Supernatural Happenings
Notes
Transcript
And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 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.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 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.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all.
And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 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. This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 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. 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.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 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. 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. Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 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. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
We heard last week in Acts 18:23 that “Paul set out from [Antioch] and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia.” That was the quick beginning of his third missionary journey. It seems he took kind of a unique route compared to what we’ve become accustomed to. Instead of sailing into the Mediterranean Sea from Antioch, he may have traveled west on land. Today’s passage begins, “While Apollos was at Corinth,” remember we met him in Ephesus last time, where Priscilla and Aquila trained him up a bit before he headed farther west. “While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus.” Perhaps Aquila and Priscilla were still there, and he reunited with them. But also, he had promised the Jews in Ephesus, chapter 18 verse 21, “‘I will come back if it is God’s will.’” He’s back.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, what causes you to believe someone and what makes you trust them? Maybe at first hearing, those questions sound exactly the same, or they seem to answer each other. We believe certain people and what they tell us, because we trust them. Why do you trust them? Because you believe or believe in what they say. If that’s the case, the opposite also applies. A person could say, “I don’t believe much or anything from those who I don’t trust, and I don’t trust those whose word I can’t believe.” If you think about the state of politics in the United States right now or feelings about responses to coronavirus, I think this sums up a lot of what we see and hear. Because we like or don’t like, agree or disagree with a certain person or party or rule, we align ourselves completely with or we completely reject all that comes with that platform. Even if we don’t feel like we fall into that trap, others may apply it to us based on that line of thinking.
I don’t want us to go too far down those rabbit trails, but I want us to think about those questions when it comes to church leaders. Who do we listen to when it comes to messages about God and how we live out our faith? What causes you to believe certain church or faith leaders? What makes you trust them? We heard about Apollos last week, “a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures…[who] spoke with great fervor,” is it those things? We look for someone who is an expert or at least who is right? Are we attracted to those who are passionate or charismatic? A couple buzzwords that often come up with younger generations are someone who is authentic and genuine. Must a person check off all those boxes in order to have the trust of the congregation they serve? Or do they only have to fit some of them? Are there certain ones that because a person excels so much in that the others may or can be sacrificed?
As you think about that, don’t just think about pastors, but apply that to our local elders and deacons, too. In the charge or the vows that we joined together as a congregation in, we pledged “to receive [the] officebearers as Christ’s gift to the church. [To] recognize in them the Lord’s provision…[To] hold them in honor; take their counsel seriously; respond to them with obedience and respect; [and to] accept their help with thanks.” I think of the language that I use in weddings or profession of faith or membership transfers, we gave our word before God and one another. We said that we will do those things. Did we say that just because I prompted you by this form of the Christian Reformed Church in North America? Did we give our word just because the words were on the screen and we always say what’s on the screen?
Or do we affirm this call, this charge, because we believe it. Do we give our respect and assent to the officebearers because we trust that God is at work in the leadership of Baldwin CRC? Do we say yes because we take seriously that these men have been ordained and appointed by God for this time? Will we believe them? Will we trust them, except in cases where they break that trust or abuse their power?
Acts 19 gives us several snapshots of relationships between church leaders, Christians, people trying to be leaders, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Most of the events are things that we’ve heard something similar happening earlier in this book. We get the new disciples who heard Paul preach about Jesus, were baptized in his name, and they received the Holy Spirit with the gifts of tongues and prophecy. There were others, though, who would not accept the gospel and spoke poorly against Christianity. Some Ephesians were all-in with Paul and his message, others were not. Verse 11 tells us something very specific, “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul…” Sure, objects he had touched were passed around and with the touch came healing—but it wasn’t Paul’s ability, it was God through him. These seven sons of Sceva, they tried exorcising a demon by attaching Paul’s name and Jesus’ name—but the names were not enough because the gifts had not been given to them.
There’s a lot that happens in these verses, a lot that could be preached about, but there are three key answers that we see coming through this text to answer our question of what should cause us to believe and trust church leaders. One, the truth of the gospel must be present. You can trust a leader in the church if they are willing to testify God is real and there is no one like him. He has his standard of what is good and holy that he put in creation. Because of the Fall, every person is a sinner, and the only ways sinners have hope is through a Savior. God gave his Son Jesus Christ to be our Savior—he had to die, because our sins deserve death. Our response of faith brings us to repent. We are assured of eternal life with true faith. Every leader in the church of Jesus Christ—pastors, elders, deacons, teachers, televangelists, authors—if they’re not able to proclaim those fundamental truths regarding the gospel, they aren’t to be trusted or believed. Now some need some refinement, some discipling. But if they disregard or reject those truths, we can’t go with them. If they do believe and teach those things, though, we have our starting point.
The second proof that we can be looking for to trust in a leader is God must be at work in them. There are two parts to this—as a Christian and then as a leader in the church. Not only should someone who you’re trusting to lead and guide you be able to testify to the gospel message, but they must believe it and see their need for it. If they have genuine faith, then we’ll see humility, we’ll see love for others, we’ll see that desire to be disciples that I preached about last week. We’ll see the new self and the fruits of the Spirit being more and more visible in their daily life.
God’s work should also be visible in them in the biblical qualifications of being a leader in the church. Specifically among elders, deacons, and ministers, that means fitting the qualifications or requirements that we find in places like 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Those lists that begin, “Now the overseer must be above reproach...Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect.” “An elder must be blameless...” For them and for others who desire to teach and serve, 2 Timothy 2 gives more instruction. In verse 24, we read, “And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful…” These aren’t things that we’re just committing ourselves to, but God equips those who he has entrusted for these roles with them.
The third piece that comes from our passage about who should be trusted or believed are those through whom God’s gifts are apparent in their life and ministry. This is where the supernatural, the extraordinary, or the miraculous can play a part. If we see things like speaking in tongues or prophecy that comes to fruition, and if they are used in accordance with what is set in Scripture, and if those who present with those gifts are not teaching something different from the Bible, then they can be trusted.
If, however, the spiritual gifts are claimed and yet are unable to be practiced or are apparent with pride or self-centeredness, not for the glory of God, not for the edifying of believers, then we may need to be wary of trusting such people. Unfortunately, this is what we see in some of the televangelists or pastors with celebrity status who bring people on stage and supposedly heal them. For at least some, there’s a lack of proof that they’ve actually healed people. Others get people to give all sorts of money, promising if they give enough or sow enough, they’ll get the blessing of healing in return—that is generally not to be trusted.
What should we be looking for when it comes to our Council members and myself as well as other teachers and people who we look to for spiritual guidance? The truth of the gospel must be present, God must be at work in them, and we’re looking for those through whom God’s gift are apparent in their life and ministry. Each of us have different preferences. We’re drawn or attracted to different people for different reasons. Those who we listen to and respect and trust to lead us according to God’s will must have these three things true about them.
We want to look not just at leaders, but also what shapes leaders and what leaders are shaping in the place and among the people they serve—culture. What should be evident in the Christian culture that believers trust and seek to be a part of? We find a great example in what was created and shaped over time in Ephesus. This didn’t happen overnight, but this is what came about. I’ll highlight just four verses: 10, 17, 18, and 20, “[Paul’s daily discussions with disciples] went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord…[The Jews and Greeks in Ephesus who heard about the seven sons of Sceva] were all seized with fear, and the name of the Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds…The word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.”
It’s really easy to be drawn to and focus on the miraculous in this chapter and throughout the book of Acts. These aren’t things that happen every day around us, and so we want to see it, to envision it, to know how it happened, could it be replicated? Yet the most important parts of Christian culture then and still today are the word of God being shared, the name of Jesus being lifted up, the practice of repentance, and the word of God spreading and growing in the transforming work God alone can do.
Maybe you’re thinking, “Love should be up there. We need to love God and love others.” You’re right: love is an essential characteristic of believers and what Christian culture should look like. In 1 Corinthians 13 verses 1 through 3, Paul wrote, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding going or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” We must have love in our culture, and yet Christian love flows out of God’s transforming work. We love because he loved us, and he is at work in each of us who believe. We love by sharing God’s word, we love by worshiping God and repenting of our sin. God must supernaturally change us, though, he must change our sinful nature, in order to change what we love and enable us to love rightly.
Brothers and sisters, this is what we’re called to pursue together. Many of you have been around this community and have been members in this congregation far longer than I have been. Some of you have served or your husbands served on Council for more years than I’ve been in ministry. Yet we heed the call of God that goes back farther than any of us—the call that God has always given his people and his church—to pursue him as leaders and as followers of him together. We desire to see God move, to see him work and be a part of his work. Our desire is good. But let the primary focus of our trust and our faith not be in things that are temporary or flashy or that will fail, but let us keep our trust on God and loving the Lord and those who will join and guide us in that. Amen.