Series: Acts: We’re on a Mission from God
Message: Coming Clean
Dr. Bobby Brewer
Text: Acts 19:11-20
Big Idea: It’s always a costly thing to turn from your past. Friendships, dating, sales, finances, etc. may seem to initially suffer as a result. The temptation is to hold on to some of your old ways. To follow Jesus mostly, but not completely. In Ephesus some born again Christians come clean and make a complete break with their past. As a result, we’re told, “the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.” The same is true today. Making a complete break from sin results in a more powerful work of God in your life that you wont regret.
ACTS 19:11-12
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.
Wait a minute…what? That’s odd. What just happened.
Fans will spend an incredible amount of money to own things owned by favorite celebrities.
ILLUS:
-A stick of gum once chewed by Kiss bassist Gene Simmons sold on eBay for $247,710.28
-An outfit that Olivia Newton John wore in Grease sold for $405k.
-A dress of Marilyn Monroe sold for $1.2M
-A Dodge Charger from Dukes of Hazzard, and owned by the actor John Schneider sold for $9M.
So, people will pay a lot of money to have some connection to a celebrity.
In Paul’s case it’s similar and yet different. People are taking items, i.e., a hand kerchief which functionally would be similar to a bandana or head band. An apron was an outer garment similar to what a barista wears in that it was both functional and designed as an outer garment to protect your clothes.
Paul is associated with Jesus and these personal items are associated as the next best thing to having Paul in person. The Ephesians are taking these sweatbands/headbands and aprons from Paul to the sick and a remarkable thing happens…people are getting healed and exorcised from demons.
Televangelist Scams. Unfortunately, there have been a number of scams taking advantage of those who are desperate and hopeful. Frauds falsely claim that by making a donation they’ll send you a special prayer cloth from which you’ll be healed and become rich. There are some groups today who only focus on seeing and experiencing miracles…all the time. They become spiritual thrill seekers. In some cases, they end up chasing the experience or thrill more than chasing after the Holy Spirit Himself.
Descriptive vs Prescriptive.
Without doubt, miracles do still happen today. But just remember that this particular instance is descriptive and not prescriptive. Prescriptive means that like a medical prescription it’s something you should do and you’re also told how to do so. Descriptive is simply describing what happened, i.e., this is how it went down. Although God can of course do what He wants, when He wants, and how He wants, this event in Ephesus is descriptive.
The key is in v.11 “God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul”
SLIDE
Acts 19:11
ESV: God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul
KJV: special miracles
NKJV/NLT: unusual miracles
Extraordinary means extra ordinary, i.e., it’s not the norm. Unusual means that this isn’t the normal way that God does things.
There are amazing things happening in Ephesus. There’s a buzz. Jesus has become the talk of the town and unusual extraordinary things are taking place.
So, what’s going on…
Whereas Corinth was somewhat the Las Vegas of its day, Ephesus could be described as a cosmopolitan version of Sedona, Arizona. For those of you who are new to the Valley of the Sun, Sedona is a beautiful town that has the unfortunate reputation of also being the New Age capital of the world. In addition to psychics and palm readers, its downtown is filled with shops where you can purchase fortune telling cards, new age books and crystals. You can take “spirit” tours and many believe that Bell Rock is a vortex, a doorway into another dimension. Aside from Roswell, it’s also a popular destination and location for those who are enamored and intrigued with UFOs and extraterrestrials. That’s Sedona. Ephesus was similar but actually on a much larger scale.
Jesus was the first missionary and God speaks to people way that they recognize.
God speaks to people in ways in which they’ll understand, He speaks their language.
These extraordinary miracles are speaking to the Ephesians in a way that gets their attention.
-Native Americans. A number of my native American friends as well as some of the missionaries we support tell stories of how Jesus shows up in their dreams. It’s a way that makes sense to them.
-Muslims: Ramadan. Every year during ramadan, a time of fasting for muslims in which they hope to hear a prophetic word, sometimes Jesus shows up. There are documented cases in which some muslims have become born again Christians strictly through their dreams.
-The wise men of the Christmas story. Whereas others either didn’t see or recognize the prophetic significance of the “Christmas star”, the wise men, i.e., magi, knew there was something supernatural about it. God spoke to them in a manner that got their attention.
In all of above, these signs and wonders are pointing people to Jesus.
This, by the way, is how you’ll know if a sign or wonder is of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit always testifies of Jesus (Jn. 15:26).
Earlier in Acts 5 we read…
SLIDE
Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. (Acts 5:12-16)
Peter and John will be arrested. They’re brought before the Sanhedrin, the same group who’d earlier delivered Jesus over to the Romans to be crucified. And they use the signs and wonders as an opportunity to share the gospel. “The Jesus whom you crucified. It’s by His name that we do this”. (Acts 5:30-31; cf. 4:8-12)
The glory goes to Jesus. Not the messengers.
The signs and wonders point to Jesus.
That’s what’s happening here in Ephesus. Jesus is getting the glory.
Revivals sometimes result in sudden, supernatural, and extraordinary manifestations.
Revival spreads like fire. It moves supernaturally and spontaneously with a divine drawing that is beyond human understanding. God spread the fires of revival unexpectedly in Ephesus and through a means that gets their attention.
Revivals draw all types: spiritually hungry, curious, the disruptive, and those who seek to cash in on what’s going on.
19:13
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.”
“Itinerant Jewish exorcists”.
KJV-“vagabond” (i.e., drifters with questionable motives)
Some were sincerely trying to help and some were charlatans, but both camps
used formulas, ceremonies, incantations, special phrases (e.g., ancient versions of “abracadabra”, “hocus pocus”, etc.) to free people from evils spirits.
The difference between black and white magic.
Black magic=using incantations, spells, ceremonies and rituals for nefarious purposes. To curse someone, i.e., Voodoo dolls, etc.
White magic= White magic is used to refer to the use of supernatural powers or magic for selfless purposes. They claim to have the ability to manipulate (my words not theirs) the spiritual realm to make life better through charms, incantations, prayers, rituals etc. Both black and white magic are forbidden by the bible and regardless of what you call it, both will open you up to the involvement of the forces of darkness into your life.
Sometimes Christians even get caught up in a form of this. Not so much anymore, but I used to get emails from Christians insisting and promising that I would get an extra blessing if I would just forward an email prayer on to at least seven others.
The Ephesians were preoccupied and obsessed with magic, i.e., sorcery. It was the “in thing”.
If you’re an itinerant exorcist, Ephesus would be a natural place to go on tour. Such is the case with these itinerant exorcists known as the 7 Sons of Sceva. Odds are high that they’ve also heard about Paul’s ministry there and that something is going on.
14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.
Since Luke references them as sons of Sceva it’s more than likely that Luke’s first century readers knew who Sceva was. Quite likely people were aware of him and his sons. Luke says, they were “doing this.” Doing what? Invoke (invocation) = to call upon in prayer. Seeking to invoke the name of Jesus. Abracadabra.
15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?”
Who in the world are you?
The evil spirit answered saying who are you? Jesus and Paul I know but who in the world are you?
and so you know this isn’t going to end well. And it doesn’t
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.
This ends up being a Friday Night Smack Down but it’s 1 vs 7 and the 1 wins.
ILLUS: the time I was asked to do an exorcism.
19:17-20
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. 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. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
What’s interesting and surprising is the result.
SLIDE
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. (19:18-19)
The unexpected result is that after hearing about this Christians repent from dabbling in the occult by doing away with their occultic paraphernalia. I bet you didn’t see that one coming.
Christians Coming Clean
Syncretism is the blending of two religions and it happens all over the world. They say yes to Jesus but they also hold on to their old religious practices. Their lifestyle is a living contradiction. Here they’ve said yes to Jesus, but they’ve held on to their old ways of sorcery. This was the in-thing in Ephesus.
In some ways it even happens with Christians who are born again but still have habits and lifestyles that are more reflective of their B.C. days.
v.18 The believers also hear. These are Christians who are saying I need to come clean.
v.19 50k pieces of silver.
Books in the ancient world were expensive. Even though they’d been born again they didn’t get rid of their black magic paraphernalia. This would be ancient versions of crystal balls, tarot cards, horoscope booklets, etc. These Ephesian Christians still had them. They had spent good money on them and so perhaps that’s a reason it was difficult to throw it away and/or perhaps they hadn’t completely broken from their past and this gave them a sense of security.
This is one of the reasons today that some of us are tempted to keep one foot in the world and in the past. It’s familiar. It’s what we know. Whether it’s dating, business, or office politics we know what works in the world, but the Christian life is a life of faith. In fact, without faith it’s impossible to please Him (Heb. 11:6), not hard or challenging but impossible.
ILLUS: Dancer. Years ago, a girl had come up to me after a church service with questions about becoming a Christian. However, she said that she was an exotic dancer and although she knew it was wrong, she didn’t know what else she would do. She said that she knew that the competition was always getting younger and prettier and that she probably only had three to four years in which she could make a lot of money. She reasoned that once she retired from dancing that she’d then become a Christian. She walked away looking sad and I was disheartened. However, about two months later I was surprised to see her at church again. She was beaming and looked, well she looked born again. She said that she’d continued to work a few “shifts” but one evening in the parking prayed in her car to receive Jesus as her Savior. She then went inside and cleaned out her locker and threw her outfits into the trash can. She said she wanted to come clean and make a clean break with her past.
These Ephesian Christians come clean. They make a break from their past.
They make a public statement. They set fire to $50k pieces of silver. Precious metals prices vary daily but this is approximately $6M dollars that goes up in flames.
It would be the equivalent of flushing hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of cocaine or pot down the toilet.
It’s always a costly thing to turn from your past. Your friendships, dating, leisure activities, sales, etc. may experience some temporary setbacks. You may never be salesperson of the month ever again, but it’s even more costly to never make a clean break. You may have less money, less influence, less power, a smaller dating pool, but it’s going to be so worth it.
SLIDE
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
-Jesus (Mt. 16:24-26)
The best way to make a clean break is to make a clean break. Take those old ways to the Cross.
19:20
So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
CONCLUSION
Surprisingly, a number of the great revivals began with Christians getting right with God. You just never know what might transpire. You may be the first domino of revival to fall. Regardless, the word of the Lord will continue to increase and prevail in your life. You have no idea as to how your complete allegiance to Jesus will influence the lives of others.
You cant stop the church. Remember the members of the Ephesian synagogue who were speaking evil of the Way back in Acts 19:9? Look at what God has done. The church is going to prevail. The question is would you like to be a part of the action.
Come clean today.
Prayer.
Note
The Great Awakening, 1734-43. In December 1734, the first revival of historic significance broke out in Northampton, Mass., where a young Jonathan Edwards was pastor. He didn’t know it at the time but he was on the front end of what’s known today in church history as “The Great Awakening”. After months of fruitless labor, Edwards reported five or six people converted—one a young woman. He wrote that she had been one of the greatest sinners in the whole town and he feared her conversion would work against his ministry, but quite the opposite took place. Three hundred gave their lives in six months—in a town of only 1,100 people. The news spread like wildfire, and similar revivals broke out in over 100 towns. Starting in Philadelphia in 1739, George Whitfield’s dramatic preaching was like striking a match to the already-underway awakening. An estimated 80 percent of America’s 900,000 Colonists personally heard Whitfield preach.
