MPC, 2nd December 2001.Acts 19 - "Extraordinary Stuff!"
Phil Campbell MPC, 2nd December 2001.
If you're the sort of person who can hardly wait for the release of the annual edition of the GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS, or if you're a fan of the TV show Guinness World Records PRIMETIME, then you'll know something EXTRAORDINARY when you see it. It's almost like EXTRAORDINARY STUFF gets routine.
So you've got the woman who can concentrate so hard that she can pop her eyeballs right out of their sockets. Absolutely extraordinary. The sort of thing an ordinary person could NEVER DO. Or the guy whose earlobes are so elastic that he can use them as slingshots and flick a coin THREE METRES. All with his ear. Extraordinary stuff. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it on video.
Now it's important when we get to a passage like Acts 19 that you keep in mind the difference between ORDINARY STUFF and EXTRAORDINARY STUFF. Let me tell you, if they make a TV show about how far I CAN FLICK A COIN WITH MY EARS, it's not going to rate. I'm just ordinary. Which means I don't make it into the Guinness Book of Records. And when it comes to the SPIRITUAL THINGS I DO, someone like me doesn't make it into the book of Acts either. This is the ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. And the Apostles do EXTRAORDINARY STUFF.
As a reminder of the EXTRAORDINARY POWER of the name of Jesus Christ who commissioned them to build his church.
You'll see that's the point made in Acts 19 verse 11. Have a look and you'll see what I mean. It says,
GOD DID EXTRAORDINARY MIRACLES through Paul, 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.
What we're looking at here in Acts 19 is EXTRAORDINARY STUFF. Now on Wednesday morning I woke up with a bit of a headcold. Bit of a sore throat; runny nose. And I want to tell you, in my pocket, I've got a hanky.
Let me make you an offer. If you like, just come and see me later, and I'll TOUCH YOU WITH MY HANKY. And we'll see what happens.
Well, more than likely, there won't be a real lot of you who are lining up to try it. Because although a touch of my used handkerchief isn't exactly INSTANT DEATH, it's not likely to do you a whole lot of good, is it?
But I want to put it to you that when you think about it, the difference between MY HANKY and the APOSTLE PAUL'S HANKY is one of the KEYS to understanding what's going on in the book of Acts.
Touch my hanky, you catch a cold. Touch Paul's hanky – YOU CATCH A CURE. Ever watch the evangelist BENNY HINN on TV? He'll make you an offer. Send a donation; and he'll send you a linen hanky that's been especially blessed.
Can I say to you that I think the key to understanding stuff like this in Acts; the key to understanding WHAT YOU SHOULD EXPECT MY HANKY TO DO; and YOUR HANKY TO DO; it's all there in Acts 19 verse 11 in one simple word. And that's the word EXTRAORDINARY.
You know what EXTRAORDINARY means? Extraordinary means NOT ORDINARY. It means THIS IS NOT WHAT USUALLY HAPPENS. Even for Christians. But when the Apostle Paul's in town, it's just like Jesus. The woman touched his cloak. The bleeding stopped. They touch Paul's apron; touch his facecloth; the sickness is gone.
And so one of the keys to understanding and applying what you read in Acts is to be able to PICK THE DIFFERENCE…. Between what's ORDINARY. And what's NOT. What's the NORMAL CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE? And what are OUTSTANDING ACTS OF THE APOSTLES? As GOD MARKED THEM OUT as the AUTHORISED MESSENGERS OF HIS GOSPEL. Who we need to listen to. And obey.
So you will notice here in the city of Ephesus, there's a bunch of guys who get that wrong. Who miss the point entirely. As we sometimes do. Because I guess in the end, the idea of SPIRITUAL POWER, it's very enticing, isn't it? Very easy to not be satisfied with being ORDINARY and get caught up in a sort of a quest for spiritual power. A search for heightened spiritual experiences. To want to be able to command the spirit world to do this or that.
Which was especially inviting in Ephesus. The New Age capital of the ancient world. A city of horoscopes, a city of magical spells, city of SPIRITUAL POWER. The huge temple of Artemis just outside of town. And I guess with GOD DOING ALL THESE EXTRAORDINARY MIRACLES through Paul, it's no surprise other people want to get in on the act as well.
There are seven brothers. Jewish. Sons of a priest called SCEVA. And until Paul turned up, the seven sons of Sceva were the local EXORCISM EXPERTS. The Ephesian version of the GHOST BUSTERS. I don't know if they ever used to do any good, but that was their reputation. And the point is, they see the POWER in what Paul's doing. And when they see it, they WANT IT. And so you can see what they do in verse 13. It says "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're going around trying to use the name of Jesus like a sort of a magic spell. They'd say, "In the name of Jesus, who Paul preaches, I COMMAND YOU TO COME OUT." Which is I guess the sort of thing they'd heard PAUL SAYING. I mean, just a touch of Paul's HANKY and the evil spirits are on their way. That's all it takes.
But what happens when these seven sons of Sceva try it? What do the demons say then? Have a look. Verse 15. They're saying, WHAT A LAUGH. "The evil spirit answers them, "Jesus I know, and PAUL I know about – but who are you?" And then the guy with the evil spirit jumps on them, and beats up all seven brothers at once. And they run away naked and bleeding. Which if you had your camera there would have to make it into the finals of FUNNIEST HOME VIDOES, wouldn't it?
Now this is important. And it's an easy thing to get messed up with. But I want to suggest to you that we need to be very careful of ANYONE these days who wants to claim to have the POWER OF AN APOSTLE. Or to have the same sort of AUTHORITY as Paul had.
My mate Steve Cree is the minister at Southern Cross Presbyterian church down in Lismore. And he was telling me he went along to the MINISTERS FRATERNAL. And he said, he couldn't believe it; because here are all the ministers from town – and if you've ever been to Lismore, it's a town pretty much like Ephesus must have been full of crystals and spells - and at the ministers fraternal meeting the first order of business is they're talking about ALL THE EVIL SPIRITS they're going to drive out of town. So there's the spirit of JEZEBEL on the town, they reckon; that was making people drug addicts. And the spirit of death and hell, making people violent. And the spirit of Antichrist – oppressing people. And the ministers fraternal are making their plans to drive ‘em out.
Which I want to suggest to you might be a little bit presumptuous. See, the stuff Paul did wasn't for ORDINARY CHRISTIANS TO DO. What we're meant to do, we're meant to stand back and say WOW! We're meant to say, THIS PAUL was EXTRAORDINARY. Because he's a GENUINE APOSTLE, who speaks and acts with the AUTHORITY OF JESUS. So we NEED TO LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY and make sure we DO WHAT HE SAYS.
And there's the big difference. Because if we think we're meant to read this stuff in Acts so WE CAN GO AND DO IT OURSELVES, you're missing the point. That this is EXTRAORDINARY STUFF. Out of the ordinary. We're meant to watch what he does; so we'll DO WHAT HE SAYS. And you'll see that's what happens in verse 17; when people hear what happened, they're seized with fear. Awe. And the name of Jesus is held in high honour. So much that people were actually coming and confessing their evil deeds, and they bring all their magic scrolls out with their secret spells and incantations on them; and they build a 4 million dollar bonfire. 50,000 drachmas; 50,000 days wages. Enough to pay 140 men for a year. And it all goes up in smoke as the commit themselves to following Jesus instead.
That's the stuff they thought gave them power. But now they were bowing a knee to a HIGHER POWER. The power of Jesus. Amazing scenes in Ephesus. Amazing AUTHORITY… demonstrated by the APOSTLE PAUL.
It seems to me one of the biggest threats facing Christians today is there's a creeping confusion about what's ORDINARY and what's not. About what ordinary every day Christians are meant to expect in our ordinary everyday lives. And at the same time there's a creeping assumption that the CHARISMATIC CHURCHES have got it right.
That they've got something WE HAVEN'T GOT. That they've somehow got more of the SPIRIT than we have. That when they pray for healing, somehow God's going to answer them in more spectacular ways. That maybe you should send in for Benny Hinn's Handkerchief when you see him on TV because it JUST MIGHT HELP. If only you have enough faith. Or wishful thinking.
And in the end it's sad. Because we buy the idea that the sort of things we see the APOSTLES doing in the passage we've just looked should BE NORMAL. And yet it's not. And it was NEVER NORMAL. Even when Paul was doing the things he did in Ephesus, what do you think the Christians back then would have said about it? Let me tell you what they said. They said, THAT'S EXTRAORDINARY. Because it was.
When I watch a movie, I always want to identify with the hero. And I guess that's what movies make you want to do. That's the idea. That's the person whose skin the movie maker wants you to slip into. But when it comes to the Bible, we're meant to do the opposite. It's not you and me who save the world. It's JESUS Who's done it for us. And we're not expected to be super Christians and Apostles. Just ordinary. Trusting the WORDS OF THE APOSTLES who teach us how to TRUST JESUS and SERVE HIM.
So that's us there in verse 17 and 18.
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. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds.
Funny, isn't it? The Seven Sons of Sceva wanted to use the name of Jesus to do MAGIC. But the ORDINARY CHRISTIANS here, they want to TURN AWAY FROM THEIR MAGIC… and serve Jesus. And they do that decisively.
Have you done that? Because coming face to face with the authority of Jesus is meant to make you weigh up your life. To confess your sin. To realise that the secrets of your heart are LAID BARE to a Lord like that. In Ephesus it meant giving up their occult connections. For you it might be something else. But I know in a group this size there'll be all sorts of sins to be repented of. That you know in your heart you need to repent of if you're going to HOLD THE NAME OF JESUS IN HIGH HONOUR.
My friend Craig Tucker used to help run a Bible Study group for people with mental illness. There was one guy, who really struggled with pornography. And one day, enough was enough. He knew he had to do something. And so on Sunday morning, just as all the little old ladies were coming out of church he arrived with a sack full of magazines. He piled them up on the nice front lawn. Doused them in petrol and set it alight. According to Craig some of the little old ladies still haven't recovered from the shock. It wasn't their idea of what church was about. ..It smelled something awful, and the burnt, black patch on the lawn took months to finally grow over.
But it was decisive, wasn't it? And probably more sane than most of us who'd love to have some of the EXTRAORDINARY SPIRITUAL POWER we see here in Acts… but at the same time aren't really that serious about HONOURING JESUS. By the way we repent.