God Did Extraordinary Miracles Through Paul

 Meditations on The Acts of the Apostles

April 9, 2021

God Did Extraordinary Miracles Through Paul

One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?”

Acts 19:15

Read: Acts 19:11-22       

The witness of the church in Ephesus was so strong that the people of Ephesus found their vested interest radically challenged.

To understand the significance of Paul proclaiming a new Way of living that worshipped God not idols, consider the temple to Artemis – the Greek name for the goddess Diana. The temple was one of the Seven Wonders of the World: 425 feet long; 220 feet wide; 60 feet high with 127 pillars. Worshipping Artemis was a big deal in Ephesus.

The amusing story about seven sons of the Jewish chief priest trying to use the name of Jesus to cast out demons reveals another major difference between the Way and the prevailing culture. The use of magical power was common in Ephesus. Magic attempts to gain power without humble submission to God. In one of Paul’s letters to Corinth, written from Ephesus, Paul notes that “I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (2 Cor. 12:9) A good litmus test for those who claim to have the power of God and demonstrate it through healings and other manifestations is to examine the life of those who claim such power. Do you see opulence or humility?

An indication of how many were changing their lives in very dramatic ways is in verse 19. “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 today’s economy, that would be approximately four million dollars.

My Takeaway: I believe God’s power to change lives is available to the church today, as it was to the church in Ephesus. The only issue is whether the church is willing to humble herself before the Living God.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2021 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.