Acts - Week 62

Week 62 Acts 19 

Day 1 

READ 

Acts 19:11-12 

11 God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. 12 When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled. 

It is one thing to perform a “miracle” but quite another to perform “unusual miracles.” When a cloth had even touched Paul’s skin and was placed on sick people two things occurred. The sick were healed and evil spirits were expelled from them. Think how spectacular this must have seemed to the onlookers! Surely some would be jealous of the power Paul had. 

REFLECT 

What would you have thought had you been witnessing what was being done? Paul was not even touching the people and they were being healed and demons cast out. 

RESPOND 

Talk with your disciple about not needing miracles to believe in Jesus. The greatest miracle is to have the God-inspired Bible. Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and 2 Peter 1:19-21 in this regard.  

Day 2 

READ 

Acts 19:13-14 

13 A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. 

Sure enough there were others who wanted to imitate what Paul was doing. They were going so far as to even use the name of Jesus in their rituals. Notice who was doing this: sons of the leading priest. Religionists have never been friendly to the resurrected Jesus. It was even the religionists who wanted Jesus crucified. It is not about religion but a relationship with Jesus.  

REFLECT  

Do not let someone deceive you just because that person may be “religious.” You have the Bible to tell you what truth is. Be sure to use it to determine the correctness of any teaching.  

RESPOND 

Check Luke 16:27-31 to see what the rich man in hades was told when he wanted someone to rise from the dead and go back and warn his brothers not to come there. 

Day 3 

READ 

Acts 19:15-16 

15 But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered. 

Notice that evil spirits know about Jesus and believers. James 2:19 says demons believe and “they tremble in terror.” But they do not “believe in Jesus” that is, to trust in Him as Savior. The demons are supernatural beings and this reveals what they can do with an unbeliever who they inhabit. Unusual strength is exhibited. Believers, however, are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. 

REFLECT 

The demonic world is not to be minimized, but neither should it be thought that the devil and demons are greater than God. They are created beings who followed Satan when he was cast down from his high position by the creator Himself. 

RESPOND 

Talk about the demonic world with your disciple. It is to be respected but not feared. Read what the apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:4 about believers who are inhabited by the Holy Spirit.  

Day 4 

READ 

Acts 19:17-20 

17 The story of what happened spread quickly all through Ephesus, to Jews and Greeks alike. A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored. 18 Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices. 19 A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars. 20 So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect. 

Notice what occurred when people turned from their sinful practices to the Lord. They demonstrated their changed lives by destroying what they had been using to worship the devil and demons. The value of their books meant nothing to them now. They did not sell them to other idol worshipers but burned them so they would not be used by anyone else.  

REFLECT 

Think what these changed lives did after they trusted Jesus as Savior. Have others noticed changes in your life after you trusted in Jesus as Savior? What are some? 

REPSOND 

Talk with your disciple about what your lives have been like since you trusted in Jesus as Savior. What changes have you noticed that could be shared with others in witnessing about Jesus? 

Day 5 

READ 

Acts 19:21-22 

21 Afterward Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go over to Macedonia and Achaia before going to Jerusalem. “And after that,” he said, “I must go on to Rome!” 22 He sent his two assistants, Timothy and Erastus, ahead to Macedonia while he stayed awhile longer in the province of Asia. 

Paul felt compelled to go to Macedonia and Achaia but then to go back to Jerusalem. His ultimate goal was to go to Rome, but at this time he didn’t know all the details that would cause him to go to Rome. While waiting longer in the area of Ephesus was likely the time he wrote 1 Corinthians about A.D. 55. This was a city of much lust and corruption as seen in the letter to the Corinthians.  

REFLECT 

Have you sometimes felt compelled to do something; perhaps to witness to someone about Jesus? Be faithful in following what you consider the urging of the Holy Spirit. 

RESPOND 

To find a passage in 1 Corinthians that would apply to the moral corruption today, read 6:9-11. Notice that the change came when the people trusted in Jesus as Savior. They were not born physically that way but changed after they were born again spiritually.