Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: ACTS #31 - 18:24-19:20)
G. 18:24-19:20 IMPORTANT LESSONS FROM EPHESUS
1. 18:24-28 CHARACTER AND MINISTRY OF APOLLOS
a. 18:24 APOLLOS AT EPHESUS
IouDAIos DE tis A-polLOS oNOma-ti A-le-xanDREUS toGEnei,
Now a certain Jew Apollos by name an Alexandrian by :race,
aNER LOgi-os, kaTENte-sen eis Ephe-son; du-naTOS [1415]on en tais graPHAIS [1124].
an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; andbeing mighty in the scriptures.
b. 18:25-26a PEDIGREE AND MINISTRY OF APOLLOS
HOUtos en ka-te-cheMEnos [2727]ten hoDON tou KuRIou; kai ZEon [2204]to PNEUma-ti,
This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in :Spirit,
eLAlei kai eDIda-sken[1321] a-kriBOS [199]ta peRI tou IeSOU,
he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning :Jesus,
e-piSTAme-nos MOnon to BAPtis-ma IoAnou: HOU-TOS te ERxa-to par-re-siAzes-thai en te su-na-goGE.
knowing only the baptism of John: 26aand HE began to be bold in the synagogue.
c. 18:26b MINISTRY OF PRISCILLA AND AQUILA TO APOLLOS
aKOUsan-tes de auTOU PRISkil-la kai A-KUlas, pro-seLAbon-to [4355] auTON,
But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him unto them,
kai a-kriBEste-ron [197] auTO eXEthen-to [1620] ten hoDON tou TheOU.
and expounded unto him the way of :God more accurately.
d. 18:27-28 EPHESUS COMMENDS APOLLOS TO ACHAIA
Bou-loMEnou [1014] de auTOU di-elTHEIN eis ten A-CHAIan, pro-trePSAmenoi [4389] hoi a-delPHOI,
And when HE was minded to pass over into :Achaia, the brethren encouraged him,
Egra-psan [1125] tois ma-theTAIS a-poDExas-thai [588] auTON: hos pa-ra-geNOme-nos [3854],
and wrote to the disciples to receive him: and when he was come,
su-neBAle-to [4820] poLU tois pe-pi-steuKOsin diA tes CHAri-tos;
he helped them much that had believed through :grace;
euTOnos [2159] gar tois IouDAIois di-a-ka-teLEGche-to [1246] de-moSIa [1219]
28for he powerfully confuted the Jews publicly
e-pi-deikNUS [1925] diA ton graPHON EInai ton ChrisTON IeSOUN.
showing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
2. 19:1-7 HOW BELIEVERS CAN FALL SHORT
a. 19:1-2a PAUL LEAVES APOLLOS AND CORINTH TO VISIT EPHESUS
E-GEne-to de, en to ton A-polLO EInai en KoRINtho,
And it came to pass, that, while :Apollos was at Corinth,
PAUlon di-elTHONta ta a-no-te-riKA [510] MEre elTHEIN eis Ephe-son, kai heuREIN ti-nas ma-theTAS:
Paul having passed through the upper regions came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples:
EI-PEN te pros auTOUS, Ei PNEUma HAgi-on eLAbe-te piSTEUsan-tes?
2a and he said unto them, Whether you received the Holy Spirit when you believed?
b. 19:2b And they saidunto him, No, we did not so much as hear whether thereis a Holy Spirit.
hoi de pros auTON, 'All', oud' ei PNEUma HAgiON es-tin eKOUsa-men.
c. 19:3a And he said, Into what then were you baptized?
EI-PEN te, Eis ti oun e-bapTISthe-te [907]?
d. 19:3b And they said, Into the baptism of John.
hoi de EIpan, Eis to IoAnou BAPtis-ma [908].
e. 19:4 PAUL CLARIFIES AND CONTRASTS JOHN'S BAPTISM WITH THAT OF CHRIST
EIpen de PAUlos, 'IoAnes eBAPti-sen BAPtis-ma me-taNOIas [3341],
And Paul said, John baptized a baptism of repentance,
to laO LEgon eis ton erCHOme-non [2064] met' auTON
saying to the people that they should believe unto him
HIna piSTEUso-sin, tout' EStin, eis ton IeSOUN.
that should come after him, that is, unto :Jesus.
f. 19:5 And when they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
aKOUsan-tes de, e-bapTISthe-san eis to Ono-ma tou KuRIou IeSOU.
g. 19:6 PAUL MINISTERS TO THEM THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
kai e-piTHENtos [2007] auTOIS tou PAUlou CHEIras, ELthe to PNEUma to HAgi-on ep' auTOUS;
And when :Paul had laid :hands upon them, the Holy :Spirit came on them;
eLAloun te GLOSsais [1100], kai e-proPHEteu-on [4395].
and they spoke with tongues, and prophesied.
h. 19:7 And they were in:all about twelve men. Esan de hoi PANtes ANdres heSEI DOde-ka.
3. 19:8-10 PATTERN OF THE EPHESIAN MINISTRY
a. 19:8 PAUL'S THREE MONTH MINISTRY CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Ei-selTHON de eis ten su-na-goGEN, e-par-re-siAze-to [3955] ePI MEnas treis di-a-leGOme-nos [1256]
And he entered into the synagogue, and spoke boldly for three months reasoning
kai PEIthon [3982] peRI tes ba-siLEIas [932] tou TheOU.
and persuading concerning the kingdom of :God.
b. 19:9 REJECTION BY JEWS LEADS PAUL TO CHANGE LOCATION
hos DE ti-nes es-kleRUnon-to [4645] kai ePEIthoun [544],
But when some were hardened and disobedient,
ka-ko-loGOUNtes [2551] ten hoDON eNOpi-on tou PLEthous,
speaking evil of the Way before the multitude,
a-poSTAS ap' auTON, aPHOri-sen [873] tous ma-theTAS,
he departed from them, and separated the disciples,
kath' heMEran di-a-leGOme-nos [1256] en te schoLE [4981] TuRANnou.
reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.
c. 19:10 EFFECT OF HIS TWO YEAR MIISTRY TO ALL OF ASIA MINOR
TOUto de eGEne-to ePI Ete DUo;
And this continued for two years;
HOste PANtas tous ka-toiKOUNtas ten A-SIan aKOUsai ton LOgon tou KurRIou, IouDAIous te kai HELle-nas.
so that all that dwelt in :Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
4. 19:11-20 MIRACLES AND THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL
a. 19:11-12 UNUSUAL MINISTRY OF MIRACLES BY PAUL
DuNAmeis [1411] te ou tas tuCHOUsas [5177] ePOIei ho TheOS diA ton cheiRON PAUlou:
And :God wrought :special miracles by the hands of Paul:
HOste kai ePI tous as-theNOUNtas [770] a-poPHEres-thai [667] aPO tou chroTOS [5559] auTOU
12 so that unto the sick were carried away from his :body
souDAri-a [4676] e si-miKINthi-a [4612], kai a-palLASses-thai [525] ap' auTON tas NOsous [3554],
handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them,
kai te PNEUma-ti ta po-neRA[4190] ek-poREUes-thai [1831].
and the evil :spirits went out.
b. 19:13 JEWISH EXORCISTS SEEK TO COPY PAUL
E-peCHEIre-san [2021] DE ti-nes kai ton pe-ri-er-choMEnon [4022] IouDAIon, e-xor-kiSTON [1845],
But certain also of the strolling Jews, exorcists,
o-noMAzein [3687] ePI tous Echon-tas ta PNEUma-ta ta po-neRA to Ono-ma tou KuRIou IeSOU, LEgon-tes,
undertook to name over those having the evil :spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying,
HorKIzo [3726] huMAS ton IeSOUN hon ho PAULlos keRUSsei [2784].
I adjure you by :Jesus whom Paul preaches.
c. 19:14 And seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, were doing this.
Esan DE ti-nos SkeuA, 'IouDAIou, ar-chi-eREos [749], hepTA huiOI TOUto poiOUNtes.
d. 19:15 THE POWER OF CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL
a-po-kriTHEN de to PNEUma to po-neRON EIpen auTOIS,
And the evil :spirit answered andsaid to them,
Ton men IeSOUN giNOsko [1097], kai ton PAUlon ePIsta-mai [1987]; huMEIS de TInes esTE?
:Jesus I acknowledge, and :Paul I know; but who are YOU?
e. 19:16 VIOLENT REPERCUSSIONS UPON DECEIVERS
kai e-phaLOme-nos [2177] ho ANthro-pos ep' auTOUS en ho en to PNEUma to po-neRON,
And the man in whom the evil :spirit was leaped on them,
ka-ta-ku-riEUsas [2634] am-phoTEron, ISchu-sen [2480] kat' auTON,
andmastered both, andprevailed against them,
HOste gumNOUS [1131] kai te-trau-ma-tisMEnous [5135] ek-phuGEIN [1628] ek tou OIkou eKEInou.
so that they fled from that :house naked and wounded.
f. 19:17 RESULT: BOTH FEAR AND MAGNIFICATION OF JESUS' NAME!
TOUto de eGEne-to gnoSTON PAsin, IouDAIois te kai HELle-sin,
And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks,
tois ka-toiKOUsin [2730] ten Ephe-son; kai ePEpe-sen PHObos [5401] ePI PANtas auTOUS,
that dwelt at :Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all,
kai e-me-gaLUne-to [3170] to Ono-ma tou KuRIou IeSOU.
and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
g. 19:18 CONFESSION OF SIN: ANOTHER RESULT
polLOI te ton pe-pi-steuKOton ERchon-to,
Many also of them that had believed came,
e-xo-mo-loGOUme-noi [1843] kai a-nagGELlon-tes [312] tas PRAxeis [4234] auTON.
confessing and declaring their :deeds.
h. 19:19 GENUINE REPENTANCE
hi-kaNOI de ton ta peRIer-ga [4021] praXANton [4238] su-neNEGkan-tes [4851] tas BIBlous
And not a few of them that practiced arts brought their books
kaTEkai-on [2618] eNOpi-on PANton; kai su-nePSEphi-san [4860] tas tiMAS [5092] auTON,
together and burned them in sight of all; and they counted the price of them,
kai HEUron ar-guRIou mu-riAdas [3461] PENte.
and found itfifty thousand piecesof silver.
i. 19:20 Thus mightily the word of the Lord was growing and prevailing.
HOUtos kaTA KRAtos [2904]tou KuRIou ho LOgos EUxa-nen [537]kai ISchu-en [2480] .
NOTE: 18:24-28- Aquila and Priscilla knew the positions and teachings of Paul thoroughly. So they had a Plumbline to evaluate the presentation of Apollos from Alexandria, an outstanding preacher and teacher. So - quickly they recognized that he did not have a clear understanding of the essential Foundation Truths of Hebrews 6:1-2.
However, because the Holy Spirit led Luke to set them forth here as Priscilla and Aquila, in that order, there is something He wishes us to understand. In the area of the “Charismata” - the gifts of the Spirit of 1 Corinthians 12:8-11, Priscilla is the one who moved quickly in the area of insight, discernings of spirits and Plumbline evaluation. This was not the key gifting of Aquila, who moved more in Eldership: administration; ruling; order according to the Word - the things Paul laid out to Timothy and Titus in his 3 letters to them. Maybe Priscilla nudged Aquila in the midst of Apollos' discourse - and whispered, “Honey, he doesn't have it down clearly like Paul. Why don't we have him home for dinner, and after he has had my fine entree and dessert and is all softened up, then we could share with him what the Lord has revealed to Paul in this area.” So Aquila agreed, and Apollos humbly and gratefully received their insights, and became an even greater blessing to the churches than before!
19:1-7 - Then see these 12 Ephesian believers: living up to all John the Baptist had presented in preparation for the coming of Jesus - but not aware of added revelation that came through the Foundation truths of Hebrews 6:1-2. In a sense, both they and Apollos were in the same boat! And as Priscilla and Aquila brought Apollos up to date - so Paul brought the Ephesian-twelve up to date. And just as Apollos readily received from Priscilla and Aquila, so these Ephesian believers from Paul received baptism into Jesus' Name, and then the Giftof the Holy Spirit. Now they had “The Peter Package” as he gave it to the first Jewish converts on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:38. And see also that Paul had expected the new Ephesian converts to have received the Holy Spirit at the time of baptism, just as the Samaritan believers did.
19:8-10 - Notice the boldnessin preaching the Gospel on the part of both Apollos and Paul! They both reasoned effectively from the Scriptures, proving that Jesus isthe promised coming Messiah, the Christ, and through His Atoning, Redemptive Death, brings reconciliation to God for all lost Adamic humanity who believe. And there was muchfruit for both of them in the light of such bold preaching; and the saints also were edified, enlightened and matured! And how the Gospel spread in those two years from Ephesus as Paul preached and taught in the School of Tyrannus. All of Asia Minor then - modern Turkey today - heard the Gospel with much fruit.
19:11-20 - Jesus in Mark 16:9-20 promised wonderful things on the behalf of preachers who faithfully presented the full counsel of God. God from heaven would confirmsuch teaching with “signs following”. And these would open hearts yet more to receive Jesus as God's Christ and only begotten Son, and coming Judge of all the world upon His return as Lord of lords and King of kings.
And - it didn't hurt at all to have the 7 sons of Sceva try to emulate Paul - but instead had the devil through his demon completely humiliate and show up these deceivers! The rest of the account speaks for itself.
Again, note how the four subdivisions under paragraph B, 18:24-19:20, spell out this ministry in Ephesus so admirably. 170 of the 260 NT chapters have now been set forth in the Bible Numeric Context and format. The completion is in sight, at which time the printing of the full Greek Interlinear Bible Numeric NT can be put into your hands and those of all interested laymen. Then it will be possible for non-Seminary and Bible School graduates to preach boldly in the full knowledge of accurate Bible contexts, and accurate word definitions. J.A.W.