Acts 19:1-7: Paul in Ephesus
In the first seven verses of Acts chapter 19, we see that Paul is in Ephesus and the disciples in that area only knew the baptism of John. Paul does correct them on their doctrine, and they all become converted and are then baptized with water and then receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Notice in verse six tells us “And when Paul laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied”.
Acts 19:8-10: Paul Doing His Custom
In the next few verses, we will see that Paul continues to do his custom, which was to preach the Gospel and reason with people in the synagogues. Acts 17:2 (NKJV) tells us, “Then Paul, as his custom was, went into them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures”. Additionally, this was a custom Jesus had also as we see in Luke 4:16 (NKJV), “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.”. As we see in verse eight in Acts chapter 19 Paul spoke concerning the things of the Kingdom of God. I truly feel the church needs to focus back on the things regarding the Kingdom of God and that we need to become more Kingdom Minded in our everyday lives. Too many people want to sleep at the devil’s throne Monday-Saturday while only spending Sundays in the outer courts of Gods Throne. We also see in verses nine and ten that the people rejected Paul’s teaching, and this led to Paul going to the School of Tyrannus for 2 years. This school was in Asia and when Paul was there both Jews and Greeks heard the Word of God.
Acts 19:11-12: Unusual Miracles
In verses 11-20 we see that God worked ‘unusual miracles’ through Paul. Acts 19:12 (NKJV) says “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.”. Paul was truly anointed by God; he was fully sold out for the things of God. Can we still anoint handkerchiefs and other pieces of fabric for today? Well yes, none of the Three People of the Godhead have changed, nor will They ever change. This move of God through Paul was very similar to what we see with Peter in Acts 5:15 (NKJV) “so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.”.
Acts 19:13-20: Imitators and Magicians
As we go on in verses 13-17, we see that some Jewish exorcists tried to imitate Paul and it backfired on them drastically. So bad that the person who was demon-possessed jumped on them. The demonic spirit even spoke to them in verse 15 “And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”. Both Jesus and Paul were filled with the Holy Spirit, these Jewish exorcists were not. Two things Paul and Jesus had in common was that they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, of course, Jesus had the fullness of the Holy Spirit in Him. This just shows us that who we are in private is who we will be in public and when we do spiritual warfare. Also, we see in the remaining verses that many people believed and even people who practiced magic burned their books. Anything that is of the devil’s realm we should have nothing to do with.
Final Thoughts
I covered a lot of material in this blog post. It is my prayer that you seek God more diligently every day and get to know Him on a deeper level every day. We must learn to be more Kingdom Minded rather than earthly minded. I see far too many people who are in church and are earthly-minded and carnal than they are Kingdom Minded. It is so important we seek greater manifestations of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives for God’s glory.