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October 17 - Acts 19 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is, Tuesday the 17th of
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  October. We are well and truly on our way
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  toward the end of this year, and here you are in the incredible
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  momentum taking us toward the end of the year.
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  You have pressed pause and you are going to sit with me, walk
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  with me, do sit ups with me. Not that I'm doing setups right
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  now or whatever you're doing that you have invited me to be
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  part of your day so that you and I can read God's word together.
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  God's world changing, universe shaping, all revealing word.
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  What an excellent plan that you and I get to do this together.
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  I hope that this is encouraging you as much as it does me.
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  And well, I'm encouraged that you are here.
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  Thank you so much. Particularly, a number of you
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  have sent me very kind messages of encouragement in the past
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  week about the change that's happening for me in my new role
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  in defense. And I just want to say thank you
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  so much for being so kind and encouraging.
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  Here I am. Here you are and we get to keep
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  on going together. Friends, so good on you and
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  thank you. I'm sure your lives are all
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  equally full and busy with many changes and adventures and
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  opportunities to respond to the word of God and His prompting
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  for you in your life. So I just want to encourage you
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  with every step of faith you take in your day, starting here,
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  taking a bit of time out in God's Word.
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  So having said all that, let us dive into today's Bible reading
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  as we hear all about Paul heading back as promised to the
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  mission field in Ephesus where things are going to get a little
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  bit hairy. So join me friends, as we read
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  together Acts 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 baptism 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 from 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 baptized 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, arguing 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 Tyrannus. 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 Siva, a leading
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  priest, were doing this. But one time when they tried it,
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  the 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, overpowering 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 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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  practices. A number of them who had been
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  practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burnt them
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  in 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 Achaia before going to Jerusalem, and after
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  that he said I must go on to Rome.
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  He sent his two assistants, Timothy and Arastus ahead to
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  Macedonia, while he stayed a while longer in the province of
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  Asia. About that time serious trouble
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  developed an Ephesus concerning the way.
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  It began with Demetrius, A silversmith who had a large
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  business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess
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  Artemis. He kept many Craftsman busy.
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  He called them together along with other employed in similar
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  trades and addressed them as follows.
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  Gentlemen, you know that our wealth comes from this business.
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  But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many
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  people that handsome gods aren't really gods at all.
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  And he's done this not only here in Ephesus, but throughout the
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  entire province. Of course, I'm not just talking
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  about the loss of public respect for our business.
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  I'm also concerned that the temple of the great goddess
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  Artemis will lose its influence and that Artemis, this
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  magnificent goddess worshipped throughout the province of Asia
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  and all around the world, will be robbed of her great prestige.
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  At this their anger boiled and they began shouting Great is
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  Artemis of the Ephesians. Soon the whole city was filled
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  with confusion, everyone rushing to the Amphitheatre, dragging
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  along Gaius and Aristarchus, who are Paul's travelling companions
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  from Macedonia. Paul wanted to go in too, but
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  the believers wouldn't let him. Some of the officials of the
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  province, friends of Paul, also sent a message to him, begging
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  him not to risk his life by entering the Amphitheatre.
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  Inside, the people were all shouting some one thing and some
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  another. Everything was in confusion.
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  In fact, most of them didn't even know why they were there.
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  The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward and told him
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  to explain the situation. He motioned for silence and
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  tried to speak, but when the crowd realized he was a Jew,
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  they started shouting again and kept it up for about two hours.
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  Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.
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  Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.
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  At last the Mayo was able to quiet them down enough to speak.
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  Citizens of Ephesus, he said. Everyone knows that Ephesus is
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  the official guardian of the temple of the great Artemis,
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  whose image fell down to us from heaven.
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  Since this is an undeniable fact, you should stay calm and
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  not do anything rash. You have brought these men here,
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  but they have stolen nothing from the temple and have not
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  spoken against our goddess. If Demetrius and the Craftsman
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  have a case against them, the courts are in session and the
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  officials can hear the case at once.
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  Let them make formal charges and if there are complaints about
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  other matters, they can be settled in a legal assembly.
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  I am afraid we are in danger of being charged with rioting by
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  the Roman government, since there is no cause for all this
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  commotion, and if Rome demands an explanation, we won't know
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  what to say. Then he dismissed them and they
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  dispersed. Jesus, following you can often
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  put us at odds with the momentum of the society in which we live.
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  The world promotes self-interest above interest for the
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  vulnerable. Our world promotes success over
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  service. Our world emphasizes the here
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  and now. When you want our hearts set in
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  eternity, Jesus, may your Spirit dwell in US and bubble up in us
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  to create a lens which shapes our sight and our hearts to be
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  focused on you and your Kingdom in the midst of the shouting and
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  competing priorities of the world around us.
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  Just as we saw happening all these years ago in Ephesus, we
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  just pray that your spirit gives us wisdom and faithfulness and
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  kindness and gentleness and all the other fruits that we need to
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  live this Christian life well. And I thank you.
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  I thank you that you call us to a place where we are forgiven
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  and loved, and that our identity is set firmly in who you see us
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  as your loved children. We just pray all these things in
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  your name, Jesus. Amen.