The word of God in power (Acts 19)

Acts 18:23-19:41
Key verse 19:9b-10,20

After coming back from his second missionary journey, Paul set off his third missionary journey and came to Ephesus. Ephesus was the capital of the Roman province of Minor Asia. It was a big and wealthy. One peculiar thing about Ephesus was that it was the home of the temple of the goddess Artemis (or Diana). Originally, Artemis was the Greek goddess of the hunt. Then later she was combined with Cybele, the goddess of the earth and fertility. Under the influence of Artemis, this whole city was immersed in idol worship, pagan practices, and magic arts, which Paul needed to overcome to preach the gospel. In the face of such great challenges, Paul spent a great amount of his time in Ephesus and had great success.

Today, we Christians are facing similar challenges Paul had in Ephesus. We are challenged by ungodly culture and mammon the god of money, which influence people greatly. How can we overcome such challenges? How can we make a powerful ministry as Paul did in Ephesus? I pray that God may help us to know the source of Paul’s success in Ephesus so that we can serve the work of God in power. The tile of my message is “The word of God in power.”

“23 After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. 24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.”

The ministry of Ephesus, began with someone we haven’t heard of so far. While Paul was traveling through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, a Jew named Apollos came to Ephesus. He was eloquent in speech and well versed in the Scriptures, and he had been instructed about Jesus. He spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately though he knew only the baptism of John. Priscilla and Aquila invited him to their home and explained him about Jesus, including Jesus’ death and resurrection and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That way Apollos came to know Jesus more accurately. Later he went over to Corinth. He became a great help to the believers in Corinth. (1 Cor 3:6) He vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate and proved from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.

In the meantime, Paul came to Ephesus after Apollos left. Paul found some disciples there. But interestingly they knew only John’s baptism and did not receive the Holy Spirit yet. Possibly, they were taught or influenced by Apollos who had known only John’s baptism. (18:25)

“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 in 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.”

By Paul’s help, they came to know Jesus who died for their sins and rose from the dead. Immediately, they were baptized in the name of Jesus and then received the Holy Spirit. In this way, Paul’s ministry in Ephesus began with these disciples, about twelve in all. Meanwhile, Paul spoke boldly in the synagogue as usual, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. (14:22; 28:23,31) It continued for three months. But his effort was unfruitful. The Jews refused to believe. They even spoke evil of the Way. It must have been a disappointment to Paul. But what did he do? 

“9…So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.”

Immediately, Paul changed his direction as the Jews opposed the gospel. He turned to the disciples with him, who were ready and willing to learn and grow. This became the turning point for the ministry in Ephesus. We should preach to anyone, but it is also important to discern whom the Holy Spirit wants us to preach to first and then follow his guidance. Paul focused on the disciples and had an intensive Bible study with them. He discussed with them in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. The hall was likely a place where the Ephesians gathered to study on various subjects and with different teachers. Paul taught daily for several hours and it continued for two years.

Paul had never stayed in one place for such a long time and with such commitment. So far he had preached the gospel widely but now he focused on teaching the disciples the word of God in depth. The number of the disciples was not big at first – probably the twelve disciples he baptized. And Paul’s Bible study group was just one of many study groups in the lecture hall. However, Paul’s intensive Bible study brought a great impact to the region. Not only the people in Ephesus but also many people in the province of Minor Asia came to hear the word of God. The gospel spread wide from mouth to mouth. Some of the disciples went to other places and preached the gospel. This tells us how great the impact of Paul’s intensive Bible study was.

When UBF began, we focused on the Bible study with college students. My Bible center was small and always packed with many Bible study groups. It was hard to hear what my Bible teacher said. So everyone spoke more loudly. We were ordinary poor students. But we studied one on one and in groups and did daily bread. I wrote several pages of testimonies every week based on the passage I studied. I studied the Bible more than my major during my college days. Our intense Bible study impacted us so much. Many people studied in our ministry and later became pastors or Bible scholars. Many of them went overseas as missionaries.

As such, the intense Bible study brings about changes. I would tell those who are not convicted and convinced by the word of God yet, “Study the Bible with commitment.” Invest some of your time for video and Internet for Bible study, and you will surely see its impact on you, your family, and your friends. I would also like to say to you, “Continue to preach and teach.” Your 1:1 Bible study and your fishing will bring impact on this campus and other areas as well.

“11 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.”

God also performed extraordinary miracles through Paul. Even handkerchiefs and aprons that touched Paul healed the sick and drove out the evil spirits. Ephesus was full of idols and pagan practices. But they had never seen such power and authority. The miracles came as a great shock to the people. 

So, some Jews who practiced exorcism tried to mimic Paul and invoke the name of Jesus over the demon-possessed. It was ironical that the Jews opposed the gospel but wanted to borrow the power of Jesus’ name. Among those were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest. One day, they commanded the evil spirit to come out, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.”  Then, the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” Then the evil spirit jumped on them and beat them so they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. What was the response of the people to this?

“17 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 what they had done. 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.”

First, the people in Ephesus, the Jews and Greeks, were all seized with fear. They had never heard and seen that evil spirits were driven by any other gods or by any names. Even evil spirits recognized and revered Jesus and his servant Paul! Their religion was polytheism. In other words, they believed that there were many gods and they worshiped whatever they liked. They considered Jesus just as one of those. But they saw Jesus’ power over evil spirits. The people were shocked by the power of Jesus’ name and felt the presence of God in Jesus’ name. They came to know that God is supreme over any other gods, even the goddess Artemis. So they honored his name high.

Secondly, many of them who believed came out and openly confessed their sins and their faith. It was not easy for them to confess their faith in Jesus publicly because still Christians were a minority and the majority of the Ephesians worshiped the goddess Artemis. But as they experienced God’s power, they could come out to the public because they were confident that God is only the true God.

The most striking thing though was that some who practiced sorcery burned their scrolls publically. The value of the scrolls was 50,000 drachmas. One drachma was a labor’s average daily wage at that time. So the total sum would be about 6 million dollars in today’s currency. It’s a lot of money. This showed that their value system was changed from money to Jesus and their religion was changed from Artemis to God. It was because they were convicted and convinced by the power of God that he is high above all other gods, even the goddess Artemis they worshipped. Now they knew that their stuff was worthless and even evil before God. What a great conversion!

As such, God manifested his presence in power to the Ephesians by healing, driving demons and changing those who practiced magic arts. Why in that way then? We haven’t seen such miracles in other cities. As we know now, Ephesus was a city full of idol worship, evil spirits, and sorcery. Particularly, the influence of the goddess Artemis was dominant in that city. Magic arts and superstition permeated Ephesian culture so much. It was necessary to display God’s power visually so that they might know God is above the goddess Artemis they worshiped and they were evil before God. They came to realize that they were doomed and so they must believe in Jesus. 

As such, there was a great of work of God in Ephesus through the intensive Bible study and miracles.

“20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.”

This was the conclusion of the author Luke on Paul’s ministry in Ephesus. The key of the ministry in Ephesus was the word of God. The power of God was displayed through his word. Such great miracles were ultimately for the spread of the word of God. And all this revealed God’s presence and power to the Ephesians and led them to fear God and honor him.

Let’s review how the work of God began in Ephesus. Apollos taught about Jesus from the Scripture though his knowledge of Jesus was limited. He laid a foundation with the word of God before Paul came. Then Paul taught the disciples intensively. And the word of God spread out. The church of Ephesus was founded on a solid foundation of the word of God. As a result, the church was sound and influential. In Rev 2, the Lord praised the church for their perseverance and spiritual discernment. It was because the church stood firm on the word of God.  

Here we can learn that the importance of the word of God in God’s ministry. The success of the church depends on how much the church people love, study and stand on the word of God. How can we resolve all kinds of problems we are having? How can we have deep faith? How can we be changed? We may need to change our system. We may need better environment or leaders. But they would not work if we did not study the word of God deeply. To get an A in class, you read the textbook carefully and review what your teacher said, right? Why not with the word of God? To know God personally and receive his power, you must study the word of God. How? Deeply! Faithfully!

The motto “Go back to the Bible” is in line with this. Only the word of God can change individuals and our church. When you know and hold to the word of God, you will receive the Holy Spirit and the power of God. People say that there is no silver bullet for our problems. But there is a silver bullet, which is the word of God. Heb 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

When LL and I began this ministry, we shared the vision: “Let the word of God say what it says.” I thought about myself and UBF: how to fix problems? How to raise disciples? How to change and grow myself and others. I reached to the conclusion that the word of God was the key. There were many great revivals in history and they all took place with the word of God. No exceptions. So, LL and I studied first how to study the Bible and practiced it. We also felt that we needed a new environment to study the Bible in a different way so that we could better engage in Bible study. Though we still need to grow more in many respects, we are sure that we are on the right track. As this passage says, studying the word of God deeply and faithfully is the solution to all your problems. The word of God is the power of God. The word of God is God himself. Let the word of God say what it says. Then you will see the power of God in you and among us.

After all this, Paul decided to visit through Macedonia and Achaia again before going back to Jerusalem. He sent Timothy and Erastus to Macedonia to strengthen the churches there while he stayed in the province of Minor Asia a little longer. He seemed to feel that the churches settled down so he wanted to move on. He envisioned to go to Rome. He was so passionate to preach the gospel to the whole world.

“23 About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. “

While Paul was still in Ephesus, a riot broke out against Paul by a silversmith who made silver shrines for Artemis. His name was Demetrius. The temple of Artemis was one of the Seven Wonders in ancient time. The presence of such a temple demonstrated the importance of Ephesus. It was the pride of Ephesians. It was also a great boon to them as well. Worshipers of Artemis came to Ephesus from all around and spent lots of money on lodging, offerings, souvenirs, etc. But as Paul’s ministry began to thrive, Demetrius got concerned. So he accused Paul for the name of Artemis.

Demetrius’ accusation infuriated the people against Paul. Suddenly, the whole city was in an uproar. They grabbed some believers and rushed into the theater together. The Ephesian theater had a capacity of more than 20,000. However, the assembly was in confusion because they did not know what was going on and why they were there. Then, the town clerk intervened in this matter quickly. He was the mayor. He assured the crowd that the reputation of the city was secure. Then he appealed the crowd to follow the Roman law, saying that the unlawful assembly like that could bring Roman reprisals. This way, the riot was calmed down.

We wonder why this epic was written here. Luke proved here that the Christianity was not against the Roman law and public order. Some scholars say that this detailed account may have provided an important basis for Christians in other cities to defend themselves. And incidentally this account showed how great the work of God in Ephesus was. It actually shook up the whole city, such a great city (19:29), in a positive way.

In conclusion, Ephesus was characterized by her pride in the temple of Artemis and her ungodly practices. But when the word of God was preached there, such things began to collapse when God displayed his presence and power through the word of God. The word of God drove out evil spirits and sorcery and then reshaped the city.

We want such a revival to ourselves and to our ministry and to this nation that has suffers from similar problems: worship of Mammon, ungodly and pagan culture. How? How can we experience the power of God? Again, the answer is studying the word of God deeply and faithfully. Though our ministry is small, I believe that we can be a giant by studying and teaching the word of God deeply and faithfully because the power of God is displayed through the word of God. Let’s pray that a revival may come to each of us and to this campus through the word of God.

By David Yun