Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20130224.htm

DISCIPLING DIFFICULT RELATIVES AND PRODIGALS
Part IV: Relying On The Lord For Validation Before Others
(Acts 19:11-20 et al.)
  1. Introduction
    1. Even a prophet is not without honor except in his own hometown and in his own home, Matt. 13:57 ESV.
    2. Accordingly, when seeking to disciple difficult relatives and prodigals, the very familiarity the teacher has with such relatives can itself undermine the validity of what he seeks to teach them.
    3. The Apostle Paul faced disrespect from unbelieving countrymen, so the Gospel of Christ he proclaimed was also often disrespected, so God supernaturally supplied him and his message great public validation.
    4. We view this truth in Acts 19:11-20 for our edification (as follows):
  2. Relying On The Lord For Validation Before Others, Acts 19:11-20 et al.
    1. When Paul gave the Gospel to his fellow Hebrews in the synagogue at Ephesus, some became "obstinate," refusing to believe, and "publicly maligned the Way," the Christian Gospel, Acts 19:8-9 NIV.
    2. Paul thus separated from those in the synagogue and moved new converts to Christ over to the secular lecture hall owned by Tyrannus that was likely used to teach students rhetoric, a hall available also to traveling philosophers and teachers, Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Acts 19:9.
    3. However, though Paul continued to minister this way for two more years to where all in Asia heard the Gospel (Acts 19:10), the maligning he faced hurt his credibility and that of his Gospel before others.
    4. Thus, God supernaturally gave Paul and the Gospel he preached validation before all, Acts 19:11-16:
      1. God produced miracles through Paul to counter the false legalism of his Hebrew critics, Acts 19:11-12:
        1. The Greek word for "handkerchiefs" in Acts 19:12 KJV is soudarion, a "face-cloth for wiping perspiration" (Arndt & Ging., A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 766), and the word for "aprons" is simikinthion, a workman's apron Paul used in tentmaking (Ibid., p. 758; Acts 18:1-3).
        2. Thus, when Paul discarded his soiled workmen's face-cloths and aprons in the city dump, afflicted people who rummaged there would touch these cloths and be healed, Acts 19:11-12!
        3. This contradicted the teachings of Paul's Hebrew critics! They held to the Mosaic Law that taught that items touched by dead bodies were unclean (Numbers 19)! However, Paul's discarded, soiled work cloths that landed in the city dump in contact with many decaying dead things were used of God to restore health and life to the afflicted! These miracles signaled the truth of Paul's claim that "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believ eth" in Christ, Romans 10:4.
      2. God produced a testimony vindicating Paul and the Gospel of Jesus he preached, while also exposing the false spirituality of Hebrew magician exorcists, Acts 19:13-17a (Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Acts 19:13):
        1. Learning from the exorcisms that occurred when the afflicted touched Paul's discarded work cloths, some area Hebrew exorcists began to invoke the name of Jesus Whom Paul preached to exorcise demons, and seven Jewish brothers, magician exorcists (Acts 19:13-14; Ibid., Ryrie), tried to exorcise an evil spirit from a man using this formula as if it were a magical formula, Acts 19:13-14.
        2. The demon acknowledged the authority of Paul and of Jesus Whom Paul preached, but he did not acknowledge the authority of these seven Hebrew exorcists, so he physically attacked them through the demon possessed man so that they fled naked and wounded out of the house, Acts 19:15-16.
        3. The Hebrews were typically critical of Greeks who performed naked in athletic events, so news of seven Hebrews fleeing naked from a house spread to all the town's Jews and Gentiles, Acts 19:17a!
    5. Consequently, the truth about Jesus and Paul was vindicated before all to God's glory, Acts 19:17b-20:
      1. Great fear fell upon all who heard of these things, and the name of Christ was magnified, Acts 19:17b.
      2. Many trusted in Christ and destroyed their cult objects, Acts 19:18-19. The price of the items burned in a special bonfire likely equaled 138 year's pay for a rural laborer! (Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Acts 19:19)
      3. Thus, the Word of God Paul preached "spread widely and grew in power," Acts 19:20 NIV.
Lesson: When Paul and the Gospel he preached were maligned, God provided supernatural validation both for him and the Gospel he preached so that his ministry and the cause of Christ was upheld.

Application: May we not fret or try in our own effort to defend our credibility before foes who malign us, even if they are difficult relatives, but let the Lord validate our discipling ministry before them!