Great is Jesus, the King of Heaven and Earth!

There's No God Like Jehovah

(Acts 19:28-34, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, February 24, 2013)

[28] When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” [29] So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel. [30] But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. [31] And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater.

Demetrius and the silversmiths of Ephesus were defensive for the glory of Artemis of the Ephesians. Their loyalty to their own version of this fertility goddess provoked them even to rage against Paul and the growing Christian movement in Ephesus and in the larger province of Asia.

This Roman province in what is today western Turkey was the place to which Paul had originally desired to travel in order to bring the message of Christ. Remember that he had been prohibited by God to enter the province of Asia, and was sent over to Macedonia (northern Greece) instead. Then he went to southern Greece and back up to western Turkey. He kept on circling around until the Lord opened a door for the Word in Ephesus, where Paul ended up preaching and teaching for more than two years.

As the God of the Jews, our God, brought fruit to Paul's ministry, more and more people in the province of Asia were confronted with the exclusive claims of Yahweh, Jehovah, the great I-AM. Though He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, even in the Hebrew Scriptures He calls out to all the people groups of the earth to worship Him. 'May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you! May those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!”' (Psalm 70:4)

But some were not willing to call upon the Name of the Lord. Some kept on clinging to the old gods that they imagined to be their strength and their life. They didn't take kindly to their gods being deposed right on home territory. This was what led to such rage against Paul and his companions.

[32] Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.

Not that what took place in the theater in Ephesus was anything close to a reasoned presentation of the truth. This assembly was a mob of confusion. They had passion. But many of the people did not even know why they were there. If they were not yelling out “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians,” they probably could not have agreed on much.

They may have thought that they had perfect clarity and that what they were doing was standing up for their city in the face of a vicious Jewish attack. Yet sometimes even a solitary individual may consider that he possesses perfect clarity only to discover a different moment later in life that he was very confused. Consider the younger brother in Luke 15. He had to find himself eating with pigs before he had any clarity at all. Even then, he needed to hear the voice of his father before he even knew how much his father loved and accepted him as a son, despite his obvious disrespect and flagrant sin. If that kind of confusion masquerading as clarity can happen in the life of a single individual, how much more might a whole city of Artemis worshipers be very confused about whether their goddess or the God of the Jews is actually the source of life?

[33] Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. [34] But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

There were actually two things that this crowd did seem to agree upon. The first was that they would not consent to be addressed by a Jew. They knew that Jews did not worship Artemis, so they would have none of that.

On the subject of Judaism, they were extremely confused. They put all the Jews together in their anger, and they did not understand that at this very moment in history a great divide was taking place in Judaism that was destined to change the whole course of human history. Some Jews had rejected what Paul taught: that Jesus of Nazareth had come in fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures, and that He was the Messiah not only for the Jews, but for all who would call upon His Name from all the people groups of the earth. They did not believe that Jesus died as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. They did not believe that He had risen from the dead. They did not believe that His Name would be preached all over the earth until people everywhere worshiped the God of heaven through Jesus, His only-begotten Son.

But there was another group of Jews who not only affirmed all that Paul taught from the Old Testament concerning Jesus, they were actually signing up to follow Him as the King of the Resurrection. They were willing to suffer for His Name, and they were being joined now by many others, non-Jews, Gentiles, Ephesians, residents of Asia, who also had become followers of Jesus Christ. All Jews believed that gods made with hands were not gods, but not all Jews believed that Jehovah was the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. They did not all believe what Jesus had said about Himself, that “I and the Father are one.”

So the mob in the theater were quite wrong in thinking that they could not learn from the Jews. They were also quite wrong on the second thing that seemed so clear to them: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.” If you are thinking that an object that you make with your hands can be a true god, your god is way too small. If you think that your god can be deposed from his or her glory, then you need to find out who that god's boss is.

There is a God who reigns from the heights of heaven. He is the one eternal God. He not only calls us to assent to His existence. He calls us to follow His Son.

It is of critical importance here today, that this assembly, God's church in our place and together with all throughout the world who call on God the Father in the Name of Jesus the Son, find clarity. We do not want to be an angry idolatrous mob that simply substitutes the name of Jesus with Artemis, but is still utterly confused as we shout out “Great is Jesus of Nazareth.”

Jesus is Nazareth is great because He is the eternal God who became a man forever in order to save people. He lives and reigns forever. He is the Lord of glory. His Name means Jehovah is salvation. That is who Jesus is, the Jehovah who is forever our salvation. There is simply no god like Jehovah. But “Jehovah is salvation” died on a cross for us and rose from the dead. He gives bounty to all who seek Him. Artemis is nothing but a fake trying to make people hate the God of the Jews. Jesus is supremely great and good to all who call upon Him. Even though His followers may be called to suffer for Him, they have not made an error in receiving His love.

Old Testament Passage: Psalm 70 – May those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!”

Gospel Passage: Luke 9:51-56 – The Samaritans reject the King of the Jews

Sermon Text: Acts 19:28-34 – An angry mob asserts the greatness of a Gentile goddess and will not even allow a Jew to speak

Sermon Point: Contests will come between Israel's God and the gods of the nations, but only Jehovah is supremely great and good to all who seek Him.

The Lord of mercy will do it.

February 24, 2013 Evening:

Title: “The Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ”

Old Testament Passage: Exodus 34:29-35 – The shining face of Moses

Gospel Passage: John 1:14-18 – The only God has made Him known

Sermon Text: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 – Reflections on Resurrection Ministry

Sermon Point: We do not need to lose heart in ministry since Jesus Christ is Lord.

[4:1] Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.

Paul's ministry that he wrote about to the Corinthian church was an apostolic ministry of the Word. He spoke as an authoritative ambassador for Christ with a Word from the King. To be permitted to give and receive that Word is a mercy of God from first to last. Since everything that we have comes from Him and is according to His great purpose, we do not lose heart.

[2] But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.

One other thing: we don't need to trick people into receiving the best news ever. Our method is the plain speaking of the truth. We make an honest appeal to the souls of all who will hear. We do not operate in the shadows, but in the plain sight of God.

[3] And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. [4] In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

We want the veil to come off the hearts of those who will hear. But there is an enemy who would rather keep people in darkness and convince them that it is light.

[5] For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

This is the key: We preach Jesus the Messiah as Lord. We serve others by ministering the Word to them for the sake of our Savior and King. There is no power in proclaiming ourselves. Our message is simple: Jesus, the real Jesus of the Scriptures, the full Jesus of the Scriptures, from the first creation all the way to the second, is Lord.

[6] For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

In that first creation, God said, “Let there be light.” Jesus was that powerful Word of creation. But now, the One who died for us and rose again from the dead has made us alive again. We who were dead in our sins, have been made alive by Christ.

We have seen the light. That light comes in knowledge. That knowledge pertains to the glory of the God who reigns in a place of glory. That glory is secured for us in no other name but the name of Jesus Christ.

This passage is about the ministry of the Word. That ministry is explained by using the language of the eyes rather than the ears. The way that people see the light is through the hearing of the voice of God through the ministry of His servants. The eyes of people's hearts are enlightened by the Word. Jesus' mercy will do it! Do not lose heart. He is Lord.

My God has put death to death. What can yours do?

The Fruitful Garden of the Lord

(Acts 19:21-27, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, February 17, 2013)

[21] Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” [22] And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.Paul had enjoyed an amazingly fruitful ministry in Ephesus. The time was drawing near for him to move on. In preparation for that transition, Paul sent two helpers ahead to modern Greece. His eventual intention was to travel to Rome, but it would be several years before he arrived in that capital city. First he would travel northwest to Macedonia and then to Achaia, From there he would make his way to Jerusalem, and then see how God would lead him to Rome.

[23] About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. [24] For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen.

After his companions had gone on ahead into Macedonia, the events took place that would signal the end of Paul's daily ministry in Ephesus. Paul's troubles came from the success of the message of Jesus Christ. Every culture is challenged when the proclamation of the gospel is fruitful.

The reason is that the gospel is not merely a spiritual system. It is a way of life. Think of Paul's letter to the Ephesians as an example of the kind of teaching that Paul was doing. In that letter, three chapters of Christian thinking flow forth into three chapters of Christian living. The Christian faith is not merely a weekly assembly to share ideas. It is a Way. That Way disturbs individuals, marriages, families, working relationships, and whole societies.

In the case of Ephesus a man named Demetrius saw that Paul's preaching and teaching was a threat to the way of life in Ephesus that was not only his livelihood, but his pride and joy. Christianity will never speak well of false gods. Christ confronts the idols of every land where His Name is proclaimed.

The contest in Ephesus was between the God of the Jews and the many-breasted fertility goddess, Artemis of the Ephesians. As long as Judaism was a system of laws and ceremonies or even of traveling exorcists and secret scrolls, it would be a fringe faith that could easily be ignored. But Paul was preaching a different kind of Judaism of eternal hope about the coming of Jesus, a King, who was establishing a resurrection kingdom. His teaching was winning converts and changing lives. Also, God was doing extraordinary kingdom signs by the hands of Paul.

[25] These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. [26] And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. [27] And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”Paul's teaching did not allow for the worship of silver figurines of a false goddess. Neither did any other Jewish teaching. This had not been a problem in the past because the former way of Judaism had never attracted so many disciples.

The way of the God of Israel has always insisted on the obedience of faith, not only that certain beliefs of the heart were required. When Israel was traveling through the wilderness, a sabbath-breaker was put to death in the camp of Yahweh. God insisted that He alone was Lord over time, of work, of wealth, and of His people. He called on those who worshiped Him to love Him with all their being and with all their possessions.

This same God was ordering the life of His servant Paul, moving over the next several years through suffering and weakness from Ephesus to Greece to Jerusalem and then to Rome. This Father of glory was also the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. He called His Son to the cross, and Jesus obeyed. Now this Jesus, with all the authority of the Father, was calling His church to speak and to live the life of the kingdom in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Paul, who had been a persecutor of the way, had now heard the call of Jesus and was giving his life to the obedience of faith.

Demetrius and the silversmiths had a very different faith. They intended to keep Ephesus and the world the way that it was. This silly Jewish teacher, Paul, had to be stopped.

What was at stake? Their wealth and their entire way of life. They were dedicated to the gods that their hands had made. They worshiped objects. They came to Artemis for fertility and life, and Artemis did not seem to demand much of them.

But now Artemis, who had fed them so well, needed them to stand up for her. Demetrius sent forth the call. Would the men of Ephesus allow their trade of shrine-making to fall into disrepute? Would the massive temple of Artemis that drew visitors from all over the world be counted as nothing? Would Artemis herself be deposed?

Who was Artemis really? Paul writes in Ephesians 3:10 that it was the plan of God that His ambassadors be sent forth into the Gentile world, not only to bring a message to people, but also that “through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to rulers and authorities in heavenly places.” He went on to say that this work of testifying before men and angels was happening “according to the eternal purpose that he realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Earlier he had revealed the content of that eternal purpose as “a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him (Christ), things in heaven and things on earth.”

Beyond the false fertility goddess who promised life to Ephesus and the world was a system of demonic lies that only brought death. What Paul proclaimed, and the church in Ephesus was called to follow, was a Savior who died in order to bring us life from the only true God.

Behind every false promise of life, behind every idol of the heart and every religious object that calls us to bow down before it for the blessings that can only safely come to us through Jesus, is a false spiritual entity that needs to be deposed from our hearts and from this world. Through the church the announcement of the victory of Christ reaches even to the ears of those beings in realms that we cannot see.

Are the thorns of the cares of this world and potential riches just part of a busy life that keeps you and others around you from a more serious engagement in the Word of God, or is the battle more personal than that? Who is the deceiver behind the deceitfulness of riches? What fallen angel would like to choke the life out of the Word implanted in those who are destined to be the fruitful garden of God?

Old Testament Passage: Numbers 15:32-36 – Sabbath-breaker executed

Gospel Passage: Matthew 13:7, 22 – Seed among thorns

Sermon Point: Jesus and the Kingdom of Heaven confront every society's “normal” way of gaining wealth, their pride and joy, and more generally their idolatrous way of life.

The True Son of the Father

February 17, 2013 Evening:

Title: Disciplined

Old Testament Passage: 2 Samuel 7:12-16 – Covenant with David

Gospel Reading: Matthew 12:42 – Greater than Solomon

Sermon Text: Hebrews 1:5b – He shall be to me a son...

Sermon Point: Jesus, the Son of God, took our discipline

Or again,
“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?

Jesus is the Son of God. But do we really understand what that means? It should help us when the Bible uses Old Testament passages to prepare us for the Messiah.

In the case of 2 Samuel 7, we know definitively that this passage finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ because the author of Hebrews tells us so.

2 Samuel 7 was a very important chapter of the Old Testament which prepared Israel for the coming of an eternal king. God spoke to David about what would take place after that great man's death. The Lord would raise up one of his offspring and would establish his kingdom.

We are clearly told at the beginning of 1 Kings that Solomon became king before David had died. Solomon could not have been the final king that God promised.

Solomon did prepare us for the ultimate King of Glory. Not only did he have great wisdom, riches, and honor, he also devoted himself to the building of the Lord's temple. He built a house for God's Name. But we are a more glorious living house for God.

Long after Solomon's body rested in the grave, Jesus, the Son of David according to God's eternal purpose, came teaching and preaching the kingdom of God. His body was pierced by men, but He raised it up again as the resurrection temple of the Holy Spirit.

After His resurrection from the dead, Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high, where we are now seated with Him in heavenly places. The Father has given Him all power and authority, establishing His kingdom forever.

David was buried in a tomb. Solomon also faced death. Jesus died for our sake, but then rose to glorious life. His tomb is empty. The Father has established the throne of His kingdom forever.

There is a true father/son relationship between Yahweh and Jesus. Solomon committed iniquity and faced discipline. But there was a penalty that was due to Solomon and to all the sons of God that not one of us could bear. Jesus, the sinless Son of God, has taken the fullness of the Father's discipline for us. This was the final measure of His devotion to the Father's great purpose to save. He gave His life for us. He did what angels could never have accomplished.

Now God's steadfast love will never depart from us. His house and His kingdom are sure. We must hear His Word as the One who is the true Son of the Father, far above angels.

A Costly Grace

Believers

(Acts 19:18-20, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, February 10, 2013)

[18] Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.

God was doing extraordinary works through His ambassador, the Apostle Paul. These works came from Him and from the power of His Word. Daily lectures were reaching people all over the province of Asia. Miracles were also taking place.

God was at work. The best proof of that was not in the numbers of people who heard the message or in the miracles that had taken place. The best proof of the progress of the kingdom was in the changed lives of people who had put their trust in Jesus.

There were many people who had now come to believe in the Lord. This belief was more than an intellectual assent. They had entrusted their lives to Jesus and to the message of grace that Paul preached. All this was a gift of God, and expression of His mercy and kindness.

God's grace is free, but it is not cheap.

Most importantly, the grace that saves us was very costly to God. He gave His Son for us, that those who would receive Him, who believed in His Name, would have the right to be sons of God. The gift of eternal life cannot be bought, but it cost God dearly.

But there is another sense in which the true gift of heavenly life is costly to those who hear the message and believe. We need to change.

That costly response to the grace of God was happening in Ephesus. Verse 18 tells us the story in general, and verse 19 gives us a particular example of what was happening in that city.

First, in general, people who had believed in Jesus Christ were confessing and divulging their practices. There was an open acknowledgment by many that their old ways of life were not pleasing to God.

Too much talking about ourselves can be counter-productive. The main story of our faith is not us and how bad we were, but Jesus and His goodness and power. The point of the public confession of personal sin should not be an undue focus on self, but an acknowledgment of the power of God and a pledge to follow in a new way way of life.

Honest change in the direction of the kingdom of God can be very costly.

[19] 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.

The specific example of change given in verse 19 illustrates the point. Some of the people who had come to believe in Jesus in that city had formerly practiced magic arts that they had come to see now as prohibited by the Scriptures.

This was a contest between one set of books and another. The new believers had come to an understanding of the Hebrew Old Testament Scriptures through Paul's teaching and the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. They saw that the Christ was Jesus, but they also saw that this Messiah was not only their Savior but also their Lord. That meant that they had to follow Him. As Paul instructed the people concerning the Law and the prophets, they saw the evil of their former way of life. They saw that the Bible prohibited occult practices where people sought access and information from an unseen world by secret words and practices.

There were people in the church in Ephesus who were once dedicated enough to dark arts to own special books that cost lots of money. These books told them how to have power. Now they saw that the Lord Jesus, in whom they had believed, said no to their old books.

Jesus says no to lots of printed material. He says no to books and images that are demeaning to people created in the image of God. He says no to everything that cannot be pursued in faith.

What do you do with all the old stuff in your life? What if it cost you a lot of money to get it in the first place? Do you sell it to someone else so that they can get trapped in it? Do you give it away to a friend who is still imprisoned in evil like you used to be?

What they did in Ephesus was to gather it all together and burn it. That was a powerful statement of freedom. It was costly, but the reason anyone would count it all up and remember that it came to 50,000 pieces of silver was because they were ecstatic to see it all gone. A set of books that they once thought of as precious possessions were now counted as worthy only of being burned. Now there was a new set of books, the Scriptures, the Word of the God who had brought them from death to life.

[20] So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

This kind of change in people's lives is powerful. It became a good word of holiness that spread from person to person and from house to house until it started to have an impact on the economy of the region.

The Lord Jesus who saved us by the power of His obedience and His blood is reigning now in resurrection power. He calls people from death to life. Getting out of death is His free gift to you. It cost Him everything. And when you grow in the Scriptures, you will see the unmistakeable call to a costly life that requires something of you.

Jesus wants your soul. What is a soul? It is that mysterious entity that makes you who you are. It is the combination of your heart, your mind, your will, and your passions. Jesus demands all of that. He shows you the way of truth and love and says, “Follow Me.”

Every dark power that whispers to you, “Keep me around, I have been your bosom friend,” needs to go away permanently. Objects, even costly possessions, that are symbols of a world of darkness need to be destroyed.

But who can cleanse the mind of memories that have captivated us? God can. More than that, God will. The One who gave Himself for us will be satisfied with nothing less than complete victory. He has the power and the love to rid us of every dark thought or image that once held us in chains. We can be free of all of that in Him.

The church has the privilege to say no to sin. The power to live a new life comes from the One who rose from the dead. Though evil may seem to win momentary battles in our souls, Jesus will have the eternal victory. You will be free.

Old Testament Passage: 2 Samuel 24:18-25 – David paying for the place of sacrifice

Gospel Passage: John 14:15-18 – If you love Me...

Sermon Point: Free grace was costly to Jesus and leads to a costly commitment to truth and love.

Today I have begotten you...

February 10, 2013 Evening:

Title: Begotten, Nat Made

Old Testament Passage: Genesis 1:26-27, 2:7, Psalm 2 – The creation of man

Gospel Reading: Luke 3:23, 38 – Jesus, Son of Adam, Son of God

Sermon Text: Hebrews 1:5 – You are my Son...

Sermon Point: Jesus is the glorious Son of God

[5] For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?

God created angels. They have an eternal purpose that will one day be perfectly accomplished. They are servants to the heirs of salvation.

We are the heirs.

We are sons of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We became heirs of all the blessings of God by the work of Jesus. That is why we are said to joint heirs with Him. The inheritance is His first, but because He graciously acted as our representative, His inheritance has become our inheritance.

We have been called to a great hope which will most definitely come to pass.

God is capable of calling angels His “sons.” But God never said to angels the words in the second psalm, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”?

To whom did God address those words?

Psalm 2 was written for the ultimate king of Israel. He would be the Lord's Anointed, the Christ. The nations would rage against Him, and the powerful rulers of the earth would want to be rid of Him. But the Lord and His Christ would have no ultimate cause for concern.

God was determined to set His King to reign at His right hand in the heavenly Zion. He is there now, far above all rule, power, authority, and dominion, and above every named that is named both in this age and in the one to come. God has put all things under His feet and made Him to be the Head of His body, the church, which is the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1)

When did this happen? The Son of God is always the Son of God. But Jesus of Nazareth was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead. (Romans 1:4) That is when the supreme lordship of Jesus over heaven and earth was definitively declared.

What is left for us but to “Kiss the Son,” according to the strong command of God in Psalm 2? What does it mean to “kiss” the glorious Son of God. Psalm 2 tells us that we are to serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Surely His Word is above every other Word. Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (Hebrews 2:1)

I'll be honest, I want heaven now.

The Lord has done great things for us...

(Acts 19:-11-17, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, February 3, 2013)

[11] And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, [12] 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.

Paul had an extremely fruitful daily teaching ministry in Ephesus, so that the whole province of Asia heard the Word of the Lord, both Jews and non-Jews. But there was more than good teaching. The kingdom came with power. God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of the teacher.

These miracles could not be easily explained away. They were reminiscent of the signs of the kingdom coming in the ministry of Jesus. Like those great deeds of power performed in the prior generation they pointed forward to a place of perfect kingdom fulfillment where Christ is now at the right hand of the Father. They gave the church hope in a coming day of perfect healing upon the earth when Christ returns in glory.

Even a crumb from that place and time works the most powerful wonders in overturning the present darkness. If there was so much of the power of God at work in a piece of cloth that had touched the gospel ambassador's skin, how great must be the power of the King of Glory, Jesus, the Son of God!

[13] 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.”

Naturally there were those who wanted the power of the kingdom to use as they wished. There was an undeniable power in the Jesus whom Paul proclaimed. There were those who tried to use the Name of the Lord Jesus as their ticket to success.

They acknowledged the existence of an evil spiritual realm that touches this fading world with trouble. They had seen or heard of instances of powerful victories of healing and deliverance involving the Name of Jesus. They wanted to be able to command dark powers to be gone in the Name of Jesus whom Paul proclaimed.

We want the victory of heaven over evil too. But will we listen to everything that God says about the coming Kingdom and believe and follow all of His Word, or do we just want to use the Name of Jesus for our own purposes?

[14] Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. [15] But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” [16] 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 proved to be a dangerous pathway for some. Luke mentions seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva who were doing this. This family had already proven that they were willing to do things their own way. Why was this family referring to the Jewish title “high priest” here in Ephesus anyway? Was their father, Sceva, a real son of Aaron, or did he just take the title of priest as some had dared to do in the days of Old Testament history?

Also, had they submitted to Paul's teaching about the Christ? Surely the final High Priest had come, and his name was not Sceva. We have a great High Priest over the house of God. He offered up Himself as the final atoning sacrifice for our sins and then rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven, purifying the sanctuary above for our sake. He sends forth His Holy Spirit from on high, and He intercedes for us. Surely Paul was teaching and preaching these biblical truths regarding Jesus. How could someone dare to use the Name of the Jesus that Paul proclaimed, but ignore the High Priest Himself?

Even Paul acknowledged a duty of respect toward true authority figures of Judaism, though the order of the Old Covenant was swiftly fading away. But Paul would never have showed deference to those who were usurping those titles as part of their own private healing and deliverance ministry. Miraculous deeds of power have to agree with the Word of the kingdom. Otherwise they are a dangerous attempt to ignore the whole counsel of God.

This end run around proper kingdom order and authority did not even win the respect of demonic realms. Rather than mastering the evil spirit, they were mastered by some dark power that was beyond them. They ran away naked and wounded.

[17] 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.

But the Name of Jesus did not suffer harm. All the residents of Ephesus heard about this, and they were afraid. This story spread and man people honored the Name of Jesus.

Like many people all around us, we too are sick of disease and death. We are looking for powerful answers to the problems that face us. But we want God's victory according to His Word and His eternal purpose.

Whatever taste of heaven comes now with the Name of Jesus and the true preaching of that Name, there is a future hope for the people of God that is amply testified to throughout the Scriptures. We cast our cares upon the Lord, and we know that He cares for us, but that does not mean that all of our troubles are instantly removed. Sometimes the message to us is that the grace of Jesus is sufficient for us and that our immediate trouble is not going away today since His power is made perfect in our weakness. Very often the Lord's call to the church is to suffer now as those who have the sure beatitude of a secure future hope.

But there is no need for us to deny the power of God at work in His great acts of healing and deliverance through His church. These deeds of glory cannot be about our use of secret spiritual techniques. They are the displays of the merciful grace of God distributed in various times and places according to His own good will.

What we can say together with all who have been called to patient endurance throughout the centuries of calling upon the Name of God is that the Lord has done great things. He will restore our fortunes at just the right time. We will bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things, because we know that the love of Christ will never end.

We can also rejoice in the spread of the kingdom of God throughout the Gentile world recorded for us in the book of Acts. In the ministry of Jesus to Jews, there were occasional crumbs from heaven's table for Gentiles. But now in Ephesus, a working man's rags that touched Paul brought relief to a weary world. We celebrate the miracles of God in the world beyond Israel, and we know that our eternal wholeness is in the person and work of Jesus, the King of Glory.

Old Testament Passage: Psalm 126 – … and we are glad

Gospel Passage: Mark 7:24-30 – Even a crumb is enough from heaven's table

Sermon Text: Acts 19:11-17 – Miracles for Gentiles, but only safe in Jesus

Sermon Point: There is a powerful and sure hope of eternal wholeness for the church in Jesus Christ

Name above all names

February 3, 2013 Evening:

Title: A More Excellent Savior

Old Testament Passage: Genesis 28:10-22 – Jacob's Ladder

Gospel Reading: John 1:43-51 – Stairway to heaven

Sermon Text: Hebrews 1:4 – Superior to angels (Part 1)

Sermon Point: Angels are great, but Jesus is far more excellent.

[4] having become as much superior to angels

There are myriads of angels in heaven. Because of the work of Jesus Christ, there are also large numbers of people. Who is superior to whom?

When Jesus came to earth to save people for heaven, he did not become an angel. He became a man. He did this saving work on our behalf. He has always been fully God the Creator and not a created being. But now the Word was made flesh. There is a Man who has become not only the sacrificial Lamb of God, but also the King of Glory.

The Son of God was always far superior to angels. He was also far superior to people. Yet it was the eternal plan of God that His Son would become, not an angel to rescue angels, but a Man to rescue people.

God created people in His own glorious image. The union of the divine and human natures in the one Person, Messiah Jesus, was the perfect and long-planned means that God appointed to achieve His own wonderful will according to the praise of His glorious grace.

as the name

The “name” of Jesus is not a magic word. It is to be respectfully united to the God-Man who bears the titles that Hebrews 1 will go on to explore. Jesus is a person who has accomplished certain works that only He could achieve.

All of who Jesus is and all that Jesus has done are inseparably connected with any Name that God has given to Him. At the Name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, because at the person and work of the Son of God, all of creation must worship.

This is what our hearts are longing for. The stairway to glory has come. Jesus leads us to Himself. He is the Rock that is higher than “I.”

he has inherited

Any “I” that is higher than God in our imaginations can be a very miserable enemy. But now the new Man, Jesus, has inherited a Name and a kingdom that is above every other Name and kingdom.

An inheritance comes through death. Through the death of Jesus, Jesus and His glorious body, his assembly of worshipers, have been exalted to the heights of heaven.

is more excellent than theirs.

Angels do not have the Name that Son of God owns. They are servants to the heirs of salvation. We are fellow-heirs with Christ. Behold the manner of love that God has given to us, that we should be called sons of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.