Acts 19-20 - Paul in Ephesus/Third Missionary Journey

In Acts 19:1-10, the narrative now catches back up to Paul, who had left Ephesus, leaving behind Priscilla and Aquilla, but now returned to Ephesus after Apollos had moved on to Corinth.  Apollos was described as "eloquent", "fervent in spirit", and that he "taught accurately", but only what he knew (Acts 18:24-25).  So that when Paul arrived he found that key stones were left out of the fledgling church's foundation.

Acts 19:2-3  
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.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.”

Paul quickly remedies the situation by baptizing them in the name of the Lord Jesus and gives them the evangelistic gifts of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands.  This is the last recorded time this had occurred.  Paul understood they needed to be properly grounded and fully equipped.

In Acts 19:11-20, Paul then addresses the sorcery being practiced by "itinerant Jewish exorcists" that included the seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva.  They turn to Christ and hold a book burning to end the practices.

At this point, Paul, through the Holy Spirit receives his marching-orders:

Acts 19:21-22

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.” And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

Then, in Acts 19:21-41, Paul and his companions are once again protected by the rule of law, when a riot occurs led by those making a living from the manufacturing of idols.  This was quelled by the town clerk with admonitions that hinted at how Caesar had quelled the riots in Rome (Acts 18:1-3).

Spoiler alert: In subsequent chapters, Paul would use this rule of law (Lex Rex) to reach Rome.

Leaving Ephesus, Paul travels west to Macedonia and then on to Greece, where he spent three months until there was further opposition from the Jews.  At which point he made a key decision:

Acts 20:3

There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

Like the first missionary journey, he chose to return to the churches he planted along the way, rather than simply sailing home.  With his marching order, he understands this will be his last visit.  There would not be a fourth missionary journey.

Acts 20:16-17

For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.

Strangely though, he did not want to go to Ephesus personally.  He did not want himself to be their sole witness.  Instead, traveling nearby he called for the elders to come to him, so that he could instruct them and they would become the next generation of leadership for Ephesus.  What he said to them is recorded in Acts 20:18-35 (which the reader should pause and read in its entirety), but the core of which is:

Acts 20:28

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Once, I had a heated discussion with an anti-gun person.  We spoke of gun-free zones for schools.  But when I spoke of how valuable the children were, the absurdity of their position became obvious even to them.  The children have to be protected with guns.  They are that valuable.

Those in our church were bought with the blood of Christ.  There is nothing more valuable.  We who shepherd and care for the flock need to understand that.

Acts 17-18 - The World Upside Down/Second Missionary Journey

Paul and his traveling band of evangelists moved on from Phillipi after scaring the authorities who were not giving them the lawful protections due a Roman citizen (Acts 16:16-40).  At Thessalonica Paul did not mince words:

Acts 17:2-3
And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”

This once again triggered a divisive response from those who heard their message.  

Acts 17:5-7
But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”

They had indeed been turning the world upside down.  The Christians were declaring the sacrificial system and the binding and atonement required by the priests unnecessary.  But just as it had occurred in Phillipi, the world of the Jewish religious leaders was being upset even further.

Previously, when they appealed to Pilate, they used Roman law in their favor to crucify Christ.  Now Roman law was being used to protect the Christians, or at least to quell the uprisings.

Acts 17:8-9
And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

In fact, in Berea and in Athens, Paul and his band began to be welcomed!

Acts 17:11
Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 

 

Acts 17:19-20
And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.”

Once in Corinth, we are told how this change of tide began.

Acts 18:1-2

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. 

During their First Missionary Journey, Paul was often run out of the town by an angry mob, typically of Jews.  The actions of those mobs became so disruptive that in Rome Caesar Claudius eventually commanded all the Jews to leave Rome (Wikipedia Claudius' expulsion of Jews from Rome).  

In high school, I made some off-handed remarks about the captain of the wrestling team to one of his minions.  I soon regretted those words because he and his posse began to humiliate me in the hall-ways.  

With very little of my dignity left, I did the only thing a geek could do, I reported him to the principal as a bully.  The principal took swift action and called both of us to the office.  In a very brief meeting, the bully was told that he would lose his place on the wrestling team, if this meeting ever had to occur again.  

For the remainder of our time in high school, this former bully would avoid being in the same hallway with me.  His world had been turned upside down.

Acts 15-16 - Jerusalem Council and Call to Macedonia

The work in Antioch among the Gentiles was exploding.  It caught the eye of the circumcision party, who thought that the sign was required to be a Christian.  To settle the matter Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem to discuss the matter with Apostles and elders (Acts 15:1-35).

There Peter forms the question:

Acts 15:10-11

Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

Much discussion is allowed to occur.  Paul and Barnabas give testimony.  And then James proposes a solution.  He begins by supporting the statements of Simon Peter:

Acts 15:13-18

After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

“‘After this I will return,

and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;

I will rebuild its ruins,

     and I will restore it,

that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord,

    and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,

     says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’ 

Note he calls Peter "Simeon", which is the Hebrew pronunciation of "Simon".  Remember please he is speaking with and trying to win over the Jewish portion of the church that was aligned with the Pharisees.

He then quotes from Amos (Acts 15:16-18/Amos 9:11-12) proving to them that God would call the Gentiles as His own.  

And then he does something brilliant.  What he had just quoted was one part of a weekly cycle of readings that have been read in the synagogues since the time of Ezra and the Babylonian Captivity.  They read first from the Torah and then from the Prophets (See Parshah).  The other text that was part of week 30 (Qedoshim) was Leviticus 19:1-20:27.  He used this connection to propose that the Gentiles would only be required to abide by the limited laws contained in that passage (v 21)!

Leviticus 19 is a pleasant break from the ceremonial laws of the book and from the civil laws of Deuteronomy.  It is a condensation of the ten commandments and contains the greatest commandment "you shall love your neighbor as yourself".

This brought the discussion to consensus (dokeō) and in Acts 15:22-35, they commit this conclusion to a letter to be circulated.

For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements . . . 
. . . it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to . . .
For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements . . .

In v22, v25, and v28, the level of consensus is repeatedly emphasized to the point of “one accord” (homothymadon), which Luke uses repeatedly throughout the book to describe the unity of the church.  

This extended even to the Holy Spirit!  How so?  Even though they used an uninspired liturgy to drive the solution, the solution did not violate inspired scripture.

Chapter 16 includes:

• a disagreement between Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15:38) based on personal opinion which split them into two teams.
• a unilateral decision to circumcise a non-observant ethnically Jewish Christian to allow their participation in Jewish evangelism Acts 16:3).
• an internal prompting by the Holy Spirit and dream that changed Paul's direction Acts 16:7,9).

So we have seen in this passage many decision making processes.  Some drive a group to consensus, others split a team apart, still others changes ones own mind.  What ever we choose to do, may it indeed "seem good" to the Holy Spirit.

Acts 13-14 - First Missionary Journey

Recall please from last week that amazing things were happening at Antioch (Acts 11:19-26). Jews were coming to the faith; Gentiles were coming to the faith; People were beginning to be called “Christians”.  So, the church at Jerusalem sent Barnabas to help provide leadership.  And there was so much work, Barnabas sent for Paul who was at Tarsus to join them.

In Acts 13, we find there were actually now 5 pastors of this growing church.  Manaen, was from Antioch and was well connected with not only Caesar’s family but also Agrippa’s family.  Lucius and Simeon helped found the church after leaving Jerusalem, when the great persecution broke out after the stoning of Steven (Acts 8:1-3).  And now, Paul and Barnabas had come to help out.

But by the Spirit’s direction they sent Paul and Barnabas on to continue spreading the Good News.  Including John Mark on their journey, their first stop was the Island of Cyprus, where their efforts was so successful, that even the Roman head of the territory proconsul Sergius Paulus, came to faith.  But when they headed on to their next stop, John Mark instead returned to Jerusalem.  He would miss three difficult but great works of God.

• In Acts 13:13-52, Paul and Barnabas visit a second Antioch, this in Asia’s Minor, where after being invited to speak at the synagogue, they at first were warmly received, but on the second Sabbath they were rebuffed sufficiently that they shook of the dust of their feet against them and began to shift their ministry to the Gentiles.
• In Acts 14:1-7, they go to central Turkey and teach both Jews and Greeks at Iconium.  Again, the Spirit granted them the ability to perform miracles among them, but unbelieving Jews stirred up opposition and were preparing to stone them.  They fled for their lives.
• In Acts 14:8-18, now at Lystra, they heal a man crippled from birth and the townspeople think they are the Roman gods Zeus and Hermes!  But shortly Jews from the previous two towns arrive, turn the crowds against them and proceed to stone Paul and drag his lifeless body out of town.

What would you do if three doors were slammed in your face?  Let’s see what they did.

Acts 14:20 
But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.

Paul miraculously survived the stoning and went back into the city!  They stayed the night before moving on to the next town.  Imagine the Spirit-filled bravery that took.

What happens next is equally amazing.

Acts 14:21-23

When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

They went back to the three other cities!  And not briefly!  They stayed long enough to start a church in each of them.

While some go through life looking for “open doors”, Paul and Barnabas bashed them, down with the help of the Holy Spirit.