Empowered by the Spirit: Transformation in Ephesus

"Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. And then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, 'We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.'" [00:22:52]

"This became known both to the Jews and the Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. And also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. So, the Word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed." [00:33:34]

"And we just can't be in a room with this many people today without there certain to be people among us sitting, maybe sitting next to us, whose hearts are hardened, who have heard the Word again and again and again, but whose hearts have never been melted, who never acquiesced the sweetness of Christ. This happens, characteristically." [00:13:28]

"Paul said, 'John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, Christ Jesus.' Now when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied." [00:11:54]

"Christians, we have to be more discerning than that. Prayer cloths have no power. I know of no cloth in this world that has any power to it whatsoever. I just wanted to see if you were paying attention. But we are told while these miracles are being wrought by Paul that there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who are called the 'the seven sons of Sceva,' who took it upon themselves to borrow the incantations that they thought were the result of Paul's power over the demonic realm." [00:20:03]

"After this bonfire, the Word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. Let me say that again. The Word of God grew, expanded. It exploded and it prevailed over the trash that had kept these people in bondage for so long. May the Word of God grow in your mind and in your hearts and prevail in your thinking." [00:27:25]

"And that ministry that began with Jesus is carried on then by the Apostle Paul. And then, these phony magicians try to copy by using the same incantations, and the demons look at them and say, 'Jesus we know, Paul we know. We steer clear of him; but who the heck are you? Who are you guys?' And with that, the demon-possessed man leaps at the sons of Sceva, beats them almost to death, tears up their clothes, and sends them running naked and battered out into the street in humiliation." [00:23:47]

"Paul's question by saying, 'We haven't even so much as heard that there is a Holy Spirit.' And so, Paul said, 'Well, into what then were you baptized?' And they say, 'We were baptized into John's baptism.' Ah, now, we begin to understand what is going on here, because we remember again when we studied this concept of the baptism of the Holy Spirit that there is a very significant distinction in the New Testament between the baptism of John the Baptist and the baptism that is instituted by Jesus." [00:09:36]

"Now at the same time that this was going on, also the city, much like Athens, was given over to magic, to idolatry, to sorcery, and all kinds of occult practices, not unlike what goes on in the church today. I don't think we have any idea how much the church has been influenced by New Age and the revival of occult practices and by those who are intoxicated by the power of the Holy Spirit, sometimes easily get confused between the supernatural power of God that is true and valid and pure magic, which is rooted and grounded in the occult." [00:18:29]

"Paul is working most of the time to support himself making tents. It is hot. He would have handkerchiefs as sweatbands around his head, and he would wear an apron around his waist while he was engaged in his trade. Well, people were so excited by the power manifested by the Apostle Paul that they would steal his handkerchiefs, steal his aprons, and take them home to the sick, touch the sick with his aprons and handkerchiefs, and they would be healed; and Luke calls this 'extraordinary,' 'unusual miracles,' just as people were healed by the shadow of St. Peter, and we remember in our Lord's ministry that people would touch the hem of His garment, and just by touching His garment would receive a restoration to health." [00:17:09]

"Paul then goes to Jerusalem completing the second missionary journey, and chapter 19 picks up where Paul returns now to Ephesus, and this begins the third missionary journey. So, we read in the text that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And he found some disciples there, and he asked them this question: 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?' Now, there is something significant about this question." [00:06:03]

"Remember, he came to Israel and he imposed upon them an obligation that they had never had before that had only been obligated for Gentiles. They had to undergo a bath, because John said, 'The King is coming. The kingdom of God is at hand. It is ready to break through. The Messiah that you have waited for centuries is just around the corner and you are not ready. You people are unclean.' And so, to prepare them, he called them to repentance and to the cleansing of that baptism which was not New Testament baptism." [00:11:08]