Unshaken: Chapter a Day

Acts 19 Discussion

• Pastor Plek

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A city on edge. A marketplace in panic. And a group of would‑be exorcists who learn the hard truth about authority without relationship. We walk through Acts 19 in Ephesus where incomplete belief is corrected, the Holy Spirit is given, and public teaching reshapes an entire region. Along the way, extraordinary miracles expose counterfeit spirituality, fear of the Lord awakens repentance, and a bonfire of costly scrolls signals a break with the past.

We dig into the tensions that still define spiritual life today: sincerity versus truth, power versus submission, and profit versus worship. The riot led by Demetrius isn’t just an ancient flare‑up; it’s a mirror for any culture where idolatry hides behind economics. We talk about how the gospel challenges business models, why repentance must be tangible, and what it costs to follow Jesus when your livelihood is tied to old loyalties. We also zoom in on Paul’s long obedience—two years of daily dialogue in the hall of Tyrannus—showing how patient teaching can saturate a city so everyone hears, even if not all believe.

Expect a candid, story‑driven journey through miracles, mobs, and meaningful change. You’ll hear practical takeaways for resisting shallow spirituality, embracing the Spirit’s presence, and making repentance real enough to change habits and homes. We close with a hopeful vision: God’s word prevails, the church is preserved, and courage grows when truth meets a city. If this conversation stirs you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more chapter‑a‑day insights, and leave a review to help others find the show.

Text us at 737-231-0605 with any questions.

Pastor Plek:

And welcome back to a chapter day. Keeps the devil away. I'm Pastor Plek. That's Pastor Holland. We are in Acts chapter 19. I'm going to outline it and then we're going to observe it, interpret it, and then finally apply it so that you can enjoy Jesus in where you live, work and play today. All right, so uh verses one through seven of chapter 19, you've got the disciples of John who have an incomplete understanding corrected by Paul, and then they get uh the Holy Spirit, they speak in tongues and prophesy. Then in verses eight through ten, you've got a prolonged teaching and then division that breaks out in Ephesus. But where then Paul withdraws from the disciples and begins daily discussions in the hall of Tyrannus, because the Jews will have nothing of it. Then in verses 11 through 17, you got the extraordinary miracles and the power of Jesus' name, and that's sort of wild where the seven sons of Siva, the evil spirit, responds to this guy saying, I know Paul and Paul, I know Jesus, and Paul I recognize, but who are you? And they beat that dude and all of his uh people and they uh they run away naked, which is wild. All right, then you've got repentance and a public renunciation of magic in verses 18 through 20, which then goes to the riot of the silversmiths in verses 21 through 34 as the economic idolatry is revealed. So they get upset, not really because they really care about the worship of Artemis, but they make it about Artemis so that their trade is not taken away or fall into disrepute. And then in verses 35 through 41, the city quiet the city clerk quiets the crowd, affirms that the men are not temple robbers or blasphemers, and then urges lawful resolution of grievances, and then warns that the city may risk with writing, dismisses the assembly, preserving Paul and the church from violence. All right. What do you got uh first observation of some of these characters?

Pastor Holland:

Man, there's so much awesome stuff in here. Um I love the guys who are trying to cast out demons in the name of Jesus. Yeah. And it doesn't work because, you know, they're um they're Jewish um people, itinerant Jewish exorcists. That was a job. Uh they would travel around trying to cast out demons, and they're trying to do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, um, but it's not working.

Pastor Plek:

Hey, you know, but it must have worked at some point, right? Yeah.

Pastor Holland:

Uh, but it didn't work against maybe, maybe they hit like a super powerful demon. Yeah. And he was like, no, and overpowers them, beats them, they leave bloody and naked. I love the fact they're naked.

Pastor Plek:

Like, yeah, how much beat down did you have to get for like a bunch of dudes to go up against one guy and he just wrecks shop and just steals their clothes? Twisted.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah. Crazy. So that's my first observation.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah. Um, I love how um there is the you know, the first burning of books that I see. Like they're burning their witchcraft books, they're burning their magic books that weighed about 50, like 50,000 shekels worth of books.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah. And you can see here how the gospel is not only influencing individual people's lives, but it's influencing culture and business, right? Right. Um, the guy, you know, the guy gets upset because he's like, hey, this is messing up our business. If people don't believe in Artemis, then they're not gonna buy my little statues. And so I need this is like fascinating to me. He's going, we need people to believe in this God and in order for us to have our wealth, he says.

Pastor Plek:

So, like, I think that guy is a little small-minded. I would have gone with okay, um, all right, you don't want statues. What would you like? Let's sell some crosses. Well, how about the how about some scripture on a silver plate up that in your house? Like you could have gone a million ways, but instead, he just goes, he doesn't want to change so bad that he is willing to riot.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah. And I just, yeah, the the connection there and going like, okay, this is leading to rioting. This is leading to it basically when the gospel takes root in a place, it does not just change individual people's hearts, it actually changes society. It changes the way you do business and what kind of business you do. It changes, you know, uh the culture of a place.

Pastor Plek:

Nice.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah.

Pastor Plek:

Um, okay. What about um let's get into some uh nature of man? Do we have any are you ready for that? Um you have any other observations?

Pastor Holland:

Yeah, I well, yeah, some other observations. Um, I think hitting on the baptism thing where they they hadn't received the Holy Spirit yet. And so I think what this means is that they had heard about Jesus but didn't understand the gospel yet.

Pastor Plek:

Um well I mean they hadn't heard about Jesus because they they only knew about John's baptism. Is that what you're meaning? Yeah, well, it says he found some disciples. So I think it means disciples of John. Is that possible? Oh, he found some disciples. They they must have thought of, well, could it be their disciples, but they haven't become disciples. Like it's like saying, you know, I met you before you became a Christian, but you're a disciple now. And so he's giving them uh a post-salvation attribution, which he then gives to them in telling retelling the story. Yeah, or because to be a disciple without having believed, without having the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Holland:

Well, so like Jesus is the 12, they followed him for three years and did not understand that he would die and rise again, right? But they they wanted to follow him. And so my understand my take on this is that that's kind of like what these people are, is they're like, hey, we're uh we like the teachings of Jesus, you know, uh something like that, but then they had not received the Holy Spirit yet. Um and so Okay, maybe, you know, when he gives when he says they're baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, I'm assuming that means that he shares the gospel with them and then baptizes them in in terms of them uh being united with Jesus by faith. Um understanding.

Pastor Plek:

I just thought of it as they're similar to um Apollos and that they'd only heard of John the Baptist. Yeah, maybe. And they were baptized for repentance but hadn't been baptized um uh to follow Jesus and hadn't received the Holy Spirit yet. Because if they were disciples, that had the they would have had the Holy Spirit, right? So I I I think that that's where they just hadn't a com they were like Apollos and didn't have the complete picture. But that'd just be my my take on that. Um but I do appreciate that that Paul is, you know, con like he's going, um he's in Corinth and he goes to Ephesus, and he there's people there that were God's people, like there are many that were his people, they just need to hear the truth. And I think when we look at it this way, it's like God has people that he wants to be saved and are his future disciples. I think that sometimes, as the nature of man is like no one's gonna believe, but God has a plan for those people, and you have no idea what your role in their lives could be.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah, that's good. Uh last observation, just verse 10. Um, they were there for two years. So a year and a half in Corinth, now two years in Ephesus. So he's staying a long time here. So it says, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, Jews and Greeks. That's like modern day Turkey. Yeah, and so, like, I mean, that's that's impressive. In two years, they were doing a lot of evangelism. Um, and not everyone believed, but everybody heard. Yeah.

Pastor Plek:

That's great. Um, all right, let's get to the nature of man. Uh, how about uh sincerity without truth is insufficient? Meaning the disciples of John were earnest, but they didn't have full understanding. That's where I would go with that. Yeah, that's good.

Pastor Holland:

Um the people who uh where is it? Verse 32, um, when it's talking about the riot and the crowd, and it says most of them did not know why they had come together. You have all these people who just show up because it's like we're rioting, let's go. I don't even know what it, why? That is like that's modern day. Speaks to it speaks to spirituality. We do the same thing today. There's a protester's out for something. Let's go. What are we protesting this time?

Pastor Plek:

Give me a sign. Yeah. Um, how about um uh people want to use spiritual power without submission to Christ? Like the use the power of exorcism in Jesus' name, but not actually have relationship with Jesus. Yeah.

Pastor Holland:

I I think of too, like the the real world consequences of uh if you think of um Demetrius, the silversmith who made shrines of Artemis, yeah, yeah. Becoming a believer would mean he has to find a new, you know, a new business. Now, and and now he could be, okay, I'm gonna make crosses or I'm gonna make Bible uh, you know, um, whatever. And um, but just the reality of like becoming a Christian and repentance um requires a turning away of some things um that could be very costly for someone. I think, yeah, how about this?

Pastor Plek:

Becoming a Christian changes your life. Yeah. And so therefore, you've got to take everything that you do through the grid of does this glorify God or not?

Pastor Holland:

And if that if you're a um idol maker, it's like, okay, I guess I'm gonna be something else now. If you're a if you're a practicer of witchcraft, it's like, I guess we're burning these books.

Pastor Plek:

And you just see like the radical surrender and obedience of people. How about so simply how about nature of man? Idolatry is protected by economics. Oh man, yeah. Like we we just have like when when you mess with the financial system, they are gonna try to hold up false worship left and right.

Pastor Holland:

Man, that's crazy. Um, okay, what about uh nature or character of God?

Pastor Plek:

Yeah. Uh how about God gives a spirit to those who believe in Christ? Uh simple thing. The present the spirit's presence confirms true conversion and incorporates the uh people into the body of Christ. Amen.

Pastor Holland:

Um man, I I think uh when it says uh fear fell upon them all. Verse 17, after the dudes get beat up and are naked, uh, and how the very next line is that uh many came confessing and divulging their practices. And so like that fear of seeing the power of God, you know, leads people to be like, oh man, I gotta get serious about God. And so sometimes, you know, like we it's good to reflect on and meditate on um yeah, the power of God. I like that.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah. Okay. Um let's go to uh how about God's word ultimately prevails? I think that's just a basic one. Like, despite opposition, confusion, violence, um, cultural upheaval, the word of the Lord will will the gates of hell shall not prevail against God's word and his church. Amen. Yeah. Um applications? Yeah. All right. So we're getting to sin to avoid or confess, a promise to claim, example to follow, command to obey, or knowledge to believe. Um, what about um how about avoid settling for incomplete belief? Um, like never stop learning. I think there's this part of us that like once you sort of, you know, when when you when God reveals himself to you in some way, you feel like you've you have it all. But no, there's a there's a progressive revelation in a believer's life, and and you're gonna experience growth and study in and growing in God's word and wisdom.

Pastor Holland:

Man, amen. I love that. Um I I think of like uh the example to follow of the people burning their books of like, and just completely separate yourself from your old way of living that was not in Christ.

Pastor Plek:

Oh good.

Pastor Holland:

Just, you know, anything that might um that might distract you or keep you from being all in, get rid of it, even if it's you know, very costly. Um, to give yourself fully to Jesus is always worth it.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, repentance. I I love that. Just clear, I'm burning it, go not going back. Um, I don't want to have a chance of going back to idolatry and witchcraft. I believe it, and they don't have a Bible. Yeah, right. It's not like they're gonna go, oh, I'm trading in my witchcraft book for the Bible. It's like I'm trading my witchcraft for the story I just heard. Yeah. And so, how much more should we as Christians who've got Bibles on every device, uh, you know, ubiquitous access to God's word, should we turn from the darkness and turn toward the light? Yeah.

Pastor Holland:

On on the flip side of that is like the example not to follow, the sin to avoid is being like Demetrius, who is just only concerned about false worship and money and how it's gonna affect true as wealth. Yeah. And uh so don't let that be your stumbling block in in terms of true worship.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah. Um, how about uh let's see. How about prom promise claim? God gives his Holy Spirit to believers. Yeah. I I love that. Like the Holy Spirit is part and parcel of relationship with Jesus.

Pastor Holland:

Uh example to follow, um, the verse 10 about all the residents of Asia hearing the word of the Lord and just having a personal mission of like, I want to tell, you know, I want to see the whole my whole city, my whole community hear the word of the Lord. They might not believe it, but I want I want everyone to hear.

Pastor Plek:

That's good. Every have a vision for every man, woman, and child in your you know, city come to hear and respond to the gospel. All right. Hey, thanks for joining us. Uh, we'll see you tomorrow for a chapter a day.

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