Written ~ 06-27-2024
Read Acts Chapter Nineteen
Acts 19
WOW! So chapter nineteen could have been ripped from the headlines of our current day newspapers. Let’s dig in a see why I say that..
But first we are going to catch up to Paul and see what he’s been up to. We ended chapter 18 talking about a man named Apollos. He was taking Ephesus, then Achaia by storm with his eloquent and bold teachings about Jesus. When Aquila and Priscilla met Apollos, he didn’t know anything about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it was through Aquila and Priscilla’s explanation that gave Apollos a much broader understanding of the way of God (Acts 18:24-28). During this time Paul was on his way from Antioch to Ephesus, Apollos was leaving Ephesus and making his way over to Corinth. Apollos’ and Paul’s path did not cross at that time. But the believers Paul met in Ephesus had possibly been taught by Apollos or only knew the teachings of Jesus based off of John the Baptist’s ministry.
Acts 19:1-7…
1While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers. 2 “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them.
“No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3“Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked.
And they replied, “The baptism of John.”
4Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.”
5As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied. 7There were about twelve men in all.
As believers we need to understand the difference between being baptized with water and being baptized in the Holy Spirit with being Born Again. When you are baptized in water, which means a decision has already been made to have Jesus Christ become your Lord and Savior. When you are water baptized it is a symbolic representation of Christ’s death and resurrection. You are submerged in water to represent our dying to sin and emerging as a new creation, we do this as an outward proclamation that we are Born Again and have received Salvation from the Lord! When we are Born Again, the Holy Spirit now resides within us… To be baptized in the Holy Spirit is to invite the Holy Spirit to come, fill you up with His power and with His gifts. Now… hear me when I say this… there can be a lot of debate whether or not it is necessary to be baptized in water or baptized in the Holy Spirit to be saved. I believe wholeheartedly that your Salvation is not dependent on either of those actions. When you make the decision to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior YOU ARE SAVED and the gift of Salvation and eternal life is yours! BUT… being baptized by the submerging in water and being baptized with the Holy Spirit will… how can I explain this… it will bring your conversion experience full circle. But the very first decision must be to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
So… When Paul came upon these believers in Ephesus in verse 19:1, he was asking these specific questions to see if they were indeed saved. Once he was satisfied that they were saved, then he proceeded to lay hands on them and the Holy Spirit filled each one of them.
Here we have the introduction of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus, as I have done in previous chapters, I will do it again here… in Ephesus we find the group of believers to whom Paul writes a wonderful letter, namely the Book of Ephesians found a little later in the New Testament.
Acts 19:8…
8“Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God.”
We established in the past few chapters that this was Paul’s customary behavior, as soon as he reached a new city he would be found in the local synagogue, preaching. Do you recall in chapter 18 when Paul pretty much denounced the Jews who were opposing and insulting him in Corinth? Well, it looks like in Ephesus he tried one more time to get through to the Jewish people who were in attendance at the synagogue. But again the message of Jesus was rejected, so Paul moved his ministry out of the synagogue and held daily discussions in a lecture hall.
Acts 19:9-10…
9“But some became stubborn, rejecting his message and publicly speaking against the Way. So Paul left the synagogue and took the believers with him. Then he held daily discussions at the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10This went on for the next two years, so that people throughout the province of Asia—both Jews and Greeks—heard the word of the Lord.”
Paul was being stonewalled from speaking the name of Jesus in the synagogue. But did that stop him? Or did it stop the message of Salvation from being preached? No, God made a way for Paul to continue teaching and preaching. And many people throughout the region were saved.
Has it ever happened to you where you feel your attempts to get the message of Jesus Christ out to your family, friends, coworkers, etc. is not being received? Maybe, like Paul, we need to change our tactics. He wasn’t getting anywhere preaching in the synagogue. It says in verse 19:9 that some of the people listening to him were stubborn, and rejecting every word he was saying. So instead of getting discouraged and leaving the city, like he had many times before, he changed the location of where he held his daily discussions and the Lord blessed his ministry, mightily.
When I read verses 19:11-12, I have a hard time wrapping my brain around just how awesome it must have been for those desperate people bringing their sick to Paul for healing. Look at these verses and let it sink in how God, through His Holy Spirit touched Paul’s life. The power that exuded from Paul is indescribable!
Acts 19:11-12…
11“God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. 12When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled.”
Seriously, can you imagine walking in the Power of the Holy Spirit so profoundly that the sick are healed merely by touching a handkerchief which had barely touched your skin? I find that incredibly mind blowing. Not only that, but I yearn to walk in that kind of Power. When the words I type from this computer keyboard are anointed by the Holy Spirit, then are read by anyone who stumbles across them, I pray their hearts would be drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ and their lives would be transformed! I’m sure Paul’s gratefulness to the Lord was demonstrated with great humility and honor to His Name.
Acts 19:13-16…
13A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” 14Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. 15But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” 16Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.
Here we have a group of people who think they are filled with the same Power from the Holy Spirit as Jesus and even Paul. They went from town to town casting out evil spirits by using the Name of Jesus and even the name of Paul. But was it actually working? I don’t think so. Their incantations, possibly even sorcery were no match to the evil spirits they were trying to expel. The evil spirits attacking the world today, know who Jesus is, they know they cannot stand against the Name of Jesus, but for them to respect the command to retreat in the Name of Jesus, the person yielding that power must be filled with the Holy Spirit and have His Power working through them. It’s obvious the men in the above verses did not have the Holy Spirit working through them.
But… look what happened after the story of those men having been beat up and chased away spread quickly to the public! The Lord used that story to put the focus back on Himself!
Acts 19:17-20…
17“The story of what happened spread quickly all through Ephesus, to Jews and Greeks alike. A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored. 18Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices. 19A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars. 20So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.”
Wouldn’t that be something to see in our time? What if people practicing witchcraft and sorcery and blatantly living their lives with a dark set of beliefs, refuse to believe the Truth of Jesus all of a sudden confessed their sins and believed in the name of Jesus! Talk about a sweeping of the Holy Spirit across this land, that would be phenomenal! It’s what this nation needs. Lord Jesus help us! God was doing miraculous things through Paul, my prayer is that we would see the same miraculous things happen in the Name of Jesus and the Power of the Holy Spirit!
Paul had stayed in Ephesus for two years. The church there would have grown considerably and the believers would have a strong foundation in the Scriptures through the teachings given by Paul. But now it was time for him to move on.
The remaining verses in chapter 19 are what made me think of today’s world. When we read the headlines and see the things happening here in the Unites States sometimes brings a sigh of exasperation.
Right before Paul left Ephesus the whole city seems to explode in unexplained chaos. Ephesus was the “birthplace” of the Greek goddess Artemis. The shrines and idols to Artemis were a prosperous business and because of Paul’s ministry many people were abandoning their devotion to this supposed goddess. Manufacturers of the shrines and idols were losing money rapidly so they began voicing their complaints loudly. Sooner or later a large crowd was protesting and rioting. Let’s read verse 19:32…
Acts 19:32…
32“…the people were all shouting, some one thing and some another. Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn’t even know why they were there.”
Seriously, doesn’t this sound familiar! Protesting and rioting and most of the people have no idea what they are protesting about, they are just going along with the crowd and that’s it. It’s just a group of riled up people shouting a chant, they are hollering and griping for whatever purpose they feel like, without even knowing the reason or the whole truth behind the upheaval – in this case it was money.
The mayor got up in front of the hushed crowd and addressed them by basically saying, that’s enough! Go home! This protest, this riot is because a few businessmen want their manufacturing companies to be back in full swing. If any of them had a legal complaint, it was up to them to file formal charges. And that was it! The protesting and rioting was over, just like that.
Acts 19:38-41…
38“If the craftsmen have a case against them, the courts are in session and the officials can hear the case at once. Let them make formal charges. 39And if there are complaints about other matters, they can be settled in a legal assembly. 40I am afraid we are in danger of being charged with rioting by the Roman government, since there is no cause for all this commotion. And if Rome demands an explanation, we won’t know what to say.” 41Then he dismissed them, and they dispersed.”
Our world today can get caught up just as quickly in uncontrolled, ignorant chaos just as the people there in Ephesus did 2000 years ago!
Praying for our nation and seeking the will of God above all else is what will help the people of the world to see the Power of the Holy Spirit sweeping across this land.
Christians, we must be diligent in our prayers for the unsaved. Change can happen, God is listening!
~AMEN~