Read Acts 18:24-28 and Acts 19:1-22
As we read this section of Acts, class, we see Paul is making the turn and heading back East. He has taken Priscilla and Aquila with him and leaves them in Ephesus. This is an important detail…God is about to make a major move again, for Apollos comes into the scene!
Apollos is a man who knows the “baptism of John” but not of the Holy Spirit. What does this mean? The baptism of John was what? “Repent for the kingdom of Heaven is near.” John’s baptism was all about preparing, really preparing for the coming Messiah. His was to turn from your sin and be cleansed, so that when you see the Messiah, you will be ready. It is similar to the acts of handwashing that that occurred in the Temple, preparing to be in the Presence. It was a first step towards Christ but not the whole way. Obviously, Apollos was doing a great work on his own power…but now it was God’s turn.
Aquila and Priscilla take him aside and explain Jesus to him. He sees the light of fulfillment of God’s prophesies and is filled with the Spirit. He is born again in this new baptism and empowered in a new way!
What we do not see here is how successful Apollos becomes…his status as a teacher grows to be as large as Paul. If you turn to 1Corintians 1:12-13, you see the following, “11My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas[a]"; still another, "I follow Christ." 13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into[b] the name of Paul?” This is an interesting passage. It shows that Apollos had grown in stature equal to an Apostle and that the early church in Corinth was rabbinical in their style. They were identifying themselves by what rabbi they followed, rather than the God they followed. Paul had no purpose for this! Christ died for you, not Paul, not Peter and not Apollos. Christ alone!
The neat thing about this is how we see God moving. God puts Priscilla and Aquila in the perfect spot to disciple Apollos. It is not always enough to have a big God moment to grow in your relationship with Christ. It can (and usually does) take someone who comes alongside you and mentors and guides you in the faith. What we see is how the message of the Messiah’s salvation is growing, person by person, teacher by teacher to the ends of the earth…
Meanwhile, Ch. 19 brings us back to Paul, where he finds a similar situation. He finds in Ephesus more disciples that have not heard the whole story. Again, we see the need for people to walk with someone who can guide their faith journey. Again, we see Christ’s fulfillment of the scriptures being explained, accepted and them being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Immediately, we see a mini-Pentecost with these 12 men… There is that 12 number again. 12 tribes, 12 Apostles, 12 lamp stands…coincidence? I think not. God is sending a message, still calling out to His tribes.
Verse 11 shows how the Holy Spirit is indwelling in Paul and how God is using him in a Christ-like way. This is God at work, Paul is just the tool. What a blessing it must have been for him to see this, not of his power but of God’s power.
After this we get into a very interesting part of this chapter. It seems that these Jewish sorcerers were traveling the land “driving out demons.” One can only imagine these people as a group of charlatans, charging people to drive out their “demons”, then heading off to the next town. This is not a Jewish practice of the Old Testament. This was something new and not of God’s calling.
The seven sons of Sceva (hmmmm, there is that 7 again) were doing this, with the new twist. Since Paul’s fame was undoubtedly growing due to the healings that God was working through him, they decided to latch onto this “new” power. Paul was telling all that it was the power of Jesus, the name of Jesus in which salvation was possible, so it seemed logical to cast out these demons with His name. Only, when they ran across a real demon, they got more than they bargained for.
The demon answers them…”Jesus I know,” it says. It knows, fears and has to respect the authority of Jesus. No choice. He is their Lord, too. All powerful and ruler of all! When they see Him, they have to recognize Him. See the response he gets in verses such as Mark 1:34. It goes on, “and I know about Paul.” Probably Paul had been on the radar screens for a long time and many attacks were made but Paul had the Lord for protection and strength. “But who are you?” Oops… Back up and run away because what the demon is really saying is “I don’t know whose you are.” Without the Spirit, they have no protection from the demon…RUN!
He gave them such a beating that they ran from the house naked and bleeding…moral of the story: don’t play in what you don’t know. Occult practices (Ouiji boards, Tarot, séances, even horoscopes), much less actual seeking of demons is not something to be trifled with. It is not a game (despite what Milton Bradley says) or harmless. Stay away from it. It opens doors that are not easily closed. God does not say to seek these out any where in the Bible. If you find it somewhere, show it to me. He says to seek Him, not them. He grants the Apostles the ability to cast out demons but does not tell them to go out and root them out!!!
Jesus tells the story of what it is like to do spiritual battle with out THE Spirit on your side in Matthew 12: 43-45. 43"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation." Even if you get a demon cast out of you (putting your house in order for the moment), unless the Holy Spirit comes, unless you have Jesus in your heart filling you up, you are open again. You need Jesus…we all do! To come live in us and through us. Also, realize that if you have the Holy Spirit in you, you cannot get possessed by a demon. No way both can live in one body. You can be influenced by a demon but possessed, no way. We don’t talk much in today’s age about this spiritual warfare but don’t assume it does not exist…
My last note on this is to remember that He who is in our hearts, if stronger than anyone or anything. PERIOD. Never forget that. He rules. If you don’t know Him, you need to find Him. This is a rough, fallen world we live in. But He is a BIG God.
May God bless you,
D
As we read this section of Acts, class, we see Paul is making the turn and heading back East. He has taken Priscilla and Aquila with him and leaves them in Ephesus. This is an important detail…God is about to make a major move again, for Apollos comes into the scene!
Apollos is a man who knows the “baptism of John” but not of the Holy Spirit. What does this mean? The baptism of John was what? “Repent for the kingdom of Heaven is near.” John’s baptism was all about preparing, really preparing for the coming Messiah. His was to turn from your sin and be cleansed, so that when you see the Messiah, you will be ready. It is similar to the acts of handwashing that that occurred in the Temple, preparing to be in the Presence. It was a first step towards Christ but not the whole way. Obviously, Apollos was doing a great work on his own power…but now it was God’s turn.
Aquila and Priscilla take him aside and explain Jesus to him. He sees the light of fulfillment of God’s prophesies and is filled with the Spirit. He is born again in this new baptism and empowered in a new way!
What we do not see here is how successful Apollos becomes…his status as a teacher grows to be as large as Paul. If you turn to 1Corintians 1:12-13, you see the following, “11My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas[a]"; still another, "I follow Christ." 13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into[b] the name of Paul?” This is an interesting passage. It shows that Apollos had grown in stature equal to an Apostle and that the early church in Corinth was rabbinical in their style. They were identifying themselves by what rabbi they followed, rather than the God they followed. Paul had no purpose for this! Christ died for you, not Paul, not Peter and not Apollos. Christ alone!
The neat thing about this is how we see God moving. God puts Priscilla and Aquila in the perfect spot to disciple Apollos. It is not always enough to have a big God moment to grow in your relationship with Christ. It can (and usually does) take someone who comes alongside you and mentors and guides you in the faith. What we see is how the message of the Messiah’s salvation is growing, person by person, teacher by teacher to the ends of the earth…
Meanwhile, Ch. 19 brings us back to Paul, where he finds a similar situation. He finds in Ephesus more disciples that have not heard the whole story. Again, we see the need for people to walk with someone who can guide their faith journey. Again, we see Christ’s fulfillment of the scriptures being explained, accepted and them being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Immediately, we see a mini-Pentecost with these 12 men… There is that 12 number again. 12 tribes, 12 Apostles, 12 lamp stands…coincidence? I think not. God is sending a message, still calling out to His tribes.
Verse 11 shows how the Holy Spirit is indwelling in Paul and how God is using him in a Christ-like way. This is God at work, Paul is just the tool. What a blessing it must have been for him to see this, not of his power but of God’s power.
After this we get into a very interesting part of this chapter. It seems that these Jewish sorcerers were traveling the land “driving out demons.” One can only imagine these people as a group of charlatans, charging people to drive out their “demons”, then heading off to the next town. This is not a Jewish practice of the Old Testament. This was something new and not of God’s calling.
The seven sons of Sceva (hmmmm, there is that 7 again) were doing this, with the new twist. Since Paul’s fame was undoubtedly growing due to the healings that God was working through him, they decided to latch onto this “new” power. Paul was telling all that it was the power of Jesus, the name of Jesus in which salvation was possible, so it seemed logical to cast out these demons with His name. Only, when they ran across a real demon, they got more than they bargained for.
The demon answers them…”Jesus I know,” it says. It knows, fears and has to respect the authority of Jesus. No choice. He is their Lord, too. All powerful and ruler of all! When they see Him, they have to recognize Him. See the response he gets in verses such as Mark 1:34. It goes on, “and I know about Paul.” Probably Paul had been on the radar screens for a long time and many attacks were made but Paul had the Lord for protection and strength. “But who are you?” Oops… Back up and run away because what the demon is really saying is “I don’t know whose you are.” Without the Spirit, they have no protection from the demon…RUN!
He gave them such a beating that they ran from the house naked and bleeding…moral of the story: don’t play in what you don’t know. Occult practices (Ouiji boards, Tarot, séances, even horoscopes), much less actual seeking of demons is not something to be trifled with. It is not a game (despite what Milton Bradley says) or harmless. Stay away from it. It opens doors that are not easily closed. God does not say to seek these out any where in the Bible. If you find it somewhere, show it to me. He says to seek Him, not them. He grants the Apostles the ability to cast out demons but does not tell them to go out and root them out!!!
Jesus tells the story of what it is like to do spiritual battle with out THE Spirit on your side in Matthew 12: 43-45. 43"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation." Even if you get a demon cast out of you (putting your house in order for the moment), unless the Holy Spirit comes, unless you have Jesus in your heart filling you up, you are open again. You need Jesus…we all do! To come live in us and through us. Also, realize that if you have the Holy Spirit in you, you cannot get possessed by a demon. No way both can live in one body. You can be influenced by a demon but possessed, no way. We don’t talk much in today’s age about this spiritual warfare but don’t assume it does not exist…
My last note on this is to remember that He who is in our hearts, if stronger than anyone or anything. PERIOD. Never forget that. He rules. If you don’t know Him, you need to find Him. This is a rough, fallen world we live in. But He is a BIG God.
May God bless you,
D
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