Bible Study

Well, good evening, everyone. Nice to see you this evening. It's a warm evening here in Cincinnati for all of you on the webcast. It was like 91 to 93 degrees, registering in my car thermometer anyway, and that was reflecting the outside temperature, not the inside temperature of the car when I first got in. But it's really nice to see all of our live crowd here, and also knowing that a number of you are tuning in upwards of 150, 170.

In some cases, we had over 200 who've connected with us for the webcast. Thank you for loving the Bible enough to be here and loving to learn from the Bible. And I've spent about four hours today trying to make sure I have my knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures in line to try to give you a profitable evening and inspirational evening with God's help.

Let's ask God's blessing if you bow your heads. Heavenly Father, our wonderful God, we come to your great throne and with Jesus Christ at your right hand, with the myriad of traffic going on, Father, with millions of angels coming and going and doing your bidding and doing your will, with all the archangels and the 24 elders and all the heavenly creatures that you have up there, Father, that you've made and that serve you and serve us. We thank you so much for being there always.

We thank you for preserving your Word, which we can study tonight. We ask for your inspiration on the speaking, your inspiration on the hearing, that it all may be to your honor and glory. Heavenly Father, you're the one who had the Bible written. You're the one who inspired every word. We ask you to inspire us to understand it and to learn from it and to be able to put it into practice, those areas where we can, to be inspired by others, by the faith of others, by seeing the example of others, too.

We may learn how to conduct our lives in this 21st century. We thank you. We ask your blessing to be with us. We give you thanks in Jesus' name. Amen. I'm excited to go through the books with you. There are several awesome areas here to go through and to discuss. In Acts 19, we'll see almost right away a section on rebaptism. Can people be rebaptized? We'll see actually rebaptism. We'll see the sending out of cloths or handkerchiefs or the anointed cloth section, the spectral miracles that were performed.

We'll see that there was a great commotion that came up because of Diana, the preaching of Paul, who stayed in Ephesus. When chapter 19 begins, Paul is in Ephesus. He's on his third missionary journey, as they call it. I'll share this with you. He's over here. If you see the map up here, I don't know if a camera will go there for you.

But he had started out at Antioch and he had gone the green line is the one that shows you what he did. He came up here through Antioch and he went up through this area of Pisidia. He came through the north coast and he came straight over to Ephesus. And that's where he ended up spending three years. That was the longest he spent that we know of in any particular area, feeding those people, nourishing them and helping them. I'll talk a little bit about Ephesus. After he had spent the time there and the rebellion of the silversmiths in the area wanting to take his life and throw him in prison, they said, no, don't go in there.

Don't go into that arena. He wanted to wade into the crowd. They said, no, don't go in there. And they asked him to go away after things died down. Then he left and he went up from Ephesus, the green line. He went up to the area of Macedonia. Then he continued down into what's called Achaia or Greece, down into Athens and Corinth. He was planning to leave from there to head on back to Jerusalem because he wanted to be back in that area for one of the Holy Days.

I think it was Pentecost or maybe it was Unleavened Bread. He was deterred because they found that there was a plot against him. If he were to take that ship, they would get on the ship and then they would have him out at sea, do what they wanted to him. So the disciples had found out about it and warned him. So he decided not to go back that way, but rather to retrace his steps, going back here, strengthening the brethren again in Berea and Thessalonica and Philippi and this whole area.

Then from Philippi, he went by sea down to Troas, stopped there, got off the ship and walked 20 miles while the same ship went around from Troas to Azos 30 miles. So it took 30 miles because they had to go around by ship. So he'd rather walk, whether it was for his personal time, just to say to think about things and whatever.

But he walked and met up with his group again in Azos. Then he came down this way through Midilene and past this area, past Ephesus, that says he was going to go by Ephesus. Didn't mean he was going to stop there. In Milwaukee, where my wife's from, they'll say, I'm coming by your house. In Pennsylvania, we say, we're coming by your house.

I say, don't you want to stop? Now, they're going by the house. But in Midwest, when they say you're going by the house, they mean you're actually going to the house. Well, here, he was going by Ephesus. He wasn't going to stop. He decided to stop at Miletus. He thought if he went to Ephesus, he might be held up longer. At least that's what the commentaries think. And delayed, and he wanted to hasten to be in the area of Jerusalem for Pentecost.

Interesting. Him wanting to... First it says, here then were the days of unleavened bread, and he hastened. He wanted to get to Pentecost in Jerusalem. So he wanted to go back. And here's the apostle Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. He's still keeping these days. Of course, it's to relate to the Jews, as they would say. But really, it's because he was a Christian.

He was keeping God's holy days. So he ended up staying here. And this is where the Ephesian elders, anywhere from 30 to 50 miles away... It's interesting, in one of the commentaries, it says, well, it was 50 miles from Ephesus to Miletus. Then another one said, well, that they came... It was 20 to 30 miles. Whoops! Why'd you say 50 one time? So I put 30 to 50 miles, approximately. I'm taking the outside of one and the lower one of the others.

So from 30 to 50 miles, they came to meet Paul and that's when he gave his famous talk about how he was going, how he wanted them to make sure they stayed faithful, that wolves might enter the flock, tearing up the people, bringing in their own heresies, and how the brethren, the love of the brethren toward the Apostle Paul. And we'll see a lot about openness.

We'll see a lot about Paul. He said, you know me. I've been here with you for three years. You know me. You know who I am. You know what I'm about. And I've not shed anybody's blood here. And I've been faithful. You know my manner of life. You know how I am. You'll see some wonderful quotes. I did study mostly on Barnes' notes. I have some quotes from Barkley, but Barnes' notes have some really good notes on this particular section. So anyway, after he stayed and met them, then he proceeded to go back to Jerusalem. His next journey would take him to Rome.

He said, people keep telling me if I'm going to be in bonds, I'm going to be apprehended, I'm going to be in chains, but I must go to Jerusalem, and I must go to Rome. And to Rome, he would go. So that last one, that red line you see here, is his trip to Rome. So we're doing the green line over here to Ephesus, and then up here, and then back up here again, and down here. That's the trip. I thought that might be helpful to you.

And it's amazing. In the Scriptures, it dismisses hundreds of miles, which is why he went from here to there. And for you and me, we can get in a car, and I think nothing of 30 miles. 30 miles is like around the corner. 120 miles, that's a two hour.

I could do that. Maybe in two hours, a little less, at 65 to 70 miles an hour. Not so bad. So I don't think much about it. But when you're walking, or going on ships that are very uncertain, and not real steady, that's pretty treacherous. And a lot of it in mountainside, and a lot of it with not good walking shoes. I don't think they had the walking store back there.

Then at that time, it had special rockport walkers. They had sandals to go on. It wasn't real solid, good footing. No shoes like we have today were a variety of running, and sprinting, and long distance, and short distance, and all the rest. So you'll see what the Apostle Paul had to encounter. Let me read to you, start off with a quote from Barkley's daily Bible study series, The Acts of the Apostles, the Revised Edition, by William Barkley. And here's what he says, beginning chapter 19. Acts 19 is mainly concerned with Paul's work in Ephesus. He stayed there longer than anywhere else, almost three years.

Ephesus was a market of Asia Minor, and in those days, trade followed the river valley. So Ephesus stood at the mouth of the castor, and therefore commanded the richest hinterland in Asia Minor. It was known as the treasure house of Asia. Some called her the Vanity Fair of Asia Minor. How many have been to Ephesus, the old ruins? Anybody? Few. It was a pretty impressive city.

You could tell. And you could tell by the ruins, the Roman columns that were still down on the ground when I was there. You could tell by, as we went to the, where the famous meeting place, where the arena, it's still there. You had a chance to look inside and see how many people would have been there.

Very impressive. So the whole play, Ephesus, was quite a place to see and to visit at that time. Now, Smyrna is actually bigger now, but as I recall, Izmir is much bigger now. If you go to the city of Izmir, Smyrna, which is down away from Ephesus, is much larger, and that's where we flew from back up to Istanbul. Let me read you a couple comments about this. Ephesus, she was an Aziz town. That is to say, at specified times, the Roman governor came there and great cases of justice were tried.

She knew the pomp and pageantry of Roman power and Roman justice. She was the seat of the Pan-Eonian games, which the whole country of Asia, Asia Minor, came to see. To be president of these games and to be responsible for their organization was a greatly coveted honor. The men who held this high office were called Azaraks, and they are referred to in chapter 19, verse 31, where he said he knew some people who were high up in government. These were the same people that would have been responsible for running those games. But here was the downside. She was also the home of criminals. The Temple of Diana possessed the right of asylum.

That is to say, any criminal reaching the area around the temple was safe. Inevitably, therefore, Ephesus became the home of the criminals of the ancient world. You committed a crime, and you made it to the temple. Nobody could touch you. You were free. So around the Temple of Diana, which apparently was one of the seven wonders of the world, magnificent, housing this great image of this multi-breasted, squat-looking goddess of the ancient world that the Egyptians worshipped, that the Romans worshipped, that the Greeks worshipped, that the Mesopotamians worshipped, this goddess was one that was looked to very strongly, but also was a place of prostitution and was a place of crime where criminals could hover.

She was the center of pagan superstition. She was famous for charms and spells called the Ephesian letters. They were guaranteed to bring safety on a journey, to bring children to the childless, to bring success in love or a business enterprise. From all over the world, people came to buy these magic parchments, which they wore as amulets, so they wore them on themselves. The greatest glory of Ephesus was the temple of Artemis, or Diana. Artemis, which was the Greek name, and Diana the Latin.

The temple was one of the seven wonders of the world. It was 425 feet long by 220 feet wide and by 60 feet high. There were 127 pillars, each one a gift of a king. That's how well known she was all over the world. They wanted to contribute to this temple. They were all of glittering, perian marble. All were made 150 tons of marble in each one of them. 36 were marvelously guilt and inlaid, and the great altar had been carved by Praxitelus, the greatest of all the Greek sculptors.

The image of Artemis was not beautiful and talks about what it was, but it did signify fertility. And of course, that's where they had the haunt of a lot of prostitutes. So let's get into reading Acts chapter 19. Just give you a little bit of the background on this city where Paul was going to be spending his time, at least in Acts 19. Chapter 19, verse 1. It happened while Apollos was at Corinth that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, remember we said, he came through this area, all through this area, passed through these regions, encouraging the brethren, passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus and finding some disciples.

So while he was there, people knew Paul was coming. I don't know whether he went to the synagogue and some of them heard him speaking and joined with him, came up to him, said, that sounds good, finding some disciples. He said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Have you received the Holy Spirit? And so they said to him, we have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.

Now think for a minute. If the doctrine of the Trinity were already known, how come these people didn't know what the Holy Spirit was? So by silence, in a sense, they said, we don't even know if there is a Holy Spirit. Well, what would these people be leaving in? Well, see that they heard the preaching of John because they were baptized under the baptism of John.

But they didn't know what the Holy Spirit was. We haven't even heard whether there be, whether there is a Holy Spirit. So if they were worshiping a Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, why hadn't they heard about the Holy Spirit? The fact is, they hadn't. They hadn't heard it as one of the Trinity. So Paul had to... So then, verse 3, and he said to them, into what were you baptized?

So they said to John's baptism. What was the difference between John's baptism and the baptism of Jesus Christ? A lot. John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. So if I preached a word, talked about, you need to be keeping the Sabbath day holy, you need to be keeping the holy days, and you come and say, oh, Mr. Antje, and I haven't been doing those things, I need to change that. And I'm so sorry that I haven't been doing that. Good, it baptized you. What did I baptize you into? I don't know. I see you're sorry.

A baptism of repentance. But it was not a baptism into Jesus Christ. Romans 6, verses 3-6 talks about baptism into Jesus Christ. It wasn't enough to merely repent and to be endorsed that your repentance and be validated that your repentance was a true one, but rather you must also believe in Jesus Christ. Remember Acts 4, 12? There's no other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved. You must be baptized into him. And of course, John's preaching was prior to Jesus Christ's life and death.

He was preparing the way. Prior to Jesus Christ, the shifting to the gospel that Jesus Christ came to preach after John's death, after John was put in prison and subsequently died. So notice, he said, so what were you baptized? They said, well, John's baptism. Then Paul said, John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him who would come after him. That is on Christ Jesus. He confirmed their repentance, but they weren't baptized into Jesus Christ.

You see the difference? And verse 5, these people had good attitudes. They had right attitudes. They were baptized once. Here we find an example of rebaptism. Sometimes people are baptized for the wrong reasons. Sometimes people are baptized and have not repented. Maybe some have just gone along. Maybe it was just a thing to do.

Maybe their friends were all being baptized, so maybe I should be baptized. And the fruits in their life afterwards did not show it. Now, I'll tell you, this minister, Gary Antion, does not quickly rebaptize anybody. I do not want to frustrate the Holy Spirit, nor do I want to be doing something over that God has already done.

I am very cautious to do rebaptisms. When somebody says to me, at Ambassador College, sometimes they'd hear a strong message taught by one of the instructors there. And some of the students would come in guilt-ridden, and say, I must not be converted. And I would say, well, let's talk about it. I'm happy to entertain that thought from you. So, tell me what you knew when you were baptized. Did you know what sin was? Were you sorry for your sins? Were you sorry for the way you were when you went under that water? Did you believe that you were giving yourself up and ready to walk with God? Well, if all those things were true, your beginning was okay.

I take them right back to the beginning. What did you think? What did you know when you were being counseled for baptism? What did you think and what did you know when you were being baptized? We can all have bad days. We can all do some things that are terrible. After baptism, people have slipped and stumbled and tripped and fallen. Sin-wise, that doesn't mean you weren't converted. It means you need to repent again of that sin. But it doesn't mean you weren't converted. Many people, when I take them back to the beginning, did you know what sin was?

Yes. Were you sorry for what you did? Did you tell God you're sorry? Yes. Were you baptized and immersed in the name of Jesus Christ, into the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit? Yes. Then, I'm not going to... Do you feel like you've grown any? Did you've shown any fruits of the Holy Spirit? Love, joy, peace, long suffering? Have you been overcoming things? Oh, yeah. Well, then I'm not going to rebaptize you. Now, somebody who clearly does not show any signs of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and they feel themselves, they can't change, they can't overcome, they just bat their heads against the wall, even though they've been baptized.

I might entertain rebaptizing them. But I have not rebaptized very many people. Here is an instance where people can be rebaptized if it was done for the wrong reason. In this case, John's baptism, and not the baptism into Jesus Christ. So, when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of Jesus Christ. I think that's Ephesians 5.

If I'm not mistaken in verse 20, let me give it to you.

Giving thanks always for all things to God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I think Colossians 3.17 also is another scripture in that regard. Colossians 3.17, whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. So, we find that we are to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Matthew 28 adds, baptize them into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which is putting them into a new relationship with God as a Father, Abba Father, to Jesus Christ, who's called the firstborn among many brothers, and into a new relationship because the Holy Spirit is the means by which you are put into that. By one Spirit, are you baptized into one body. So, verse 6 now, and when Paul laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Now, the men were about 12 in all. Now, it doesn't say what they prophesied. The word prophesied does not always mean foretell the future. It can mean speak under inspiration. So, they could have just, oh, we're so glad, so grateful. Whatever they said doesn't really tell us. But we do see a couple of outstanding circumstances where God used the gift of tongues to validate baptism. Now, some people say, well, you've got to show, you've got to give evidence that you've been baptized by speaking in tongues. There's a whole church, whole movement that believes that. I tell you, the proof is in the fruit, not in the gift.

Tongues are not spoken of as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. In verse Corinthians 12, they're spoken of as a gift. But Galatians 5 verses 22 and 23 speak of fruit.

People who have God's Holy Spirit will be bearing fruit. Love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, kindness, meekness. I have to tell you a little story about a young lady who just graduated from Ambassador Bible Center. I'm kind of pleased about her. She applied for a job. She went in for an interview. And, of course, the lady who was hiring her was a church member.

But it was her board that had to interview her. So, some of the individuals who were there were not in the church. And they were so impressed with this young woman.

What made the difference? Sure, she had natural talents. What made the difference?

I believe God's Spirit. I believe God in her, Christ in her. That there was something there that those people saw they couldn't explain. And they said she's far above all the others who applied. It's a beautiful story. But it's what God does for us. I tell the students, often in class, you don't realize how special you are. When God talks about you walking around as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse world. Does he mean that?

You are special to God, not because of you, but because of God in you.

And your willingness to yield to him. It's pretty special. Anyway, these individuals, they had a good attitude about it. They were rebaptized. They received God's Holy Spirit.

About 12 of them. Whether they were the only ones there of just this incident, they made contact. Notice verse 8. And he went into the synagogue and he spoke boldly for three months.

So they also said he was there for up to three years. Spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. Did the Apostle Paul go and preach some Pauline doctrine? Did he go preach some gospel of Paul? He preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, which is the same thing Jesus Christ did, which is the same thing the other apostles did.

So he went preaching the gospel of the kingdom. What a beautiful scripture that is. But notice verse 9. So here he was. He preached the kingdom of God. He certainly preached it again, Acts 28, verses 23 and 31, at the close of the book of Acts. He's still preaching the kingdom of God.

But verse 9, But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the way, notice that term, the way. It's used several times in other chapters, in other sections you'll see.

Spoke evil of the way, verse 23, talks about they made great commotion about the way.

We've often heard since I was a freshman at Ambassador College, it isn't just something for a once a week feel-good session on Sunday morning.

It's not a two-hour feel-good session on Sabbath. It involves what you do. It involves how you talk. It involves how you think. It involves what you do.

It isn't just something for an hour or two hours once a week. It's got to become a way of life.

As it's put in Ephesians chapter 4, it is our vocation. It's what we do.

It's our job. It's the way of life. So he says, they spoke evil of the way before the multitude, so he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyranus. Now, apparently the school of Tyranus had a break. They find that in the history of that area. From 11 o'clock to 4 in the afternoon, most businesses ceased because it was so hot.

So from 11 to 4, Paul used this opportunity at this school to be able to instruct the disciples, who normally would be working beforehand and working afterwards. So despite the fact that they worked early up until 11 a.m. and after 4 p.m., the disciples found time to come and learn. They gave up their time to come and learn.

And Paul apparently used this school. Then Tyranus would then teach from 4 o'clock on. So Paul had a great opportunity to use this school, this educational setting, to be able to instruct the disciples, because he was getting a lot of flack in the synagogue. This continued for two years so that all who dwelled in Asia, this is a rather strong statement, heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. Paul did his job. He was there for up to three years. Certainly, we read here two years and three months and other sections will say up to three years.

But he stayed there and he preached. How vigorous was he? It says the whole population, all of Asia, heard the word, that's Asia Minor, that province of Asia Minor, because of his diligence, both Jews and Greeks. Verse 11. Now we come to the section of talking about the anointed cloth. Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul.

Unusual miracles by the hands of Paul. So that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.

Now we don't know what Paul did with his handkerchief. We don't know what he did with his apron.

But what we have done is say, you know, if God did it for Paul, God could do it for us.

And on one occasion, do we send out anointed cloths? Sometimes people don't feel like receiving anybody. They don't feel like getting up out of bed. They don't feel like getting out. They don't feel like seeing anybody. They're just sick. They'll say, send me a cloth. I'll send them a cloth.

If they say, can you come and anoint me? I'll come. Or one of the elders will come and anoint them.

I'm not against personal anointing. But many times they'll say, can you send me a cloth?

Other cases, they may be five or six hundred miles away, and we already have something scheduled that we can't leave the flock of so many to take care of them to go and anoint somebody for a cold or sickness or whatever. So we will take a cloth and anoint it.

And pray over that cloth just like we would anoint the person.

Taking oil, dabbing it on a piece of cloth, and laying our hands on it, asking God to send that person a healing just like we would do if we were there in person. I like to anoint them individually.

But there are occasions in which I may, if I'm going to go to a church area that has no elders, such as in Canada when we've done that, that we have a deacon there in the area, we may anoint several of them and leave them with him, saying, Lord, whoever requests this cloth, whoever goes to, let it be that, let it carry with it the power of your Holy Spirit to heal, and just leave it with them. The cloth is nothing but an agent by which the oil is carried.

Just like a minister's hands are nothing except the agent by which the oil is carried.

But it is just regular virgin olive oil that we put on. I have been where we had a need to anoint a lot of them, like sometimes in the home office, and sometimes in Canada, I remember in our home office there, when some of the Council of Elders was in town, or a Council in Canada, National Council was in town, we would get together after fasting, and we would come together, a number of us elders, and we would spread a number of cloths all around, take oil and make sure it dabbed on each one of them, and we would all together lay hands on those cloths, making sure that our hands touched every cloth as a group, and one of us would lead in prayer. That way we had a number of us who anointed them. These, again, were in general, that whoever requests an anointing and whoever gets this cloth, that it makes carry with it the power of God's Spirit to heal. And that's what we did. We believed that based on this. He sent handkerchiefs, portions of them. Sometimes I've been in an area where somebody asked for anointing, I didn't have an anointed cloth, so I took my handkerchief and I cut a corner off. I have several handkerchiefs that have a missing corner. They were always clean, by the way, before I did them. They were always clean handkerchiefs. So I would cut off the corner, and I would anoint that with the oil that I had with me and send it with them. I've seen tremendous miracles take place. I've seen and known people who have written to us, who've been healed before they ever got the cloth. One girl was healed at the exact same time that her parents had requested the cloth and I anointed it.

The only reason we know was at the exact same time that her parents looked at the clock, looked at their watches before they were heading home about 30 minutes away, and the girl started to feel better. She got up and she looked at the clock in her room. So when they got home, having had a fever sufficiently severe enough that she didn't come to church, when they got there, they said, what are you doing out of bed? She said, I feel great. She said, I feel great. And they said, well, when did you start feeling great? She said, well, I got up at four o'clock or whatever it was. It was the exact same time that they looked at their watch when they left. God heals. Cloths don't heal. Hands don't heal. God heals. So He gets all the credit. So here's this special thing. Diseases left. Them and evil spirits went out from them.

God gets the credit. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists, now they said, well, if Paul can do it, so can we. Paul does these special things? We're going to do it too.

Notice, some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus, even though Jews rejected Jesus, over those who had evil spirits, saying, we exercise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches. We don't like them, but Paul preaches them. So they thought, well, try it out. Maybe it'll work for us too. And one particular group, also there were seven sons of Siva. It sounds like a good movie. You know, the sons of Katie Elder or something like that. We can make a movie, The Seven Sons of Siva. The Seven Sons of Siva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus, I know, Paul, I know, but who are you? Jesus, I know, Paul, I know, but who are you? It is interesting that demons do know God's servants, don't they? Look at Acts 16. Hold your place in verse 17, just to recall what we studied there, Acts 16 and verse 17. This lady in the area of Philippi, I believe it was, let's see if that's talking about here. Yeah, Philippi in jail. Now it happened as we went to prayer, a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her master's much profit by fortune telling. This girl followed Paul and us and cried out, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation. And this she did everywhere she cried out, everywhere Paul would be, that she'd be around. These men are the servants of God. Paul got a little tired of that. And so Paul greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out that spirit that very hour. So it was a spirit, a demon spirit, a wrong spirit that knew Paul. Just like over here, this spirit says, the evil spirit asks, I know Jesus and I know Paul, but who are you to be trying to invoke this and notice? That wasn't all. Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered one man, overpowered seven, the seven sons, and prevailed against them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. I can just see them running out of the house there with their shirts torn, their tops torn, their cloaks torn, their robes torn off, and running out of the house from this one, because they were out trying to do and duplicate what God did through Paul.

Verse 17, this became known both to all Jews and Greeks, dwelling in Ephesus, and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. It's curious. You notice that when Paul writes, or Luke writes, he calls him the Lord Jesus. I remember I was criticized one time because I used the term Jesus, and I didn't say Christ. Are you ashamed of Jesus Christ? I'm not ashamed of him. I'm not ashamed to say I'm a servant of Jesus Christ. I'm not ashamed to honor the Son of God.

God the Father loves the Son, Jesus Christ, and the Son Jesus Christ loves His Father, and one glorifies the other, and the other glorifies the Son.

They both, they're part of the God family. So I'm struck by how many times it says the Lord Jesus.

But he says here the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified, because he did it in the name of Jesus Christ. Verse 18, and many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds as a result of hearing about what happened, these special healings that were taking place, and these counterfeit guys trying to do something. But Paul was the real thing.

Paul was the real deal. Many came and confessing and telling their deeds, saying what they had done wrong. You know, the Scriptures talk about being willing to show fruits.

Show fruits worthy of repentance. Matthew 3 and verse 8. In fact, John the Baptist said this.

John 3. Matthew 3, sorry. John said this, but it was recorded in Matthew 3 and verse 8. At least the Scripture that I remember. Matthew 3 and verse 8, he says, bring forth therefore fruits, meat, or worthy, or indicating repentance. Meat for repentance. And he was baptizing them. They were confessing their sins. He said, it's not enough just to speak about it. Show me you've changed. What changes do you see in your life? Those are fruits for repentance. So they came and they would know. And what did these people do? Verse 19. What were some of their deeds that they did? Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. We're giving up on this hocus pocus stuff. We're giving up on this magic. We're giving up on these spirits. We're giving that up. We're changing.

Book burning session. Brought the books together and burned them in the sight of all. They counted up the value of them and it totaled 50,000 pieces of silver. Now, how much is 50,000 pieces of silver worth today? It depends on what the silver was of.

If it was of a shekel, it would be about $25,000 worth. If it were a DRAM, D-R-A-C-H-M, it would be worth about $9,000. Either way, it was a pretty costly experience to show their deeds.

They gave up anywhere from $9,000 to $25,000 worth of books. Black magic. Magic. Because they said, we don't want this anymore. We found the true God who's the real thing, not some hocus pocus.

So that's a good example of showing bring forth fruits. Verse 20 is a summary of what took place.

So, the Word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. The Word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. So, it's kind of like the seventh summary that says, after these things, God's Word moved forward. God's way moved forward. There's always that forward look.

United wants to keep a forward look, wants to keep moving forward in so many ways.

The Kingdom of God seminars, which are upcoming in September.

The Beyond Today program, going on the West Coast. The internet connections, the webcasts, the messages that are being put forth, the advertisements that are being done.

All in an effort to let people know there is true thought here. I couldn't help but watch the Casey Anthony trial.

We talk about truth. They say it's all about truth.

And everybody proceeds to distrust everything that's said. Where is truth? Has it fallen in the streets? Where's good judgment? Has it been trampled in the streets?

So, it is interesting you talk about truth. We want to spread the truth. The truth about God's Kingdom. The truth about God's way of life. The truth about God's way. The truth about God's law.

The truth about Jesus Christ. The truth about God. The truth about the eternal life. The truth about the immortality of the soul. The lack thereof. The truth about the Trinity.

We want to spread the truth. We want people to listen. We want people to hear.

Verse 21. When these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in the Spirit. In other words, he wanted to go somewhere with when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem, saying, after I have been there, I must also see Rome. So Paul says, look, after I've gone over and visited the brethren over in that area of Macedonia, he wanted to go over to the area of Macedonia and Achaia. So here's Macedonia. And this lower part is Achaia, basically called the area of Greece, Athens, and Corinth down this area. But up here is Macedonia. So after I see those, I want to go to Jerusalem. And after that, I must go to Rome. So he sent to Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus. But he himself stayed in Asia for a time.

So he said, I'm going to go, but he sent an advanced crew ahead of him, his helpful individuals. Barnes has a couple of quotes here that I want to share with you before we talk about the uproar of the silversmiths.

Diana was a celebrated goddess of the pagans and one of the 12 superior deities. Among pagan nations, generally, but she was worshiped in Egypt, Athens, and Cilicia, and among pagan nations, generally, but was the most celebrated place of her worship was Ephesus, a city especially dedicated to Diana. Now we're going to see what happened here. Let's go through and read a little bit more before I go to the second quote. Verse 23, And about that time there arose a great commotion about the way. Again, the term, the way. You'll find it later on in chapter 24, I believe it is. So again, about the way.

It's important to know that God's way is a way of life. It's not just a way of worship.

It's a way of life, too. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen or to the retailers or to those that he employed.

So he had this silver shrine shop and he made bottles of Diana. You could just picture it. Some of the fairs, when they come, some of the days honoring Diana, he'd be sitting out there, his men would be sitting out there with all these silver models of Diana to be sold.

Verse 25. He called them together with the workers of similar occupation and he said, so he brought the union together, Man, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. How do you think we exist by selling models of Diana, by selling silver idols of Diana?

He said, Moreover, you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people. People ask about, should I worship an idol? Paul says, No, read the commandment. No, you shall not make an idol of anything to worship.

No, you shouldn't do it. So that became known throughout the land.

This Paul has persuaded and turned away many people saying, They are not gods which are made with hands.

Now, Paul didn't go on a campaign against Diana, but I'm sure when he was asked, which she was very famous in Ephesus, he told the truth, and the truth hurt.

So he says, verse 27, So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised, and her magnificence destroyed, two things he had against Paul. He's ruining our trade, our profession, two, he's ruining the image of Diana, whom all Asia and the world worship.

Is she still around?

Is she still around?

Have some substituted one goddess for another, called different name, same qualities, same characteristics, even same worshipful names used. It's interesting what's out there.

Verse 28, Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And apparently, the term great was applied regularly to Diana. Diana was just not an ordinary goddess. Remember, one of the twelve superior deities, she was called great. So they were saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. So the whole city was filled with confusion. Now here's what happens.

The whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul's travel companions. They went in there looking for Paul. We can't get Paul, so let's take those that we feel are close to him.

Now let me backtrack and give you a couple comments from Barn's notes. I have this on my Bible soft Bible program. Acts 19 verse 27. The grounds of the charge, I mentioned that, were too, that the business of the craftsmen would be destroyed, and that the worship of Diana would cease. And I talked about the temple, her magnificence, her majesty, her glory, her splendor. Interestingly, all of Asia Minor worshiped her, and all other parts of the world. Listen to this. The temple had been built by contributions from great numbers of princes and malditudes from all parts of the earth. And they came to Ephesus to pay their homage to Diana.

He talks about Gaius and Aristarchus. Gaius lived in Corinth and had kindly entertained Paul at his house. 1 Corinthians 1.14, if you want a reference. And Aristarchus, he attended to Paul while he was in Rome, and was there a prisoner with him? Colossians 4 and verse 10. So they take these two men. They were traveling buddies because they can't get anyone else. So they grabbed them, Paul's companions. You know they want to do some dirt here in this section. Verse 30. And when Paul wanted to go into the people, Paul said, I'll go in there. Paul was not afraid. Paul was fearless.

Paul wanted to go do the work of God. And when Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not allow him. Then some of the officials of Asia, verse 31. These are those same elite people who ran the Ionian games, who must have had a respect for Paul. Paul had been there for three years. They must have heard about him. They must have appreciated him as a person. Then some of the officials of Asia who were his friends. Doesn't say they were converted, just says they were his friends. Sent to him pleading that he would not venture into the theater. Don't go in there, Paul.

Not a wise move. Paul was ready to wade in and won against thousands. He wasn't afraid.

Some therefore cried one thing and some another. This is interesting when you talk about mob rule.

Let me read this to you.

This is an admirable description of a mob assembled for what purpose they knew not, but agitated by passions and stripes and two molds. And it's interesting, he says in the last part of it, some therefore cried one thing, some another, for the assembly was confused.

Some of the marches and demonstrations you've seen in some of the cities, they'll say, why are you here? I don't know. What are you doing here? I don't know.

I'm just here. Why are you doing? Why are you walking with that placard? I don't know.

Isn't it wise to know what you're doing? Mobs don't. Mobs can be infuriated by a few people who know what they're doing trying to cause trouble. And they get other people who don't know what they're doing to join them. Notice, some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused. Most of them did not know why they had come together.

What are you doing? Well, it sounds like there's excitement going on there. Let's run in and join the chant. Whatever they're chanting, let's join with it. And he said, but most of them did not know why they had come together. Isn't that a shame? Here's what it says. The greater part did not know. Barnes notes again. They had been drawn together by noise and excitement, but a small part would know the real cause of the commotion. This is usually the case in tumultuous meetings.

They couldn't find Paul, so they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward.

Alexander motioned with his hand and wanted to make his defense to the people.

Some think this is the same Alexander who caused Paul a lot of trouble in Timothy, 2 Timothy 4.14. He was one along with Hymenaeus who did not believe anymore and actually tried to cause trouble for Paul. Some think that's the same one. It could be a different one. But they drew Alexander out and Alexander motioned with his hand, wanted to make his defense, but the people wouldn't let him. But when they found out that he was a Jew, so the Jews threw him out there because they said, here's a Jew wanting to follow Paul. So they threw him out there. Jews weren't well-liked either. And of course, if you were a Christian who was of the Jewish race or nationality or ethnicity, you would be in trouble.

You would be discriminated against. When they found out he was a Jew, all with one voice cried out for about two hours. Great is Diana of the Ephesians. Great is Diana of the Ephesians. Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

Two hours! Now, you talk about silliness and stupidity. You talk about childishness.

You talk about craziness. Here you have it, all wrapped up in one. And when the city clerk, some say like a secretary there for the council, not necessarily a full-fledged pro-counsel or anyone, but somebody who certainly had connections. And when the city clerk heard, had quieted the crowd, he said, men of Ephesus. What man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great goddess Diana and of the image which fell down from Zeus?

Apparently, this ugly image, it apparently wasn't very pretty image at all. I mean, you tend to think of this Diana as being somebody, she wasn't pretty at all. She had multi-breasted crosser, but that didn't make her pretty. But anyway, she was not very pretty. And nobody could tell, knew who carved her, who made her. So they said she came down from heaven. This idol sort of came down as a miracle to them. We take care of this idol. We look after this, it came down from Zeus, who's the father of the gods. Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly. We're taking care of Diana. Don't worry, we're guarding Diana. These men can't do anything to Diana. They might have words, you know, sticks and stones will hurt Diana, but names will never hurt her. Well, names might hurt the craftsman, and they were hurting the craftsman. Verse 37, For you have brought these men here, who were neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess. They're not walking around saying bad things, they're just saying, don't worship her.

They're not stopping, they're not trying to ruin her, they're not trying to mar that image.

Therefore, if Demetrius, the one who is starting this ruckus, and his fellow craftsman, have a case against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them bring a lawsuit against them. Let them take them to court. Let them bring charges against one another.

If these men have done something illegal, let them bring charges. But if you have other inquiry to make, it shall be determined in the lawful assembly. Enough is enough.

Why was he worried? Rome did not like mobs.

Rome was a fairly tolerating, ruling government. But they did not like mobs. And in fact, let me read one quote to you.

He said, for we are in verse 40, we are in danger of being called in question for today's uproar, called in question by the government, by the Roman authorities. Such a tumult continued for so long a time would be likely to attract the attention of the magistrates and expose them to their displeasure. Popular commotions were justly dreaded by the Roman government. Such an assembly as this, convened without any good cause, would not escape their notice if it went on for very long. There was a Roman law which made it a capital punishment for anyone to be engaged in promoting a riot. Here's what it said, and I'm not going to read it in its Latin form, but I will read it in the translated form. He who raises a mob, let him be punished with death. That's what the Romans said.

So he said, look guys, we better clean up our act here. We don't want them focusing on us unnecessarily, for we are in danger of being called in question for today's uproar. There being no reason which we may give to account for this disorderly gathering.

These guys didn't do anything. They may have preached something, but they haven't harmed anything. They haven't heard anything. In verse 41, and when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly. Same word used for church, I believe, is the same word there.

Okay, let's go to chapter 20. And by the way, those of you who are online, if you have any comments or questions, please feel free to send them in. They'll bring them up to me, and I can try to answer them. At the end, if I get no questions, I'll keep on going through the book of Acts. My goal was to try to finish up before the middle of August. We have a few more to go, and then we'll be able to turn everything over to Mr. Steve Myers, who will become your full-time regular pastor. So I'll try to finish this up. The reason I'm here alone tonight, and I'm not trying to hog it all, is because my cohorts are all somewhere else. Mr. Randy Stiver is up in High Sierra with the camp up there, and Mr. Steve Myers is up in Minnesota or somewhere at a pre-teen camp, because he oversees all the pre-teen camps in the U.S. And then also, Mr. Peter Eddington is on vacation. So it devolved to me. And since I have studied and know this in material, I can do it and use it. So, okay, if someone has a question here, I'll answer that at the end.

Chapter 20. So we're going to see in this particular chapter that Paul is going to go to Macedonia. We're going to see him wanting to come back and coming through. We're going to see the disciples stood up for him. We're going to see the men who were willing to go with him and stand by him. So in Acts chapter 20 verse 1, after the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself and he embraced them. The affection that these individuals had for each other was enormous.

They recognized the Apostle Paul. And I often say, what could Paul have done today with jet aircraft, with trains, with automobiles? He would have been an absolute dynamo had he been alive in a time such as we have today. God wants us to use every available opportunity to preach the gospel. Every available means every lure as we become fishers of men, every single type of lure to catch the fish for the kingdom of God. So he says he embraced them and departed to go to Macedonia. And again, remember Macedonia is this section up here. He was in Ephesus. He was going to go up to Macedonia and then ultimately down to Greece. And when he had gone over that region, he just quickly takes over that region. Look how many miles that would have been. Hundreds of miles, about 200 miles is this much. Barely a couple of inches, 200 miles. He went a lot more than that.

My wife and I flew into Istanbul on our way to the feast in Jordan. We had about a four and a half hour layover. And if I had a normal car and had normal highways like we have here, I would have driven to Philippi. It was about 117 miles away. But I couldn't trust the highway or the cars.

So we didn't leave the airport. We just stayed there in that hot, muggy airport in Istanbul at that time and waited for our next flight to Jordan. But we would have liked to have just gone driven over there. I love Philippi. I can also give you reasons why I think Paul liked to go that area. If you read the letter to the Philippians and you have nothing but good feelings, he had a lot of support from the church at Philippi. And I think he loved going through there to get a little bit of energy. Plus, that's where his buddy Luke was. We'll see Luke join the crowd in verse 5. Notice it says, Now when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words.

It is nice. I remember being a student. I remember being in a congregation waiting for the pastor to come. And when that pastor arrived, it was like, he's here now. We're okay. Not that you want to trust in men. We don't. But just them as representatives of God, the fact that they were there sitting in that audience with you, that they were there to do their job with you, to serve you. They gave you a confidence. He said, he's here now. He's here with us. He knows what he's doing. He knows what things are going on. He's God's servant. He's here with us. I think Mr. DeCampus, going over to Brazil, up in the mountains there in the hills of Brazil to meet with the Indians over there.

What a joy for those people to have a minister of God coming all that way to see them.

I remember driving up to the uttermost part in practically the end of the Canada, eastern end of Canada in Newfoundland, to visit this couple and their daughter way up at the tip.

We walked into their home, and they were so kind and so nice and so welcoming to have us come see them. You came all this way when I was working in Canada as the coordinator of the national office on the council there, and also pastoring Newfoundland out of Toronto. A mere 1,500, oh a mere 1,500, whatever it was, miles away. And what they felt, they expressed to us how happy they were. We came, we sat in their home, visited with them. It gives confidence to people, so you encourage them with many words. Then he came to Greece, so then he went down into this area of Corinth and Athens. So he came down there, and he went down to Greece. He stayed three months there, and when the Jews plotted against him, he was about to sail to Syria. Remember Antioch in Syria is where he based himself over here. He was about to sail there. He decided to return through Macedonia to go back up to Macedonia again. And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia.

Also Aristarchus and Sogundus of the Thessalonians, Gaius of Derbe, Timothy and Tychicus, and Trophimus of Asia. These men going ahead waited for us. For us. Now Luke joins the group. Luke must have stayed in Philippi with Lydia or in that area and served the people there while Paul was back in Ephesus or had gone back. So now he begins to tell you in the first person instead of the third person, instead of saying, he went there, they went there, he said, we went there. He's joined the party now. These men going ahead waited for us. So he stayed back with Paul, where the other men went ahead to meet them at Troas. Now I can't tell you how nice it is when I go visiting to have somebody is sitting beside me. My wife has been my partner through a lot of visits over the years, but sometimes to relieve her having a ministerial assistant.

And when the two of us go out, it's kind of nice to have them. And sometimes we take two different tours, two different teams of two each. And I remember one time I said, okay, we're going to hit the Northland now in Sudbury, North Bay area. All we'll take these people to visit, you take them, and maybe we can meet in the evening at this place and we'll spend the night there and have a dinner and whatever. And it was so nice to come together again. And all four of us get together and share what we did. Just the strength that you felt from other people's dedication and faithfulness. So these men are waiting there, going with the Apostle Paul. There are stories about all of them. I could quickly mention a couple of them to you from Barnes' notes. It said, Sopater of Berea, perhaps the same person in Romans 16, 21, called Sosopater, and who is there said to have been a kinsman of Paul. Eris Starkus, Acts 19, verse 29, Gaius of Derbe, see notes in Acts 19, 29. Ticacus, this man was high in the confidence and affection of Paul. He styles him a beloved brother and a faithful minister in the Lord, Ephesians 6.

Trophimus was from Ephesus, Acts 20, 29, when Paul wrote his second epistle to Timothy, he was at Mileadum, sick. So you had all these individuals, Trophimus, he left there sick.

But these were men who were known in the Scriptures, men who were willing to come and be with the Apostle Paul and Luke in this case. Verse 6, but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread. I have that in blue in my Bible.

Anything to do with the law is blue in my Bible. After the days of unleavened bread, so they stayed there, they wanted to be back, but he didn't get a chance to, so he wanted to get back now for Pentecost. So here comes the Apostle Paul coming out of Philippi, they come down to Troas. So he says they waited until that and they sailed away and in five days, so it took them five days normally, takes about two or three, so it must have been bad weather. So it took five days and joined them at Troas where we stayed seven days. So he stayed seven days in Troas.

And now on the first day of the week, this is interesting, I can read to you what Barnes' notes say, upon the first day, we showing that this day was then observed by Christians this holy time. Does that really show that? It doesn't show it at all. Then they say, compare 1 Corinthians 16 to take up an offering on first day of the week and Revelation 1.10, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, really straining at a gnat to try to prove you keep Sunday instead of Sabbath. So he says, now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, oh, they didn't say drink wine. What they do, forget part of the ceremony? It's break bread and drink wine, isn't it? Break bread usually means eat.

It can have a meaning to keep the Passover, but it normally means eat, break bread. We'll see that. Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.

Now, if it's on the first day of the week and he's speaking until midnight, when is there a midnight on the first day of the week? Saturday night.

Saturday night. Now, whether he began it on Sunday after sunset, they ate, and then he started speaking to them, saying goodbye, and continued till midnight. Midnight on the first day of the week is Saturday night, leading up to 12 a.m. So, was it a Sunday morning church service? No!

It couldn't have been the first day of the week at midnight if he started Sunday morning. It would have been the second day of the week if he started Sunday morning and went till midnight, according to God's reckoning, sunset to sunset. So, he continued his message until midnight.

There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together. Some commentaries say, oftentimes, Christians were accused of orgies and all the rest coming together, assembling. And here they were assembled in the evening, probably made it easier for slaves who worked all day to be able to come. But nonetheless, the fact that they were there, they had lots of these lamps shows it was dark, and they wanted people not to think that they were gathered together for some nefarious means. So, he goes on to say, there are many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together, and in the window sat a certain young man named Eudicus.

Now, this is a great lesson to never sleep at church.

In fact, let me read what this says. Barnes notes is rather humorous.

It says, And though this thing is often done now, sleeping at church, yet how seldom is a sleeper in a church furnished with an excuse for it.

No practice is more shameful, disrespectful, and abominable than that so common of sleeping in the house of God. Barnes notes. I didn't write it. It's his notes. I'll tell you, sometimes I get sleepy at church. I fight it with all I can.

I remember one time we were in Chicago, and Chicago in those days the ministers spoke long.

And I had come after being up late because we flew up from having the first day of unleavened bread and in the evening we had a social after the first day of unleavened bread.

And we flew up to Chicago, and it was really, I was really tired. I was about five hours' sleep, maximum. I was sitting at church. Here I am, a ministerial trainee. Everybody, just ambassador college guy, what's he going to do? And I'm sitting there, and I'm really fighting. And if I had something, toothpicks to keep my eyes open, I would have had toothpicks in there. I was just sitting there. Everything, pinch myself, move around, take out my colored pencils, start coloring my scriptures, start drawing things on my notes to try to help me. Everything I could think of to stay awake, because the last thing I wanted to do was fall asleep in the midst of that congregation. That was the worst I've ever had. Sometimes I've sat at church here at three o'clock in the afternoon, whether my blood sugar level drops a little bit, start to feel a little bit draws in, and I just fight it. Sometimes I rest a little bit with my eyes open, but then I... You could do that, you know.

Sometimes I rest with my eyes open, but I will not fall asleep. I will not let myself do it, and dishonor God, and dishonor myself, will not do it. I've been tempted sometimes, not because of the sermon, because of me. And so this guy falls asleep, Paul's preaching away, and Paul's preaching till midnight. I mean, this is a pretty long message anyway.

And it says, he sat in the upper, in verse 9, and in the window, they said, the window is more like a doorway, probably open, and he's sitting there at the third level, the upper room, and he falls out into the courtyard. It doesn't fall into the room, he falls out into the courtyard.

And Eudecus, and they said, Eudecus probably worked all day, but he's still diligent, he's still diligent, he's come there to listen, and Paul's preaching away, and it's late, and the lights are, and the candles are flickering, and it's just kind of a nice, you know, everything is conducive to going to sleep. Who was sinking into a deep sleep, he was overcome by sleep, and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story, was taken up dead.

Now, they didn't just think he was dead, most commentaries think he was dead. Some people think all of them just, he really didn't die. I say, here's a resurrection. But you know, here's a guy who's famous for falling asleep. He gets his name in the Bible for falling asleep at services. Not a good thing. Some people fall asleep, and they have their Bibles, and their briefcases on there that when all of a sudden you hear, crash, bitch, you're going to hear, crash, bam, falls on the floor. They wake everybody up around them, and they wake themselves up, too. Paul went down, fell on him, apparently a tender moment, he came and embraced him. Something, he was giving him mouth to mouth resuscitation like Elisha did, or whatever, when he spread himself. No, this man was dead. So he fell on him, and he said, don't trouble yourself for his life is in him. And when he had come up, and had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed, and they brought the young man in alive. So he lived, and they were not a little comforted. Which means they were a lot comforted that this man had been resurrected from the dead. Pretty awesome. Again, God can do anything. He's the great God of heaven. Verse 13. Then we went ahead to the ship and sailed to Azos, there intending to take Paul on board, for he had given orders, intending himself to go on foot.

So from Troas, right here, to Azos, is not very far. 20 miles on ground, with 30 miles by sea.

So Paul was able to walk that 20 miles on ground faster than the ship could get there, because of whatever they had to do. So they were going to go there to meet Paul when he came.

We don't know why Paul went on foot. Maybe it was to be alone, to have a little time to reflect on what was happening, maybe to reflect on his travels over to Jerusalem and what might befall him there. And when he met us at Azos, we took him on board. Luke is there now, writing in the first person. Took him on board and came to Midilene. So Midilene is right here. Down here, let's see, Midilene. That's Miletus. So they, oh, here's Midilene up here. They came to Midilene, and they'll end up being at Miletus. So they came to Midilene, and after that time, let's see, they took Paul on board, came to Midilene, verse 14, verse 15. We sailed from there, and the next day came opposite Chios, and they went through a couple of the islands. The following day, we arrived at Samos and stayed at Trojilim. The next day, we came to Miletus. So they end up coming down to Miletus. It's from there that he calls the Ephesian elders. So now they've come to Miletus. And verse 16, for Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, Old King James says, by Ephesus, so that he would not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. What is an apostle to the Gentiles caring about Jewish feasts?

Oh, he wanted to have a good time there. He figured there'd be a lot of people there that he might know. Is that the reason? Why days of unleavened bread? Why Pentecost, unless they're keeping them?

Verse 17, from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church.

About 30, some say 20 to 30, or 30 to 50 miles away. They had to walk, in most cases, maybe ride a donkey or something. But there wasn't certainly get in your car and drive 30 minutes. They had to come, but they were willing to come. Remember, he had spent three years with them. And what he what it goes on to say, let me read you section here, and I think I'll stop here. This is so inspiring, this part. I'm going to save this because I'm not going to finish the whole chapter.

And I'll be able to come back and do, I'll start off the next time, I think.

We have one more time between, yes, we'll have it on the 20th. We do have a super Sabbath coming up in August, I believe. And that's super Sabbath. I'll still be here with, I think, Peter Eddington, two of us will share that. But anyway, let me read this to you. It says, the discourse, Acts 20 verse 18, the discourse which follows is one of the most tender, affectionate, and eloquent, which is anywhere to be found.

It is strikingly descriptive of the apostles' manner of life while with them. He vinces his deep concern for their welfare, is full of tender and kind admonition, and expresses the firm purpose of his soul to live to the glory of God. A wonderful section. I can't wait to share this with you because it talks about his humility. It talks about what humility is. It talks about what he warned them about, about power, about their self-pride. A lot of things that I've learned from here and I take admonition from as a minister of Jesus Christ. Because Paul's warning them, you take care of the church, you feed the flock, you guard them, you build them up, don't tear them down. He even talks about what happens when people separate, and the damage it does internally, and the damage it does to preaching the gospel.

So I'll come back and share that with you the next time. We have about three minutes. Let me take a look and see what the question here is. It says, to clear the air completely, would you please emphasize the fact that you were alluding to those baptized in God's church and not mainstream Christianity? Thanks. Yeah. In other words, I'm not talking about people who have been baptized as babies. You could say they were baptized, but that's a term used. No, I'm talking about, when I talk about rebaptism, counseling for rebaptism, I'm talking about those who were baptized by the church of God, ministers, and needed to be rebaptized. Those are rare. People that are baptized as infants did not repent. People that were baptized as adults in many other churches did not repent. Many of them didn't know what to repent of. Many of them did not know it was a way of life. Many of them did not know about the Sabbath. The Sabbath is always used as a test commandment. The first thing we ask some people, and some people were baptized not knowing about the Sabbath, when did you find out about the Sabbath? How long did God let you go with a commandment that helps you know Him and Him know you? How long did you go before you found out about that? Oh, years! One man said, oh, well, I was baptized 31 years before I found out about that. I doubt that God would have honored that first baptism. So, yes, thank you for that.

You would re-baptize someone that was baptized as an infant. No, I don't mean that. That isn't what I was referring to. So, thank you for asking that question. Here's another one. It came in.

Why do we not hear of our ministers doing evangelical tours to other parts of the world like Paul and others in the New Testament did? I know we have mass media, but wouldn't a personal touch. It's not the same. It's not the same today. We have done tours, not evangelical tours per se, but we've held, you know, campaigns and so on in different areas of the country in Canada.

We would get a huge crowd from our mailing list, but then follow up from that, we did not get as many. But as far as personally going around, if I were to go stand downtown since the day I say, who's going to come to listen? Most people are not going to listen to you. You go out to California, you'll find Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles, and you'll always find people on soapboxes preaching something. And you could stand at this one, you go to there, and you go to this one, and it's just kind of a hobbyist type of religion. They're not going to listen to you today.

Let me tell you, when I was a little kid, and that was a long time ago, when I was a little kid, I still remember going to my uncle's place, my dad's brother-in-law, and my grandfather was there, and my dad was there, and a couple of others who were a lot older than I was. And you know what they did for entertainment? Sit around and talk. If you did that today, just sit around and talk.

Your kids would get bored. I'm bored. I won't pull out my video game or whatever, my little game to play with, and they get bored. People don't do that anymore. They don't sit around and tell stories. They don't sit around and talk about the Bible. My granddad talked about the Bible a lot. He wasn't in our church. My uncle, they talk about Bible stories. That's a way they entertained. If you try to do that today, you don't get the same type of response. It's a great idea. You're right. I agree completely. A personal touch is awesome, but it's not necessarily effective. The personal touch after people have been drawn by God and called by the gospel, that's when it's effective. And you sit in their home, and you answer their questions, and you pull out your Bible. Actually, it changed over the years. I used to come with a big briefcase, everything in it. Then I used to come with my little shoulder holster. You know, without your little Bible. I had my little Bible mark. With that, do you have a question? Okay, I felt like a police officer, you know, pull out my shoulder holster Bible. Bring that out.

And then after that, I decided sometimes we left our things in the car. So if somebody had a question, we went out to the car, got our magical Bibles. Then we started just going to people's homes and showing them from their Bibles answers. And if you don't think that's hard, try it.

You know where things are in your Bible, but their Bible might not be the same.

You better know where it is. And when those people could see answers coming out of their Bibles, they were impressed that we knew what we were talking about with God's Spirit guiding and leading us. So yeah, that personal touch is effective, but just initially, it really is not very productive right now. We've tried things like that in many areas. Now we're going to do the Kingdom of God seminars, which is going to go across the country. And we are going to invite good news readers, a lot of them to come. So we'll see what that does and see the effectiveness of that. Thank you for the comments. Beyond time, thank you very much for listening, for tuning in, for those in the webcast. We appreciate you. For those of you here, hope you have a wonderful evening, and we'll see you on Sabbath.