ACTS

INTRODUCTION
After spending some time in Antioch Paul traveled again through Galatia and Phrygia strengthening the disciples.
Note how many times Paul returned to churches he had established with the purpose of strengthening and encouraging the disciples. It is apparent that this was a major concern of Paul's.

AT EPHESUS (Acts 18:24-28)

Since Ephesus played such a major role in Paul's Ministry and life we have included a number of pictures of Ephesus and a map of the city as it was in Paul's day.
Click here to go to a map of Ephesus

Library of Celsus in Ephesus

Curetes Street in Ephesus

The Great Theater in Ephesus

Ephesus Street Near School or Hall of Tyrannus Where Paul Taught for 2 Years

Apollos and Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:24-28)
In Ephesus Priscilla and Aquila met questioned a Jew named Apollos concerning baptism. He had been baptized under John the Baptist's baptism.   The problem with John's baptism was that it was related to the Mosaic sacrificial system, was only for Jews, and was not tied in any way to the sacrificial death of Jesus. John's baptism passed away with the Mosaic sacrificial system when Jesus died on the cross.   Apollos knew about Jesus and believed in Jesus as the Messiah, and taught accurately about faith in Jesus, but his understanding of baptism was misplaced! His baptism united him with John and not with with Jesus!   Priscilla and Aquila taught him "the way of God more accurately"! (Acts 18:26). In the context of what Luke was describing, this must have related to baptism into Jesus. After Priscilla and Aquila straightened Apollos out regarding "the way of God," Apollos went on his way and publicly powerfully debated and "confuted" (proved to be false or invalid) the Jews in open discussion.
We next run into Apollos in Corinth (Acts 19:1 and 1 Cor 1:12; 3:5; 4:6).

Twelve Disciples Baptized (Acts 19:1-7)
After this brief discussion of Apollos, Luke informs us that Paul made his way to Ephesus (Acts 19:2) where he found about twelve disciples. As the discussion of Apollos had centered on his baptism, Paul's discussion with the disciples in Ephesus did likewise. On this occasion the discussion began with questions regarding the Ephesians having received the Holy Spirit. Their response was that they had never even heard of the Holy Spirit since their baptism was into John the Baptist's baptism. After hearing about the baptism of Jesus (Christian baptism, Acts 2:38) they were baptized into Jesus and received the Holy Spirit. We are reminded that Peter had told the Jews on the Day of Pentecost that if they were baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of their sins they would receive the Holy Spirit as a gift.

One wonders why Luke brings these two discussions on baptism together here in Acts 18 and 19! It must have been because he wanted to correct some false views regarding the baptism of John, and explain that Christians are baptized into Jesus, not John seeing that John's baptism had passed away.

Paul Teaches in the Synagogue and hall of Tyrannus (Acts 19:8-20)
For 3 months Paul debated and pleaded with the Jews in the Synagogue, but they were stubborn and refused to believe in Paul's message.
Paul then left and continued his teaching in the Hall of Tyrannus. Luke tells us that Paul preached in the Hall of Tyrannus for 2 years, and that all of Asia heard the Word of the Lord during that period. By this he meant that people from all over Asia (modern Turkey) heard the Word. Tradition has it that the Hall of Tyrannus was located in the North East corner of the Agora (market place) just across the street from the Great Theater.
It is about this time period that Paul writes the Epistle 1 Corinthians to the church in Corinth.
Click here to go to a map showing Asia, Ephesus, and the seven cities of Asia mentioned in Revelation.

Paul and Extraordinary Miracles in Ephesus (Acts 19:11-21)
God confirms Paul's message with a number of extraordinary miracles. This led Paul into a clash with the seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest in the area of the exorcism (casting out) of an evil spirit.   The spirit acknowledged Paul and Jesus, but did no recognize the seven sons of Sceva and the attacked those present. News of this spread throughout Ephesus and the name of Jesus was extolled (praised). Many of the citizens burned their magic books as a result of this experience and the message of the Word grew mightily (meaning that many believed in Jesus because of this experience).

Paul's Future Plans (Acts 19:21, 22)
Paul decided to return through Macedonia (Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea) and Achaia (Athens and Corinth) and journey on to Jerusalem. He sent Timothy and Erastus on to Macedonia in advance of his journey.

Demetrius and the Silversmiths in Ephesus (Acts 19:23-41)
At about that time Demetrius, a silversmith in Ephesus stirred up a riot against Paul for damaging his silver idol business. Demetrius made idols of the Greek goddess Artemis in honor of whom Ephesus had centuries earlier erected an enormous and magnificent Temple in the City. On the map of Ephesus you will find the Temple to the North East of the map. On the map the Temple is called the Temple of Diana which was the Roman name for the Greek goddess Artemis.   (Click here to go to the map of Ephesus)
The crowd seized Paul, Gaius and Aristarchus (Macedonian traveling companions of Paul) and dragged them into the Great Theater. Some Asiarchs (city councilors in Asian towns, or Roman cult officials) who were friends of Paul begged him not to go among the crowd and speak up.   When Alexander, a Jew , spoke up, the crowd got angrier (indicating some tension between Jews and Greeks in Ephesus). The whole community was in an uproar. The town clerk quieted the crowd lest they run into opposition with the Roman authorities, suggesting that Paul had not harmed Ephesus, the temple keeper of the goddess Artemis, nor been sacrilegious toward Artemis. He instructed Demetrius to bring the matter before the regular city assembly. Acts 20:1-2 informs us that at that point Paul left Ephesus for Macedonia.

Ephesus in the years to come became a major Christian center, possibly the center of Christianity in the early second century. In the fifth century a large Basilica (church building) was erected in Ephesus and named after the Apostle John. More New Testament letters are written to and about the church in Ephesus than to any other church in the first century.

Macedonia and Achaia (Acts 20:1-6)
After leaving Ephesus Paul must have journeyed through Troas to Philippi, then on to Thessalonica, Beroea, and Corinth. Luke does not give all of the details of this journey, only that he took several fellow workers along with him, among them Sopater of Beroea, and Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica, Gaius of Derbe and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. During this journey Paul preached and encouraged the disciples in the congregations he had established in Macedonia and Achaia. Finally, backtracking from Corinth through Thessalonica the arrived at Philippi from where they sailed to Troas in Asia. Since it was the feast of unleavened bread at that time, Paul and his group stayed the required seven days of the feast in Troas.

On the first day of the week (Sunday, the day of Jesus' resurrection, otherwise called The Lord's Day in Rev 1:10) Paul and the disciples were gathered together "to break bread."

THE LORD'S SUPPER OR THE BREAKING OF BREAD
The event discussed by Luke at this point is important to the life of all disciples and the Lord's church.
What Luke describes as "we were gathered together to break bread" has become one of two important and significant aspects of most main line Christian religions, that is , baptism and the Lord's Supper or Communion. This act of weekly congregational worship is commonly called Holy Communion, Communion, The Eucharist, Communion, or The Lord's Supper.
For a detailed study of this topic, go to the Topics menu on the Center's home Page and click on The Lord's Supper.
In New Testament churches and churches of the first three centuries of the Christian era, The Lord's Supper was celebrated every Sunday (the first day of the week) to commemorate the Lord's death and resurrection and to celebrate the deliverance from sin God won on the cross through the death of Jesus.
The Eucharist as it was called in the post Apostolic era (Lord's Supper) and baptism are two "sacraments" adhered to by most Christian churches today. A simple definition of "sacrament" is "that which binds Christians to Christ." Baptism signifies entrance into, or becoming united with Christ, and Communion signifies continued relationship with Christ.

During this service at which Paul preached until midnight, a man by name Eutychus fell asleep and feel out of the window and died. Paul raised him and continued with the disciples until morning, encouraging and comforting them.

From Troas Luke and some of the group )we encounter the "we" person again) sailed to Assos, Paul having gone by land. Paul met them at Assos and sailed on to Miletus, passing by Ephesus without stopping in Asia because he wanted to get to Jerusalem by Pentecost.

Paul and the Ephesian Elders (Acts 20:17-39)
While at Miletus Paul called the Elders of the church in Ephesus to meet him in a touching experience. Paul reminded them of his ministry in Ephesus and of the message of grace through faith he had preached for both Jew and Greek. He informed them that he did not know what lay ahead for him other than that the Holy Spirit had warned him of imprisonments in every city where he preached. He told them that they "would not see his face again" which troubled them deeply. He warned the elders of false prophets and teachers (fierce wolves that would enter the flock) and encouraged them to stay close to "God and the word of his grace". After prayer and tears, Paul left them.
The problem of false teachers in Ephesus must have been very real, for in almost every letter or writing addressed to or relating to Ephesus in the New Testament (Acts 20, Ephesians, 1 & 2 Timothy, 1, 2, 3 John, Revelation) there are warnings concerning false teachers and false doctrine.

Elders, Bishops, and Pastors in the New Testament Church
This short passage is also important to our understanding of the role of Elders, Bishops, and Shepherds in the New Testament churches.
In this passage (Acts 20:17 and 28) Luke uses three terms to identify the elders, that is elders, overseers (overseer is the same word as bishop), and shepherd (care for is the same word as shepherd, and the same as pastor)
The three terms are not titles, and in the New Testament do not represent an office (the term "office" is not found in the Greek of 1 Tim 3:1, nor is it used in the NIV in regard to overseer or bishop in 1 Tim 3:1) but are descriptive terms, describing who they are and what they do. As the mature leaders (elders) of congregations the look after (oversee) and feed (shepherd) the congregation (flock).
Pastors in the New Testament churches were not the evangelists or preachers, but the Elders, Bishops, and Shepherds.
In the New Testament elders or bishops were appointed over local congregations and not over a diocese or regional synod. They served in local congregations only. The concept of diocese or synod is much later than the New Testament church and cannot be found in the New Testament.

From Miletus to Caesarea (Acts 21:1-16)
Luke describes carefully the sailing route taken by the group toward Caesarea. The group finally arrives at Tyre on the coast of Phoenicia after spending seven days with the brethren (disciples) in Tyre Paul left by boat for Caesarea. Before he left the disciples, having been guided by the Holy Spirit, warned him not to go to Jerusalem.
En route to Caesarea the group spent a day at the port of Ptolemais with disciples there. Upon arriving in Caesarea the group stayed with the evangelist Phillip and his four unmarried daughters who were themselves prophets (Prophets had the gift of affirming the word spoke as God's word as well as predicting the future). While there Agabus, the prophet, came from Judea and warned Paul and the group that Paul would be arrested by the Jews in Jerusalem. The group pleaded with Paul not to go to Jerusalem. But Paul was determined, and "answered, "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." ¹⁴Since he would not be persuaded, we remained silent except to say, "The Lord’s will be done." (Acts 21:13, 14).

	1.	On this third missionary journey Paul spends several years in Ephesus preaching and building up the church in that city as well as throughout Asia.
	2.	We learn of the "conversion" of Apollos as a result of teaching by Priscilla and Aquila. Apollos who was a powerful preacher, and who had only been baptized into John's baptism, was baptized into Jesus, and continued reaching powerfully.
	3.	We learn also of the baptism of twelve other disciples who knew only the baptism of John, which baptism was no longer relevant. The, too, were baptized into Jesus.
	4.	We learn from Apollos and the twelve disciples that their baptism into John's baptism was not valid Christian baptism. They needed to be baptized correctly into Jesus, and when they learned this, they made no arguments and were baptized into Jesus.
	5.	Paul ran into opposition in Ephesus from Demetrius and had to leave the city. he continued his journeys on through Macedonia, Achaia and then back toward Caesarea and Judea.
	6.	Paul and the group celebrated the Lord's Day in Troas where Paul preached and where they celebrated the Lord's Supper (Communion, Eucharist) with the assembled church in Troas.
	7.	The church in Paul spent some time in Miletus where he addressed the elders from Ephesus warning them against false teachers.
	8.	At Caesarea Paul was warned by Agabus that if he returned to Jerusalem he would be arrested by the Jews and bound in chains. Paul, however, was determined to go to Jerusalem and left Caesarea for that city.

Summary and Discussion:

1) Summarize the content and thrust of Paul's third missionary journey. Which
     interesting people feature with Paul in preaching during this period?

2) What do we learn about John the Baptist's baptism on this missionary journey?
     Why was this the case? What was different about John's baptism and Christian
     (Jesus') baptism?

4) What occurred at Troas, what did the disciples do on this occasion, and what
     happened to the young man named Eutychus? How does what the disciples do
     impact our Christian life today?

5) What did Paul say to the elders of Ephesus, and why? What three descriptive
     names did Paul give the elders, and how do these descriptive names qualify what
     elders do?