After
travelling through Galatia and Phrygia, Paul continued on to Ephesus (v. 1). When
he arrived he met a group of believers who had an incomplete picture of the
gospel. They knew about repentance, but didn’t have a full understanding of
Jesus or the Holy Spirit (v. 3-4). Upon hearing a full explanation, the men
placed their faith in Jesus and received the Holy Spirit, as evidenced by them
speaking in tongues and prophesying (v. 5-6). Paul then entered the Ephesian synagogue,
where he spent three months boldly teaching about the kingdom of God (v. 8). When
a group in the synagogue began slandering the Christian faith, Paul and his followers
left (v. 9). Over the course of two years, God used Paul to work many miracles and
spread the Gospel to every single person in Ephesus (v. 10-12). The believers
in Ephesus were given a wake-up call when the seven sons of Sceva were
confronted by a demon (v. 13-16). This event led to a move of holiness
throughout the region. Believers confessed their hidden sins (18) and people
who practiced witchcraft burned their scrolls. The total monetary value of
these scrolls equaled 50,000 days’ wages (v. 19). A person working six days a
week would have had to work over 160 years straight to earn this amount! At
face value these people gave up an astounding amount to follow Jesus. However,
the value of eternal life and forgiveness is immeasurably more than what they
gave up.
Journaling and Prayer
1. Having perfect theological knowledge is not the
path to salvation, but as we see here it is important to think correctly about
God. It has been said that what we think about God is the most important thing
about who we are. Our thoughts affect our actions. Is there anything about God
or the Christian faith that you don’t understand? Spend some time thinking and
praying about that area today. Ask God to speak to you about it. Commit to
studying what the Bible says about that topic, reading books on it (our church
library has a great selection) and/or asking mature, godly believers about it.
2. When we intentionally rid ourselves of sin, it
allows the word of God to spread and grow in power (v. 20). Every believer and
community could use more of God’s word and His power! Ask the Holy Spirit to
search your heart for any hidden sin. Confess this to God and repent of it. If
this sin has been a longstanding problem and you’ve confessed it before with no
success, confess it to a mature, godly believer. You may also consider setting
up an appointment for Personal Prayer Ministry at Southland.
3. Pray for churches in Canada. Pray that we would
grow in their knowledge of and intimacy with Jesus. Pray that God would replace
wrong thinking with thinking based on biblical truth. Ask God to show
Christians in our country the importance of genuine repentance. Ask God to
teach us about the value of laying down everything to follow Him. Pray that,
even as you read this, people in our country would reach a point of total
submission to Jesus. Imagine entering heaven one day and coming across a person
who is there Jesus because of your prayers today! It is possible!
