11/03/02 T 23 INI Acts 19:11-20

Dear Fellow Redeemed,

Near the end of the apostle Paul's life he warned young Timothy that during the N.T. period people would arise who "have a form of godliness, but deny its power." From such people, "turn away," Paul said.

The great missionary to the Gentiles spoke from experience. Acts 19 tells that Paul had been in Ephesus for three months. He had been preaching regularly in the synagogue to the Jews about the "kingdom of God" and the "power" of Jesus Christ to save sinners. But the Jews "did not believe," and they "spoke evil of the Christian faith before the multitude." (Acts 19:8-9) You see, the Jews had a "form of godliness;" they prided themselves in their sacrifices, their presence in the synagogue, and their observance of the Law of Moses. But they "denied the power of (true) godliness" because they rejected Christ as their Savior from sin. That's why we are told that Paul "departed from them and withdrew the disciples."

When Paul continued his preaching of the gospel in "the school of Tryrannus," the Jews must have had a good laugh. How could Paul get anywhere with the heathen idolatry of the Ephesians? How could this Christian faith prosper when the Jews had gotten nowhere among the heathen worshipers of the goddess "Diana." But the Lord was prepared to work

so that the WAY of salvation might be distinguished from every false religion.

God had worked many miracles by "the hands of Paul." But our text reports some unusual miracles! Even when people took handkerchiefs or aprons that had been in contact with Paul's body and brought them to the sick, "the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them." What was so unusual was that Paul did not lay hands on these people, yet they were healed! Remember that Luke, who records these healing miracles in the Book of Acts, was a doctor. There was nothing fake or self-serving about any of these miracles reported by Dr. Luke! Paul was no modern-day "healer" peddling prayer-cloths or asking the sick to touch the television screen. Paul did NOT send out his handkerchiefs and aprons; they were "brought from his body to the sick," by others. Still Luke reports that unusual power-works were done by God "through the hands of Paul"!

The Greek word translated "miracles" is the same word form which we get our English word, "dynamite." The word means POWER. This power did not exist in the handkerchiefs and aprons. This power always came from the living Christ and from the His gospel. As long as Paul and the other apostles preached Jesus Christ and Him crucified and risen for sinners, Christ was with them, confirming the Word of power with "power-works." When the apostles died, having finished their work, these miracles also ceased!

To this day there are those who deny the power of the Gospel of Christ; they seek godliness by external forms and ritual. Many want to touch the dry bones of the dead apostles, splinters of wood thought to be from the cross, or the handkerchiefs of Paul which they are told exist to this very day. Some want to hold the "prayer cloths" of the Television healers. Some want to be members of a church, yet they want little or nothing to do with the power of the living gospel of their Savior in the Word and Sacraments.

But all of this is nothing but sin and superstition, no matter how religious one appears to be or says he is. Look at what happened to the Jewish exorcists in Paul's day! They did not believe in Jesus. But they thought they could use the outward form and formula of Paul's words to cast out demons.

V. 13 tells us that these traveling Jewish exorcists "took it upon themselves to call on the name of the Lord Jesus" And say to the evil spirits, "We charge you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches." God had not called these men to cast out demons in the name of Jesus. These men denied the power of Christ to save sinners. They were Jews who clung to the form of their religion. That's why they spoke of "the Jesus whom Paul preaches."

And so it happened that when seven sons of a certain Jewish priest tried to use the name of Jesus as a kind of magic formula to cast out an evil spirit, they received the shock of their lives! For the evil spirit said to them: "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are YOU?" Then the man possessed by the evil spirit leaped upon all seven of the Jewish exorcists and beat the tar out of them, so that they fled from the house in terror, "naked and wounded."

When this became known to all the people of Ephesus, "fear came upon them, and the name of Jesus was magnified." Why? Because NOW they recognized the Divine Source of the power connected with Paul's unusual miracles!

Now another unusual power-work took place among the Ephesians: "Many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds." In other words, many who had been converted, but had fallen prey to sin, repented of their sins. They got their sins off their chests, bringing them out into the open before Paul and the others. "Also many of those who had practiced magic (sorcery, astrology, seances, witchcraft, etc.) -- these brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all" the people. And the value of the books all together was 50,000 pieces of silver! Now this was a real power-work, demonstrating the power of godliness which was worked in human hearts through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

How seldom one sees real gospel-worked repentance -- a change of heart which shows itself by a sincere confession

of one's sinful deeds and a putting away of them. Some years ago a troubled wife spoke to her husband about the Playboy magazines he was bringing home. During a pastoral visit the matter was brought up and the pastor gave Christian counsel. There was a "look of guilt," from the husband, but no burning of the magazines, no getting rid of them!

Someone indulges in pre-marital sex. A Christian pastor urges repentance, a putting away of the sin and a return to the Savior of sinners; but the erring one would rather leave the church than face up to his sin.

It's painful for our self-righteous nature to think of admitting our sinful deeds. "What would my wife, or my husband, or my pastor think of me? It's too painful for the self-indulged flesh to give up what it likes, and burn his bridges, his books, or whatever behind Him!

Since we don't like pain, the flesh tries to escape the plain admission of guilt, make excuses or find a "short-cut" that will save our religious face. You heard earlier how King Saul tried to escape the pain of repentance when he disobeyed God's command to destroy the Amalekites. When the Prophet Samuel faced him with his sin, Saul made excuse: "It wasn't me, but the people who saved the best things!" When Samuel would not accept this excuse for Saul's sin, the fallen king tried a short cut to keep up the appearance of godliness! He begged Samuel to "worship with him" before the people!

How hard people try to avoid the plain admission of guilt, and seek "short-cuts" to repentance. But "short-cuts to repentance only lead to dead ends." When our Lord Jesus said "repent!" in Matthew 4:17, He revealed His will that the entire life of the Christian be one of repentance. But true repentance is always an unusual power-work of God alone in our hearts. If it's sincere, it is never an act of ours, which we perform by mouthing the confession of sins, or even by crying real tears!

True repentance doesn't deny the power of godliness by its confidence in outward form or appearance of religion, like the woman who tried to "make up" for unfaithfulness to her husband by becoming very active in the church of her lover.

Notice that the unusual repentance of the Ephesians in our text was a result of a miraculous power-work on the part of the Lord. For v. 20 states: "SO the Word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed." The Word of our Savior God is a living, mighty thing! The gospel alone works repentance in the heart of the sinner by convincing him that because of god's love in Christ there is really no pain in kneeling at the foot of the cross in sincere confession! "The nails are all used up; they are in Jesus' hands and feet!" In such a heart there is no "now I may continue to do as I please" attitude. But GRACE, planted by the Spirit's working of faith in the gospel of forgiveness through Christ brings a new and powerful impulse to obey our Savior-God with a grateful heart!

In view of our own great need, what a precious and comforting privilege it is that we may confess our sins to Jesus and to one another, and be assured of forgiveness in His saving name! May we all be granted that unusual power-work of the Gospel so that the power of godliness may be demonstrated in a life of repentance! Amen.