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December 4 - Acts 19 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is Wednesday, it's the
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  4th of December. And I'm glad that you have
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  tapped on play and said, Sean, come on in.
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  Let us take a moment and read together because that's why I'm
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  here reading so that you and I can do this together.
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  And I'm so grateful that you have taken this moment so that
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  we can do this. And my prayer is that God will
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  continue to speak to you and to shape the cadence and rhythm of
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  your day with his Word that you can be so sure beyond any doubt
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  that he, as he moved back then in this story, he moves today in
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  your story. And today we reach a chapter
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  where Paul settles down for a bit.
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  He has been moving from place to place, but here he reaches
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  Ephesus, and he'll settle down an Ephesus for a couple of years
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  as history tells us. So let's hear that story as he
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  arrives and begins his ministry there as we read together Acts
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  chapter 19. While Apollos was in Corinth,
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  Paul travelled through the interior regions until he
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  reached Ephesus on the coast, where he found several
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  believers. Did you receive the Holy Spirit
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  when you believed? He asked them.
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  No, they replied. We haven't even heard that there
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  is a Holy Spirit. Then what baptisms did you
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  experience? He asked and they replied The
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  baptism of John. Paul said John's baptism called
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  for repentance of sin, but John himself told the people to
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  believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.
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  As soon as they heard this, they were baptised in the name of the
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  Lord Jesus. Then when Paul laid his hands on
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  them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in other
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  tongues and prophesied. There were about 12 men in all.
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  Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next
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  three months, I giving persuasively about the Kingdom
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  of God. But some became stubborn,
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  rejecting his message and publicly speaking against the
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  way. So Paul left the synagogue and
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  took the believers with him. Then he held daily discussions
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  at the lecture hall of Tyrannis. This went on for the next two
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  years, so that people throughout the province of Asia, both Jews
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  and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.
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  God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles.
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  When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin
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  were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases
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  and evil spirits were expelled. A group of Jews was travelling
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  from town to town casting out evil spirits.
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  They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their
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  incantation, saying, I command you in the name of Jesus, whom
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  Paul preaches, to come out. Seven sons of Seva, a leading
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  priest, were doing this but one time when they tried it, the
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  evil spirit replied, I know Jesus and I know Paul, but who
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  are you? Then the man with the evil
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  spirit leapt on them, overpowered them, and attacked
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  them with such violence that they fled from the house naked
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  and battered. The story of what had happened
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  spread quickly all through Ephesus to Jews and Greeks
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  alike. A solemn fear descended on the
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  city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honoured.
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  Many who became believers confessed their sinful
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  practises. A number of them who had been
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  practising sorcery brought their incantation books and burned
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  them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was
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  several $1,000,000 So the message about the Lord spread
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  widely and had a powerful effect.
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  Afterward Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go over to
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  Macedonia and Ikaya before going to Jerusalem, and after that he
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  said I must go on to Rome. He sent 2 assistants, Timothy
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  and Erastus, ahead to Macedonia, while he stayed a while longer
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  in the province of Asia. About that time serious trouble
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  developed an Ephesus concerning the way it began with Demetrius,
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  a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver
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  shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis.
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  He kept many Craftsman busy. He called them together along
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  with other employed in similar trades and addressed them as
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  follows. Gentlemen, you know that our
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  wealth comes from this business. But as you have seen and heard,
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  this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren't
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  really gods at all. And he's done this not only here
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  in Ephesus, but throughout the entire province.
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  Of course, I'm not just talking about the loss of public respect
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  for our business. I'm also concerned that the
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  temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence,
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  and that Artemis, this magnificent goddess worshipped
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  throughout the province of Asia and all around the world, will
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  be robbed of her great prestige. At this, their anger boiled, and
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  they began shouting. Great is Artemis of the
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  Ephesians. Soon the whole city was filled
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  with confusion. Everyone rushed to the
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  Amphitheatre, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, who were
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  Paul's travelling companions from Macedonia.
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  Paul wanted to go in too, but the believers wouldn't let him.
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  Some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, also
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  sent a message to him, begging him not to risk his life by
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  entering the Amphitheatre. Inside, the people were all
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  shouting someone, thing and some another.
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  Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn't
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  even know why they were there. The Jews in the crowd pushed
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  Alexander forward and told him to explain the situation.
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  He motioned for silence and tried to speak, but when the
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  crowds realised he was a Jew, they started shouting again and
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  kept it up for about two hours. Great is Artemis of the
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  Ephesians. Great is Artemis of the
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  Ephesians. At last the mayor was able to
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  quiet them down enough to speak. Citizens of Ephesus, he said.
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  Everyone knows that Ephesus is the official guardian of the
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  temple of the great Artemus, whose image fell down to us from
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  heaven. Since this is an undeniable
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  fact, you should stay calm and not do anything rash.
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  You have brought these men here, but they have stolen nothing
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  from the temple and have not spoken against our goddess.
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  If Demetrius and the Craftsman have a case against them, the
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  courts are in session and the officials can hear the case at
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  once. Let them make formal charges,
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  and if there are complaints about other matters they can be
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  settled in a legal assembly. I am afraid we are in danger of
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  being charged with rioting by the Roman government, since
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  there is no cause for all this commotion, and if Rome demands
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  an explanation, we won't know what to say.
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  Then he dismissed them and they dispersed.
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  Ah Jesus, defence for your Kingdom and message come from
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  the most unlikely sources sometimes.
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  Continue to broaden our mind, to be aware that your plans and
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  your scope is so much broader than anything we can imagine.
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  And Lord, help us to obey each step that you place in front of
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  us. And when it sometimes feels like
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  we're not doing enough, Lord, give us Your peace to know that
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  we are called only to take the next step in each moment, the
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  next step in following you and being faithful to You.
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  And Lord, we don't know what's coming in the long term, and we
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  don't know your big plans. And that's hard for us because
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  we like knowing these things. But give us peace to rest in you
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  and your care, Your provision and your vision.
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  For you are a great, great, big God.
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  And we are just little people, dearly loved and included in
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  your kingdom's work. So scoop us up from our lost and
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  wandering ways. Hold us tightly to your chest.
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  Give us your love and your peace.
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  I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.