Spurling Silver: Walking in His Calling, Acts 19:8-20

Paul is on his third missionary journey; this is his second visit to Ephesus.

Upon arrival he met with a dozen disciples and introduced them to the Holy Spirit. (Last week’s study: Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Acts 19:1-7).

Then, as was his custom, Paul headed to the synagogue.

⁸And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God.

The Greek word for, synagogue, means, assembly or gathering, reflecting the communal aspect of Jewish worship and learning.

Historically, synagogues were not only places of worship but also centers for education and community matters.

Like, Little House on the Prairie, the Church house doubled as the schoolhouse and or, meetinghouse.

So, the synagogue was like a Jewish Clubhouse.

⁹But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.

The “Way” used six times in Acts, refers to the Church, the Christians, the people, Ekklésia, the believers in Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, the Life.

The school of Tyrannus, was a dinosaur museum for tyrannosaurus rex. 😊. Just kidding.

It was also called the "lecture hall of Tyrannus." It was likely a public space for teaching and debate.

So, they went from a Jewish Clubhouse to a public clubhouse.

The important thing to note is that the commitment was to spreading the gospel not to a venue.

Church can happen anywhere.

We’ve had Church in a school gym, an old store in a strip mall, a conference room in a bank, a gymnastics hall, the backyard of a cattle ranch, and a Clubhouse.

Church isn’t location, it’s people, committed to serving and loving God and people. Daily. All the time, everywhere.

They met daily. That took discipline. That’s the stuff disciples are made of. Consistent commitment.

Christianity is a full time, all pervasive, never ending, commitment to Jesus, in every aspect of life, even in, especially in, the thought life.

Luke 9:23
Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

¹⁰And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

This continued two years, and all in Asia, both Jews and Greeks heard the Word of the Lord.

Hallelujah!

From that one spot, Church in a secular venue, they reached the whole world as it passed through Ephesus’, a major seaport and trade route.

That’s why having Church in the Clubhouse is such a good and God idea. Folks not going to Church, but just going about their day, passing through the Clubhouse can’t help but overhear the gospel. Plus, like Ephesus, we have people from all over passing through.

Now, pause and consider that the Church in the Jewish synagogue lasted just a few months, then, like usual whenever Paul was trying to minister to the Jews, things when sideways, and Paul left.

Now remember, the Lord told Paul that he was called to the gentiles. Peter was called to the Jews.

Peter and Paul (maybe us too) might’ve thought that was backwards.

Paul the Bible Scholar, the learned Jew, would seem to be the perfect pick to minister to the Jews. Paul says in Philippians 3:5 that he was circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee. Paul indeed would be the prime candidate for ministry to the Jews, or so it would seem.

Peter, the redneck fisherman from Redneckville, Bethsaida, on the shores of Galilee, seemed to be a sure catch for rednecks and gentile dogs.

But God saw it differently. Peter and Paul, and all who are called, will be called out of their comfort zone, so dependence on God, not their own abilities, will be priority.

Things fare much better when we walk outside our comfort zone and inside His calling zone.

¹¹Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, ¹²so 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.

The most important two words in those two verses is: God worked.

God worked unusual, extraordinary, miracles. God caused diseases to leave, and evil spirits to go.

Handkerchiefs, refers to something like a leather headband, sweatband. There was no Power in it, or the apron.

Acts 5:15; tells of folks being laid in the street to be healed, when just the shadow of Peter passed by them.

Mark 5:25-34; The woman who’d been bleeding for 12 years said, “if I just touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, I’ll be healed”. She touched and was healed. Jesus felt “virtue” or “Power” go out of Him, not the hem. And He told the woman, “Your faith has made you well.”

At times, some folks have used a tangible item as a point of contact to release, or increase, their faith. It was their way of putting feet to their faith and in His amazing grace, God worked with that, and healed them.

The Healer and the healing is only and always the work of God.

Now this question pops up. Why’d He do more miracles then, than now?

Maybe He did, maybe He didn’t.

A few things to consider.

We have a laser focused view as we read through the Bible. The spotlight is on the highlights. We don’t see the passage of time between the amazing miraculous events. We don’t see those weren’t delivered and healed.

Furthermore, there’s a big difference in function between foundation stones and finishing stones.

We are the finishing stones of the Church Jesus has been building for 2,000 years. Our function is to stand and shine on the Church foundation stones. Those who’ve gone before.

We have the same purpose, build the Church, but different functions.

God still heals, God still delivers, God still requires we walk by faith in His calling, not our comfort.

¹³Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it 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.”

If you’re in a place with 14 temples worshipping false gods and one of the temples has 1,000 male and female prostitutes, (temple of Diana) you can be sure there’s a whole lot of demonic activity going on.

Thus, ghost busters will be in high demand.

These itinerant Jews who were traveling exorcists. They may have meant well, but they didn’t know Jesus.

So, their success was probably about the same as a snake oil salesmen.

¹⁴Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.

¹⁵And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”

It’s not what you know it’s Who you know.

Matthew 7:21-23
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²²Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

The seven sons of Sceva may have known just the right words, but they didn’t know Jesus personally, so they had no authority.

¹⁶Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

Someone under demonic power has superhuman strength.

Jesus is not a genie in a Bible. One cannot quote a few Bible verses or say the name of Jesus like an incantation and expect miracles and deliverances to happen.

It’s all about relationship with Jesus.

Filled with Jesus.

In Love with Jesus.

Knowing Jesus.

¹⁷This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. ¹⁸And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. ¹⁹Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all.

What became known?

An evil spirit stripped and beat the seven sons of Sceva?

Why would that cause them to fear?

Well, seven grown men got whooped by one evil spirit. BUT, a multiple evil spirits, and sicknesses, and diseases, tuck tail and run at just the touch of a hanky or apron from Paul.

That, put the fear of God in them.

They piled up their witchcraft, occult, voodoo, tarot card, Harry Potter, Twilight books and DVDs.

It was a big pile...

And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

A piece of silver was a day’s wage. So, 50,000 days’ wages up in smoke.

50k / 365= 137 years’ worth of wages. Today that’d be about 11 million dollars.

Harry Potter series author, JK Rowling, said her main ambition was to promote death.

Her death promoting series has sold over 600 million copies, translated into 84 languages.

Stephenie Meyer wrote the Twilight series filled with vampires and demonic activity.

She’s a Mormon. Mormonism, was founded by Joseph Smith who claimed, starting in 1823, he had multiple encounters with an angel called Moroni. Smith said the angel convinced him that Christians didn’t have all the truth. So, he said, he was given special revelation from golden tablets. The book of Mormon came out of that.

Galatians 1:8, But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. (Anathema, devoted to destruction; eternally condemned to hell).

Mormonism is based on a demonic revelation.

Reportedly, on Meyer’s website she tells how the Twilight series came through nighttime visions, or dreams. She says she could not stop the literal voices from giving her story lines. She kept a pen and paper by her bed and would wake in the morning to read what she’d written.

In Ephesus they got out of their comfort zone and burned their black magic, satanic ritual paraphernalia.

Psalm 101:2-3, tells us to walk through our house with a perfect heart we set no unclean thing before our eyes.

What’s in your house? In your heart?

Is Jesus saying, get rid of this or that? It hinders our relationship. It keeps you from really knowing Me.

Do you want to stay in your comfort zone, or walk in His calling zone?

Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, no matter the venue, no matter the function, help us be a people disciplined and committed to walk in Your calling, not our comfort.

Thank You Lord,

We love You, forever.

Amen.

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