Acts 19: 11-20 The Apostle Paul is in Ephesus
And through his ministry people are being healed from sickness and delivered from demons Acts 19: 11-12
Some of the Jewish people tried to copy what Paul was doing Acts 19: 13-16
7 sons of Sceva tried using the name of Jesus to caste demons out of a man
The demon possessed man over powered them and beat them up!
People who are without Jesus, unsaved, are still living in spiritual darkness, they have no power and protection against evil
They live in fear of evil, worshipping false gods, images and idols
Sacrificing food and money to ‘spirits’ in the hope of finding favour with them
God only promises power and protection against the spiritual forces of darkness to Christians, those who belong to Jesus!
Mark 16:17 ‘These are the miraculous signs that will accompany believers: They will use the power and authority of my name to force demons out of people’
Many people in Ephesus came to Christ because of Paul’s ministry Acts 19: 17-19
They feared and honoured the Name of Jesus V17
They openly confessed their evil deeds V18
They destroyed all the things they used in the worship of false gods V1
Just as these new Believers made great change in their lives in coming to Christ – so must we!
Real Christians do not live half in the ‘dark’ and half in the ‘light’
Last week a famous singer died young
Whitney Houston claimed to be a Christian – but was she?
Her funeral was even held in a Church
But, her lifestyle said differently – She…
Was a cocaine addict and smoked marijuana
Got drunk and lived immorally
May have been a practising lesbian
Used offensive language
Saying that you are a Christian does not ‘make’/qualify you to be a Christian
We become a Christian when we believe in Jesus and receive new life through the re-birth of the Holy Spirit (John 3: 3-8)
When we come to Christ, we leave all darkness behind – this is called repentance John 5: 24, Acts 26: 18
Because of the great repentance of the people, the ‘word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.’ V20
That’s what we want here in Nelson isn’t it!?
We want people to be saying…“Those Christians at the Nelson International Church are ‘on fire’ for God, they are unstoppable’!
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