Can I pray for you in any way?
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
In Christ, Mark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk
** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn
** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
When Jesus finished His earthly ministry, a ministry marked with teaching and healing and death and finally resurrection, God brought Him back home to the heavens and when He did, He did one very important thing. He honored His Son.
Jesus had lived a perfect, sinless human life and carried out everything just as His Father God had expected. And so once back in heaven, God elevated His Son to the highest place of authority, sitting Him at His right hand and putting Him in full power over everything in heaven and on earth. This is why Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Unfortunately, a majority of people down below on earth haven’t realized nor acknowledged Jesus’ supreme greatness. For if they truly did honor Jesus, we would see sin disempowered because no one would want to dishonor or disgrace the Lord who reigns and rules over them.
So how do we get a world population to change their view and, in turn, their ways?
Often times, a major event is needed, one grounded in consequences for not paying proper tribute to Jesus.
In yesterday’s message, we saw such an event and as we look at the outflow of that event today, we see where it gained the attention of many who needed to change their ways.
You’ll recall where this started. Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva decided to go around and try to drive out demons from possessed people, claiming they were doing so in the name of Jesus, the Jesus that the Apostle Paul had been teaching of. But there was only one problem. The men had not accepted Jesus as their Savior. They didn’t place their faith and hope in the very Son of God who had been placed in authority over them. And since they didn’t have any connection to Jesus short of knowing how to discredit His name for their own glory, the Holy Spirit was absent in their lives. They had no inherent power to drive out demons or do anything else in Jesus’ name.
And so when they went into the home of a man possessed with an evil spirit, they found themselves confronted by the demon before being assaulted by it. What was so interesting about this encounter between the seven men and the evil spirit was that the demon knew Jesus more than the men did. The evil spirit knew that it didn’t stand a chance against Jesus or anyone who truly came in His name but as for those who weren’t in Jesus, it was game on. The seven men were in that latter category and found themselves beaten and left bleeding and fleeing for their very lives. Evil had triumphed for the moment in the absence of Jesus.
So what happened next? How would other respond to this happening where a demon had its way with people claiming to represent Jesus when they really had nothing to do with Him at the time?
Well, we see there was a quantum impact, especially among others who were engaged in sinful spiritual practices.
For as the demon’s attack “became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus”, the scriptures tell us the people “were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.” No one wanted to experience the same dominance of evil over them and so they turned to the One who would triumph over evil every single time. It’s a shame that it took seven men to get beaten by a demon for this to happen but sometimes that’s what is necessary to gain attention.
Note here that it wasn’t just enough for the people to say they held the name of Jesus in high honor. They needed to also show it through their actions.
So we read where “many of those who believed” came forward to openly confess their sins. For when people truly realize the authority of Jesus and seek to honor Him, repentance will always follow. In the case of those who had practiced sorcery and chose to openly show penitence for what they had done, we read where they “brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly.” And just in case one might not see this as much of a sacrifice, the scriptures tell us that the scrolls carried a lot of value, fifty thousand drachmas in this case. One drachma was worth around one days wages so you can see how this was a major public sacrifice by the repentant sorcerers. They no longer needed the scrolls because they now had Jesus and He was all they needed. From that point forward, any work they would do would be done in accordance with His will and power.
This was just one example of people deciding to trade in their former ways for the ways of Jesus and as our passage ends, we learn that the word of the Lord “spread widely” through Ephesus and “grew in power” as a result.
Through this, we learn that honoring Jesus first involves realizing His greatness and authority over all things. This then leads to repentance and a willingness to trade in any sinful behavior for a behavior that shows respect and reverence for His holy Name. Finally, when this happens, one person at a time, then the word of our Lord will spread widely and grow in power through the One who is power.
As I close this message, I believe God’s word is calling us all to self examine ourselves and ask how we are doing when it comes to honoring Jesus with our lives. Are we fully sacrificing for Him as He has already fully sacrificed to save us? Or are we holding onto sinful behavior that only serves to dishonor the almighty King of kings and Lord of lords?
Perhaps we would all be well served to commit to this plea from David, a man after God’s heart, who said:
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please
share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
No comments:
Post a Comment