It all started with the power of Christ alone being realized, resulting in the fear of the Lord and Jesus being magnified. The demon-possessed man overpowers the sons of Sceva, beating them down and leaving them to flee the house naked. Right before that, the demon man says I know Jesus, and I've heard of Paul, but you're nobody, and then proceeds to lay a Chuck Norris sized beat down on the seven. See, Christ alone had the power to cast out the demon from this man, and these seven were not operating in the power of His Spirit. The result? The people recognized the power of Christ and responded with a healthy fear of the Almighty, or so the narrative seems to indicate to me.
This fear had a real implication for the people...repentance. How lost is the practice of real repentance in the church today? I can't speak from a totalitarian viewpoint, but I can speak of the churches I've been involved in. There isn't a real dealing with sin among the people of God. Sure, the ministers will preach and teach on repentance, but the cases where repentance actually follows, in my experience, is far and few between. I'd actually venture to say, as best as I can recollect, I've never witnessed it. But in Ephesus, there was real repentance, so much so that the ones that dabbled and practiced "magic" brought and burned fifty thousand silver pieces worth of books. Wow! Talk about repentance. And I believe that true repentance results in action. If not, where is the change in heart? Where is the evidence or fruit of that repentance?
What was the result of this repentance? The Word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. Interesting result, huh? One might would expect it to say the church grew (which seems to be an indication of the repentance), but it doesn't. One might expect it to say that missionaries were sent out (a possibility, but again, the text doesn't note it.) Of all the things that could possibly have been said, Luke notes that the Word of the Lord grew and prevailed. But should this come as much of a surprise? After all, what is the Great Commission? Make disciples. How is that done? Baptizing and teaching. What do we teach? The Word of the Lord.
How much of this passage is prescription vs. description is not for me to decide here. But the events that transpire are very intriguing to me. Fear of the Lord from a realization of the Lord leads to repentance to the Lord which results in learning from the Lord! Talk about a beautiful chain of events, a chain that I pray I am blessed enough to witness and partake in during my lifetime.
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