For Sunday, 8/16/26
Today’s post is a follow-up to yesterday’s post, Why Didn’t the Pharisees Believe Jesus was the Messiah?
I didn’t plan to write a follow-up, but as I continued reading through the New Testament, there it was again: pride, ambition, and the love of money blinding people from the truth.
In Acts 19, we learn that after teaching in the synagogue at Ephesus for three months,
“Some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.” Acts 19:9-10 NIV Read full chapter
Many people became believers, and eventually a huge riot broke out in Ephesus because of the revival.
“A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited…” Acts 19:24-27 NIV
It is not difficult to see that pride, ambition, and the love of money stand in their way of finding salvation. Even as they observe extraordinary miracles, they refuse the truth.
“Even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him (Paul) were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.” Acts 19:12 NIV
When the Seven Sons of Sceva tried to invoke the name of Jesus over those who were demon-possessed, the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all.
“He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done.
A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” Acts 19:17-20 NIV
50,000 drachmas would be $4.3 million to $7.5 million in modern purchasing power! In other words, the burned occult library was an immense fortune! Now that’s what I call a REVIVAL!
In His Love, Cindy
“God treated Jesus as if He had lived my life, that I may be treated as if I had lived His life.” Harvey Stalker
To learn more about Jesus, read Who Is Jesus? A message for the Skeptic
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you.”
Psalm 122:6 NASB
Photo by Georgiana Pop (Avram) on Unsplash
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