The Book of Acts ~ Study Sixty

"The Remedy for a Hard Heart"


Acts 19:1-22 (NLT) While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers. “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them.
   “No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
   “Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked.
    And they replied, “The baptism of John.”
    Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.”
   As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all.
   Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God. But some became stubborn, rejecting his message and publicly speaking against the Way. So Paul left the synagogue and took the believers with him. Then he held daily discussions at the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for the next two years, so that people throughout the province of Asia—both Jews and Greeks—heard the word of the Lord.
   God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled.
   A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.
   The story of what happened spread quickly all through Ephesus, to Jews and Greeks alike. A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored. Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices. A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars. So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.
   Afterward Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go over to Macedonia and Achaia before going to Jerusalem. “And after that,” he said, “I must go on to Rome!” He sent his two assistants, Timothy and Erastus, ahead to Macedonia while he stayed awhile longer in the province of Asia.

We greet Paul in the city of Ephesus where he began his third missionary journey through Asia Minor. Apparently God was allowing him to preach the Gospel there now. Here he met believers that had only heard of the baptism and repentance of sins from John the Baptist. Paul was able to tell them the whole story about the redemption found in the Christ and the filling of the Holy Spirit. The people received this Good News whole-heartedly and were filled with God's Spirit.

Others didn't receive the Good News so well and the Bible calls them, "Stubborn". Why wouldn't a person want to receive such an awesome gift? I have met people who really are angry when Christianity is even broached. The bible says that their hearts are hard. What does it mean to have a "hard heart?"

Proverbs 28:13-14 (Message) You can't whitewash your sins and get by with it; you find mercy by admitting and leaving them. A tenderhearted person lives a blessed life; a hardhearted person lives a hard life. 

Do you have trouble admitting when you are wrong? I do. I think we all do on some level. I think that everyone likes the idea of a peace-loving, gentle Jesus, but when they are confronted by the admission of sin or wrong in their lives that's another matter all together. We have a list of things we will accept about Jesus up on the walls of our hearts and when someone ventures to discuss Him outside those realms we get upset. "Yes, He was a good man...Yes, He was a Jew... Yes, He was a Rabbi...Yes, He performed miracles,...maybe...Yes, He taught good things about loving one another..." "No, He can't be the only way to God... No, I won't admit I'm wrong...No, I don't have to listen... NO!"

C.S. Lewis said this about Jesus in his book "Mere Christianity"~ “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

How can a person say, “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God?” Jesus is either who He says He is or He's not. Who do you say that He is? Are you willing to accept all Jesus claimed to be or do you want to believe in something that you've made up in your mind about Him?

The people in Ephesus had to make the choice. Those who chose to believe the whole truth about Jesus being God come down to man and becoming a sacrifice for sin, are the ones who are really stepped into eternity. Those who chose to believe what they always believed wanted nothing to do with the message that Paul preached. They didn't just refuse the message, they maligned it.

Matthew 11:13 (NLT) To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.

Listen. You owe it to yourself to listen to Jesus and what He has to offer. You've heard the phrase, "Make an informed decision?" Investigate and become informed. Ask the God of the Universe how to know Him better. Is it through Jesus? Is it through Mohammed? Is it through Joseph Smith? Is it through Buddha? I believe that Jesus is God and He's proven Himself to be God come down to man who provides a way to God through the forgiveness of sins. I've studied these other "paths" to God and have decided that Jesus isn't a lunatic or a liar. I  believe He is Lord. Open your hearts to Him and see what is real.

Ephesians 4:17-18 (NLT) With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.

Confusion is the devil's greatest tool. If he can get a person confused he's got the upper hand. Our God isn't the God of confusion. He's willing to open the eyes of those who seek Him in humble truth. Take the time to pray,"Lord make my mind clear so I can know you fully." 

Psalm 98:6-7 (NLT) Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care. If only you would listen to his voice today!

The remedy for the fatal ailment of a spiritually hard heart is to kneel down before the Lord our Maker and listen to His voice. It takes this act of humility to really find God and know for sure that Jesus is the Way to Him. What do you have to lose? Even more important, what do you have to gain. It's my belief you have eternity to gain, just like those people in Ephesus. Open your heart to the One who knows you best and loves you most. His love is a love beyond all reason.