The Ever Prevailing Word
August 30, 2026
Preached by Ron Smith
Discussion Questions
How have you seen the importance of proper theology in your life?
What ways have you had to share the word of the Lord with others? How was the experience? What encouraged you? What was difficult?
What does it mean to share the word with reason? What does persuasion look like as we share the gospel?
Why should we be aware of the spiritual warfare taking place around us? What are extremes we need to avoid?
What are some examples of questions people are asking that we need to answer from a Christian perspective?
What might the Holy Spirit be leading you to give up?
Scripture Reading
Acts 19:20
20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
We continue our series in Acts asking ourselves as a church how do we handle the growth we are experiencing? With More People to Love, what can we learn from Acts about how God Built and Is Still Building a Humble, Holy, Hungry, and Happy Church?
With growth can come many temptations. We could be tempted to think that it is our cleverness that has caused the growth – our programs, our style of music, our friendliness, community. Or we could like the growth so much that we are tempted to abandon biblical truth about the church in favor of the latest fads that are guaranteed to double or quadruple our growth. Maybe change the preaching.
At the heart of those temptations, there is a push to rely on ourselves or anything other than God. So, what will keep us strong and protect us from these temptations? What will cause us to be the kind of Church that is humble, holy, hungry and happy?
We don’t have to guess. Acts 19:20 reveals what the answer is. The word of the Lord. I would like to use verse 20 as an outline. What we will see is that there are quick snapshots in verses 1-19 that show us first of all how the word of the Lord continued to increase (1-10) and then secondly how the word of the Lord prevailed mightily (11-19).
Disciples of John to Disciples of Jesus. A Before and After.
In verses 1-10 there are two snapshots that show us how the word of the Lord increased. The first one is a before and after picture. It is of a group of 12 disciples that when Paul met them, they were disciples of John but after Paul instructs them in the word, they become disciples of Jesus. Let’s read verses 1-7.
And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
As Paul got to know these disciples he must have noticed that something was off. Thus, he asks them two revealing questions. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And when they said they never even heard of the Holy Spirit, he asks into what baptism they were baptized. They respond into John’s. At this point he recognizes that they needed to be taught the word more accurately. They didn’t have all the information. They were familiar with the word but hadn’t arrived at Jesus. The word of the Lord brings us to Jesus.
Putting ourselves in the shoes of these disciples we see that accuracy matters. We need a solid foundation. Faulty foundation, faulty theology will lead us astray. Don’t be afraid of doctrine and theology. If we base our beliefs on our own opinions and experiences, we will end up with some kooky ideas. The word of the Lord needs to be continually shaping our minds and strengthening our theology.
These disciples receive what Paul had to teach them and become believers in Jesus. The word of the Lord increased.
From a Synagogue to a School
The second snapshot we see in these verses is of a city with lots of buildings. But two buildings stand out – a synagogue and a school. Look at verses 8-10.
And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
Paul’s custom as he entered new cities was to teach in a synagogue first. Notice how his teaching is described. We are told that he spoke boldly – he was unashamed because he was convinced what he believed was true. He was convinced that Jesus is the Savior of the world.
But notice that he wasn’t just off the rails and speaking boldly in a way that belittled others or made fun of that they believe. That’s what we associate with boldness. We are told that he reasoned with them. There was an open dialogue. He shared his point of view and stated why his point of view was the right one. Paul was reasoning with the Jews in the synagogue to show that the kingdom of God was fulfilled in Jesus.
For some of us perhaps, reason is a bad word. Reason and faith don’t go together. But that is not the biblical idea of faith. Faith is reasonable. Doesn’t mean we have everything figured out. But our faith is built on a belief system that is reasonable. Christianity makes sense of the world like no other belief system or philosophy can do. Don’t be afraid of reason.
He was bold, he reasoned, and he persuaded them as well. He wanted them to come to faith in Jesus. He wanted them to see the truth of the kingdom of God. So, he presented the gospel in an attractive way. He wanted them to see that the gospel was better than what they were holding on to.
At some point some of the Jews were no longer interested in reason. They got ugly. Instead of attacking back and stooping to their level, Paul leaves.
Paul moves his teaching to a new venue, the hall of Tyrannus. Tyrannus was probably the name of some philosopher or teacher that would teach from this place, like a school. From this school Paul had the privilege to teach everyday for 2 years. This is the pinnacle of Paul’s ministry. He was not able to teach so extensively in any other place he had been. The result is phenomenal.
Verse 10 says that “all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.” That is a bold statement. What is referred to is the Roman province of Asia, which is modern day Western Turkey. There would have been probably 3 to 4 million people. Now does this mean that Paul personally taught God’s word to each person? I don’t think so. There is something even better taking place. Paul’s teaching in the hall of Tyrannus was equipping Christians, equipping missionaries and pastors to go out and spread the word of the Lord. The hall of Tyrannus in the city of Ephesus was the epicenter, but the reverberations, the aftershocks, where felt in the whole region as Christians carried the message of the gospel from city to city, town to town, and village to village. Paul sent others out. He released others into ministry.
The 7 churches we read about in Revelation 2 and 3 are located in this region of Asia. What is interesting about that is that we don’t know who planted 6 of those churches. But it is probable that they were started as a result of this 2 year ministry of the word in Ephesus as people took God’s word out to the whole region. The word of the Lord increased exponentially.
If we want the word of the Lord to increase here among us and even outside these four walls let’s not keep God’s word to ourselves. Let’s share it boldly, with reason, persuading others to believe in Jesus. Who might you share the word with this week? Things you share might have an impact not only in Harrisburg, but in other cities, other states, other countries.
The word of the Lord wants to continue to increase in our midst.
The Word of the Lord Prevailed Mightily
Those two snapshots show how the word of the Lord continued to increase, Now let’s turn our attention to how we see the word of the Lord prevail mightily in verses 11-19. Admittedly, this is a bit more difficult to see. But what we will see in this section are three more snapshots that show power encounters with the forces of evil. And Luke sums it all up by saying the word of the Lord prevailed mightily. How does the word prevail? How do these power encounters demonstrate the word prevailing? Let’s look at these three snapshot and try to answer that question.
The first snapshot is of extraordinary miracles. Look at verses 11-12.
And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 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.
The first thing we can zoom in on is this phrase extraordinary miracles. It seems redundant. Miracles by nature are something out of the ordinary. But Luke, who wrote Acts, wants to put an emphasis that these particular miracles are even more out of the ordinary. Specifically, taking a handkerchief or an apron and placing it on sick people so that they are healed, is an extraordinary miracle. Evil spirits were coming out of people. This is wild. Have you ever seen something like that?
What does this reveal about the word prevailing mightily? I think the answer comes in verse 11. Who was doing the extraordinary miracles? God was. Not Paul. God. This seems to be the pattern in the NT. Whenever God’s word goes forth, miracles and signs and wonders follow as a demonstration that the word is true. The word of the Lord reveals to us the God who is all-powerful, who is over all forces of evil. For this reason the word of the Lord prevails mightily.
I want to make us a bit uncomfortable here. Most of us are not going to have a problem with the healing of the sick. But what about evil spirits coming out of them? In our modern world of scientific development, this might cause us to pause. However, we need not pit science against faith. Let’s let go of that old fight. We are not against science. Science has done beautiful things for us. If I have a headache I can go into a pharmacy and get medicine that will take it away. We have an AED machine in our lobby. If someone were to have a heart attack, we could use that machine to possibly bring them back to life. Scientific advancements are amazing.
But this does not mean that the forces of evil don’t exist. This does not mean that there can’t be demonic influences standing behind sicknesses or the evil that happens to us. Perhaps we should be more aware of the spiritual warfare that is taking place all around us.
Just this week I heard a story of a missionary in a Muslim majority country that was sharing the gospel with someone. As this Muslim man was ready to accept Jesus, another man came up chanting the Koran. Apparently, most of the time people who do this want money. But the missionary said something was different this time. This Koran chanting man didn’t respond to either the missionary nor the man listening to the gospel. They asked him to leave, but he sat down on the bench next to them instead. That’s when the missionary recognized what was going on. That man was demon possessed. The missionary responded “I rebuke you in the name of the Jesus.” The man let out a hissing laugh and kept chanting. The missionary repeated “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” And the man got up and fled. The Muslim man gave his life to the Lord! The word of the Lord prevails mightily.
How does this apply to us?
The word of the Lord prevails mightily because it is God who powerfully carries it forward.
7 Imposters
Let’ turn our attention to the second snapshot of another power encounter that reveals how the word of the Lord prevailed mightily. This is a picture of 7 imposters. Look with me at verses 13-17.
13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 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.
As we look at this picture, what we see is a group of men trying to mimic the miracles that they had seen Paul do. But there is a huge disconnect. Notice that they try to cast this demon out ‘by the Jesus who Paul proclaims.’ There is no personal relationship with Lord.
Using the name of Jesus like a magic wand they tried to cast a demon out of a man. Of course, the whole thing backfires. These are some of the most humorous words in Scripture. This demon looks at them and says, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” They precede to getting beat up stripped of their clothes and running out of the house for their lives.
But notice there is more to this picture. Everyone is talking about what happened. These guys were front page news in Ephesus. Tik Tok videos would have been made about them. But whereas today they would have been made fun of, in Ephesus on that day, the city was struck with fear. And Jesus was extolled.
How does Jesus end up being exalted? We are not told this explicitly in the text, but I think the context suggests that this event, what happened to these exorcists had to be explained by the Christians present in the city. The believers who had spent two years under Paul’s teaching of the word of the Lord, were equipped to speak up and direct people to Jesus.
You can imagine someone asking “Why weren’t these guys able to cast out this demon? There were 7 of them. They are sons of a high priest. And yet Paul can do it and he doesn’t even need to be present. People just take his handkerchief and they are delivered. What’s going on?” And then one of the believers speaks up. Points the person asking the question to Jesus.
This is how the word of the Lord prevails. We point people to Jesus by answering questions they are asking. Are we willing to do that? Will we give an answer to the questions people around us are asking? It requires us to prioritize the word of the Lord. To devote ourselves to growing in the knowledge of God. We don’t have to have perfect knowledge. You don’t have to wait until you are “ready.” You will never be ready. You simply need to point people to Jesus. If you can’t answer a question, that’s OK. Tell them. Seek out an answer. Ask someone more mature in the faith.
The word of the Lord prevails mightily as we point people to Jesus.
Book Burning
One final snapshot. A good ole fashion book burning. Look at verses 18 and 19.
18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 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 fifty thousand pieces of silver.
This is a picture of new believers taking their first steps in their journey with Jesus. And again, in the context, Luke is saying that even this is a demonstration of how the word of the Lord prevailed mightily. So, what we have are people coming to faith in Jesus. They submit themselves to God’s word. They attend Paul’s teaching in the hall of Tyrannus. And their minds are being transformed. What they used to think was important, is no longer important. What they used to hold on to for hope and comfort, is replaced with Jesus.
We see this very clearly as they come and confess their practices and follow that up with burning their books of witchcraft. And notice that someone has taken the time to add up what these books would have cost – 50,000 pieces of silver. That’s difficult to put in terms of USD today. Some Study Bibles suggest that it could have been as much as $6 million. None the less, it is a lot of money.
Would we do the same today? I know I would be tempted to throw my books up on Facebook Marketplace!
But these new believers knew the evil world that these books led to. While they could have been sold and the money used for good purposes, they were convinced that no one needed to have access to these books. It would spiritually damage whoever purchased these books.
The closest I have gotten to something like this was back in the 80s when youth groups held events to burn tapes and cds of secular music. Maybe some of you participated in such an event. Now in some ways those events may have been a bit misguided and little overzealous. We could certainly critique them. But I know in my case, frankly it was a good thing. Music had a stronghold on my life. Much of what I listened to was the opposite of God-honoring. There was nothing redeemable about it. For me, it was a good thing to get rid of all of it. To make a break. As I spiritually matured and was taught the word of the Lord, I was able to better discern what was honoring to the Lord and what was not.
That’s the closest I have gotten to this. But our fellow church member, Windy knows this story well. I was talking to him this past week about this passage. I knew he was involved in Voodoo in Haiti and he has remarked to me on several occasions that evil spirits are powerful. Then he pauses and says with a smile on his face, “But God is more powerful.” A conviction like that comes with a story like this we read in Acts. As we were talking about it, he quickly scrolled on his phone to two pictures. One was a collection of all of his voodoo stuff. Then the other was all that voodoo stuff on fire.
That is a life that is being transformed. Now you might not have a story like that, quite so sensational. But if you are growing in your faith, allowing the word of the Lord to mold and shape you, there are things in your life that have changed. Or maybe there are things in our life that need to change. The Holy Spirit uses the word of God to convict us and direct us to the paths of righteousness. He uses the word of the Lord to prevail mightily over the forces of evil in our lives. What might the Holy Spirit be calling you to give up?
Clarification: I am not saying get the Bible, read through it and make a list of dos and don’ts. Then try your best. The word of the Lord invites us into relationship with the Lord of that word. He uses his word to lavish his grace upon us. As we read and meditate on it, the Spirit of God does a work in us. And he gives us the grace we need to step in obedience, to live lives that are in line with it. Let the word of the Lord shape you.
Those are 5 snapshots showing us the necessity of the word of the Lord for our church.
We saw that the word of the Lord continued to increase as it was faithfully taught. All of the region of Asia heard the word of the Lord. Churches were planted. The gospel advanced.
And we saw that the word of the Lord prevailed mightily. As it increased it overcame the darkness. The sick were healed, the demon possessed were liberated, Christians’ lives were transformed. God used his word to do powerful things.
If we are going to be a church that is humble, holy, hungry, and happy, we need the word of the Lord to stay at the center of all we do.