Today’s passage: Acts 20:1-16

Helpful thoughts:

• With the events in Ephesus and the plotting of the Jews, there appears to be a growing sense of external circumstances becoming more bleak.  However, the ministry continues, the church grows, the people are encouraged.
• The mention of the lamps in verse 8 may have been an explanation to Eutychus’ falling asleep.  Meaning, it wasn’t Paul’s preaching right through to midnight and beyond that did it!
  • That Lord’s Day (The first day of the week – verse 7), they were together and being taught by Paul until Monday morning.
    • “Many words” are only encouraging when they are true and richly biblical.  Gathering simply to hear man’s opinion will not be fruitful.  People need to hear the Word of God.
  • Luke, the writer of Acts was a medical doctor.  Eutychus was “taken up dead” and then brought back to life.  This was a Lazarus type resurrection.

Questions to consider:

1. Even as Paul was being “hunted”, why was the church able to grow and be strengthened?  What is the strength of the church?  What gives it its food and nourishment?  Why will it always persevere?
2. We focus much on Paul as we read through these chapters in the book of Acts.  But, was he alone?  Who was with him?  Will any church flourish with the work of only one man?  How can you begin or continue to contribute to the work?
3. Hearing many words that were good words was an encouragement to these believers!  How can you ensure that you are hearing many good words to remain encouraged in your faith?  Even in an age where words are available to us from every direction, who are the people you are to be blessed by on an ongoing basis? (Think…who were the people with all day and all night in Troas?)

Today’s passage: Acts 19:21-41

Helpful thoughts:

• “Resolved in the spirit” can simply mean it was Paul’s intention.  Like saying, “He had it in his mind.”  The capitalization of the “s” in spirit would not have been in the original Greek and therefore subject to interpretation.
• Not only did the new believers in Ephesus burn their old books, they also stopped buying new idols.  They put off the old man and put on the new man. (Ephesians 4:17-23)
• What people often want most are things like comfort, ease, prestige and prosperity.
  • Demetrius appealed to these things to start the events of this day:
    • Their income was in jeopardy if people didn’t buy their hand-made gods.
    • Their prestige was in jeopardy if people came to disrespect their work.
    • The prominence and prosperity of Ephesus was in jeopardy if the people of Asia stopped coming to Ephesus to worship Diana (No visitors, no tourism money).
  • The city clerk appealed to the same in order to end the events of this day:
    • If Ephesus continued in this frenzy, Rome would punish them for the unrest.

Questions to consider:

1. What happens when a Christian becomes concerned first with their own comfort, ease, prestige and prosperity?  The ends justified the means in two different directions for the Ephesians on this occasion. What happens in the heart and mind of the Christian when our goals become different than God’s?
2. What do you think Paul wanted to do before that large assembly?  Do you think he was trying to rescue the other two men and run, or something else?
3. What obstacles would prevent these Ephesians in this passage from wanting to receive the Gospel and surrender their wills to the Lord?  What would they feel like they were losing?  How does the value of Christ compare?  What are some of the “shiny objects” in this world that are most prone to lure your attention away from Christ?  What can you keep doing to help fix your attention on Him?

Today’s passage: Acts 19:11-20

Helpful thoughts:

• These miracles were extraordinary.  Luke spent a great deal of time with Paul and was familiar with the Apostolic gifts.  This period of miracles was even unusual in their time.  It wasn’t expected then.  It shouldn’t be expected today.
• The seven sons of Sceva were not typical Jewish men from the synagogue who one day decided to give exorcism a shot.  These men were “itinerant exorcists.”  They would be better compared with Simon the Magician from Acts 8.  They were using religiosity and trickery to make a living off of people and tried to tap into some power that could take them to the next level.
• When sinners come to repentance they change and continue changing.  Followers of Jesus follow Jesus.
  • 1 John 1:7
• A piece of silver was a day’s wages for laborers.  50,000 pieces of silver shows how widespread the repentance was.

Questions to consider:

1. Given the prevalence of magic being pursued in Ephesus, why might God have used Paul to show these supernatural powers?  How could the episode with the Jewish itinerant exorcists have even pointed people to the truth?
2. What did these sons of Sceva desire to do with this power?  When miracles happen, is it a sure thing that it results in repentance and holiness?  What do these types of events reveal about our hearts?  Are miracles proof of godliness or would our responses to them (or the lack thereof) be the better indicator?
3. Could a person in Ephesus have become a Christian and continued to practice magic?  Can a person today become a Christian and still live like the world?  People in our day and culture don’t have libraries full of magic spells…But what kinds of things would our society “burn” if they came to Christ?  How are you progressing at “putting off the old?”

Today’s passage: Acts 18:24-19:10

Helpful thoughts:

• Apollos was “mighty in the Scriptures.”  He knew the word of God, but had not yet been updated on all that transpired after John the Baptist.  Once Aquila and Priscilla caught him up, he was ready.
  • “…showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.”
• Like Apollos, these twelve men were believers in the promises of God in the Old Testament, they simply needed to hear that God’s promises had been fulfilled in Christ!
  • Tongues were used to put down unbelief and signify the unity of the church among the first believers (Acts 2), the Gentile believers (Acts 10) and these OT saints from outside Judea who had yet to hear of the promises fulfilled.
• Ephesus (And specifically this schoolhouse) became an outpost and place of training for church planters who would go into the region.  It wasn’t that all Asia came to the school of Tyrannus, but that men left the school and took the Gospel to all Asia.

Questions to consider:

1. What do you think it means to be “mighty in the Scriptures?”  Why does the church need people like this?  How many of us should pursue this kind of knowledge?
2. What were the consequences (Good or bad) of Apollos’ teaching in Ephesus? Of Aquila and Priscilla’s willingness to teach Apollos?  Of Paul’s willingness to stay in one place to teach and train others?  How important is it that people understand the truth of the Scriptures and share it accurately with others?
3. How did these people (From Apollos to those who were trained in Ephesus) know they were ready to go pastor and plant churches?  Did they just have a sense on their own or were they commended by others in the church?  Why is this important?

Today’s passage: Acts 18:1-23

Helpful thoughts:

• Claudius’ decree to remove all the Jews from Rome was written in A.D. 49.
  • Paul wrote 1 Corinthians close to or in A.D. 55.
• When Paul said, “Your blood be on your own heads,” he was making it clear, man is responsible for his rejection of God. (Romans 1:20)
  • At the same time, God had “many people in this city.”  God elects and then regenerates through the proclamation of the gospel and man is responsible for his rejection.
• Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue believed.
  • Sosthenes, who took his place, sought to persecute the church and have Christianity banned.  He failed and was beaten…and then, check out 1 Corinthians 1:1.  Who’s name is there?

Questions to consider:

1. Paul did not want to receive money from the new church in Corinth (2 Corinthians 11:7-9).   In addition to receiving gifts from other church, how did Paul provide for his needs? (Verse 3)
2. How would God’s instruction to Paul encourage him to speak the gospel boldly?  What did he know would result from his ministry?  How could a passage like 2 Peter 3:9 give us similar confidence?  Will God’s word fail to be effective? (Isaiah 55:11)
3. When Sosthenes was attacking Paul, how might Paul have been tempted to think of him?  What did Sosthenes eventually become?  How can this encourage us in how we think about other people who we don’t presently agree with?  How should we treat people, even if they hate us? (Matthew 5:44)

Today’s passage: Acts 17:16-34

Helpful thoughts:

• Even while Paul’s heart was being gripped by the rampant idolatry, he still went first to the Jews.  They were the ones who would first understand what he was preaching.
• Epicureans were materialists and taught that man was at his best in avoiding any and all pain.  They believed death brought annihilation, that we would cease to exist entirely.  Stoics sought to achieve a state where they were above pleasure and pain.
  • The initial request for Paul to speak was not because of a desire for conversion…it was simply a form of entertainment for them.  But, Paul didn’t mind.  And opportunity was an opportunity.
• The only God who was not created by the imaginations of man has no need of man for his well-being.  We need Him.  We answer to Him.

Questions to consider:

1. In what way would Paul’s use of Greek poets have been helpful?  Was he using those things to prove God existed or to show the people they already had a base understanding of that God was real, even though they didn’t know Him? Or both?
2. Did Paul desire to simply prove to these people that the “Unknown God” could be known?  What did he tell them they needed to do?  (Verse 30)
3. What was the result of this explanation and invitation?  How is it similar to other instances we have read so far?  How is it similar to what we should expect today?  Should the potential for varied responses prevent us from presenting the truth?

Today’s passage: Acts 17:1-15

Helpful thoughts:

• It is worth noting as we continue to read through this book, these men have been faithful to continually make the gospel message their priority.  Everywhere they went, the gospel is what they preached.
• Even though these Jews were all the way up in Greece, they shared the same envy and accused these Christians with the same tactic as the Jews in Jerusalem who claimed, “We have no king but Caesar.”
• Taking security from Jason and the others was a way to enlist those men in asking Paul and the others to leave town.  If Jason was “successful”, they would get their money back.  If Paul continued to preach, the city would keep the money.
• The nobility of the Jews in Berea was shown through their willingness to search the Scriptures.  If what Paul and Silas were saying was true, in accord with God’s Word, they wanted to know!  Others seemed more interested in power, tradition, etc.  The Bereans wanted truth.

Questions to consider:

1. Why is envy wrong?  How did the envious Jews view the people who had been coming to the synagogue?  When some were converted, did they now belong to Paul?  Who did they ultimately belong to all along?  What truth eliminates our envy?
2. How did the Bereans’ hunt for truth go along with the early creed in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4?  Which parts of the Scriptures pointed to Christ? (Hint: They didn’t have the New Testament yet!)
3. Why was the Bereans’ willingness to search the Scriptures so rewarding?  What are the Scriptures?  What do they teach us?  Why are they our authoritative word and not our opinions or traditions?

Today’s passage: Acts 16:16-40

Helpful thoughts:

• This demon possessed woman could have helped Paul draw a crowd, but he wasn’t interested in gaining more popularity through worldly or even demonic methods.
• Paul and Silas were not persecuted in Philippi for preaching the gospel, but for causing a few people to lose their means of income.
• The salvation of the jailer was more important than freedom from prison.
  • Paul and Silas were in prison, but the jailer was the one who was freed from his bondage that night.
  • Hymns were being sung before the chains fell off…

Questions to consider:

1. Would the devil and demons be willing to share a little truth in order to confuse people and turn them away from Christ?  How smart are the devil and the fallen angels?  How would you know if you were being confused by the enemy?  What has the Spirit given to us as a guide and truth?
2. What did Paul and Silas know that allowed them to have joy in prison, to have a sound mind when the prison doors swung open, to value the salvation of others more than escape?  Can these same truths give you confidence and joy in sharing the gospel with others even if they might reject you for it?
3. Why did Paul and Silas leave the city?  Are there situations we could obey government authorities even if we disagree with what they are asking because we have a larger purpose and mission?  What kinds of things are dominating the news today?  Do those things impact the Great Commission?  What “hills” should we (or shouldn’t we) “die on?”