Wednesday, April 29th

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Wednesday, April 29

Acts 19:11-20

And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims." Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?" And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

While visiting the Middle East last fall I was blessed to meet several people who had spent most of their lives in Islam but had eventually become followers of Jesus. In each case their stories were dramatic and some involved either dreams or miraculous healing.

One woman told us of a time in her life when she developed a tumor on her neck. She was told by doctors that she needed surgery and was very frightened. She said she had prayed and prayed to Allah and nothing ever happened so she called the only Christian that she knew and asked for help. Her friend told her to pray to Jesus. She had no idea how to do that so that night before she went to bed she just said out loud, “Jesus, please help me!” That very night she had a dream in which Jesus appeared to her and touched her neck with his hand. When she woke up the next day the tumor was gone and when she went to her doctors they said she no longer needed surgery.

I’m sure that, like me, you have read or heard similar stories and that, also like me, you sometimes wonder if such things really happen. You may also find yourself asking that if such miracles do happen, why do they happen and is there some way to make them happen in your own life or in the lives of people you know and love?

And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

What I notice here is that Paul was not the one doing the extraordinary miracles. Luke tells us that it was God who was doing the miracles and that he was doing them “by the hands of Paul.” We know it is purely the will and power of God because it sounds like Paul isn’t even aware of some of the things that are happening! Even the handkerchiefs and aprons that he uses while making tents become carriers of the power of God.

The point here is that God does what he does when and how he wants to do it. His power is not for rent or sale and cannot be conjured up for our own purposes.

The next few verses make that very clear!

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims." Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?" And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

This is one of the stranger stories in the Book of Acts. What’s going on here?

Most of us have had a run-in with electricity. You accidentally touch a live wire while replacing a light bulb or  fixing an outlet and the shock you experience teaches you not to mess with electricity.

So it is with the power and holiness of God.

The seven sons of Sceva saw what was happening with Paul and they wanted to try their hand at miracles. But they do so without understanding or honoring the God whose power they were trying to invoke. It did not go well for them!

But why does God sometimes choose to do miracles? Read again what Luke writes:

And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled... So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

This is consistent with what we see throughout the New Testament. When dramatic miracles happen the miracle itself is never the point! The purpose of miracles is that the name of Jesus is extolled and that the word of the Lord continues to increase.

Do miracles still happen? I believe that they do. Are we to pray for healing and for God to help us and those that we love? Yes, indeed, we are to pray. But we are also to remember that God cannot be manipulated or coerced; we are to remember that while God can and does do the miraculous, his greater purpose remains making the name of Jesus known and increasing the impact of his word.

Pastor Brian Coffey