Paul Returns to Ephesus, the Word Prospers, Battle Breaks Out

After he had spent some time in Jerusalem, he departed and went over the region of Galatia and Phrygia visiting the churches there. Then he went to Ephesus. On the way, he met twelve Christians who were baptized only in water. Paul baptized them with the Holy Spirit. They prayed in tongues and prophesied.

Paul went into the synagogue and boldly preached the gospel for three months. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus (where Greek philosophers had classes). And Paul stayed in Ephesus for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

In Ephesus, Paul performed unusual miracles. He healed the sick and cast out demons in the name of the Lord. Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, tried to drive out the evil spirits in the name of Jesus preached by Paul. In the end, not only did they failed to cast out the evil spirit, they themselves were overpowered by the evil spirit. This became known to all and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. More and more believed in the Lord. Many who had believed came confessing their sins and evil deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them; the total came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord spread widely and prevailed.

More and more people rejected idols and turned to the Lord Jesus. This caused fear in the idol makers. Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines, gathered together with the workmen of similar trades to oppose Paul. They seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul�䏭 travel companions from Macedonia and dragged them to Alexander, the Jewish leader of Ephesus. The assembly was in confusion, crying and shouting for about two hours. The city clerk (highest official) came out to quiet the crowd, and the riot ceased (Acts 19).