MIRACLES AT EPHESUS
‘And God wrought special miracles by the hand of Paul.’
There was special reason in Ephesus for the performance of miracles. The city abounded in magicians and sorcerers, who deceived the people. Among the disciples were some who had evidently practised soothsaying, and who did not at first entirely abandon it. There was something ‘special’ about St. Paul’s miracles which the people could not fail to notice.
I. They were wrought by God.—St. Paul was but the instrument; God was the worker. No Apostle could work miracles at will. Where they were necessary, God wrought them.
II. They were special in character.—Whatever article of dress was taken from the Apostle’s body proved effectual in doing what the pretenders to sorcery could not do.
III. They were beneficent.—It was not enough to excite the wonder of the multitude. Sickness and disease and demon possession were miraculously cured. The Gospel has always cared for the sick in body, as well as for the spiritually diseased.
The story of what resulted is full of interest. The burning of the books of the sorcerers; the uproar raised by Demetrius, witness to the success of the Apostle’s work.