 We're going to be looking at chapter 19 from verses 1 to 20. I'll begin by looking at verses 1 through 7, and as is my normal way of doing a teaching. I'll give to you just a brief reminder of the situation, the events that are taking place so I can lay a foundation and then review this and look at this study with you. So beginning at verse 1, Acts chapter 19, reading to verse 7, Luke writes, It happened while Apollos was at Corinth that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus and finding some disciples. He said to them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? So they said to him, We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. He said to them, Into what then were you baptized? So they said into John's baptism. Paul said, John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him who would come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Now the men were about 12 in all. And so I mentioned to you that the book of Acts actually records what I've been, what has been referred to as three missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul. In chapters 13 and 14, you have the record of his first missionary journey. Then in chapter 15, up to chapter 18, verse 21, you have his second. This is his third missionary journey. And this journey is going to cover as we're going to see from chapter 18, verse 23 to chapter 21, verse 16. So as we're picking the study up in a moment, Paul has been in what are called the upper regions. He's been in an area to the north in ancient Turkey that would have the regions of Galatia and another, another region that is called Phrygia. You saw that in chapter 18. Now a young man by the name of Apollos had come to Ephesus and we saw that while he was there in this city, Ephesus. And if we have that map, let me show it to you really quickly. It's behind me. Is it? No. You're fired, John. And you're not even involved. Let's put that map up if you have it because I should have warned you. Okay, there it is. Okay. So you can see on the right, there's Ephesus. Well, we had seen already that Paul had gone from Troas. He'd gone to Samothrace up to the north that Neapolis, et cetera, all the way down. He'd gone to Athens in Corinth and shot across. Well, in Ephesus, Apollos had been there ministering. We'll look at that in a moment. But Paul has been off to our right here up to the northern area and that area had Galatia and all. He's been doing ministry up there and I'll share with you a little bit about that in just a second. So that's where they're at right now. So Apollos had come to the city of Ephesus and while he was there, he was very, very earnest to preach and he preached, but he was preaching inaccurately. And so as he was in a synagogue sharing and all and Paul was, was not there. There were, there was a couple there by the name of Aquila and Priscilla and they were listening to him as he was sharing. He did so inaccurately. They took him aside and taught him much more information about the things that he should know because he was preaching John the Baptist and, and his baptism of repentance. We're going to see that this is possible here in chapter 19, that those who are, are being spoken to by, by Paul may have been influenced by Apollos, though we don't know for sure. But he had been preaching and preaching inaccurately. Well, after he'd been taught more thoroughly by this couple, Aquila and Priscilla, he had, Paul had left the city of Ephesus and, and he had, rather he had left Ephesus. He'd gone up to, Paul had gone up to Kaia. Well, Paul has come back to the city of Ephesus where he had previously preached. As we saw the people wanted him to remain, but he said he had other things he had to do and he had to leave. And he told them that if God was willing, he would return to the city. Now, when he was there originally in that city, he was there long enough to begin a work, but not long after he had left, that's when Apollos had come to Ephesus. We saw how, how Luke had described this young man, Apollos, very favorably. He spoke of him as being eloquent, well taught, biblically accurate, a wonderful teacher as a preacher. He was very fervent and he was very bold as he spoke. And as we shared last time, one of the things that was most impressive to me about this young man was that he was very humble and that he was teachable. He had so many great qualities that would make him somebody that, that people would admire, but one glaring need was that he was not yet fully informed about Jesus the Messiah. He knew of John the Baptist and he was basically preaching the message of John. So when we begin to consider what the message of John was, let me remind you, John had come as the forerunner in order to prepare the way for the Messiah Christ who was to come. In the Gospel of Luke, for example, in chapter 3, verse 4, he's described as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord to make his path straight. And so he was the one who was calling people to preparation. He was calling people to receive Christ. In Matthew 3, verse 3, he cried out repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. In Matthew 3, verse 11, he said, I baptize you with water and to repentance, but he was coming after me as miter than I whose sandals I'm not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and with fire. Well, Apollo only knew the baptism of John the Baptist. He knew of the baptism of repentance. He knew Messiah was to come, but he did not know the death of Jesus, his resurrection, or the sending of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. So when Aquil and Priscilla had heard him, they took him aside. They gave him further instruction. And when he received the correction and instruction, he had the humility to receive him from further instruction. So he's been thoroughly instructed. After doing so, he left and went up into the West, into Kea, to ancient Greece, and he's ministering there. And upon arrival, he begins to help the new believers. Look in chapter 18, the last verse, verse 28. It says, he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. So that's what's taking place right now. That's what's setting us up for chapter 19. This is where we pick up our story because Paul has returned from his journey that he had been on to the Northeast and all. He has returned to the city of Ephesus. Now, when he had left Ephesus, I mentioned this, he had said that he would try to return and now he has. And so remember, he himself had ministered in Ephesus, Apollos had, and so had Aquila and Priscilla. So what he's doing is coming back to continue the ministry of the gospel in this city that's very open to hear of the things of the Lord. As this is taking place first, when it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus and finding some disciples. He said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? So they said to him, we have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. Here's your first message. Have you received? Now, in verse 19, notice how it says he found some disciples. It doesn't say who they were, it's just some disciples. Well, they may have been disciples who had learned under, perhaps under, Apollos. They may have heard the undeveloped teaching, and it may have spoken to their heart. Remember that Apollos and Priscilla had to explain the way of God to him more accurately, that he was instructed in the way of the Lord in an Old Testament sense, and he didn't know the gospel. And obviously these people didn't know it yet either, or it may be that they were original disciples of John and had not yet heard the gospel. Like Apollos, they may have come to the city, they had not heard the gospel yet, and they're waiting for the appearance of the Messiah, and they're doing so expectantly. So it says in verse 1, finding some disciples, he said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? So they said to him, we have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. Paul perceives deficiencies here, and we're going to look at this for a moment. Because he asks the question, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? He's perceiving something, he's discerning something, there's something wrong. Now, how did he know that there's something lacking in their lives? Well, obviously one, through the discernment of spirits, the discernment that God would give to him, that's a possibility. But also, remember that Jesus had said concerning a promise, he had said, you shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. You shall receive power. And yet, there may be a lack of power. Remember John 737 and 38, Jesus said, if anyone's thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. It may be that the power of the Spirit, his gifts, his joy, his love, is not evident. It seems that the presence of the Holy Spirit is lacking in the lives of these Ephesians. And that's why Paul would say, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed there's something lacking in you? You're God-faring people, but there's no evidence. And so he's asking that question. They say, we haven't even heard of the Holy Spirit. We're not aware of the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. So what you have are uninstructed disciples, people who know a bit but don't know enough. They'd only been baptized with the baptism of John the Baptist. And they had Baptist, they had Messiah had come. They knew nothing of Pentecost. And so it says in verse four, Paul said, John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him who would come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. So he begins to share with them. He explains John's baptism to them. Now, commentators point out that this is more than likely a summarization of a longer time of teaching, but he's making it clear. John prepared people to be saved through faith in Messiah. Messiah has come, but he sent the Holy Spirit to baptize and dwell those who believe him. It is this Messiah that has already come and it's this Messiah that you need to receive. John was preparing the way for him, but he's come. Now, you also need to receive the power that was promised. I mentioned a moment ago in Matthew 311 that John had said that Messiah will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. And so they're listening. And as they hear this notice verse five, they were baptized in the name of Jesus. Paul instructs them. They receive Christ and they're baptized. And then in verse six, it says when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them. They spoke with tongues and prophesied. The Holy Spirit comes upon them and they're empowered. I want to share with this about this for a moment. They received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Notice how Luke writes the Holy Spirit came upon them. Let me develop this. In the New Testament, there are three words that are used in relation to the Spirit in the life of a believer. There's a word with, there's the word in, and then there's the word upon. In John chapter 14, we see the word with and in in this context. In John 14, 16 and 17, I will pray the Father. He will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever. The Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you. So he speaks of the Holy Spirit. He says will be with you, but he also says he will be in you. Now this in experience of the Holy Spirit is what occurred when you got saved. If you're born again, the Holy Spirit dwells in you. Jesus had said he will be in you. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3, 16, don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you. He also said that in 1 Corinthians 6, 19. In Romans 8, 9 through 11, he said you, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature, but by the Spirit. If the Spirit of God lives in you, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin. Your Spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you. And so you have the with experience, you have the inexperience. The inexperience is what you received when you're born again. You become the temple of the Spirit of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you. But there's a third word and that is the word upon. When you receive Christ, you're born again. God's Spirit dwells in you. You see through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we have come to confess our need for Jesus Christ. You see in the preaching of the word what occurs is the Spirit of God begins to use that word that is proclaimed to awaken within us a need, a reality of the need to get right with God. That's how you got saved. You didn't get saved just because you felt like it. You got saved if you are saved. You got saved because the Spirit of God convicted your heart of sin, righteousness, and judgment. And you listen to the message and as the message was given, you said, I'm lost. And then the message tells you how you're found. That God sent his son Jesus Christ to die in a cross for you to bear upon himself the sins that you should have paid for. He paid for them. That's the gospel. And you hear that, that he died on my behalf. He was buried on my behalf, but he was raised the third day that I might have life in him. I, who was a walking dead man, a literal zombie because I have no spiritual life within me at all, I was dead in trespasses and sins. And then God sent his son Christ, who took upon himself my sin died on a cross, was buried, took my punishment and then was raised the third day. So I might have justification in him. See the gospel speaks concerning that and then he ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit. And now I become the temple of the Spirit of God who dwells within me. God dwells in me. So no longer do we meet with God in a temple in Jerusalem. God no longer visits with us there because God created his own temple and that's our bodies. And so we are the temple of God. And because of that, we now have life in Christ, but I also need power. I need the power because that, that I have a desire within me to do that which is right, but the power to do that which is right, I have not in me. So I need the power to do that. And I can't, I can't supply that power for myself. It has to be given to me. So the Holy Spirit is with you. The Holy Spirit is in you, but Paul's looking at these people and he's saying, what were you baptized in? Well, the baptism of John. Okay, it makes sense to me now because the one John was preparing people for came a long time ago. Did you receive the Spirit since you believed? We haven't even heard that there is such a thing as the Spirit. You mean you've never heard that there's a Holy Spirit of God? It wouldn't be that exact. We haven't heard about it. Literally they would be saying, no, we haven't heard about his work today. They hadn't heard about Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the 120 in that upper room. We hadn't heard of that yet. You see, when you receive the Lord, you're born again. Again, the Spirit dwells in you. We receive his forgiveness of God because we confess our sin and he cleansed us from unrighteousness and then we became his temple. But there's that other experience that we need. It's the baptism of the Spirit in Luke 24-49. Jesus said, I send the promise of my father upon you, tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. And so when you start going as we have through the book of Acts in chapter two, it records the fulfillment of the promise on Pentecost. The result was that Peter preached with power. And according to verse 41 of chapter two, about 3,000 people were saved. You see, some teach that only the first century disciples needed to receive that promise. But in Acts two, 38 and 39, Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises to you and your children and to all who are afar off as many as the Lord our God will call. So throughout Acts, as we've gone through the book, many instances are recorded of this upon experience. In chapter eight, we saw how the Samaritans had been baptized with the Holy Spirit when Peter and John laid hands on them. In chapter nine, we saw that when Paul was saved, the Spirit came upon him and he preached powerfully. In chapter 10, the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and all who heard the message. And so the Holy Spirit has, he falls upon you, he empowers you. There are quite a number of people who need the power of the Holy Spirit. I really believe that, and I'll say this briefly, but one of the problems I think we the church are having in this portion of our history is they're trying to do spiritual things in the power of our flesh. And it's never going to work, guys. It's never going to work. You know, God wants to do the work within us and he wants us to, and I can say this biblically, to be open to what he would have for us. I cannot produce his fruit in my life no matter how hard I try. I can't be courageous just because I want to be. I need more power than I have naturally. So I have to yield myself to the Lord and I need the power of the Holy Spirit. And there are quite a number of Christians today who are not being used to the capacity that they may because they're, well, because they have yet to really see the power of the Holy Spirit has been made available to them. So when I first got saved, I was introduced to this. I remember hearing that God would do a work in you that he could fill you to the overflowing, and that's what I desired. But I didn't know how that would take place. How do you how do you do that? You know, I had gone to a revival. As a young, I mean, I was maybe three weeks old in the Lord, and I went to a revival. And when I went to this revival, it was in Long Beach, and small church, and people were marching around and making a lot of noise. And they got a flag and were marching around the church flag, and I'm behind them just marching. You know, I'm having a great time. But as I was doing that, yeah, as a new believer, I thought everybody does that. And then the evangelist had called us up to the front and and had that tarrying bench up there in this little Pentecostal church. And and he said, Terry, there until you're in, dude, stay there and pray. And so I remember just kneeling there praying, God, feel me, God, fill him, getting it all emotional. I want more of you. And I've told you this before. And then the evangelist said, OK, everybody get up and give testimony and share what just you just went through. And I'm thinking nothing, nothing, nothing. I didn't go through anything. I kneeled there for over 40 minutes. I remember that. And I and I stayed straight. I was raised Catholic. And I thought these these Protestants aren't going to outneal me. I still remember I'll show you because they're sitting on their on their heels. Now I'm going to I'm more holy. But anyway, I remember when we got up to this day, we came up on the stage right here. And every person came up and started talking about the glory that they had just experienced. And I'm sitting there, God, I'm not a liar anymore. I can't lie. Nothing happened. What should I say? I don't want to disappoint this. I'm brand new Christian. I don't want to disappoint this guy. He wants me to say something. And I still remember just hard. What do I do as one person after? Oh, heaven opened. And I saw, you know, they're saying all this stuff. And I can't say that. Nothing happened. I still I stood behind and I looked at them. They looked at me and I said, I can't put into words what I just experienced. And then the people in the church are going, Yeah, nothing happened to us either. You know, that kind of thing. See, so how do you receive this power? I mean, he sees there's a lack of power. Something is missing. Jesus said, you'll receive power after the Holy Spirit comes upon you. I'm not hearing your testimony of the power of Christ. I'm not hearing of the consummation of the work of God in your life. How you were saved. I'm not hearing anything like that. Have you heard of the spirit? We don't know of it. Oh, what were you baptized? Well, the baptism of John. Now it makes sense. He came preparing Messiah, but Messiah has come the way for Messiah. Messiah has come. Pentecost has come. You need the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's why he asked that question. Now there is a hunger in our soul for a deeper sense of the presence of God. And that leads you to seek him. That leads you to pursue it, to ask God. And I believe very deeply that he will give the spirit to those who ask it in faith. Again, in Luke it says, if a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? If he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? If he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then be evil, know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? The question is, is have you asked? If you're living a powerless life, if you're frustrated, constant, have you asked? Have you said, God, fill me with your presence. Every morning when I wake up, God be with me today. I need your power. Be with me today. I need your power. Someone said Paul's question suggests, though indirectly, that the signs of the Spirit's presence are sadly absent in many professing Christians. Paul asked it in wonder. If he came into modern churches, he would have to ask it once more. Has the Holy Spirit come upon you? Notice what happens here in verse 6 when Paul had laid hands on them because they received his message of Christ. The Holy Spirit came upon them. They spoke with tongues and prophesied. They began to magnify God. It's like what had happened in Pentecost. It's like what had happened with Cornelius' household. God just moved upon them and they began to magnify God and prophesy. And verse 7, now the men were about 12 and all. God doesn't need great numbers to do great things and the Holy Spirit came upon them. There's your first message. Here's your second. Let's begin at verse 8. He went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and did not believe but spoke evil of the way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of tyrannous. And this continued for two years so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. So now in verse 8, as this is taking place, he goes on. He goes back into the synagogue. Notice he spoke in verse 8 boldly for three months and he's there teaching as has become his practice. And while he's there in the synagogue, it says that he spoke boldly, that he was reasoning as well as persuading. So Paul is there and he's speaking boldly. He's speaking confidently or fearlessly. Even though he's being persecuted, he still is speaking with boldness. It's like what it says in Proverbs 28 verse 1, the wicked man flees though no one pursues. But the righteous are as bold as a lion. And so he enters in even though he's gone through so much and he is proclaiming Christ. Now this boldness is a result of the fact that he is with Christ, he fellowships with the Lord and Lord ministers through him. And so he's there with boldness and he's reasoning and persuading. When it says he reasoned and persuaded, he's seeking to win them over. He's seeking to encourage them to believe the message of the gospel. Well as he's doing that, verse 9, it says that some were hardened. They didn't believe. As a matter of fact, it began to speak evil of the way before the multitude. And they're resisting him. And I want to look at that for just a second. They spoke evil of the way. That's the way Christians at one time were called. It was usually, well it was originally in a negative way that we're part of the way. And that's because Jesus is the way. So instead of an openness, they're hardened. They're not believing. They're stubbornly refusing to believe. They're refusing in a very obstinate decisive way. They're not going to listen. They're not going to allow themselves to be persuaded. There are quite a number of people like that today. Their mind is made up so don't confuse them with facts. They believe what they're going to believe. And I don't want to hear anything that you have to say. A lot of us are that way. I think it's more intense now. I think darkness is even greater now here in the United States than before. But there's a lot of darkness. We obviously see that. And when you speak to people, atheism is getting a toehold in a way that it hadn't before. And so people say, well I don't believe that. You can't prove that. And all of that. And these people were refusing to believe even though Paul was using scripture and pointing it out. This is who Christ is. This is what he did. This is what Isaiah had said. This is what the scriptures teach concerning our Messiah. And they refuse to listen. They don't want to hear. And so they begin to actually not only refuse but once again to resist and then not allowing themselves to believe. So what do we do when people want to argue? What do we do when they respond with anger and speak badly? What we do is we leave. People aren't always open to the gospel. And there are times that I simply will just leave them alone. And that's what he did. Verse 9, he withdrew the disciples and he reads them daily in the school of Tyrannus. Now he was more than likely a believer who had let them use his lecture hall. They would use it when it was empty. You see, as a tent maker, we've already seen that Paul is a tent maker, he more than likely worked during the morning hours. Then from 11 a.m. to 4 when it was warm, it was hot, he would teach in the school. And he would use that as his base of operations and he evangelized and he did that for notice verse 10 for two years. So Paul stays there. He ministers and he does so with great success. Ephesus was a very large city, 250,000 people. It was filled with people who would come and that would go and he had great opportunities to preach and he came into contact with a large amount of people. He stayed there. Now verse 11, God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick and the diseases left him and the evil spirits went out of them. Now I want you to see a couple of things in verse 11 here. It says, God worked unusual miracles. Miracles are unusual anyway so this speaks of extraordinary works that God was doing that were very unique. Unusual works were seen before. You saw an unusual work in the ministry of Peter in Acts 5.15 where it said they brought forth the sick into the streets, laid them on beds and couches that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There are already unusual things but this is even more so. Notice he says in verse 12, even handkerchiefs and aprons were brought from his body and people would be healed by coming into contact with that. When you hear the word handkerchief, that's speaking of a sweat band. It's not speaking of one of these little dainty things that you might wear on your chest or when you're dressed up with your suit and everything. It's a sweat band or it would be even a towel that the worker would use just to sop off the perspiration while working because it was so hot. The apron is the covering that you wear around your waist and so what they were doing is they were taking these handkerchiefs and these aprons and it says in verse 12 that were from his body and they took it to the sick and the diseases left them and evil spirits went out of them. So they were bringing these things in an unusual way and God was doing miracles through the work that he was performing in this. Now every work that God does in a miracle, every miracle is unusual. What we need to do is remember the purpose of the miracle. We need to remember that miracles are intended to point people to the Lord, not the person. We need to remember that the glory never goes to the one God uses to perform the miracle, but the glory goes to the God who performed it. Like it says in Isaiah 48, 11, for my own sake, for my own sake, I'll do it. For how should my name be profaned and I will not give my glory to another? So the works of the Lord are to confirm the word, but it never goes beyond it. Miracles should be prayed for, but do not overshadow the teaching of the word. When I was pastor in this church, I had somebody come and bring me something because I want you to notice how it says in verse 12, even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought. There are people on TV, some of you perhaps have seen them. They're still doing this where they'll say to you, send something, a gift to this church, and we'll send you a miracle handkerchief or whatever. That happens. Or we'll send you some seeds. So if you give a seed faith offering just the way, and they'll show you, we're going to send you a seed, a watermelon seed. I've seen this one. And you know how you plant the watermelon seed? It produces a watermelon. And in the watermelon, there are a lot of seeds. Well, if you have a seed faith offering to our ministry, then God is going to take that one seed and make it like watermelon seeds. And so people will send their money. I had someone give to me a prayer mat that they had gotten by one of these charlatans. And I still remember it. It was good size. On the four corners were angels, and they were all facing the center. And then I got instructions that what I was supposed to do is to think of what I wanted God to give me. And I was supposed to put that in a place where I could pray. Then I was to take some money out of my wallet and put it in the center. And then I was to take my wallet and put it on top of that. If I didn't have cash, I was supposed to put my credit card there. And then I was to kneel and I was to ask God to give me whatever. And I remember that. I had that in my office. There was another guy on TV who was saying, send your offering to us and we'll send you a blessed wallet that will never be empty. And I remember thinking, why don't you just take one yourself and shut up? Why are you doing this? And so what happens is people get caught up with these holy handkerchiefs with these things. You need to remember that's a charlatan. Don't give them any money. Pray for them. I remember one time my wife, a long time ago, there was a guy on TV making a big ol' lot of noise about sending him money. And I, under my breath, said in front of my girl, I said, that guy's a charlatan. That guy's ripping people off. I didn't notice that she had gotten up. And then I hear her on the phone. She called the number. She said, you guys are ripoffs. You guys are thieves. And then I heard her say, well, you pray for me? Yeah, I'll pray for you too. And I said, honey, I didn't tell you to go tell them off. I was just telling them how I felt. Guys, don't get ripped off. God's gifts are free. He doesn't sell them. And there's no man or woman that is used by God exclusively. God is a God who does things for his own glory and he loves you. Don't forget, let me share something with you. Boy, I'm going long. Let me share something with you anyway. I was talking to somebody yesterday at our servant seminar. She shared something with me. She had heard us when we pray, God, would you heal? She was, you know, every time we close, I will pray for that. And she said, I was at home. And I said, God, please, she said, I couldn't move. My body was racked with pain. My back was, she said, God healed me. I wanted you to know that. And I said, that's wonderful. She said, let me tell you about my sister. And her sister walked up and spoke to me after service today. Her sister had gone on the trip that we just had to Maui to do ministry. And her sister has had surgeries on her hands and wrists because of the pain that she has in her shoulder. And she was walking. She tripped and she fell on gravel. And when she fell on the gravel, her hands went numb and the pain was shooting to the point where she was in great pain and crying in pain. And so they prayed for her. And when they prayed for her, they didn't know that she had a hernia. They didn't know that her shoulder was gone. They just said, God in Jesus' name. And she said, Pastor, I was miraculously healed. She said, there, I was just, I was just, she said, I, this is her word. She said, I sense the spirit. I sense the power of the spirit. She said, it's like a physical warp that came over my body. She says, I just, God, God healed me. And I just want to give him glory for that. See, that's how it worked. That's what God does. He did, you know, they didn't say, now give us a hundred dollars. That I asked her, could you give your testimony on video? I'd like to share it with the church. And so these are miracles. The works are not packaged. The works are not sold. Churches aren't built on miracles. They're built on the word of God and Jesus Christ our Savior. Keep that in mind. And then finally, this is going to be fun to try and close this in two minutes. But here we go. I'm sorry to take so long with you this time. I'll go longer next week. Anyway, some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits saying, we exercise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches. And also, there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus, I know, Paul, I know, who are you? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, prevailed against them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus and fear fell on them all. And the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. Many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic, brought their books together, burned them in the sight of all. They counted up the value of them a total 50,000 pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. These are itinerant Jewish exorcists. They're strolling around. That's what the word itinerant means. And they were drumming up business. They were part of a class of charlatans that pretended to exercise demons. And they used the name of Jesus as a magic formula. Someone said to them, the name of the Lord Jesus, which was so often said by Paul, was just another formula, a mightier than the name of the Most High God or that of Archangels Raphael or Michael, which were used by others. Well, they took it upon themselves to call in the name of the Lord Jesus. Now, demons are not overcome by words, but by Christ and through faith. So they tried to remove the demons by referring to Paul's faith, not their own. Now it says in verse 14, there were seven sons of Sceva. Sceva is a Jewish chief priest. Now many believe Sceva gave himself this title that he might have credibility. He wasn't a genuine priest. He wasn't at the head of legitimate priests. He was a con. And so the evil spirit answers and says to him, it says to them, Jesus, I know and Paul, I know. But who are you? Now this is important. Jesus, I know that word know is a different word than when it says Paul, I know. When you do your Bible study, the New Testament is written in Greek, Koine Greek. The word that is translated by the word know in English is actually a different Greek word. So when he says Jesus, I know, he's saying I am personally acquainted with him. He, I know very well. I have a certain knowledge of him. I am aware of him because of who he is. Remember in Mark 1, 23 and 24, how it says a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an imbuer spirit cried out, what do you want with us? Jesus of Nazareth, have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. And so they say, Jesus, I know because Jesus created all the angels and these demons are fallen angels. Jesus, I know. Paul, I know. The word know there is a different word. It means I am acquainted with him. I am aware of him. I know about him. Why? Because Paul's reputation is traveling through the demonic world. They're aware of this one named Paul. But who are you? Jesus, I am very acquainted with. Paul, I'm aware of. Who are you? What power have you over evil spirits? By what right do you attempt to expel them? The meaning is you belong neither to Jesus nor Paul. You have no right or authority to attempt to work miracles in the name of either one. You see, no true exorcism occurs outside of Jesus' working to deliver the oppressed. In Mark 16, 17, these signs will follow those who believe. Jesus said, if my name they will cast out demons. So what happens? Well, he attacks these men. He overwhelms them. He drives them away in shame. Well, that became known to everybody. They saw the power of Christ and the helplessness of the evil one by contrast. The name of Jesus, verse 17, was magnified. His authority over demons was made clear. Verse 18, many believed they came confessing. Now this I'll close with this two thoughts. In verse 19, many of those who had practiced magic, brought their books together, burned them in the sight of all, counted up the value of them in total 50,000 pieces of silver. Ephesus was deeply given over to the occult magical arts. It was filled with magicians, sorcerers. They had shops that sold charms, incantations, idols. They had magic books. And so what they did is they demonstrated their true repentance by burning these books, that evidence to new life. Sometimes it can be very costly when you do so. When I first got saved, I had friends who were into marijuana and stuff. And well, actually, this is when it was before I got saved. Before I got saved, my friends were telling me they were doing this. They were flushing their marijuana down the toilet. My friend Bill said, yeah, he said, we used to call it a lid. I don't know what it's called now. We also call it a can. I don't know what it's called now. And I'm not going to ask you because if you tell me, I'll wonder about you. But Bill flushed his marijuana. I wasn't saved. I said, that's tough. You don't flush it. You need to burn it. And I'll burn it if you give me some papers. So they were doing that. And I didn't get it. Then I got saved. Then I understood they were, they were cutting off the old life. I said, why didn't you just give it away to people? They said, because I don't want to influence people into the evil I lived. I'm getting rid of it. I had a woman, a young woman named Martha live down the street for me. And I got saved and Martha came walking by and we used to party with a lot of kids that hung around together. And she said, what have you been up to? And I told Martha, I said, I got saved. And I shared the gospel with Martha and I said, you want to come to faith in Christ? And she said, yes. And so we talked and she said, you know, I've been into black magic. And I said, really? She goes, yeah. She says, I have magic books. Really? And now I was taught, read the Bible when you got saved. And I've been reading the Bible. I'd gone through acts. I'd seen what took place. So you have magic books. She said, yeah. I said, where are they? She said, at my house, I said, let's get them. So we walked down the street. She just lived down the street around the corner. She takes out this pile of books and she carries it to my house. We had a fireplace in my dad's den. I turned it on. I grabbed the books and I said, in the name of Jesus, we renounce you devil. Now, again, I'm like three weeks old in Christ. And I'm reading that they did that. Why not? So we threw it and watched them as they burned. And it became a symbol of breaking away from the evil that that represented. Sometimes the things that you do may not make much sense, but they have a symbolic reality that I am forsaking the old life so I can have the new. I don't need magic. I need the Messiah. I don't need the promises of Satan when I have the promises of God. I don't need to manipulate or try to manipulate the world through incantations. I simply need to, in faith, live for Christ and see him bless my life. And it cost them 50,000 pieces of silver. It was costly. But what happens? The word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. God's word has its way. That's why that's why we need to stay in the word of God.