Though they were not the ones stirring up trouble for Paul and the other Christians, the Jews finally got involved.  We are told they drew out  Alexander from the multitude, the Jews putting him forth.  He beckoned them with his hand and was going to make his defence.  Remember, there was a lot of confusion and the people were trying to figure out why they were there.  In the midst of confusion and uproar today, someone may be put forth to give an answer as to what is going on, but they may find that when people realize who they are and what they represent they no longer are willing to listen.  This is what happened when the crowd realized Alexander was a Jew.  Whatever Alexander was going to say, most likely against Paul, the worshippers of Diana knew the Jews opposed all idolatry, so they didn't give him a chance to talk.  For two hours, we are told in Acts 19:34, they cried out, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians."  Even when people are unified in their opposition to Christianity, they do not always listen to each other's religious beliefs.  Then a town clerk appeased the people. In Acts 19:35,  he said, "Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not that the city of Ephesus is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?"  Since his claim was the image fell from heaven, it was not made by man.  When we hear of religion based on books or images or anything else that fell from heaven, we can be sure it is false.  The clerk told them that since these things could not be spoken against, they shouldn't do anything rash.  They had nothing to accuse Gaius and Aristarcus of.  They had not robbed churches or blasphemed Diana.  He told them that if Demetrius and the craftsmen had a problem, let them take it up with the courts.  He also said if they had any other complaints, it would be settled in lawful assembly, or they could find themselves answering for the uproar, then he dismissed the assembly.  The people may have been proclaiming the greatness of Diana, but they were more concerned with the power of the government.  As Christians, we must always put what God teaches above what the government teaches if there is a conflict with the two.

Ats 19:32

Acts 19:32 states, Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused: and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. We are told that the assembly was confused, not knowing why they had come together.  We often see the mob mentality today, with people caught up in the crowd but not really knowing why they are there.  We can get quite a mixture working together against Christians, with humanists, agnostics, atheists, and other religions combining in their opposition to Christ. We have already been told that those who are not for Christ are against Him. There really can be no neutrality. Though Paul would have willingly been in the midst of the confusion, he listened to his friends and trusted God to be with them.  We cannot be in every battle the world wages against Christians, but we can be sure God is.  No matter the outcome, if we remain faithful to Him, we win.  Verse thirty-three adds, And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people.  Though they were not the ones stirring up trouble for Paul and the other Christians, the Jews finally got involved.  We are told they drew out Alexander from the multitude, the Jews putting him forth.  He beckoned them with his hand and was going to make his defense.  Remember, there was a lot of confusion, and the people were trying to figure out why they were there.  In the midst of confusion and uproar today, someone may be put forth to give an answer as to what is going on, but they may find that when people realize who they are and what they represent they are no longer willing to listen.  Verse thirty-four continues, But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.  This is what happened when the crowd realized Alexander was a Jew. Whatever Alexander was going to say, most likely against Paul, the worshippers of Diana knew the Jews opposed all idolatry, so they didn't give him a chance to talk.  For two hours they cried out, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” Even when people are unified in their opposition to Christianity, they do not always listen to each other's religious beliefs. Verse thirty-five states, And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?  Then a town clerk appeased the people.  Since his claim was the image fell from heaven, it was not made by man.  When we hear of religion based on books or images or anything else that fell from heaven, we can be sure it is false.  Verse thirty-six adds, Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.  The clerk told them that since these things could not be spoken against, they shouldn't do anything rash.  If the city of Ephesus did worship Diana, and she was a real goddess, then nothing could be said against her that would change that fact.  Since God is indeed the only real God, no matter what people may say about Him will ever  change that fact. Verse thirty-seven continues, For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.  They had nothing to accuse Gaius and Aristarchus of.  They had not robbed churches or blasphemed Diana.  If people make accusations against us today, we should do our best to ensure that they are false accusations. Verse thirty-eight says, Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another.  He told them that if Demetrius and the craftsmen had a problem, let them take it up with the courts.  This is still good advice today, even if we sometimes question certain courts. Verse thirty-nine adds, But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.  He also said if they had any other complaints, it would be settled in lawful assembly.  They could not take the law into their own hands, and yet people still try to do this today. Verse forty continues, For we are in danger to be called in question for this day's uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse.  He said they could find themselves answering for the uproar.  Since they were the ones who were making false accusations, they might have to answer to the higher authorities.  It is too bad that people today are not held accountable for causing uproars by making false claims.  Verse forty-one concludes, And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly. Then he dismissed the assembly.  The people may have been proclaiming the greatness of Diana, but they were more concerned with the power of the government.  As Christians, we must always put what God teaches above what the government teaches if there is a conflict with the two. 

 

 

e can be sure God is.  No matter the outcome, if we remain faithful to Him, we win.

Acts 18

Acts 19:20

Acts 19:20 says, So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.  We are told that the word of God grew mightily and prevailed.  Those who had accepted Christ had their lives changed, and they shared what had happened.  People today may argue with us about the Bible, but they cannot argue our personal relationship with Christ and the change it brings to our lives.  Verse twenty-one adds, After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.  Paul at this point proposed in the Spirit to go to Macedonia and Acacia and then to Jerusalem. After that, he proposed to go to Rome. Matthew Henry states basically that some see purposing in the spirit to mean Paul had decided himself but hadn't told anyone his plan.  Others, of whom I am one, believe that Paul was led by the Spirit to do this.  Knowing Paul as we do from everything so far, it would seem that he would not make plans without feeling the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  When we make our plans today, as Christians, we must ensure that they are based on the leadership of God and are not just our plans.  Verse twenty-two continues, So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.  Paul sent Timothy and Erastus to Macedonia, but he stayed in Asia for a season.  We could say that since he didn't go immediately that Paul was just planning these actions himself, but I believe that he knew what the Holy Spirit was leading him to do, but the time was not yet at hand. There may come a time in our life as a Christian that we know beyond a doubt that God is calling us to a particular place for a particular purpose but know just as surely that we aren't to go yet.  We must never try to rush God in His plans for us.  The other half of that truth is we must never try to delay God in His plan for us.  In order to be successful at this, we must have a close, personal relationship with God and trust Him to make His will known to us.  We can never afford to tell God what we are or are not going to do for Him. I hear Christians, even preachers, say they could never go to a particular place so they are sure God would never call them there, because they would be unhappy.  Again, we cannot follow God and tell Him where He can lead us.  Verse twenty-three states, And the same time there arose no small stir about that way.  While this was happening, we are told that here was no small stir about that way, or the gospel.  We need to pray that the gospel will still stir things up today.  Verse twenty-four adds, For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen;  There was a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made a lot of money-making silver shrines for the goddess Diana. Diana was supposedly the goddess of the hunt and later of fertility and childbirth.  Demetrius became concerned about people becoming Christians, because he knew it would affect his business.  Verse twenty-five continues, Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.  He brought together other silversmiths and reminded them that they made their money from people worshipping Diana.  His concern was not really for the worship of Diana, but for his business.  Verse twenty-six states, Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:  He saw that he could not make money making idols or shrines for the followers of Christ.  Today, there are people who make money off religious artifacts, such as idols or books, who don't really care about whether the god these are supposed to represent exists or not.  Still, if their income is threatened, they can become very vocal.  Demetrius told his fellow craftsmen that not only in Ephesus, but throughout Asia, Paul had persuaded many people to turn away from Diana, saying there were no gods made by hand.  When we become Christians there is no room for idols in our lives.  Verse twenty-seven adds, So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.  He then told them that not only was their craft to be set to naught, but he finally mentions the effect on Diana.  She would be despised, and her magnificence destroyed.  He evidently had little faith in the power of Diana.  If someone proclaims another god or goddess today, we as Christians can be sure they will never destroy the magnificence of Christ.  Even though their concern was for their income, they stirred the people up by proclaiming the power and greatness of Diana.  People today who make money off idolatry are never going to tell people that if people turn to Christ that they are going to lose money.  They will try to keep people confused so that people don't turn away from their idols and the income continues.  Verse twenty-eight continues, And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.  The silversmiths accomplished what they wanted by claiming Paul and his associates were bringing dishonor to Diana.  They caused confusion and an uproar in those around them.  We don't have to look far today to see that some people will attempt to discredit or destroy Christians because of their gods.  Some even destroy those of their own faith because they believe these others are not being faithful enough.  If they truly believed that their gods were the true ones, their faith should not be threatened by someone preaching Christ, just as our faith should not be threatened by someone proclaiming another god.  Verse twenty-nine says, And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.  In the confusion, the followers of Diana caught Gaius and Aristarchus from Macedonia, companions of Paul, and brought them into the theater.  This was not a place of entertainment, but a place of judgment.  Verse thirty adds, And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.  Paul would have gone after them, but his friends stopped him.  Paul was the real focus of their anger.  Though he was willing to put himself in danger, his friends felt it wasn’t a good thing to do.  Sometimes, we may need to listen to our friends, unless we know beyond a doubt that God is leading us into a dangerous situation. Verse thirty-one continues, And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre.  We are told a chief of Asia, a friend of Paul's, also asked him not to go.  I believe this would have further reinforced what Paul’s friends were advising him to do.

 

After the men who had falsely claimed to be casting out demons in the name of Jesus were run out of the building, wounded and naked, it was well known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus.  The result was that fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.  These men had attempted to do something in the name of Jesus without knowing Him, to prove that He was no more than any other man and to profit from this.  Instead, God was magnified.  If we today claim to be doing something in the name of Jesus, but either don't know Him personally or have not made sure that what we are doing is His will, then we will fail ultimately.  We can at times add "in Jesus' name" in an attempt to validate our plans.  God's  will is the only thing we can ever truly do in the name of Jesus, and then we must have faith in His ability to give us the power to succeed.  Many of those who believed came and confessed and showed their good deeds.  The made their faith public.  We need to let the world know that we are Christians, both by our words and our actions. These men who had attempted to use the name of Jesus for their own purposes were making money supposedly telling people their future.  The result of their failure was that people believed and those who had believed in curious arts brought all their books and burned them.  These curious arts were sorcery, witchcraft, astrology and anything else claiming to be a way to know or control the future.  When we become a Christian, the Ouija board and astrological charts need to go.  Burning insured no one else would be led astray by them.  The value of the books was about fifty thousand pieces of silver.  They were heavily invested in these curious arts, but they willing gave it all up for Christ.  We must never value things of this world, especially things that we know are wrong, more than our relationship with Christ.  We might say they could have sold the books and used the money for good, but they would have been leading others astray.  If we destroy something that would be a stumbling block to others coming to God,it will never be a waste.

Acts 19:13

Acts 19:13 says, Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.  There were certain vagabond Jews who decided they world cast out demons in the name of Jesus. These were really Jews in name only who went around the country making money from telling fortunes and prophesying.  There are people today who are Christians in name only who attempt to use Christianity to make money.  For example, some people go to church because it is good for business or their image but have no real desire to follow God's will. These vagabond Jews took it upon themselves to call over those with evil spirits.  They were going to cast them out in the name of the Lord Jesus, Whom Paul preached.  They did not know Jesus as their personal Savior but only knew what Paul preached.  We may know everything that has ever been preached or taught about Jesus, but until we have a personal relationship with Him, we had better be careful about claiming to do anything in His name.  Verse fourteen adds, And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.  This states that there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jew and the chief of priests, who did this. Being the sons of the chief of priests did not keep them from trying to profit from their religion and attempting to discredit Paul.  Matthew Henry points out that if they could do what Paul did without believing it would show that there was nothing to be gained by following Christ.  I know I stated in an earlier post that there was no example in the Bible of there being a great struggle when an evil spirit was commanded to "come out in Jesus's name" and that is still true.  Doing anything in Jesus's name is more than throwing the phrase in as we are doing it.  For something to be done in Jesus's name means there has to be a personal relationship with Him, it must be His will for it to be done, and we must have faith in His ability to do it, and God must get the glory.  Verse fifteen continues, And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?  The evil spirit told them that "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?"  If we are going to attempt to do something in the name of Jesus, we had better be sure that we have accepted Him as our Savior and Lord and are empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Verse sixteen states, And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. Then, the man possessed of the evil spirit jumped on them and ran them out of the house naked and wounded.  If I see a movie or a book being promoted where a demon is overpowering a professed man of God, I know at least two things.  The first is that I am not going to watch or read it, because it is blasphemous.  The second is that the "man of God" is either has very little faith and is acting under his own power or has no faith at all.  When a Christian acts in God's name and under His power, there is no battle. The victory was won on the cross.  Verse seventeen adds, And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. People heard about this, both Jews and Greeks, or Gentiles, and a great fear fell on them, and they magnified the name of Jesus so some good came out of the situation. Verse eighteen continues, And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.  Many people believed and came and confessed their sins and showed their deeds. If we encounter Christ, we must believe and confess our sins, and then we can start doing good works for Him.  Our deeds should show our faith.  Verse nineteen concludes, Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.  Those who had books of curious arts brought them and burned them, and the price of them was fifty thousand pieces of silver.  This was a book burning that was costly to those who were burning them, but they willingly burned them.  We should get rid if anything that stands between God and us, no matter the material cost. 

 

 

Acts19:8

Acts 19:8 says, And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. We find Paul once again going to the synagogue, for three months, boldly disputing and persuading about the things concerning the kingdom of God.  When we encounter someone who is wrong in their understanding of the kingdom of God, we need to be bold in our attempt to correct them.  Paul was not disputing just to tell them they were wrong, but to persuade them of the truth of Christ, the only way into the kingdom of God. Verse nine adds, But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.  Many of them didn't believe and spoke evil of that way, Christ, so Paul departed from them. He gathered with the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. Too many people still want to dispute the fact that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, but this is one point that we can never concede.  Verse ten continues, And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. He continued to proclaim Christ there for two years, so that everyone that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jew and Greek.  When Paul proclaimed the gospel and a church was established, it wasn't a building, but a group of believers who gathered in homes, schools or wherever they could find. When he went back to visit, he didn't go looking for a building, but for a group of people.  A church is not a building but a group of believers.  Verse eleven states, And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:  We are told that God wrought special miracles by the hand of Paul.  Paul did not do the miracles, but God did through Paul.  Verse twelve adds, So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.  The people around had so much faith in what Paul was proclaiming that they brought handkerchiefs or aprons of sick people to him and the sickness or the evil spirits left them.  Paul did not ask them to do this, nor do we see where he promised that they would be cured.  Even though they were bringing physical items to Paul, they had to believe in the divine power of God through Christ for the miracle to occur.  I say this because Paul was proclaiming the power of the resurrection of Christ, and he was there to glorify Christ, not Paul.  People have always tended to want some physical representation of God, from the golden calf in the days of Moses, to the Temple, or any other part of Creation that they see as representing God. We must remember that God is not contained in His handiwork, but dwells in the hearts of His people.  We cannot decide that God is going to work a miracle through us.  God worked special miracles by the hand of Paul. Paul did not perform the miracles, nor did he claim to. Miracles only occur through the power of God and to bring people and honor to Him.