Acts 19

Bonfires

Not a few of them that practiced unusual arts brought their books together, and burned them in the sight of all: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. Acts 19:19.

If you went through the streets of Edinburgh after dark on Victoria Day, you would catch sight of a bonfire at almost every turn. The fires make a very fine effect when looked at from a distance. That is because of the character of the city. Its romantic situation gives a set-off to anything grand like a fire, or a great storm. I have known an artist watch the Victoria Day bonfires from a high window for more than an hour.

But go near to one of the bonfires, and you will see what ugly things are being burnt old clothes, old bedding, old broken furniture. One would think that some people had been clearing their houses of everything old and useless, a sort of preliminary to a great spring- cleaning which would make their homes sweet, and clean, and pleasant to live in. The children of the Edinburgh streets love running about in the glare of the firelight. They look forward to Victoria Day, and that chiefly because of these bonfires.

I wonder if children ran round the wonderful bonfire that was kindled in Ephesus when Paul was preaching there. I hardly think so. If you had been there, you would have seen men and women standing gazing with a strangely earnest expression on their faces. This bonfire, like the other, meant a clearing out of things from their homes, but things that had cost them a great deal of money. Educated men say that these books were worth nearly £2000 of our money. There was a great meaning in this bonfire: it meant a crisis in the lives of the onlookers. What had brought it about?

Ephesus was thought to be the most beautiful city in Asia Minor, just as Edinburgh is the most beautiful city in Great Britain. But it was full of the temples of heathen gods, and a great many of the inhabitants believed in them. They had also got interested in unusual and evil arts, such as sorcery, magic, and witchcraft. Paul had been preaching in the city, and he was a man who was firmly convinced of the truth of his own beliefs just the very kind of preacher for people like the Ephesians. Besides preaching, Paul had, by the help of God, been able to work miracles as great as, even greater than, anything achieved by their so-called magic. The Ephesians were fascinated, many were convinced and converted, they were ready to give up everything for the sake of the gospel. They brought their books which were about magic and similar subjects, and made a great bonfire of them. They wanted to be done with evil arts and to begin life anew to turn over a new leaf. Henceforth they were to trust in Jesus Christ. The bonfire was to show that they were in earnest.

Hundreds of years afterwards, there was another great bonfire this time in Florence. Savonarola had awakened many of the Florentines to thinking about their souls. Like those Ephesians, they made a bonfire. Boys had a part in the making of this one. Dressed in white robes they went from house to house, collecting what they called “Vanities.” You will understand the meaning of the term, when I mention some of the articles that were given to be added to the huge pyramid, which, when the darkness had come, was set on fire costly but bad books and pictures; playing- cards, dice, and other apparatus for gambling; music- books, and musical instruments. There were also things that spoke of the vanity of the women rouge pots, false-hair, mirrors, perfumes, powders, and veils. All these things were given up under the influence of the great and holy man Savonarola. He saw that the people were forgetting God in their folly, and even in their learning; and he wanted them to turn over a new leaf.

Let me tell you the story of someone else who gave up much for Christ's sake. He is for he was alive quite recently a Zulu chief. Thirty years ago he heard from the lips of a missionary how Christ had died for him. He thought about it till he could think of nothing else. Then one day he came to the missionary and renounced all that makes life pleasant to an African chief. He gave up his crown, his wealth, his despotic rule over thousands, his power of life and death over the whole tribe. He saw that, remaining a king, he could not be true to his new-found conscience. Now he is an old man living in a humble hut. But he is happy. He has never regretted the sacrifice he made; and he rejoices in all he has suffered for Jesus' sake.

Boys and girls, these people really made bonfires of their old lives, that they might win Jesus Christ. What can you give up? You know that in your hearts and minds there is sometimes a great deal of evil conceit, bad-temper, and untruthfulness. You cannot ask Jesus Christ to abide with you if you continue to give house room to that sort of thing. Make a bonfire of the evil in your heart.

And kindle your bonfire with prayer. You will need Jesus to help you, for without Him it is impossible to give up the evil that is in one's heart. Boys and girls, do it now, for if you put off, the chances are that the evil habits will in time conquer you.