May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
Acts of the Apostles and chapter 19, and we'll read verses 17,
18, 19, and 20. The Acts of the Apostles, chapter
19, and reading verses 17, 18, 19, and 20. And this was known to all the
Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus. And fear fell on
them all. And the name of the Lord Jesus
was magnified. And many that believed came and
confessed and showed their deeds. Many of them also, which used
curious arts, brought their books together and burned them before
all men. And they counted the price of
them and found it 50,000 pieces of silver. So mightily grew the
word of God and prevailed. The word of God is very encouraging
really in all things. But we have seen in this chapter
we read together how the devil tried to gain his own ends and
how he utterly failed and how through that the name of the
Lord Jesus was magnified. And it had a gracious effect
upon many of the people that observed the situation. So we
should be thankful that we have examples like that. And as we
may see things today which appear to be working in a contrary way,
yet may we be encouraged to know that sometimes the devil oversteps
himself, and through that he fails, and through that the Lord's
name is lifted up and honoured and glorified. And we know here
in this account, there were those vagabond Jews, that means Jews
who weren't really true Jews, they were evil Jews, they were
magicians and sorcerers, etc. And they only desired to overthrow
the faith of God's people. And therefore they decided to
do and follow a certain way and a certain scheme. But as we read
together in that account, they failed. It was not successful. And so they were not able to
do that which they desired to do. And we're told in the evil
spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, Paul I know, but who
are ye? the men in whom the evil spirit
was leapt on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them,
so that they fled out of their houses naked and wounded. Well, it's good to know that
we still have a great God today who can overthrow all the attempts
of the adversary to mitigate the truth of God and to turn
people away from it. And the effect of this amazing
reversal really, or what was expected, was that we're told
in this verse, and this was known, and this was known to all the
Jews and Greeks also dwelling in Ephesus, and fear fell on
them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. What had they observed? They
had observed the work of God. They had observed that which
man could not produce. Man could not have done that
really and yet you see the Lord did it. And there was that confusion
and they fled, wounded, away from that object which they had
intended to carry out. And it was to the Jews and the
Greeks They were joined together, wonderful deliverance. And so
the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. That's what the devil
didn't want to happen. He hates the name of God magnified,
but blessed be God. It is so sometimes when the Lord
Jesus is magnified through these situations, and he was on this
occasion. And how good it is in our lives
when sometimes we are brought to that position where we see
the devil's schemes, the devil's plans, which he'd made good headway
in our lives, suddenly overthrown. And the result has been to magnify
the name of Jesus in our hearts. That means when he's exalted,
that means when he's lifted up, that means when we bow down and
worship the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh how wonderful it is when this
occurs. How glorious it is to observe. One thing is certain, we know
it's the work of the Holy Spirit. We know it's not the work of
the devil, because that has been done which we could not do. And
that has been done which brings honour and glory to Almighty
God. So, what was the effect? Well, the effect was first of
all, the name of the Lord Jesus is magnified and then we're told,
and many that believed. There were many brought to believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, just what the devil didn't
want to happen. All his plans overthrown. We should never think that the
devil is able to achieve what he wants to. He may perhaps rise
up. He may perhaps fill us with dismay. It may appear that he's gaining
the victory. It may appear that what we prayed
for and hoped for is not coming to pass and the devil is gaining
the victory. Let us never give up. Let us
remember we have a great God. who is far greater than our adversary
the devil. And the Lord can do for us exceeding
abundantly above what we can ask or even think. Very evident
it is in this account here. When the Lord did exceeding abundantly,
what a glorious truth it is. And may we rejoice in it. and
bless God for it and be encouraged by it to realize yes we are those
who are given that grace to believe through things which have come
to pass which we didn't expect to and we saw the wonderful work
of God. Now my friends let us be quite
clear we worship today the very same God that appeared on this
occasion to put to flight the devil and all his army. We worship
the very same God today, and we need to pray earnestly that
that same God will arise on our behalf, as he did on that occasion,
so that there were all those Greeks and Jews who were dwelling
in Ephesus who were converted. And as we read in this chapter,
Ephesus was not a very good place to be because they were worshippers
of Diana, that great goddess. And we read the account of how
they were so upset that they might not, the silversmiths might
lose some of their business because there were these people turning
to the true God. But you see, it couldn't be overthrown
the work of God and my friends it cannot be overthrown and may
we pray earnestly that we may have much cause and much reason
to observe it and may we be looking to see it you know sadly today
we are of little faith I'm not decrying little faith at all
but you see when God gives faith to believe Then it is that we
observe his work. Then it is that we observe what
he's doing. And then we praise God. And we magnify his name. And
he's lifted up and honoured and glorified. So what a favour it
is for us tonight if we are found amongst these and many, many
that believed. many that believed, to be amongst
the many that believed. And what did they do? What did
these people do? They came and confessed and showed
their deeds. What did this demonstrate? It
demonstrated God's work. And what did it do? It brought
honour and glory to the name of Almighty God. The Holy Spirit
had moved their hearts to such an extent that they believed
and confessed and showed their deeds. And as we read on, their
deeds weren't very good deeds, but what it did, it made them
honest. What a blessing that is, when
the Spirit of God makes us honest. Naturally, we are of the devil,
we are deceivers. We need the Holy Spirit, therefore,
all of us, to show us these things and to give us that grace, therefore,
to come and confess the name of the Lord Jesus. You see, if
we believe, we will confess. They really go together, these
two things. Because God's work is never hidden. It may be hidden for a time,
but it will be revealed. It must be revealed. It must
be revealed so that God's name is honored and glorified. My friend, God doesn't do a work
in our souls. God didn't die for us on Calvary's
cross. God didn't pay the enormous price
to satisfy the law of God on our behalf. He didn't agonise
as he did on Calvary's cross and you and I just lie dormant. The word of God is very clear.
Those that honour me I will honour and those that despise me shall
be lightly esteemed. I'm sure, I hope, I pray, none
of us will be lightly esteemed. But as may God may give us grace,
which he does, to honour him, however hard and how many difficult
that may appear to be, he giveth more grace. And let's not forget
that the Apostle Paul had a thorn in the flesh, which he didn't
like and he tried to get rid of. and we're not told what it
was good job we're not because it encompasses therefore many
things and you can think well perhaps it's that which you possess
and I believe one of the biggest thorns in the flesh that the
Church of God have to face is the evil heart of unbelief to
distrust the work of God and the Word of God to turn away
from it Well, may we know what it is to be wonderfully blessed
so that we are able to come and confess what Jesus has done. As the Holy Spirit may influence
us and show to us the amazing cost of our salvation, isn't
it? Just ponder it, my friends, to
think, to think, that Jesus Christ, the Lord God Almighty, the second
person in the Trinity, loved us so much, unworthy sinners. And he came and died upon the
cross at Calvary in order to redeem our souls. Just think
upon it. Isn't that a wonderful blessing? How can we repay the Lord Jesus
for that? Well, in reality, we can't. Because He gave His life. There's
no greater gift than to give life. And the Lord Jesus gave
His life that we might have life. Is there not reason then to confess
Him? To confess what He's done? And
so we're told of many that believed, came, and confessed. Not all, not all, but there were
many that believed, many that saw the situation, many that
observed it. They didn't, they weren't moved
by the Holy Spirit, they didn't believe. Sadly today there are
many who attend the places of worship, attend chapels, and
yet do not believe. We just have, as the Word of
God tells us, a name to live, but are dead. And that is an
exceeding solemn statement. Don't pass it off. But, bless God, if he has given
us spiritual sight and has given us the fear of the Lord, which
is the beginning of eternal wisdom. Fear fell on them all, and the
name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many that believed came and
confessed and showed their deeds." Well, what a mercy it is when
the Lord gives us grace, gives us strength. You know, we're
by nature very backward, by nature we're timid. By nature we fear
the future. Well, don't think that Paul was
any different. That servant of God, that man,
greatly blessed. What was his verdict? This was
his verdict. I would go in the strength of
the Lord God, make mention of his righteousness and of his
only. Yes, he was, and he tells us
also, I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. My friends, never rely on your
own ability. Go trembling, fearful, but trusting in the
Lord. That's a good place. That's a
firm place. That's a sound place. You won't
be disappointed The Lord won't turn you away. The Lord won't
forsake you in your time of need. We have many examples, don't
we, of the Lord not forsaking his people in the time of their
need. We have natural illustrations,
especially we have in the book of Daniel, those three men, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. They weren't forsaken. Daniel
himself, he wasn't forsaken. But they had to stand firm. They
had to confess whom they served. Then you see the Lord appeared.
They had to go into the burning fiery furnace. They had to go
into the lion's den. But God was with them and they
were delivered. And so today, the Lord knows
how to deliver. the righteous out of all temptation. Oh, my friends, rest in the Lord. Have confidence in Him. Look
to Jesus, firm and strong. Look to His atoning sacrifice. Come casting all your care upon
Him. Believing He cares for you. Oh, what a blessing it is. to have that humble confidence
to come to the Saviour. And my friends, he never turned
any away, did he? No, he graciously invited to
come to him, come unto me. He tells us, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you
and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, And ye shall
find rest unto your souls. It may be that you're restless
today. Your soul may be restless. Because
you're not resting in the Lord. Because you're not committing
your way unto the Lord. Because you're looking to yourself.
Oh, my friends, give up self. Look to Jesus, firm and strong. He is able. He is willing. Thou no more." And so here we
have this statement, and many that believed came and confessed
and showed their deeds. Now again you see this is God's
grace when we come and show our deeds and we're told what they
were. Many of them who which used curious
arts brought their books together and burn them before all men."
Now, these perhaps were some of the vagabond Jews and those
who were involved in things which were not good, magic and sorcery
and things like that. And yet, what did they do? Well,
under the influence of the Holy Spirit, they took their books
and it's very clear that they were valuable. And they counted
the price of them and found 50,000 pieces of silver. We can't actually,
we possibly could, but I can't tell you exactly what that refers
to in our sterling today. But it was a lot of money. They
were valuable. But the blessed work of the Holy
Spirit enabled them to not only put them aside, He said, well
that's a very valuable book, I'm not going to get rid of that,
I'll put it aside perhaps in a secret place or a place and
I just don't want to get rid of it. No, said these men. They came together and they had
a bonfire. They burned them so there was
no more recourse to them. The mate said, well what's that
relevance today? I haven't got any books on magic. I haven't
got any books on sorcery. Well, you may have, I don't know,
but you may have other things in your life which are not really
conducive to spirituality. You may find there's other things
in your life which the Holy Spirit may be speaking to you about
and you may be reluctant to put them aside. You may be more reluctant
to burn them, more reluctant to destroy them, Just analyse
it, just ponder it for a moment. Are they doing you any spiritual
good? See that's really the bottom
line in our calculation, isn't it? Are the things that we may
love to engage in doing us any spiritual good? And the truth
is, like these people, they took them, and they got rid of them
so they couldn't have recourse to them anymore. They were gone. They were burned up. What a blessing
when the Holy Spirit comes and descends upon us and gives us
that strength and that grace to do those things which are
right and to turn away from those things which are not convenient. One of our problems today is
the material world in which we live. And therefore, many things
which our forefathers could not involve themselves in because
they couldn't afford them, we are able to do that. But do they
help the prosperity of our souls? Do they promote the grace of
God? That's a question, isn't it?
To ponder before God, to think, well, do these things really
benefit my soul. It may be easy to come to a conclusion,
it may not be so easy to follow it out. But again, don't forget
what I already said, he giveth more grace. And don't underestimate
that which God can do. You see, the things which God
gives far surpass all the things the devil can give. Because the
things that God gives are eternal. And the things which God gives
brings peace. And the things which the devil
gives do not bring peace. They produce restlessness in
our soul. And perhaps if we have a tender
conscience, produce uncomfortable situations in our heart. But you know, if we are listening
to the devil, then we may have what the Word of God describes
as a seared conscience. That means it's not tender, it
doesn't feel, it doesn't respect the blessed Word of God and the
truth of God. And if that is so, pray that
the Lord will give us a tender conscience to be able to hear
the word of God spoken to us in these words as we realize
these people on this occasion here living in Ephesus not a
good place and we don't live in a good place today but you
see God's people have to come out God's people have to stand
firm for the truth of God counting the things that God of greater
value and all the things of time. So here we have this statement. And many of them also which used
curious arts brought their books together and burned them before
all men. They didn't have a little bonfire
in their backyard so that no one knew about it. They demonstrated
their desire to be a true follower of the Saviour and to show their
consistency in their religion and their desire to be a true
follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and to get rid of those things
which are hindering their spiritual growth. Well what a blessing
it is when the Holy Spirit, and friends don't forget the Holy
Spirit still works today, And may we know the blessed work
of it in our own lives. You see, often we perhaps mourn
the lack of godliness, the lack of grace. Perhaps we don't read
the Word of God carefully enough. Perhaps we just read the Word
and we pass over it and we don't really take it in. We don't want
to take it in. because it might have an adverse
effect upon our natural life. But my friends, it will have
a good effect upon our spiritual life. And let us always remember,
you and I are passing through our life on this earth. We will
only live here for a very short time and then we will end in
eternity, where there is no time and no end. And if we find ourselves
in eternity, in hell and we realise that we ignored the word of God
and we didn't burn up something or get rid of something or destroy
something and it ruined our soul what a desperate situation and
there will be no recourse there's no recourse in hell the word
of God tells us not to harden our hearts not to harden our
hearts That's what the devil tries to do. And you look around,
and we see hearts hardened. Oh, bless God. If he moves us
by his spirit, be concerned to take away rebellion, stubbornness. You know, by nature we're rebellious. By nature we're stubborn against
the things of God. It's amazing. It's tragic, isn't
it? But it's so true. and they found it of considerable
value but you see the value of time things in comparison with
the value of eternal things has no comparison. No comparison. If you and I own the whole world
and put it in a balance alongside eternity and the preciousness
of Christ It has no value. No value. What a blessing to
know the work of the Holy Spirit directing us to this position.
The Lord Jesus was magnified. What does that mean? It means
he was enlarged in our heart. Yes, he wasn't a little person.
He was a great and glorious person. Is Christ that to us? Well, our
works will prove whether it is so or not. James tells us faith
without works is dead. Is dead. Don't pretend to have
faith and not have works. Don't pretend to have faith and
keep a lot of things which are wrong. Don't think that it goes
together. It doesn't. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. The devil
always tries to deceive. I often say, and I'll repeat
it, in the Garden of Eden, what was his ploy? To deceive Adam
and Eve. What is his ploy today? To deceive
you and me. He hasn't changed. He's the great
deceiver. Don't listen to him. Listen to
the Word of God. And so we come and read this
last verse here which says, so mightily grew the Word of God
and prevailed. Isn't that wonderful? You see,
here was this following out the work of God. It didn't just then
fall on the ground with no effect. There was an effect. It was a
good effect. It was a wonderful effect. And
we read it like this, so mightily mightily grew the Word of God
and prevailed. Do you and I expect the Word
of God to grow mightily and prevail if we don't follow out the pattern
set before us here in the Word of God? Well, sadly we do. But
we can't. We can't. The Word of God is very clear
and very simple. and very wonderful to follow
it through. Again, this is a chapter which is, I suppose, like the
one this morning, not very often read. And perhaps these words
that we've read together for a text this evening are not often
pondered on and considered. We may have known, yes, there
was something in the Bible about burning the books, but, well,
we pass over it. Well, don't pass over it. Consider
it, ponder it, and realize how it came to pass, through the
blessed work of the Holy Spirit. It wasn't asked for, but the
Holy Spirit came. The Holy Spirit wonderfully blessed
these Greeks and Jews and converted many, and the effect of them
was very clear. And therefore the Word of God
grew mightily and prevailed. Do we not desire that? Do we not pray for it? Well,
I'm sure we do. and rightly so, and we would
always do so, that the Word of God might grow and prevail. But don't expect to happen without
following the Word of God. Don't think that there are two
sides to God's Word, one side for some people and one side
for another. The Word of God is conclusive and the Word of
God is blessedly true. And wonderful it is when God
gives us grace. And he does, as I've said already
a number of times, he gives more grace. Don't think he doesn't. Things which are impossible with
men are possible with God. Oh, isn't that wonderful to know?
And may our faith be increased to believe the truth of it. and
to recognize it and to desire that we, you and I, may be able
to follow God's gracious word. Yes, gracious words, aren't they?
We have so much instruction in God's word and we are so dull
of understanding and we are so blind and our hearing is so deaf
And we don't like to move outside of our little realm. We don't
like to disturb our little situation. We don't like to upset it. We
like to enjoy the things of the flesh which do not profit. And we need to understand what
King Solomon said when he tried everything and he had all the
means, he had all the money, all the availability to try and
find pleasure. the things of time. He did everything
and as you read the Song of Solomon you'll find out what he tried
and he was not successful and he tells us a number of times
all is vanity of vanities and vexation of spirit. Oh what a
blessing if you and I learn that important lesson and realize
the truth of it that God may give us grace to come to him
and to seek his will and to pray for his strength and pray for
his blessing and pray that we may know the wonderful favour
of the Lord Jesus magnified in our hearts. You know, how can
we really expect Christ to be really precious to us when we
are serving the devil? How can we really expect it?
And how we can really expect it when we start laying down
our conditions? No, my friends, God lays down
the conditions, not us. God gives the rules, not us. And what a blessing it is when
he gives grace to follow his word. It's a wonderful book we
have. A wonderful book of direction.
A wonderful book which shows us how to live our life. wonderful book to show us how
the Lord brings amazing blessings. Well what a favour if you and
I are partakers of the blessings and that means the Lord Jesus
Christ becomes precious, becomes more precious so that we may
be able to say like the bride of Christ when she turned her
back upon the Lord, and yet she was able to confess what he meant
to her, and he graciously heard her, and he tells us, she tells
us, he is the chiefest among 10,000, and the altogether lovely,
but he won't be so if you and I are hiding a few books under
our jumper, as it were. He won't be. You see, God needs
honesty. and purity and we only receive
that through the grace of God as we come confessing our sins
making a clean breast of everything to God and that's not easy and
that's not easy we don't like to admit we've been wrong what
a blessing it is when God gives the wonderful favour of confession
oh it's a relief you know it's an amazing relief to confess
your sins before Almighty God, and He hears, and sends deliverance,
and grants freedom, and grants His mercy, and grants the evidence
of His amazing love felt in our hearts. Oh, how precious, how
glorious is the love of God to unworthy sinners. My friends,
may we know it, may we seek earnestly for it, may we pray hard to God
that he will give us grace to hear his word and to follow the
pattern set before us in his word so that his name may be
honored and glorified and our souls eternally blessed. Let me read the words again.
And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling
Ephesus and fear fell on them all and the name of the Lord
Jesus was magnified and many that believed came and confessed
and showed their deeds many of them also which used curious
arts brought their books together and burned them before all men
and they counted the price of them and found it 50,000 pieces
of silver, so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. Amen.