AF-S124-052806 Acts 19

Alêtheia Christian Fellowship

Acts 19:1-7 ~ While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (KJV: Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?) They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

Maps - Paul did not travel the usual Roman road west by Colossae and Laodicea in the Lycus Valley, cities that he did not visit (Col. 2:1).

“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

εἰ πνευμα ἁγιον ἐλαβετε πιστευσαντες; The first aorist active participle πιστευσαντες is simultaneous with the second aorist active indicative ἐλαβετε and refers to the same event.

Acts 19:8-12 ~ Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. 11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

Contextualized Evangelism – Superstitious wonder-seekers

Acts 19:13-16 ~ Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

ἐξορκιστῶν

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 ~ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

At the end of His life, Jesus declared His mission a success by saying

"I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do (John 17:4 NIV). When our deepest desire is not the things of God, or the favor of God, but God Himself, we cross a threshold. Less self-focus, more God-focus.

Acts 19:17-20 ~ When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. (NASB- was growing mightily and prevailing.)

now came – tied to sons of Sceva episode

150 man-years

Acts 19:21&22 ~ 21 After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.” 22 He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.

Acts 19:23-27 ~ About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24 A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no little business for the craftsmen. 25 He called them together, along with the workmen in related trades, and said: “Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. 26 And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. 27 There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

Actually two goddesses in Asia Minor were named Artemis. The one, a goddess worshiped in Greek culture whose counterpart in Rome was Diana, was the virgin goddess of the hunt. The other was Artemis of the Ephesians, a many-breasted goddess of fertility. Probably the original “statue” was a meteorite that resembled a woman with many breasts

Acts 19:28-34 ~ When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis (KJV: Diana) of the Ephesians!” 29 Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and rushed as one man into the theater. 30 Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31 Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater. 32 The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. 33 The Jews pushed Alexander to the front, (NASB: Some of the crowd concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward;) and some of the crowd shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. 34 But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” >>>>> Acts 19:35-41 ~ The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Men of Ephesus, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? 36 Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to be quiet and not do anything rash. 37 You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. 38 If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. 39 If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. 40 As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of today’s events. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.” 41 After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.

2 Timothy 4:14 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. 15 You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.

1 Timothy 1:20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

Revelation 16:14 They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs

Matthew 24:24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible.

2 Corinthians 11:3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

1 Timothy 4:1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

According to the Bible the first satanic religion after the Flood was established at the Tower of Babel. Nimrod, the Grandson of Ham, founded Babel, Erech and Akkad, in what is present-day Iraq in the vicinity of Baghdad. They were the forerunners of Sumerians and Akkadians His wife was a witch named Semiramis who was the High Priestess of the anti-God cult. She had a son named Tammuz who was a savior-God conceived by a sun-beam but he was killed in the early spring and remained dead for forty days mourned bitterly by his mother she became the conduit through the prayers of the people to her dead son and so she raised him back to life through her love and would forever function as a mediator for the prayers of the people. Every year people would fast and mourn in remembrance. She became the Great high mother goddess of dozens of nations, Ishtar of the Akkadians, Philistines and Assyrians, Aphrodite of Greece, Venus of Rome, Freya of the Vikings, Hathor of pre-dynastic Egypt and later Isis. Etc. While her son also became her lover and is known by many names also, like, Baal, Osiris, Eros and Satan. Eventually she was believed to have been born of a sun beam as well.

The Phoenicians called her Astarte who was from the Aysha and it is from this we get the word Asia meaning to the East and it is also where we get the word East itself. She is the moon goddess and Mother Nature and presently worshipped by neo-pagans like Wicca and witches.

Eostre is the Teutonic Goddess of spring. Eggs and rabbits are sacred to her, as is the full moon. The Jews knew her as Ashtoreth and Solomon introduced the worship of this idol (1 Kings 11:33). Jezebel's 400 priests were probably employed in her service (1 Kings 18:19). She was called the "queen of heaven" (Jer. 44:25) Astarte the moon goddess, queen of heaven, mother and lover of Baal the sun god.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) 051506 -- The Vatican observed the 25th anniversary of the shooting of Pope John Paul II with a Marian pilgrimage and the laying of a marble marker at the place he was shot.

In a message to participants, Pope Benedict XVI said the memorial stone in St. Peter's Square would remind visitors of that "dramatic event" that left his predecessor near death.

Celebrating Mass in the basilica, the papal vicar of Rome, asked for prayers for the late pope's beatification. His words were met by long applause.

A statue of Our Lady of Fatima was flown in from the Fatima sanctuary in Portugal for the occasion and brought by helicopter to the pilgrimage assembly site. Pilgrims then carried it in procession to the square.

The shooting took place on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, and Pope John Paul always credited Mary with saving his life.

Pope Benedict recalled the late pope's special devotion to Mary in a midday talk May 14. Addressing thousands of people from his apartment window above St. Peter's Square, he said Pope John Paul had always felt that Mary's "maternal hand" had miraculously saved him from death.

The pope prayed that Mary would continue to watch over the church and all humanity, especially families, mothers and children.