Acts 19

Paul comes to Ephesus...Ephesus was an important place

It was a provincal capital...important for political reasons

An economic hub

The temple of Artemis was there...religiously a very important city

Paul comes here and he finds some disciples

What does he ask the disciples?

When you believed did you receive the Holy Spirit?

They said, no, we haven't heard if there is a Holy Spirit

That indicates there is some kind of a disconnect here...some kind of problem

We might have launched into a dissertation on the Holy Spirit or a rebuke...but Paul does the right thing...Paul asks a follow up question

He is trying to figure out why they are confused about this

What's really the problem?

Kind of probing to find out what's the situation here

Since the Holy Spirit is received when someone is baptized..that's a reasonable question

Paul finds out they were baptized with John's baptism

Oh...that's the issue...now he knows where they are

vs. 4  Paul starts with John's baptism...starts with what John says to teach them about Jesus and fill in the rest of the story for them

When they hear this...the gospel and things about Jesus...then what do they do?

They are baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus

Shows you that their problem is not rebellion...they are willing to do what they ought to do when they understood it

Sometimes the problem is a lack of information...they are receptive...Paul teaches them and they respond

We know from end of chapter 18 that Apollos had been preaching in Ephesus only about the baptism of John because he didn't know the rest of the story...it may be that these men were taught by Apollos...Paul may be giving further instruction to Apollos' former students; Apollos is in Corinth right now teaching Paul's students

Was it good enough for someone to be baptized with John's baptism?

No...didn't John immerse?

Yes

Didn't he have people repent before he immersed them?

Yes

Wasn't his baptism for the remission of sins?

It was

Why wasn't that good enough?

It was...at the time...just like the old law was at the time

If people who received a baptism at one time was acceptable needed to be baptized again now that the baptism of Christ is applicable..what about somebody who isn't baptized according to Christ's pattern and it never was a baptism the Lord authorized

If even these had to baptized again, what about those today not baptized according to the pattern...if the baptism doesn't fit the pattern of Christ it isn't appropriate

Kind of a misnomer to say be baptized again...

vs 6  there was a sense in which they received the H.S. when they were baptized, i.e. ...here Paul also lays his hands on them so the receive spiritual gifts

vs. 8 Typically Paul goes to the synagogue first

However, some were hardened, disobedient and spoke evil of the way

He self-excommunicated himself from the synagogue and went to a school that was owned or run by a guy named Tyrannus, which means Tyrant

He ends up preaching in Ephesus for two years

And that whole area was able to hear the word

That didn't work so well, did it

vs. 11 Of all things...God was performing EXTRAORDINARY miracles by the hand of Paul...strange way to say that

When you stop and think about it, there were so many signs being done by Paul and others that it was almost like they became ordinary

vs 12 evidently when the sick people came into contact with these aprons, they were healed

vs 13 It's obvious that Paul is on to something here

You have Jewish exorcists who did whatever they did to "cast out" demons...they weren't doing real exorcisms...all kinds of exorcisms in Brazil...assuming what is done by these guys is no more effective than what is done in Brazil...

These guys think it would work well if they use the same name that Paul did...they had this idea that if you knew the name of the god and recited the name it was like a secret formula and tapped into that god and he would have to leave....they weren't believers of Christ but they had found the name

So they say, "I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims."

The demons say who are you?

He beats them up...to the point they flee out of the house naked and wounded

It really backfired on them...kind of dangerous to do these things if you don't know what you are doing

This does have an impact

The people hear about this; they fear the Lord; they magnify the name of the Lord; many of the believers are affected and moved by this

They disclose their connection with the magical world...they bring their books and burn them

The believers are turning with greater fervor to the Lord

50,000 pieces of silver is nothing to sneeze at...that much worth of magic books the believers bring and burn

What does that show you about them?

They have repented...they can't go back....kind of like burning their bridges; commitment...remove possibility of going back to old life is repentance...it is a sacrifice...but better that the silver perish and me not

Powerful example...

vs 20 a summary statement of what is going on here

Very encouraging to see this kind of commitment on the part of the believers....see how disgusted they are with their former practices...we don't won't those books around anymore

Not giving the books to others to sin...could have put on ebay and gotten money for them

Acts 19:21–22 ESV

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.

This is where Paul is headed

First places he plans on going is Macedonia and Achaia

Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea are churches in Macedonia

Corinth and Synchre are the churchs in Achaia

Then he plans to go to Jerusalem

Then he wants to see Rome...probably not for the same reason most people want to see Rome

Paul has a pioneering spirit...always wanting to press forward...wants to encourage brethren and spread gospel

From Romans we know he also wants to go to Spain...we don't know if he ever went to Spain, and he didn't go to Rome as a free man...but this sets the agenda for the rest of the book...Paul does go to Rome

During this time period he writes I Corinthians---he is in Ephesus ()

Another event occurs before Paul gets out of town, out of Ephesus

Quite an event

They have a big problem here

Demetrius rallies his fellow craftsman around the goddess Diana..the shrine to Diana was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world

The craftsman make a kiling making shrines to Diana

But what is happening to the craftsman business because of Paul?

Sales are down...enough people are listening that it is making in-roads on the market

Wouldn't have expected enough people would make that much of an impact...but clearly it did

They are pretty riled up about it

You can see their real motive for creating this disturbance was financial

But can you rally people around your cause if it is because I'm not making enough money?

What line do they feed the public?

Diana is being humiliated...he is saying this is attacking the great goddess that we worship...her divine honor is at stake...we are really horrified by this

With worldly people, you can never trust what they are saying...may that never be said of us

They get a frenzy...they start coming into this theater hollering and dragging a couple of Paul's companions

Riots and mobs are based on emotion and half the time they don't know why they are there

They have whipped them into a frenzy but they don't all know what it is all about

Paul wanted to go there and some of Paul's friends tell him no, not to go into the theater...that was wise...they certainly weren't in a mental state to listen....we need to be prudent as well as brave...it won't help the cause to go in there...it would have been foolish

So the business people are causing a riot to try to keep their business interest thriving

vs 32 assembly is the same word translated church

church just means a group or assembly of people

Some of the crowd concluded it was Alexander...not sure what Alexander, the Jew was going to have said...don't know if he would join in with the Christians opposing idolaty or distinguish Jews from Christians

Unruly crowd...you get people this worked up and anything can happen

The Town Clerk comes and gets control of the situation

Town Clerk was like the Chief Executive Officer of the City...like a mayor

He gets the crowd quiet and tells them several things

vs. 35 & 36 he tells them the tumult is useless because everybody knows...Artemis' reputation is safe...not really the truth; but truth is not in question here...just trying to calm them down

vs. 37 then he says this tumult is not justifiable...he says these are not blasphemers of our goddess...even though they really were....do worldly people allow facts to get in the way of what they say

He is trying to politically smooth things over...nevermind the truth of the matter

vs 39 & 38 if they have something against these men...we have courts as a means of settling disputes; if there is some sort of damage that has been done the legal process will take care of that or there is the legislature-vs. 39

Settle in a lawful assembly...the assembly they are in now is not lawful

again the word assembly in vs 39 is the word church

So either take it to Court or if a new law needs to be passed take it to the town counsel...we have legal means of dealing with things

This tumult is not necessary and it is not lawful...we have all the  mechanisms in place to take care of this

vs. 40  this could be dangerous for us because if people found out about this, like the Romans...that could be an excuse for them to take away our freedom

It is not Christianity that is threatening their well-being...it is the riot

The lawbreakers right here are the people doing the persecuting, not the ones they are persecuting

The last two points are more valid...let's do this in a lawful way because this assembly can get us in trouble

Then he dismisses the assembly...a little funny because he didn't call the group together

This is the last thing we know about Paul's time in Ephesus...he spent two to three years here and that is summarized in chapter 19