Extraordinary Power
Acts 19
September 1, 2002
Intro:
A. [The Honorable Bird, Philip Yancey in the foreword of Robertson McQuilkin’s Life in the Spirit]
Dorothy Sayers tells of a Japanese convert struggling to grasp Christian theology.
“Honorable Father, very good,” he said to his missionary teacher.
“Honorable Son, very good. But Honorable Bird, I do not understand at all.”
B. In fairness, we must tell the Japanese convert that the HS is difficult for Americans to understand as well—today, in Acts chapter 19, we going to learn some more about the Honorable Bird, or the HS…
I. Extraordinary Touching
Acts 19:1-7 (NIV), While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." 3 So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John’s baptism," they replied. 4 Paul said, "John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." 5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
A. Now this text has been the subject of much controversy.
1. There has been much controversy about just what is going on here.
2. It is troubling to many because of the HS.
3. It seems that in Acts 2:38 that Peter told the believers that if they would repent and be baptized, they would receive the gift of the HS.
4. It seems that it would stand to reason that everyone who was baptized in water for the remission of their sins in the name of Jesus Christ would receive the gift of the HS.
5. However, every time we read of people receiving the HS in the NT, it was at some other time.
6. There is not one recorded incidence of anyone receiving the HS at water baptism.
7. So it is not clear what exactly Peter was saying in Acts 2:38 on the day of Pentecost and what happened here in Acts 19.
B. It is clear that these people had been baptized incorrectly.
1. These people had been baptized in John’s baptism.
2. The correct way was to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
3. John’s baptism was simply a baptism of repentance.
4. Christ’s baptism is a baptism of repentance, but it was more than that.
5. It is symbolic of death, burial, and resurrection—both of the Christ and the believer.
6. It is symbolic of the old self dying and then a new person being born who is now a follower of Jesus Christ.
7. John’s baptism was only a baptism of repentance.
8. Paul told these people that they had not been correctly baptized and therefore should be rebaptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
9. So Luke says they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
C. The following verse says When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
1. It is not until the apostle Paul laid his hands on them that the HS came on them.
2. Now the text doesn’t say that they received the “gift of the HS” like Acts 2:38.
3. It is possible that they received the “gift of the HS” when they were baptized in water, but the text clearly says the HS “came on them” when Paul placed his hands on them.
4. We also know this is what happened to the household of Cornelius in Acts chapter 10.
5. In Acts 11:15-17 Peter retells the story of Acts 10 at Cornelius’ this way: "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ’John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?"
6. There Peter referred to what they had received on Pentecost as the baptism of the HS.
7. And Peter said that not only had they received it on the Day of Pentecost, but also Cornelius’ household had been baptized in the HS as well.
8. Peter had to be referring to the beginning of Acts 2 where the tongues of fire came down and they all spoke in tongues as the baptism of the HS because that is clearly what happened in Acts 10 when Cornelius’ household was baptized in the HS and began speaking in tongues.
9. Here in Acts 19, the same thing is happening in Ephesus.
10. These people were baptized in the HS and began speaking in tongues.
D. So what do we make of all this?
1. There is clearly some uncertainty about all of this.
2. It is clear that the baptism of the HS is different than water baptism.
3. It is clear that the baptism of the HS takes place at some other time than baptism.
4. It is clear that the sequence here was that they were baptized in water and then afterward, the apostle Paul laid hands on them and they were baptized in the HS.
5. It is clear that Paul’s laying on of hands was an extraordinary touch.
II. Extraordinary Miracles
Acts 19:11-12 (NIV), God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
A. Not only was there an extraordinary touch here by the apostle Paul, there was some extraordinary non-touching going on as well.
1. Verse 10 tells us that they had been in Ephesus for two years, so Luke is obviously picking the most important things to record about there time spent in Ephesus and not everything that happened.
2. There were probably others in Ephesus who could do miracles as well.
3. Verse 13 begins another story, but it tells us that there were Jews (who did not believe in Jesus) who could drive out evil spirits.
4. And so when Luke says that God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, they were extraordinary!
B. Look at what Luke says about those extraordinary miracles…
1. …so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
2. The handkerchiefs were probably small hand towels that Paul would have used to wipe the sweat from his brow.
3. The aprons would have been used in doing his work of making tents, so that he didn’t wear out his regular clothes.
4. As an aside, notice here that Dr. Luke makes a distinction between illnesses and evil spirits.
5. Luke, who was a doctor, tells us that there was a difference between illnesses and evil spirits.
6. And overall what he is telling us is that the Spirit of God was working so powerfully through the apostle Paul that even his handkerchiefs and aprons had enough of the HS’s power in them that they could be carried away and used to heal people and drive evil spirits out of them.
7. Luke is absolutely right when he says those were extraordinary miracles.
III. Extraordinary Fighting
Acts 19:13-16 (NIV), Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
A. This is actually a humorous story that Luke tells us when we really understand what happened.
1. First, as I just mentioned there were Jews who were going around driving out evil spirits.
2. But then Luke says they made a mistake: they TRIED to invoke the name of Jesus.
3. “In the name of Jesus, WHOM PAUL PREACHES.”
4. They didn’t know Jesus themselves; they just had seen what Paul was able to do with his extraordinary miracles.
5. So they thought they’d try to do what Paul did.
6. They thought they’d see if they could just say some magic words and get the same results that Paul did.
7. BIG MISTAKE!
B. One day the evil spirit responded, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”
1. The spirit determined to call their bluff.
2. The spirit said, “Now wait a minute. Why should I obey you? Who are you anyway?”
3. Then instead of the evil spirit departing from the man, the evil spirit stayed in the man and that one demon-possessed man whipped ‘em all!
4. That one demon-possessed man whipped seven brothers—in fact, he gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
5. Somewhat humorous story when we stop to think that someone who didn’t know Jesus tried to invoke the name of Jesus to defeat Satan—BIB EMBARRASING mistake!
6. Word to the wise: Don’t try to say that you’re a believer in Christ when you’re really not because someday somehow Satan WILL call your bluff!
7. You may suffer physically or be as embarrassed as these naked men.
8. That was an extraordinary fight because the name of Jesus is not something to trifle with.
IV. Extraordinary Power
Acts 19:17-20 (NIV), When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
A. Now let me see if I can summarize this paragraph for you: When citizens saw that the seven sons of Sceva had been sent out of the shack in their skivvies with sores all over their sorry selves, people were scared and seized with sorrow.
2. These people were so seized with fear about what had happened to the seven sons of Sceva that the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor!
3. These people were so seized with fear about what had happened to the seven sons of Sceva that many now came and openly confessed their evil deeds.
4. These people were so seized with fear about what had happened to the seven sons of Sceva that that a number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly.
5. These people were so seized with fear about what had happened to the seven sons of Sceva that they burned 50,000 day’s wages worth of books.
6. These people were so seized with fear about what had happened to the seven sons of Sceva that they burned the equivalent of 137 years worth of wages in books.
7. When citizens saw that the seven sons of Sceva had been sent out of the shack in their skivvies with sores all over their sorry selves, people were scared and seized with sorrow.
B. Now another point that I need to make here is this: notice who these people were who were repenting of their sins.
1. Verse 18 says it was people who already believed.
2. These people that were coming and repenting of their evil deeds were people who had already believed.
3. Luke says, Many of those who believed NOW came and openly confessed their evil deeds.
4. They were already believers, but had not put away their evil deeds.
6. And unfortunately it takes something very traumatic for many people to put away their evil deeds.
7. Some times it takes great catastrophes to wake people up and get themselves right with God even though they already believe and may be already saved.
C. But the truth is that that shouldn’t be the case!
1. Christians should be confessing their sins on a regular basis and should be continually making changes in their lives to cease from sin.
2. James 5:16 (NIV), Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
3. 1 John 1:9 (NIV), If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
4. It shouldn’t take something as traumatic as a demon-possessed man whipping seven grown men because they misused the name of Jesus to get us to realize that Jesus is not someone to trifle with!
5. And lest we believe the lie of the devil that we can’t think of anything we have done wrong or the other lie of the devil when he says there’s no need to confess sin because we were already forgiven on Calvary, listen to what John said about that in …1 John 1:10 (NIV), If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
6. Unless you are Jesus, there is sin in you.
7. Ask God to reveal it to you and then confess it BEFORE something traumatic happens.
D. Because look at what Luke says in verse 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
1. That is a strange sentence construction to me.
2. The reason it is strange because it says that the Word of the Lord GREW in power.
3. I always thought that the Word was already ALL powerful—how could it GROW in power?
4. It is because so many people were repenting and getting themselves right with God.
5. It is because believers were repenting.
6. It is because believers were getting themselves right with God.
7. And when the numbers of believers are throwing off self and getting themselves right with God, the Word will GROW in power!
E. Are we seeing the Word GROWING in power?
1. Or are we seeing people stubbornly hanging on to their self?
2. I want to see the Word GROW in power and spread widely!
3. Therefore, I am confessing my sin DAILY and asking God to continue to mold me more and more into the image of Christ.
4. Therefore, I am encouraging others to let go of self and confess their sin.
5. Because I want to see the Word of God GROW in power and spread widely!
6. I want to see extraordinary power!
V. Extraordinary Opposition
Acts 19:23-34 (NIV), About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24 A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no little business for the craftsmen. 25 He called them together, along with the workmen in related trades, and said: "Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. 26 And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. 27 There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty." 28 When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" 29 Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and rushed as one man into the theater. 30 Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31 Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater. 32 The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. 33 The Jews pushed Alexander to the front, and some of the crowd shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. 34 But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"
A. Now Paul has seen opposition before, but this is OPPOSITION!
1. The whole city of Ephesus is in an uproar.
2. This was no small disturbance; this was a full-scale riot!
3. They grabbed two of Paul’s companions and brought them into the theater—which was a 25,000-seat amphitheatre.
4. And there was shouting going on in the stadium for two hours.
B. And how did all of this get started?
1. This all got started because some people thought Paul was going to ruin their business with his preaching.
2. One silversmith name Demetrius got all of this stirred up.
3. He convinced some other silversmiths that Paul was going to destroy their business.
4. He convinced them that Paul was their enemy because he preached against the idols that they made.
5. He convinced them that Paul was a threat to the great goddess Artemis.
6. He convinced them that Paul was a threat to the temple of Artemis.
7. But it is clear what Demetrius was really interested in: money!
8. He was simply upset that Paul was gong to ruin his business, so he got the whole city in an uproar.
9. This was certainly extraordinary opposition.
VI. Extraordinary Provision
Acts 19:35-41 (NIV), The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: "Men of Ephesus, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? 36 Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to be quiet and not do anything rash. 37 You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. 38 If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. 39 If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. 40 As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of today’s events. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it." 41 After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
A. As usual, God took care of them.
1. Paul didn’t have to do anything.
2. Paul’s companions didn’t have to do anything.
3. God used the city clerk to stop the riot.
4. Paul and his companions escaped unharmed.
B. This was certainly extraordinary provision.
1. It was extraordinary that after a citywide riot Paul and friends escaped unharmed.
2. It was extraordinary that after a citywide riot Paul didn’t even have to explain or defend himself.
Conclusion:
A. So what lesson can we learn from all of this?
1. The HS is the extraordinary power that each of us needs to seek in our lives.
2. In order to prepare ourselves for the extraordinary power of God in our lives, we need to have a lifestyle of repentance.
3. When we have this extraordinary power, Satan will extraordinarily oppose us.
4. When we have this extraordinary power, God will extraordinarily take care of us.
B. [The Sawmill by F.B. Meyer from The Christ Life for Your Life]
Bible teacher F.B. Meyer once had a firewood factory that employed prisoners.
Meyer would give them a job to do, good wages, a place to live, and, when possible, spiritual encouragement.
In exchange, he expected them to render good employment.
They didn’t, and he lost money.
Finally he fired them all and purchased a circular saw powered by a gas engine.
In one hour, it turned out more work than the combined efforts of all the men covered in the course of a whole day.
One day, Meyer had a little conversation with his saw.
“How can you turn out so much work?” he asked.
“Are you sharper than the saws my men were using? No? Is your blade shinier? No? What then? Better oil or lubrication against the wood?”
The saw’s answer, could it speak, would have been, “I think there is a stronger driving power behind me. Something is working through me with a new force. It is not I, it is the power behind.”
Meyer later observed that many Christians and many ministers are working in the power of the flesh, in the power of their intellect, their energy, their enthusiastic zeal, but with poor effect.
They need to become linked to the power of God through the Holy Ghost.
1. I know that was certainly true of me and I’d guess that many today could agree with Meyer.
2. I’d guess that many could says that they are working in the power of the flesh, in the power of their own intellect, their energy, their enthusiastic zeal, but with poor effect.
C. [Oswald Chambers]
As a young man, Oswald Chambers, who wrote the materials that became My Utmost For His Highest, battled a persistent sense of barrenness in his Christian life.
He finally wrote: I was getting desperate.
I knew no one who had what I wanted; in fact I did not know what I did want.
But I knew that if what I had was all the Christianity there was, the thing was a fraud.
At a little meeting in Dunoon, a well-known lady was asked to take the after meeting.
She did not speak, but set us to prayer, and then sang, “Touch me again, Lord.”
I felt nothing, but I knew emphatically my time had come.
I rose to my feet.
Then and there I claimed the gift of the Holy Spirit in dogged committal on Luke 11:13.
I had no vision of heaven or of angels; I had nothing.
I was as dry and empty as ever, no power or realization of God, no witness of the Holy Spirit.
Then I was asked to speak to a meeting and forty souls came out to the front!
I came to realize that God intended me, having asked, to simply take it by faith, and that power would be there.
I might see it only by the backward look, but I was to reckon on the fact that God would be with me.
From that point on, Oswald Chambers ministered with extraordinary power.
His words and writings touched people around the world, especially when he taught, as he frequently did, from his favorite verse, Luke 11:13.
And when Oswald died at an early age in Egypt during World War I, an old Australian soldier whom he had led to Christ had a Bible carved in stone for his grave.
Its pages were tuned to Luke 11:13.
