Acts 19. Let me say this about the Book of Acts. Some of you are maybe new. Hopefully, you know, maybe you've caught some of the videos. The Book of Acts is a transition book. It is a history book. A lot of people go to the Book of Acts to get their doctrine, and you can't do that. And I'm going to show you why here in just a little bit. Acts 19. Let me tell you, the main chapters in the Book of Acts that is the main focus If you get these chapters down, you can get most of anything down in the book of Acts. Obviously, Acts chapter number two, big one. Big one, you have to get straight. Acts chapter number 10 is another big one. And Acts chapter number, well, 15, I'll throw 15 in there. That's when Peter and Paul had their little confrontation. And tonight, Acts chapter number 19, and you're gonna see why in just a second. Those chapters right there are the big ones. Now, before we start in verse one of chapter 19, I wanna go back just a few verses and get the context rolling, okay? And it starts actually, let me get on the right page here. It actually starts in verse number 24 of 18, all right? 24 of 18. Let's see, are you there? All right, Acts 18 verse 24. And a certain Jew named Apollos, born in Alexandria, Alexandria, 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." Watch this phrase, knowing only the baptism of John. That's the only thing he knew. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. Synagogues, that's where Jews meet. Whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. Now, let me pause and just say something about this. There's a guy named Apollos, he's a Jew. Very eloquent in the scriptures. But here's something we need to remember. In the book of Acts, Acts chapter 19, 18, where we're at, nobody has a New Testament, okay? Nobody has a New Testament. Nobody can say, hey, turn to Matthew something, or turn to John something, or turn to whatever. All they have is Old Testament scriptures. They don't have a New Testament scripture. And so that's one thing you need to remember, all right? The other thing you need to remember is Jews viewed the thing, we understand there's a cross there, we understand why Jesus died. Those Jews back in this day did not understand, didn't see the cross coming, didn't see Jesus coming and dying for the sins of the world, they didn't see it. What they knew in the Old Testament, They knew about the cross, Isaiah 53, if they put that together. If they read the book of Daniel, they knew this top line, starting here, John the Baptist, and you got tribulation. You'll see a lot of this stuff down here is missing from this top line because Jews didn't see all of this. They didn't see a church. They didn't see Jews and Gentiles in one body. They didn't see it. Nobody ever told them. So, this top line is the way Jews viewed things. Remember, Apollos being a Jew, knowing only the baptism of John. What'd John know? John didn't see a cross. The Jews, I was trying this afternoon to think, okay, what is a good way that I can explain the difference in Judaism and Christianity? There are several differences, but the one main difference is Jesus Christ. Jews believe in God. They believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They believe God created the world in six days, seventh day he rested. They believe all that stuff. They believe Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, the five books of the Pentateuch, the Torah. They believe all of that. The Old Testament said a Messiah would come. They believe that. The Jews said and believed that a king would come. They tried King Saul, that didn't work. King David, he lasted a while. After King David, King Solomon ruled over Israel. After Solomon, the kings, first and second king. All through the kings, the Jews were looking for a king to deliver them. At this particular time, Rome is controlling the Jews and all the Jewish territory. Well, the Jews don't like that. They're looking for a king to come and deliver them. That's why when the wise men came, where is he born? King of the Jews. We're looking for whoever's going to deliver us from this Roman situation and set up a kingdom and be our king. The Jews believed all of that. They believed if they would believe the God of heaven, that he would send a Messiah, he would be the king, the ruler of the Jews, the kingdom, in a perfect environment. That's what they believed. And that's true. But when Jesus Christ came, John the Baptist came and said, behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And he tried to tell the Jews, hey, this is him, this is he. Well, the Jews didn't believe that. The difference, Jews, Christianity, is Jesus Christ. Jews believe most everything we believe except for they don't believe Jesus was the Messiah. It's a big difference. So when Paul comes on the scene, Now we're on this side of the cross. Paul comes on the scene, he says, hey, I'm a Jew myself, but here's something God has revealed to me that Jesus Christ is the son of God, he is the savior of the world, and he will save Jews, Gentiles, bond-free, makes no difference who they are. The Jews still scratch their head over that. They're still trying to piece all that stuff together. Proof, Acts 10, Peter. And Cornelius, the Gentiles, all them Gentiles got saved. Peter was like, man, I don't understand this. But he witnessed it with his own eyes. Now, get back to this. Apollos, a Jew, fervent in the scripture, eloquent in the Old Testament, all of that. He only knows the baptism of John. You say, why was John baptized? Well, I'll tell you. Look at, let's see, Matthew 3.11. Matthew 3.11, John talking, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me is mightier than I. Who's that? Jesus Christ. Whose shoes I'm not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. We've already spent time talking about the baptism of fire and we're gonna do that again tonight. Why was John baptizing? Well, I'll tell you. It's found in John 1.31. Here's the answer. Why John baptized. John baptized Jesus. Think about this, just common sense think for a second. You ever heard this, you get baptized to wash your sins away? You ever heard that? If that's true, why'd Jesus get baptized? To wash his sins away? We better hope not. So that's not the right answer. You know, baptism, wash your sins away. Well, why'd Jesus get baptized? Here's why John baptized. John says this, I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore, am I come baptizing with water. John baptizing Jesus. Jesus wants to be identified, identified with John. When you get baptized, you are identifying with a ministry. You're identifying with a message. You're identifying with a ministry and a message that goes along with that. I'll prove what I'm saying. First Corinthians, let's see, 10, y'all remember this? Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all of our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea. Y'all remember? Moses and the children of Israel going through dry ground, all of that, okay? Watch this, verse two. And were all baptized unto who? Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Every one of those Israelites were baptized unto a man, his ministry, and his message. Identification. Jesus comes on the scene. He says, you know what? I believe what John, I approve of what John's preaching. I wanna be baptized and identified with him and his ministry. That's why. Now, we already know John didn't know this, John didn't know this till John who has already had his head cut off before this happens. Watch this, watch this happens. The crucifixion. Well, we have no king but Caesar, remember we preached that on Sunday, and they crucified Jesus, all right? Well then another guy comes along. Another guy comes along in Acts chapter number two. Remember this guy, his name is Peter. Now he looks just like John the Baptist. Watch this. It looks just like, don't he look just like John the Baptist? Look at that. Frankie don't laugh. All right, Peter. John is baptizing to manifest Christ to Israel. This is the Messiah. Some Jews believed it, a lot didn't. Okay. Jesus is crucified. Then Peter comes on the scene, Acts 2.38, remember the old verse, Acts 2.38, repent, be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, so on and so forth, remission of sins, this, that, and the other. Those people got baptized. Peter's message, his ministry, identifying with Peter's message, his ministry, and the man of Peter, all right? Those people got baptized. It was a Jewish baptism. Now, you get to Acts 19. This Apollos guy is preaching the same message John the Baptist is preaching, okay? He only knows the baptism of John. I'm trying to lay the groundwork. Priscilla and Aquila are two people that have been under Paul's teaching. They hear the message that Apollos preaches that day, and they invite him over for supper after the sermon. You know, you invite the preacher over for chicken, fried chicken, what you ought to do on Sundays. It's in the Bible. You invite the preacher over for chicken. It's in there. to Priscilla and Aquila and invite Apollos over. And Apollos is like, well, what'd y'all think about the sermon? They said, well, we thought it was fine. A few years ago. There's some new revelation, Apollos, that you might not know about. You ever heard of Paul? I don't, no, I've never heard of Paul. Well, I'm gonna tell you, he's got some revelation. some new revelation that you may not know about. And they expounded on him. What did the word say? Verse 26, and he began speaking boldly in the synagogue. And when Aquila and Priscilla invited him over here for chicken, then took he him unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. So Apollos is over here like this. He's like, man, I didn't know Paul, I didn't even know. I didn't know Gentiles, I didn't know Gentiles and Jews, I didn't know all of this stuff. Thank y'all for telling me. Now, verse 27, and when he was disposed to pass under the accord, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him, who, when he was come, helped them much, which had believed through grace. And he mildly convinced the Jews and that publicly showing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ. Look, Apollos has now got his eyes open. He's preaching the word more perfectly. Y'all see that? All right, now we can start, now we can start Acts 19 in verse one, because that goes with it. Verse one, and it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coast, came to Ephesus and finding certain disciples. Verse two, he said unto them, these certain disciples, these certain disciples of Apollos. Remember, these disciples, now you can watch, Apollos before only knew the baptism of John. All right, so these guys have come to this coast where Paul's at in Ephesus. Verse two, Paul says unto them, he said unto them, have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? Now ain't that an odd phrase? How many of y'all ever heard this? And we, look, we love all of our friends, but how many of you have ever heard this? Well now, you get saved today, And you keep praying and keep praying and you come up here and I put my hands on you and in one of these Sundays, you'll get the Holy Ghost. You ever heard that? And then you keep praying and praying and praying and then you'll get evidence of that. All this. And they'll go to Acts 19. Look at there. It says in the Bible, have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? Now, we believe you get the Holy Ghost right when you get saved. Soon as I got saved, I asked the Lord, come, my heart, save me, and the Lord just come on in there right then, and the Holy Spirit is living on the inside of me right then and there. But according to Acts 19, have you received the Holy Ghost since, do you see the confusion? Now let's find out why. Let's keep reading. And they said unto him, they said unto Paul, we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. Well, Paul says, well, I need to investigate this thing further. And he said unto them, unto what then were you baptized? What identification do you identify with? And they said unto John's baptism. All right, pause, that should ring a bell. The only thing they know is John's baptism, right? That's all they know. They know a Jewish baptism by John. They don't even know, I don't know, maybe they didn't have Facebook, maybe they didn't have Twitter, maybe they didn't have the newspaper, maybe they didn't have the news, Fox News. Wherever these guys have been, they didn't know anything about the day of Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit come down. They said, we got baptized by John. We didn't even know there was a Holy Ghost. So guess what? They haven't received the Holy Ghost yet. If they were baptized by John, Holy Spirit didn't show up till here. Paul says, have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? Baptized here, Holy Ghost here. Y'all see? Think about it this way. Think about it this way. I wonder how many of those Jewish people were baptized by John, identifying with John's ministry, and then Peter comes on the scene, a different ministry, with added revelation of the Holy Spirit, and those guys got re-baptized under Peter's ministry and got the Holy Spirit. They got saved here, according to John, and got the Holy Spirit here. Paul says, have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? They said, we didn't even know there was a Holy Ghost. They said, well, all we know was, all we know is John's baptism and his ministry and where he preached at. Verse four, then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance. saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Paul re-baptized them. He re-baptized them, why? Unto his ministry, his message, new revelation. Remember, they don't have an Old Testament. Or excuse me, they got an Old Testament, they don't have a New Testament. They got new revelation. There's a Holy Ghost. Well, we didn't know there was one. Well, there is. And he comes, and he'll live inside of you. Paul says, let me baptize you again. Baptize them, verse six. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Ghost came on them, and they spake with tongues and prophesied. And all the men were about 12, 12, Jewish number, 12, Jewish number, numerology, 12, Jewish number. Now, Have you received the gift of the Holy Ghost? Now, let me show you something. Let's see. Let me show you something. Romans 8 and verse 9. Watch, Romans 8, Romans, Romans 8, verse 9. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Watch this phrase. Now, if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of his. Y'all see that? If you don't have the Spirit of Christ, you're not saved. You get the Holy Spirit when you get saved. Acts 19 says, have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? Well, those guys didn't, why? Because they're leftovers They're stragglers. They're new to the party. They don't know the new information that we know. Y'all see? But once you get to Romans, when I believe, I got the Holy Spirit then. Does that clear that up? I'll show you something else. Watch this in John 7. Watch this in John 7. He that believeth on me, Jesus talking. He said, he that believeth on me, as the scriptures have said, out of his belly shall flow rivers and live in water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. You see. John 7, before the cross. Jesus says, you believe on me? Okay, good. As soon as I'm glorified, seated at the right hand of God the Father, the Holy Spirit's gonna come down and you will get it. You'll get it on the day of Pentecost. You see, a Jew, they believed on the Lord. They had to wait to get the Holy Spirit. We get saved, get the Holy Spirit right then. See the difference? So that little buddy come to you and say, ah, you didn't get the Holy Spirit. You have to keep on praying and keep on praying. See, Paul says, have you received to get the Holy Ghost that you believe? See, you don't get it right then, you have to wait. No, they did, I don't. I get it right then. Now, hope that clears all of that up, maybe. Now, let's look at something. Let's see. Now notice there's a lot of stuff that goes on right here. Paul rebaptizes these guys because of new information. Okay, let me try to explain it this way. All they got is Old Testament scripture. That's all they got. Let's just pretend for a second. Let's pretend. All we got is Old Testament, okay? We come back on a Wednesday night, and I tell y'all, hey, guess what? Just fell out of heaven. We got Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to add to our Old Testament. We start studying Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Guess what? We're gonna learn new stuff that we didn't know. More revelation, right? Three more months later, we get together on a Wednesday night and say, hey, y'all ain't gonna believe this, but just fell out of heaven. I got Acts, Romans, and 1 Corinthians to teach to y'all. We're building, about to dump my board down, hallelujah. Three months more late, y'all ain't gonna believe this, but fell out of the sky, I got Romans, or I done got that, didn't I? I got Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians to tell y'all about. Building upon that. That's the way that thing happened. We have a completed Bible. They got it in parts," you say. So you can't treat everybody, every time you read something, you can't treat them like, well, they ought to know. They don't know because they didn't have it like we do. Now, does that make sense? Now, okay, you're thinking, all right, then why did they speak in tongues, and why did Paul have to lay his hands on them, okay? When I got saved, nobody had to lay their hands on me, and I didn't have to speak in tongues, and to get the Holy Ghost, a preacher or something didn't have to put his hands on me before I get the Holy Ghost, but Paul did right here. These guys spoke in tongues. I didn't when I got saved. Now, why did they do right here? All right, remember, let me show you some verses. The Bible will always clear it up, right? Let me find. Where do we go? Okay, watch this. What are these guys? Y'all remember? Jews. These guys, 12 of them, they're disciples of Apollos. Apollos was a disciple of John the Baptist. That's all they knew. That's all the revelation they had. Paul comes on the scene and starts, hey, let me tell y'all about some Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians stuff that I know about that maybe you don't. And they're like, wow, okay, didn't know that. Watch. For the Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom. That means the Jews have to see something. They're all from Missouri. The show me state. Okay, maybe that's a bad joke, okay. Now, Jews require a sign, right? Greeks seek after wisdom. Now watch this one. 1 Corinthians 1.22. 1 Corinthians 14.22. Wherefore, tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe. How many of y'all believers in here tonight? Okay. The sign is not for you. It's only for unbelievers. But to them that believe, not. but prophesying, so on and so forth. Watch this. Tongues, watch. Tongues. Three times in Acts. Only three times. Let me see, let me give it to you. Hang on. Hang on. Tongues, three times. Is that up there? Acts 2. In Acts 2, the apostles are the only ones that spoke in tongues. The apostles spoke in tongues in Acts 2. All Jews were present. Acts 10. Acts 10 is your second time, tongues is mentioned. These are all Gentiles that got saved, and these Gentiles speak in tongues before they got baptized. Your third time is in Acts 19, where we just read, and these 12 converts, these 12 Jewish disciples of Apollos, They speak with tongues after they get baptized. Watch, Jews are present here. Jews are present here. Oh, you said, oh, that's Gentiles right there, that's Corneas. Uh-uh, yes it was. But guess who was Peter and all his little entourage? All Jews, right? Peter's a preaching to Corneas' house. Jews are present. 19, Jews present. I'll help you. Jews require a... Tongues are for a... Tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe. Now, you're taking that as, you mean, not saved. Watch this. Peter, a Jew, looking at a bunch of Gentiles, was a non-believer that Gentiles could get in like he was. Peter said, ain't no way these Gentiles are getting saved. I'm gonna preach to them anyway, because God told me to come over here. He's an unbeliever. Tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not. When them Gentiles started speaking in tongues, Peter said, well, cut off my legs and call me shorty. I would've never believed it in a million years till I heard them talking in tongues. And they got it just like we did back in Acts 2. Man, they got it. Tongues are for a sign. Not to them that believe, but to them that believe not. Peter was a believe not, and he wound up believing. He's like, man, they got it. 19. Paul, these guys, they speak in tongues, and Paul's like, and Paul's got it. They got the real deal. Y'all see the difference? I hope so. Laying on of hands, laying on of hands. We can go into a long thing about laying on of hands and the reason they did, let me show you this. This right here, if you don't get nothing else tonight, get this right here. There is not a consistent Show you this. How do we get saved today? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Ask Jesus Christ, come in your heart, right? That is set in stone, the Romans wrote. That's not that way in Acts. In Acts two, nobody laid hands on nobody. The apostles spoke in tongues. Right? In Acts 8, the first part of the book of Acts, Acts 8, what was his name? Simon, the sorcerer. They laid hands on him. He received the Holy Ghost. Then later on in Acts 8, the Ethiopian eunuch, which was a Gentile, no hands got laid on him and no tongues. Paul got saved in Acts 9. He believed, lost his eyesight, Ananias had to lay hands on him. He receives the Holy Ghost and then gets baptized. Y'all see that? Acts 10, Cornelius, Holy Ghost falls on him. Cornelius in his house, they speak in tongues before they got baptized and nobody laid hands on him. Acts 16, ready? Lydia, we read her a few chapters ago. Lydia got saved, she's a Gentile. She got saved, she got baptized, just like you and I do. Flippin' Jailer, Acts 16, later on in the chapter. Flippin' Jailer, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved. He believed, got baptized. No tongues, no laying hands on. Y'all see? 19. These guys believed John's baptism. Then they believed Paul's message. They got baptized, re-baptized by Paul, and then Paul laid hands on them, and then they got to receive the Holy Ghost. Now, y'all tell me which way in that book of Acts y'all wanna get saved. Y'all just pick one. I wanna get saved by Acts 2. Well, I got 14 more that's gonna confuse the fire out of you. Why? You don't go to the book of Acts to get your church doctrine. You better wait till you get over to Romans where it all clears up. You see, that's why we're teaching the Book of Acts on a Wednesday night, because man, you'll stub your toe in here. All right, is that clear as mud? Now let's go to verse eight. And when he went into the synagogue and spake boldly for a space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God, Paul, Paul's doing all of this, But when divers were hardened, now that word is several. It's an old English several. So in other words, but when several were hardened, in other words, they hardened, they believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude. He departed from them and separated the disciples. disputing daily in the school of one, Tyrenaeus. Now, obviously this Tyrenaeus guy, he's got a Bible institute or Bible school in his house, and he opens the floor for Paul to come in and start teaching. And that's what he does, verse 10, and this continued by the space of two years. Paul teaches in this guy's house for about two years, so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. The words are spreading. Now look at verse 11. And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul. Miracles are still going on. So that from his body, now watch, again, watch this. So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons and the diseases departed from them and the evil spirits went out of them. Now, how many of y'all, look, not making fun, we're just talking about the Bible, okay? I'm gonna show you where, look, Paul, these people, Paul's going to. The sign gifts, Jews require a sign. The miracles of the sign gifts are still going on right now, because Jews are present, okay? And all these people were diseased and sick, they started handing out handkerchiefs that Paul had touched or prayed over, and these people started getting healed. Now, how many, watch. And many times you've been, you can't sleep at night, so you flip through all the infomercials, and all of a sudden, Peter Popoff comes on there, and he's got the miracle spring water from the Jordan. And he says, if you'll send me a little donation, I'm gonna send you this miracle water. You put this under your pillow, two drops under your tongue, and I'm telling you what, a million dollars are gonna be in your bank account, I mean, by in the morning. You gotta have a point of contact. Or, one time, this really happened. One time, I can't remember, it wasn't Peter Popoff, but what was it? Maybe it was Robert Tilton, maybe. He was sent out to a little prayer cloth. He done prayed over. Blew his nose off, whatever he did. And he sent it to you in the mail, and he said, hey, put this under your pillow. Now, I know some of you say, oh, you're making fun. Okay, wait, listen. Put that in your pillow, and in the morning, you know, you're gonna be healed and all that kind of stuff. Listen, and here's where they get it from. All false doctrine comes from, you can take verses and twist them and turn them and not rightly divide them and make them say what you want to say. You imagine me handing out handkerchiefs Sunday morning. I don't know. I don't know how many of y'all would take it or not, I don't know. But look, I've slept on this, my nose has run on it, and here, take this home and put it on your head, whatever. This is where they get that from, okay? Now watch this. Verse 13. Then certain of the vagabond Jews, now these vagabond is sort of like gypsies, they don't have a home, they go from just town to town to town, they don't have a home, they're vagabond Jews, they're all over the place like a bunch of gypsies. Exorcists, now they claim to be able to cast demons out of folks. Took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits in the name of the Lord Jesus saying, we adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preached. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus, I know. Now the evil spirit's talking. An evil spirit's talking. All right, let me lay the groundwork for you. Paul is healing people. Miraculous things are happening because the sign gifts are still in effect. Jews are present. Jews require a sign. They have to see that kind of stuff. And so Paul's in all this kind of stuff. Well, anytime that goes on, the devil's gonna slip in and try to mess it up, okay? So anytime you got the real deal, the devil will come in with a counterfeit. All, every time. You got Christ, real deal. Antichrist, fake deal. Right? Holy Spirit, real deal. Evil spirits, you see. The devil always, he's got something to counteract. Paul is, these folks are really getting healed. these uh... these uh... sons of skiva and here they come they're like hey we can do it too we can do it too they start uh... come out in the name of of jesus whom this paul fella is a preaching about well this evil spirit starts talking and says now i know who jesus is and i know who paul is but who are you Now, here's a sermon for a Sunday morning. I'm gonna give it to you already. I'm gonna give it to you so you won't even have to come. Why I ain't gonna preach this Sunday morning? Does hell know who you are? Do you cause enough trouble for the devil that he knows who you are? Obviously, Jesus caused him enough trouble, because they knew who he was. Paul must have caused enough trouble. But this guy, he didn't cause enough trouble. And he's like, I don't even know who you are. I know who Jesus is. I know who Paul is. Hey, Old Testament, the devil knew who Job was. Knew who Job was. Knew who Daniel was. You say, does hell know who you are? Now, I'll get off that subject because I feel conviction in the room. Even me, I'm getting conviction. I wonder if hell knows who I am. Do you cause enough trouble for the cause of Christ? Now, I'm not talking about causing trouble in a bad way. I'm talking about causing enough trouble for the kingdom of God that the devil knows. I mean, when you hit your knees in prayer, does the devil say, oh Lord, he's praying again? Or when you start praying, does the devil go, ah, that ain't gonna affect much? Lord have mercy, I'm gonna save that for a Sunday morning. Verse 16, and the man whom the evil spirit, it was leaped on them and overcame them and prevailed against them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. Let me tell you about something. I ain't gonna get all this chapter in. evil spirits, some people, evil spirits, the Bible uses the word demons, or excuse me, devils rather, not demons, but devils. Some people you hear the, demon is a, you know, a transliteration, all that kind of stuff. Anyway, Bible uses the word devils, evil spirits, things of that nature. Now listen to me, you don't have to believe everything I say, but you better believe this one. When evil spirits involved, The devils are involved and people are tormented about that thing. Always, always people want to take off their clothes. People want to harm themselves. I'll give you case in point. You know, those parades that they have in wherever, San Francisco, you know, . But it's proud you know prideful and all of it I got a stitch close all marching down the streets at the most. You tell us that if you like that, stuff a protest Sunday morning, say that one day Exactly, Mark 5, the man of the gatherings, wore no clothes, dwelt in the tombs, he liked Halloween, cut himself, hurt, harm himself, no clothes, all through. Study, when devils are involved and evil spirits are involved, hey, that's what people wanna do. Now, you ain't gonna like it. Like it, lump it, bump it, jump it. But that's the Bible. And I'm telling you, you watch it every time. On television, you see all that stuff, and they're praying up, and proud of it. Praying up down the street, ain't got a stitch of clothes on, and they ain't wearing enough... My daddy would say, they ain't wearing enough clothes to make a pair of breeches for a blue jay. And... Devil's involved with that. Anyway, all right, I didn't expect to get a lot of amens on that. Verse 17, and this was known, all the Jews, the Greeks also dwelt in Ephesus, and fear fell on them, and the name of the Lord was magnified. Man, when they saw the devil, all right, they witnessed Paul doing the real thing. Then they saw the counterfeit come in and try to do it, and got overcome by the evil spirit. Fear came on all, and I'm talking about the Lord magnified and they believed what Paul was talking about. Anyway, verse 18, and many that believed came and confessed and showed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts, tarot cards and Ouija boards and brought their books together, their Harry Potter books together, and burned them before all men. They counted the price of them and found it 50,000 pieces of silver. I looked that up in today's economy with the inflation and all, $300,000. We're talking about Acts 19, $300,000. That's a lot of money. the books and the trinkets and the evil stuff that people had in their home. Revival took place in this whole place and they started bringing stuff and burning it. Anything the evil book, evil spirits that had, you know, and I'm talking about Harry, they didn't have power, Harry Potter, but I bet you they had a version of it. the curious arts, the tarot cards, anything evil, they start bringing that stuff and burning it. Does anybody remember, now I'm old enough now to remember this. I remember back, now I was raised old school Baptist. Shouting Baptist. I remember, Frank you might remember some of this. Man, when we had revival, Linda, y'all remember this? We had revival, and at the end of revival, Man, we'd have a burning outside. People would bring rock music and their Kiss albums and all that stuff. They'd start burning stuff. Y'all remember that? I remember that. Johnny, you remember that? They'd have a burning after revival. They'd burn everything. People just got revived. I remember that. That's what they were doing right here. Anyway, let's get off of that Verse 20, so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. things were ended Paul purposed in his spirit when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem saying, after I've been there I must also see Rome. And let's see he goes, let me read verse 22 and we'll stop for the night. So he sent into Macedonia two of them and ministered unto them, Timotheus, that's Timothy, Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a season. and that's at the end of course 23 starts another paragraph and I can't we'll have to deal with that next time. There's a lot in 19 just a lot of stuff in 19.