STUDY THEME: WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING,
FOR HEAVENS SAKE?
“MAXIMIZING GOD-GIVEN OPPORTUNITIES.” ACTS 19: 1-41.
ACTS 19: 1-7, 8-10, 23-28.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO ACTS 19.
We now commence that portion of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, which tells the story of Paul’s work in Ephesus during his third missionary journey. In the N.T. narrative, Ephesus is the outstanding and representative church to which two letters are addressed. There is also the letter of the Lord to Ephesus, the first of the seven in the Book of the Revelation.
The events in today’s lesson occurred during the third missionary journey of Paul and Silas in 52-55 A.D. In Acts 18: 23 we have the beginning of the journey. Actually the separation of Barnabas and Paul over the question of John Mark’s accompanying them was the beginning. Paul chose Silas while Barnabas took John Mark and they went their separate ways.
When he had finished his ministry in Phrygia and Galatia Paul continued westward by land through the region of Colassse, Laodicea, and Hieropolis in the Lycus Valley and finally arrived at Ephesus. Here he ministered for about three years.
Ephesus was one of the major cities of the Roman Empire. It was on the western end of Asia Minor and under the emperor Hadrian was the capital of the Roman province of Asia.
It had a large population. The temple of Artemis (Diana), one of the wonders of the ancient world, was in Ephesus. The city of Ephesus was noted for its black magic. The city at that moment was given over largely to demonism, to sorcery, to witchcraft and magic.
Paul had wanted to go to the province of Asia earlier in his ministry, but God in Acts 16: 6 had prevented him from going. After his work in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens and Corinth on his second missionary journey, he made a brief visit to Ephesus and left Aquila and Priscilla there in Acts 18: 18-21, while he returned to Jerusalem. A year had gone by with Luke giving us very little information concerning Paul’s ministry.
During that year something had happened in Ephesus. In the closing verses of Ephesians 18 Apollos had come from Corinth to Ephesus.
Apollos was a Jew from Alexandria in Egypt. He was a learned man, mighty in the Scriptures of the Old Testament. Alexandria was the center of Greek culture and learning at that time.
The biblical truth in today’s lesson is that God gives believers opportunities to minister effectively in His name. But whatever ways we find to touch people for Jesus, certain principles are universal: we must communicate God’s truth clearly.’ We must be available when God calls, and,
We must not let controversy turn us aside from our primary responsibility of bearing witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. These principles can enhance the effectiveness of Christian ministry efforts in our lives just as they did in Paul’s life.
PLEASE READ ACTS 19: 1-7.
You will remember that in Acts 18: 23 we have the beginning of Paul’s third missionary journey. Having returned to Antioch in Syria from his second journey, he spent some time there, and then started out again.
He was getting to be an old man, but there was such a desire in his heart to carry the gospel to distant places and to help and encourage those who had already believed, that he could not be content at Antioch. He must go into the regions beyond.
So “he departed, and went all over the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.”
And then we have this interesting story of Apollos, which comes in here as an explanation of what is recorded afterwards in Ch. 19. A certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus.” God does not have a great many eloquent men, even in the ministry of the gospel. It is just here and there that He lays His hand upon a man who can speak as to stir men’s hearts and move on and on to a great climax. Such men are rare. Dr. Adrian Rogers has such a gift with words.
Apollos was perhaps the outstanding pulpit orator of the first century in the Christians Church. He knew the Word: that is, he was familiar with the O.T. The early Christians did not as yet have the books of the New Testament. Apollos had heard John the Baptist preach, and had been baptized by him personally.
Apollos was fervent in spirit, and “he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord.” But now we get his limitations: “Knowing only the baptism of John.”
A good many years had gone by and evidently Apollos had not returned to Jerusalem and he did not know that Messiah had come. So he went out preaching John’s baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. “He began to speak boldly in the synagogue.”
In the city of Ephesus, Paul’s two good friends, Aquila and Priscilla, were living. These, you remember, were the folk who were tent-makers and Paul had labored with them in Corinth. Now they had moved to Ephesus, and when Priscilla and Aquila heard of this eloquent Bible teacher who was giving out the Word of God in the synagogue, they went to hear him. There was no prejudice on their part that would keep them from entering the synagogue.
And they were stirred as they listened to the messages of this man Apollos. But we can well imagine that they said to one another as they walked home, “It’s wonderful; everything that he says is true, but the fact is he doesn’t go far enough. He is telling the people to get ready for the coming of Messiah. Evidently he doesn’t know that Messiah has already come, that He died and rose and ascended into heaven, and that the Holy Spirit has come down from heaven to baptize all believers into one Body and to bring in the blessed and glorious truth of a new creation—a new creation in which all saints on earth are united by the Spirit to the glorious Head in heaven.” So they decided that they must try to help this man.
You will notice that they didn’t go at him in a carping, critical way.
We sometimes hear somebody giving out a measure of truth; and they go at people in such a harsh, unkind way. We find fault with them because they do not know more, and often we frighten them off instead of helping them.
We need to pray, we Christians who love the Lord Jesus, who believe in the inspiration of His Holy Word and the fundamental truths of Christianity; how we need to pray for a spirit of grace; how we need to cultivate the winsomeness that characterized our blessed Lord Jesus.
Priscilla and Aquila were wise! They did not find fault with Apollos. I think they went up to him after meeting and said, “Brother Apollos, we certainly enjoyed your message this morning. We would love to have you come home and have dinner with us.” I can just imagine them saying, “Come now, come home with us”; and I think Apollos said, “I will be glad to come.” So they took him to their home and then when they got him filled up and when he was restful and happy and enjoying things, “they expounded unto him the way of the Lord more perfectly.”
I think they would say something like this: “My, we enjoyed you, Apollos! That was a wonderful message, but did you not hear that Messiah did come and that He was crucified and raised again?” “Why, no.” “O yes, and He has gone up to glory, and He has sent the Holy Ghost down.”
Why, I can imagine Apollos saying, “What proof have you of these things?” And then they would begin to tell him of all the wonderful things they had received through the Apostle Paul and other Christians; and as they opened up the Word, Apollos drank it in.
Oh, how grateful he was for these friends who so graciously and so kindly took him into their home and taught him. And as he learned these things, he felt, “Well, I am not fit to go on preaching here, but if I could get to a Christian assembly somewhere, maybe I could learn more and extend my ministry to other places.” So Apollos went to Corinth before Paul arrived in Ephesus.
And so he helped the local assembly there. “For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ.”
As you see, Apollos had left Ephesus, gone on to Corinth, and then from there his ministry broadened out, and he became one of the outstanding messengers of the early church.
And now Paul comes to Ephesus where Apollos had been and found certain disciples. Now be careful here. It does not say that he found certain Christians, and as we go on it is easy to see from this passage who these disciples were. They were Jewish disciples who had been instructed by Apollos. He had been preaching in the synagogue, preaching the baptism of John, and giving them all that he knew. Now he had gone on, and as Paul is here, Priscilla and Aquila no doubt ask him to come and preach to these people in the synagogue. And Paul, always ready to communicate to others what God had made so precious to his own soul, went with them and found these disciples.
Paul wants to help them, and he begins by putting a question to them: “Have ye received the Holy ghost since ye believed?” Actually what he asked them was this; “Did you, upon your believing, receive the Holy Spirit?” In other words, “when you listened to Apollos and heard his message about the coming Christ and you believed it, did you receive the Holy Spirit?”
This is not a question put to Christians. It is a question put to disciples in –shall we call it?---the half-way house between Judaism and Christianity, disciples of John. “Did you upon your believing receive the Holy Spirit?” And they said, “We had not so much as heard whether the Holy Spirit be,” that is, whether He be come.
Our Lord Jesus, before He went away, gave His last commission to the apostles: “Go and disciple the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” That is Christian baptism.
Now these disciples had been baptized. Paul says, “Into whose name were you baptized?” They answered, “We were baptized unto John’s baptism.” So Paul preached the Gospel to them. When they heard this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus; that is by His authority, which, of course, implies baptism unto the name of the Holy Trinity. They were baptized when they confessed Christ as their Savior.
And now, having been baptized with Christian baptism, Paul laid his hands upon them and immediately, as at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came on them and there were the same wonderful manifestations as at Pentecost. “They spake with tongues, and prophesied.” There were not many of them. “All the men were about twelve.”
PLEASE READ ACTS 19: 8-10.
In most of the cities Paul visited as a missionary, he began his ministry by going to the Jewish synagogue. He used the Old Testament Scriptures to preach Jesus as the Christ. This was possible because the people in the synagogues believed in the Scriptures and were looking for the Messiah.
The synagogue had in it not only Jews but also Gentile converts to Judaism and God-fearing Gentiles who were interested in the Jewish religion but who had not fully converted to Judaism. Generally the Gentiles were more open to Paul’s message than the Jews.
Usually Paul’s time in each synagogue was limited to a few weeks, but in Ephesus he spake boldly for the space of three months. The Jews in Ephesus must have been more open and patient than in places where Paul was expelled in a much shorter time. Paul spent his time disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. That is, the issue was Jesus. Was He the promised Messiah?
The responses varied. “Some became hardened and would not believe.” Faith is a choice. Those who reject Jesus do so by hardening their hearts. Those who hardened their hearts were not content merely to reject for themselves. They also spoke evil of, or maligned that way before the multitude.
The verb for spake evil of refers to reviling the most sacred of relationships---with parents and with God. They reviled Christ and His way before the multitude. This probably means that large numbers of people had shown an interest in Paul’s message. When things started to turn for the worse, Paul left the synagogue and separated the disciples. This was the point at which the followers of Christ left the synagogue and formed a church.
Paul then rented partial use of a lecture hall of someone named Tyrannus. We don’t know who Tyrannus was, but Paul lectured in this hall part of the day. One old manuscript gives the time when Paul used the hall as between 11 A.M. and 4 P.M. This was the hottest time of the day, and many people took a long break from their daily work---a kind of extended siesta. This left them free for other things. Paul was able to take advantage of this custom by offering discussions in the rented hall.
Paul, after spending the early hours at his tent-making, devoted the burden and heat of the day to his more important and more exhausting business, and must have conveyed something of his own energy and zeal to his hearers, who had followed Him from the synagogue to this lecture hall, for they were prepared to forego their own siesta in order to listen to Paul.
Paul had opportunities to train new believers and to evangelize those who came. He also found time in his busy day for visiting from house to house. He made himself available in the rented building, but he also went to where people were. He did not wait for them to come to him.
Paul was conducting discussions every day. Many Bible students feel that the context of the public hall was more conducive to informal discussions than to formal lectures, sermons, or debates. Paul probably used all these methods as the situation warranted. He was adaptable and available to all who came.
Vs 10 tells of the amazing results of Paul’s two years of ministry in the rented hall. During those years, “All they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.” Keep in mind that Asia refers not to the vast continent of Asia but to the Roman province of Asia, which was the western tip of Asia Minor. However it was no small area. Ephesus was the capital, with a population estimated to be 150,000 and there were other towns in the province. The seven churches of Asia of Revelation 2-3 were all in this province.
Colossae is not listed among the seven churches of Revelation 2-3, but it also was in Asia. How was it possible for all these people to hear the good news during a two-year period? Paul did not personally witness to all of them, although many no doubt first heard the good news from Paul.
Paul’s strategy was to use Ephesus as the launching point for many evangelistic and missionary projects. We know for example, that Paul had not visited Colossae when he wrote them. Instead, the work of Colossae was done by Epaphras, but he was probably converted and trained in Ephesus under Paul’s direction.
The amazing results could only have come from each believer telling others about Jesus Christ. What would it take for everyone in Oklahoma to hear the word of the Lord? Waiting for people to come to church will not achieve this. Each of us must take the good news outside the church walls.
We should begin our witness with people who already believe in God and the Bible. We must speak boldly in the name of Christ and don’t be surprised that some refuse to believe and some even revile the message. Don’t let controversy deter you.
PLEASE READ ACTS 19: 23-28.
Paul had been forced to leave the synagogue in Ephesus because of the opposition of the unbelieving Jews in vs. 9. The Jews opposed Paul for religious reasons. Gentile opposition arose primarily for economic reasons. Ephesus was the site of the temple of the great goddess Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
The Greek mythology name for the Goddess was Artemis while the Latin mythology name was Diana. She was a goddess of the moon, nature, hunting, and fertility.
She was pictured as a woman with multiple breasts. A statue depicting her in this way was the centerpiece of the famous temple dedicated to her worship in Ephesus. Statues of the goddess and temple with a miniature of the goddess in it were sold to worshipers.
A local silversmith named Demetrius made his living by producing and selling silver shrines of Artemis. He took notice of Paul when his business began to decline because of the success of Paul’s ministry. Paul preached the necessity of abandoning idolatry in every form and taught the sufficiency of Christ alone for salvation. Those Gentiles who turned to Christ were no longer interested in purchasing the idols Demetrius and others produced.
Demetrius assembled the craftsmen and workers engaged in the business of making and selling the idols. He warned them that their businesses would be discredited and the worship of Artemis come to the verge of ruin if the Way continued to spread.
In a fevered pitch of rage, the businessmen and craftsmen shouted, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Then they went to get Paul and his companions. This reminds us that it was a religious mob that shouted in Matt. 27: 22 “Crucify Him;” when Jesus stood before Pilate.
The mob couldn’t find Paul, but they found two of his friends, Gaius and Aristarchus. They dragged these two into the city’s large amphitheater. When Paul found out, he wanted to try to speak to the mob, but his friends wouldn’t let him.
The riot was finally ended when a city official warned the mob of the negative image this would give to Ephesus when word of the riot reached Rome.
We can learn a couple of important principles from the hostility shown to Paul and he church in Ephesus. First, Christians who faithfully declare biblical truth in the world will encounter opposition.
Persecution may take the form of rejection. Paul withdrew from the synagogue in Ephesus when he was no longer welcome. Persecution may also take a more violent form as demonstrated by the rioters led by Demetrius. Paul knew that his message would create controversy, and he knew from experience that his preaching could be met with violent acts. His courage and obedience to Jesus’ command to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth led him to accept whatever consequences occurred.
As ambassadors for Jesus Christ on earth we should not seek controversy but neither should we silence our witness to avoid it. Suffering for Christ’s sake is an opportunity to show our love for Jesus.
Second, the most effective way to change the culture is through evangelism. People in Ephesus turned from idolatry because they turned to Jesus. We cannot effectively change society without changing the hearts of people. When people give their hearts to Jesus, they turn from sin and no longer patronize the industries of sin.
The best way to stop the sale of illegal drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and other harmful substances is to destroy the demand for these products. If we want to eradicate the source of sinful practices, we must boldly share our faith in Jesus Christ with those who are lost.
Remember. When you declare the Gospel and biblical truth you should anticipate rejection and persecution from those who reject the truth. Christians have the greatest impact on their culture when they pursue evangelism and discipleship.
Paul wrote Corinthians while he was in Ephesus. He included some brief words about His work in Ephesus. He wrote in 1 Cor. 15: 32, “I have fought with beasts at Ephesus.” This may refer to the opposition described in Acts 19 or other opposition.
Paul described the combination of challenge and danger in Ephesus, saying, “A wide door for effective ministry has opened for me—yet many oppose me.”
We all have open doors, but there are always adversaries. Paul did not let the opponents deter him from doing what God sent him there to do.
Whenever someone does the will of God with power, opponents arise. Yet Christians should not be deterred by opposition.
NEXT SUNDAY WE BEGIN THE STUDY OF THE BOOK OF JOSHUA WHERE HE TEACHES US ABOUT LEADERSHIP. A. V. DAUGHERTY