Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I've entitled the message for
this morning, Special Miracles. Our text is found in Acts chapter
19, but I'd like to read the last verse of the passage I want
us to look at this morning. We read, So mightily grew the
word of God and prevailed. So in this manner, is what that
means. In this manner, mightily grew
the word of God. Now we know that the scripture
is a closed revelation in the sense that there's nothing that
can be added to it. And the scripture cannot grow
in that sense. It's the revelation of God, it's
final and it's complete. But we can certainly grow in
our understanding of it. And it can grow in its influence
in the world through God's blessing. So, the mightily grew the Word
of God and prevailed, was strong and victorious in this manner. Now, in Acts chapter 19, there
are three events that took place where we read that the Word of
God grew mightily. and prevailed, so I want to read
nine verses. I know that's a long reading,
but I would like for us to read these. And God wrought, this
is in verse 11, and God wrought special miracles by the hands
of Paul, so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs
or aprons, and the diseases departed from them And the evil spirits
went out of them. That's the first event, these
special miracles. Now, wherever you have a special
miracle, you're gonna have a counterfeit not far behind. And here we read
of the counterfeit. Then certain of the vagabond
Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had the
evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure
thee by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven sons of
one Sceva Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so, these
seven brothers, all sons of Sceva. And the evil spirit answered
and said, Jesus, I know, Paul I know, but who are you? And the man in whom the evil
spirit was leaped on them and overcame them and prevailed against
them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. And this was known to all the
Jews and the Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus and fear fell on them
all and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. Now here's
the third event. And many that believed and confessed
showed their deeds, many of them also which use curious arts brought
their books together and burned them before all men. And they
counted the price of them and founded 50,000 pieces of silver. There was a bonfire. This is
the third event. So, or in this matter, so mightily
grew the word of God and prevailed. Now, these three events give
us how the Word of God grew mightily and prevailed. Now, we read first
in verse 11, and God wrought special miracles by the hands
of Paul. Now, Paul didn't do these miracles. These are things only God could
do. And God wrought special miracles
by the hands of Paul, so that from his body, verse 12, were
brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed
from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. Now, I've heard
preachers television preachers talk about anointed cloths that
they prayed over, and if you would send a donation, they would
send you these cloths, and you would be healed if you had the
faith to be healed by that. Now, men like that are phonies,
they're crooks, they're dishonest, and they will be in hell in the
bottom of hell if God doesn't do something for them. That's
nothing but phony men who make that claim. As a matter of fact,
these men who talk about healing, why don't they go to hospitals
and heal people? They're confined to their healing meetings because
they're phony. If they really had the power
to heal, they would walk into hospitals and heal people. But
they can't do it. They claim to, but they can't. It's phony. And these men who
did that, you know, we'll send you a prayer cloth. It's phony. Be that as it may, I still love
what we read. God rot. special miracles by
the hands of Paul. Now, these special miracles are
things that only God could do. God wrought special, extraordinary
miracles, miracles that only He can do. Now, you think about
the physical miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ that He demonstrated
when He walked upon this earth. He could control the weather.
No mere man or group of men can do that. We don't have any control
of the weather, but he could. He could say to the wind and
the roaring waves, peace, be still, and there would be a great
calm. The Lord Jesus Christ brought
matter into existence, which had not been in existence before
when he fed the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish. He created
matter. Only God can create matter and
bring things into existence that was not there before. He raised
the dead. Only God can raise the dead. Christ raised the dead. Christ
controlled the physical universe. He could walk on water and defy
the laws of physics because they're his laws and he could suspend
them whenever he wanted because he's God. I love to think of
the way he healed people. I mean, there were people who
would be, who'd been crippled 38 years, deformed. He would
tell them to get up and they'd get up right then and it would
be a complete healthy person. Not like these phony faith healers. He really healed people and they
were healed completely. And you think of the miracles
God has wrought in salvation. The incarnation of Christ. that
God became flesh, that He lived in a womb for nine months, conceived
of the Virgin. What a miracle! What special
miracles He accomplished in keeping the law for His people and working
out a perfect righteousness. What special miracles He accomplished
in putting away our sins by His death, made them not to be, caused
every believer to be justified before God without guilt, sinless,
He preserves them. He gives them a new nature. Oh,
the special miracles of salvation. And this miracle mentioned here
in verse 12 is a glorious picture of God's salvation. We read that
from his body were brought into the sick handkerchiefs or aprons
and the diseases departed from them and the evil spirits went
out of them. Now that literally happened,
but that's given to teach us. the garment of God's salvation
is Jesus Christ. He covers us, and we're made
whole. We're healed. We're made perfect
in Christ Jesus. Now, these special miracles took
place. That's where salvation begins,
special miracles that only God can do. And he did these through
the hands of Paul. But like I said, whenever you
have God working, you're going to have the counterfeit not far
behind. Now let's go on reading verse 13. Then certain of the
vagabond Jews. Now that is an interesting word,
and I think it very accurately describes the average preacher. A vagabond, that means no certain
place. no certain place, no stable place. As a matter of fact, the word
is translated in another place, wandering about. The vagabond
Jews, wandering about. Now, there's only one sure, certain,
stable, fixed place, and that is in Christ. That's why Paul said, oh, that
I might be found in Him. All of God's blessing, all of
God's favor is in the Lord Jesus Christ and nowhere else. God
will save you for Christ's sake, and that's the only reason. The
only place of safety, the only place of security is in the Lord
Jesus Christ so that when He sees me, He sees me in Christ. That's the only place I want
to be found. in the Lord Jesus Christ. Another way to say that
is Christ is all in salvation. It doesn't have anything to do
with my works, my efforts. Christ is salvation. This is the only place of spiritual
blessing. God has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. All God has
for the sinner is in Christ. And any preaching that clouds
that issue Any preaching that would make you think God's favor
is a response to something you do, that is a vagabond Jew. That's one who has no fixed place. And notice it says they were
exorcists. These vagabond Jews were exorcists. Now, what do you think of when
you think of an exorcist? Well, you probably think of that
movie that came out 50 years ago, the exorcist. It was always
scary and these priests coming and exorcising demons and the
woman that had her head spinning around and all that kind of weird
stuff. But an exorcist, the word by
definition means one who uses a formula. One who uses a formula. And we see these men using a
formula. They didn't have any understanding
of the gospel, but they used a formula. They said, we adjure
you by Jesus whom Paul preaches. They thought it worked for him.
It'll work for us. They saw it as nothing but a
formula. They didn't know the Lord Jesus
Christ. They didn't know the gospel, but they had this formula
that they saw brought results. And they thought, well, we can
do this too. So these seven sons of Skeevy
used this formula. They were vagabond. They had
no fixed place. They had no fixed message. And
they used a formula. And you know, most preaching
is the using of a formula. If you do this, and if you stop
doing that, and if you start doing this, you'll be saved. If you turn from your sins, if
you don't return to your sins, if you start going to church
and reading your Bible and praying, you'll be saved. Now, that is
a formula for salvation, and no one is saved by that formula. All it is is another form of
salvation by works, and that's what these men were. They were
vagabond Jews, exorcists. And look what it says about them.
It says, they took upon them to call over them which had evil
spirits the name of the Lord Jesus. They took this on themselves.
And I tell you, we're in trouble when we have a self-appointed
preacher. That's what these fellows were. They were self-appointed.
They took this on themselves. Now, there's such a thing as
God calling a man to preach the gospel, and that man's got God's
message. God sent him, but there are a whole lot of man-called
preachers, just like these vagabond Jews who took upon themselves
this great thing, and no one is ever saved by that. Now, we read in verse 14, And
there were seven sons of one skeeve, a Jew, and the chief
of the priests which did so. They used this formula that Paul
used, these vagabond Jews, exorcists, they used this formula. We adjure
you by the Jesus Paul preaching. And the evil spirit answered
them and said, Jesus, I know. You know, the demons knew the
Lord Jesus. Not a saving knowledge, but they
knew who he was. They trembled in his presence. They demonstrated more respect
to him than most religious people do. They knew they couldn't go
from one place to another without asking his permission. Remember
when they said, suffer us to enter into the swine, and Jesus
gave them leave. He allowed them to do it. Now
remember this about demons. I'm scared, don't want to know
much about them, but I know this. They're under his thumb, and
he is in control of them, and they know that. And somebody
says, are there demons today? Well, there were demons then.
I don't have any reason to think they're not now. I don't know
any much about it, but I know that these men, these demons
knew Jesus. They said, Jesus I know, and
Paul I know. You know, Paul was known in hell.
Paul was known by the demons. Now, the point behind that is,
is the man who preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ is known in hell. Now, that's not trying to glorify
that man. That man's just as weak and sinful
as anybody else. But it's the gospel he preaches,
the gospel that's the power of God unto salvation. That's the
key, not the man, but the gospel he preaches. You remember when
the Lord said, Thou art Peter, upon this rock will I build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it?
He's not saying he's building his church on Peter. Peter was
a sinful, fickle, weak man in and of himself, just like you
and I are. He's not saying I'm going to build my church on Peter,
but Peter's confession of Christ. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God, upon this rock, this confession of me,
I'll build my church. Christ is the builder of his
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Not one person that Christ died for can be prevented from being
saved. God's going to bust the doors down and save them and
deliver them from hell. Now, he said, Jesus I know, and
Paul I know, but who are you? And the man in whom the evil
spirit was leaped on them and overcame them and prevailed against
them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. Now that is almost humorous.
They got what they had coming. They took something upon themselves
that they had no business doing and they were beat up by this
demon. In this verse 17, 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." Now remember, we're
considering how the Word of God grew mightily and prevailed.
Well, first, through God working these special miracles. And that's
what the gospel is, a special miracle of God. Secondly, wherever
you got the truth, you're going to have the counterfeit not far
behind it. And we've seen that with these
seven sons of Sheba, these vagabond Jews. They didn't have any understanding
of in Christ. They were all over the place,
wandering about, and they had nothing more than a formula of
salvation. They didn't know anything about the gospel. They just thought,
if I give this formula, everything will be okay. And we see what
happened to them. But now let's read verse 18.
And many that believed came and confessed and showed their deeds. Many of them also, which use
curious hearts, 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." Now, we read of those
who believed. Now, what is this thing of believing?
It's believing who He is. It's believing that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of the living God. It's believing that He is
God. It's believing that He is man. It's believing He is the God-man. It's believing that He is everything
God requires. It means believing that He is
salvation. It's not what you believe about
yourself, it's what you believe concerning Him. What think ye
of Christ? That is always the issue. Not
what do you think of abortion and the moral majority and all
the issues of our day. What think ye of Christ? That is the only issue. What think ye of Christ? Believers
believe Him. That's what faith is. It's believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's believing that He is everything
in salvation. Now, many of the believed came
and confessed. Now, what does confess mean?
Does that mean that they came and confessed to everybody their
sins and let everybody know what sins they'd committed? Now, don't
do that. Don't tell another man what sins
you've committed. He can't do anything for you
in the first place. And it's going to bring sorrow in your
life, and it's going to bring sorrow in his life. Don't do
anything like that. That's not talking about confessing to people
their sins. I've had people come into my
study and want to tell me what they've done. I said, I don't
want to know. Don't tell me. That's not important. You don't
confess your sin to other men. You confess them to God. But
this word confess means to speak the same thing. It means to be
in agreement. Now, with regard to our sins,
we confess, we speak the same thing God says with regard to
our sins. We take sides with God against ourselves. With regard
to the gospel, we confess the gospel, we speak the same thing
God says with regard to the gospel. We speak His words. We say back
what God's already said. That's what confession is. It's
the confession of the gospel. And many that believe came and
confessed and showed their deeds. Now, does that mean they confess
their individual sins? No, it doesn't. But I'll tell
you what it does mean. They did say all of our deeds
are sin. No matter what they are, if we did them, they're
sin. 1 John 1.8 says, if we say we've
not sinned, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. We've
lost all credibility. And then verse 10 says, if we
say we've not sinned, and that's a verb with regard to anything
that I do. If I say I didn't sin in doing
that, I'm telling a lie, because if I did it, there's sin involved. When I'm preaching this message,
because I'm bringing it, there's sin involved because of who's
bringing it. Now there's truth there too, but the truth is there,
the gospel is there, but I'm the one bringing it. And even
when I tell the truth, I'm going to tell it in such a way as to
make myself look better. There's always sin in everything we do. They confess their deeds, and
then verse 19, and many of them also, which use curious arts,
Most people think that's some kind of occult magic. It may
be. But 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. Now here's the picture. These
books were burned. Now were they books about black
magic and the occult? They may have been. But the word
curious art means about works. It's made of two words, it means
about works. And what this represents is what
these people at one time found so valuable. and so important,
they now saw as nothing but to be burned." Now, I remember when
I was in junior high school, a church that I knew of, they
would frequently have record burning parties. Everybody would
get together and burn their records, get rid of the evil music. Now, Generally speaking, the
next day they'd buy the records again, but they would have these
record-burning bonfires, and it came from this passage of
scripture. And I was thinking that would be hard for people
to do that in this day, because people have to be throwing their
cell phones into the fire, and I doubt that many people are
going to do that. But the point behind this is not anything but
this, that which was of value to them, now is of no value to
them. It's called in the scripture,
repentance from dead works. Now, you see, if you're a believer,
you see that every work that you performed, whether religious
or irreligious, every work you performed before God saved you,
Before you heard the gospel was nothing more than a dead work
performed by a man dead in sins. And every work you had was of
no saving value at all. Now when you hear the gospel,
You see that all your works before God revealed himself to you were
dead works, produced by one dead in sins and of no value. And when the Lord saves a man,
he has a bonfire. He burns up all of his works.
He sees that they are no good and only to be burned, no saving
value at all. Now, Charles Spurgeon, a preacher
from the 1800s, gave this illustration of this that really resonated
with me. He said, when I examine my works,
all of my works, my good works, my bad works. When I examine
my works, I find an amazing similarity between the good works and the
bad works, and I find that I can't discern the difference between
the two. And I find the only safe thing
for me is to throw them all overboard. and come into heaven on the plank
of free grace. Oh, that resonates with me. The
works that I think are good are no good because I think they're
good. My bad works, my good works, they're no good. The only thing
to do with them is to burn them. And I come into heaven solely
on the ground of the righteousness and the merits of Jesus Christ,
and no other reason. The only robe of righteousness
I have doesn't have a thread of my own righteousness in it,
not a thread of my own good works in it. Everything about that
came from me, from my flesh, is to be burned. And I am brought
into heaven solely because of what Christ did and who He is. And I burn everything. Somebody
says, well, don't you care about good work? Sure I do. Sure I
do. I want to be rich in good works.
I want to be, so does every other believer. But I know this, the
only way I can be saved is by the righteousness of Christ.
As soon as I think a work is good, it's no good. All of a
sudden I'm trusting it. That's why the only safe ground
to trust is the Lord Jesus Christ himself and nothing else. They burned these books, and
50,000 pieces of silver, that's estimated as anywhere between
one and five million dollars today. That's how valuable these
books were. But they saw them as having no value and worth
nothing but to be burned. Have you ever looked at your
works like that? Now, so, in this manner, in this manner,
so mightily, grew the Word of God and prevailed. When God's
special miracles were wrought, And then the counterfeit is exposed. And the works are burned, the
books are burned, so mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed. And I pray that that happens
right now with me and with you, that the Word of God would grow
mightily and prevail in its strength. Now, we have this message on
DVD and CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer.
Amen. To receive a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send
your request to todd.nyberg at gmail.com. Or you may write or
call the church at the information provided on the screen.