The Holy Spirit keeps opening eyes and churches continue to grow
Some great lessons here for the modern church as Paul continues strengthening the churches he established.
Acts 19: Paul in Ephesus
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.
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.
The Sons of Sceva
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.
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.
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.
A Riot at Ephesus
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.
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 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 Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship."
28 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, "Great is 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, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theatre.
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 defence 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!"
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.
Acts 20: Paul in Macedonia and Greece
1 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia.
2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece.
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.
4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus.
5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas,
6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.
Eutychus Raised from the Dead
7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.
8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered.
9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead.
10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, "Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him."
11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed.
12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.
13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land.
14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene.
15 And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and the day after that we went to Miletus.
16 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.
Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders
17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.
18 And when they came to him, he said to them: "You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia,
19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews;
20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house,
21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there,
23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.
24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
25 And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.
26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you,
27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
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.
29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.
31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears.
32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
33 I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.
34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me.
35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
37 And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him,
38 being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.
Things to think about…
1. There is so much in Acts 19:1-10. The Holy Spirit affirms Paul’s ministry as an Apostle by the laying on of hands on the ‘disciples of John’ who receive the Holy Spirit which was evidenced by their speaking in tongues and prophesying. Note that Paul went into the Synagogue and reasoned for 3 months, but not all believed, instead some hardened themselves, vs 9. Paul’s response was to set up the first Christian bible college – at the hall of Tyrannus. A full-time two-year course. Paul valued the daily study of God’s word for the disciples of Christ. All Christ’s followers should do the same. Note the result, ‘all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord’, Acts 19:10. Teaching must be more than theoretical.
2. Spiritual activity whether it was a cloth touched by Paul and then used by God to heal from sickness or deliver from demons, or whether to rebuke Sceva’s seven sons, all worked to make the word of God grow in Ephesus, Acts 19:11-20. Let’s not fear Satan but recognise that his activity is defeated because of the cross. Confirmation of God’s power by the Holy Spirit through His people always brings people to Christ, Acts 19:20.
3. The riot in Ephesus instigated by Demetrius and his friends, Acts 19:23-41 put the gospel on a direct path with the heart of pagan culture. The temple of Diana was massive, having 127 columns in length and was well entrenched as the city’s religious centre. It was intertwined with the economics of the city as well. In the same way the temple in Jerusalem had been when Christ overturned tables. A modern-day equivalent might be seeing our entertainment centre or football stadiums full of people discussing God’s power and His word and thereby disturbing the TV rights for the games or concerts. I would suggest that would be an uproar worth being a part of.
4. The uproar in Ephesus was used by the Lord to relocate Paul to encourage the churches in Macedonia – like Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea, Acts 20:1-5. He sets sail to Troas where he heals Eutychus who died after he fell asleep during his sermon, falling to his death, vss 7-12. I always find this passage encouraging. If a young person fell asleep during the Apostle Paul’s preaching there is hope for me yet! Paul then sails to Assos, Mitylene and Miletus, as he travels back to Jerusalem for Pentecost, vss 13-16. There are a lot of names here so I have attached a map so you can see where he went. Rather than go into Ephesus Paul had the Ephesian elders meet him at the port town of Miletus.
5. It is in Miletus that Paul exhorts the Ephesian elders about his ministry among them and what will happen to the church after he goes, Acts 20:18-38. These verses present an interesting study on what can happen to churches within their life cycle. The modern church is no different. In all phases there needs to be a consistency within the church of both accountability, and a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit with respect to teaching and outreach. If these things don’t continue, the churches die. From this point Ephesus got the accountability right by testing those who said they were apostles but weren’t. Tragically in Rev 2:4 we see they had lost their first love. The modern day church at Ephesus is non-existent. Turkey is 99% Muslim. Paul’s message for us – “Take heed how you stand, lest you fall”, 1Cor 10:12.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Life groups Wednesdays. 6:30pm every Wednesday. 5:30pm prayer.
Young adult Life group – This week – The trinity in the OT. After church on Sunday.
Prayer Points
1. Visitors who heard the Blessed Life part 2 – Seeking God first.
2. Pray for Lauren and family in South Africa for the Lord’s peace, comfort and grace.
3. Keep praying for Anna and the Playgroup on Fridays, pray for more families to be reached.
4. Pray for Chaplaincy and Kids Hope at Karalee State School.
5. The families of the shooting victims at the Trump rally last week. Pray for peace over the elections
6. The ongoing conflict in Israel and Ukraine.
7. Church finances to continue to grow and expenses to be more than met.
8. Pray for Kids@Church, Life groups. Young Adults.
9. Mathys has a prayer time at church on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, 5:30pm at church. He would be happy for you to join him and to send prayer requests.
10. Pray about the possibility and planning of a Farmers Market at Chuwar Baptist Church on Saturdays. Anastasia taking the lead on this. Pray for us as we plan
11. That we be bold in our witnessing for Christ. Pray for a heart to see those around you to be saved. Pray for the blessing over the new pastoral care and hosting program.
12. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to increase.
Praise Points
1. New folk this week.
2. Worship team did a great job.
3. Praise God for young people stepping up in the worship ministry.
4. Playgroup is a great encouragement for our church.
5. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. The blessed life – Part 3 “Life not Law”. This Sunday morning
2. Working bee Saturday morning 27th July. Please contact Che for a list jobs and requirements.
3. Kids at Church – The Blessed life – Life not law. Annastasia leading.
4. Monday and Wednesday evening prayer at church 5:30-6:30pm
5. Life Group Wednesday 6:30pm at church – start back this week.
6. Young Adults Life group starts this week after church.
7. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
8. Tune in again this week on our YouTube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for July...
Q. 22. What is Sin? A. Sin is any transgression of the law of God.
Bible References – 1Jn.3:4; Rom.3:20; James 2:9-11
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” Jer 33:3
