Growing in Faith Through a More Perfect Knowledge

Acts 19:1-20

Children, if you needed a heart transplant, would you let me operate? Shall I cut you open and replace your heart? Of course not! I’m not a surgeon! That’s why training and knowledge are important. But some people trust in superstition. Some Christians wear a gold cross as a piece of jewelry. But in times of danger, they hold their cross and believe it’ll protect them. But it can’t. It’s only jewelry. It has no power. But people lack such knowledge. Other people blindly trust in systems. They think the highest tier health insurance will cover any illness - until the insurance company tries to get out of paying. Or we think a good school will guarantee good grades and character. Not true. It also depends on the student. Systems fail us. There’s only one certainty in life. Jesus saves. Only he can give us a new heart when we trust him - he takes our sinful heart, and gives a heart that seeks to obey him. Only when we trust Jesus - not a gold cross - can he deliver us eternally from evil. Only his plan of salvation guarantees us life.

Today, we see 4 groups of people. Some trusted Jesus, but others didn’t. Some knew him, but others didn’t want to. Some didn’t trust because they didn’t have a complete knowledge. But knowledge matters - it leads to faith. And faith leads to peace and confidence. Let’s examine them. Firstly, the weak in knowledge need instruction to believe. Secondly, those hardened in heart won’t believe despite instruction. Thirdly, God honors the simple in faith. Fourthly, God grows the hungry in faith.

Firstly, the weak in knowledge need instruction to believe. Verse 1 says Paul returned to Ephesus. Previously, it wasn’t God’s will for him to stay - he had to go to Jerusalem. But God led him back and he stayed awhile. Verse 10 says 2 years. There, he encountered 12 disciples. After talking to them, he realized they were incomplete in knowledge. He asked in verse 2 - “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” While this sounded insulting - Paul had a purpose. In the course of talking, he realized they weren’t complete in knowledge. They even said - “We’ve never heard about any Holy Spirit!” Why? They’d only been disciples of John the Baptizer, verse 3. They were like Apollos. We saw last week how he had imperfect knowledge of Jesus. But after he was taught, he became fruitful. So here, they knew of a coming Christ, but didn’t know he already came. They knew about him but not him personally. And since they didn’t know about the Holy Spirit, they didn’t know about Jesus’ baptism. John’s baptism symbolized repentance while Christ’s symbolized forgiveness. Verse 4 - “John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” John baptized people to repent and prepare for Christ. But Jesus gave the real baptism. If they trusted in him, he’d baptize them with the Holy Spirit to burn away their sin. So these 12 weren’t converted yet. Their knowledge was not enough. Many people grow up in church. They know traditions and church doctrine. But they don’t quite get the gospel. They learn about Christ, but don’t know him personally. They grow up hearing the gospel, but still struggle about being good enough for heaven.

Now, when these 12 disciples of John finally understood the gospel, they responded with faith. Verse 5 says when they heard, they believed and were saved. They were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. They received the Spirit of Jesus. And we learn they spoke in tongues. Now, what was the purpose of this display? Such speaking in tongues occurred at key periods of gospel preaching. It showed how Jesus was expanding his kingdom. When the disciples received the Spirit, they spoke in tongues. Jesus saved his inner circle. When the Samaritans believed they also spoke. Jesus saved rejects. When the Gentiles believed, they too spoke. Jesus saved barbarians. And when these believed, they also spoke. Jesus saved these latecomers. It’s never too late to believe. When our children understand and respond in faith, God saves them. They may come to faith later in life - but God saves them. Their knowledge may not be complete now - it may not touch their hearts yet - but when it does, God saves them.

But secondly, not all respond with faith. Those hardened in heart won’t believe despite knowledge. In verse 8, Paul went to the synagogue. “And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.” There was a sizable Jewish community in Ephesus - enough to form a synagogue. And Paul naturally went there first. One of the reasons is that they already had some knowledge. These Jews knew the Old Testament and had been waiting for the Messiah. They didn’t need to be convinced that the Scriptures were true. But they needed convincing that Jesus was the Christ. Paul preached for 3 months. How did he do it? He spoke boldly, disputed, and persuaded. He spoke boldly - meaning he had freedom in speaking. He was not prevented. When he preached in Thessalonica, Berea, and Corinth, he was kicked out of the synagogues. But here, he wasn’t. For three months he preached! He disputed. Literally, dialegos, he dialogued - he debated. He had extensive discussions over the Scriptures. He interpreted them to show Christ. He also persuaded. We tend to think that Paul was always pugnacious wherever he went. But this word persuaded speaks of his attitude - he would’ve used words to induce belief, to win over, to be friendly. He was not a thug. Some versions link these words to imply he argued persuasively. Whatever it was, Paul worked hard. Some of us only have only one way of conversing - we fight with words. However, Paul wasn’t like that. He preached and taught for 3 months, showing that Jesus was the Christ. He boldly dialogued from the Bible persuasively.

But alas, they rejected. Verse 9 says, “But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude.” It says their hearts were hardened. This reminds us of Pharaoh who hardened his heart. Rejection leads to hardening. Or one could say hardening leads to rejection. The plagues were so clear - they showed God’s power; but Pharaoh just refused to believe. The same with the Pharisees. Jesus’ miracles were so clear - he was sent from God! But they said he cast out demons by the power of the Devil. Jesus also once rebuked his disciples. After a long period of ministry, they entered the boat with only one loaf of bread. They forgot to get more. Then they became worried - do we have enough? Jesus rebuked them in Mark 8 - “Why do you worry about bread? Don’t you know yet? Are your hearts too hardened? Don’t you have eyes and ears? When I fed the 5000, how many baskets were left? When I fed the 4000, how many baskets were left? Don’t you understand?” Jesus could’ve provided them with bread, but they were faithless. Similarly here, Paul was so clear, but they rejected. They also spoke evil of the gospel. They weren’t content to reject, they had to slander. True believers cherish the word of God. But when we reject Jesus, all the Word of God we know matters not.

But while they disbelieved and hardened their hearts, others believed - simply. God honored their simple faith. That’s the third point. After this event, Paul left the synagogue and brought the church to the lecture hall of Tyrannus. In ancient Greece, philosophers rented halls for public talks. So the church used a rented hall. And verse 10 says that Paul taught here for 2 years. The other 6 churches of Revelation were planted during this time. And in those 2 years, God worked many miracles, verse 11. He helped the simple in faith by healing illnesses and casting out demons. What’s interesting is how. They were healed through Paul’s handkerchief and aprons. The handkerchief was the cloth to wipe away sweat. The apron was a workman’s overalls. Now, how could this happen? Wasn’t this superstitious? Like believing a gold cross can protect you? As a Charismatic, I heard and saw people painting their cars and houses regularly for blessing. Why? Because paint contains oil. They wanted anointing. They were superstitious. But what about the Ephesians? Why did God use it when it seemed superstitious? Now, there’s a difference between superstition and simple faith. These people believed clothes connected to Christ’s servants could heal. Like the woman with the issue of blood. She thought if she touched Jesus’ clothes, she’d be healed. But it was not superstition because she ultimately believed in Christ. Jesus told her - “thy faith hath made thee whole.” Similarly, in Acts 3, many hoped Peter’s shadow would heal them. And a lame man was healed. Why? Superstition? No. Simple faith. Acts 3:16 - “yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness - has healed him.” In other words, they didn’t trust the clothes or shadow, but Christ. Yes, this was simple faith. And God can and does condescend to meet us in our primitive belief. It doesn’t mean he’s pleased with it. But whatever the reason, the people had simple faith in Christ.

On the other hand, God judged those who were truly superstitious but without faith. In Ephesus, there were exorcists - they cast out demons. Ephesus was known for its magic industry. Not tricks, but sorcery - black magic. Satan used sorcerers to deceive people. They used secret magic words to release Satan’s power. Magic manuals were sold for high prices. And here, 7 Jews, sons of Sceva, earned money by casting out demons. Sceva even claimed to be a priest. And after witnessing Paul’s miracles, they imitated him. Paul had a magic word - Jesus. So now they tried using the name of Jesus. They said in verse 13 to the demon possessed people - “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.” They used Jesus as a magical formula. They believed that “praying in Jesus’ name” had power. But they didn’t believe in Jesus. There was no personal faith, but mere superstition. They used the name of Jesus whom Paul preached. They didn’t use the name of their savior. And the result? Verses 15-16 tell us, “And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 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 that house naked and wounded.” These men were famous in Ephesus, but not to the demon. Because they weren’t saved, they were attacked by the demon. They tried to expel the demon but got expelled instead. Why? They were simply superstitious. They used Christ for gain. But God’s miracles can’t be imitated. Verse 11 says it was God who worked through Paul. It was faith in Christ that Christ was pleased to use. But these men had no faith.

After this whole event, everyone was filled with fear. Here we see fourthly, God grows the hungry in faith. Verse 17-18 - “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 shewed their deeds.” There were several things that happened. There was a response of reverence. People were converted. The Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus were filled with fear. They magnified Christ. This was amazing. Paul wanted to visit Ephesus but was prevented. He came a second time, but had to leave. He returned but there was no convert after 3 months of persuasive Bible Study! But here, in God’s timing, they feared and magnified Christ. They were hardened no more. It took time for the gospel to work in their hearts. And there was also repentance. Those who had believed, they came and openly confessed - they revealed what they had done. We learn in verse 19 that these believers who had practiced sorcery brought their magic books and burned them publicly in the square. The value of these books was 50,000 pieces of silver - a silver piece was considered a daily wage. So this was the equivalent of 50,000 times a daily salary. That’s several million dollars worth of magic books. For a person who earns $3000 a month, that’s $125 per working day. Multiply that by 50,000 and you get $6.2 million.

Now, the sense isn’t clear who practiced sorcery. Was it the newly converted or the already converted? Who burned the magic books? Now, we can understand if it was new converts, but older Christians should know better right? Not always. Remember the Jerusalem Council gave instructions to the Gentile Christians not to participate in pagan rituals. So yes, it could be those who converted earlier. Christians are not exempt from poor knowledge, simplistic faith, wrong doctrine, and pagan practices. There are Christians who are very superstitious. I know Christians who won’t give clocks or knives as gifts unless they take a token 10¢ payment. Otherwise, it’d bring bad luck to the recipient. Some Christians believe in horoscopes. They will not matchmake their Tiger year daughter to a year of the monkey boy. Some still think children shouldn’t go to funerals because of evil spirits. Yes, young Christians may have superstition, but long time Christians also do. We’re slow to learn. But God grows us in faith as we’re perfected in knowledge. Because they were perfected in knowledge, they responded in repentance. They grew in faith. Verse 20 says, “so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.” The word of God spread and had a powerful effect on the people. Often we live and hold our traditional beliefs. We say we believe the Scriptures, but actually don’t believe they’re sufficient for our lives. But when we reject all other philosophies., we magnify Christ. And they did this in a big way. Christ builds his kingdom by our knowledge of him. When Jesus asked the disciples - who do men say I am? They said Elijah and John the Baptizer. But who do you say I am? Peter answered - the Christ, the son of the Living God. And it would be upon this confession that the church would be built. This is how Christ builds his kingdom - this is how he makes us holy. This is greater than any demon casting - how God can turn our hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. It’s amazing how these disciples who lagged behind, caught up and were baptized. It’s amazing how the Word of God made plain and proven led to repentance.

We’ve had a number who’ve come to confess their faith. We thank God for these who love Christ and desire to live for him. May you continue to progress in knowing Christ more perfectly, to grow in your faith, and obedience. But now, I speak to covenant children here. Children, you’ve grown up with the gospel. You know there’s a savior. But you also know you’ll never be good enough, faithful enough, knowledgeable enough. But if you know that Jesus saves and he loves you - then all you need to do is believe in him, confess your faith and allegiance to him. I speak to those who are fathers and mothers; grandfathers and grandmothers in the faith - continue to press on in your faith. You must admit that there’s still much cultural, traditional, and superstitious influences in your life. Grow beyond simplistic faith - but how thankful we are to God for still receiving us. Let the Word continue to purify you - to grow in faith and in repentance.

1. The Weak in Knowledge Need Instruction to Believe

A. They were incomplete in knowledge

B. They responded in faith

2. The Hardened in Heart Won’t Believe Despite Instruction

A. They had some knowledge

B. They rejected full knowledge

3. God Honors the Simple in Faith

A. Their simple faith was honored

B. Their superstition was rejected

4. God Grows the Hungry in Faith

A. They responded in reverence

B. They responded in repentance