Spiritual Realities (Acts 19, Jeff Kliewer)

The Holy Spirit, Tongues, and the Problem of Two-Tier Christianity

And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all.". Now many Christians have used this scripture to really create a two-tier Christianity.

That there are ordinary Christians, who don't do things like prophesy and speak in tongues, and then there's these super saints who have the baptism of the Spirit. However, if you look at this text more closely, it in fact teaches quite the opposite.

The problem with those in Ephesus is not that they were a lower-ranking Christian, who just hadn't experienced the fullness of the second work of grace, the baptism of the Spirit. No, the problem was, they weren't Christians at all.

They weren't Christians at all.

They had heard from John the Baptist that they needed to repent, and they had been baptized. Probably in the Jordan River. Remember how John the Baptist, he was out there by the Jordan, he was wearing camel hair, and he was eating locusts and honey, he had a leather belt, and that's all he had.

And he was just out there preaching repentance, and the people began to flock to him, and he baptized them in the Jordan. That was a partial understanding of the Kingdom of God. After John was arrested and beheaded, Jesus would tell of how he would be crucified.

And after ascending, after rising from the dead and ascending to heaven, he would send the Holy Spirit. These guys had not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit. Verse 2, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.

So, they had not yet come to a knowledge of the truth. They needed the Gospel. Verse 3, and he said,.

What then were you baptized?

They said, John's baptism. And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance. So, pause right there. Were these guys baptized or not? Had they been dunked under the water and brought back up?

They had been. However, it was not with understanding. It was not with genuine, joyful faith that they were baptized. They were baptized in a way that pointed forward to Christ, but in their mind they didn't understand.

Romans chapter 10, verse 17 says, Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We must first of all hear that Jesus is the Christ. Somebody here needs to just hear this today. That Jesus is the Christ.

He is real.

He died on the cross. He rose from the dead. And he is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He reigns in heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father. This is the good news that Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead.

You need to hear that. And believing in your heart, you need to turn from sin and trust him as your Savior alone. That knowledge of the Holy One is what goes with you into the water. If you go into the water without the knowledge of the Holy One, it's just an outward ritual.

Something has to change on the inside that brings you down into the water. Otherwise, the ritual itself is of no use. So notice something in verse 4. John baptized with the baptism of repentance. So they have that baptism, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him.

That is Jesus.

Here's an anabaptism. Remember the early anabaptists? They were called anabaptists because they were re-baptized around the time of the Reformation. They had been baptized but not in the true gospel, not with understanding.

It says in verse 5, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So from this, I see an apologetic for believer's baptism. That baptism should be in water as an outward demonstration of what you're believing on the inside.

You need to be believing the gospel. Then in verse 6, when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them. Now this is interesting. Isn't it interesting? They began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

Speaking languages they don't know. Now they're not out at the ends of the earth like some of our missionaries preaching the gospel in India where they need a new language. No, they're experiencing God and they begin to speak in tongues.

It's some kind of prayer. It's some kind of expression of worship. It's accompanied with prophesying, which is I think what I'm doing right now. When I proclaim that Jesus is the Christ, I do that by the Spirit of the living God.

In my flesh, I would never be standing here today. My flesh would have taken me along a very different road in life. But by the Spirit of the living God,.

He's called me to preach.

Caruso, to proclaim. And it's that spiritual speaking forth the glory of the Son of God that's referred to here. They began to speak in tongues. That's supernatural. That's some kind of expression of praise that's not even with their mind, but also with the mind they're prophesying.

And that's even better because they are declaring that Jesus is worthy. He is greater than whatever's on your mind right now. There's some of you that are distracted by worldly things, by the material things of this life.

But to prophesy is to say that Jesus is great. He's worthy of your attention and devotion and all things. And so the Spirit of God has come on them. And so what they're doing is they're speaking in tongues and they're proclaiming the truth of who Jesus is.

And they're delighting in Jesus. And I'm sure somebody is breaking out in song. I like to just on my own when nobody can hear this, just make up songs. Before anybody gets here, just praying in songs that I'm just making up on the spur of the moment.

And I'm glad there's no tape recorder. But see, this is the Spirit of God working in them. Is it only for the super saints? No, because 1 Corinthians 12, 13 says, all of us were baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Every one of you who has believed in Christ you have the Holy Spirit. We were all given the one Spirit to drink. So there aren't two classes of Christians. There's not the super saint Christians who are baptized in the Spirit and they get to run the aisles and they get to speak in tongues and do all these miraculous things.

And then there's just the rest of us ordinary Christians. No, 1 Corinthians 12, 13 says, we are all baptized in the Spirit. Now, what's the difference though? Notice the language in verse six. When Paul laid his hands on them, now that's not a mystical transfer of energy.

That's not that Paul has like some electricity in his hand and he can lay his hand on them and boom,.

They're just zapped.

In fact, I've seen charismatics do some strange things. I was watching online not long ago on YouTube and there was a guy who got touched and he started swinging his coat around and then he ran in the aisle and he threw his coat at the preacher.

Which only got the preacher more fired up and then he kept running. Next thing you knew, he tripped over the baptismal.

And fell in the water.

Yeah, that was strange. That wasn't what we're seeing here. What we're seeing here is God-centeredness and the laying on of hands is showing identity with Paul's message. It's showing agreement. So the same man who will write Romans and 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians and Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, when he writes these things to them, this is the ministry that they are under.

They used to be identified in John with John's baptism of repentance. Now they're identified in the name of Jesus and the ministry of Paul as he lays his hands on them, sends them out. In the same way, when we send missionaries to the ends of the earth, we lay hands on them to identify them with the gospel as we teach it because there are many deceivers in the world.

There are many sent out under a different kind of spirit and with a different authority that comes from a different place. So this identifies in agreement with the gospel. Now, verse 8 through 10, I want you to see that the kingdom of God is real.

We just saw that the Holy Spirit is real. Either you have the Spirit in you or else you don't belong to Christ. Now we're going to learn that the kingdom of God is real. Verse 8 through 10, "...he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief...". This is demonic, by the way. It's more of an ordinary demonic. They begin to be agitated. Their spirit is not at rest. There's an agitation and they begin to oppose speaking evil of the way before the congregation.

"...he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrenus. This continued for two years so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord,.

Both Jews and Greeks.".

I mentioned football and I mentioned the pursuits of this world. It's very easy to get distracted by the things of this world.

The material things,.

Our jobs,.

Providing for our families, everything that we have to do to survive in the material world. But the kingdom of God is unseen. Now you see its manifestation in people as people come to faith and as people work for the kingdom of God.

You see the fruit of the kingdom and you see gifts of the Spirit operating in believers. But the kingdom of God will be established when Jesus Christ comes from heaven and plants his foot on the Mount of Olives and he's really here on this earth again and he will reign from Jerusalem and all the nations will flock to him and from there he will be acknowledged as King of Kings.

And Lord of Lords.

That's the kingdom of God. But in this short time until he returns or until you die, whichever comes first, your life is to be devoted.

To immaterial things,.

Not to material things. And that's a hard thing to hear.

It's a hard thing to do.

Because the material things of this world are overwhelming. They surround us everywhere and all of this life tells you to focus on those things. The kingdom of God.

A sad thing to see.

Are Christians who are puffed up about what they do for God. I heard about this one conference speaker who's prominent in evangelicalism and someone writing about him said when he was walking around this conference with thousands of Christians around him, he had his little posse and they were all wearing skinny jeans and they had the real bifocal glasses,.

Black glasses,.

And they were drinking lattes and you couldn't get to him unless you went through one of them because this guy was a big deal. In the eyes of the world, he was somebody important. I think something's backwards.

In that picture.

The idea of a Christian celebrity should be anathema. A Christian celebrity,.

How backwards is that idea?

And yet so many people march around like we've accomplished something great. When I read in the text, if you notice in verse 10, this continued for two years so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Bring that map back up if you will. For two years, Paul is evangelizing so regularly at a certain hall of Tyranus that that entire province of Asia hears about Jesus.

That's a kingdom impact.

I don't know what any one of us would be called to do, but until we've reached entire countries with the gospel, we are still just dabbling.

We're still just on our knees.

On the outskirts of what's possible.

Through the spirit of the living God.

I'm excited by what God is doing here, but we have only had a foretaste of what the spirit of the living God is able to do through us. We're only beginning to taste it. God in moving his kingdom, if we will continue to advance and recognize and come to the same kind of place.

Where Paul was,.

Crucified with Christ, nevertheless he lived. For him to live was Christ, to die was gain. All in for Christ, completely surrendered, and his influence just grew and grew from that. Guys, we need to begin to walk more powerfully in the kingdom of God.

You say, I'm sold out.

Well, are you?

I've made a break from the material things.

Of this world.

And my heart is fully given to Christ. Is that true?

Is that true of me?

No.

That's what I want to be. That's what I want to leave this sermon today and say, I surrender all. Because guys, here's the third thing. The spiritual battle we're in,.

It's real.

We are not playing games and the enemies that we face are real. Let's read this part. Kids, perk up. This is an interesting story. 11 through 20, and God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

So let's pause right there. Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. Before you get scared by what you're about to read, remember this, Christ is greater. His authority is far greater.

In fact, infinitely greater, as much different as the creator is to the creation. Over Satan. But let's read on. Verse 13. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.

Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this, but the evil spirit answered them. Jesus, I know, and Paul, I recognize, but who are you? And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastering all of them and overpowered them so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, and fear fell upon them all. And the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Also, many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging the practices.

And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to 50 ,000 pieces of silver. That's 5 .5 million dollars worth of magic arts.

Obviously, Ephesus was steeped in this stuff. Things like Ouija boards and all kinds of different magical books. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. One of the things that Wormwood was counseled to do is to conceal that he's even there.

Because if you see something like this, you'll know that the spiritual war is real. But very often, we believe that demons are only something in comic books. Or they're real, but they don't really affect us.

Demons influence believers. Fred Dickinson, who's done a study, a case study, interviewing hundreds, probably 400 case studies, of Christians who are genuinely saved, has come to the conclusion that demons can influence Christians almost to the level of demon possession.

Just short of it, because we know that the temple of the living God, the Holy Spirit, cannot share space with the demon. If you are a possession of the true God, you as a Christian cannot be possessed by a demon.

He can't have ownership of you. There's only one owner,.

And that is Christ.

However, the effect of oppression, as we allow that to continue in our lives, especially as we open doors, maybe by going to a seance, or somehow conjuring up a spirit, or reading books about witchcraft, or watching horror movies, or watching pornography, or opening doors to the evil one, the evil one gains a foothold.

We're told in Ephesians not to give the devil a foothold. And sometimes that demonic oppression in our lives can get to the level where it even looks like possession. And so what can be done about this?

Two things. Number one, truth encounter. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. There's a book called Victory Over the Darkness, and another one called Bondage Breaker by Neil Anderson.

He says that we don't even need to go down the road of exorcism like we see in this text. What we need is to read and study and know the word of God, and take and apply the word of God in our lives. And what I've found, when demonic influences are coming against me or my family, or in any way in a sphere of influence that I'm there, when I bring the word of God, the word of God is mighty to tear down strongholds.

Very often you don't even need a power encounter. You just need a truth encounter. You need to read the word of God. The devil hates what's happening right now. In fact, if there are demons that are oppressing some of you, he hates the fact that the word of God is being taught.

And as you listen, you'll find yourself being set free. What we need is truth encounter. But power encounter is also biblical. The second thing is power encounter. Sometimes we need to take authority as Michael talked about earlier.

The missionary that said,.

In the name of Jesus,.

Look me in the eye. And the guy's eyes shot right up and locked eyes with the missionary. Sometimes we need to take power over the enemy because he is in fact a defeated foe. Sometimes if you're struggling in an area, maybe with rage, maybe with lust,.

Maybe with greed,.

And you recognize that this thing in your life is more than just my flesh. There is something supernatural empowering this. You need to get together with Christians and pastors and we need to pray in the name of Jesus that you be set free.

And I've seen it. I've seen people getting delivered.

From strongholds of the enemy.

Power encounter. The worst thing you can do is pretend that demons don't exist. That's what they want you to do. That's their strategy in our day and age. In the scientific era, get free through truth encounter and power encounter.

The Ordinary and Extraordinary Demonic in Ephesus

Now finally, and we'll get to Andrew Brunson here in a moment, verses 21 through the end of the chapter. I'm just going to read this. It's a great story. And then I'll just make a few brief comments. Sometimes the danger around us is physical and I want to call this the ordinary demonic.

We saw the extraordinary or the supernatural demonic where one person empowered by a demon is able to overpower seven grown men and beat them up so that they run out of there bloody and naked. That's kind of strong.

In fact, some of the pastors that I've listened to, Mark Driscoll and a few others, have described supernatural strength of a demon possessed person. Throwing a 300 pound pastor across the room. That's not the ordinary course of this world that we see.

It has happened and we have authority against that in the name of Jesus. But the more ordinary demonic happens in the circumstances of life. It is an oppression that comes. There's a mob mentality rising up against Christians.

It's happening from ordinary people in our day-to-day lives. It doesn't manifest in that strange and deep voice coming from a little girl. It's not like the movie Exorcist, no head spinning. It's just ordinary in the course of this world and yet it's demonic in nature.

That's what we're normally facing. 21 and following. Now after these events, Paul resolved in the spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. Saying, after I have been there, I must also see Rome.

And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. About that time, there arose no little disturbance concerning the way. The way is Christianity.

For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. These he gathered together with the workmen in similar trades and said, men, you know from this business, we have our wealth.

And you see in here that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people. Saying that God's maids with hands are not God's. You hear him scoffing at that, but that's exactly what Isaiah said when he mocked God's maid with hands.

Verse 27, and there is danger, not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing. And that she may even be deposed from her magnificence.

She whom all Asia and the world worship. You see how they're starting to get worked up here. When they heard this, they were enraged and were crying out, great is Artemis of the Ephesians. So the city was filled with confusion and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions and traveled.

But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. And even some of the Asiarchs who were friends of his sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion and most of them did not know why they had come together.

Some of the crowd prompted Alexander whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander motioning with his hand wanted to make a defense to the crowd. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours, they all cried out with one voice, great is Artemis of the Ephesians.

You can picture people clawing at a Supreme Court door, just worked into a frenzy, worked up, crying out, great is Artemis of the Ephesians. Verse 35, and when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky.

Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. Now, wait a minute, here's a voice of reasoning and here is common grace. God is constantly restraining the evil around us.

Did you know that?

If it weren't for the common grace of God restraining evil, we wouldn't be able to make it home today. But because God in his common grace, in his love for humanity, restrains the evil of Hitler. World War II was what it was.

Imagine if the restrainer was not. We would be living under a Nazi regime instead of the freedom of America. And sometimes he lifts his restraint enough to see how evil humankind really is, so that we won't be disillusioned to think that we actually are good as a people in and of ourselves, but we'll recognize the true condition of human nature and some of us will flee to the cross and say, I am undone, save me.

But the general pattern of this world is that the evil of man is restrained. Here's what happens in the text. Evil is being restrained by the common grace of God. Verse 37,. For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess, if therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls, let them bring charges against one another.

But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.

And the story ends this way and when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly. So God in his common grace protects Paul's life and all the lives of the Christians. Yesterday, Andrew Brunson, a missionary to Turkey, was set free.

Praise God, I remember back in, it's probably six months ago when we talked about this in a sermon and we prayed together for Andrew Brunson to be set free. Thank God that he answered prayer. In the same area, the same part of Turkey, people got stirred up.

Why were they mad at Andrew Brunson? Because he was preaching that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, crucified and risen and ascended to sit at the right hand of the father. He preached the gospel and as converts were being won, the government got angry, the people got mad and he was thrown in jail and charged with spying on the country.

A ridiculous charge. You know what made Andrew Brunson great.

In the kingdom of God?

He was willing to die. He made that decision when he left North Carolina and took his wife and moved to Turkey and raised children in a hostile place. He was not looking to walk around with a posse at a conference.

He was willing to die for the gospel. He was the obscure one. He was the small one. He was the unknown. He was laboring in the vineyard of the Lord in the kingdom of God and he suffered. Part of walking with Christ is being willing to suffer.

There are real dangers against us. The more you advance in the kingdom of God, the more you will suffer. Suffering is not evidence that you are out of the will of God. In fact, when you begin to suffer for the name of Christ, it shows that you are blessed.

For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for him since you are going through the same trials I have and now see that I still have. Suffering has a purpose in the kingdom of God but as he abased himself and humbled himself for the sake of the kingdom, he was attacked and he spent two long years in a Turkish prison.

Yesterday, he was sitting in the White House and after Donald Trump spoke, he was given a microphone and he got down on his knees and he laid hands on the president and he prayed for this man to have wisdom.

He prayed for his leaders according to 1 Timothy 2 and in his prayer,.

He claimed the name of Jesus.

And his wife prayed as well, equally powerfully and the whole country watching that is able to see and hear the gospel. The immaterial things of this life, in closing,.

They're invisible,.

You can't see them but this is what matters most. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believe? The Holy Spirit is real and here's how you can really say that you belong to Christ. Go into real water as a real and outward physical demonstration of your crucifixion with Christ and your being risen to walk in newness of life.

There's a reality to that that demonstrates that something real happened inside of you. We'll see that next week when we baptize. Bring unbelievers because we're going to preach the gospel. Let them see that demonstration of the gospel.

Do you walk in the invisible kingdom of God? Well, my question is this, do you believe Matthew 6 33 but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.

What are you living for? This world and the material things of this life or are you living first for the kingdom of God?

Demons, they're real,.

They're defeated foes and are you willing to claim Christus victor, Christ the victor, believing that he is greater and through encountering the truth of God and the power of God take victory over those spirits in your life.

They have no right, they have no dominion over you. Right now you need to begin to say in the name of Jesus, this spirit must go. Some of you are struggling in different areas and you're controlled by things that are not of God.

Be set free through the truth and the power of the living God. It is available, you don't have to do it on your own. Call believers to lay hands on you.

And to pray over you.

To identify in the word of God. Be free, don't ignore demons and face these dangers of this life. Count the cost, take up your cross, be willing to suffer. Don't think it's strange when you suffer various trials of many kinds.

These things aren't strange, they're part of the kingdom of God. Be willing to endure them. Worship team, I'm going to call on you and guys let's stand to our feet. If there's anybody here.