Transformative Power

Introduction:

Paul had been in Ephesus a couple of years and taught daily at Tyrannus and the gospel begun to spread throughout Ephesus and Asia minor.

When we reach chapter 19 of Acts Paul is leaving Ephesus and going back towards Jerusalem. This was because he was taking an offering back to the church at Jerusalem

Acts: Commentary Chapter 19

In time some traveling Jewish exorcists came to town. Seeing Paul’s miracles that were done in Christ’s Name, they too tried to use the Name of the Lord Jesus for exorcism, but in a magical way. It was seven of a high priest’s sons who attempted this.

Acts 19:11–20 NIV

11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. 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.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 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. 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. 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.

Seeing the extraordinary

Paul was being used in Ephesus

Sometimes we live in the shadows of the “true believers”

In a the “Chronicles of Christmas Movie the young girl has a belief in Santa and she was written a book of true believers. Those who had an unwavering belief system. True believers are those who powered Santa and his sleigh.

The secret is not knowing but being known

Darkness overpowers when there is no connection

Transformation that changes us from the inside will transform the outside

Billy Graham had these comments about the disease running rampant in our world: "We’re suffering from only one disease in the world. Our basic problem is not a race problem. Our basic problem is not a poverty problem. Our basic problem is not a war problem. Our basic problem is a heart problem. We need to get the heart changed, the heart transformed."

After the sons of Sceva were chased away by the man possessed by demons, a mighty revival broke out in Ephesus and lives were forever changed.

That’s the result of a true revival! They threw out their occult books and all their idolatrous materials; over 50,000 pieces of silver worth of unclean materials were destroyed because those Christians now had the real thing.

You can always tell when there’s a real move of God in the church because suddenly, you will begin to hear of people throwing away their drug paraphernalia, their occult games like Ouija Boards and Tarot Cards and then they’ll quit calling the Psychic Hot Line, and stop playing their music, destroying the tapes and CD’s that glorify sex, money and power and building up sin as something great.

How to transform

Being an authority on the word: The apostle Paul had grew in the knowledge of the word

Have a relationship with the father

Rid yourself of the items, things that hinder us

The amount of possessions burnt that day was equivalent to a 137 years worth of salary