PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS AMONG THE DISCIPLES OF JOHN THE BAPTISER (19:1-7). Meanwhile Paul, having encouraged the churches in Phrygia-Galatia arrived via the mountain regions in Ephesus. There he came across a group of believers, possibly in the synagogue, who seemingly honoured Jesus and yet who... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And it came about that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples, and he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” When Paul arrived in Ephesus he ‘found' certain disciples. Perceiving the lack... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they said to him, “No, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit was given.” ' Their reply explained why it was that there was no obvious open evidence within their lives of the Spirit. They claimed that they had not known that the Holy Spirit, Whom John had promised would come throug... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said, “Into what then were you baptised?” And they said, “Into John's baptism.” ' This lack of the Spirit puzzled him because he knew that they had been baptised. How could they have been baptised having not experienced the Spirit? So he asked them the nature of their baptism and was told t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Paul said, “John baptised with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him who would come after him, that is, on Jesus.” ' Then Paul explained to them that John's baptism had pointed ahead to the need for a change of mind and heart about sin, so that they mi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when they heard this, they were baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus.' When they heard this their hearts responded to the message. The fact that they believed is assumed, for that is what Paul had directed them to do (Acts 19:4). And on believing they were baptised into the name of the LOR... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with tongues, and prophesied.' But the Holy Spirit did not come on them until Paul laid his hands on them and identified them with the Christian church. It was necessary that this be so, so that it would be crys... [ Continue Reading ]
‘'And they were in all about twelve men.' The men to whom this happened numbered ‘about twelve' (when citing numbers Luke always says ‘about'). The clear purpose of mentioning ‘twelve' here is to link these new believers with the new Israel founded on the twelve Apostles (Ephesians 2:20; Revelation... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he entered into the synagogue, and spoke boldly for the space of three months, reasoning and persuading as to the things concerning the Kingly Rule of God.' Encouraged by this experience Paul entered the synagogue and for three months boldly ‘reasoned and persuaded' about the ‘things concerning... [ Continue Reading ]
PAUL'S CONTINUING MINISTRY IN EPHESUS (19:8-20). Meanwhile we are reminded that Paul's' ministry continues in Ephesus in the proclamation of the Kingly Rule of God (compare Acts 1:3; Acts 8:12; Acts 14:22; Acts 20:25; Acts 28:23; Acts 28:31). Like the working of the Holy Spirit, and the expansion of... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.' Such continual efforts could only result in some being ‘hardened' because they refused to accept the message. N... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And this continued for the space of two years, so that all those who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.' The move was successful and, far from hindering the church, resulted within two years in the spreading of ‘the word of the Lord' throughout the whole of Asia Minor,... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul, (in so much that to the sick were carried away from his body cloths or aprons), and the evil spirits went out.' It was a period also of great signs and wonders, such that God wrought special miracles ‘through the hands of Paul' in an unpreceden... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But certain also of the strolling Jews, exorcists, took on themselves to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches”.' Ephesus is here revealed to be a centre of the occult. This was so much so that the phrase 'Ephesian wri... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, who did this, and the evil spirit answered and said to them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?” ' Included among these exorcists were seven sons of Sceva, a chief priest (which suggests connection with one of the Jerusal... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and mastered both of them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.' The possessed man was then moved to violence, leaping on the seven men and ‘mastering them and prevailing against them'. This sugge... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who dwelt at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.' And the result of this demonstration, both of the power of the name of Jesus, and of the treatment of exorcists who misused it, became widely known in... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Many also of those who had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds.' It resulted in a widespread awareness of the seriousness of sin in God's eyes, and especially of being involved with the occult, and believers came and admitted to their secret sins. This suggests a period of true re... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And not a few of those who practised magical 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.' And the result was that a goodly number of them who had practised magical arts brought their books... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So mightily grew the word of the Lord and prevailed.' Thus was the mighty working of the word revealed. The word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed, and this in contrast to the word of Satan which was doomed to the fire. But while applying to what had just happened this also applies to the wh... [ Continue Reading ]
PAUL'S JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM AND THEN TO ROME (19:21-28:31). Here we begin a new section of Acts. It commences with Paul's purposing to go to Jerusalem, followed by an incident, which, while it brings to the conclusion his ministry in Ephesus, very much introduces the new section. From this point on... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now after these things were ended (were fulfilled), Paul purposed in the Spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, it is necessary also for me to see Rome.” ' ‘After these things were fulfilled' probably refers to the whole secti... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And having sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.' As a preliminary to this he sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he remained a little longer at Ephesus. This coming visit might have been... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And about that time there arose no small stir concerning the Way.' It was at this stage, as his successful ministry in Ephesus was coming to an end, that a crisis came that may even have threatened his life. What follows might be what he was describing in 2 Corinthians 1:8 when he wrote, ‘our affl... [ Continue Reading ]
A STIRRING IN EPHESUS ON ACCOUNT OF THE NAME OF ARTEMIS (19:23-41). In considering what follows we should note two things about its context: · Firstly that it introduces the final section of Acts (Acts 19:21 to Acts 28:31) which leads up to the triumph of the Kingly Rule of God in Rome (Acts 28:30... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis (Latin: Diana), brought no little business to the craftsmen, whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, “Sirs, you know that by this business we have our wealth.” ' Behind the troubl... [ Continue Reading ]
“And you see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they are no gods, which are made with hands.” Then he turned their attention to their major problem. Throughout the whole region, as they could see and... [ Continue Reading ]
“And not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute; but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis (Diana) be made of no account, and that she should even be deposed from her magnificence whom all Asia and the world worship.” But while Demetrius could probably see that the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when they heard this they were filled with wrath, and cried out, saying, “Great is Artemis (Diana) of the Ephesians.” When they heard the suggestion that Artemis would be humiliated they were filled with fervour and anger and began to cry out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians”. This was a co... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed with one accord to the theatre, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel.' They poured out of their meeting and raced in large numbers down the main street which led to the theatre, yelling ‘Great... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when Paul was of a mind to enter in to the people, the disciples did not let him.' On recognising the situation, and concerned for his companions who had been seized, Paul bravely wanted to go into the theatre to assist their defence before the people. He was never afraid to put his head in th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And certain also of the Asiarchs, being his friends, sent to him and besought him not to venture himself into the theatre.' This thought also occurred to certain of the Asiarchs who were friends of Paul's. They had no doubt been called to the theatre as a result of the uproar, and hurrying there r... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Some therefore cried one thing, and some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and the majority did not know why they were come together.' But while the silversmiths and their employees knew exactly why they were there, the larger proportion who had been gathered by the commotion had no idea... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they brought Alexander out of the crowd, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made a defence to the people.' Then a man called Alexander was put forward by the Jews, who would not be favourable to Paul. This might well have been because sinister ru... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice for about the space of two hours cried out, “Great is Artemis (Diana) of the Ephesians.” ' However, the sight of a Jew inflamed their feelings even more. They knew that the Jews too looked down on Artemis their goddess. So they shouted... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when the city clerk had quietened the crowd, he says, “You men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple-keeper of Artemis (Diana) the Great, and of the image which fell down from heaven (or ‘from Zeus')?” ' Then the city clerk hushed the crowd and... [ Continue Reading ]
“Seeing then that these things cannot be gainsaid, you ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash.” So the city clerk pointed out that as no one could deny these things they should take matters quietly and not do anything rash. They needed to be calm and look at matters sensibly, or otherwise they w... [ Continue Reading ]
“For you have brought here these men, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess.” For they needed to recognise that there was no real excuse for holding this meeting. The men whom they had arraigned were not guilty of anything tangible. They had neither robbed Temples nor bl... [ Continue Reading ]
“If therefore Demetrius, and the craftsmen who are with him, have a matter against any man, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them accuse one another.” If Demetrius and his craftsmen really did have a criminal charge against these men, or against anyone, then the periodic courts we... [ Continue Reading ]
“But if you seek anything about other matters, it shall be settled in the regular assembly.” If it was a civil matter then they should wait for the regular assembly, where such matters could be dealt with, not at an ad hoc meeting gathered like this by a riotous crowd which would only be seen by Ro... [ Continue Reading ]
“For indeed we are in danger of being accused concerning this day's riot, there being no cause for it, and as touching it we shall not be able to give account of this concourse.” For the truth was that they were all in danger of being called to account by the Roman authorities for this days riotous... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.' Then having spoken in this way he quickly dismissed the assembly hoping that its convening, and his part in it, might not have been noticed or might be overlooked. But in Luke's eyes it was a clear and unequivocal declaration that the author... [ Continue Reading ]