Southern Christian University

Acts Class Session 9

James A. Turner

Hello students. Please turn to Acts the eighteenth chapter. This is where we begin this evening. I believe the last thing that we talked about is verse six when the Jews in the synagogue opposed themselves and blasphemed. "And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook out his raiment, and said unto them. Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: From henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.” We turned and read from Ezekiel chapter three, where God gave instruction to the prophet Ezekiel as to what he needed to do as his watchman over the people of Israel. Please write by Acts 18:6, Ezekiel 3: 16-21, 18:2-3, 18: 19-24. Ezekiel 3:16-21 shows what Paul meant by the statement, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean.”

When our time was up we were reading from Ezekiel 18:24, and I believe we had almost completed that reference. This is a good reference to show people that even under the Old Testament religion, salvation involved the free moral agency of man, that a person must continue to try to live according to the law of God. If a man has served the Lord for sixty years and then turns away from the Lord and goes back to the world, according to that reference it is stated, “None of his righteous deeds shall be remembered: in his trespass that he hath trespassed and in sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.” Both the Old Testament and New Testament teach very plainly that spiritual salvation is conditional, therefore the popular doctrine, “Once a child of God always a child of God, and once saved, always saved is false. Galatians 5:4, reads, “Ye are severed from Christ, ye that would be justified by the law; ye are fallen away from grace.” Please read Hebrews 6:4-8; II Peter 2:15-22.

Now, there is real security in Christ. I Corinthians 10:13 reads, "There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above that which ye are able; but will with temptation give a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it." This is one of those “precious and exceeding great promises” that God has given Christians. If a child of God wants to live in that sensible way before the Lord, he can. God will not allow him to be tempted above that which he is able to bear but this promise is given only to those who have applied the blood of Christ by their obedience to the gospel (Romans 8:5-9). I Corinthians 10:13 should give us real confidence that we can serve the Lord properly.

I like to use John 10:27-29, even though it is a much misused passage. It reads, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." Now, what do God's sheep do? They hear the voice of Christ and they follow him. "I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them unto me is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." So there is absolutely real conditional security in Christ, but it is based on hearing the voice of Christ and continuing to follow him. Just as long as a child of God hears the voice of Christ and obeys his commands and continues to follow him faithfully, then Satan does not have the power to snatch him out of Christ's hand and out of God's hand. I can remember the day when those who teach, “once saved, always saved”, and they tried to uphold that doctrine, and they would go to the blackboard, and draw two circles on the blackboard, and say, “In order for you to take a child of God out of God's hand, you would first have to tear down the power of Christ, and then you would also have to tear down the power of the heavenly Father.” And, of course, that is true, if, and there is the big difference, if a child of God continues to hear and follow Christ, but if he does not continue to hear and follow Christ, then he will be severed from Christ. Remember Galatians 5:4 that those people that were listening to the false teachers, and going back under the Old Testament law, and Paul said to them, “ye are severed from Christ. Ye who would be justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace.” In order to be severed from Christ, they first had to be joined to Christ. But they followed those false teachers, and were going back under the Old Testament law, and they had lost their salvation in Christ.

Acts 18:7, "And he departed thence, and went into the house of a certain man named Titus Justus, one that worshipped God." This man was probably a Gentile, but a worshiper of God. "Whose house joined hard to the synagogue." Does that mean that Paul started living in the house of Titus Justus, did he move from staying with Aquila and Priscilla at Corinth? I doubt that that is the case. He probably did here in the house of Justus, what he did in the school of Tyrannus (Acts 19:9-10). He probably used that house as an evangelistic place where people could come, and he could teach them. But notice that Paul did meet with some success while he was teaching in the synagogue. Keep in mind that it was his pattern to stay in a Jewish synagogue as long as the people were hearing and receiving him properly, but when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he left the synagogue, and we will find that he did that also at Ephesus. But he did make some progress during the time that he taught in the synagogue Acts 18:8. “Crispus the ruler of the synagogue believed in the Lord with all of his house: and many of the Corinthians were hearing, believed, and were baptized.” Again conversion for an alien sinner ends in him being baptized for the remission of his sins, as this book shows very plainly!

Acts 18:9, "And the Lord said unto Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to harm thee: For I have much people in this city." Don’t you know that that was good news to the apostle Paul? Do you remember on that first journey, how that he and Silas were cast out from Antioch of Pisidia, and they went over to Iconium and were doing a great work there, but the unbelieving Jews there stirred up the Gentiles, and they were planning to stone Paul, and he had to leave the city and went to Athens. And then here on the second journey, we will see that those unbelieving Jews were ready to stir up trouble against him. Look at 17:13, "But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed of Paul at Berea, also they came thither, likewise stirring up and troubling the multitudes." And Paul had to leave the city. And then here at Corinth, those unbelieving Jews are giving trouble, and then this wonderful assurance that God gives Paul in a vision by night, "Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to harm thee: For I have much people in this city."

What does the latter part of verse ten mean, “For I have much people in this city”? There were not many baptisms until after Silas and Timothy joined him in the work at Corinth (I Corinthians 1:14-16). So it was not a matter of there being many Christians in the city at the time that Paul received this message, but it means that God knew that there were many sincere people in that wicked city of Corinth. We spent a little time talking about how that was a seaport city and a very wicked city as a whole, but Paul went there and preached the gospel, and the gospel is God's power to save (Romans 1:16). The Lord knew that there were sincere people among all those idolaters and immoral people, and if Paul stayed there preaching, there would be many that would obey the gospel, and as a result of his work at Corinth, a great church was established. I Corinthians shows that that church had many, many problems, and some of those problems, they had not told him about in that letter that they had written to him in which they asked him questions on a number of different subjects.

Paul wrote I Corinthians giving them the instruction that it would take to solve the problems in that church. And think of the wisdom of God in respect to that. If God had handed out New Testaments on Pentecost, the people would probably have never learn what the instruction was all about. But the Lord waited until there were problems, and then those apostles and inspired men were guided and given the solution to the problems that were in the churches, and that is the purpose of the New Testament Epistles. We have like problems today, and when we then do according to the instruction of those epistles, then we can solve the problems that are in the church today. Verse eleven, "He dwelt there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them." Now we will be reading that he stayed at Ephesus for three years as he speaks of it in Acts 20:31. Whether he stayed there completely three years, I am not sure. It may be rounded off to three years, but next to Ephesus, Paul stayed at Corinth the longest period of time.

There is an attempt by the unbelieving Jews to punish Paul Acts 18:12, "But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul, and brought him before the judgment seat, saying, This man persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law." Those would be unbelieving Jews, and they are talking about the Old Testament law. "But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If indeed it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: But if there are questions about words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves: I am not minded to be the judge of these matters. And he drove them from the judgment seat. And they all laid hold on Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of these things." So it looks like Sosthenes had become the new leader of the synagogue. Remember we read about Crispus in verse eight, the ruler of the synagogue believed in the Lord with all of his house. Those unbelieving Jews would want a ruler that would agree with them and would try to uphold their continuing to try to worship by the Old Testament religion. And so they are ready to bring a case against Paul before the Gentile judge, Gallio. But Gallio would not have anything to do with hearing the case. He dismissed the case. And as stated in verse sixteen, he drove them from the judgment seat.

There must have been a lot of people watching the court case, and they would have been nearly all Gentile people because this is Gentile territory, and they decided that Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, needed a beating himself, and they gave him one. So he received his just reward. But think about it, Gallio missed a wonderful opportunity to hear the apostle Paul. If that had been king Agrippa, that we'll read about later in Chapter twenty-six, I think surely he would have heard their case. Gallio could have learned the way of salvation if he had heard that case and heard Paul. Verse eighteen, "And Paul having tarried after this many days, took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: For he had a vow." Please look on your map and see that Cenchrea is close to Corinth, and then from there Paul sails to Ephesus. It look like Paul was still living by some of the Old Testament customs. To say the least of it, he had his hair shorn because he had been under a vow. There are numerous references where all of the details are not given, and many of us would like to know more about some of those details, but we need to be reminded of the last verse of the last chapter of the gospel of John. John says if all things were written about what Jesus did, he said I reckon the world would not contain the books. And so we have those things that are sufficient and necessary for our salvation (II Peter 1:3).

They came to Ephesus, and “he left them there”, Aquila and Priscilla. Do you think this indicates that he continued to stay with them while they were at Corinth? And when Paul leaves Corinth, they go with him, and they stay behind at Ephesus. They came to Ephesus, and he left them there. "But he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. And when they asked him to bide a longer time, he consented not; but taking his leave of them, and saying, I will return again unto you, if God will. And he set sail from Ephesus." Please underscore or highlight, “if God will”. I hope you are listening to me in regard to highlighting and writing notes in your Bible. If you will do it, you will find that they will later be of great benefit to you.

By Acts 18:5, make you a note that Paul wrote I and II Thessalonians from Corinth, on this second journey. And this was the beginning of his writing of the New Testament epistles. And the book of Acts is very important in respect to the study of the epistles of the New Testament. It is not only a book that gives many things about people being converted, it asks and answers that question three times, what must I do to be saved, but it is also important from the study of the epistles, and especially the epistles of Paul. Paul wrote we know definitely thirteen of the New Testament epistles, and if you count Hebrews, and I surely think it should be counted his epistle, that makes fourteen of the twenty-one New Testament epistles. So you cannot do a lot of reading in the epistles without reading from the apostle Paul.

Now in regard to the statement that I asked you to underline in verse twenty-one, “if God will.” I have talked to brethren and I have read from others who somewhat make light of our using such an expression today. Some say that it is a trite and unmeaningful expression. Well, I grant you that it could be a trite and unmeaningful, but it should not be. And on more than one occasion Paul said, if God will. I would like for you to write down by verse twenty-one James 4:13-17. Those Jewish brethren that James wrote to were making their plans for the future as though everything just turned on themselves, that whatever they planned they were able to do. And he said, "Go to now, ye that say, to day or to morrow we will move into such a city and stay there a year, and buy and sell gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little while, then vanisheth away. And for that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." And so we are to keep God in our plans. And he goes ahead and says, "Your boastings are evil. And to him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." Now, that statement carries across the board, that those who know to do good and do not as the Lord has commanded, “it is sin” that principle is involved. But the particular thing here in the context of James 4:13-17 is that matter of keeping God in your plans and saying, "If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." Write down I Corinthians 4:13 and 16:7. In the context of 4:13, Paul had changed his plans in regard to going to Corinth. He had first planned to go to Corinth and then go up and revisit the churches of Macedonia, but he changed his plans, and some were puffed up as though he would not come. But he told them in 4:13, if it was the Lord's will he would come, and in 16:7, he told them that he hoped he would tarry with them when he came to visit them. He says, “if the Lord permit”. Well, that would amount to the same thing as saying, if God will. That kind of thing needs to be renewed in the church today! We need to say with all sincerity “if things go well, if God will”, we will do. And so Paul promises the people in the synagogue at Ephesus, if God will, I will return, and it was God's will that he would return, and he returned.

Acts 18:22, "And when he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and saluted the church." Look at your map and note where Caesarea is, “he went up and saluted the church,” it is usually considered that to be the church at Jerusalem. And according to the elevation from Caesarea, it would be up. And after he had visited the church at Jerusalem, he went down to Antioch. Those that are familiar with the elevations say that Luke is very accurate in giving such things. When he says they went up, it was up, and when he says they went down, according to the elevations, it was down. Verse twenty-two is the end of the second journey, and you will do well to make a note of that, and verse twenty-three is the beginning of the third journey. "And having spent some time there. (Antioch of Syria) he departed, and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, establishing all of the disciples." What does that mean? It means that he went back and visited those churches that he and Barnabas had established on that first journey. It looks like he may have gone by land to go back and revisit them, and if he went by land, the first church would have been Derbe and the second one Lystra, the third one Iconium, and the fourth one Antioch of Pisidia. He revisits those churches, and then after he revisits those churches, he goes to the city of Ephesus. Do you remember how that he wanted to go to Ephesus or wanted to go into Asia on the second journey? He probably wanted to go to Ephesus then because it would be a radiating center for the gospel, but he was forbidden to go into Asia. The Holy Spirit was directing him where he was to go. He wanted to go into Bithynia, and he was forbidden by the Holy Spirit to go there. Luke says, passing by Mysia, he came to Troas where “Paul received a vision in the night, a man was standing over him in Macedonia, saying, come over and help us.” Luke joined the company, and they went to Macedonia, European territory, for the first time and they establish those three churches, the church at Philippi, the church at Thessalonica, and the church at Berea. From Berea, he went to Athens, and he was successful in establishing a small church there, and then he spent that year-and-a-half at Corinth.

Now, I believe I have already mentioned this, but be sure that you try to remember that verses twenty-four through twenty-eight must be put in there by the inspired Luke, so that we would know why those disciples at Ephesus needed to be baptized again. They were evidently baptized by Apollos, with John’s baptism after Pentecost when John's baptism was no longer valid. Remember John's baptism was from heaven (Matthew 21:23-32) and it was for or unto remission of sins. The same Greek word is used in Acts 2:38 as given in Mark 1:4 and in Luke 3:3. And those who rejected John's baptism stayed in a lost condition. For Luke 7:30 reads, "That the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of God." So they rejected the counsel of God like those unbelieving Jews did in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia. Acts 18:24, "Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man (a great speaker) came to Ephesus. And he was mighty in the scriptures." That would mean the Old Testament scriptures. He did not know about New Testament baptism, but he knew some of the things about Christ. And he was teaching accurately those things that he knew. "This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord." And, of course, that would be the New Testament religion. "And being fervent in spirit, he spake and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John." And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. "And when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more accurately." Remember that it is right for women to teach in a private situation, but they are not to preach in the worship assemblies of the church (I Corinthians 14:33-34; II Timothy 2:12). It may be that Priscilla was a better teacher than her husband, and there are a lot of women today that can do a better job teaching than their husbands can do, and like Priscilla, they can do a lot of private teaching.

Apollos is a man who wants to know the right way of the Lord, and so they take him aside and teach him privately as stated here, “expounded unto him the way of God more accurately.” It may be that they did not know that those converts that had been made by Apollos needed to be baptized again, but at least they taught Apollos so that he would have a better understanding. Verse twenty-seven, "And when he was minded to pass unto Achaia." And the place that he went was Corinth. In I Corinthians 3:6 Paul states, “I planted, Apollos' watered, but God gave the increase.” And, of course, by planting, Paul means that he was the one that had preached the gospel there first and established the church. And then Apollos came and further taught them that he speaks of watering, but it says that God gave the increase. And the thing that really counts is that God gave the increase. So when Apollos thought about going to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to receive him. "And when he was come, he helped them much that had believed through grace; for he powerfully confuted the Jews, and that publicly, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ." And, of course, like Paul used the Old Testament scriptures to show that Jesus is the Christ, Apollos must have been able to do a great job of that. He was an eloquent speaker and mighty in the Old Testament scriptures, and so he did a great work at Corinth.

Chapter Nineteen,

"And it came to pass, that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus." So going back to verse twenty-three, he had revisited those churches of Galatia and Phrygia, those four churches, and then passed on through the upper country, and he came to Ephesus. "And he found certain disciples. He said unto them. Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed?" Does not verse six indicate that the reason why he asked that question was to see whether or not they had any miraculous gifts of the Spirit. The apostles by the laying on of their hands could impart nine miraculous gifts to others as given in I Corinthians 12:4-11; and Acts 18:14-18. Philip had miraculous abilities that had been given him by the laying on of the apostles' hands (Acts 6:5-6, 8:5-8), but he was not able to transfer those to others, and it was necessary for Peter and John to go down and lay their hands on them to give them miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians 12:4-11 enumerates those nine miraculous gifts that the apostles could bestow on others by the laying on of their hands. I doubt very seriously if any of those had all nine of them, but probably most of them, one or two of those gifts, by the laying on of the apostles' hands.

Acts 19:2, "And they said unto him, Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit was given?" Well, remember Acts 2:38, Peter said, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” So if they had been baptized under the law of Christ, the baptism of the great commission, they surely would have known something about the Holy Spirit. And you remember how the apostles said in Acts 5:32 that God has given his Holy Spirit to them that obey him. "And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized?" Paul recognized immediately that they had not been baptized with the baptism of the great commission that was given on that first Pentecost after the resurrection and ascension of Christ. "And they said into John's baptism. Then Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him that should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." I can remember the day when quite a number of brethren in the church would say that John's baptism was just a baptism of repentance, that it was not for remission of sins, but I have called attention to the fact that the Bible teaches very plainly that John's baptism was for remission of sins (Matthew 21:23-32; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3). The Greek word for, for or unto in Mark 1:4 and Luke 3:3 is Eis, the same Greek word as used in Acts 2:38 and Matthew 26:28.

Further there is not a single example or any instruction about any of those that had been baptized by John or by Christ and his apostles or the seventy under that limited commission that were baptized again. But rather in I Corinthians chapter fifteen, and I think it is verse five, Paul talks about Christ appearing during that forty-day period before his ascension to above five hundred brethren at once, and most of them were still living at the time of the writing. Jesus had instructed the apostles before his death on the cross, that on the third day he would be raised up, and he would go before them into Galilee. And then after his resurrection, he told the women to go and tell the apostles that he was going before them into Galilee. And so Paul must be talking about that meeting at Galilee, when he said he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once. If you still think that all of those baptized by John and Christ and his apostles and the seventy during the limited commission needed to be baptized again then please answer two questions: Who baptized the apostles again? And who baptized all of the 500 plus brethren of I Corinthians 15:6.

These at Ephesus needed to be baptized because they had been baptized with the baptism of John after it was no longer valid. I hope all of you have given careful attention to the outline on the baptisms of the New Testament. It is still instruction that needs to be given in every church today. Verse five, "When they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spake with tongues, and prophesied." So you see he gave them miraculous gifts by the laying on of his hands, and two are mentioned. The gift of speaking in tongues was a gift of being able to speak a foreign language or languages that they had not learned. One of the primary purposes of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the apostles on Pentecost was to give them all of those miraculous abilities that would aid them in the giving and confirming of the New Testament (Hebrews 2:3-4; I Corinthians 1:7, 2:10-13, 9:1-2; II Corinthians 3: 3-6). "And they spake with tongues, and prophesied." Prophesying was the gift that gave them the ability to teach. A number of the books of the New Testament had not been written, plus there were only a few copies of those that had been written, and inspired teachers were needed in the churches. This miraculous period is spoken of as the childhood age of the church (I Corinthians 13:8-12; Ephesians 4:7-16). And we will close with verse seven, "And they were all about twelve men." Brief recess.

We are ready to begin with Acts 19:8, "And he entered into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, reasoning and persuading as to the things concerning the kingdom of God." And as usual he would be using the Old Testament scriptures, and proving by them that Christ is the fulfillment of these Old Testament scriptures, and you can be saved by becoming a member of the kingdom of God. His kingdom has been established, and thus Paul is persuading things concerning the kingdom of God. According to the premillennial doctrine the kingdom has not come yet, but we are just in the church age. And the kingdom age will come when Christ returns and reigns on an earthly throne in Jerusalem. So this is another reference that shows that that doctrine is false. Why would he be reasoning concerning the kingdom of God if the kingdom of God was not present at that time? Philip also taught the Samaritans things “concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, and they were baptized both men and women.”

Acts 19:9, "But when some were hardened, and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus." Those disciples must have been meeting in the synagogue of the Jews during this three month period, and surely there must have been many that were added by that time. But Paul then separates them from the synagogue, but he stays there until certain in the synagogue are hardened and started speaking evil of the Way and that means the way of Christ. "And he separates the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus." Now, Paul surely would have been qualified to have taught a lot of other subjects, but evidently he was teaching primarily, if not all together, the Bible to people while he was teaching in the school of Tyrannus. And he taught there for two years.

Acts 19:10, "And this continued for the space for two years, And notice the great results. so that all that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks." Ephesus was a very important city, a city that the gospel would radiate from. Do you not think those seven churches of Asia, that we read about in the first three chapters of the Revelation, must have been established during this period of time? The people throughout all Asia heard the word of the Lord during that two-year period. He taught three months in the synagogue, so this would make two years and three months down to verse eleven. "And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: insomuch that unto the sick were carried away from his body handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out." Now, I think we see what Luke means by special miracles. It was unusual to send things from his body, but they carried from his body handkerchiefs or aprons to the sick and their diseases departed from them and their evil spirits went out. This was much like what we read in Acts 5:15-16, “that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that as Peter came by, at least his shadow might overshadowed some of them ------ and they were healed everyone.”. At least that indicates that God was doing what Luke refers to here as special miracles by the apostle Paul. And notice that these strolling Jews that went about claiming that they could cast out evil spirits, they attempt to do so through Jesus whom Paul was preaching. And look what happened to them.

Acts 19:13, "And certain also the strolling Jews, exorcists, took upon them to name over them that had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth." Does not this indicate that they knew they were not actually able to cast out evil spirits, but they went about claiming to have that power? “Strolling Jews”, going from place to place, and trying to convince the people that they could cast out evil spirits. And I guess that a lot of the people thought that they had those evil spirits removed from them, but those fakes knew the difference, so they tried to cast out evil spirits by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And notice what happened to them. "And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, who did this. And the evil spirit answered and said unto them, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and mastered both of them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded." Don’t you know that that news carried in a hurry? It was full proof that they did not have the power to cast out evil spirits! The man who they tried to cast the evil spirit out of leaped on them and overcame them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. News like that would carried in a hurry, and it did. "And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks that dwelt at Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. Many also of them that had believed came, and confessing, and declaring their deeds. And not a few of them that practiced magical arts brought their books together, and burned them in the sight of all: And they counted the price of them, and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver." So they have a big book-burning at Ephesus. Believers who had magical arts recognized it was wrong, and they burned their magical art books. They had been fooling the people as though they had miraculous powers.

Remember the account of Simon in Acts 8:9-12, how that he had fooled the people, and they thought that he was someone great and had some divine power when he did not have any divine power! This must have been what a number of them at Ephesus did, that they did their magical arts and performed such tricks that they would convince a lot of people that they had miraculous power. But they recognized it was wrong, and don't you know that in the case of the men having to flee out of the house naked and wounded, and the attention that all that got, stressed the fact to them that they needed to get out of the magical art business. And so they brought their books together and burned them. "Burned them in the sight of all." So they had a public book-burning, testifying that they had been involved in a wrong business. "And they counted the price of them, and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver So mightily grew the word of the Lord and prevailed." So a great work at Ephesus. Paul was planning to spend another season at Ephesus. Whether he stays as long as he had intended or purposed to stay, I doubt very seriously from the reading beginning with verse twenty-three. But notice that after two years and three months, he sends some of those that were assisting him away from Ephesus, and he had plans to go back to revisit the churches of Macedonia, and then the churches of Achaia then to go to Rome. Paul, on his own, tried to make plans for the future, and for a long time in the future when you consider what is recorded here in verses twenty-one and twenty-two. "Then after these things were ended." The big book-burning, and the two years and the three months. "Paul purposed in the spirit when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been three, I must also see Rome." He had plans for the future to revisit those churches of Macedonia and Achaia. Those churches would be Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea of Macedonia, and by this time, there may have been other churches in that area, and then Achaia or Greece, those three churches in Achaia or Greece were, Athens, Cenchrea, and Corinth. Revisiting those churches, would have taken considerable time and then he planned to go to Jerusalem and then to go to Rome.

Acts 19:22, "And having sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timothy and Erastus; he himself stayed in Asia for a while." We have a lot of instruction given about Timothy, how that he was ready always, to do what Paul wanted him to do (Philippians 2:19-24; I Timothy 1:3-4). So Timothy and Erastus have been assisting Paul at Ephesus, and he had more than Timothy and Erastus, and they were capable teachers, and when others were taught at Ephesus, they could go out. So you see how it would have been very easy for the seven churches of Asia to have been established during that period, two years and three months that we read about. By verse twenty-three write down I Corinthians 16:8, and say, Paul wrote I Corinthians during the latter part of his stay at Ephesus. For I Corinthians 16:8 reads, "For I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. For there is an open door and effectual and there are many adversaries." This statement must have been made before the riot caused by Demetrius, and the silversmiths, and those of like trade. But Paul recognized that there was an open door at Ephesus, and he wanted to stay there as long as he could in that open door. Of course, that means a good opportunity to teach the gospel and convert men to Christ.

Acts 19:23, "And after that time, there arose no small stir concerning the Way. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana." They had a lucrative business before Paul’s preaching. In regard to the idolaters, every idolater wanted his little idol god to go in his house. So these men are in the business of making idol gods of silver. They would have to be good silversmiths to make those gods, and they must have been of considerable value. "For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines for Diana, brought no little business unto the craftsmen whom he gathered together with the workmen of like occupation." Wouldn't that be talking about what we call labor unions today? There would be union labors of the silversmiths and of the like occupation. "Whom he gathered together with the workers of like occupation and said, Sir, ye know that by this business we have our wealth. And ye see and hear." Now, their primary concern is that Paul is ruining our business, but they want to make it appear that the primary purpose of their meeting is we do not want our Greek goddess Diana to be despised.

Verse twenty-six, "Ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all of Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that there are no gods that are made with hands." And surely Paul was preaching that like he told the people of Athens that God made the heavens and the earth and all things therein, and he does not dwell in temples made with hands, and he is not worshipped by your pattern of giving gifts to your god, “seeing that he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” So Paul was ruining their business. Many of the people were turning to Christ and leaving idolatry, and it was really cutting down on the business of the silversmiths and those of like occupations. “And not only is there danger that this our trade come into repute." They make out like it is primarily because of their religion, but you see that their primary thing is Paul is ruining their business. "But also that the temple of the Greek goddess Diana be made of no account, and that she should even be disposed of her magnificence, whom all Asia and the world worshipeth." Our goddess Diana is one of the greatest of all of the gods, and Paul is going to cause her to be “deposed of her magnificence”.

Acts 19:28, "And when they heard this, they were filled with wrath." And so you see a riot takes place. "And cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And the city was filled with confusion: And they rushed with one accord into the theater, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel. And when Paul was minded to enter in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. And certain of the Asiarchs sent unto him, and besought him not to adventure into the theater." The footnote in my Bible for Asiarchs, says, “that is the officers having charge of festivals in the Roman province of Asia.” So you see these Asiarchs or officers in charge of public gatherings. They knew the danger, and so they sent word to Paul. "Certain also the Asiarcs being his friends sent unto him and besought him not to adventure into the theater." Why? They were afraid that he would be killed if he did, but you see that Paul was going to try to save Gaius and Aristarchus from being killed. They were two more of his companions while at Ephesus aiding in the teaching and spread of the gospel into all Asia. Gaius and Aristarchus were from Macedonia, and Paul was fearful for them, and evidently he wanted to go in and try to prevent them from being killed. But the brethren, the disciples suffered him not to do so, they knew the danger. By verses thirty and thirty-one, please write down II Corinthians 1:8-11, where Paul talks about the great danger they were in. I do not think there is any doubt that this is what he is talking about.

So reading from II Corinthians chapter one, beginning with verse eight, "For we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning our afflictions which befell us in Asia, we were weighted down exceedingly beyond our power, even as much as we despaired even of life. Yea, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead. Who delivered us out of so great a death, and will deliver: On whom we have set our hopes that he will also deliver us; ye also helping together on our behalf by your supplications for Paul, that for the gift bestowed upon us by means of many, thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf." It might be that the prayers of those brethren at Corinth had made the difference in respect to Paul and those brethren not being killed. At least Paul gives them credit that their prayers have been answered. And sometimes after we have prayed for something and it comes about, we may forget to thank God for it, but Paul reckoned that thanks would be given by many persons that had prayed for him when they learned that he was delivered, and that their prayers had been answered. When he wrote the letter to Rome, he asked them to pray for him for specific things, and their prayers were answered (Romans 15:30-32).

Acts 19: