UNUSUAL MIRACLES
Text: Acts 19:8-20
Introduction
1. “A miracle is a divine intervention into, or interruption of, the regular course of the world that produces a purposeful but unusual event that would not have occurred otherwise.” (Norman Geisler and Ron Brooks, When Skeptics Ask: A Handbook on Christian Evidence (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1990), 79).
2. “Scholar, William Lane Craig gives us an even more simple definition: A miracle is an event which is not producible by the natural causes that are operative at the time and place that the event occurs.” (Lee Strobel, The Case for Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 2000), 62).
3. In case you haven’t already figured this out, I believe in miracles, and yes, I believe they still happen today!
4. I believe God gives his people the power to do things to do the uncommon, the unusual, and the unordinary.
5. Read Acts 19:8-20
Transition: God gives us…
I. The Power of Sticktoittiveness (8-10).
A. Lecture Hall of Tyrannus
1. After Paul’s encounter with the 12 believers who he taught and prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit, he stayed and ministered in Ephesus for more than two years. During that time, his ministry was filled with powerful preaching, supernatural healings, and changed lives.
2. In v. 8 Luke tells us, “Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God.”
a. Here Paul shows that he was a man of his word. If you recall, the last time he was in Ephesus, Paul preached at the synagogue, and they asked him to stay. He told them that he couldn’t stay but that he would come back.
b. So, Paul shows his character in keeping his promise.
c. This shows us the importance of keeping our word to others. If we say we are going to do something, we should be people of high character by keeping our promises. Our word has to mean something.
d. Notice also, that he “argued persuasively about the Kingdom of God.” The phrase “argues persuasively” appears six times in the Book of Acts, and each time it refers to Paul.
e. This word accurately describes his ministry among the Jews, and it shows his dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit in his preaching.
f. We should also pay attention to the fact that he talked about the “Kingdom of God.”
g. Although we see this phrase often in the Gospels, it is rarely used in Acts and is either a reference to the preaching of Jesus or to Paul.
3. As a friend of mine used to say to me, “there are always demons to slay.” Whenever someone is doing something for the Kingdom, you can bet that the devil will fight you tooth and nail. In v. 9 Luke tells us, “But some became stubborn, rejecting his message and publicly speaking against the Way. So Paul left the synagogue and took the believers with him. Then he held daily discussions at the lecture hall of Tyrannus.”
a. Whenever you preach the truth, stubborn people will either belittle you or leave. This is the case with some people in the synagogue at Ephesus.
b. The word stubborn means “to harden your heart.” It’s a word that we encounter throughout the OT of the people of Israel.
c. In Psalm 95:8 it says, “The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness.”
d. That’s exactly what these Jews did; they hardened their hearts and refused to believe the Gospel.
e. But I want you to see what Paul didn’t do; he didn’t get discouraged and give up. He just said, “okay, you don’t want me to preach here, so I’ll just take the true believers with me and switch to plan B.
f. What was plan B? Well, he rented out a local lecture hall and used it daily to preach and teach to people.
g. This to shows Paul’s determination to not let the devil win.
h. You see in Ephesus, like in many Mediterranean countries, people did nothing from the hours of 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. They went home took a nap because it was too hot. Sounds like a good idea, right?
i. So, Paul took advantage of this and used this lecture hall when nobody else would, and people rather than taking a nap would go and listen to Paul preach.
j. Sounds like a good plan B, if you ask me! In other words, the devil gave him lemons, so he made lemonade.
4. As a result, the Lord blessed Paul’s “sticktoittiveness,” and, as Luke tells us in v. 10, “This went on for the next two years, so that people throughout the province of Asia—both Jews and Greeks—heard the word of the Lord.”
a. According to Luke, this went on for 2 years, and people all over Asia heard the word of the Lord.
b. Paul refused to give up, followed his plan B, and God blessed it!
c. These were two of the most productive years of Paul’s ministry. The phrase “throughout Asia” would include much of modern-day Turkey. It also included the areas were the seven churches listed in Revelation 2-3.
d. Because he refused to give up, many people heard the gospel and gave their lives to Christ.
e. Paul was determined to remain faithful to his calling, even when it was difficult.
f. This is what it means to follow Jesus and be one of his disciples.
g. It’s easy to be a Christian when everything is going your way, and everyone loves you. But a true disciple of Jesus keeps pressing on when times get tough, refusing to give up.
B. Finding the Plan B
1. I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety.
a. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath--these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely--these are my native air.
b. A John Hopkins University doctor says, "We do not know why it is that worriers die sooner than the non-worriers, but that is a fact."
c. But I, who am simple of mind, think I know; We are inwardly constructed in nerve and tissue, brain cell and soul, for faith and not for fear.
d. God made us that way. To live by worry is to live against reality. (Dr. E. Stanley Jones).
2. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to live in faithfulness and never give up!
a. “Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up… That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” (2 Cor. 4:1, 16-18).
b. When we’re driving and we come upon a roadblock, we don’t just turn around and go home. No, we look for a detour. We look for a way around what’s in our way.
c. If the enemy throws a roadblock at us, we should look for a way around it.
d. We should seek the Lord in prayer, and ask him, “Lord, what do I do now. Show me a plan B!
e. Let us love God with all our hearts and hate only sin with all our hearts.
f. Let’s not give up or give out, and our God will show up!
Transition: God also gives us…
II. The Power to Do the Uncommon (11-12).
A. Unusual Miracles
1. In addition to using Paul and his preaching, the Lord also used Paul in other ways.
2. In vv. 11-12 Luke tells us, “God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. 12 When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled.”
a. Paul’s ministry in Ephesus was accompanied with “unusual miracles.”
b. Notice that it says, “God gave Paul the power.” If someone says they have the power within themselves to accomplish miracles, avoid them at all costs.
c. Anyone that tries to use miraculous healings where the focus is all about them and what they can do is not from God. It was God that gave Paul this ability.
d. The next thing you should notice is that they weren’t your normal everyday kind of miracles. The NLT calls them “unusual miracles,” but other translation refers to them as “extraordinary miracles.”
e. The point is they were uncommon and exceptional displays of God’s power.
f. In fact, Luke tells us that Paul didn’t even have to do anything to accomplish them. It says that “when handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases…”
g. Now, this is not a license to go out and buy a bunch of bandanas and pray over them and people are going to be healed!
h. This was, again, unusual and out of the ordinary work of God. These handkerchiefs were probably sweat rags that Paul tied around his head to keep the sweat out of his eyes when he was doing his tent making.
i. This is reminiscent to Jesus when the woman with blood issues touched the hem of his garment was healed.
j. Keep in mind that God blessed him with unusual power for this to happen.
B. Expect God to Do the Unexpected
1. "It is not miracles that generate faith, but faith that generates miracles."
2. It’s important that we learn to expect the uncommon!
a. “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” (Heb. 11:1)
b. Since we do prayer requests every Sunday morning, I’m going to function under the understanding that we believe in miracles. If not, we are wasting our time praying for sick people to be made well again.
c. But the question I want us to ponder this morning is do we pray with expectant faith?
d. When we pray for someone to be healed of cancer, do we really expect them to get better? And if they do get better, are we surprised?
e. The verse from Hebrews says that faith is the reality of what we hope for. That means it’s the certainty of what we hope for, and biblical hope means we are sure that it’s going to happen.
f. This verse also says that faith is the evidence of things we cannot see. That means proof of things we cannot see.
g. When you pray, do you have the proof of things you cannot see?
h. When we pray, we need to believe that God is going to divinely intervein in whatever you’re praying for.
i. We need to expect God to do the uncommon.
Transition: We also need to know…
III. The Power in Knowing Jesus (13-20).
A. Who Are You?
1. Now, just to show that the things Paul did were acts of God, Luke tells us in vv. 13-14, “A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this.”
a. This was not an uncommon occurrence in Israel. Scoundrels would go from town to town claiming to be able to heal people and cast our demons, and then of course insist that people pay them for it.
b. Often, they would repeat some kind of incantation over people and would use names of different gods for credibility.
c. In addition, they would claim to be a priest or high priest, although it was usually not true.
d. Among them were the Seven sons of Sceva. Now, the Jewish historian Josephus recorded that names of all the priests at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, and guess who’s name wasn’t on that list? Sceva!
e. You see, God still does miracles today, but he does them, and not charlatans like Sceva and his sons.
2. And just to show that God is not to be used in some sort of get rich quick scheme, Luke tells us in vv. 15-16, “But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.”
a. These wannabe exorcists, looking to take advantage of people and make a quick buck, went in and did their little formula on someone possessed by a demon.
b. So, this demon says to them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?”
c. This demon wasn’t buying their nonsense, and basically said, “child please! Now get out of my way!”
d. And just to show that there is a difference between knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus, the man with the demon attacked them, beat the tar out of them, ripped off all their clothes, and sent them headed for the hills!
e. In James 4:7 it says, “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
f. Now, too often people quote this verse, “resist the devil and he will flee from you.” But that’s not what it says! It says, “humble yourselves before God,” and then resist the devil.
g. The devil is no match for the power of God, but he is a match for you! That’s why you submit yourself to God first!
3. The results of these occurrences were both powerful and effective. We read in vv. 17-19, “The story of what happened spread quickly all through Ephesus, to Jews and Greeks alike. A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored. 18 Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices. 19 A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars.”
a. As a result of what happened to the sons of Sceva, there was a holy fear that came upon the people in Ephesus.
b. They learned that the name of Jesus was not one to take lightly.
c. Therefore, they held the name of Jesus in high regard.
d. The sons of Sceva were exposed for who they really were, and Jesus was revered as the most powerful name in the world.
e. In addition, this caused people to come to Jesus.
f. Ephesus had been a center for the occult, with such things as sorcery and the dark arts were commonplace.
g. But with these people coming to Jesus, they were abandoning these activities, and they were bringing their books, filled with these incantations, and bringing them to be burned.
h. These books totaled into the millions of dollars. Literally, it was 50,000 drachmas, which was a silver coin that was the equivalence of a day’s pay!
i. Revival had come to Ephesus, and lives were being changed.
j. We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that the occult is nothing to be messed with, and if you are involved in astrology, sorcery, fortune telling, or anything like it, stop it and repent.
k. God will forgive you, but you need to turn away from these things.
4. The result of this revival was, “So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.”
a. The gospel had come to Ephesus in a powerful way, and it was touching lives and transforming people.
b. Jesus promised to build his church, and the gates of hell will not conquer it!
c. When we live in the power of God big things happen.
B. These Miraculous Signs
1. “Oh, Lord, one day we will laugh ourselves to scorn that we looked for so little from you.” (George MacDonald).
2. God has given us the power to do mighty acts in his name!
a. “These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. 18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.” (Mark 16:17-18).
b. Now, this does not give us permission from Jesus to go out and play with a copperhead!
c. However, it does give us the power in Jesus’ name to cast our demons and lay our hands on the sick and they’d get healed.
d. If Jesus said that these signs will follow those that believe in him, then why aren’t they happening?
e. I think it is because we don’t take seriously what’s written in his Word!
f. If you are here this morning, and you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the power to do these things in Jesus’ name.
g. If you have this power in Jesus’ name, what are you waiting for?
Conclusion
1. From Paul’s ministry in Ephesus, we learn…
a. The power of sticktoittiveness.
b. The power of to do the uncommon.
c. The power in Jesus’ name.
2. What’s the point preacher? We need to start living in the power we have as followers of Jesus.
