Commentary on Acts of the Apostles Chapters 16-20
by Dave Brown

Go to Acts 11-15


This would be a good time to take a quick three-minute overview look at Paul's Missionary Journey travels:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI0HvxS62Ks


[After resolving the issues about circumcision and John Mark, both to the best of his ability, Paul embarks with the support of the church at Antioch on his second missionary journey.]

Acts 16
16:1 And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess that believed; but his father was a Greek. 
2 The same was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.
3 Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews that were in those parts: for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
[Paul said: "to the Jews I became a Jew" (1 Cor. 9:20).  He became as close as he could like those that he was trying to convert -- to the extent of what was lawful and moral within the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Paul did as much as he could to accommodate the feelings of others.  The purpose of having Timothy circumcised was for no other reason than to remove this stumbling block that some Jews would have about Timothy being a Gentile.]

4 And as they went on their way through the cities, they delivered them the decrees to keep which had been ordained of the apostles and elders that were at Jerusalem.
5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.
[So far the journey seems quite successful.]

6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;
7 and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not;
8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
[Recall early in Acts 14 that it was the Holy Spirit that sent them forth, and it appears that they were obtaining ongoing guidance from the Holy Spirit as to where to go and where not to go.]

9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: There was a man of Macedonia standing, beseeching him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
10 And when he had seen the vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
11 Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis;
12 and from thence to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the first of the district, a (Roman) colony: and we were in this city tarrying certain days.
[The "first" here is talking about the first one that they would come to as they entered into the region of Macedonia; not the fact that it was the chief or capitol city.  As we continue we will see two conversion and lots of fireworks in Phillipi.  As Paul responds to the Macedonian call and stops at the first major city there he finds some Jewish women who are worshipping God.  Apparently there were not sufficient men to make up a synagogue.  The "we" in verse 11 indicates that Luke joined them at Troas.]

13 And on the sabbath day we went forth without the gate by a river side, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down, and spake unto the women that were come together.
14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, one that worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened to give heed unto the things which were spoken by Paul.
15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide (there). And she constrained us.
[We have seen several conversions before, and all have the same elements.  So why does Luke keep repeating the same pattern?  Perhaps to demonstrate that it was established; but also, there seems always to be something new ... Jews on Pentecost, the Samaritans, the Ethiopian, Saul, Cornelus and the first Gentiles.  All had differences, perhaps mainly in nationality or ethnicity/race.  In this case it is a woman who is the head of a household and who is in business.]

16 And it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain maid having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.
17 The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim unto you the way of salvation.
[So, what's wrong with that?  We would say today: "Paul just did not need this type of recommendation."  it was the source that was the problem.]

18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, being sore troubled, turned and said to the spirit, I charge thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out that very hour.
[Now who could complain about this poor girl being freed from a demon?]

19 But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they laid hold on Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers,
20 and when they had brought them unto the magistrates, they said, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
21 and set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to receive, or to observe, being Romans.
22 And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent their garments off them, and commanded to beat them with rods.
[When it is all about the money, the welfare of others (even a young innocent girl) is irrelevant.  But that is not the complaint to the magistrates, is it?  What does the mob care about the livelihood of a couple shysters?  But now, if the offenders are Jews, that is a different story.  And if they are "setting forth customs" wow, now that is something to start a real mob action.  The magistrates could care less about the religious aspects of all of this -- they just wanted to keep the peace -- so to pacify the mob they beat up on Paul and Silas with rods.  They did not know all the ramifications of what they were doing.]

23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
24 who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
[So, that pacified the crowd, and they figured they had it all well under control.]

[Paul having exorcised the evil spirit from a slave girl is not suffering the consequences of denying them their source of income.  We find Paul and Silas cast into the inner prison and fastened in stocks.  They have not been given any chance to defend themselves, and the only reason for their confinement seems to be to keep the mob from rioting.]

25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them;
[The never stop their evangelistic effort; I wonder how many of us if unjustly thrown in jail would be singing praises to God.  No doubt the guards were listening as well.]

26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison-house were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
[A miracle somewhat similar to Peter's being released in Acts 12.]

27 And the jailor, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
[We know that guards who allow their prisoners to escape generally suffer death -- recall Acts 12; It will come up again in Acts 27.]

28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
[So, if our theory is correct, the fact that  none had escaped (which is sort of a miracle in itself) would eliminate the need for the jailer's suicide.]

29 And he called for lights and sprang in, and, trembling for fear, fell down before Paul and Silas,
30 and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
[Saved from what?  Was he listening to Paul and Silas perhaps singing about salvation?  or is he just trying to be saved from the prisoners escaping.  It does not matter.  Paul assumes he is talking about the salvation of his soul, and proceeds to answer accordingly.]

31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.
[So, is mental assent sufficient for salvation?  I guess belief could mean that.  The biblical definition, however, goes way beyond that (e.g., James 2); but a true and living belief in Jesus Christ is certainly what this man needed at this point.]

32 And they spake the word of the Lord unto him, with all that were in his house.
[But I guess there was more than just mental assent to it, or else there would be no need to speak the word of the Lord to them.]

33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately.
[As was inferred in Acts 8 "preached unto him Jesus" included baptism, so it is here.  Notice, there is no reason to delay -- Luke asserts it was done immediately.  Why practice it any other way.]

34 And he brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having believed in God.
[Quite a turn around for the man who was about to fall on is sword just a very little while ago.]

35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.
[Think about it.   Why?  For the same reason that Herod quickly disappeared to Caesarea.  Can you imagine how scary it must be for there to be a miracle in direct opposition to what you are trying to accomplish.  If they could just dismiss them, that would be great from their point of view.]

36 And the jailor reported the words to Paul, (saying), The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore come forth, and go in peace.
[If you have been over this story before you might have failed to realize that Paul went back to the prison with the guard.  The casual reader might imagine him still at the jailer's house, but not so.  It took real courage to do this and not to just run the other way.   But he had just had his stocks fall off and the doors to the jail open on their own ... he is probably feeling fairly confident about things just about now.]

37 But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men that are Romans, and have cast us into prison; and do they now cast us out privily? Nay verily; but let them come themselves and bring us out.
[This is the first that they knew Paul was a Roman (the implication seems that Silas was a Roman citizen as well).  Why Paul did not make this clear up front is unknown; although that might have prevented the conversion of the jailer and his family.  Everything has a purpose.]

38 And the serjeants reported these words unto the magistrates: and they feared when they heard that they were Romans;
39 and they came and besought them; and when they had brought them out, they asked them to go away from the city.
[Serjeants?  Everyone connected with this incident might fear for their lives ... the Romans took care of their citizens.]

40 And they went out of the prison, and entered into (the house) of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.
[Paul finished his business before he complied with the request of the officials.  He could probably have made a big fuss about things, but he chose not to.  Notice that political power was often used to protect the early Christians, but it was never used to preach the gospel.  That is not a governmental function.  Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.  There are clear responsibilities given within the various relationships that we have in this life ... to God, to the church, to our families, to the government, to our employers and to society as a whole.  Blurring these relationship can only lead to chaos.]

[After the Phillipi experiences, moving on now to Thssalonica and Beroea.  Luke seems to have been left behind at Phillipi, since he speaks of "they" as we get into Chapter 17.]

Acts 17
17:1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
2 and Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them, and for three sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
3 opening and alleging that it behooved the Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom, (said he,) I proclaim unto you, is the Christ.
[The source of evidence was the Old Testament scriptures.  Again, Paul took advantage of the custom in the synagogues for them to give audience to visitors.]

4 And some of them were persuaded, and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
5 But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people.
[Jason is singled out, but it appears that over time as Paul was successful there were many converts and this caused "the Jews" (obviously not all of them) to be jealous.]

6 And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
7 whom Jason hath received: and these all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, (one) Jesus.
[Indeed, they had turned the world upside down.  But none of the rest of it was true in the sense that they were using the word king.]

8 And they troubled the multitude and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.
9 And when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
[Fortunately the Christians had the means to get out of custody.]

10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Beroea: who when they were come thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
[By leaving, Paul would remove one of the major complaints of those who were stirring up trouble.  Perhaps they would think that they won.  Of course, the gospel continued to be preached by Jason and others -- we read of Jason in Rom. 16:21.]

11 Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.
[An amazing verse.  Paul followed the same pattern at Beroea, going to the Jews first.  But instead of becoming jealous they embraced the truth because they believed the scriptures (and not necessarily Paul).  In fact, they were checking up on Paul and using the scriptures to do that.  Should our religious leaders today get upset when we question their teachings from the scriptures?  If they do, then they are not following the example of Paul, because this was exactly what he wanted them to do.  And Luke says that they were noble in this regard.]

12 Many of them therefore believed; also of the Greek women of honorable estate, and of men, not a few.
[That would be Greek men if I am not mistaken.  Gentiles were being converted as well as Jews.  The women will be mentioned quite a bit by Luke on account of their importance to the preaching and promotion of the gospel.  Recall Lydia.]

[We saw Paul was very successful on Beroea since the Jews there were willing to determine the validity of his teachings from the scriptures.  However, Beroea was not very far from Thessalonica, and it looks like the Jewish leaders there did not want to take a chance on another church being formed in Beroea.]

13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed of Paul at Beroea also, they came thither likewise, stirring up and troubling the multitudes.
14 And then immediately the brethren sent forth Paul to go as far as to the sea: and Silas and Timothy abode there still.
15 But they that conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timothy that they should come to him with all speed, they departed.
[The sea was not that far, but for sure Athens was.  Paul was the lightning rod here, so getting him totally away from there solved some problems.  Silas and Timothy remaining were certainly adequate to bring these babes in Christ to a state of maturity, although it appears that they do not stay too long either, not because of persecution as much as at the request of Paul.]

16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he beheld the city full of idols.
[I expect this was a new experience ... I can recall going to Times Square in NY in the 1970s, and it was complete decadence, so I know how he felt.  NY has definitely cleaned up its act to a large extent since then, to their great credit.  But it is strange to be thrust into an environment where it seems there is little respect for the true and living God.]

17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with them that met him.
[Apparently this did not stop Paul -- this verse covers the waterfront -- both Jews and Gentiles ... Paul did not discriminate.]

18 And certain also of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, What would this babbler say? others, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached Jesus and the resurrection.
19 And they took hold of him, and brought him unto the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new teaching is, which is spoken by thee?
20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
21(Now all the Athenians and the strangers sojourning there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.)
[This all was quite fortuitous and what is said here in general probably applied to Paul for some months that he was there.  You could say a lot about the Greeks, but they would give you an audience, much to their credit.]

22 And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said, Ye men of Athens, in all things, I perceive that ye are very religious.
[Need to be careful here -- this was meant to be a compliment -- the KJV says "superstitious" and some versions do it further injustice by saying things like "overly superstitious."  Now there is a relationship between religion and superstition.  I have observed that religion is based on faith, while superstition is based on a possibility that something just might be true, although it does not have enough evidence or other motivation to lead to faith.  So, for example, someone might "knock on wood" not because they really believe that it does something, but because it just might and after all, what does it hurt?  Many old testament religions were superstitious in that they had various formulas for manipulating god (a god, or the gods).  Do this ritual, push this button, don't do X and you will get a blessing.  The Native American rain dance (if it did exist) would be an example.  To call someone superstitious today is not a compliment, although it is probably the truth -- most of us are hung up on one thing or another, all showing a lack of faith in God.  But Paul was not trying to be obnoxious -- he was commending them on getting it almost right, at least in one case.]

23 For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. What therefore ye worship in ignorance, this I set forth unto you.
[Paul begins with a compliment and shows the commonality in their beliefs.  This is a lesson for us all.  No matter how different  that other beliefs are from the truth, there is always some commonality that we can start with.  The sermon that Paul preaches now to the Athenians is one of the most interesting of all the sermons in the book of Acts.  It is distinctly different, mainly because he is preaching to a vast majority of idolatrous Gentiles, and so appealing to the Old Testament scriptures would be useless.]

[This sermon or lecture of Paul's to the Athenians is unique in the New Testament, mainly because it was to an almost totally Gentile audience.  Perhaps this is the reason that the Holy Spirit had Luke include it out of the literally hundreds of sermons that Paul must have given over his lifetime of service to the Lord.  Luke must be summarizing here; it is hard to imagine that Paul would be finished with such a few words.  And yet, these words carry the essence of what he communicated to them more powerfully than any man could summarize it.]

24 The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 neither is he served by men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
[One all powerful God ... the One who made everything?  Definitely something different from their common beliefs, if not new.  And while Paul has done as much as he can to compliment the beliefs that he holds in common with them, he is compelled to show the foolishness of creating and worshiping images that are idolatrous.  They cannot create God; it is God who created them.  They can only form images that are dead; He gave them life and breath.]

26 and he made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined (their) appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation;
[We are all brothers and sisters ... again a concept that must have been foreign to them.  In this he is saying that he (Paul) is no better than they are just because of his race or nationality.  Oh that we could all totally believe this; but it is a concept that is universally rejected by most of mankind.  And thus people are condemned, murdered, and persecuted just for the circumstances of their birth.  Further, it is this all-powerful God who has determined which nation should rise and which should fall.  He has determine their times and seasons and the limits on their powers.  It is not the fact that your gods were better than the Roman gods, or that now their gods are superior to yours.  That has nothing to do with it since they do not even exist.  The true and living God is in control.]

27 that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us:
[Note that this is an explanation of the reason for verse 26.  God has stood up nations and cast them down so that we will not see the answer in the superiority of our kingdoms, but in His Almighty Power (Rom. 1:16), the gospel of Jesus Christ.  What a comfort this is to those of us who are experiencing the decay of our nations.]

28 for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain even of your own poets have said, "For we are also his offspring."
[This is saying that we are totally dependent on Him.  He provides the very air that we breathe, the water we drink and the food that we eat.  We could not survive for long without these things that are provided by the providence of God.]

29 Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man.
[Using the fact in quotes from one of their poets as a premise, Paul draws the logical conclusion.  If we are His offspring, then we would be gold and silver if that is what He is.  We are more like God than the idols that they have created.]

30 The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent:
31 inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
[Two negatives and a positive -- you are going to have to change your behavior if you want to be acceptable to God ... they had to hear that as a negative -- most people do.  And if you do not, you will have to face God in judgment ... that does not sound very good either.  On the other hand, being raised from the dead and obtaining eternal life ... that had to be a positive -- one of those new things they were looking for.]

32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, We will hear thee concerning this yet again.
[I surmise that they mocked because it was something they could easily mock about, not because it was a negative topic to them.  I believe they got upset about this repentance and judgment stuff ... can't have that.  So, they were primed to mock Paul at the first item that would fit, and it was not long in coming.]

33 Thus Paul went out from among them.
[It became impossible for him to continue in this environment.  There is nothing wrong with leaving such a hostile situation.]

34 But certain men clave unto him, and believed: among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
[Some have argued that Paul's presentation was not successful.  But souls were saved.  Maybe only a few.  But we might compare this to a stadium full of people, thousands of which respond to an "alter call" and then the next day they go back to their lives and do the same things that they have always done.  Paul was infinitely more successful than the preaching of a watered down version of the gospel that is compromised to please the masses.  The fact that he never did that attests to the validity of his message.]


Acts 18
18:1 After these things he departed from Athens, and came to Corinth.
2 And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome: and he came unto them;
3 and because he was of the same trade, he abode with them, and they wrought, for by their trade they were tentmakers.
[Several things here.  We are introduced to Aquila and Priscilla, who were obviously converted by Paul shortly after he arrived.  The seem to have met through the synagogue, and started working together since they were tentmakers.  We also learn from this that Paul supported himself at this point, which seems to be something that he did off and on.  He had been sent out by Antioch and they probably provided some support for him, but not enough to sustain him indefinitely.]

4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks.
5 But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was constrained by the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.
[Paul, like all of us, needed encouragement.  Perhaps the most striking example of this is in 2 Corinthians.  Note the difference between reasoning and persuading and testifying.  Paul had reasoned and persuaded the Athenians with some success, and he may have felt that this approach was the best for the Corinthians as well.  We do not know what it was about being joined by Silas and Timothy that made him change his approach -- it says he was constrained by the word, implying that it was the truth itself that compelled him to do it.  In any event, this more aggressive approach would not go unnoticed ...]

6 And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shook out his raiment and said unto them, Your blood (be) upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.
[This was the pattern in general -- first to the Jews, with some success; then to the Gentiles with even greater success.  It does not mean that he excluded the Jews from his efforts; just that he would not use the privileges of the synagogue for his purposes.]

7 And he departed thence, and went into the house of a certain man named Titus Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.
8 And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.
[It seems that instead of preaching in the synagogue he now used the house of Titus Justus.  If so this would become the meeting place for the church.]

9 And the Lord said unto Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace:
10 for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to harm thee: for I have much people in this city.
[This is a second encouragement to Paul that was obviously needed, this one given by the Lord himself.  While we might not imagine Paul being afraid, we know he was only human.  This was obviously a welcomed vision to Paul and it enabled him to overcome his fears and preach the gospel with much more conviction and determination.]

11 And he dwelt (there) a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment-seat,
13 saying, This man persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.
14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If indeed it were a matter of wrong or of wicked villany, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:
15 but if they are questions about words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; I am not minded to be a judge of these matters.
16 And he drove them from the judgment-seat.
[An interesting turn of events.  The  Roman authorities could really care less about the rumblings in the Jewish community as long as they just kept it to themselves and did not get into public rioting.  This was a no-win situation for Gallio -- his perception probably was that he was liable to cause hard feelings no  matter how he ruled, and he did not understand their complaints in any event.  Not sure how he "drove them" but probably with the armed guards that he commanded.]

17 And they all laid hold on Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment-seat. And Gallio cared for none of these things.
[Who "they all" were is a question -- perhaps the armed guards?  if not then the citizenry of Corinth who may have harbored animosity against the Jews and just wanted to vent their hatred.  Luke just reports it as fact and does not indicate the motivation of anyone except Gallio ... basically, he just did not care about any of this stuff.]

18 And Paul, having tarried after this yet many days, took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila: having shorn his head in Cenchreae; for he had a vow.
[Priscilla and Aquila have been with Paul since the beginning at Corinth.  Cenchreae is a city adjoining to Corinth; not sure why it is mentioned except to show the breadth of Paul's activity while in this area.  The vow was probably akin to that of the Nazarene vow which upon its completion required the shaving of the head and a period of purification.  Perhaps Paul's urgency to get back to Jerusalem had something to do with this.  This once again shows that Christianity did not require the Jews to abandon their traditions, and the keeping of these non-binding traditions by many Jewish Christians would give the impression that Christianity was just a sect of Judaism, because that would be the appearance.]

19 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.
20 And when they asked him to abide a longer time, he consented not;
21 but taking his leave of them, and saying, I will return again unto you if God will, he set sail from Ephesus.
[So apparently the Jews in Ephesus were quite receptive to the introduction of the gospel there.  Leaving Priscilla and Aquila would be quite beneficial to the evangelistic effort there, as we will see in the next passage.  But Paul seems urgent to get back.]
 
22 And when he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and saluted the church, and went down to Antioch.
[Quite a bit of ground covered in this verse as will be true of the next few verses as well.  "The church" here is generally regarded as the church at Jerusalem ... "went up" from Caesarea usually refers leaving the sea coast and going up in to the mountains where Jerusalem is situated.  He wished them well and then went back down (off the mountains to the seacoast) to Antioch.  He spent some time there before departing on the third missionary journey.]

[This is rather an abrupt ending of the second missionary , and the start of the third is immediate.  It is too bad those who divided up the chapters did not put a chapter ending after verse 22, since verse 23 on goes quite well with chapter 19 (subject: Ephesus).]  

23 And having spent some time (there), he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples.
[This is the beginning of the third missionary journey.  It not only covers a lot of miles, which took a lot of time in those days, but probably several months, maybe extending into years if Paul stayed at some churches like he did at Corinth and Ephesus.  But before continuing on following Paul, we have sort of an interruption in the flow here as an incident in Ephesus arises separate and apart from Paul.  Recall the Priscilla and Acquila had been left of Ephesus by Paul after his very brief stay there returning to Jerusalem and Antioch.]

24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the scriptures.
[Again, recall that Priscilla and Acquilla had been left in Ephesus by Paul as he returned to Jerusalem and Antioch, and then he  departed on his third missionary journey.  So, at this point the story sort of picks up with them at Ephesus.]

25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spake and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John:
[The baptism of John was exactly for the same reasons as that of Jesus; the only difference was one of authority.  Jesus had commanded baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  John's baptism was by the authority that God had given to John.  Jesus had not commanded John's baptism as a substitute for the baptism that he had commanded.  This will be discussed in more detail once we get into Chapter 19.  Remember, the word baptism (baptiso) means immersion   In the religious sense there could be a baptism that is authorized by any church group.  However, the question to be answered here is: does any church group have the right to authorize something different fro what Jesus commanded?  The verses that follow right into Chapter 9 provide the answer to this question.  All baptisms are not baptism authorized by Jesus.]

26 and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more accurately.
[They knew or felt strongly that his error was not intentional or one of rebellion -- it was one of ignorance.  We see a woman teaching a man in this example, but it not being done in a formal church setting.  We also have the example of taking someone aside who is in error of this type in order to enable him to make the correction himself, which is surely what Apollos did.]

27 And when he was minded to pass over into Achaia, the brethren encouraged him, and wrote to the disciples to receive him: and when he was come, he helped them much that had believed through grace;
28 for he powerfully confuted the Jews, (and that) publicly, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
[To what extent were "the brethren" in the synagogue?  More on this when we get into Chapter 19.  Again, we mentioned the coexistence of Judaism and Christianity early on, and I feel certain that entire synagogues were converted.  I believe the first few verses of James 2 provides additional evidence in this direction.  Clearly Apollos is seen by the Christians to be a very capable and faithful man and they send him forth with their blessings to  Corinth.]


[Recall once again that the chapter divisions were inserted by men.  These events of Paul in Ephesus seems to be heavily related to what stated in the passage at the end of Chapter 18.  The story continues now back with Paul.  After traveling far and wide confirming the churches, he finally gets back to keeping his promise to the Jews as Ephesus to return to help them.  Apollos is mentioned in reference to the story about him at the end of Acts 18 when he was with Priscilla and Acquia at Ephesus.  It appears that all three of them are now gone from Ephesus, and we know Apollos has gone to Corinth.]

This would be a good time to take a quick three-minute overview look at Paul's Missionary Journey travels:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI0HvxS62Ks


Acts 19
19:1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples:
[Luke is a bit casual here ... did he just stumble upon them?  That seems unlikely, although you have to realize that communications were not anything like they were even in the 1800s (with the pony express).  Also, there may have been several churches established in and around Ephesus in the interim -- we do not know.  We will see in this chapter that one of the major churches there (if there were many) was meeting in conjunction with a synagogue.]

2 and he said unto them, Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed? And they (said) unto him, Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit was (given).
[The words in parenthesis are inserted.  We might remove the last one.  They did not know much at all about the Holy Spirit.  We take for granted the knowledge that we have on the Holy Spirit which has come from our study of Acts and other New Testament books.  But they did not have Luke's or other New Testament scriptures, so they may well have been almost totally ignorant of anything about the Holy Spirit except what might be revealed to them in the Old Testament.]

3 And he said, Into what then were ye baptized? And they said, Into John's baptism.
4 And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him that should come after him, that is, on Jesus.
[This confirms what we said above with regard to the beliefs that Apollos had on this subject.  A further clarification passage on this is Mark 1:4: "John came, who baptized in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins."  So, it too was for (or unto) the remission of sins.  Some have proposed that as a difference, but it is not.  The difference is one of timing and authority.  It WAS obedience to a previous command of God, but at this point it is no longer commanded.  Now those who come to God must believe on Jesus and thus, obey his commands.  It is interesting when discussing unauthorized baptisms, even this baptism, which was once commanded of God, has now become unauthorized and of no value because it has been superseded by the baptism commanded by Jesus.]

5 And when they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
[Anyone who doubts the validity of his/her past baptism should be baptized (again) for the right reason and according to the right authority.  However, once legitimate baptism is accomplished, it need never be repeated.  In fact, repeating it would be going beyond what is written (2 John 9) and thus condemned, since there is absolutely no case of a person being baptized a second time except for the one that we are reading about right now.]

6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
[The is a further confirmation of (1) the apostleship of Paul, and (2) the clear statement made in Acts 8 that it was "through the laying on of the apostles' hands that the Holy Spirit was given (something that we saw exemplified in Acts 6).  There is one exception to this -- the first Gentiles who were converted who received the Holy Spirit as a sign even before they were baptized in water (Acts 10).  We saw in Acts 11 that this was the second recorded case of a baptism in the Holy Spirit.  These exceptions are not to become our rules.  The consistency of the examples that we have are quite definitive.  Since there are no longer apostles in the world, no one can now lay hands on another person and impart to that person miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit.]

7 And they were in all about twelve men.
[A powerful force if they, like Apollos understood most other aspects of the truth -- that seems to be the implication; and if they went forth with the miraculous powers of the Holy Spirit working with them.  But salvation depends upon more than miracles, and while Paul, these men, and the gospel is going to be extremely successful in Ephesus, it will not be without it detractors.  It is almost as though these detractors are playing some very important part in God's plan -- comparable to those who crucified Christ.]


8 And he entered into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, reasoning and persuading (as to) the things concerning the kingdom of God.
[This would be expected since recall when he had spoken with the earlier they were begging him to stay, and he promised he would be back.  Note the context here is the synagogue, not the church ... but perhaps there is not that much difference here in Ephesus at this time.  If the rules of the synagogue were sympathetic to the church in their midst, they may well have been allowing them to use their facilities (their building) for the purpose of Christian worship, which would have been on the first day of the week and so would not have in any way interfered with their Sabbath activities.]

9 But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.
[This is quite interesting and revealing of what we have been speculating on above.  It seems that the "disciples" (obviously the church at Ephesus if considered collectively) were meeting somehow collectively with one of the synagogues (perhaps the only one since Jews were in a very small minority).  Now it could be that the church met in the synagogue at a different time (perhaps Saturday night, since this was considered by the Jews to be part of the first day of the week, or perhaps Sunday proper since the Jews would not be using the synagogue at that time.  It seems clear that the Christians were a distinctly identifiable group, however, in that Paul was able to round them up and move them collectively to the school of Tyrannus (just an alternative meeting place is all we need to make of this).]

[This school provides another example of where Christians met.  Sometimes those who claim they are following the examples of the apostles are criticized for not meeting in upper rooms.  (An extremely ignorant criticism, showing a real lack of knowledge of first century practice.)  We have examples of Christians (the local church) meeting in the Temple, in people's homes, and now here in a school that was made available to them.  James 2 even implies that they met in a "synagogue" (see the Greek word translated "assembly" in many versions; this may have just been the word that he chose to indicate the building in which they met, but it would infer that they are meeting in a building under their control, whether the owned it, borrowed it or rented it). Obviously, an example cannot be binding if there is an obvious approved counterexample to it.]

10 And this continued for the space of two years; so that all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
[This is one of the greatest success stories in the book of Acts.  In Acts 20 Paul will tell the Ephesian elders that he was there for the space of three years.  We have accounted for here 2 years and three months ( see above verse 8 -- 3 months in the synagogue).  But the way that the Jews counted time, any part of a unit was considered the entire unit, so 2 years and 3 months Could be three years -- like we would say that Pentecost is 49 days (7 weeks) after the Passover completion (first day of the week) -- they would say it was 50 days.  There are many such examples throughout the New Testament.  The exact number of months is not important, but knowing the general time frame gives us an idea of just what the duration was, and the exact number of months is not as important as the order of magnitude.]

11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
12 insomuch that unto the sick were carried away from his body handkerchiefs or aprons, and the evil spirits went out.
[In a sense all  miracles are special or they would not be miracles.  So, when a miracle is described as special then we should look for what that difference is.  Obviously the difference here was that Paul did not have to be physically present in order for these miracles to take place.  He did have to provide the "handkerchief or apron." This demonstrates clearly that miracles were not performed by all Christians.  For the most part it was the apostles who performed them along with those to whom they laid their hands on.  These special miracles are no exception in that they were clearly attributed to Paul.  This special ability may have been to further strengthen Paul's position against those who were teaching error against him.]

13 But certain also of the strolling Jews, exorcists, took upon them to name over them that had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, who did this.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said unto them, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?
16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and mastered both of them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
[Internalize this and really think about it, and you have to agree that God has a sense humor.  Just the response of the evil spirit is humorous ... "Jesus I know, and Paul I know ... but who are you?"  Also, their punishment was much more of an embarrassment than anything really that bad.  We do see a pattern throughout Acts in the punitive miracles -- in all cases there is an attempt to usurp the glory of God to one's one personal benefit.  Annanias and Saphira (Acts 5), Herod (Acts 12), Elymas (Acts 13) and now this one.  Notice that while it was the evil spirit that answered these impostors  it was the man in whom the evil spirit existed who leaped on them and sent them running naked into the street.  The evil spirit was not exorcised by the strolling Jews.  This does not say whether or not it was exorcised later on by Paul.]

17 And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, that dwelt at Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
[Today it would be on YouTube and seen around the world.  How did it get around so fast back then?  Perhaps the humor and the spectacle of seeing these impostors running naked from the house that compelled everyone to tell their neighbors about it and get a good laugh out of it in the process.  It would be hard to keep something like a secret.]

[Things seem to be going quite well for Paul.  What always happens when this seems to be the situation?  If you suspect that trouble is coming, this is no exception.  But we can see the same thing today.  As long as a group is relatively unknown and small they can pretty much do what they want -- good or bad.  But when they start to acquire power and influence, this is when they are beat down by the powers that be.]
 
18 Many also of them that had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds.
19 And not a few of them that practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
20 So mightily grew the word of the Lord and prevailed.
[Again, this has to be one of the most impressive success stories in the book of Acts.  To demonstrate their rejection of "magical arts" they burned their books.  Someone (lots of people) must have made a fortune creating these books that were now being destroyed, and many (perhaps most) of the Gentiles in Ephesus probably owned one or more of these books and had paid a fairly large sum for them.  This is a real display of faith.  It also shows that faith in Jesus and "magical arts" are mutually exclusive.  Literally "curious arts" or those requiring skill and cunning.  Some of this was no doubt sleight of hand, and there is nothing wrong with that today as long as it is clearly labeled as an illusion and not some supernatural event (which surely is the case in this day and age, but not so a century or maybe two ago in this country).  Then there was the witchcraft, the incantations, the use of drugs and all of those things that were done to take advantage or people and to give them this assurance that the gods were with them when in fact they were just being duped (and doped).]
 
21 Now after these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.
22 And having sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
[These verses show us some things about "being under the influence of the Holy Spirit," which no doubt Paul was.  As we continue we will see a number of things that will add to what this meant in the first century.  We might go back a little and recall the Macedonian call, which surely must have been guidance by the Holy Spirit.  And yet it was something that Paul "supposed" was such guidance.  Clearly, Paul, Barnabas, Silas and others' every move was not being dictated by the Holy Spirit despite the fact that overall they were being guided.  In this case Paul is thinking ahead and planning.  His thoughts had to be that since things are going so well here, I need to go to Jerusalem, and then after that to Rome.  Things are so good that I might as well send Timothy and Erastus to Macedonia -- they could use more help there.   So, what is the delay Paul?  Luke says "he himself stayed in Asia for a while" apparently for no good reason.  Well, we shall see in the next passage that there WAS a very good reason for Paul to stay, although just what compelled him to stay we do not know.  But it seems clear that we can infer that Paul did not have a clue what was on the horizon.  Did the Holy Spirit keep it from him?  We can draw no other conclusion, for indeed, the Holy Spirit knew, as did Jesus, and both had been in touch with Paul in the past.  But they had their reasons for not disclosing these things, and perhaps for somehow delaying Paul from his ultimate intent as well.  Much of this is speculation just to get us thinking at this point, and we do not propose that it should be taught as doctrine.  But we will continue to try to add to this study of the Holy Spirit's interactions with Paul as we go along right on through the time of the shipwreck in Chapter 27.]
 
23 And about that time there arose no small stir concerning the Way.
[We anticipated that Paul was overdue for this.]

24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no little business unto the craftsmen;
25 whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this business we have our wealth.
[He told the truth to them -- they could certainly relate to this issue.]

26 And ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they are no gods, that are made with hands:
27 and not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana be made of no account, and that she should even be deposed from her magnificence whom all Asia and the world worshipeth.
[Ah, is this a religious issue as well?  It seems like an afterthought.  But this is where the real traction is going to be obtained with the mob, who could care less about the money that the silversmiths were losing out on.]

28 And when they heard this they were filled with wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesus.
[I guess he knew what buttons to push.]

29 And the city was filled with the confusion: and they rushed with one accord into the theatre, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel.
[Perhaps they could not find Paul, so they seized the next best thing -- Paul's friends.]

30 And when Paul was minded to enter in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.
31 And certain also of the Asiarchs, being his friends, sent unto him and besought him not to adventure himself into the theatre.
[Here again, common sense is being used as opposed to directions from the Holy Spirit.  Paul thinks he can influence them ... his friends know better.  God is protecting Paul (we will see that confirmed in Chapter 26), but He is doing it indirectly through His divine providence.]

32 Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was in confusion; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.
[Is this not always true of mobs?   We have many recent examples?  After all, what does it matter to the mob what the cause is?  The confusion is an end in itself, leading to profit on the part of those who are clever and evil enough to take advantage of it (e.g., looting, etc.).]

33 And they brought Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made a defense unto the people.
34 But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
[Why was Alexander getting involved in this fight?  Was he going to defend Paul?  Hardly.  I expect he might be going to say: "This Paul has no ties with Judaism, so don't blame the Jewish community.  After all, we have lived in peace with you all for some time."  While we cannot be sure what was in Alexander's mind, we know that the mob knew that Jews did not worship Diana, and that was all they needed to know.]

35 And when the townclerk had quieted the multitude, he saith, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there who knoweth not that the city of the Ephesians is temple-keeper of the great Diana, and of the (image) which fell down from Jupiter?
[Townclerk in the ASV might be confusions -- the literal translation would be "scribe."  He was evidently the person who kept the records of such things, and he  was probably a very key man of authority.  Our concept of a townclerk would certainly not be of the status that he enjoyed.  His reasoning is quite clever: "What are you pitching a fuss for? -- everyone KNOWS that Diana is the greatest." ...]

36 Seeing then that these things cannot be gainsaid, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash.
37 For ye have brought (hither) these men, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess.
[This last clause was probably not totally accurate ... after all, somehow hundereds (thousands?) of them had been persuaded to burn their books.  But his goal was to quell the rioting,  and for sure he was good at that.]

38 If therefore Demetrius, and the craftsmen that are with him, have a matter against any man, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls: let them accuse one another.
39 But if ye seek anything about other matters, it shall be settled in the regular assembly.
40 For indeed we are in danger to be accused concerning this day's riot, there being no cause (for it): and as touching it we shall not be able to give account of this concourse.
41 And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.
[It would be nice if the riots we have today could be solved this easily.  It is interesting that the word assembly in verse 39 and 41 is the Greek work ekklesia -- the word that is in all other places (I believe) translated "church."  Why not translate it that way here?  Ekklesia was not a "religious" (can we say "ecclesiastic?") word in the first century.  It would be much more accurate if the word "church" were not a religious word today ... but it has become that and we need to explain its biblical meaning.  It would have been much better to just translate the word as "called out" (or, like here, "assembly") than to place on it a word that infers something that was never intended.  Jesus said in Mt. 16:18 -- "Upon this rock I will build my called out" -- "His" called out as distinguished from the many other "called outs" that may have existed at that time, this mob and the formal regular assembly also being other "called outs."]

[We have come to Chapter 20 now, which is getting toward the end of Paul's third missionary journey.  Chapter 21 is sort of a marker -- where he gets to Jerusalem, perhaps intending to go from there to Antioch, but when he leaves Jerusalem it will be for Caesarea and then for Rome.  Paul's five defenses are after Chapter 21.]

Acts 20
20:1 And after the uproar ceased, Paul having sent for the disciples and exhorted them, took leave of them, and departed to go into Macedonia.
[Departed Ephesus where he had spend well over two years, perhaps much closer to three.  We are getting into the AD 50s or so -- about 25 years or so after Pentecost -- maybe 22 years since Paul's (Saul's) conversion.]

2 And when he had gone through those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece.
[In all probability, back to Corinth for a short amount of time.]

3 And when he had spent three months (there,) and a plot was laid against him by Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he determined to return through Macedonia.
[It seems that he did not feel safe setting sail with so many assassins after him -- he might be easy pickings on a ship.  So he retraces his land journey instead.]

4 And there accompanied him as far as Asia, Sopater of Beroea, (the son) of Pyrrhus; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.
5 But these had gone before, and were waiting for us at Troas.
[If you recall, we left Luke at Philippi (see note before Chapter 17); this seems like where he rejoins Paul some time before they together went to Troas.  The mention of these men here seems out of the chronological order -- they would rejoin Paul and Luke at Troas, but they had already gone ahead, and then would accompany them as far as Asia.  A good number of them are mentioned elsewhere in Paul's letters.]

6 And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days, where we tarried seven days.
[Usually we would expect that when they tarried seven days it was to be sure that they met with the church in a place, which  met on the first day of the week.  As they Jews count days, this may be six days and a part of the seventh.]

7 And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight.
[This is quite a bit packed into this verse.  The meeting time of the church was on the first day of the week.  Their stated purpose is "to break bread" -- which, per se, could refer either to a common meal or the Lord's Supper.  We know that the Lord's Supper was something that was done by the disciples in fulfillment of the command of Jesus to do that in remembrance or him (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25).  We see this initiated by the apostles immediately after the baptisms recorded on Pentecost.  Also 1 Cor. 11 indicates that this was something observed when they gathered together (albeit the Corinthians had been practicing it in an unworthy manner, but no  matter, we just want to provide the evidence that this was the Lord's supper that they had gathered together for in this on a weekly basis (see also 1 Cor. 16:1-2).  Paul preached to them at length, apparently because he wanted to move on toward Jerusalem the very next day.  So, while he normally would not speak this long, on this occasion he prolonged his speech until midnight.]

8 And there were many lights in the upper chamber where we were gathered together.
[The significance of lights is questionable, except that the fumes may have been generated that caused Eutychus to pass out.  At three stories up, not good.]

9 And there sat in the window a certain young man named Eutychus, borne down with deep sleep; and as Paul discoursed yet longer, being borne down by his sleep he fell down from the third story, and was taken up dead.
[It is interesting that Luke does not seem to want to commit to the fact that he was actually dead.  Not being there, perhaps he did not want to state any more than that he was "pronounced dead," so to speak.  This is much the same way he reported Paul after Paul was stoned in Chapter 14.  There as I recall he said that they dragged him out of the city presuming he was dead.  But in neither case does Luke say that the victim was actually was dead.  However, perhaps is is omitted because it does  not matter; in either case the person getting up and walking away clearly is the result of  supernatural intervention -- both of these incidents were clearly miracles.]

10 And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Make ye no ado; for his life is in him.
[The inference is that what Paul did was part of implementing this miracle.]

11 And when he was gone up, and had broken the bread, and eaten, and had talked with them a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.
[In this case the term "broken the bread, and eaten" implies a common meal, which was certainly necessary to prepare Paul for his journey the following day.]

12 And they brought the lad alive, and were not a little comforted.
[This is sort of Luke's icing on the Troas cake.]

13 But we going before to the ship set sail for Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, intending himself to go by land.
["We" is a statement that Luke was among the others traveling with Paul.  Why he went by land we do not know, although we know that he before was kind of skittish of boat travel because of potential assassins.  Whether that could be the case here we do not know, but Luke seemed to think it an important detail to report.]

14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mitylene.
15 And sailing from thence, we came the following day over against Chios; and the next day we touched at Samos; and the day after we came to Miletus.
[This is a different Miletus from the one (Malta) that they will be pushed to by the storm in Chapter 27.  This one is quite close in to Ephesus.]

16 For Paul had determined to sail past Ephesus, that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hastening, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.
17 And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called to him the elders of the church.
[This is the subject of a fairly long doctrinal treatise that Paul will give in the next major passage.  Paul wants to get to Jerusalem by Pentecost, but he also wants to speak to the elders (bishops/pastors) from Ephesus, so he calls them to Meletus on the seacoast.]

17 And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called to him the elders of the church.
18 And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, after what manner I was with you all the time,
19 serving the Lord with all lowliness of mind, and with tears, and with trials which befell me by the plots of the Jews;
20 how I shrank not from declaring unto you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly, and from house to house,
21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
[Perhaps Paul had been attacked by some false teachers in Ephesus -- this was certainly the case in Corinth.  For whatever reason he seems to need to re-establish himself with them.  Obviously what he said here was all true or else they would no longer give him an audience.]

22 And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
23 save that the Holy Spirit testifieth unto me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
[Bound in the spirit by the Holy Spirit, apparently.  There will appear to be some conflicting testimony given.  It is as though the Holy Spirit is not commanding Paul to do this but rather Paul feels that it is the right thing to do at this point.  This will become interesting as he encounters others who warn him of the dangers that he will face from his own countrymen if/when he goes to Jerusalem.]

24 But I hold not my life of any account as dear unto myself, so that I may accomplish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
25 And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, shall see my face no more.
26 Wherefore I testify unto you this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
27 For I shrank not from declaring unto you the whole counsel of God.
[The things that Paul is going to tell them will be difficult for them to accept, and perhaps this is another reason that he is spending so much time bolstering his position with them.]

28 Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood.
[Feed the flock -- the work of a pastor (shepherd); back in verse 17 they were called elders; here they are called bishops (overseers).  These are obviously three names for the same group of men within a congregation.]

29 I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock;
30 and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
[Shades of Jesus' condemnation of Judas ... "is it me?"  I wonder if they took it seriously or thought: "he must be talking about the other elders."  Indeed the corruption of the church came from within.  Not satisfied to be  elders over the local church, they started appointing men to be "bishops" over more than one church and that started the decent toward the ultimate Romanization of the church as far as its organization is concerned.  As long as the church functioned as independent called-outs with their own elders,  any one of the churches could become corrupted without dragging the others with it.  However, when they were all linked together in a hierarchy, then the result was inevitable.  Power corrupts ... even the best of men like David.  This prophecy has been confirmed.  A similar prophecy was also given to Timothy (1 Tim. 4:1-3) and the Thessalonians (2 Thes. 2:3-4).]

31 Wherefore watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish every one night and day with tears.
[Paul would not have been able to say this had it not been true.]

32 And now I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build (you) up, and to give (you) the inheritance among all them that are sanctified.
[What is it that would build them up and given them an inheritance?  Miracles?  Gimmicks?  Clever sayings?  No, it was the word of God's grace, the gospel of Jesus Christ.]

33 I coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.
34 Ye yourselves know that these hands ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
[There seems to be a heavy implication here that false teachers were in fact coveting what they had and taking advantage of them for the monetary reward.  This could never be said about Paul.  Even when he took support it was clear that he was not preaching for the money.  And if not for anything physical, then why do it?  The answer should be obvious.]

35 In all things I gave you an example, that so laboring ye ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
[Interesting -- I believe this is the only place in the bible where this saying of Jesus was recorded.  To be blessed is to possess a state of happiness (does anything else really matter?).  When we help others we recognized the truthfulness of this saying.]

36 And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all.
37 And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him,
38 sorrowing most of all for the word which he had spoken, that they should behold his face no more. And they brought him on his way unto the ship.
[Paul's presence and his words must have had a powerful effect on this elders of Ephesus.  We read about some warnings given to the church for leaving their first love in Revelation 2, but also some very positive things as well.  Like all of us, combinations of good and evil ever in conflict.]



Go to Acts 21-25