Introduction: There is no doubt that our culture is in danger. I'm not speaking of just Anglo or Hispanic. I mean that our culture is becoming more chaotic and dangerous.
Leaders disagree as to the best way to preserve society. The world's answer is to pass more laws, build more prisons, and have more educational and rehabilitation programs. We have more laws and more prisons than ever before. We have more schools and educational programs than probably any nation on earth, yet crime increases, drug and alcohol abuse continue to destroy families, and teenage pregnancy continues. False religions and dangerous cults flourish.
Christ has called the church as salt and light to have an impact on its society. We have tried many methods without much success. Paul made a tremendous impact on the culture of Ephesus. His method of impacting His culture was simple.
I. Paul Impacted His Culture by Preaching the Word (v. 10-12)
A. Explanation:
1. Paul's teaching pattern:
a) Three months preaching about the kingdom in the synagogue.
b) He moved to the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
i) He taught daily from about 11 a.m. -- 4 p.m.
ii) He made tents in the morning to support himself.
c) He continued for two years until everyone in Asia Minor had heard the Word.
2. God validated Paul's teaching through miracles.
a) The miracles proved the power of God.
b) They showed that Paul had the same status as Peter (similar things happened to Peter in Acts 5)
3. The Power to save was in the preaching and teaching.
a) We love to hear about the "visible" miracles
i) Healings, exorcism of demons, etc.
ii) These affect only the physical realm.
b) We do not stand in awe of the "spiritual" miracles.
i) These are invisible.
ii) This is the salvation of the soul.
iii) The body can be clean, healthy, well fed and demon free while the person is on his way to hell.
B. Illustration:
(Wiersbe p. 481) Three periods of miracles in the Bible: (1) The time of Moses, (2) Elijah and Elisha, (3) Jesus and the apostles. Each period lasted less than 100 years. The total number of miracles for all three periods is less than 100.
Three purposes for Christ's miracles: (1) to show His compassion and meet human need, (2) to teach a spiritual truth, (3) to present His credentials as Messiah.
C. Application:
1. We feel like "miracles" would have an impact on our culture and society.
2. The greatest miracles we need are the spiritual miracles of transformed lives.
3. This transformation comes about as the gospel changes people's lives.
II. Paul's Enemies Recognized the Spiritual Power of the Name of Jesus (vv. 13-16)
A. Explanation:
1. People highly regarded Jewish people as exorcists because they could properly pronounce the name "Yahweh."
2. Certain itinerant exorcists tried to add Jesus' name to their "bag of tricks" as a magic charm.
a) Sceva's seven sons had no personal relationship to Christ -- "In the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches."
b) The demon gained strength from the improper use of Jesus' name.
3. Satan tries to imitate and counterfeit whatever God does.
a) He sought to discredit the name of Jesus.
b) He used false leaders to try miracles.
c) Paul demonstrated God's Power in the middle of an occult center.
d) Satan imitates because he knows that unbelievers cannot tell the difference.
4. If this exorcism had succeeded, apart from a personal relationship to Christ, it would have reduced the name of Jesus to a magic charm.
B. Illustration:
The culture in which we live recognizes the name of Jesus Christ and the cross as religious symbols. The cross graces our neck and adorns our church buildings. People use Jesus' name carelessly and as a spell to ward off evil. Few of these, however, recognize Him as God and Savior.
C. Application:
1. Accepting Jesus as Lord means rejecting all other religious claims in your life. He does not become a part of your pantheon of other idols.
2. His name is powerful, but it is "not magic itself to cure people" (BBC 112).
3. Second hand faith is dangerous. You cannot survive on your parents' faith or your wife's faith. You need a personal relationship with Christ.
III. The Powerful Demonstration of the Gospel Impacted the Culture (vv. 17-20)
A. Explanation:
1. What happened to Sceva's sons became known throughout Ephesus.
2. Great fear fell upon all the people and Christ's name was exalted in front of the people.
a) Those who believed joined the believers and openly confessed their sins.
b) Those who had engaged in the occult brought all their scrolls together and burned them.
i) They finally made the break from sin because the Lord had dealt with them
ii) They did not worry about the cost. The scrolls were worth the years' salary of 150 working men (Wiersbe p.482)
3. When the people got right with God, confessed their sins and repented of their evil ways, the Word of God spread and gained in power. They demonstrated their repentance by their actions. Later Paul would say of his preaching in Acts 26:20, “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.”
B. Illustration:
The rest of Chapter 19 tells about a riot caused by Demetrius, the silversmith. Paul's preaching so turned people from idolatry that the idol makers were about to go out of business. Under the guise of protecting the honor of Artemis (or Diana) they caused a riot to discredit Paul.
C. Application:
1. If Paul had gone to Ephesus and preached against witchcraft and idol worship, he would have had little success.
a) Suppose he organized protests or letter writing campaigns against these practices.
b) It would be like what we Christians do today. We protest dirty movies, topless bars, racism, pornography, violence on television, but we fail to do what is most successful—evangelize.
2. The power to impact society comes from the clear proclaiming of God's Word. Only transformed people can transform society.
Jesus preached his first Sermon in Mark 1:14-15: “Repent and believe the Gospel.” His message had two parts to it. Repent: What does repent mean? It does not mean simply to regret getting caught because the consequences are unpleasant. Millard Erickson writes: “Real repentance is sorrow for one’s sin because of the wrong done to God and the hurt inflicted upon him.” (Christian Theology vol. 3 p. 938). When we look at the cross and see Jesus hanging there. We see the blood flowing from his wounds, the whipping, the beating of the Roman soldiers’ fists and their spit on his face, the crown of thorns on his head, the nails in his hands and feet and the spear in his side, then we realize that our sin put him there. When that gives us revulsion for our sin, then we have come to a point of repentance.
As long as we feel comfortable in our sin, we have not truly repented. We live in an age of what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace” (The Cost of Discipleship pp 45-47). Erickson “It is not simply enough to believe in Jesus and accept the offer of grace; There must be a real alteration of the inner person…Any attempt to increase the number of disciples by making discipleship as easy as possible ends up diluting the quality of discipleship instead.” (Ibid.)
Next, what does it mean to believe the gospel? “First it means ‘to believe what someone says, to accept a statement (particularly of a religious nature) as true’” (Ibid. 939). It means we take God at his word.
Second it means “personal trust as distinct from mere credence or belief.”(Ibid.) (James 2:19 “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.) To believe on or in the name of Jesus [is] to place one’s personal trust in him…The type of faith necessary for salvation involves both believing that and believing in, or assenting to the facts and trusting in a person” (Ibid. 940 emphasis mine).
3. As Christians' lives are changed by God's Word, His Word will spread and grow in strength.
Conclusion:
We cannot make a lasting impact on society and culture through education, medicine, or legislation. Laws and prisons will not make our society better. People do not need to be reformed; they need to be reborn.
Only the gospel can save. Paul said to the Romans, "I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile" (1:16). That is the message that you and I must take to the world.
When did you truly repent of your sins and trust in Christ alone for your salvation? You can today. Make it public.
