Study #60: Paul worked for two years to train his converts in Ephesus in the Word of God (Acts 19:8

Study #60: Paul worked for two years to train his converts in Ephesus in the Word of God (Acts 19:8 - 12)

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The Golden Ratio outline of Acts Chapter 2.3:

Acts, Chapter 2.3: The Gentiles of Ephesus violently opposed the efforts of Paul to teach the Word (18:23 - 20:38)

§Unique Introduction: Aquila, Priscilla, and Paul guided disciples of John the Baptist to a better understanding of the Gospel (18:23 - 19:7)

¶Opposite Aquila and Priscilla guided Apollos, a disciple of John the Baptist, to a better understanding of the Way of God (18:23 - 28)

¶Opposite Paul guided twelve disciples of John the Baptist to a better understanding of the Gospel, including baptism (19:1 - 7)

§Complement Body: The silversmiths in Ephesus instigated a riot against Paul and his preaching against idolatry (19:8 - 20:12)

¶Opposite Paul worked for two years to train his converts in Ephesus in the Word of God (19:8 - 12)

¶Opposite The failed exorcism by the sons of Sceva resulted in a great revival in Ephesus (19:13 - 20)

¶Complement While Paul was staying in Ephesus, the silversmiths instigated a riot against him (19:21 - 28)

¶Complement The mob of angry idolaters praised their idol Diana loudly and enthusiastically (19:29 - 20:1)

¶Unique Paul raised Eutychus from the dead while preaching in Troas in Asia Minor (20:2 - 12)

§Complement Conclusion: Paul preached a final message of warning to the elders of his church at Ephesus and said goodbye (20:13 - 38)

¶Complement In Miletus, Paul preached a message of warning to the elders of his church at Ephesus (20:13 - 31)

¶Complement Paul said goodbye to the elders of his church at Ephesus (20:32 - 38)

We begin our study of Acts Chapter 2.3 with the first paragraph of the Body Section. The Golden Ratio design of the subparagraphs is “UCC-OO”: one unique, two complements, and two opposites.

¶Opposite Paul worked for two years to train his converts in Ephesus in the Word of God (19:8 - 12)

Unique And he went into the synagogue, and spoke boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the Kingdom of God.

Complement But when some were hardened, and believed not; and they spoke evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them; and he separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of one Tyrannus.

Complement And this continued by the space of two years, so that all they who dwelt in Asia heard the Word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

Opposite And God performed special miracles by the hands of Paul, so that from his body were brought to the sick handkerchiefs or aprons;

Opposite and the diseases left them; and the evil spirits went out of them.

Comments: Paul was a seasoned missionary at this point in his life with many years of service for the Lord, with many churches started in Asia Minor, Greece, and Cyprus. His first two missionary journeys were exploratory and pioneering in places where the Gospel of Jesus Christ had never been preached before.

But now I believe that Paul realized that the course of his life was going to change dramatically; and I believe that he wanted to stop exploring and start building a strong doctrinal foundation for those who would follow him after he was gone and in Heaven.

Now there are two topics in this paragraph:

1) The need for training in the Word of God for all disciples of Jesus Christ

2) God performed special miracles by the hands of Paul

First, Paul tried to start a church in the synagogue in Ephesus. But soon the devil was causing trouble through those who refused to believe the Gospel of Jesus in the synagogue, so Paul separated the disciples into a church assembly. This action removed the disciples from the children of the devil, and made learning the Scriptures much easier for the believers who remained.

And after two years, the Bible says,

“And this continued by the space of two years, so that all they who dwelt in Asia heard the Word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.”

How did this happen? The disciples were grounded in the doctrines of the Word of God through the teaching of Paul; and the Word in their hearts grew fruitful and powerful through the lives of the disciples! They went out from their church and preached the Gospel in the streets and spoke to people individually about their need for Christ; and so many people were saved, and their lives were changed for the glory of God.

This is an example that all churches should want to follow, if they are a Bible-believing church.

Matthew 13:3-9: “And [Jesus] spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed,...but other seeds fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Jesus taught the parable of the Sower and the Seed of the Word of God. The fourth type of ground or earth in this parable is called “good ground”.

Let me say to you that if your church has been purified from all unbelievers, and your membership consists only of born again believers in Jesus Christ, then your church is “good ground”! The hearts of your church members will be open to the Word and they will be willing to obey the Word of the Lord.

And the result of training them in the Word of God will be much fruit! It will probably take a few years to see this fruit, because some believers grow slower than others; but there will be fruit, and souls will be saved, to the glory of God!

Now if your church is one of many today who allows anyone to join the membership, no matter if their testimony for Jesus is very weak and flimsy at best, then your church is not “good ground”! It is spiritually polluted with unbelievers who are not interested in the Word of God; and they will be sources of sin and disobedience within your church. Many churches that call themselves “Evangelical” or “Community churches” will allow almost anyone to join their church with the flimsiest of testimonies for Jesus. And so their churches are filled with children of the devil! Their churches are not sources of blessing, but of sin in their communities. This kind of church is not following the Word of God!

“But when some were hardened, and believed not; and they spoke evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them; and he separated the disciples...” Acts 19:9a

Whenever a person comes to join your church, examine his or her testimony carefully! Have them sit down with the spiritually mature men in your church to test them with the Bible to see if they are genuinely saved; and if they are, then welcome them with open arms! But if not, allow them to continue to visit the church, but do not allow them to join your church. Keep your membership pure with only true, born again, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and keep the devil outside! You will be glad that you did.

This applies also to Bible college and Seminary. The word “Seminary” means “seed-bed”. Ideally, a Bible college or a seminary should be a place where the Seed of the Word is planted in abundance, in hearts that are open and obedience to what the Bible says. But if sinners are allowed to attend Bible college or seminary, it will be polluted with the children of the devil! And those children of the wicked one will be sources of sin and disobedience to the Word among the students. Vet your Bible students very carefully! Make sure that they are genuine born-again believers before allowing them to attend Bible classes; or you will regret it. I could share some tragic personal examples from my Bible college days, but I don’t have space here in this short study.

Also, notice that Paul taught the disciples “daily”:

Acts 19:9b: “and he separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of one Tyrannus”.

And this continued for “two years”. So if you attended Bible classes every day of the week for two full years, isn’t that about the same as a four year college degree with summer breaks? It might even qualify as Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees!

Why, then, do some believers claim that we don’t need Bible college to be a pastor or an evangelist? I submit to you that Paul set the example for Christians who have been called to full time service for God!

Paul had planted churches in many places in the Roman empire and wrote many inspired teaching letters for all believers such as Romans, Galatians, etc. But he knew that if his service for God was going to bear fruit that would remain for future generations of believers, he had to TRAIN believers in the finer points of the Bible, so that they would produce biblical fruit for God and not invent poisonous false teaching that would send people to Hell instead of Heaven.

And this training from Paul lasted for two full years! Not 6 months of short topical studies, or a few years of Sunday school, but two years of DAILY detailed doctrinal studies in the Word of God, the Bible! When these disciples completed the training of Paul, they were true theologians who could properly handle the Word of God. Or at least, they had a strong doctrinal foundation in their hearts, and they were able to go on to deeper studies of the Scriptures on their own with less danger of falling into error.

And that is the way that it should be, my Bible student friend. Before you become a pastor, you should have read the Bible all the way through several times, at a minimum! You should have earned a four year degree from a Fundamental, Independent, Baptist Bible college. You are not properly prepared to serve God in full time work until you understand the Bible as a whole, and can rightly divide the Word of God in context with the rest of the Bible. A call to preach the Gospel from Jesus is a call to prepare to serve Him through Bible college!

2 Timothy 2:15: “Study to show yourself approved unto God: a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.”

I encourage you to download the Kingdom Study Bible in PDF format from my website, and begin your future ministry by reading the Bible all the way through at least once a year; and learn the greater context of the Bible text and books as only the Kingdom Study Bible version can provide for you.

Secondly, God performed special miracles by the hands of Paul in our text in Acts 19:11-12:

“And God performed special miracles by the hands of Paul, so that from his body were brought to the sick handkerchiefs or aprons; and the diseases left them; and the evil spirits went out of them.”

Now Paul was living in a transitional period of the early church. I have explained this in many of my studies in the Book of Acts. The first century was a time of transition between the Old and the New Covenant. Many things occurred during the ministry of Paul that has never occurred since that time; this is one of them. In fact, it is the only example of this that is cited in the entire Book of Acts. That is why the Bible calls them “special miracles”, because they were unique and special, not normal for all Believers in all Dispensations.

Today, there are many religious frauds and fakes on the television and on the internet, who claim to be able to perform special miracles like this. One of many of them is a false prophet called Robert Tilton. I read one of his money raising letters, where he claimed that if you gave him money, he would send you a handkerchief that would heal you of your diseases, similar to what the Apostle Paul did in our text.

The problem with his claim is that Paul never asked for money in exchange for anything! I Corinthians 9:13-15. So his claim is obviously not of God.

If any preacher asks you to give him money in exchange for healing or a blessing from God, that man or woman is a false prophet! This is called “Simony” after the example of the false prophet Simon in Acts 8:18-23:

“And when Simon saw that through laying on of the Apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money; saying, “Give me also this authority, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit.”

But Peter said to him, “Your money is going into perdition with you, because you have thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. You have neither part nor lot in this matter: for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours; and pray God, if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you: for I perceive that you are in the gall of bitterness, and in the bondage of iniquity.”

The gifts of God cannot be purchased with money! Beware of these children of the devil who pose as men of God on television and on the internet! You will know them when they ask you to send them money so that God will bless you with even more money. Avoid them and follow only the true servants of Jesus Christ, and God will bless you indeed.

Friend, if you would like to know the one true God, and you want to go to Heaven instead of Hell when you die, then you must first know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior from sin.

If you know that you are a sinner; and you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and was crucified on a cross to pay for your sins; and that He was buried and rose again from the dead on the third day, victorious over sin, Hell, and the grave, here is a prayer that you can use to be born again and become a child of the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ:

“Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned against YOU. I am no good, and you are righteous! You are my only hope for salvation! I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, you were buried, and you rose again from the dead on the third day. I want you to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Please come into my heart right now. Forgive me for all my sins, and save my soul. In the mighty Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!”

If you have turned from your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and only Savior from sin, please message me through Facebook and let me know that you have done that, so that I can pray for you and rejoice with you in what God has done in your life. Amen.