The name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor (Acts 19:1-41) By Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce

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.