Teaching Text

Acts 19:1-20 (ESV)

And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all.

And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.”

Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

Sermon Recap

This week, guest pastor, Ben Stuart, continued our sermon series on The Fifth Act by preaching on Acts 19 and the impact of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus. Throughout Acts, God used ordinary people, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and sent them to strategic cities that become hubs for Gospel expansion. Paul’s time in Ephesus invites us to ask: how does the Gospel take root and expand in a powerful and influential city—and how can we mirror that in New York? 

Much like New York, Ephesus was a center of financial and cultural power, with spiritual darkness running rampant in this city. Paul encountered people being overpowered by demons because they were invoking the name of Jesus as a higher power without actually believing in Him, and many of the new disciples in Ephesus who did believe in Jesus’ resurrection were still engaging magic and other dark practices. Only when hidden compromise was confessed and repented of, did the Gospel begin to go out in power from Ephesus. 

Pastor Ben directed us to the letter Jesus addressed to the church at Ephesus in Revelation, pointing out Jesus’ warning that if we want the fullest life in Christ, having good doctrine and right disciplines is not enough, but we must embrace true devotion to Jesus. When Paul brought the good news to Ephesus, the people there had a real encounters with Jesus, repented, turned from their magic practices, and committed their hearts fully to God. By followers of Jesus turning completely from the idols of the day, the city’s culture and economy were so drastically impacted that the entire region of Asia heard the Word of God within two years.

In the same way, when we give God our unrivaled affections, His Gospel goes out in power. Anything that rivals our affections for Him will limit intimacy with Him, and while we may have picked up coping mechanisms throughout our lives that used to help us survive, the reality is that our deepest longings and needs can only be fulfilled through Jesus. Pastor Ben encouraged us to release idols we cling to for comfort and control through confession and repentance. When we stop worshiping the idols of the culture, and allow our delight in God to transform our lives, the impact on the world around us will be unstoppable.