October 31 Daily Devotional

Acts 18 and 19

“And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria (in Egypt), an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord: and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace: for he mightily convinced the Jews.”

When Paul came to Ephesus, Apollos had already gone to Corinth. Paul found some of the disciples of Apollos that had been baptized on the name of John the Baptist. He instructed them more fully and laid his hands on them, that they might receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Paul taught in the synagogue for three months, but a number of those that heard him opposed him. Then he took his disciples to another building, “the school of one Tyrannus.” In this school he taught for two years, until his teaching was known throughout the city and the surrounding country.

While Paul was teaching in this city he performed special miracles in the name of Jesus. He healed many that were sick, and cast out evil spirits from such that were possessed of them. Now there were there seven sons of a man named Sceva, given to exorcism. They cast out evil spirits by spells and charms. When they saw Paul casting out these spirits in the name of Jesus, they supposed that they could do the same thing. So when they found a man with an evil spirit, they said unto the spirit, “We adjure thee by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them … so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded.” Many people in Ephesus heard about this, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. There was a great deal of superstition in the city. Many had practiced works of magic by the power of Satan. The sincere preaching of Paul put an end to these evil practices. They confessed their sins and turned to God. Many people in Ephesus had books of divination and black magic. When they were impressed by the power of God, they no longer cared for these books—in those days books were rare and expensive so they brought them together and burnt them. A large crowd gathered to see these expensive books burn to ashes. Thus the word of the Lord grew in Ephesus; a great number of people believed in Christ, and a large congregation was organized.