The name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor (Acts 19:1-41)
By Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce
Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospel music
Paul’s ministry to Apollos
Scriptures reading Acts
19:1-7
1 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?” 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. 4Paul 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.
The name
of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor (Acts 19:8-20)
Scriptures
reading Acts 19:8-20
8 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 illness were cured and the evil spirits left them.
13 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 Sceval, a Jewish chief
priest, were doing this. 15One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know
about Paul, but who are you?” 16Then 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.
17When 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.
The disturbance by Demetrius who made silver shrines of Artemis (Acts
19:21-41)
Scriptures reading (Acts 19:21-41)
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.
23 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.”
28 When they heard this, they were furious and
began shouting: “Great is Artemis 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 want ed 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, 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!”
35 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 .” 40 After he had said this, he dismissed
the assembly.
Vere 2
This was the deficiency in the result of Apollos's ministry, a ministry which
lacked a complete revelation of God’s New Testament economy.
Verse
3 This is the last mention of John the Baptist in the New Testament. Here at
last, he wholly gives place to Christ. There was in John’s disciples a thought
of rivalry between John and Christ (John 3:26). John’s
ministry was to introduce (Christ (v.4) . Once Christ had been introduced, John’s
ministry should have ceased and been replaced by Christ. John should have decreased,
and Christ should have increased (John3:30).
Verse
5 They were baptized into the name of the
Lord Jesus. Though these men had been baptized by John the Baptist, baptism
in the name of Christ was in order as a testimony to their new faith in Christ.
Verse 8 synagogue. Again, Paul on arriving at a
city used the synagogue as his center of witness.
Verse 9
He might have been a teacher, and Paul might have rented his school and used it
as a meeting hall, apart from the opposing Jews’ synagogue, to preach and teach
the word of the Lord to both Jews and Greeks for the years. The lecture hall owned
by Tyrannus was probably used by him to teach students of rhetoric and was made
available by him to traveling philosophers or teachers.
Verse 11
extraordinary miracles. On other occasions
Paul did not have this power (2Cor.12:8; Phil 2:27;1Tim.5”23; 2 Tim.4:20)
Verse 12
Referring to the surface, the skin, of the body. A medical term used at that time.
Luke, the author was a medical doctor.
Verse 13 driving out evil spirits. These exorcists were magicians who could cast
out demons. The lesson of this story (vv.13-17) is that to use the name of Jesus
effectively in exorcism one must be totally devoted to Him. Contrary to theories
of magic of the time, the name by itself could do nothing; this misuse, in fact,
backfired (v.16).
Verse 19 sorcery. Magical spells
written on scrolls. Fifty thousand drachmas. If the silver drachma is meant, the
value would have been more than $10,000. This was to clear up their past life, which
was sinful and demonic. Each piece was approximately a day’s wage.
Verse 21 The purpose was to carry out Paul’s
loving concern for the need of the poor saints in Jerusalem. At that time Paul was
in Ephesus on his third ministry journey, busy with a heavy burden to carry out
his ministry in Asia (1 Cor.16:8-9) and in Macedonia and Achaia (1 Cor.16:5-7; Acts
20:1-3). Nonetheless, he still had a burden to spare part of his time for the needy
saints in Jerusalem. When he arrived in Corinth, he wrote his Epistle to the saints
in Rome, expressing the purpose (Rom.15:25-31). Although he was an apostle set
apart by God for the Gentiles (22:21; Gal.2:8), Paul was still concerned for the
Lord’s interest among the Jews. His primary concern was for the Body of Christ universally,
not merely for his part of the New Testament ministry among the Gentiles.
Besides this, his purpose in going to Jerusalem
at this juncture might also have been to fellowship with James and the other apostles
and elders in Jerusalem regarding the Judaic influence on the church there. According
to Paul’s teachings in the Epistles to the Galatians and the Romans, the decision
made by the conference of the apostles and elders in ch.15 to resolve the problem
concerning circumcision must not have been fully satisfactory to him. This undoubtedly
trouble him because of his concern for God’s New Testament economy, which is to
build up the Body of Christ. James’s word in 21:20-22, after Paul had arrived in
Jerusalem (21:17-18), and his proposal that Pual participate in the four Jewish
believers’ Nazarite vow (21:23-24) seem to confirm this view.
Verse 21 Since the Lord the Spirit dwell
in Paul’s spirit (2 Tim.4:22); Rom.8:10-11), Paul must have purposed according to
the leading of the Lord the Spirit. Paul did go to Jerusalem (21:17), and he did
see Rome (28:14,16). This desire of Paul’s was fulfilled by the Lord when He brought
Paul to Rome through his appeal to Caesar (23:11)
Verse 22 A city treasurer of Corinth (Rom.16:23;2
Tim.4:20), of high rank, who probably had been converted by Paul’s preaching in
Corinth (18:8) and had become an attendant to Paul. It was at this time, in Ephesus,
that the apostle wrote his first Epistle to the church in Corinth (1Cor.16:3-10,19;
Acts 19:20-23,8-10, 17:20:1).
Verse 24 Silver shrines. Small shrines in
a niche; representing Artemis (Latin, Diana), for worshipers to dedicate in the
temple. No silver ones have been found, only some in terra-cotta brought in no little
business. Big profits are clearly implied. A dirty and demonic trade. Those who
practiced such a trade cooperated with the demons to possess and usurp people for
Satan’s evil kingdom (Matt.12:26). Artemis was the Ephesian goddess. To the Romans
she was the goddess Diana (Latin).
Verse 25 Behind the idol worship
were demons, who instigated the uproat against the apostle to disturb and frustrate
the preaching of the gospel. This was Satan’s fighting against God’s spreading of
His kingdom on the earth.
Verse 27 The gospel was endangering
the business of these idol-makers. In order to stir up opposition against the Christians,
the craftsmen appealed to the civic pride of the Ephesians. The temple of Artemis
was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world- a magnificent structure with
127 columns 60 feet high standing on an area 425 feet long and 220 feet wide.
Verse 33 Probably not because Alexander
was a convert of Paul’s preaching. (This Alexander was not the one in 1 Tim.1:20
and 2 Tim.4:14).
Verse 32, 39,41 assembly. The people of
Ephesus had the right to meet in a legislative assembly, though this particular
gathering was an unlawful one. This was the sovereignty of the Lord; it preserved
His apostle from the demonic uproar.
Bibliography,
King James, The
Holy Bible (KJV), Cleveland, OH: The world publishing company
Ryrie, Charles
C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV). Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible
Institute, 1986
Lee, Witness. The
New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.
