Sunday School Lessons: Acts 19

Lesson 23
Chapter 19
Paul’s Third Missionary Journey, Part One

During Paul’s third missionary journey, he revisited the churches in Galatia Then he settled in Ephesus for two years.  During the time he was there, he wrote the book of 1 Corinthians.

Paul had a significant ministry in Ephesus.  Ephesus was the Roman capital of Asia.  It is located near the mouth of the Cayster river and was on the main trade route between Rome and Asia (between the East and the West).  It was the greatest commercial center in Asia.  It was another city that was the center of religion, but in this case it was the religion of Diana.  The Temple of Diana, located in Ephesus, was one of the seventh wonders of the world, and people came from all over the world to see the temple and to worship there.

19:1 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

Remember, Paul had promised to return to Ephesus if God willed it. When Paul got there, he found some disciples who, like Apollos, only knew of the baptism of John.  John’s baptism was one of repentance from sin and pointed to the Messiah who was to come. (vs. 4)  They did not know about the Holy Spirit.  It seems as though they did not really understand about Jesus, either.  Paul told them about Jesus, they believed and were baptized.  They were filled with the Holy Spirit, just as had happened on the day of Pentecost, and in Samaria, and at Caeserea. 

8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

As we’ve seen over and over, Paul goes first to the synagogue and takes the Gospel “to the Jew first.”
As in the past, when the Gospel is preached, some will believe and some will not.  The ones who did not believe became disruptive and stubborn and began to speak against the Gospel, so he left the synagogue, as he had in Corinth, but he didn’t stop teaching or speaking out.  He began to teach regularly in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

Read vs. 11 carefully.  Who was doing the miracles?  What kind of miracles were they?  And through whom did he perform the miracles?  Let’s think about what we’ve learned before.  Why was the preaching of the Gospel accompanied by miracles? 

13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

As we’ve seen before, there are always those people who see the miracles and want to have the power to do miracles themselves—for their own glory and usually for money.  This time, some Jewish exorcists (a person who would cast demons out of possessed people) had witnessed Paul’s amazing miracles done in the name of Jesus.  Notice; these were sons of a Jewish High Priest!  The High Priest was the one who offered the sacrifices for the people and represented the people before God and God before the people!  They tried to cast an evil spirit out of a man misusing Jesus’ name.  The demon came out of the man, but then he attacked the men and chased them away.

 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

Everyone heard about what had happened to these men and they were afraid—Jews and Greeks!  What does extol mean?  Why do you think Jesus was extolled among those who did not believe?
This event shook up the believers, too.  They began to confess their sins and repent of their sinful deeds.  According to verse 9, some of them still had pagan articles of worship and, repenting from all works of pagan worship, they burned them.  After this, it is said that the word of the Lord increased and prevailed mightily.  What does prevail mean?

21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

Paul “resolved in the Spirit” to pass through Macedonia, Achaia, and then Jerusalem, but before he left, something happened:

23 About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana/Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana/Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

Demetrius gathered together the craftsmen who were in the business of selling idols and stirred them up.  What were his arguments against “the Way?”

28 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Diana/Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel. 30 But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. 31 And even some of the Asiarchs, (Asiarchs were political or religious leaders) who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. 32 Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

Demetrius and the other idol makers had not only rebelled against the Way because they were losing business, but they incited the entire city with fear that their patron Goddess, Diana/Artemis would be cast from her position. Diana worship was big business in Ephesus.  The crowd became a mob.  They seized two of Paul’s companions in their rage.  Paul wanted to go help them and restrain the crowd, but the other disciples prevented him.

35 And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 37 For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 40 For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” 41 And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

The town clerk came and quieted the crowd.  He was an official of Ephesus, and not a Roman official.  Who does the town clerk remind you of from last week’s lesson? (Gallio)  He reminded them that the disciples had broken no laws and if the idol makers had a complaint, they could take them to court in a lawful manner.  He also warned them that they could be charged with rioting.  Rioting, or unlawful assembly, was against Roman law and provinces that rioted were often dealt with harshly and with oppression. 

Next week, chapter 20.

*These lessons are written for use with elementary aged students.  You can find lessons for previous chapters here.