Acts 20:31

Acts 20:31. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. We have the statement in Acts 19:8-10 that Paul disputed in the Ephesian synagogue three months, and for two years taught publicly in the school of Tyrannus; added to this there is the undefined time which elapsed after the ‘Diana' tumult and his first departure. This would amply justify him in representing his ministry as extending over three years. The approving words to the angel to the Church of Ephesus, written about a quarter of a century after these warnings of St. Paul, tell us that the earnest wishes and the affectionate pleadings of the apostle were not in vain: ‘I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted' (Revelation 2:2-3).