Acts, Chapter 19

Please, in your Bible, first read this chapter.

Verses 1,2: “While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them: ’Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ They answered: ’No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit’ “.

In chapter 18:21 Paul promised ‘I will come back if it is God’s will’. Indeed, it was God’s will to lead Paul on a return visit to Ephesus, because God knew some disciples in Ephesus, who had missed Paul during his previous visit to Ephesus. Disciples they were, yes, but disciples who had a peculiar need., of which they themselves were not aware.

In the desert of Judea and at the Jordan river these Ephesian Jews heard the preaching by John the Baptist, urging them to repentance, and repent they did.. They were conscious of God and therefore conscious of sin. And their need of repentance.. They went back home to Ephesus and . . . guess what. They kept on being sinful. Every day they needed John the Baptist and the baptism of repentance. But in Israel John had been murdered, and they were in Ephesus.

Verses 3, 4: “So Paul asked: ‘Then what baptism did you receive?’. ‘John’s baptism’ they replied. Paul said: ‘John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus’ “.

No doubt, their religious leaders, their synagogue-congregations had been talking about Jesus of Nazareth, The Jews of their home-country had been in upset because of, what they thought, were that guy’s ludicrous tricks and lying claims.. In the end he had not been able to escape from the cross on which He died. The Jews in Ephesus knew it all. Very likely they did not know about the man who was preaching before Jesus appeared on the scene. John the Baptist, who spoke about one who was coming after him and Who would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire.(Matthew 3:1-12).

But a small group of Ephesian disciples did know. They were there, at the Jordan river, while Johm was baptizing for repentance and talking about the One Who was to come after him.. Paul did remind them.

Verses 5, 6, 7: “On hearing this (Vs.4) they were baptized INTO the Name of the Lord Jesus”.

That word into needs emphasis. Going into a room means stepping out of a different one. .It means leaving behind one position to enter a new one. Being baptized into the Name of the Lord Jesus means there must be a conscious

decision to leave behind all kinds of beliefs and imagined values that once seemed real and precious..

“When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. They were about twelve men in all”.

Please, please take notice! Nowhere in the Bible, nowhere in the epistles that followed later, are we being encouraged or taught, to take Paul’s action of that day as an example to be followed these days. Why did these twelve believers speak in tongues and prophesy? It was to tell all other Jews in that neighbourhood, most certainly the Christian Jews, that these twelve men had stepped out of the old and abolished system of Jewishness and into the new life in Christ. These twelve disciples now were in one new body, with the twelve on that first day of Pentecost. But the Jews in the synagogue at Ephesus refused to be impressed..

Verse 8, 9, 10: “Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord”.

What did the Lord Jesus say? In the days of Paul Who was, in our days Who is building His Church? Who is the person, where or what is the power, that will forbid or stop him? Will science do that? Powerful, poor human opposition? Come on, tell me. Evil, lying religion, placing Jesus in second or third place or not giving Him place at all? The Lord Jesus did say: I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH AND THE GATES OF HELL WILL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT (Matthew 16:18).

Verses 11, 12 “GOD did extra ordinary miracles through Paul. So that even hand- and kerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them”.

A little later, when we come to chapter 28, we will refer to these two verses..

Verses 13, 14: “Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the Name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon possessed. They would say, ‘In the Name of Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you, come out’ Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this”.

When you do not have the right, when no one allows you the authority, when you do not have the privilege, you may try by wilful force going somewhere, to do things when the Lord is not leading you. So these snooty guys misused, abused the precious, holy name of Jesus.

Verses 15, 16: “One day, the evil spirit answered them, ‘Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?’ Then the man who had the evil spirit

jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house, naked and bleeding”.

Verses 17, 18, 19, 20: “When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the Name of he Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number of them who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to 50.000 drachmas. In this way the Word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power”.

And so the righteous God of all truth defeated the evil trickery of His arch-enemy, Satan . Today His Word is still spreading widely and growing in power..

Verses 21, 22: “After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. ‘After I have been there’ he said, ‘I must visit Rome also’. He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer”.

Verses 23, 24, 25:”About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. A silversmith named Demetrius who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no little business for the craftsmen. He called them together, along with the workmen in related trades and said ‘Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced an led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that manmade gods are no gods at all’.”

Well, Demetrius. those profitable shrines of Artemis, where are they today? Those manmade gods of silver, do they still give any man a crust? What about you, Demetrius? Is anyone in this world thanking you for your effort? Are you being remembered for an earnest enterprise? Demetrius, in the world of 2010 there still are many who remember names like Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower, Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler. What did happen to you, did also happen to these men. All of you died! Waiting for the hour in which God will show you the record of your life on earth, and ask you for an account..

Did you serve and worship the one and only eternal God, Creator of Heaven and earth? Or did ‘man made gods, who are no gods at all’ take your fancy?

Demetrius continues his argument:

Verse 27: ‘There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshipped throughout the province of Asia and the world will be robbed of her divine majesty’. ‘

The effect of his speech was beyond expectation.

Verse 28: “When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: ’Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’ Soon the whole city was in an uproar.

Verse 32: “The assembly was in confusion. Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did no even know why they were there.

Verse 35: “The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: ‘Men of Ephesus, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image which fell from heaven.

Verse 36: “Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to be quiet and not do anything rash”.

Mr. City Clerk, facts? And undeniable? History has proven your facts were fancies and instead of undeniable totally unreliable.

Verses 40, 41; “As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of today’s events. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it. After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly”.