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September 15 - Acts 19 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, It's shown here. It is the 15th of September.
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  It's a Monday. I am another year older.
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  Yeah, this weekend I celebrate a birthday.
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  Ha, so much fun. And now the new week begins, and
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  we're going to keep going this week with this Cuban cool music
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  kind of serenading us as we get started each day.
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  And most importantly, birthdays and Cuban music aside, we
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  continue this amazing story of God's church growing through the
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  book of Acts. And Can you believe it?
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  We've only got a couple of weeks left reading through Acts, and
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  then we're going to dive into a whole bunch of epistles as Paul
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  writes to the churches encouraging them.
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  And that, my friends, that is where we really start to glean
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  all this good stuff about Christian living and everything
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  that Jesus has done for us. But before we get there, we are
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  continuing this story of not the letters that Paul writes, but
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  the visits that he makes to these churches, encouraging them
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  and, well, stirring the pot as well.
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  So let us continue in the story as we read together Acts chapter
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  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 baptised in the name of the
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  Lord Jesus and when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy
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  Spirit came on them and they spoke in other tongues and
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  prophesied. There are 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. Sir 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 halls of Tyrannis.
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  This went on for the next two years, so that people throughout
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  the province of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of
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  the Lord. God gave Paul the power to
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  perform unusual miracles. When handkerchiefs or aprons
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  that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they
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  were healed of their diseases and evil spirits were expelled.
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  A group of Jews was travelling from town to town casting out
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  evil spirits. They tried to use the name of
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  the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, I command
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  you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out.
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  Seven sons of Sceva, a leaving priest, were doing this but one
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  time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, I know
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  Jesus and I know Paul, but who are you?
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  Then the man with the evil spirit leapt on them,
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  overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that
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  they fled the house naked and battered.
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  The story of what happened spread quickly all through
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  Ephesus to Jews and Greeks alike.
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  A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord
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  Jesus was greatly honoured. Many who became believers
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  confessed their sinful practises.
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  A number of them who had been practising sorcery brought their
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  incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire.
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  The value of the books was several, $1,000,000 So the
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  message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful
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  effect. Afterward Paul felt compelled by
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  the Spirit to go over to Macedonia and Ikaya before going
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  to Jerusalem, and after that he said I must go on to Rome.
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  He sent his two assistants, Timothy and Erastus, 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 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 others 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 and 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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  crowd 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 male 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 Artemis, 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'm 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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  Jesus, your message is many things, but inert and lifeless
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  is not one. We hear your message.
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  Just your name itself is this name that is more powerful than
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  any evil that is found in the world, and that evil has no
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  option but to flee in your presence.
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  And we hear that your name, spoken in the midst of this
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  town, brings absolute chaos as you bring about a new way of
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  being. You threaten the status quo.
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  You, you change the way that our human nature does life, and you
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  teach us a better way, not just at a philosophical level, but
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  you love us and you transform us, and you want us to be part
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  of your family. Oh, what an incredible thing.
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  Jesus, thank you for your love for us.
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  Thank you for everything that you accomplished for us on the
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  cross, that you bought us freedom at the great cost, and
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  that that news is worth sharing. Empower us and Bolden us today
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  that we can live knowing that we are freed and forgiven people
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  and sharing that incredible news with anyone who might need to
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  hear it now. We love you and we thank you,
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  and we pray all of this in your name, Jesus, Amen.