Prevailing Gospel

Introduction

At the end of the secondary journey Paul took Aquila and Priscilla to Ephesus and left them there

the people of Ephesus begged him to stay, but he was there only a short time

now on the third missionary journey he has come back to Ephesus and he spends a lot of time there

We see the gospel under attack everywhere Paul goes with it

this has not stopped even today

a couple of weeks ago 70 Christians were beheaded in Congo

as my limited understanding from talking to Roger,

there is a political situation that has a lot of fighting in the Congo

this is an Isis style or connected group that has come in with terrorist activity

what we see is that there has always been and always will be persecution where the gospel has been and is being proclaimed

but the gospel, the word of God always prevails

even at the loss of 70 people from the family of God

they did not recant their faith, and they are now in the presence of God

the gospel prevails, because even in death, those that are in Christ will dwell with him forever

Acts 19:8–20 CSB

8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, arguing and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples, and conducted discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord. 11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands, 12 so that even facecloths or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them. 13 Now some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this. 15 The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul—but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded. 17 When this became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, they became afraid, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high esteem. 18 And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices, 19 while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread and prevailed.

PRAY

The gospel is not simply a prayer that we get people to pray, but it is the power of God for salvation for all. (Rom 1:16)

A word, gospel that powerful must be consumed, obeyed and shared.

The Discerning Word

Some people have the gift of discernment

Heather is one of those people

she has told me things, this is why… it wasn’t a good thing, but it was true

she tries to tell me that is why I should listen to her, but it hasn’t helped

We need this discernment when it comes to sharing the word of God

Paul has been through a lot in the different placed that he has proclaimed the gospel, and Ephesus is no different

Acts 19:8–10 CSB

8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, arguing and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples, and conducted discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.

Paul is willing to share with those who disagree, to a point

where the exchanges are no longer constructive

disciples are not learning

the Lord is being slandered

this had gone from a discussion, to verbal attack on the way of salvation

There is nothing constructive taking place now

instead of it being a place of discussion, curiousity and seeking out of the scriptures, it is a verbal attack on Christ and his disciples

Paul takes disciples to hall of Tyrannus

not much know about Tyrannus or the hall

but was a place for them to meet and talk

tradition in Ephesus was to take the afternoon off

work early in the morning, take the hot part of the day off (11AM-4PM) and work until dark

Paul shares the gospel daily with the people of Ephesus

many believe that he is once again working as a tent maker

that is where the aprons come from

then he will meet at the Hall of Tyrannus during the rest time of the day

Preachers get up and shout about sharing the gospel

I would suppose that I am not much different

we should love those around us enough to share the gospel with them

Penn of Penn and Teller, “How bad do you have to hate somebody to se them die and go to Hell.”

there are times that street evangelism is needed, but largely ignored or combative

instead we must be discerning in our approach

those we have a relationship with

we share the love of Christ, not debate and get mad

notice the text, when they were heard hearted, meaning stubborn

so they hear the truth, then dig in their heels ignoring the truth and sticking to their beliefs no matter what

but Paul does not only remove himself and stop the debating, he removes the disciples

This discernment comes from the word of God because the word is powerful!

The Powerful Word

This would be a funny story if it were not so sad

imitators

Itinerant Jewish exorcists = traveling exorcists looking for somebody to pay them to remove evil spirits

one of the oldest occupations, or scams

I am here to do this thing… remove spirits, find water (Joseph Smith), heal you if you send me $99 for the prayer cloth that I have prayed over

when it does not work, I guess you did not have enough faith

they were drawn to Paul because the miracles that were being performed

they could make more money if they really could do miracles

Acts 19:11–16 CSB

11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands, 12 so that even facecloths or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them. 13 Now some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this. 15 The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul—but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded.

Once again we see the signs and miracles following the gospel

Luke has made a point to show that the miraculous point to the message, to the gospel that is being proclaimed

we have many even today that are so preoccupied by the signs that they end up ignoring or altering the message

Sons of Sceva attempt to pull their scam by using the name of Jesus and Paul

not because they believed in who Jesus was

they simply wanted to use his power for gain

there is a lesson, a message there about only coming to Jesus for his power, his gifts, his rewards

we come for the healings, not the healer, I want the gifts, not the giver

and we look at our faith as a transaction… I have been a faithful believer that tithes and reads my bible, why did this happen to me, as if God did not keep up his side of the deal

so they invoke the name of Jesus and Paul

the demons response is fascinating to me

Jesus I know = ginosko - the demons have an intimate knowledge of Jesus

Paul I recognize, other translations use the word know

the original word means that he has heard about Paul and knows who he is, but not intimately

but who are you

that is where many of us want to live out our christian life, where the demons do not even recognize us, but that is not what we are called to do

one spirit possessed man overtakes the seven and sends them off embarrassed

we are no match for evil spirits and we are not to mess with them, in our own power

I believe there are evil spirits in this world, the did not disappear when the new testament stopped recording

but we do not have a magic spell that we cast to stop them, there is not a magic prayer, a certain task that the bible assigns to remove them or defeat them

we see the apostles not able to cast out a demon and ask Jesus why they could not he responds, this can only happen with fasting a prayer

meaning humble yourselves and seek the Lord

it is not a certain prayer, it is not a certain ritual that defeats the evil spirits, but the gospel

Romans 1:16 CSB

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

On our own, we are defenseless against the power of evil, the the power of God and his word always prevails in the end.

The Prevailing Word

Bandwagon fans get a bad wrap

if you want to be a bandwagon fan for the teams I root for that is fine with me

primarily because for a long time the teams that I rooted for were not good enough to have band wagon fans

I enjoyed watching the people flock to the Royals in 2014 and 2015

People have flocked to the chiefs over the last few years, though now it has been long enough that they are hated by as more people then are loved by

after the demon defeat the fake exorcists, we see the city turned upside down

Acts 19:17–20 CSB

17 When this became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, they became afraid, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high esteem. 18 And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices, 19 while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread and prevailed.

Everyone, even those who did not put their faith in Christ held his name in high esteem

they acknowledge that there was a power there thy did not understand and were afraid of

public repentance takes place

believers come and begin to confess what they have been doing

burning books of magic

this was costly

they could have sold the book… kept the money

but the repentance, the burning of the books was a sacrifice of worship

destroying those idols, evil practices was their turning to the Lord

This is what the word of God does

it convicts our hearts to the sin in our lives

that is why some do not want to read it

we either have to acknowledge the sin in our lives, or ignore the word of God

This is what fear of the Lord looks like

when people see the power of God there is fear

when a disciple sees the power of God, they run into it like a scared toddler runs to their parent, it is a strong tower, a refuge

others run and hide

I believe there are both in this passage

I believe there are both that call themselves Christians today

through both, we see the word of God prevailing

there was a fear of the Lord among those in Ephesus

Discussion Questions

What motivated Paul to stay in Ephesus for an extended period during his third missionary journey?

Why did the Jewish exorcists attempt to use the name of Jesus to cast out demons?

What does the response of the evil spirit to the seven sons of Sceva reveal about the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus?

How did the miraculous events surrounding Paul influence the people of Ephesus?

In what ways did Paul demonstrate discernment in his discussions with those who were hardened against the gospel?

What was the significance of the believers burning their magic books in front of everyone?

How did the name of the Lord Jesus gain high esteem among the people of Ephesus after the events with the sons of Sceva?

What do the miracles performed by Paul tell us about the relationship between the gospel and the power of God?

Why is it important for Christians to have discernment when sharing the gospel?

How does Paul's approach to sharing the gospel reflect on the need for respectful dialogue even in the face of opposition?