Foundation of the church of Ephesus - Acts 19:1-7 - N. T. -

He began by going to the synagogue, where he spoke out boldly and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God. He did this for three months, till the attitude of some of the congregation harden into unbelief. As soon as they began attacking the Way in front of the others, he broke with them and took his disciples apart to hold daily discussions in the lecture room of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, with the result that people from all over Asia, both Jews and Greeks, were able to hear the word of the Lord.

Cf. - Acts 13:5+, 46+; 1:3+; 20:25; 9:2+ -

The Jewish exorcists   

So remarkable were the miracles worked by God at Paul's hands that handkerchiefs or aprons which had touched him were taken to the sick, and they were cured of their illness, and the evil spirits came out of them.

But some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried pronouncing the name of the Lord Jesus over people who were possessed by evil spirits; they used to say, 'I command you by the Jesus whose spokesman is Paul'. Among those who did this were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest. The evil spirit replied, 'Jesus I recognise, and I know who Paul is, but who are you?' and the man with the evil spirit hurled himself at them and overpowered first one and then another, and handled them so violently that they fled from that house naked badly mauled. Everybody in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, heard about this episode; they were all greatly impressed, and the name of the Lord Jesus came to be held in great honour.

Some believers, too, came forward to admit in detail how they had used spells and a number of them who had practised magic collected their books and made a bonfire of them in public. The value of these was calculated to be fifty thousand silver pieces.

In this impressive way the word of the Lord spread more and more widely and successfully.

Cf. - Acts 5:15 -

Cf. - Luke 8:43-48 - N. T. - Now there was a woman suffering from a haemorrhage for twelve years, whom no one had been able to cure. She came up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of his cloak; and the haemorrhage stopped at that instant. Jesus said, 'Who touched me?' When they all denied that they had, Peter and his companions said, 'Master, it is the crowds round you, pushing'. But Jesus said, 'Somebody touched me. I felt that power had gone out from me.' Seeing herself discovered, the woman came forward trembling, and falling at his feet explained in front of all the people why she had touched Jesus and how she had been cured at that very moment. 'My daughter,' Jesus said 'your faith has restored you to health; go in peace.'

Cf. - Acts 3:16+ -

Cf. - Luke 9:49-50 - N. T. - John spoke up. 'Master,' he said 'we saw a man casting out devils in your name, and because he is not with us we tried to stop him.' But Jesus said to him, 'You must not stop him: anyone who is not against you is for you'.

Cf. - Acts 16:17; 9:35,42; 3:10 -

Cf. - Luke 5:26 - N. T. - They were all astounded and praised God, and were filled with awe, saying, 'We have seen strange things today'.

Cf. - Acts 6:7+ -                                  -  PAGE  130  -

                                       V.  A  PRISONER  FOR  CHRIST

Paul's plans - Acts 19: 21-41 - N. T. -

When all this was over Paul made up his mind...  -  PAGE  131  -

 -     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -

Your generous contribution and support is profoundly cherish. I sincerely pray that: God blessing be upon you, always. Amen! Bank transfer: Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah - Public Bank Berhad account no. 4076577113 - Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.