“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 what they had done. 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. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.”
Acts 19:17-20 NIV
God never wastes anything!! How often we must reach this conclusion when we see how God turns everything to His own advantage. Not only did those seven men, who used the name of Jesus as a magic formula in the hopes that they could get in on the act, get what they deserved, but also the fame of the power of Jesus’ name spread like wildfire across the city of Ephesus snd beyond. Jews and Greeks alike had a new appreciation of who they were dealing with if they trifled with the God about whom the Apostle Paul spoke.
The outcome was startling. Light had once again driven out the darkness. New believers became transparent…confessing their evil practices…and even giving up the tools of their trade…the scrolls that had taught them their sorcery. No, doubt, sorcery was a lucrative way of extorting an income for those who used their sorcery for gain. Now they were willing to let it go.
The name of Jesus had struck fear into the hearts of these new believers. They were dealing with a God who would not tolerate such flagrant disobedience to His Word. The instruction was clear.
“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God.”
Deuteronomy 18:9-13 NIV
The outcome of this exposure was a massive bonfire in the city, of the scrolls that were now redundant for these children of the Most High God. What a testimony to God’s grace and mercy! The penalty for these practices should have been death but, because of their ignorance, God forgave…and the blood of Jesus rescued and cleansed them from their evil ways.
Ephesus was not only a significant city in the province of Asia…it became equally significant as the centre of new life in the history of the early church. God did extraordinary things in that city. It was as thought He had lit a fire in Ephesus that was visible to the whole province and beyond. From Paul to the Ephesian church came a letter which spells out clearly the grandeur of the Jesus who came to save, and the wonder of the new life He gives to those who believe. Consider these opening statements in this letter….
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.”
Ephesians 1:3-10 NIV
Grace! Good pleasure! What would these words have meant to a group of people who had been dabbling with demonic spirits. They had been rescued from the dangers of this association, and catapulted by grace into the glorious freedom from the consequences of their foolishness into the very presence of God Himself? They were now children of God…fully accepted into His family…members of the covenant people of God…heirs of God, joint heirs with Jesus, and eligible for all the blessings and benefits of that covenant…all because it pleased the Lord to do so.
This was the gospel. This was grace. This was real power…not demonic power that could only harm and destroy. This was God at work to reclaim and restore what rightfully belonged to Him. Despite all odds, Paul would continue to declare this message to his last drop of blood and his dying breath…because God has done it all.
To be continued