Introduction

In my previous blog post, we looked at Acts 19:1-20, so if you have not read that post yet be sure to check it out first! We previously saw some great revival take place in the first part of Acts chapter 19. We also looked at some great revelation regarding the gift of tongues and prophecy. We are also going to look at the importance of reasoning in the spirit. 

Acts 19:21-22

Acts 19:21-22 we see that after the great working of God that took place through Paul in the previous verses that Paul plans on going through Macedonia and Achaia to get to Jerusalem. He also plans that he will then go to Rome. However, he sends Timothy and Erastus ahead of him while he stays on the west side of Asia for a while longer.  

A Note Regarding the Word Spirit

Acts 19:21 (NKJV) says “When these things were accomplished, 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.”. Paul purposed in his spirit what he would do. Some synonyms for the word purpose are to intend, aim, plan, and design. If we look in the Amplified Bible, it translates it as “Paul determined in his Spirit”. One important note regarding the many translations of the Bible that we have available today is that when they translate the word spirit, they often capitalize on the letter ‘s’ when it should be lowercase. When the ‘s’ is uppercase it signifies that it is referring to the Holy Spirit, however, when it is lowercase it is referring to the human spirit of an individual or even our human spirit when it is written in the context of instruction such as in Paul’s letters. In the case of Acts 19:21, it should be lowercase ‘s’ since it is referring to Paul’s spirit.  

Determining in Your Spirit

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NKJV) tells us we are a three-part being, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”. In my previous teaching, I wrote about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is necessary to walk in the fullness of what God has called you to do for His Kingdom. So is your spirit man of this world or is it of God? Too often many people have a dual spirit man, meaning it is not fully submitted to the Holy Spirit. Often people will make their decisions based on what logic tells them to do rather than reasoning in their spirit what they should do. If we truly reasoned in our spirit with total submission to the Holy Spirit our lives would be so much more different.

Acts 19:23-41

In the remaining verses, we see a commotion arises over the Gospel. Demetris a silversmith that made shrines of the other gods, tells his fellow workers that what Paul was teaching condoned their line of work. The city then was stirred up and they took Paul’s travel companions, Gaius and Aristarchus. When Paul arrived, they would not let him into the theater where they were gathered. While all these people were gathered Scripture tells us that the people of the assembly were confused. The people did not even know why they were there regarding this matter. This all resulted from just one person stirring the pot to condemn Christianity. We know that confusion does not come from God. 1 Corinthians 14:33 (NKJV) tells us, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”. We see that the city clerk ends up dismissing the case that was being brought up against Paul’s travel companions. Demetrius was simply upset because Paul and his follower’s teachings upset their profit from the Diana cult. Today we have many people who get upset over true Christians who stand firm on Scripture regardless of what is politically correct. We must always remember to stand firm.

Final Thoughts

One of the most important keys to take away from this blog post is recognizing the correct capitalization of the word ‘spirit’ within the Bible. When you have this understanding as you read the Bible you will begin to get deeper revelations. It may even be worth it to make a notation in your Bible as you notice the incorrect capitalization for the word spirit. I also challenge you to apply what I taught on in this blog post which would be to focus on walking in the spirit man you are and to put away any duality.