Shabbat Shalom everyone. Let's please turn to the book of Acts, Maasei Shlichim, Acts chapter 19. And I'm going to read today from verse 8 to the end of the chapter. We are dealing with the third missionary journey of the Apostle Paul of Shaul. And from verse 8 to verse 41, we have the preaching of the Apostle Paul in Ephesus. And really, this is message number 2 of the third missionary journey in the city of Ephesus. And we begin from verse 8. And I begin by reading, please follow me. "And he went into the synagogue and spake boldly for the space of 3 months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.

But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyranian." And this continued by the space of 2 years. So that all they which dwelled in Asia heard the word of the Lord Yeshua, both Jews and Greeks. And God wrote special miracles by the hands of Paul, so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. "Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirit, the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "We adjure you by Yeshua whom Paul preaches." "And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and a chief of the priests, which did so." "And the evil spirit answered and said, "Yeshua I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?" "And the men in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded." "And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also, dwelling in Ephesus, and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified." "And many that believed came, and confessed, and showed their deeds, many of them also which used curious arts, brought their books together, and burned them before all men.

"And they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver." "So mightily grew the word of God, and prevailed." "After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, "After I have been there, I must also see Rome." "So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, "Timotius and Orestius, but he himself stayed in Asia for a season." "And at the same time there arose no small stir about that way. "For certain men named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen, whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, "Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.

"Moreover ye see and hear that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, "this Paul has persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods which are made with hands. "So that not only this our craft is in danger, to be set at naught, "but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, "and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshipeth. "And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians." "And the whole city was filled with confusion, and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, "men of Macedonia, Paul's companion in trouble, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.

"And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not, "and certain of the chiefs of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him, "that he would not adventure himself into the theatre. "Some therefore cried one thing, and some another, for the assembly was confused, "and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. "And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. "And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people. "But when they knew that he was a Jew, "always one voice about the space of two hours cried out, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians." "And when the town clerk had appeased the people, "He said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how, "that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, "and of the image which fell down from Jupiter, "seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, "ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.

"For ye have brought hither these men which are neither robbers of churches, "nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. "Wherefore, if Demetrius and the craftsmen which are with him have a matter against any man, "the law is open, and there are deputies. "Let them implid one another. "But if ye inquire anything concerning other matters, "it shall be determined in a lawful assembly. "For we are in danger to be called in question for this day's uproar, "there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse. "And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly." I'm going to end with the reading today. It's a long reading in the 19th chapter of the book of Acts chapter 19, as we have read from verse 8 to verse 41.

This is part of the third missionary journey of the Apostle Paul, which really began in Acts chapter 18 and verse 23, and will conclude somewhere in Acts chapter 21 and verse 17, the third missionary journey of Shaul, of Paul, who was going about traveling from place to place to encourage the believers and to establish the saints. I mentioned it many times and I'll do it again. The reason that we come together for Bible classes and Bible sessions and ministry meeting, whether it is Fridays or Saturdays or Shabbat, the reason that we come together as believers is to get established in the truths of the Word of God, very similar to what Shaul Paul had done when he was traveling on his missionary journey.

He was doing number one, preaching the gospel of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, and he was doing number two, establishing the believers in their faith in our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Well, we are now finding ourselves in chapter 19 of the book of Acts in the city of Ephesus. He already had been in Ephesus. Now he comes again to Ephesus. He had been very short time in Ephesus. We read about it in Acts chapter 18. But he comes again and two events have already happened in Ephesus. Number one, the last verses of chapter 18, a Jewish man by the name of Apollos, an eloquent man, mighty in the scripture, needed to know the Word of God more perfectly.

And it was Aquila and Priscilla who instructed this Jewish believer more perfectly in the things of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and the present dispensation of the church age. Then the second thing that happened already in the city of Ephesus, there were 12 men who were disciples of Yohanan Hamadbil, John the baptizer. And they also needed to know the truth concerning the Messiah Yeshua. And even though they had been baptized unto John baptism, that was not sufficient because John baptism, Tvila, pointing out to the coming of the Messiah, it was not what is known today Messianic baptism or Messiah baptism. So therefore they needed to become believers in Yeshua and to be baptized into what is known to be Christian baptism, Messianic baptism to be baptized in the name of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

And that's what the Apostle Paul instructed them in verses 1 to verse 7 of Acts chapter 19. And now we are moving on to the portion in which we read today in the rest of Acts chapter 19. Three points here in this chapter. The first thing we find Paul speaking in the synagogue verses 8, 9, and 10. And you remember, brothers and sisters, we have pointed to it many times, wherever the Apostle Paul have gone to a city, he always have gone first to the synagogue of his brethren, of the Jewish people. And that's what we find him doing at Ephesus again. Now he was already in the synagogue before he started his third missionary journey, but he's going again to the synagogue.

And look at this, brothers and sisters, we find out that he's preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God. Now in Hebrew we call it, We call it Malchut Ha'elohim. Malchut Ha'shamayim. The kingdom of heavens. Or the kingdom of God. Notice verse 8. He went into the synagogue. He spake boldly by the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. Now this is interesting because this expression, the kingdom of God. Imagine he's coming to the synagogue. He's standing there in front. All the Jewish communities gathering together on a Shabbat day. And actually have done it for three months. It was the longest time that we find him remaining in the synagogue.

And for three months he was preaching again and again concerning the kingdom of God. Now why does he preach concerning the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is a kingdom that was promised to our forefathers, the Jewish people. It was promised through the prophets, whether it is Isaiah, Yeshayahu, or whether it is through Daniel, Daniel, or many of the prophets of Israel concerning a coming kingdom. There is a day coming, God had promised our people Israel, where the king, the Messiah, will reign in righteousness. He will rule out of the city of Jerusalem. You remember Yeshua, after his resurrection, and the first disciples, the Jewish disciples came to him in Acts chapter 1, and they said to him, listen to this, "Wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" You see, the first believers in our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, even before the church was born in Acts chapter 2, already in Acts chapter 1, after the resurrection of the Messiah, they wanted to know about the kingdom of God, the kingdom that God promised our people.

But something had happened, and the kingdom was postponed, because Israel, the nation, have rejected the Mashiach, the Messiah, in his first coming. It was not an accident, but it was already prophesied by the Hebrew prophets. Isaiah said, "All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. We did not accept the Messiah, and the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all." So the kingdom, when the Messiah will reign, had been postponed, because Israel rejected the Messiahship of Yeshua in his first coming. But the kingdom will come. The promises to our people Israel will surely come to pass, because if it will not come to pass, we will never be sure whether the church promises will ever come to pass.

If God is not going to be faithful to bring about the promises of the kingdom to his beloved nation Israel, what makes us sure that he will bring about his promises to his beloved church saints that he had promised, that one day he going to take us to the Father's house, and we are going to be with him forever. So, beloved brothers and sisters, the apostle Paul is speaking about the kingdom of God and the program of the kingdom. And so he is standing in a synagogue, speaking to the Jewish people in that community every Shabbat for three months, and he is telling them the kingdom program.

The Messiah came, the Messiah was rejected, the Messiah is going to come again, and the Messiah will be accepted. And right now, God, in his wisdom, building the body of Messiah, which is called the Ekklesia, the called out one, the church of the living God. So, while we don't have all these words that I just mentioned, but the very fact that he preached unto them concerning the kingdom of God, you would understand what the apostle Paul, what Shaul have done. He was speaking about the fact that right now the kingdom is not established, but wait and see when the church age is going to conclude, God is going to establish the kingdom that he promised to the nation of Israel in the city of Jerusalem.

And so, when he does that, and he's presenting the kingdom of God, notice what we learn in verse 9. There were diverse individuals there whose heart was hardened. You know, every time when you go everywhere, whether it is Jewish people or whether it is Gentiles, there are always those whom God softened their hearts, and melt their hearts, and they recognize that they need a Messiah, but there are always those that their hearts were hardened by Satan, by self-will, and their hearts are so hardened, and they believe not, and they speak evil of that way. Now, let me pause here for a moment. Do you know, when we talk today about Christianity, this name, Christianity, is not really mentioned in scripture.

I know that we read in Acts chapter 11, then they were first called Christians in the city of Antioch. But really, if you translate that word Christians, you will understand that it comes from the word Christos in Greek, which is come from the Hebrew word Mashiach, Messiah. So, when those early believers in Antioch were called Christians, they were really called Messiah followers, Meshichiyim, Christ Mashiach followers. But here, beloved, as in other passages in scripture, we actually hear what people think about those who follow the Messiah. Notice it says in verse 9, Diverse individuals whose hearts were hardened, they did not believe and they speak against that way.

This expression, that way, it's really, in other words, saying, those people who have gone in that way, in the way of Yeshua the Messiah, in the way of God's teaching through Yeshua the Messiah, that way. That's what it was called in Hebrew at that time, and even among the Gentile world. In Hebrew, we call it Haderech, the way. And if you remember, it was Yeshua in John 14 who called himself. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. If you want to come to God, you got to come through that way, through the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. So they spoke evil against that way.

Actually, it was the first time in the New Testament that this expression called "the way" is mentioned in Acts chapter 9 and verse 2, when the apostle Paul, before he became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah, he himself persecuted those who had followed that way. Notice that in verse 2 of Acts 9, "He desired of him from the high priest," this is Shaul, "letters to Damascus, to the synagogue, that if any be found of this way, whether they were men or women, that he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem." It became a known name for the followers of Yeshua. They called them the people who followed this way or that way.

It was the way to God through the person of Yeshua the Messiah who said, "I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life." So, here imagine Shaul Paul preaching in the synagogue and there were those whose heart hardened and they happened to be Jewish. And we know that very much in the biblical account. Because we read so much about the Jewish people, we often find Jewish opposition to the message of the Gospel. Now, of course, if you read other history of the Gentile world, you find out so much gentile opposition to the message of the Gospel. But here we find in the synagogue those who oppose.

And you notice what happened. When Paul saw that they have opposed that message and spoke evil against that way, before all the multitude of the Jewish community there in the synagogue in the city of Ephesus, he departed from them and he separated the disciples. Now, this is interesting. Because within the synagogue of Ephesus, there were other Jewish people who became disciples of Yeshua the Messiah, who followed the Messiah Yeshua, who believed in the truth concerning Yeshua the Messiah. And what did Paul did? He separated the believers from the synagogue in the city of Ephesus from those who did not believe. And they hardened their hearts.

So, he separated them from them and then he went elsewhere to teach the message of the Messiahship of Yeshua to a school that is called the School of Tyrannus. And apparently this school was a Greek school where there was an intellectual knowledge being taught there. And the Apostle Paul used that school to teach the message of the Messiahship of Yeshua in this school. And it's so beautiful because there he spent two years, beloved brothers and sisters, in accordance with verse 10, that he continuously was teaching and instructing those who wanted to hear the message of the Gospel. This is something that is very important. If we are wise, we cannot force the Gospel on people.

You cannot make a believer out of a person who does not want to believe. That's the beauty about the message of the Gospel. Because you and I never need to force people to become Christians or Messiah followers. Listen, if a person rejects the Gospel, he or she is going to end up suffering eternal loss. So we can't force it on them. We can't push them. It's a divine work. The Spirit of God. Take the Word of God. Appropriate it to a man or woman. Convict them in the power of the Spirit of God. And that person becomes born again from above. You can't force it.

You can't buy it. You can't do anything. You can't work for it. It is a gift of God. And if somebody rejects that gift, that's fine. It is only their loss. Eventually, they are going to have to stand before God. And God is going to ask them, "What have you done with the message of the Messiahship of Yeshua?" Both Jew and Gentile alike will have to answer to God's question. So what Paul did? He separated the disciples, went to that school of Tyranus, and there for two years. Notice verse 10. "Discontinue by the space of two years, so that all they which dwell in Asia heard the word of the Lord Yeshua, both Jewish people as well as Greeks." He is teaching.

Those who came to learn maybe came in and out. Some come, some go, some come, some go. That's one of the reasons why I'm so thankful for the privilege that we have here in our Holy Scriptures in Israel, Bible studyings and ministry meetings. We don't come here to play games. We don't come here to do anything else except to study the word of God and have fellowship with our brothers and sisters. And people come and people go and people stay. And those that have come and gone, at least we can honestly say we have given them the truth of the word of God. The rest of it is between them and our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah.

Whether they're going to take it and build upon it and grow and teach others, it's entirely up to them. But we have to be faithful in giving the sincere milk of the word where people can hear the message of the gospel. So two years, in addition to the three months that he had been in the synagogue, two years in that school where people were coming in for other classes in order to learn intellectual knowledge, human wisdom, philosophy, here the Apostle Paul, Shaul, teaching the word of God. It is amazing in a pagan world, in a pagan city, in a pagan school, there is a man of God teaching the word of God and presenting the person of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of this world.

So verses 8, 9 and 10, we have Shaul Paul speaking in the synagogue and ultimately leaving the synagogue and speaking and teaching the word of God in that school of Tyrannus for two years, consistently and faithfully. Just to pause here for a moment. Maybe he could get discouraged, like sometimes we get discouraged. You teach and you teach and it seems to be very little response. But we never know what God can do when we sincerely share the word of God. God can take his word and he can multiply and bless others later on because we read, everyone all day that dwelt in Asia, they have heard. How they have heard?

They not all came into the classroom where Paul had been, but they heard by word of mouth. Somebody left a meeting and the guy says, "Listen, this man told me about the God of Israel who sent the Messiah and that he died for our sins and he can provide forgiveness of sins. Listen, is it possible?" And the Spirit of God can use the word of God to lead many. So many heard about this message and then it says, "Many heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles." You see, they didn't hear Paul. You know, sometimes we draw attention to ourselves and we have to be very careful because every time we draw attention, we must draw attention to this lovely person, the person of Yeshua the Messiah.

He is the one who paid the price. He is the Messiah. He is the Redeemer. It is Him that we are to direct people to. And that's what the Apostle Paul faithfully have done. He directed attention to the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. Both Jews and Greeks have learned that from the mouth of the Apostle Paul. So we are moving on now. In verse 11 to 20, we find out that Paul enabled by God to perform special miracles in the city of Ephesus. Now, I know that people today talk about miracles. I watch the television and this one claimed to have miracles and the other one claimed to have miracles.

Listen, one have to be extremely careful when he or she claiming to be a miracle worker. We can see that in biblical history, there were periods of time where God have specifically gave miracles in the history of His people in order to speak to men, to direct men to the person of the Messiah. But it was not done in every generation and every time everyone become a miracle worker. It was never done in history just like that. In the history of Israel, there were miracles happened when Israel came out of Egypt. There were miracles and signs and wonders, the plagues, the opening of the sea, the opening of the Jordan River, and so on.

There was a period of time where there were special miracles happened. Later on in the history of our people Israel, there was a time in the history of Elijah where there was again a period of time of specific miracles that have happened in the history of our people Israel where he could speak a word and there was no rain for three and a half years. And when he can offer Elijah on the altar a bullock and he can cry to God and a fire came down to consume that bullock. This was another period of the history of our people Israel where there were miracles. But there were no miracles every day.

There was no miracles every week. And there was no every one a miracle worker. Well, brothers and sisters, it's the same thing with the church age. In the first part of the church age, it was necessary to point out to the work of the Messiahship of Yeshua to have miracles to come along with the preaching of the word of God. They didn't have a complete canon as yet of the Bible. So when a preacher came to town and he preached, thus says the Lord, God has accompanied his preaching with signs and wonders in the first century. But we live in a time now in the last days of the church age and we hear of miracle workers everywhere.

And I'm kind of wondering what is going on? Why can't I do some of these miracles? Or maybe you can do some of these miracles. Well, listen, the Lord gives us a reason why he gives us miracles for a certain period of the church history. And here in verse 11 to verse 20, Paul enabled by God to perform special miracles. And I want you to know this first of all, in verse 11 and 12, what were the miracles themselves? And God wrote special miracles by the hands of the apostle Paul, so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

Now, the handkerchief that we have here in verse 12, there was no miracle in the handkerchief. It was just a piece of cloth. That Paul was using this piece of cloth perhaps to clean his sweat and to dry himself from his hard work. The aprons were probably what they were wearing in order not to get dirty on the rest of the bodies. Just the same like ladies who work in the kitchen and you're going to cook a meal for your husband and you're going to put an apron on in order that all your clothes are not going to get dirty from the oil and from whatever you are doing.

But there was nothing miraculous about the aprons or the handkerchief. Who knows? He was cleaning his sweat from his body. And then notice, beloved brothers and sisters, so from his body were brought unto the sick two things, handkerchief or aprons, and the diseases departed from them and that evil spirit went out of them. In other words, God was using some of the cloth of the material that Paul Shaul was putting on his body and wiping himself that when that had been brought to people, people's diseases, their sicknesses had been departing from them and evil spirits departed from them. Now don't you start now to go buy handkerchief and buy all kind of aprons and miracle handkerchief and miracle aprons.

You know, you hear all kind of things and it makes you wonder, don't you see God for a season, for a reason, use such a thing as this? There was nothing special with the handkerchief, with the apron. It was simply God was proclaiming a message through the apostle Paul. Because just the previous verse, we read that all they that were in Asia, they heard of the Lord Jesus and they heard of the preaching of the apostle Paul. So to validate the truth of the word of God, God have accompanied with the early apostles, miracles and signs and wonders to validate their preaching that it was indeed the word of God.

The last verse of Mark chapter 16, we read, and they went forth and they preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following. This is the last verse of Mark chapter 16, verse 20. So God wanted to confirm that when the apostle Paul was preaching about Yeshua, the Messiah, a company with the preaching was the miracles to show that indeed, this is something unique. And the preaching of the message of the Messiah was accompanied by miracles, by signs and wonders. But we cannot just go every Saturday or every Sunday to a meeting and everybody have miracles. And it seemed to be that is never end to it when it's come to man.

The point that we learn here is not to be occupied with the miracle, but the point is that we are to be occupied with the person and the work of Yeshua, the Messiah who died in order to forgive sin for everyone that believeth on him. So look what happened in the next verses 13 to 16. We find out that when the Lord is doing a work, there is always Satan comes along and try to imitate the work of God. It's always like that. Wherever you're going to go and you're going to do the work of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, Satan comes along and he have his own imitators and counterfeits.

And they are going to come and they are going to try to imitate, to give an impression as if they are actually doing the work of the Lord. It happened in the history of our people, Israel. When Moses took Aaron's rod and the Lord told him, cast this down and it became a serpent. And the Egyptian magicians have done the very same thing. In other words, we learned that a counterfeit trying to be like the real one, but really it's a counterfeit. It's a false things. And brothers and sisters, today we have to be careful even with the teaching of the word of God, because he's always that which sound like it is the truth, but it is really not the truth of the word of God.

So here, notice in the next verses, verses 13 to 16, we read then certain of the vagabond Jews, they were expellers, we call exorcists, took upon them to call over them, which had an evil spirit, the name of the Lord Jesus or the Lord Yeshua. And they said, we adjure you by Yeshua, whom Paul preached. In other words, some of the Jewish people from that synagogue, also went and they were trying to do the very same thing, what the Apostle Paul have done. You remember in verse 11 and 12, that many diseases came out of those who were sick, and others, the false, the evil spirits came out of them.

So those other vagabond individuals, they trying to do the same. So they go to those people who had those diseases and evil spirits in them, that just show you the condition that existed in Ephesus. So many evil spirits have been there. So they began to tell them, we adjure you by Yeshua, by Jesus, whom Paul preached. They use the same word, because I presume Paul said in the name of Yeshua, rise up and walk. In the name of Yeshua, come out of him. You know, so Paul used that name. So we find out here that some of these vagabond individuals, they use the same expression.

We adjure you in Yeshua, whom Paul preached to come out of you. But look what the spirit have said. In verse 14, we find out that there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jew, and the chief of the priests, which did so. In other words, there were a Jewish man who had seven sons there, and he as well have done that, and his sons have done that. And so we read that, in verse 15, what the evil spirit said unto those who try to pretend they are doing miracles in the name of Yeshua. In verse 15, the evil spirit responds, And he answered, Yeshua I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?

In other words, he's saying, who are you? I know Yeshua, and I also know and heard about Paul, but who are you that you are telling me to come out of this man as an evil spirit? Who are you? In other words, even the demon or the evil spirit knew very well that those individuals were merely professors. They were really imitators. They were really, did not belong to the Lord. So that evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, Yeshua I know, Paul I know, but who are you that you tell me to come out? In the Greek we have the word, I know, two different words here.

The first, Yeshua I know, Ginosko, that means I know him by experience. You know, the demons know about the Messiah because they know who he is. They have been created by God. They know about Yeshua the Messiah. They know him experientially. It means that they know that he is that son of God who became a man. So he says, Jesus I know, Yeshua I know. The second word, Paul I know, this is a different word in the Greek. It speaks about, I know about Paul. I do not know Paul in the same way that I know Yeshua. So even the evil spirit knew that these individuals were simply imitators and it was a work of Satan and not a work of God.

Who are you that you tell me to come out? So the man, here is in verse 16, in that section, the man in whom the evil spirit was, leaped on them and overcame them. And he prevailed against them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. You see, ultimately the imitators will end up losing out because it's merely a work of the enemy who is trying to pretend to do the work of God and the work of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. So verse 13 to 16, we see the imitators of those that work for God. And verses 17 to 20, we see now, even though there were imitators, the truth always prevail.

And in verses 17 to 20, we see the growth of God's word in the city of Ephesus. It says, And this was known to all the Jews and the Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus and fear fell on them all. And the name of the Lord Yeshua was magnified. And many that believed came and confessed and they showed their works. Apparently, the word of God grew. Yeshua the Messiah's name was mentioned at Ephesus. And there were many that believed that maybe later on they had to come outward, out of the closet, as we say. They were believers. They believed in the Messiah, but they did not speak publicly.

They didn't want everybody to know. Like we know it for ourselves. Those of us who are Jewish, we know how difficult it is for us. When we first become believers in Yeshua, it's so hard to let our family know that we are believers. And we don't like the opposition. We don't like to be contrary to what our people have been taught by the spiritual leaders of Israel, by the rabbis. But here we see that they got bold. And here they came out. And those that believed came and they confessed publicly. And not only that, they showed it by their deeds. Their lives have changed. They showed that they belong to Yeshua the Messiah.

Perhaps they were showing that they, in their lifestyle, in their behavior, they showed that they belong to the Lord. They have been gathering together with the saints, with the believers in a local assembly, congregation of believers. They've been studying the word of God. They've been praying. They've been growing and giving a testimony to the fact that Yeshua is the Messiah. They paid a price, but they grew. And they have shown themselves to others that they belong to the Messiah. But notice, brothers and sisters, notice what happened. Not only that, they showed by, listen in verse 19, many who used magician art. Now, they brought the books of cultic books, instruction books, and they burned them with fire.

Notice, many of them also which used magical arts. They brought their books. They brought their books together, and they burned them before all men. Now, that is something. You know, remember, they lived in Ephesus. Some of them were Jewish. Some of them were Gentiles, Greeks. They perhaps were looking at certain books, not so much the Jewish people here. It is the Greeks. They were listening, reading about magic, and crafty, and all sort of medium, and that which is not from God. Cultic books. Maybe they were getting instruction, and they were reading these books, and it said, well, you want to know certain things? That's how you do.

You know, I just watched yesterday on the television where they offer you to go to a people that are able to read your hands, and they're going to tell you your future. And they read your hand, and they can tell you that's what's going to happen to you tomorrow. And people pay mega money. They buy books. They buy CDs and DVDs, and they listen to it, and they are occupied with the cults. And here those believers says, this is the end. I used to be there. I finished with it. I'm coming out of the closet. I'm standing for Yeshua the Messiah. I'm changing my lifestyle.

And not only that, to prove it to you, here are the books that I used to be occupied with. Take them and burn them. I have nothing to do with this anymore. That is an evidence of a change of life in a person. They took those curious art books, and they brought those books together, and they burned them before all. And then they could see the smoke rising up of the fire of all that which is cultic, that which leads people astray, that which is false and ungodly, that which is against God, to set it aside and to burn it, because it has no value in the life of the believer.

And it even tells you the value of it. It says in verse 19, "And they counted the price of all these books." They probably sat down and they said, "Well, this book is very thick. I bought it from this cultic store." And the other book, this was worth so much. And they end up to find out that it cost the value of the price of this book. It was 50,000 pieces of silver. Maybe it's about $10,000 worth of books. Now, let me ask you a question. If we carry on in our home, all these kind of books that teach us evil stuff, will it benefit you? Will it benefit me?

And let's assume that you have been so kind, you're going to give it to somebody else. Would it benefit them? It would not benefit anyone. In fact, it will only lead a soul to follow after that which is contrary to the word of God. And what they really did here, they removed it. They put it to smoke. They totally removed these books from their homes. They burned it all together. And that is a statement to say, I'm following Yeshua the Messiah. I want nothing to do with the occult and all that which is contrary to the word of God. And so beautiful it was because in verse 20, it shows us that when something like that is being done, the word of God is prevailing and growing.

So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. We read in verse 20. You see the difference between the many books of the occult and the one and only book of God's word. Look at the difference. God's word ever remained, ever sustained, even though they tried to burn it throughout generations, to do away with it throughout the history of the world. When our Jewish people God used to preserve for us this book, the word of God, the early disciples, Jewish believers in Yeshua the Messiah, written to us the Brit HaChadasha, the new covenant. And today you and I hold in our hands the word of God, as it is indeed given by the inspiration of the word of God.

And we can enjoy it and learn from this today. So mightily grew God's word and God's word had prevailed. So we have covered so far in Acts 19 verses 8 to 10, Paul speaks in the synagogue. Verses 11 to 20, Paul enabled by God to perform miracles in order to validate the preaching of the message of the Messiahship of Yeshua. And now finally, beloved brothers and sisters, to conclude Acts chapter 19 and the work of the apostle Paul in Ephesus, we find that there rose an uproar in the city of Ephesus. Verses 21 to 41, Paul and the uproar in the city of Ephesus. And now I want to mention one thing that we have to bear this in mind.

Satan is always opposing the work of God. And he does it in two ways. In the first way, he does it very craftily, sneaky way. He comes and he appears as if he really coming along on the side of God and he's tricking people to follow him. We read of it in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, where Shaul Paul said, And no wonder that even the followers of Satan appear as an angel of light. But actually, there are false teachers who teach false teaching. But when it doesn't work in one way, Satan does another thing. He's not only appearing as an angel of light, but now he's appearing as a roaring lion.

If he didn't get people to follow him one way, and if he didn't get to succeed to give the assumption that he's following God, that people will follow him, then he's appearing as a roaring lion. And he's seeking to devour those that follow Yeshua the Messiah. That we read actually in 1 Peter 5 and verse 8. Look what we find out. Now that they did not succeed to use the name of Yeshua in order to deliver diseases and spirits out of people who were sick, and people who were captured by demons, now they are doing something that is different. They are now attacking publicly and in anger. Satan is using them as a roaring lion seeking to devour.

And notice now in verse 21 to 41 a few points that I'm going to highlight here. First of all, we have in verse 21 and verse 22 Paul response and Paul purpose. It says in verse 21 after these things were ended that Paul purposed in the spirit when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem, saying after I have been there, namely in Jerusalem, I must go to Rome. So Paul really purposed in his heart, in the spirit, first to go to Jerusalem. Why he was going to Jerusalem? Because he was carrying with him gifts, financial gifts perhaps, to the poor Jewish believers in the city of Jerusalem from believers in other areas where he was preaching and sharing the message.

The Gentile saints, the Gentile believers in Yeshua, cared for the Jewish believers in Yeshua in the city of Jerusalem, and they gave gifts to Paul to carry with him to the city of Jerusalem. Because those early Jewish believers lost everything when they had followed Yeshua, the Messiah. So he says, I'm going to go to Jerusalem. And then after I'm going to Jerusalem, I'm going to also go to Rome. And you remember what he says in Roman chapter one. I'm ready to come to you, Roman, but I was hindered. Something hindered me to come to you. But I was ready, I was willing, I'm not ashamed to tell you of the gospel.

Also, you in Rome. So he purposed to go to Rome. But first of all, he must go to Jerusalem. In verse 22, he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timothy and Erestus. But he himself stayed in Asia for a season. So he remained there for a season. He sent Timothy, Erestus into Macedonia. He himself waited a little longer. He intended to go to Jerusalem. He ultimately got to Jerusalem. But he also wanted ultimately to go to Rome. He got to Rome. Later on, we're going to see it at the end of the book of Acts. But while he's waiting there, still at Ephesus, Timothy was sent away.

Erastus was sent away. Something had happened. Satan now was using the occasion to act as a roaring lion against the believers in the city of Ephesus. And so in verse 23, all the way to the end of the chapter, we find out that the riots have started against those that follow that way, the way of Yeshua the Messiah. In verse 23, first of all, in verse 24, there was a man that was the leader of that uproar. His name was Demetrius. At the same time, there arose no small stir about that way. You notice that? It doesn't say there arose no small stir against Christianity, though it was following Christ, Christianity, following the Messiah.

But the Bible called it that way. The way of following Yeshua the Messiah. There arose no small, in other words, a big stir against those who follow Yeshua the Messiah. That way. And there was a man who began it all. He's always someone that caused all the problems. He stirs everybody. He's the one who's causing problems. And of course, Satan is using him. And this man, his name was Demetrius. It says in verse 24, A certain man by the name of Demetrius, he was a silversmith. His job was making little idols. He's a silversmith. You see, he's working with a fire. And he's shaping and molding all sort of idols.

And so we find out that this silversmith by the name of Demetrius, he made silver shrines of Diana. He brought no small gain unto the craftsmen. By the way, instead of the word Diana, he should be called Artemis. Because that Artemis is the one that is called the god of the Ephesians. Artemis was really an image of a woman with many breasts. And she was called a great mother. And that is this man by the name of Demetrius. He was making shrines. He was making images of Diana, of Artemis. And models of this image. And perhaps the temple there. And people were carrying this Artemis, this Diana.

And they're bringing her home. And they were situating her in their home. And they were worshipping her. Idolatry. So when Paul preached the message of the gospel, it hurt his business. And he began to lose. And what does he do when his business was affected? This man by the name of Demetrius, he, as it says here in verse 25, 26, and 27, he accused Paul before the people. It says, when he, verse 25, Demetrius, called together with the workmen of like occupation. And he said, sirs, you know that by this craft we have our wealth. And I would say to this craftsman who's selling God. If somebody is selling little gods and idols.

And all of a sudden people said, I don't need that. It is false. It is idolatry. I'm going to believe in the true and living God. I'm not going to buy your craft. Well, this person is going to lose business. And all the other people who were making little idols, they were losing a lot of business. So you can see it's not an issue of their faith here in a God or a goddess. It's an issue of what it hurt them in their pocket. It hurt them with their business. So he called together all the workmen and all the craftsmen with the same occupation. And he says, look, you know how much gain and our wealth coming from this business.

And then verse 26, he continues, moreover, you see and hear that not alone at Ephesus, but almost all throughout all Asia. This Paul has persuaded that turn away much people saying that there is no gods which are made with hands. Well, where do you think Paul got that? Wherever Paul got that, there is no gods made with hands. You see, Paul was a Hebrew of the Hebrews. He was an Israeli. He was Jewish. He read his Bible, the Hebrew scripture. And just like we read earlier, Isaiah chapter 44. Isaiah clearly wrote what God said to Israel about the idols of the Gentile world. Where he said, "They that make a graven image are all of them vanity." This is verse 9 of Isaiah 44.

"And their delictable things shall not profit. And they are their own witnesses. They see not, they know not, that they may be ashamed." "Who has formed a God or molten graven image that is profitable for nothing?" In other words, Paul was really speaking to the Ephesians concerning the truth of the living God, that the God of Israel, the God of the Bible, our Lord Yeshua the Messiah is the true and living God. And all those images that they make are false. The psalmist says the same in Psalm 115. Eyes they have, but they don't see. Ears they have, but they don't hear. Mouths they have, but they don't speak.

Hands they have, and they don't handle. Feet they have, and they cannot walk. That's idols. Now if you gonna carry a God to your house and worship it, what kind of a God you have? So they're losing business. And the apostle Paul said this, and he preached this. And they said, not only at Ephesus, but throughout all Asia. This Paul persuading much people, turning away, saying that there is no gods which are made with hands. And after all, you and I making it with hands, making those idols with hands. So that not only this our craft is in danger, verse 27, to be set at naught.

But also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis Diana should be despised. And her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship. You see, brothers and sisters, people worship Diana, this goddess. People worship Artemis of the Ephesians all over the world. And don't you see this even today, how we see and we learn of various religious groups who are worshiping idols. They can carry the idols from the car to the house, from the house to the temple, from the temple to elsewhere. This is what Paul was speaking against, and he was presenting the true and living God. Not a creature, but a creator.

Not something that was made with men, but someone who created the universe, and loved us so much, and became a man, and was born in Bethlehem, and died outside of Jerusalem, and was raised for a justification. And he's seated at the right hand of the Father, namely our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. He was preaching the gospel, and they didn't like it. And so we read in verse 28 and verse 29, the anger of all the people when they heard that. Because it says in verse 28, And when they heard these things, they were full of anger. And they cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.

And the whole city was filled with confusion. And having caught Gaius and Aristocrats, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in trouble, they rushed with one accord into the theater. So people got angry at Ephesus. And by the way, when we take groups to Israel, and then we go also to Ephesus, we do Asia Minor, we go to the theater in Ephesus. And it is amazing. It is a large theater. It can sit about 25,000 people there. It's a huge theater. And there, the people, what they have done, they began to shout, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. The whole city was filled with confusion. They caught two believers who were helping Paul in his ministry by the name of Gaius and Aristocrats, men of Macedonia.

And they rushed them with one accord into that theater. And now, as we draw near to the end here, in verse 30 and 31, Paul actually wanted to speak to that crowd. He was in much danger there because they were going to kill him. But yet, Paul, in verse 30, we read that when Paul would have entered in unto the people, this is enter into the theater, the disciples told him, Paul, don't go there. They told him they suffered him not. But not only the disciples, because they knew the potential. In verse 31, certain of the sheep of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theater.

Don't go, Paul, because they knew the potential. When there is a riot and thousands of people are acting in confusion and in anger, there is a potential of one to lose his life if he's going there and he's going to enter into the theater. So both his disciples, as well as his friends, certain officers of Asia, told him, Paul, we counsel you, don't go inside the theater. And look how it come to a conclusion. In verse 32, 33 and verse 34, we have the confusion of the assembly there. Look at this. It says in verse 32, some therefore cried out one thing and some another thing for the assembly was confused and the more part knew not where for they were come together.

And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with his hand that he would have made his defense unto the people. But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice, about a space of two hours, cried out, great is Artemis of the Ephesians. Great is Diana of the Ephesians. So what we see here in those verse 32 to verse 34, that there was so much confusion that they didn't even know why they were gathered there. You know, it is amazing how you can gather a multitude. They don't even know, but people like sheep, you know, you just call them and they're all, oh yeah, let's go.

And no discernment, no knowledge of why we are doing what we are doing. The multitude just follow them. And then notice they took a man by the name of Alexander, who was Jewish, not a believer. And they drew him out of the multitude. In fact, the Jewish people putting him forward that he will defend the Jewish people, not the Jewish believers, but the Jewish people because of the fact to say, listen, we also don't believe in Yeshua, the Messiah. But you notice that when it's come to speaking against the Jewish people, there is no distinction. It is interesting that they don't distinguish between Jewish believers and Jewish unbelievers.

They are just opposing all the Jews. And in history, we saw it in every generation. When Hitler rose, do you know how many Jewish believers in Yeshua died at the same time when the rest of our nation who are not believers in Yeshua have died? They don't distinguish because Jewish believers are always Jewish. Even though they believe in Yeshua the Messiah, the enemy does not make a distinction between Jewish believers and Jewish unbelievers. Because here we find out that when Alexander beckoned with his hand that he would have made his defense on behalf of the Jewish people and to the rest of the people when they knew that he was Jewish.

All with one voice over the space of two hours cried, great is Diana of the Ephesians. In other words, they oppose the God of Israel. And they say great is Artemis of the Ephesians in contrast to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with the Jewish people believe in. And so the conclusion of this story in Acts 19 is found in verse 35 to the end of the chapter, verse 41, where the town clerk put things finally in order. We read in verse 35 when the town clerk had appeased the people. He said, ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knows not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshiper of the great goddess Diana and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

So he was saying to them, everybody knows that Diana is goddess and we all worship here, right? And then he said, seeing then, if we all know it and worship, that these things cannot be spoken against. Nobody can say anything against her, that's what he was saying. Ye ought to be quiet and to do nothing rashly. Don't behave the way you behave, he's saying to them. If you believe that Diana is a true goddess and everybody is supposed to worship her, why are you behaving the way you behave? Nothing can change, that's what he's telling them. And then he said in verse 37, for ye have brought hither these men, those men in verse 37, are the very same men in verse 29 by the name of Gaius and Aristocrats.

Those are two believers in Yeshua the Messiah who held Paul. They brought them into the center, they wanted maybe to lynch them, who knows what they wanted to do with them. He says, you brought them hither, people which neither rob their people of church and not blasphemers of your gods. He says, why are you doing this? These two people didn't do anything. They didn't stall anything from you. They didn't blaspheme Diana. They spoke about what they believe in, but they didn't blaspheme Diana. Why do you do what you're doing? And then he said to them in verse 38, if Demetrius and the craftsmen which are with him have a matter against this man, we have a law.

Let's go to court. The law is open. And there are deputies, let them implead one another. In other words, he's saying to them, why you behave as a mob ready to lynch these people who didn't rob us, who didn't blaspheme against Diana? Why do you do that? He put some sense into the mind of the mob there. And then he said, if Demetrius have something against them, let him go to court. There is a law and order here. Then verse 39, he said, if ye inquire anything concerning the other matter, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly. Let's do things in order and let's not behave like a mob here and having this riot here that is going on.

And then he said in verse 40, for we are in danger to be called in question for this day's uproar. There have been no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse. In other words, he's saying to them, really, we are in danger in question of bringing about this uproar. There is no need for that. In other words, this town clerk put some sense in their mind when he was speaking publicly and quieting the mob, quieting the people down. And you notice what happened. Look at the result in verse 41. When he thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly, the congregation, the whole people that were there together.

And with this, beloved brothers and sisters, the work here in Ephesus have ended when the town clerk had quieted the mob down and he dismissed the assembly. In closing, I just want to put one point that's good for us to remember. There is three times the word assembly mentioned here in verse 32, verse 39, and verse 41. Every time this word assembly is used, it comes from the Greek word ekklesia. And ekklesia means called out ones. Now, remember, the word called out ones have to always be distinguished about which group the writer is speaking about. When Yeshua in Matthew 16 says to Peter, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church." The word "church" in the Greek is also ekklesia.

But we must distinguish the ekklesia that Yeshua was speaking about and the ekklesia which this town clerk dispersed or dismissed. Two different groups. The groups that Yeshua was speaking about in Matthew 16 are called out one. Jewish people and gentle people who become believers in him. They are the called out ones which are part of the church. These people here in Acts chapter 19 in the city of Ephesus, they are the ekklesia, the called out of the people who are the mobs who gather together there. And they were opposing the gospel. They were opposing Paul. They were opposing Yeshua the Messiah. Yet in scripture we had that word ekklesia applied to them as well.

There is another time that the word ekklesia is used for the nation of Israel. The congregation in the wilderness. They gather out of Egypt in the wilderness unto the God of Israel. They are also called an ekklesia. But we must distinguish the church, Israel, and the mob at the city of Ephesus. All are three names that were applied to them but distinct groups. Totally diverse from each other. Some believers belong to the Lord and some unbelievers actually pagans here who worship Diana the goddess of the Ephesians. Well, I am going to stop right now with Acts chapter 19. And we have finished this chapter in the will of the Lord.

In our next ministry meeting we are going to continue with Acts chapter 20. Paul continues in his third missionary journey all the way to the city of Jerusalem. Well, may the Lord bless these thoughts to all of us.