|
|
Acts 19 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
Paul in Ephesus is a great reminder for our churches today. From his investment, we know that Ephesus was just the start of Christianity in Asia Minor. The churches in Revelation were all born from this journey to the Ephesians. This is a fascinating fact alone. However, consider how he handled the details as they occurred.
First, he goes to the local synagogue and tries to explain the Kingdom of God to the Jews for three long months. They rejected him. So, he takes those who do believe and develops a program for training them at the school of Tyrannus (a philosopher). For two years, he organized this intense training for all new converts in Ephesus. Two years!
And this leads us to a great application. When we step away from those who continually reject the Gospel, we are freed up to actually invest in those who are starving for spiritual nourishment. Paul could have spent two years trying to turn Asia Minor upside-down through the Jewish synagogue. But, he didn’t. Why? Because Paul was a man of priorities. He wasn’t going to throw his pearls before swine. His task was to get the Message out to Asia Minor and these few believers he invested in would be the ones to do it.
Incredibly, verse 10 states that during this 2-year training program, all in Asia Minor heard the message of Jesus. Let that sink in for a moment. It’s an incredible feat! So we can conclude that Paul was not just teaching his disciples, but he was also sending them. It was not a program suited to increase in knowledge, but rather, to increase the Gospel. And yes, there is a big difference. We can assume that many of these students of Paul were the founding fathers of the 7 churches we read about in Revelation.
So, there are many questions we can ask ourselves. Who do we need to step away from and who needs us to step in? Are we gaining more Biblical knowledge in order to benefit ourselves or increase the Gospel? How many of us are creating “training programs” with the people we are close with? These are tough questions which require personal reflection and meditation on the Word. But, they are relevant.
If we assume that these students of Paul were indeed the individuals who founded the 7 churches of Asia Minor, we should be very encouraged. In just two years, Paul’s deep spiritual investment produced immense fruit through these early churches. Where are we called to the same?