“I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you publicly and from house to house.”
(Acts 20:20)
“I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.”
(Acts 20:27)
Paul didn’t hold back from preaching everything God revealed to him. Why? Because whatever is from God is profitable for you. Notice the parallel between verse 20 and verse 27. What is profitable is the whole purpose of God. To declare God’s will is to declare what is profitable for the human soul.
The Scriptures are the manual for your soul. Within them are revealed the wisdom of the Creator to His creation.
Why was Paul so adamant to not hold back on preaching? Why was he so passionate that he would preach publicly and from house to house? For the same reason you would be passionate about sharing the cure for cancer if you found it.
Don’t withhold from others what has changed your own life.
“On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day…”
(Acts 20:7a)
How important was the Lord’s Supper to the first-century church? It was so important that even though an apostle was in town, the church gathered together to remember break the bread of communion, and only then did they have Paul speak.
The Lord’s Supper was the reason for gathering; the preaching of an apostle was the bonus.
The first day of the week memorial is the spiritual meal our souls need every week. Don’t underestimate the value of the Lord’s Supper’s weekly observance. Even if Paul showed up next Sunday to preach, remembering Jesus’ sacrifice would still be more important than the sermon.
“So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together.”
(Acts 19:32)
The Greek word for assembly in this passage? Ekklesia – the same word for ‘church’.
There are two churches:
The church of the world where everyone shouts what they want, confusion reigns, and the majority rules through strength, not reason.
The church of Christ where all listen to the King, confusion is dispelled through seeking truth, and the narrow path is sought through hearts to service and submission to Christ and one another.
“Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.”
(Acts 19:18)
Why don’t we confess our sins more often? The passionate believers in Acts 19 confessed their sins and disclosed their practices so that they might be free of those things that belonged to the old man and replace them with the new man built up in Christ.
Yet, this is the double-bind of confession. When we confess, we disclose our sins, which is freeing… but if we confess, we must disclose our sins, which is terrifying. We must be vulnerable to be free.
We cannot remove guilt and shame while trying to hide our guilt and shame. It is only in disclosure that the shackles come off. Yet, that is a paralyzing proposition!
What if people shun me because of my confession? (Some will.) *Others will draw close with grace and love.*
What if I confess my sin and still struggle with it? (You will.) *But you won’t struggle alone.*
What if my life is never the same after I confess? (It won’t be.) *What if that’s a good thing?
Grace abounds where confession begins. It is the leap of fear worth making.
And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”
(Acts 19:15)
If you remember, James reminds us that the demons shudder at the thought of God (see James 2:19). Demons, also known as evil spirits, aren’t afraid of much. Throughout the Scriptures, we see them as the terrors, not the terrified. It is only God who they tremble before because they recognize His authority and might. They flee from God’s power—but ONLY God’s power.
Acts 19 is an example of this. The evil spirit recognizes Jesus as the Son of God (which scares him), and he recognizes Paul as one sent by Jesus (which also scares him), but the seven brothers who were masquerading as servants of the Most High gave this evil being no qualms at all. He jumps on them and gives them a good ol’ fashioned mugging.
Those seven men used Jesus’ name, but they didn’t follow Him, and the demon could recognize the difference. “Who are you?” he asks.
And maybe, we should be asking ourselves the same question. “Who am I?” and more specifically, “Who am I in relation to Jesus?” Would Jesus say I belong to Him? Or would He deny me because I have denied Him? Just because my life might deceive others into thinking of me as a religious man, doesn’t mean it would fool those in the spiritual realm. Both God and Satan can smell out the hypocrites.
We call ourselves Christians, but what do we mean by that? Do we mean that we worship on a certain day, and that is what makes us Christians? Or do we mean that we own a Bible, and that is what makes us Christians? A skin-deep connection to the King won’t cut it. I fear we might make the mistake of those seven brothers in thinking that saying the right words as some sort of incantation is a replacement for a full and robust faith in Jesus of Nazareth.
Our discipleship needs to be deeper and more immersive for us to be recognized as one who belongs to Jesus. The power is not in just saying the words or performing the acts of obedience, but in doing so with a desire to imitate and follow the King. It isn’t about regurgitation…but transformation.
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)
“This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.”
(Acts 19:10)
Paul taught in one place, the school of Tyrannus, and all of Asia heard the word of the Lord. This speaks to the power of the gospel. We don’t need to keep the faith; we need to share it. Paul shared the faith, and those whom he shared it with spread the word further until all Asia was blanketed with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
If we each shine our lights where we are, the flames of the gospel will ignite other torches, too.
They took him [Apollos] aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
(Acts 18:26)
There is never a bad thing said about Apollos. He was devout, mighty in the Scriptures, eloquent, and evangelistic. Everything said about him is good. He was an honest man who was simply unaware of the importance of baptism in Christ.
What happened when he was taught the necessity of baptism? He became a more accurate man. Growing and accepting what we didn’t see before doesn’t negate our previous growth. Apollos’ pre-Christian service led to his baptism, and his honest heart prepared him to accept submission to new truth.
There is no shame in learning something new. Nor is there shame in accepting that you need to make changes. It is a shame that many of us refuse to accept truth because we must pretend we didn’t need it.
[Paul was] saying, “I will return to you again if God wills.”
(Acts 18:21)
Today’s lesson from the apostle Paul – make your plans, but accept the unknown, too. Paul planned to return to Ephesus, but he recognized that might not be God’s will.
Hold your plans loosely in your hands. When we become too attached to our expectations of how the future will unfold, our focus becomes on our will, not God’s. Dream and plan and hope and envision… but leave room for the imagination of your Maker. He is weaving your life into a much larger tapestry of the kingdom, and accepting His will allows us to be intertwined smoothly into His grander vision.
Don’t miss out on His plans because you were so beholden to your own.
And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent;”
(Acts 18:9)
I love this verse. I love it because of what it teaches me about the apostle Paul. Paul, in the midst of the trials and opportunities of Corinth, was scared. I consider Paul to be one of the bravest men to walk this earth, and he was scared.
Fearlessness is not a prerequisite for faith. If our service to God is given with shaking hands and knocking knees, He will comfort and strengthen us. Don’t wait for the pangs of distress to dissipate before you serve. If you wait for that, you will likely never serve at all.
Instead, we lean into the hard and unknown. Strike out with power, love, and discipline to do what we know we ought. Volunteer, speak up, take risks, serve others, make sacrifices, and banish timidity through action. Paul feared, but his fear did not control him. Respond accordingly.
“And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.”
(Acts 18:4)
It is our job as Christians to be persuasive. Our manner of life, our attitude and demeanor, and our logical and fair discussion should all be brought to bear for the cause of Christ. We must accept that our lives are not our own. We live for Christ. We cannot afford to waste our time in useless squabbles or to live in a carelessly offensive way. If people are offended by us, let it be because of our faith, not our foolishness.
Our lives should be persuasive, and we need to think and act reasonably so that we might persuade and reason with those outside of Christ. He died for them; the least we can do is live with them in mind.
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