SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/18/2018
9:03 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Intro to
Acts 19:21-41
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
19:21-41
Message of the
verses: “21 Now after these things
were finished, Paul purposed in the spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had
passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, "After I have been there, I
must also see Rome." 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of those who
ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. 23
About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For
a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was
bringing no little business to the craftsmen; 25 these he gathered together
with the workmen of similar trades, and said, "Men, you know that our
prosperity depends upon this business. 26
"You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of
Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people,
saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all. 27 “Not only is there
danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of
the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of
Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence." 28
When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying,
"Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" 29 The city was filled with the
confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, dragging along
Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia. 30 And when
Paul wanted to go into the assembly, the disciples would not let him. 31 Also
some of the Asiarchs who were friends of his sent to him and repeatedly urged
him not to venture into the theater. 32 So then, some were shouting one thing
and some another, for the assembly was in confusion and the majority did not
know for what reason they had come together. 33 Some of the crowd concluded it
was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having motioned with his
hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the assembly. 34 But when
they recognized that he was a Jew, a single outcry arose from them all as they
shouted for about two hours, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"
35 After quieting the crowd, the town
clerk said, "Men of Ephesus, what man is there after all who does not know
that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis
and of the image which fell down from heaven? 36 “So, since these are
undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash. 37 “For you
have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers
of our goddess. 38 “So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him
have a complaint against any man, the courts are in session and proconsuls are available;
let them bring charges against one another. 39 “But if you want anything beyond
this, it shall be settled in the lawful assembly. 40 "For indeed we are in danger of being
accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real
cause for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this
disorderly gathering." 41 After saying this he dismissed the assembly.”
I want to begin this SD by giving a quote from John
MacArthur who talks about Paul’s plan to get to Jerusalem. “His itinerary seems puzzling, since
Macedonia and Achaia were in the opposite direction from Jerusalem. Further, he had just ministered in those regions
before coming to Ephesus (18:23). But
Paul had a definite plan in mind, one that reveals his deep concern for the
unity of the church.
“Many in the church at Jerusalem were poor and in need of
sustained financial assistance. To meet
that need, Paul wanted to take to Jerusalem with him a love offering from the
largely Gentile churches he had founded.
Before returning to Jerusalem, he revisited Macedonia and Achaia to
collect that offering (Rom. 15:25-27; 1 Cor. 16:1-4; 2 Cor. 8-9). By contributing to the financial needs of the
Jewish believers at Jerusalem those Gentiles would emphasize the church’s unity
(cf. 1 Cor. 12:26), while confirming in a very practical way their love for
their Jewish brethren. James 2:15-16
describes the importance of such care:
“15 If a brother or sister is without clothing
and in need of daily food, 16 and one of
you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you
do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?”
As we continue to look at what Paul planned to do we see
that Jerusalem was not his ultimate goal, as he desires to go to Rome, and as
we mentioned before the Lord will give Paul a free trip to Rome, but perhaps as
we look at how he gets that free trip we will not be as spiritually minded
about what happened to Paul as he was.
In my prayer time on Saturday’s I pray specifically for the pastors of
our church and some of the things that I pray for them come from a time when I
was studying the letters to the Thessalonians.
I will take a moment to quote a couple of things from this prayer list
as they have to do with Paul’s service in collecting money for the Jewish
church in Jerusalem as they were going through a drought at this time. Paul was praying that the Jews in the
Jerusalem church would accept this offering and as we have just learned this
was a big part of church unity.
“Direction: This
speaks of direction in our Pastors lives concerning their ministry, their
priorities in their ministries, a week from now or a month, or a year or five
years down the road. Example from Romans
15:32 ‘so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing
rest in your company.’ Here Paul is
asking prayers for his future plans that they may be in the will of the Lord.” So we see from this prayer request that I
pray for my Pastors that in the life of Paul it has to do with his situation in
Ephesus where he is making these plans for the direction of his ministry.
Now as we look at the book of Romans and chapter fifteen
verses 22-24 we read more of Paul’s plans for his ministry: “22 For this reason I have often been
prevented from coming to you; 23 but
now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for
many years a longing to come to you 24
whenever I go to Spain-for I hope to see you in passing, and to be
helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a
while.”
At this time I want to quote from MacArthur’s commentary
which as we usually do will give us the direction and outline which we will be
following as we move through this last verses in Acts 19. “He [Paul] delayed all his travel plans temporarily
because, as he wrote at this time to the Corinthians, ‘I shall remain in
Ephesus until Pentecost; for a wide door for effective service has opened to
me, and there are many adversaries’ (1 Cor. 16:8-9). Those adversaries soon made themselves known,
as a riot erupted in Ephesus over the success of Paul’s ministry. Luke ‘s account of that riot relates its
causes, characteristics, and calming.”
Those three descriptions of “The Riots of Ephesus” are the outline that
we are going to begin to look at as we move through these 20 verses of Acts 19.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Jezreel” (1 Kings 21:1).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who did Ahab blame for the
famine in Samaria?”
Answer in our next SD.
6/18/2018 9:52 AM
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