When the Gospel Hit Home Again
Acts 19:15-20 NKJV
And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”
Then 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. This 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. And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. 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.
This is the end of the story of the demon-possessed man and seven men who attempted to cast the demon out. Evidently, these seven men brothers, who were known as Jewish exorcists, heard that the name of Jesus was more effective in demon removal. These men most likely made money from the exorcism business, and now they had a new method. So they called on the name of Jesus, but it backfired on them. The evil spirit was familiar with Jesus and Paul, but these seven were not believers. The demon-possessed man jumped on these seven brothers and ripped their clothes off and whipped up on them. And the whole town heard about it.
But instead of this event becoming just another juicy story, it struck fear into the hearts of the people who heard. And the reality of the gospel hit home. Jesus was real, and His name was magnified. We would say His authority was magnified, and people realized Jesus was greater than any evil spirit or demonic power.
What happened next is interesting. Verse eighteen says, “...many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds.” These were the people who had already believed in Jesus as their Savior. These were Christians who came confessing and telling what they had done. We would call this, in today’s terms, a revival. The believers were coming face to face with the power of God, and they were repenting. By confessing and telling their deeds, the believers in Ephesus were not getting saved again. Rather, they were getting their hearts before the Lord and making things right. We don’t know what had been going on, but it may have been a situation where the Ephesian believers were still living in both worlds. They were believers who were still dabbling in black arts and witchcraft.
Another reason I think we are seeing a revival here is the burning of the magic books. Magic must have been a thing in this part of the ancient world. But it sounds as if these magic books were not pull a rabbit out of a hat magic. Most likely, these were occult books of dark magic. They did not resell the books or share them with their friends who were not saved; they burned the books. Fifty thousand pieces of silver in today’s currency would represent hundreds of thousands of dollars. This was no small book burning. This was a major statement. These Ephesian believers were no longer living in two worlds; they were committed to Christ.
The end result of this revival was that the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. The word of the Lord, the gospel of Jesus Christ, became a major force in Ephesus.
Application
This story is a great reminder that the Christian life involves instant change spiritually, but the outward change is a process. The believers at Ephesus are just like the believers today. Genuinely saved and new creations in Christ but often living in two worlds. Maybe it’s the party world or the drug world. It could be living the same as the world and culture that they are enveloped in. The full commitment to Jesus as Lord may not be there now.
The best thing we can do is make moves closer to the Lord. Turning away from the way we used to live and repenting from things we have done that we know are not right. We don’t have to wait for an event to have a revival. We can start now.
Prayer
Thank You, Lord, for what You have done for me. I want to come closer to You, and I am willing to get rid of anything that would hold me back.