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Short Clip
This is unlike any other time in Paul’s ministry. God didn’t do miracles like this all the time. But here, in Ephesus, because Paul’s only goal was to magnify Christ, because he didn’t care about magnifying his own ministry, his own name, his own status, God especially blessed Paul’s ministry like at no other time in his life.
But, like always, the power of God attracted counterfeits. A clever group of opportunists wanted to get in on the action, so they started selling God’s power. Notably, the seven sons of a man named Sceva. They were peddling the power to exorcise demons, but when they ordered one demon out in the name of Jesus and the name of Paul, the demon didn’t recognize them. He said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?” And the seven sons of Sceva barely got away with their lives. “This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus, and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.”
A powerful church is one that magnifies Jesus, not the facilities, not the programs, not the teachers. Paul purposefully supported himself so no one could accuse him of being in it for the profit, and when the greedy opportunists came in to profit from the power of God, they were discredited, and Jesus was magnified.
The lesson? God looks for men and women to use who are willing to work unhindered by the sacrifice, laboring with an undivided heart, proclaiming an undiluted message, investing even in a humble occupation—all to make the Gospel of Christ known.
We are to love God more than anything else. That should prompt why we serve Him, that should prompt why we read His word, that should prompt why we want to sacrifice for Him. The Ephesians didn’t do what they did because their church was the biggest. They didn’t do it to earn a name for themselves. They simply did it because they loved Jesus Christ. Christ needs to be the focus, the goal, the desire. And when He is, God’s Son is magnified, and the church has power that makes demons run.