So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed means that at Ephesus the gospel spread with overcoming power above all the powers of the magicians and overcame all opposition. After miracles through Paul exposed sorcery and magnified the name of Jesus, believers who had still practiced magic confessed and proved true conversion by bringing together their costly books of divination and burning them before all men. They consumed rather than kept or sold them to cut off temptation from themselves and others and to bar the enemy from leading them back into the kingdom of darkness they had renounced. In that public sacrifice truth triumphed over superstition, prejudice and love of money, strengthened the cause of Christ in a stronghold of heathenism, and helped the gospel spread beyond the city long after Paul left. The same prevailing belongs to truth by its own power through the Holy Spirit remolding the character, and it calls men today to renounce Satan's arts, burn books of magical science and carry present truth to neglected cities.
Setting in Ephesus
So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed belongs to the work at Ephesus, a busy commercial center whose many visitors made it a promising field for missionary work. The way for that work had been prepared when Jews returning from Jerusalem carried throughout the world the news of Jesus, proclaimed by John the Baptist as the Promised One. The growth it describes followed rebaptizing the twelve disciples and laying hands on them for the Holy Spirit, three months of preaching in the synagogue and two years in the school of Tyrannus until all in Asia heard, special miracles of healing and casting out evil spirits, and the beating of the seven sons of Sceva by an evil spirit, so that fear fell on Jews and Greeks and the name of Jesus was magnified.
God reached the people in the way that could best reach them in a city full of curious arts and the worship of Diana, by working miracles through Paul by the Spirit. Some who had accepted Christianity had not fully renounced superstition and still practiced magic, but when convinced of their error they came and confessed and showed their deeds. Even some sorcerers joined them in bringing their books of curious arts together and burning them before all men, though their price was fifty thousand pieces of silver.
Those books were treatises on divination containing rules and forms of communication with evil spirits, the regulations of the worship of Satan for soliciting his help and obtaining information from him.
How the Word Prevailed
So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed, spreading with power in Ephesus and overcoming all opposition through the mighty working of God's power above all the powers of the magicians. Men who tried to imitate those miracles by using the name of Jesus in sorcery were beaten and bruised by the evil spirit, proving that sorcery cannot mix with Christ. Seeing a power above the magicians, many were converted.
By burning the books the converts showed that what they once delighted in they now abhorred, giving evidence of true conversion. By and through magic they had especially offended God and imperiled their souls. To retain the books would have exposed the disciples to temptation to go back to studying them and their arrangement and to sorcery when the manifest power of the Spirit was not shining. To sell them would have placed temptation in the way of others, so having renounced the kingdom of darkness they consumed them to cut off every temptation from falling again into their hands and to put up every bar against the enemy leading them into temptation.
In this truth triumphed over superstition, prejudice, and love of money, at great loss of money in a precious waste to destroy the power of darkness. The public renunciation of magic and destruction of the costly books was a major victory for Christianity in a stronghold of superstition that strengthened the cause of Christ. It helped the gospel spread from Ephesus beyond the city, and its influence continued to win people to Christ long after Paul had finished his work and left. At Ephesus a large church was raised up in a stronghold of heathenism, and the progress of the gospel and the evidence of God's power working through Paul's efforts softened the feelings of the brethren at Jerusalem toward him and led them to glorify God.
Truth is mighty and will prevail by its own power upon human hearts through the work of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who remolds the character and makes a new man in Christ Jesus. That work gives sound, sensible thoughts, ideas and principles bearing a weight of influence in a new and divine channel, enlisting heart and soul. Its prevailing needs no strong, extravagant expressions that stir impulse, emotion and overaction; stated calmly and clearly it enters the receiver's mind and becomes part of his very nature. Heaven's yea and amen must bring up the rear of every movement for the worker to gain the reward of success, while weeding extravagance from every effort makes the work far more efficient and commendable even to those who do not believe the truth.
Pattern for Later Work
The record of Acts 19 is repeated today, for the promised blessing is still received with speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance, that experience is confirmed by study of the Word, and persecution follows, so present experience corroborates with the apostolic pattern recorded there. The verse was fulfilled in the early history of the Advent work after separation from the churches to take the Bible and the Bible only as guide and to move forward step by step in new light and in the light God gives. Then the word grew with power and overcame opposition through wonderful manifestations of divine power and miracles, especially when believers were brought into strait places where again and again the power of God was displayed. By those workings souls were convicted and amid scorn and derision from opposing churches bore testimony for the truth, and men converted under the preaching of the truth were led to teach diligently.
Ceasing to pry into magical science, committing books dealing with that subject to the flames, and fearing to learn Satan's art of captivating human minds honors God and opens the way for truth to go forth with power, and after that burning the name of the Lord was magnified and the word grew mightily and prevailed. The same duty rests on men today to stand united on the grand principles of faith and to carry present truth to cities now neglected and given over to superstition and Satan's fallacies, lest hearts be hardened and the Lord be dishonored.
So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed means that at Ephesus the gospel spread with overcoming power above all the powers of the magicians and overcame all opposition. After miracles through Paul exposed sorcery and magnified the name of Jesus, believers who had still practiced magic confessed and proved true conversion by bringing together their costly books of divination and burning them before all men. They consumed rather than kept or sold them to cut off temptation from themselves and others and to bar the enemy from leading them back into the kingdom of darkness they had renounced. In that public sacrifice truth triumphed over superstition, prejudice and love of money, strengthened the cause of Christ in a stronghold of heathenism, and helped the gospel spread beyond the city long after Paul left. The same prevailing belongs to truth by its own power through the Holy Spirit remolding the character, and it calls men today to renounce Satan's arts, burn books of magical science and carry present truth to neglected cities.
Setting in Ephesus
So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed belongs to the work at Ephesus, a busy commercial center whose many visitors made it a promising field for missionary work. The way for that work had been prepared when Jews returning from Jerusalem carried throughout the world the news of Jesus, proclaimed by John the Baptist as the Promised One. The growth it describes followed rebaptizing the twelve disciples and laying hands on them for the Holy Spirit, three months of preaching in the synagogue and two years in the school of Tyrannus until all in Asia heard, special miracles of healing and casting out evil spirits, and the beating of the seven sons of Sceva by an evil spirit, so that fear fell on Jews and Greeks and the name of Jesus was magnified.
God reached the people in the way that could best reach them in a city full of curious arts and the worship of Diana, by working miracles through Paul by the Spirit. Some who had accepted Christianity had not fully renounced superstition and still practiced magic, but when convinced of their error they came and confessed and showed their deeds. Even some sorcerers joined them in bringing their books of curious arts together and burning them before all men, though their price was fifty thousand pieces of silver.
Those books were treatises on divination containing rules and forms of communication with evil spirits, the regulations of the worship of Satan for soliciting his help and obtaining information from him.
How the Word Prevailed
So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed, spreading with power in Ephesus and overcoming all opposition through the mighty working of God's power above all the powers of the magicians. Men who tried to imitate those miracles by using the name of Jesus in sorcery were beaten and bruised by the evil spirit, proving that sorcery cannot mix with Christ. Seeing a power above the magicians, many were converted.
By burning the books the converts showed that what they once delighted in they now abhorred, giving evidence of true conversion. By and through magic they had especially offended God and imperiled their souls. To retain the books would have exposed the disciples to temptation to go back to studying them and their arrangement and to sorcery when the manifest power of the Spirit was not shining. To sell them would have placed temptation in the way of others, so having renounced the kingdom of darkness they consumed them to cut off every temptation from falling again into their hands and to put up every bar against the enemy leading them into temptation.
In this truth triumphed over superstition, prejudice, and love of money, at great loss of money in a precious waste to destroy the power of darkness. The public renunciation of magic and destruction of the costly books was a major victory for Christianity in a stronghold of superstition that strengthened the cause of Christ. It helped the gospel spread from Ephesus beyond the city, and its influence continued to win people to Christ long after Paul had finished his work and left. At Ephesus a large church was raised up in a stronghold of heathenism, and the progress of the gospel and the evidence of God's power working through Paul's efforts softened the feelings of the brethren at Jerusalem toward him and led them to glorify God.
Truth is mighty and will prevail by its own power upon human hearts through the work of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who remolds the character and makes a new man in Christ Jesus. That work gives sound, sensible thoughts, ideas and principles bearing a weight of influence in a new and divine channel, enlisting heart and soul. Its prevailing needs no strong, extravagant expressions that stir impulse, emotion and overaction; stated calmly and clearly it enters the receiver's mind and becomes part of his very nature. Heaven's yea and amen must bring up the rear of every movement for the worker to gain the reward of success, while weeding extravagance from every effort makes the work far more efficient and commendable even to those who do not believe the truth.
Pattern for Later Work
The record of Acts 19 is repeated today, for the promised blessing is still received with speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance, that experience is confirmed by study of the Word, and persecution follows, so present experience corroborates with the apostolic pattern recorded there. The verse was fulfilled in the early history of the Advent work after separation from the churches to take the Bible and the Bible only as guide and to move forward step by step in new light and in the light God gives. Then the word grew with power and overcame opposition through wonderful manifestations of divine power and miracles, especially when believers were brought into strait places where again and again the power of God was displayed. By those workings souls were convicted and amid scorn and derision from opposing churches bore testimony for the truth, and men converted under the preaching of the truth were led to teach diligently.
Ceasing to pry into magical science, committing books dealing with that subject to the flames, and fearing to learn Satan's art of captivating human minds honors God and opens the way for truth to go forth with power, and after that burning the name of the Lord was magnified and the word grew mightily and prevailed. The same duty rests on men today to stand united on the grand principles of faith and to carry present truth to cities now neglected and given over to superstition and Satan's fallacies, lest hearts be hardened and the Lord be dishonored.