the power to pardon, to appoint, and executive power and that would be beneficial if I had a close relationship with the president.
Having a close relationship with Jesus give us even greater benefits because Jesus has greater power then POTUS.
No matter whose in office, POTUS ain’t got nothing on Jesus. That’s why Jesus is the one relationship that is greater then any other relationship we could ever have. The best relational investment we could ever have is to have that close relationship with Jesus.
Know God, Know Power but No God, No power.
In Acts 19, Paul left Corinth and went to Ephesus and God was doing amazing things through Paul and the other disciples. Ephesus was a very pagan and spiritually dark city but Paul knew Jesus and that made all the difference.
The City of Ephesus
Strategic location:
Ephesus was a hub of sea and land transportation, ranking with Antioch in Syria and Alexandria in Egypt as one of the great cities on the Mediterranean Sea. The population of Ephesus during the first century may have reached 250,000.
Very Religious:
The temple to the Greek goddess Artemis was located there. The worship of Artemis was also a great financial boom to the area because it brought tourists, festivals, and trade.
Very Wealthy:
Because of Ephesus’ strategic location, it was the center for trade bringing great wealth and power and influence throughout all of Asia.
Let’s go ahead and start at the beginning where Paul entered of Ephesus…
Acts 19:1–10 (ESV)
1 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.”
4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
PRAY
Paul hit the ground running. He approached 12 men who were disciples of John the Baptist but knew nothing about Holy Spirit or about Jesus. Paul had an opportunity to share the Gospel with these men but also baptise them in the name of Jesus and in the Holy Spirit.
These 12 Spirit filled disciples were the first of the Ephesians to begin following Jesus and were instrumental in Paul’s ministry. They were the beginning of this church plant in the city of Ephesus.
They knew Jesus and they discovered HIS power.
Transformation always starts with a relationship with Jesus.
Transformation always starts with a relationship with Jesus.
It started with 12 who were honest about what they knew and what they didn’t know about God. They didn’t know that there is a Holy Spirit.
Paul asked the right questions…
“did you receive the Holy Spirit?”
“into what baptism were you baptized?”
As disciples of John the Baptist, Paul was able to lead them to Jesus.
4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
John’s baptism was to lead people to repentance but Jesus fulfilled baptism through HIS death and resurrection giving us HIS power so we can repent. So, they responded by being baptized again in the name of Jesus and then they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
After that, Paul laid his hands on them…
6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.
These 12 men were then baptized in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues and prophesying.
For these 12 men, this was the beginning of a close relationship with Jesus and God was faithful to use these men to cause a great awakening within the city of Ephesus.
8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.
10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
Paul and these 12 men made an impact for Jesus. Paul stayed there talking about Jesus and after 2 years everyone in Asia heard the word of the Lord.
Real transformation always starts with a relationship with Jesus.
We can never shortcut our relationship with Jesus to manipulate God’s power.
We can never shortcut our relationship with Jesus to manipulate God’s power.
In that 2 year timespan God was doing incredible things.
11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 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.
This was powerful! Who wouldn’t want this type of power to heal, to set people free from bondages, to release people from evil spirits.
This was obviously an uncommon thing. This did not happen regularly but God used Paul to do extraordinary things because Paul had a close relationship with Jesus. He knew Jesus, and he had unwavering faith in what Jesus had the power to do.
God was using a tangible object to transfer God’s miracle working power to the sick, diseased and possessed.
That power got some people’s attention. Some people wanted to have that same power for personal and selfish gain. They wanted that power without having a relationship with Jesus.
13 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.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.
This team of Jews were traveling from town to town making a living by claiming to heal and drive out demons. Often these people would recite a list of names in their incantation to be sure of including the right deity. Here they were trying to use Jesus’ name in an effort to match Paul’s power.
Many Ephesians engaged in exorcism and occult practices for profit. The sons of Sceva were impressed by Paul’s work, obviously more powerful than their own.
The Jewish historian, Josephus, recorded the names of all the priests until the time of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. There is no record of Sceva.
He could have been posing as a priest, or somehow he was in the “priestly circle.”
His sons mentioned here failed to see that Paul’s power to drive out demons came from God’s Holy Spirit, not from incantations and magic formulas.
15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 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.
They eventually discovered, with pain, that no one can control or duplicate God’s power.
These men were calling on the name of Jesus without knowing him personally.
The seven sons of Sceva thought they could manipulate God for selfish ends. They failed to realize that Christ’s power cannot be accessed by reciting his name like a magic charm.
God works his power only through those he chooses and only at times he determines. We cannot control God through clever prayers or by following man-made schemes. God cannot be manipulated. God is sovereign and HE will do what HE will do when HE wants to do it and we need to be okay with that. That peace and faith can only come through relationship.
These self-proclaimed exorcists were out for easy money. Invoking the name of Jesus superstitiously, almost like rubbing a rabbit’s foot. But these men ended up being overpowered by an evil spirit in a man. They were beaten and fled for their lives. Fortunately the only thing they had lost was their clothes.
Here is a clear incident that demonstrates the truth that knowing about Jesus is not the same as knowing Jesus.
We cannot shortcut a relationship with Jesus to manipulate God’s power.
When God’s power is manifested not everyone is going to like it.
When God’s power is manifested not everyone is going to like it.
Theses fake, greedy exorcists who wanted to shortcut a relationship with Jesus to manipulate God’s power. After they were beaten up and stripped by this evil spirit the people who saw this had a great fear of the Lord.
17 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.
The people recognized that name of the Lord Jesus was the most powerful name and could not one to be taken lightly.
18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 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.
Ephesus was a center for black magic and other occult practices. The people would create magical formulas to give them wealth, happiness, and success in marriage. Superstition and sorcery were commonplace.
Many of the Ephesian converts had been involved in these dark arts. However, the demonstrated power of the name of Jesus over evil spirits became the gateway for a spiritual cleansing in the lives of many of the new believers in Ephesus.
Specifically, they renounced their fascination with all occult practices. They took the remnants of their pagan pasts, they burned them at a public bonfire.
They were making a clean break with sin. A clean break from sin was was costly—the magic books alone were worth several million dollars (50,000 drachmas). A drachma was a silver coin equal to a worker’s pay for one day.
20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
As people were being set free from sin and bondage. They had freedom from those things that bound them from their past.
People were benefiting financially from this idol worship so not everyone liked what God was doing.
Acts 19:23–27 (ESV)
23 About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.
27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”
This caused a riot in Ephesus.
God was setting people free but not everyone saw this as a good thing. Some of the people were loosing money because God was setting people free from sin.
Instead of depending on idols, they were depending on Jesus.
Just think if the pot shops, liquor stores, strip clubs, online casinos… just think if they were closed because nobody felt the need self medicate their problems away. The power of Jesus was setting people free from addictions.
Just think if hospitals did not have to see the sick because God’s power was healing the sick in our community. God was setting free those who were tormented and bound up.
When people aren’t making money not everyone likes what Jesus.
When God’s power if manifested, not everyone is going to like it but God wants to manifest HIS power in a mighty and powerful way.
God wants to awaken our community, heal, bring freedom, and bring revival but it all begins with knowing Jesus.
Know Jesus, Know power; no Jesus, no power.
Take away:
Are we shortcutting or trying to manipulate God’s power instead of drawing close to Jesus?
Is our relationship with Jesus over every other relationship?
Are we okay not being liked by everyone; even being rejected because of our relationship with Jesus?
