Introduction

This week we conclude Paul’s missionary journeys. After a quick visit back to Antioch and a tour through the first churches in Galatia, Paul finally realizes his dream and sets up a base of operation in Ephesus. From this centralized city Paul was able to spend between two and three years demonstrating God’s power, teaching and instructing disciples in the Way, and planting churches through his disciples in all the cities in the outlying region.

After his work was done in Ephesus Paul set his eyes on Jerusalem and determined to collect a financial offering from all the churches in the region in order to bring aid to the famine-stricken Jerusalem. Paul traveled through Macedonia and Achaia, visiting his churches and taking up the collection. He intended to sail directly from Corinth to Caesarea, but a plot to kill him forced him to turn around and retrace his steps through Macedonia. After stopping in Troas and the coast off of Ephesus, Paul and his multicultural traveling party set sail for Caesarea.

In this section we will see Paul experience the extremes of ministry. At one point he is experiencing great heights of power and glory as the Holy Spirit heals people and teaches people through him. Then, in the same city a riot rises up against him and he has to leave. Such is the way of ministry. We can learn a great deal through the roller coaster ride that Paul endured and observe how he maintained focus through it all.

Outline

Monday: A Realized Dream

Tuesday: Paul Sets his Heart toward Jerusalem

Wednesday: Who’s Your Mommy?

Thursday: A Final Sweep of the Aegean

Friday: Leaders Learning Lessons

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Acts 19:1-20

Where is Apollos ministering at this time? What connections did Paul have to that place?

What kind of baptism did the disciples have?

What was their understanding of the Holy Spirit?

What did Paul do for these disciples that changed their understanding and experience of being a disciple?

Compare this event with other conversion accounts in Acts.

2:4; 8:15–17; 9:17, 18; 10:44; 13:48, 52; 16:31–34; 18:8; 19:6

Read the following commentary on this event. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Whatever we may believe about the ‘normal’ conversion, Luke seems to have emphasized mention of these gifts and the reception of the Holy Spirit in his account primarily where he felt that the church or his readers needed to be assured that the group to which the converts belonged were really acceptable to the Lord, e.g. the Samaritans (ch. 8), the Gentiles (ch. 10) and these disciples of John. As mentioned in the Commentary on those other passages, the way that Luke records these events suggests that for him they functioned as much as a sign to the missionaries as to the converts themselves.

Where was the base of Paul’s extended ministry in Ephesus? Why?

Geographically, what kind of impact did Paul’s ministry in this place have?

What miraculous events happened as the result of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus?

Why were the sons of Sceva not able to get rid of the evil spirits?

What impact did the power of Jesus’ name have on the city of Ephesus? (vv. 17-20)

A Realized Dream

It finally happened. The events of Acts 19:1-20 are the ministry that Paul had probably envisioned from the beginning. Remember in chapter 16 that Paul was initially kept from entering the region of Asia. Instead, God led him through Macedonia, Achaia, and eventually into Corinth. He spent 18 months in Corinth, and then passed by Ephesus as he reconnected to the church in Syrian Antioch first and then revisited the Galatian churches in order to strengthen and encourage them. Now, after that entire divine detour, Paul has come to Ephesus. This was the city that really made sense for doing ministry. It was the hub of Asia. From this port city the entire region could be evangelized.

Here is one important lesson from this section: It’s not that God does not want to give us our desires, it’s just that sometimes we get the timing mixed up. It’s as if God said, “Right idea, wrong timing.” Ephesus was not ready for Paul, or Paul was not ready for Ephesus, in either case, God knew exactly what he was doing.

If you have a dream, don’t give up on it if it doesn’t work out right away. As with everything, simply hold on to it loosely, submit to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, be faithful where God plants you, and be patient. If it is a desire that God has given to you, then it will eventually work out, in His timing.

The Power of the Name

When we think of evangelism we typically think of working with an individual, or perhaps a family. In today’s reading we are exposed to a bigger picture. When Paul went into a place, he looked at an entire region. Ephesus wasn’t just a little town; it was the epicenter of a huge region of the Empire and it would require an all-out artillery assault to establish the Kingdom of God in this region.

Before we dive into Paul’s story, let’s look honestly at a subject that many Evangelicals don’t really like to acknowledge. The fact is that, many times, before a missionary can begin reaching people life by life, there needs to be some spiritual warfare at the regional level. Satan’s power has control over whole cities and regions. This is evident in the story of Jesus’ temptation. When Satan tempted Jesus he offered to give Jesus all the Kingdoms of the World if Jesus would only bow down to him. Did Satan have the authority to make that offer? Apparently he did because Jesus did not question him. Jesus simply said, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” Paul later wrote to the church that he would eventually plant in Ephesus and reminded them that their struggle was not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

For millennium human beings have willingly surrendered control of their lives over to Satan’s authority and have allowed him to blind them to the truth of God’s love for them. Each region has been duped by a different deception. Some believe that they are under the tyrannical authority of heartless gods who demand sacrifice and care nothing for human beings. Others live in fear of the evil spirits that lurk in the forest. Still others believe that the earth is a benign energy field that can be manipulated by secret knowledge and harnessed for the will of the one who understands the incantation. While others live, perhaps most insidiously, in the belief that there is no such thing as the supernatural at all and that humanity is nothing more than a highly evolved animal that operates on the philosophy of “survival of the fittest.” Whatever the deception may be, it is a reality that has a powerful grip on the hearts of all the people in that region, and it is a stronghold that can only be brought down by the power of the name of Jesus and the fervent prayer of his people.

Let’s observe how this plays out in Ephesus.

Ephesus was no ordinary region. God had to pull out the big guns for this mission. Paul’s first encounter with the “disciples” helps us understand the fact that Ephesus was a mixed up place. Paul met twelve men who appeared to be disciples, yet they didn’t even know about Jesus. All they knew was the ministry of John the Baptist which was a purely Jewish rite of repentance. Their knowledge was incomplete. They had not heard the message of the Messiah, they had only heard the message of repentance in preparation for the Messiah. That’s like hearing a joke without getting the punchline, or dressing up for the dance and never leaving the house. When Paul explained the message of Jesus, then they got to laugh and dance. They were ready to be baptized into the name of Jesus, cross over from the Old Testament, and receive the Holy Spirit. When Paul laid his hands on them the Holy Spirit showed up in a big way. As with every other huge gap-bridging experience in Acts so far, when the Holy Spirit first came to a region, it showed up as a mini day of Pentecost. This was the earmark that said, “OK everyone, an official Apostle of Jesus is on the scene, the teaching you are about to receive is authentic, and the believers who come to Jesus under this ministry will be in unity with the church in Jerusalem, Samaria, and all the regions heretofore evangelized.” It’s like when an explorer reaches a new territory and plants his flag down in previously uncharted land and declares this place for his Kingdom. The Holy Spirit had now come to Ephesus. It’s showtime!

Normally, Paul would move into a city and begin by reasoning from the scripture with the Jews in the synagogue to convince them that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. From this core of believers, who were well-versed in Scripture, Paul could then branch out to the Greeks and build the church. In Ephesus things were different. Ephesus was a town that was steeped in pagan religion, witchcraft, sorcery, and religious syncretism (the blending of many religions into one). It seems that even the Jews in Ephesus were steeped in a syncretistic religion in which they mixed the Law of Moses with the witchcraft and sorcery of the Ephesians. We’ve seen this before in the lives of Simon the Magician in Samaria and Elymas the Sorcerer on Cyprus. Here the whole city was blinded. So much so that Paul gave up trying to convince them and acknowledged that his ministry in Ephesus was a completely “Jesus vs. Pagan” encounter.

From here we can point out three important aspects of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus that will help us understand what it takes to reach a region.

Paul had a ministry of healing. Paul’s healing ministry was beyond that of the simple loving touch of a kind person. It was dramatic and powerful. Luke even says that it was extra-ordinary. It was so extraordinary that even handkerchiefs that had touched him brought healing to people. This is very parallel to the story of the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ robe and was healed. Sometimes the grip on a region is so strong that God has to bring out the big guns to pull down the stronghold. This healing demonstrated a power that was beyond the scope of one man and demonstrated the power of Jesus to the region. When a region is so steeped in darkness, the first thing it needs is healing and deliverance.

It wasn’t magical power. The region was so steeped in magic that the Jewish sorcerers thought that Paul was simply bringing another magical incantation into the mix. The seven sons of Sceva were used to driving out the evil spirits through their syncretized Jewish/Pagan magic. Then one day they tried to use their new incantation – the name of Jesus – and they were faced with a stark reality. You see, up to this point the evil spirits were playing with them and allowing the “exorcists” to drive them out with their magic in order to convince them that they did have power through their incantations. Now, however, when the one truth in the universe was presented, the demons reacted accordingly. Here is the really important piece of this; the healing that comes from God isn’t magic. The name of Jesus isn’t a trick or an incantation. The reason the Sceva boys got their magical tails whipped was because they did not have a relationship with the Jesus they were claiming. The power of Jesus comes through a surrendered heart that is in an authentic relationship with him, not a powerful person who wields his name. Just like Peter told Simon the Magician, you cannot purchase or coerce the power of God. You can simply be the surrendered conduit of it. It’s not about the human healer; it’s about the risen King.

The power got their attention. Notice what happened after the Sceva boys ran into the truth about the spiritual battle and the name of Jesus. The power struck fear in the region. People’s eyes were opened for the first time. They openly confessed their sins. They repented of their sins to the point of burning a fortune’s worth of witchcraft paraphernalia. At that point the stronghold over Ephesus was broken and the word of Jesus spread quickly and grew in power.

In 21 st century America we live in a pluralistic culture where syncretism is the rule of the day. For the past 150 years naturalism has dominated our religious landscape, so much so that nearly every school child is convinced, from the time they are in pre-school, that they are nothing more than apes. In the last 30-40 years the bankruptcy of modernism and naturalism has created a spiritual hunger in our nation and has driven millions of people to the spirituality of pantheism, the New Age, and spiritists. Calling your psychic hotline, having a fortune teller at your company party, and reading your horoscope have become commonplace. The scary thing is that this naturalistic/pantheistic worldview is so pervasive that it has seeped its way deeply into the Christian community. In many ways we are like the city of Ephesus and our churches are the like its synagogues.

What will reach the cities of America in the 21 st century? Nothing will reach them short of the power of God demonstrated in the lives of his people. We have been sent in the name of Jesus, under his authority, to break these strongholds and to bring the healing power of the Kingdom of God to his people. How do we do that? The first step is to acknowledge the reality of the spiritual battle. Second, is to be sure that the armor of God is firmly placed in our lives each day. That means that we need to bask in the truth that God has set us free (breastplate of righteousness), trust that Jesus holds it all together (belt of truth), know that we are at peace with God and stand on solid ground (feet fitted with good news of peace), daily reconnect to our relationship with Jesus (helmet of salvation), daily study and proclaim the word of God (sword of the spirit), believe that all of the above is actually true (shield of faith) Third, and finally, pray continually for the deliverance and salvation of people.

Paul did not go into Ephesus with a big show or a self-promoting power trip. He simply went in, having the armor firmly in place, and allowed himself to be an open conduit of the Holy Spirit. He taught daily in the lecture hall, he healed people, and he trusted that God would do His work through him if he would simply stay out of the way. Imagine what would happen if the churches in our valley united in this way and prayed to break the strongholds that grip our city. Imagine what would happen if the people in our own community experienced the transforming power and healing touch of Jesus in their hearts and relationships. The Kingdom of God would become an unstoppable force.

Just for Kids

What did the magicians do when they gave their life to Jesus? What did they burn? Why?

Sometimes in life there are things that get in the way of our ability to love God with our whole heart. Do you have anything like that?

Write the things down on a piece of paper that are bad attitudesor habits that get in your way and keep you from experiencing and demonstrating God’s love. Maybe things like anger, bitterness, fear, addiction, etc.

If you have a grill, take those pieces of paper and, under the supervision of your parents, of course, burn those things.

We need to be willing to throw anything into the fire that is causing us to sin and be apart from God’s love. Are you willing to do that?

Carson, D. A. (1994). New Bible commentary : 21st century edition. Rev. ed. of: The new Bible commentary. 3rd ed. / edited by D. Guthrie, J.A. Motyer. 1970. (4th ed.) (Ac 19:23). Leicester , England ; Downers Grove , Ill. , USA : Inter-Varsity Press.

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Tuesday

Acts 19:21-22

Read Luke 9:51-53. What parallel do you see between today’s reading and this passage?

Read Romans 15:24-28. Why was Paul heading to Jerusalem, and why was he passing through Greece to get there?

Who did Paul send on through Macedonia ahead of him?

**Epistle Alert!!! It is most likely that the Epistles of 1& 2 Corinthians were written at this time.

Paul sets His Heart toward Jerusalem

At this point you may be wondering why we wasted a whole day’s worth of reading on two measly verses. That’s a fair question.

Sometimes it is important to stop and notice the little things. Sometimes it is the little things that go unnoticed but make all the difference in the world.

The point of setting aside today’s reading is to highlight the fact that Luke, as the author of Luke/Acts, is drawing a definite parallel between the life of Jesus and the life of Paul.

Here is a quick outline of Jesus’ life according to Luke

Early ministry where he experienced great victory and power. During this time he only ministered in Galilee and never went to Jerusalem (Luke 1-8)

Jesus’ Galilean ministry comes to a climax of great power that leads Peter to Proclaim that He is the Christ, and then He is transfigured before their eyes. (ch. 9)

In 9:51 Jesus “resolutely set out for Jerusalem”

From this point on in the story Jesus’ ministry turns tough as he marches toward Jerusalem where he is arrested and handed over to the Romans to be killed. (Luke 10-24)

Look at Paul’s life

He spends the first part of his ministry in the Gentile regions (his Galilee).

His ministry reaches its climax with a dramatic display of God’s power in Ephesus.

In 19:21 Paul decided to go to Jerusalem. From this point on he becomes single-minded and later says that he is “bound by the spirit to go to Jerusalem”

For the rest of his story Paul goes to Jerusalem, is accused by the Jewish leaders, is handed over to the Romans, and taken prisoner to Rome.

There is a reason that Luke highlights these parallels between Jesus and Paul. Paul was constantly attacked and accused of not being a legitimate Apostle because he was not one of the original 12. Many of his enemies tried to use the fact that his calling came later (if at all) to undermine his teaching in every city. Paul’s heart was wrenched by these opponents. As his disciple and friend, one of Luke’s main agendas for the book of Acts was to demonstrate that Paul was, indeed, an authentic Apostle, who had been called directly by the Risen Jesus, and had even paralleled Jesus’ ministry in his own. It is important for us to realize and believe this since a vast majority of the New Testament flows from the mind of Paul and his theology.

The Corinthian Letters

It would be too much to ask you to read 1 and 2 Corinthians right now, but if you had time it would be a wonderful experience. It is important to remember that the majority of Paul’s letters were written in the context of his life in the book of Acts. At this point in the story, in today’s reading, Paul had previously spent 18 months planting a church in Corinth and then had left for Antioch in Syria (his home base, remember). While he was in Antioch, Aquila and Priscilla were instructing Apollos in the full gospel of Jesus. As Paul traveled back through Galatia and headed for Ephesus, Apollos sailed across the Aegean to Corinth where he picked up on Paul’s ministry and advanced the Kingdom even further.

Trade and travel between Ephesus and Corinth was common since they were both major international ports and were directly across the Aegean Sea from each other, so, when Paul arrived in Ephesus he received word from Corinth that things were not going well. Sin was running rampant in the Corinthian church and this troubled Paul greatly. Being the concerned spiritual father that he was, not to mention the fact that he may have had a strong and heated personality at times, Paul wrote a scathing letter to the Corinthians.

This harsh letter was his first letter, but it was not 1 Corinthians. Confused? Most people don’t realize that the letters we call 1 & 2 Corinthians are actually letters 2 and 4. 1 Corinthians indicates that Paul had already written to them and that the first letter was harsh. He must have received a response and a report from his courier that the Corinthians felt a bit pistol-whipped by that letter, so in the second letter (our 1 Corinthians) he apologizes for his harshness, and restates his admonition of the church in different, yet very strong terms. Apparently this letter did the trick and evoked repentance from the people. Paul sent a third letter to congratulate them, but we do not have that letter (we know of it because it is referenced in 2 Corinthians). After Paul left Ephesus he set out for Corinth by way of Macedonia. On his way he sent the fourth letter (our 2 Corinthians). Apparently, after the discipline and repentance that came through the first three letters, some people began to question whether Paul was a legitimate Apostle and spread seeds of doubt in the church. The Corinthian church became divided into factions according to loyalties to different teachers. Some people latched on to Apollos and really liked him better than Paul. Others felt that the Apollos lovers were betraying their founding father, Paul. So, Paul wrote this letter to squelch that kind of thinking and nip it in the bud.

The second reason for the fourth letter was to prepare the people for the collection that Paul was going to take from them for the church in Jerusalem. This information really helps us understand this section of Acts. During this time the city of Jerusalem had come into hard times. There was a famine and the people were suffering. Worst of all was the fact that Christians were suffering. Paul felt compelled to travel through Macedonia and Greece to take up a collection from the “Gentile Churches” and bring relief for their brothers and sisters who were suffering in Jerusalem. That is why he felt compelled to go to Jerusalem, even though he knew that it would only bring him hardship. It was important for him to demonstrate the unity of the global body of Christ in a time of need.

So, you see, there were only two verses in the reading, but in-between the lines there was a lot of important stuff.

Just for Kids

Read Romans 15:24-28.

Why did Paul want to go to Jerusalem?

Think back to the earlier part of Paul’s story. Did the people in Jerusalem really like Paul that much? Many of them really didn’t like him. Isn’t it amazing that Paul was willing to do something nice for a group of people that weren’t that nice to him in the past?

Think of someone that may have been mean to you. If you knew they were poor and hungry now, would you be willing to bring them food and money?

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Wednesday

Acts 19:23-41

What was at stake for Demetrius?  Why was he angry at Paul?

Read the following articles on Artemis

ARTEMIS. This was the Greek name of the goddess identified with the Latin Diana of classical mythology. The name Artemis is pre-Greek. She first appears in Greek literature as mistress and protectress of wild life. (Cf. W. K. C. Guthrie, The Greeks and their Gods, 1950, pp. 99ff.) In Greece proper she was worshipped as the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and twin sister of Apollo. Horror at the pains her mother endured at her birth is supposed to have made her averse to marriage. She was goddess of the moon and of hunting, and is generally portrayed as a huntress, wild dogs in attendance. Her temple at * Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the world, and here worship of the ‘virgin goddess’ appears to have been fused with some kind of fertility-cult of the mother-goddess of Asia Minor. The temple was supported on 100 massive columns, some of which were sculptured. Tradition claims that her image fell there from the sky (Acts 19:35), and is thought to refer to a meteorite; Pliny tells of a huge stone above the entrance, said to have been placed there by Diana herself. Her worship was conducted by eunuch priests, called megabyzoi (Strabo, 14. 1. 23), and archaeologists have discovered statues depicting her with many breasts. The silversmiths who made small votary shrines, portraying the goddess in a recess with her lions in attendance, or possibly souvenir models of the temple, caused the riot when Paul was ministering there (Acts 19:23–20:1). Their cry of ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’ (Acts 19:28, 34) is attested by inscriptions from Ephesus which call her ‘Artemis the Great’ (CIG, 2963c; Greek Inscriptions in the British Museum, iii, 1890, 481. 324).

As often, religious piety becomes a thin cloak for personal economic interests. The temple of Artemis served as a bank as well as a temple, and people from all over the world deposited funds there. About a.d. 44 (roughly a decade before Paul’s arrival), inscriptions there show that the proconsul had to get involved in the temple treasury due to some serious financial irregularities: temple monies were being funneled to private individuals. In Ephesus , politics and religion were as heavily intertwined as religion and economics, and local civic pride was inseparable from the worship of the Ephesian Artemis.

Describe the nature of the crowd that assembled in the theater.

Why did Paul not stand to defend himself or his partners?

Why did the crowd not listen to Alexander?

What finally motivated the crowd to disband?

Who’s Your Mommy?

As you read this passage it may be tempting to think that there are no relevant parallels to our lives and skip right over it. After all, there aren’t any temples to a goddess in our city, right? Don’t be too sure about that. Let’s explore what was going on in Ephesus before we completely shut it out. You may find more than you bargained for.

In many pagan cultures they believed that there was a male god and a female god and that through the copulation of these gods life was perpetuated. By worshipping these gods the people would insure that the crops would come in and that the cycle of life would be perpetuated. Within the gods themselves there was a constant struggle for power between the male and female and the struggle was filled with treachery and deceit.

Ephesus was dominated by a goddess figure. Artemis (also known as Diana) was considered to be the Virgin Mother of Heaven. She was a symbol of fertility. Throughout the Old Testament the people of God battled against the fertility goddess of various cultures. In each of these cultures there is a consistent theme of a dominant female figure that does not need the control or influence of a male.

In Judaism Yahweh was always presented in a masculine form. He was the Father. At first glance it would appear that Judaism (and subsequently, Christianity) was simply the conflict between a masculine dominated culture versus a feminine dominated culture. This is not the case, however. Here’s the thing. Yahweh, the Great I AM, Creator of all things is not a male or a female. In Genesis 1 it says that God created man in His image, male and female he created them. Did you catch that? Male and Female. God’s image is reflected when male and female live in harmonious interdependence with one another. God’s design for the male/female relationship is for them to live in mutual submission to one another as they come under the authority of God. At the Fall, Adam and Eve became separated from God and became separated from each other. Eve saught after man’s authority, and man saught after the toil of the Earth. Thus, the battle of the sexes began.

So, if God is not a man or a woman, then why is God always referred to as “Father” or “He” in the Bible? In order to understand why God was presented as masculine we need to look at the natural developmental process of a human child. A newborn has a very special relationship with its mother. The child emerges from the mother’s body. The child feeds off of the mother’s body directly. There is a very organic and physical connection between the two. The Father, on the other hand, has a very different relationship with the child. He contributes his part of the equation long before there is even knowledge of a coming child. In unhealthy scenarios the Father is often absent and, at best, the father is detached from the life of the child in a fundamental way because he cannot produce the food it needs to survive. For this reason young children tend to bond more with the mother than the father. In healthy development a child must go through a rite of passage in which they transition from a co-dependency on the mother to a place where they see the father as a vital role in the family; as the one who is the leader and provider for the family. Since this relationship is not as organic as that with the mother, it requires a cognitive step of faith and a moving away from the mother into a rational relationship with the Father. If the child does not make this transition then it will most likely stay in a very enmeshed and co-dependent state with its “Mommy” into adulthood, thus squelching the child’s ability to mature. In the transition to the Father, the child learns independence and what it means to live in an interdependent state within the family unit.

The children of Israel were like God’s child. While they were in slavery in Egypt they had been heavily influenced by the god/goddess myths of the Egyptian religion. Because of the power struggle between men and women, most of the ancient cultures felt more connected to the earth and the feminine spirit of the earth, thinking that the female energy is what created their food and sustenance, so they worshipped “Mother Earth.” It was the male energy that brought thunder and lightning and pain and anger and wrath on the earth. Who would want to worship that? In other words, those pagan cultures never grew up and so they became enmeshed with the feminine spirit of the Earth. God presented himself to Israel in a masculine form in order to bring balance to this trend and to “wean” his people off of the milk-suckling immaturity that comes from worshipping the Earth. They needed to understand that God was not the Earth and that He was transcendent (above and beyond) the Earth. He was not transcendent like the sun (RA) or the thunder and lighting (Zeus). He was transcendent beyond all created things and even beyond the idea of male and female itself. His masculine identity had to be presented to bring his children out of darkness. Only then could his people understand the interdependent nature of humanity's relationship between a Transcendent God, each other, and the world in which we were placed.

Here’s the caution for us. A great deal of “Virgin Mother of Heaven” thinking has crept into the church. The obvious place this has happened is in the non-Biblical exaltation of Mary. It is a simple fact that the Mary cult evolved in the Roman Church because of what we have been discussing. The people of the Empire were used to having a female god figure. Many of the early Christians took the masculine imagery of the Old Testament and distorted it to be a license to oppress women and keep them in slavery to men. This male-dominated form of Christianity simply perpetuated the age-old struggle between men and women and caused the people to search for a feminine counterpart in the apparently male-dominated Godhead. The people reasoned, “if there is only a Father, then how in the world could the earth have been created? Don’t you need a mother, too?” So, they looked at Mary as the mother of God, and exalted her to the place of the Christian goddess. This is very dangerous and has kept a lot of well intentioned people in a state of blindness in which they have not been able to see the fullness of God clearly.

Before we protestants get all smug about this, let’s understand that there is a “Virgin Mother of Heaven” problem in the Protestant side of the equation as well. In some ways it may be even more dangerous. Have you ever noticed that the stereotypical Christian organization has a feminine domination? Some have said that the church has become “sissified”. Women tend to dominate while men are emasculated and powerless. Just look at how men are portrayed on Television. Men are either overbearing jerks, or they are stupid, bumbling apes who don’t have a shred of common sense and behave like children or animals. It’s the woman who is in touch with her feelings and has a level head about things. Do you think this caricature that is portrayed through the media is an accident?

This distortion of gender roles has its grip on the church. This is evident in the fact that one of the most controversial verses in the Bible for the church today is Ephesians 5:22, “wives submit to your husbands.” “That’s un-American,” we liberated Americans decry, “That’s not Christian! God would never ask a woman to subject herself to an overbearing, male-chauvinist pig (after all, that’s what men are, aren’t they?)!”

Somehow, Christian men in America have become intimidated by this message and have handed over the Spiritual authority in the home and in the church to the women. God’s desire for his people, as it has been since the day he created us in his image, was for the male and female to live in an interdependent relationship that submits to the authority of God. We don’t want a masculine dominated church. We don’t want a feminine dominated church. We want a God dominated church where men understand their place of servant leadership in their home as the leader and provider, and women understand their role as partner and nurturer.

Once again we can see that this was a big issue in Ephesus because it is from the letter that he wrote to this church where we see this principle most strongly taught. In Ephesians Paul talks about unity in the church, and then calls for mutual submission in the marriage relationship. Read Ephesians 5:15-33.

You know Paul was stepping on toes with the message of the Kingdom of God because the Artemis followers came after him with a vengeance. We are not sure exactly what happened, but other places in Acts and the tone of Paul’s letters after his time in Ephesus indicate that Paul was deeply marked in Ephesus because of the persecution he suffered there. Here’s the message for us. Any time you preach God’s Truth that rubs against the main flow of society – even within the church – you will almost always experience harsh resistance. Take heart. This world is not our home. We must live for the Kingdom of God at all costs.

Just for Kids

Who was Artemis?

Read this article to learn more about her.

ARTEMIS. This was the Greek name of the goddess identified with the Latin Diana of classical mythology. The name Artemis is pre-Greek. She first appears in Greek literature as mistress and protectress of wild life. (Cf. W. K. C. Guthrie, The Greeks and their Gods, 1950, pp. 99ff.) In Greece proper she was worshipped as the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and twin sister of Apollo. Horror at the pains her mother endured at her birth is supposed to have made her averse to marriage. She was goddess of the moon and of hunting, and is generally portrayed as a huntress, wild dogs in attendance. Her temple at * Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the world, and here worship of the ‘virgin goddess’ appears to have been fused with some kind of fertility-cult of the mother-goddess of Asia Minor. The temple was supported on 100 massive columns, some of which were sculptured. Tradition claims that her image fell there from the sky (Acts 19:35), and is thought to refer to a meteorite; Pliny tells of a huge stone above the entrance, said to have been placed there by Diana herself. Her worship was conducted by eunuch priests, called megabyzoi (Strabo, 14. 1. 23), and archaeologists have discovered statues depicting her with many breasts. The silversmiths who made small votary shrines, portraying the goddess in a recess with her lions in attendance, or possibly souvenir models of the temple, caused the riot when Paul was ministering there (Acts 19:23–20:1). Their cry of ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’ (Acts 19:28, 34) is attested by inscriptions from Ephesus which call her ‘Artemis the Great’ (CIG, 2963c; Greek Inscriptions in the British Museum, iii, 1890, 481. 324).

The problem with the Ephesians is that they wanted to have only a female god, not the one true God.

Describe what a Mom is supposed to be like.

Describe what a Dad is supposed to be like.

One of the mistakes people make is to think that one of these is more important than the other. Some people think Dads should rule the house like a slave master and tell everyone what to do by barking orders and being tough. Others think that Moms should run the house and make the decisions while the Dad just goes off to work and comes home to watch TV. Neither one of these ideas is what God wants. God wants men and women, husbands and wives, to work together and use their differences to be a strong team that is under the leadership of God.

Is that what your family is like? Why or why not?

Wood, D. R. W. (1996). New Bible dictionary (3rd ed. /) (Pages 86-87). Leicester , England ; Downers Grove , Ill. : InterVarsity Press.

Keener, C. S. (1993). The IVP Bible background commentary : New Testament (Ac 19:23 ). Downers Grove , Ill. : InterVarsity Press.

Wood, D. R. W. (1996). New Bible dictionary (3rd ed. /) (Pages 86-87). Leicester , England ; Downers Grove , Ill. : InterVarsity Press.

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Thursday

Acts 20:1-12

What cities did Paul visit?  What is the obvious reason for choosing these cities?

How long did Paul stay in Greece (most likely in Corinth)?

** Epistle Alert!!  It is most likely that it was at this time, from the city of Corinth, that Paul wrote the letter to the Romans.

Read Romans 16.  Do any of these names sound familiar after having read Acts so far?

What do we know happened to Aquila and Priscilla, based on this letter?

Notice the voice change in v.6 from third person (he) to the first person (we). The voice shifted back in chapter 16 when Paul left Philippi. Now in 20:6, when Paul passed through Philippi on his way back to Troas, it shifts back to “we.” From that evidence it is safe to say that Paul left Luke in Phillipi, probably to work with Lydia in the church that met in her house. Now Luke will be Paul’s traveling companion until the end of the story.

Look at the list of Paul’s traveling companions and plot on a map where they were from. What geographical regions does this group represent?

Why did Paul talk all night?

Why did the young man fall asleep?

What miracle happened that night?

A Final Sweep of the Aegean

Here are some observations from today’s reading:

1. Another divine Detour. The first detour we saw was when Paul was kept by the Holy Spirit from entering Asia. That was God directly saying, “No!” In today’s reading we see that Paul was not allowed to sail directly to Jerusalem from Corinth because of a plot that the Jews had against his life. (Notice that the shield of protection in Corinth was now removed). Instead of sailing south, he headed north and retraced his steps through Macedonia. If we were Paul, once again, we would have probably asked, “Why, Lord? Why can’t I go directly to Jerusalem and do the thing that you want me to do?” We can’t know the definitive answer to that question in this circumstance, but we can make some observations. Had Paul not retraced his steps, he may not have reconnected with Luke in Philippi. Had Luke not rejoined Paul and traveled to Jerusalem he may have not have written the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. Had Paul not retraced his steps he may have never had the tearful farewell on the beach with the Ephesian leaders that we will read about tomorrow. The church is a richer place because of this divine detour. It is important for us to understand that everything – whether instigated by God directly or a plot of the enemy – can be used as an opportunity to bring about good for the Kingdom of God.
2. The Gentile Troops. It is no accident that Luke highlighted the origin of each of Paul’s traveling party. He did this to further demonstrate one of Paul’s major themes; the unity of the body. Jerusalem was the mother church. It was the church where it all started. It was the church that came to the edge of denying the Gentiles equal fellowship with Jewish believers. Now the Jerusalem church was in trouble. It could have been tempting for the Gentile churches to think, “Serves them right. Let them suffer a little and see what it feels like,” and further widen the ethnic division in the global body of Christ. Instead, Paul takes an aggressive stance and draws together a band of disciples, each representing the various regions in which he has planted churches, and takes them to Jerusalem. Through this act of humility, service, and even risk of personal harm, Paul was demonstrating to the church in Jerusalem, and to the church today, that unity in the body is of the highest importance for the health of the Kingdom of God.

Just for Kids

Today is another map day.

As you read the section show with arrows the path that Paul and his buddies took on the trip.

As you read the list of Paul’s traveling companions, mark on your map where each of them are from. How does their hometown match up with the journeys that Paul has taken so far?

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Friday

Acts 20:13-38

Why did Paul want to sail past Asia?  What memories and connections did he have there?

How does Paul describe his experience in Asia? (vv. 18-21)

What was his message there?

In v. 22, the phrase translated “compelled by the Spirit” is the Greek phrase “dedemenos to pneumati” which literally means “having been bound or tied up in, or by, the Spirit”. Read the following translations of this verse:

And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, (English Standard Version)

And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there  (King James Version)

“And now, behold, bound in spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there (New American Standard Bible)

“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. (New International Version)

And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, (New Revised Standard Version)

In light of this phrase, how would you describe Paul’s relationship with the Spirit? Is this the Holy Spirit, or his own Spirit?

How does Paul view his immediate future? (vv. 22-24)

Paraphrase Paul's instructions to the elders in your own words.  What were they supposed to do?  How were they supposed to be? (vv. 28-35)

Based upon this story, how would you describe the relationship Paul had with the elders of Ephesus? (especially vv. 36-38)

Leaders Learning Lessons

Today let’s focus on leadership in the church. Whether you are an elder in the church and responsible for the flock within your local congregation, or you are a parent and responsible for the flock within your household, or a leader in your place of work, Paul’s instructions are excellent guidelines for leadership.

1. Keep Watch. The Greek word being translated here is “prosecho” which means: to turn one’s mind to, pay attention to, give heed to. It’s not the sense of “Watch Out! Because someone is coming after you.” It’s the sense of “be careful to pay close attention to.” Notice the order of importance for being watchful. First keep watch of yourself, and then keep watch of others. The first rule of being a spiritual shepherd is to make sure that you are healthy. Make sure that you are daily being filled with God’s Word and cleansed by His Spirit. Make sure that your time and physical resources are managed well so that you do not fall into a trap of distraction or disease. Remember, if you are not healthy you will not be able to shepherd others. Then, in the same way that you have watched over the daily disciplines of Bible Study, Prayer, Worship, Service, Fellowship, and Evangelism (Mind, Spirit, Body, Church, World) in your own life, be sure to instruct, equip, and encourage those in your flock to do the same. In v. 28 The NIV starts a new sentence with the imperative “Be Shepherds” as if it were a new thought. The NASB translates it more closely to the Greek when it says,

“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

In other words, the leaders should take care of themselves and the flock, because that is what shepherding really is in the first place; it’s watching out for the wellbeing of the sheep. Feed them, water them, and guide them.

1. Stay Awake! The word translated “be on your guard” is the Greek word “greigoreo” which means “keep awake, watch out”. Paul reminds the elders that there are many wolves that surround the flock (some are even within the flock in sheep’s clothing) that are just waiting for the moment when they can pounce on the weak and tear them to shreds. Here’s one thing to keep in mind about the enemy. The enemy is very patient. Just like a crouching lion, the enemy of the church will wait…and wait…and even play soft lullabies…and wait…until the shepherd has become complacent and has nodded off to sleep. Then, WHAM! He pounces on the weak and unaware and drags them off. All because the Shepherd fell asleep on his watch. Jesus warned the disciples many times to stay awake and keep watch. Now Paul repeats the command. As leaders of God’s flock it is the elders’ responsibility to always be aware of the threat of the enemy. We must pray diligently and not get lulled into complacency and apathy. We must never allow the sheep to stray or play near the edge of the woods. Stay Awake!

You could summarize Paul’s instructions to the elders like this, “Keep Watch and Watch Out.” Or, “Take Care and Beware,” or “Feed and Heed.” Pick whichever catchy phrase you want. The point is that there is a great responsibility placed upon leadership in the church. If you are a leader, then take heed. If you are a sheep, pray for your shepherd and trust in the one Good Shepherd, Jesus.

Just for Kids

Let’s draw a picture today. Paul told the elders of Ephesus that they were shepherds. He told them to do two things as shepherds of God’s Flock

1. Take care of the sheep and watch over them. What kind of things does the shepherd do to care for sheep? How can an elder of the church do these things for the church?

1. Guard the flock. There are lots of wolves that would love to steal and eat the little sheep in the flock. The Shepherd has to make sure he always pays attention to keep the wolves out. What kind of wolves threaten the church? How can an elder protect against them?

Draw a picture of a shepherd taking care of and guarding the flock.

Maybe you could give the drawing to an elder as an encouragement to them.

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