NEVER A DULL MOMENT

NEVER A DULL MOMENT

Acts 19:1-22

Dr. William J. Maxwell

First Presbyterian Church, Newport, RI

July 15, 2007

As we make our way slowly but surely through the entire book of Acts, one thing can most certainly be said of the New Testament church – there never was a dull moment! The Holy Spirit was on the move in the life and witness of the church in often unexpected and dramatic ways.

The situations described in our passage for this morning are just as remarkable and unexpected. In rapid succession, Luke describes for us events that are clearly the working of the Holy Spirit in the region of Ephesus. They are amazing events and collectively, they are of help to us in discerning the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our life together.

We can never fully understand the depth of God’s nature, character and work, but this passage does bring to us some key points to remember when it comes to the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

HERE WE ARE FIRST REMINDED

THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES TO DWELL

WITHIN EACH AND EVERY CHRISTIAN.

When a person becomes a sincere believer in Jesus Christ, trusting Him in His saving work in His obedient life, sacrificial death, and triumphant resurrection, the Holy Spirit enters in to reside in that person. The Bible is very clear about this, although it may be difficult for us to see this at first sight in our passage this morning.

We are told that as Paul first arrived in Ephesus, he found some “disciples.” Giving them the benefit of the doubt as “disciples,” he asked them a direct question: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And to this question, Paul received a surprising response from them: “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

The further one goes in following the conversation that then took place, the more one begins to wonder if these men were in fact true “disciples” of Christ. They had never heard of the Holy Spirit, they had not been baptized in the name of Jesus, and they were more acquainted with the teaching of John the Baptist than that of the One for whom John prepared the way – Jesus!

It seems to many that they were in some sense professing disciples, but that they were disciples more of John the Baptist and thus were not truly Christians. So Paul told them the Gospel in depth and when they believed, he baptized the new believers in Jesus’ name and witnessed the Holy Spirit’s presence upon them.

The coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell within every sincere believer in Christ is the clear teaching of the Bible. An example of this is what Paul said quite literally in his letter to the Ephesians, which was included in our call to worship this morning:

You also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.[i]

I hope you can see and know that the promise of God in providing His Holy Spirit’s presence and power in your life is absolutely true, if you are a true believer and a disciple of Jesus Christ. Not all see this and know this.

In the first congregation I served as a pastor, there was an older lady who was quite upset over this very matter. Apparently a co-worker of hers at the hospital had told her that unless she had been baptized as an adult, and had a certain experience with the Holy Spirit and spoke in a supernatural language, it was highly questionable that she was even a Christian!

This troubled this dear lady tremendously! Although by all appearances, she had been a Christian and a member of the church for many years, she became deeply distressed. She was now very uncertain about these matters, having been intimidated by the dogmatism, assertiveness and forcefulness of this co-worker.

That’s when she called me and invited me over to talk with her about this. We spent some time together looking at what the Bible had to say on this subject. She found not only reassurance of her salvation in Christ, but also renewed assurance of the Holy Spirit’s presence in her life.

One should always listen to what God says in Scripture first in these matters. For no matter how dogmatic and self-assured some people may be, the Bible is quite clear in saying that the promised Holy Spirit comes to each person who trusts in Jesus Christ.

THE HOLY SPIRIT EMPOWERS

CHRISTIANS FOR MINISTRY,

BUT ALWAYS IN A WAY THAT EXALTS JESUS CHRIST.

Again, in our passage, we find a remarkable succession of events that give testimony to the Holy Spirit’s presence and power. First of all, we have the gifts of the Spirit as seen in that of the Ephesian Christians being given the gift of a supernatural language and the gift of prophecy. You may recall that the Holy Spirit manifested His presence in the same way to the Jews on Pentecost, then to the Samaritans, and also to Cornelius and other God-fearing Gentiles.[ii] This was the fourth group of people in whom the work of the Spirit was found.

But that wasn’t all, as secondly, we see Paul teaching and preaching boldly in the power of the Holy Spirit. He did so even in the midst of opposition, and yet in such a way that numerous Jews and Greeks heard the Gospel.

Thirdly, we see God doing “extraordinary miracles.” The sweat cloths and work aprons Paul used in his tent-making trade were being taken to the sick and to those oppressed or possessed by demons. As a result, people were healed and delivered as God worked mightily in their midst.

We are not told that this was Paul’s idea and it was an unusual means of the Holy Spirit bringing freedom and deliverance. May I then say that it is one that most probably is not to be repeated, in spite of the claims of those who will send you an “anointed handkerchief” or “prayer cloth” that will work wonders, all of course at the price of a special donation!

Fourthly, we see the almost humorous event involving the “Seven sons of Sceva,” leading one to recognize the power of the Holy Spirit and the authority of the name of Jesus in the face of the kingdom of darkness by a true believer like Paul, rather than by one who is not, such as the sons of Sceva.

The consequence of all this is noteworthy: “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.”

A few years ago, I had a book on the subject of the Holy Spirit whom the author referred to as “the shy member of the Trinity.” The author was referring to the fact that the Holy Spirit’s ministry includes that of bringing attention, not to Himself, but to Jesus. You may recall that Jesus said as much about the Holy Spirit when He said that “(the Holy Spirit) will bring glory to Me by taking from what is Mine and making it known to you.” [iii]

In our Statement of Purpose, we begin by exalting Jesus Christ in saying, “We at FPC love the Lord Jesus Christ …” In our commissioning of our Vacation Bible School leaders this morning, our prayer has been that Jesus Christ would be lifted up before all the children, youth and adults. In our commissioning next week of the members of our short term mission team to New Orleans, we will pray that the people of New Orleans see Jesus’ heart, hands and feet in their midst. We will do so as well when the mission team to Honduras will be commissioned in September.

Why? Because the work of the Holy Spirit in God’s people always draws attention to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

III

THE HOLY SPIRIT

ENABLES GOD’S PEOPLE TO LIVE HOLY LIVES.

When a person becomes a Christian, a transfer occurs, the kind of transfer that Paul speaks of in his prayer found in Colossians 1:13-14:

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.[iv]

When a person comes to a saving, trusting, reliant faith in Christ, a change in citizenship occurs, as one is “transferred” from the domain or dominion of darkness into the kingdom of Christ and of light. A break is then made with attitudes and actions that are inconsistent with God’s will and way that we come to know through Scripture.

The new Christian converts in Ephesus apparently understood that. Many of them had been engaged in the occult, in sorcery, witchcraft and magic arts. They had scrolls and books containing this information, including names and incantations. But no longer! They had a public burning of these, indicating that they were making a distinct break ... and were willing to forfeit the great cost in doing so – 50,000 times what one earned for a day’s worth of labor.

Here, I recall making a similar break a number of years ago when I was in my first year of seminary. Music has always been a great love of mine and I had collected quite a number of albums (no CD’s at that time!). At that time, the Holy Spirit began to convict me that I needed to get rid of some of those albums, because the messages in the lyrics were “dark” lyrics. I hadn’t always listened to those lyrics, paying more attention to the instrumental side of the music. But I obeyed, throwing into the dumpster a number of albums by such groups as “Black Sabbath.” I could have given them away, but at what tremendously high cost to the recipient?

No Christian, according to Deuteronomy 18, is to be involved at all in the dark side of omens, casting spells, witchcraft, astrology, horoscopes, consulting the dead with mediums or any other similar practice. We are not to engage in the New Age movement to get in touch with “the god within.” We are not to allow our children to take on new identities as they enter the world of “Dungeons & Dragons.” And the Ouija Board, far from being an innocent means of entertainment, is to be discarded and repented of as a demonic trap.

Remember that Jesus said that the devil “has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” [v] In contrast, the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of truth”, the One who leads us to Jesus who is “the truth,” and who enables us to be conformed more and more in the image of Christ as we walk “in the truth.” [vi]

Presbyterian pastor, author and teacher Steve Brown tells of the time when he was visiting a church in the back, mountainous area of the Philippines. He didn’t expect to find very many people there, but he was amazed to find a large crowd of people trying to get into the small church building.

After the service, Brown asked the young pastor about the extremely enthusiastic crowd. He told Brown that two weeks before, a great work of God had occurred in a woman’s life. She had become demon-possessed through willful involvement with the occult. Her life was so bent on destruction that the woman’s family, friends, even a local witch doctor tried to help her – but none could.

In final desperation, the family turned to the pastor and elders of the church, who went in the authority of the name of Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, and prayed for the woman to be delivered and set free. And she was! And the people of the village started coming to the church in great numbers.

Brown asked the pastor what exactly happened when the pastor went to see this woman and the pastor gave an unforgettable answer: “Jesus won. Satan lost.” [vii]

No, life is not dull in the kingdom of God! Not when the Holy Spirit is at work in the people of God:

indwelling them,

empowering them,

exalting Jesus Christ in them,

and conforming them into true children of light.