Acts Ch19

Text

Acts 19 ESV

And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all. And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.” When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s companions in travel. But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

Main Point

The transformation of cities begins with the Church being filled with the Holy Spirit and answering the call to be Jesus witnesses, intentionally creating opportunities to do so in spite of all opposition

Introduction

Chapter 19 covers a period of about 3 years and Paul’s ministry in Ephesus

Spent a short time preaching in the synagogue and then left for Caesarea

Caesarea, greeted the church —> Antioch, spent some time there —> went through region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening the disciples

Meanwhile, Apollos came to Ephesus

Apollos preached in Ephesus in the synagogue for a while - helped by Priscilla and Aquila

Apollos must have had some success there - while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul returned to Ephesus and he found some disciples there

For three months Paul

Chapter 19 covers a period of about 3 years and Paul’s ministry in Ephesus

It was the longest Paul stayed in any city during any of his missionary journeys

It wasn’t his first visit - he had been there for a short visit after Corinth

He also wasn’t the only one who had ministered there - Apollos had spent some time there just before him

So when Paul arrives in Ephesus, he does find some disciples.

Stems from Apollos’ own blindspots - He too only knew the baptism of John ()

Probably John’s preaching before the time of Jesus had been taken to Alexandria where Apollos was from, and that’s how he came to know the message of repentance and turning to God

But he didn’t know all of Jesus’ ministry, he didn’t have a full understanding of the gospel, and he didn’t know of the Holy Spirit

So Priscilla and Aquila had to take him aside to explain the gospel more accurately ()

And yet - in spite of Apollos’ own blindspots, his preaching had an effect in Ephesus. There was a small group of disciples

And this further proves the last point I made in the sermon on - Jesus is sovereign Lord over all ministry

Remember when Paul felt like giving up?

He was exhausted and drained and despondent, disappointed and frustrated with the stubbornness of the Jews in Corinth

And Jesus encouraged him to continue… why?

because () “I have many in this city who are my people”

Paul had to continue on -

not because his preaching was so fantastic and everyone who heard him instantly snapped out of their rebellion and repented and believed...

but because Jesus had people in the city who belonged to him

They belonged to Jesus

He was already preparing to save them

And he was going to save them through the preaching of the gospel

And Paul is encouraged to then continue because

So Paul, don’t be silent. Preach!

Its not your brilliant handle on the gospel or your persuasiveness that saves people - Jesus saves people

Its the same with Apollos -

These few disciples in Ephesus weren’t saved by Apollos’ eloquent preaching

They were saved by Jesus in spite of Apollos’ preaching and in spite of Apollos’ theological blind spots

So praise God!

And let that encourage you to go out and be a disciple maker.

Success in disciple making doesn’t rest with you. Jesus does the saving.

But obviously its not acceptable or right that disciples should be left in error, right?

No! Disciples need to grow! We need to have a holy dissatisfaction with the limited knowledge of God we have, and a desire to know more… to grow!

So Paul takes these disciples under his wing, he teaches them about the fullness of the gospel and baptises them in the name of Jesus, and they receive the Holy Spirit

And then Paul leads by example by going to the synagague for three months, proclaiming the gospel and reasoning with and persuading the Jews to believe in Jesus

And so begins Paul’s ministry in Ephesus.

Could we take from this a model and a lesson for our ministry in East London?

I believe we can and I believe we should.

Here’s what we see in :

Ephesus is a city that of great opposition against the gospel

its a Pagan city and full of black magic and idol worship

Ephesus is also a city of great opportunity for the preaching of the gospel

Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians while he was living in Ephesus

he says in : “...I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

1 Corinthians 16:8–9 ESV

But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

So how do you tackle the tough task of bringing the gospel to a city?

1 cor 16:89

Intro 2

How do you transform a city?

Can you transform a whole city?

Can you change a whole province?

An entire country?

How about a whole continent?

Would it be possible for such a transformation to take place in Cambridge that we fill the church every Sunday?

Or for such a change to happen in East London that drug dealers stop selling, and childrens homes stand empty because children are no longer being abandoned?

Could such a transformation occur in South Africa, that racism is completely wiped out, and criminals hand in their weapons?

You’re saying Nick, that’s a pipe dream.

You’re dreaming pal!

It’s impossible!

Well tells the story of a one particular city that experienced a transformation like that

It covers Paul’s ministry in the city of Ephesus - one of the largest cities in Asia and in the world at the time

And it tells us that over a period of just 2 years, in a city that was renowned as a capital of pagan idolatry and black magic, people were burning their magic books and everyone in Asia heard the gospel

How is such a transformation possible?

What can we learn from Paul’s ministry in Ephesus and how do we apply it today?

Can we see a similar transformation in our city, and how could that be accomplished?

It Begins with the Church

As we have seen so often, Paul begins his ministry by preaching in the synagogues

It makes sense - start making disciples among those who already know the Scriptures

But in Ephesus when he arrives he finds that there are already some disciples there

So Paul begins his ministry in Ephesus by ministering to them - to the disciples.

Apollos had been to Ephesus just before him

and

tells us of his ministry there and describes Apollos as a gifted and eloquent speaker, competent in the scriptures

so some of the Jews in Ephesus must have become disciples through his ministry

So Paul begins his ministry in Ephesus by ministering to them - to the disciples.

They’re not mature disciples…

verses 2-3 say they were baptised into John’s baptism and had not even heard that there was a Holy Spirit

Stems from Apollos’ own blindspots - He too only knew the baptism of John ()

Stems from Apollos’ own blindspots - He too only knew the baptism of John ()

Probably John’s preaching before the time of Jesus had been taken to Alexandria where Apollos was from, and that’s how he came to know the message of repentance and turning to God

But he didn’t know all of Jesus’ ministry, he didn’t have a full understanding of the gospel, and he didn’t know of the Holy Spirit

So Priscilla and Aquila had to take him aside to explain the gospel more accurately ()

And yet - in spite of Apollos’ own blindspots, his preaching had an effect in Ephesus. There was a small group of disciples

Jesus uses even faulty messengers to save people

But obviously its not acceptable or right that disciples should be left in error, right?

Remember when Paul felt like giving up?

Remember when Paul felt like giving up?

He was exhausted and drained and despondent, disappointed and frustrated with the stubbornness of the Jews in Corinth

And Jesus encouraged him to continue… why?

because () “I have many in this city who are my people”

Paul had to continue on -

not because his preaching was so fantastic and everyone who heard him instantly snapped out of their rebellion and repented and believed...

but because Jesus had people in the city who belonged to him

He was already preparing to save them

And he was going to save them through the preaching of the gospel

So Paul, don’t be silent. Preach!

Its not your brilliant handle on the gospel or your persuasiveness that saves people - Jesus saves people

Its the same with Apollos -

These few disciples in Ephesus weren’t saved by Apollos’ eloquent preaching

They were saved by Jesus in spite of Apollos’ preaching and in spite of Apollos’ theological blind spots

So praise God!

And let that encourage you to go out and be a disciple maker.

Success in disciple making doesn’t rest with you. Jesus does the saving.

But obviously its not acceptable or right that disciples should be left in error, right?

No! Disciples need to grow! We need to have a holy dissatisfaction with the limited knowledge of God we have, and a desire to know more… to grow!

So Paul takes these disciples under his wing, he teaches them about the fullness of the gospel and baptises them in the name of Jesus, and they receive the Holy Spirit

and what happens then?

The disciples begin speaking in other tongues - exactly like what happened to the first Jewish believers in

And they begin prophesying - just like what happened to the first Jewish believers in

And what were they doing in when they were speaking in other tongues and prophesying?

“And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?.... we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”

They were proclaiming the works of God

Acts 2:7–11 ESV

And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”

And now we see the same thing happen when this small group of disciples receive the Holy Spirit in Ephesus

Acts 2:7-

They too begin proclaiming the works of God

They begin to minister and to proclaim the gospel

Folks, throughout Acts we have seen that Gospel ministry begins with the Church acting in the power of the Holy Spirit

It begins with the Church being equipped and growing in maturity...

and then just as when the Jewish church grew in maturity and as result began intentionally going out to proclaim the gospel… (which is how Paul’s missionary journeys began)...

So also must every Christian grow in maturity and be equipped to also go out and intentionally engage in the work of proclaiming the gospel to our neighbours

the work of being Jesus’ witnesses

That is the mark of Christian maturity

Christian maturity is not measured in how many years you’ve been a member of the church

Christian maturity is taking up your God-given calling of being a witness and a disciple maker for Jesus

Before a city can be transformed, the Church needs to be transformed

There is no way that the city is going to come to hear about Jesus and believe in Him...

if the Church doesn’t believe in Jesus enough to proclaim Him to the city

It begins with the Church

That is part of why we gather on Sunday - its for worship but its also for equipping

Its also why we have Bible studies and other weekly meetings - its for equipping

For the sake of making Jesus known to you in such a way that you can be equipped to go and make Him known to others

Overcome Opposition

And if you take up your calling to be a disciple maker…will you face opposition? You definitely will

At this time, while Paul was living in Ephesus, he wrote the 1st letter to the Corinthians

in that letter in chapter 16:8-9 Paul says to the Corinthians “I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”

Many of those adversaries were the Jews

Verses 8-9 say that after Paul had spent 3 months preaching boldly and reasoning with the Jews in the synagogue, they were still stubborn and continued in unbelief and they were speaking evil of The Way

But in spite of that kind of opposition, Paul remained in Ephesus for as long as 3 years - longer than any other city in his mission trips

Why?

Because as he said to the Church in Corinth… “a door for effective work has opened up to me”

Paul stayed and faced the opposition because he recognized the opportunities for growing the Church there

Just because there is opposition, or it's difficult, or there are what we call "closed doors", it doesn't mean that what we are doing is not the will of God.

Actually, opportunity and opposition often go together.

Opposition may even be a sign that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

Just because there is opposition, or it's difficult, or there are what we call "closed doors", it doesn't mean that what we are doing is not the will of God. Actually, opportunity and opposition often go together. Opposition may even be a sign that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

If we as the church never engage where we are opposed, then:

the gospel would never reach the unreached.

Missions wouldn't exist

Christians in persecuted countries would never get bibles

Christian aid organistions would never risk their lives to provide medical care in war hit countries

Nobody would be speaking out against abortion

You name it - wherever the Church is standing up for truth and justice, there is opposition

Another example you can think of

Another example you can think of

Another example you can think of

Another example you can think of

The Church does not run from opposition

The Church does not cowar in a corner when we are opposed: we bravely move forward as soldiers of the Living God

In Ephesus, Paul faced very stiff opposition. There was even a riot because of Paul and this small group of disciples

In it says "there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way."

It wasn’t little disturbance - it was a big disturbance. It was a massive riot! All because of this small group of Christians

And they had caused no little disturbance in Ephesus - it was a big disturbance.

QUESTION: How much of a disturbance is Cambridge Baptist causing in East London? If we were to close our doors, would East London feel our absence?

What was the riot about?

In verse 24 we see that a man named Demetrius and a bunch of craftsmen got upset because Paul was persuading everyone in Ephesus and all Asia that Artemis was not a god, and it was affecting their businesses.

And as you see in verse 28, they became enraged, and started shouting out "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

For centuries, life in Ephesus revolved around the temple of Artemis

Ephesus was the headquarters of Artemis worship, and people from all over Asia would come to worship in the temple.

The temple was 69 meters wide, 130 meters long, and had 127 columns 18 meters high (so it was longer and wider than a rugby field, and about 6 stories high).

It was the largest building in the empire - if not the world - at the time, and it was one of the seven wonders of the world.

Now here comes Paul and his small group of disciples, preaching the gospel, and people all over Ephesus and Asia are no longer worshipping this goddess

People are turning away from the religious traditions that had been part of their culture for generations and centuries.

So these tradesmen started a riot, and the dragged Paul and his colleagues into the theatre.

And they were going nuts until eventually the town clerk managed to disperse the crowd.

What a testimony of the power of proclaiming the gospel!

In spite of fierce opposition, the gospel had made a massive impact on Ephesus and all of Asia.

QUESTION: What might God do in East London if we got serious about intentionally going about the business of sharing the gospel?

What might God do through us if we made a conscious decision to share the truth of the gospel even when it is very uncomfortable to do so?

Now sure, we can go on with life as usual, and take the odd opportunity that comes along now and then to talk about the gospel with somebody.

Some of us are doing that.

But opportunities don't always fall into our laps. We have to be intentional about seeking out opportunities to share the gospel.

Seek Opportunity

What did Paul do when Jews in the Synagogue refused to believe?

What did he do when months of preaching and reasoning and persuading in the Synagogues bore no fruit?

Did he give up?

No - Paul and the disciples stopped going to the synagogues and instead went and taught every day in the hall of Tyrannus.

Not much is known about Tyrannus or his hall, except that it was a lecture hall of some sort.

It would have been something like a community hall where you could go during your lunch time break and listen to lectures - something that was quite popular at the time.

Today somebody might teach you how to do yoga, tomorrow somebody is doing a tupperware demonstration,

the next day its Amway and Herbalife, the next day someone might give a lecture on how to train your dog, and so on.

Paul grabbed this unique opportunity and it says that he daily went and taught the gospel in the lecture hall.

Paul was a tent maker by trade. But he didn't only wait for customers to buy tents from him, and then hope they ask him about Jesus before sharing the gospel (which is, if we are honest, how many of us go about it).

Paul intentionally looked for and engaged in opportunities to go out and make it happen.

QUESTION: How intentional are you about seeking and creating opportunities to talk about Jesus and share the gospel with somebody?

Verse 10 says "This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks."

The effect of Paul intentionally going about seeking opportunities to proclaim the gospel was that within that space of 2 years, all the residents of Asia heard the gospel

20 minutes ago you would have told me its a pipe dream

Its not that hard to imagine this happening

Ephesus was arguably the largest city in the world in Paul's day, and was a very influential city in all spheres of life - including religion and philosophy.

People from all over Asia would be travelling through Ephesus all the time, and the hall of Tyrannus was a perfect spot for people from all backgrounds to share ideas

What an amazing open door of opportunity Paul had to do ministry there!

QUESTION: Can you imagine if within 2 years, we were able to teach the gospel to every person in Southern Africa? What kind of impact do you think that might have in our country?

Is it that hard to imagine this happening?

Ephesus was an ideal place for ministry because people of every nation were travelling through...

But we live in the global era of internet and social media

We can talk to someone all the way on the other side of the world and its instant

But there are still people in South Africa who have not heard the gospel

There are still people in East London who have not heard the gospel

There are still people in Cambridge who have not heard the gospel

They might know you, but never have heard the gospel

Now if every person in East London heard the gospel, you would expect that to have a big impact on our city, wouldn't you?

It had a massive impact on Asia.

Verses 11-16 tell the story of how God was doing great miracles through Paul in Ephesus, and 7 itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to copy Paul.

They tried to cast out demons by saying "I command you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims".

But the evil spirits replied "Jesus and Paul we know, but who are you?" and the guy who was possessed by the demons attacked those 7 guys and overpowered all 7 of them,

and verse 16 says "they fled out of that house naked and wounded"

Now the guys in here all know, that you can come out of a fight with a black eye and a bloody nose and you will still claim you won the fight!

But if you come away from a fight naked… you lost!

Then, in verse 17 Luke says "And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled."

The name of the Lord Jesus was worshiped. Jesus was glorified

They realised this was no magic trick

The name of Jesus can't be used like a formula in a magic spell

Jesus is different. Jesus is real.

Verse 18-20 says, "Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. "

What an incredible victory of the gospel

8300 weeks of wages

2000 months of wages

173 years' worth of wages

What an incredible victory of the gospel

There was large scale repentance and conversion, and now people were confessing their sins and burning their magic books

You need to realise this was an amazing turn-around

Ephesus wasn't just the center for the worship of Artemis, it was also known as a center for the practice of magic.

It was such a big part of the culture of Ephesus that Luke says the value of the books that were burned was 50,000 pieces of silver!

That's 50,000 days of wages!

Assuming they worked a 6 day week, thats 8300 weeks of wages

2000 months

A combined total of 173 years' worth of wages spent on magic books... That's how important magic was in the life in Ephesus

This is huge!

Imagine if men and women in East London confessed to drug and alcohol addiction and came and brought 173 years of salary worth of alcohol and drugs and burned it in one giant heap!

This was the effect of the gospel on the culture in Ephesus

I tell you what,

I tell you what,

It doesn't matter what we are up against in our own city - magic, alcohol, drugs, other religions, ancestral worship, poverty, racism, crime, pornography, you name it,

... we need to preach the gospel. That's the answer.

How do you transform a whole city?

Proclaim the gospel

How do you transform a whole country?

It begins with the Church being filled with the Holy Spirit and answering the call to be Jesus witnesses, intentionally creating opportunities to do so in spite of all opposition

All of mankind's problems are caused by a wrong view of God, or plain unbelief.

Conclusion

Think about why our cities and our countries have so many problems and why they need to be transformed

Mankind has tried all kinds of things to solve our social ills.

None of those things have brought any lasting solutions.

Mankind has tried all kinds of things to solve our social ills. None of those things have brought any lasting solutions. In South Africa, many are hoping that our democracy and constitution will save us. We think, maybe a change in leadership in party structures is what we need,

If anything, they’ve led to war

In South Africa, many are hoping that our democracy and constitution will save us.

We think, maybe a change in leadership in party structures is what we need,

or stronger opposition parties,

or a new government, a new president.

Maybe we need more capitalism,

Maybe we need communism

Maybe we need socialism

Maybe if we get one of these things, we can change our country and win the fight against our social ills.

But I've got to break it to you... if you have set your hope in any of that transforming our country, you have set yourself up for disappointment

That is because our problems are not caused by misguided views and practices in politics -

our problems are caused by misguided and wrong views about God

Evil doesn’t exist because of anything other than unbelief in God

We are in this mess because of unbelief and sin

So then that is the issue we need to address.

We need to address people’s unbelief

People sin and there is injustice and evil exists because of unbelief in God

And the only way to effectively address unbelief is to proclaim the gospel

And it is only when people have believed the gospel and been supernaturally converted and their hearts changed, that they will start to live differently

You don’t win the fight against evil by telling people not to sin… you do it by addressing the cause of sin, which is unbelief

If we want to see change, if we want to see an end to crime, we want to see an end to abortion, we want to see an end to poverty, racism, drug abuse, etc etc etc...

Maybe, that needs to begin with us....

The answer is… preach the gospel

Maybe we need to address our own unbelief

Do what Jesus called us to do

Is it our own unbelief that is holding us back from sharing the gospel?

Be his witnesses

I mean you won’t share something that you don’t believe yourself

Now one last point

At the same time, to truly believe the gospel and to understand what it means for us, should be enough to compel us to take that good news and share it with others

When we do this,

After all, the gospel isn’t just a means of transforming our cities from crime havens into utopian paradises

Transforming cities is a fruit of the gospel, but its not what the gospel is ultimately about

The gospel isn’t about removing evil from your city and making it nice and comfortable for you to live in

The gospel is about what Jesus did to remove all the evil that YOU have done...

…to take that sin upon himself, and to die on a cross so that you may be forgiven and have eternal life

I mean has it ever occurred to you, that if God should remove all evil from this world and give it the justice it deserves...

…which is what we would all say we want...

…then that means that God should also remove you and give you the eternal punishment you deserve?

As Paul later on writes in his letter to the Ephesians, in chapter 2, ALL OF US were dead in our sins and living in the evil passions of our flesh

BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved

Do you believe that?

My friends, you cannot truly believe that God did that for you, and at the same time have no compassion for those who have not yet heard that good news

You want to know whats impossible - that’s impossible

So not only does our city need to hear the gospel, but so do we

We need to be reminded of the gospel every day

so that we would give to God the worship He is worthy of,

and be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we would be equipped to take this news to the rest of our city