Paul’s Ministry at Ephesus: How the teaching and preaching the gospel transforms lives

Acts 19:8 “And after he entered the synagogue, he continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.”

Once Paul had spent time instructing the 12 disciples of John the Baptist on the Holy Spirit and leading them to a saving knowledge of Jesus.  While still in Ephesus at some point Paul leaves and enters the synagogue, as was his custom. Now, I want you notice three aspects of Paul’s proclamation of the kingdom of God to those who were in the synagogue. For three months Paul continuously spoke boldly (openly, without fear), he reasoned (dialegomai) to discussed and responded to questions and debates, and persuading (peitho) meaning to convince by argument, with them about the kingdom of God. Paul had a lot to unpack before those who were in the synagogue and he was relentless in proclaiming the kingdom of God which would have included the Jesus is fulfilment of OT prophesies of the coming Messiah who in obedience to God suffered death on the cross for our sins, risen from the grave, his ascension into heaven, the out pouring of the Holy Spirit upon all those who believe, and salvation. Paul’s mindset was that he was willing to put in maximum effort in proclaiming the kingdom of God because he didn’t want others to go to hell, he wanted people to repent and come to faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

Many believers today do not have this type of mindset. They are not willing to put in any effort to proclaim the kingdom of God to those who are unsaved and headed to hell. The devil has them concerned with materialism and social events. With this self-gratification they are unconcern with sharing Jesus Christ with others, they are unconcern and ashamed to call their love ones and friends to repent of their sins and come to faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Meanwhile people's lives all around them are perishing without hearing the gospel of Christ from many who are professing to be believers of Jesus Christ. And it is a shame. If many of those who call themselves believers today spend as much time sharing the gospel as they do gossiping, they could impact their homes, communities, and their jobs, and countless people will not go to hell.  

The rejection of Jesus Christ

Acts 19:9–10“But when some were becoming hardened and were not believing, their hearts were harden,” when they had heard the gospel being preached by Paul, their hearts became hardened. Their rejection of hearing about Jesus is liken to the parable of the Sower that Jesus taught in Luke 8:5 “The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up.”  Luke 8:12““And those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.”

This is the reality of many people who hear the message about Jesus Christ, their hearts become hardened and they do not believe, and it is because the devil has come and takes away the word from their hearts so that they will not believe and be saved.

The Jews' hardened heart of unbelief caused them to begin “speaking evil of the Way, The Way are Christian believers who were first called the Way in Acts 9:2. They were called the Way because they walked in the Way of Jesus Christ, the Jews were verbally attacking them before the multitude,” in hopes of causing the people to turn against the Way. I’ve witnessed people who will do this when the gospel is being proclaimed; they will begin to speak evil against Jesus, Christianity, and the church to cause others to turn against the gospel that they are hearing. But God will draw those whom He wants to save. Listen to what happens next in the last clause of v.9 and v.10.

When Paul saw how the Jews were acting, he had nothing more to say to them; he left them. This was an indictment against the unbelieving Jews who didn’t want anything to do with Jesus Christ, and Paul knew it, and he left them there in their sinful, rebellious state. There are times when you will have to walk away from sinful, rebellious people and just turn them over to God. Then we are told that Paul took away the disciples, these disciples were Jews from the synagogue who unlike the harden-heart unbelieving group of Jews, they had received Paul’s message about Jesus and repented and came to believe. Paul then began reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.  Tyrannus was either a philosopher who taught there or he was merely the owner of the school. The word school in the Greek is schole /skhol·ay/], which means a lecture hall, and this is where Paul taught rigorously and answered questions. The Western text adds to v.9 that Paul taught there between the fifth and tenth hours, this would be during the hours of eleven a.m. and four p.m. he did this mind you after he spent the earlier part of his day making tents (Acts 20:34). but he didn’t quit there, we are told in scripture that his zeal for teaching carried on into the night (Acts 20.31). This not only speaks to Paul’s dedication to the Lord to teach others, but it also highlights the willingness of the disciples of Christ who wanted to spend time hearing and learning about Jesus Christ day after day well into the night. Most believers today do not possess that type of enthusiasm or willingness to spend time being taught day after day, well into the night. Pastors, and yours included, find it hard to find enough people to show up for bible study and church to be taught for an hour for one to two days a week. Yet, they can spend time day after day well into the night watching t.v., surfing the internet, and doing other things that have zero spiritual significance to their growth and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is just downright pathetic.

Now I want you to listen to the fruit of Paul’s labor, v.10 says that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.” Despite having to leave the synagogue after two months of reasoning and persuading the Jews about the kingdom of God, because the unbelieving Jews were angry at his teaching, God opened a door for Paul to continue the ministry, teaching in the lecture hall daily in Ephesus for two years. His time spent in Ephesus lasted nearly three years (Acts 20:31), and because Paul had taught many students who became disciples, their lives were transformed, they took Paul’s teaching and shared the gospel to all who lived in Asia, and they heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. The fruit of Paul’s labor by God’s grace raised up men like Epaphras (EP uh frass) who established and taught the church in Colosse (Col 1:7). Tychicus (Tik ee kuhs) became a faithful servant (Col 4:7) and minister (Eph 6:21) and many others helped in spreading the gospel and churches were established like the seven churches that is mentioned in Revelation 2-3. When the teaching and preaching of the gospel has transformed your life you will want to share the gospel with others. If you don’t this means that your spiritual life hasn’t been transformed.

Paul and his team of missionaries were responsible for establishing the Ephesian church. The apostle John would later serve the church in Ephesus for a while before being exiled to Patmos by the Roman Emperor Domitian, and later he would have Timothy to carry on the work of the ministry (1Tim 1:3).

The text I’ve shared with you has shown you how impactful the Word of God and the gospel can be in transforming the lives of others. When you, as a believer, commit yourself to studying the Word of God, and prayer, God will give you the boldness to witness the gospel to the unsaved. And by God’s grace, He will draw them to His Son Jesus Christ for salvation, and their lives will be forever transformed.