Acts Chapter 19 Study Guide

Family Study Guide for January 18, 2006 - January 25, 2007
(Read Acts 19 Online)

Reflections on Acts 19 by Mark Chesner, Coach

Studying is hard work. I hardly need to tell this to quizzers and teens who are still in school. You know that your life from dawn to dusk (and often beyond) is consumed with learning new things, and preparing for that next exam that is around the corner. One of the reasons we quiz - instead of just reading the bible together 0- is that a quiz meet is a deadline which forces us to work hard to learn and be ready by a certain time.

But it is easy to get complacent in our Christian walk, and to think that once we have learned a little bit about God that it is enough. Humans are naturally lazy, and it is inevitable for most of us at some point to think, "I learned about Jesus, I got saved, my ticket to heaven is punched and ready to go. So why do I need to keep studying the Bible? Why do I need to go to Sunday School, study for Bible Quizzing, or listen to the sermon on Sunday?"

Acts 19 gives us three examples of people who thought they knew "enough", but were quickly proved wrong by events.

First, we meet the believers at Ephesus. They are called "disciples" which indicates they knew about Jesus and believed they were following Him correctly. They thought they knew everything they needed to know. But Paul arrives and asks them a very simple question, "Do you know about the Holy Spirit?" But they had no idea what he was talking about. Knowing about Jesus was good - it was a start. But it was not enough, and their lives are transformed by Paul's teaching and the laying on of hands.

Second, we meet the seven sons of Sceva, who are a very different sort. They probably are not believers. But they have heard Paul speak and they have seen the miracles that he has been doing. They note the form by which Paul casts out demons: always invoke the name of Jesus and tell them to come out. They figure that Paul is doing magic the same way that other magicians do, and it is all about knowing the proper incantation. So they go to a demon-posessed man and try their luck. And they get beaten severely, when the demon tells them he knows all about Jesus and Paul but that has nothing to do with them. Again, they have a little knowledge, but not enough for the task at hand.

Third, we meet a group of former sorcerers who have amassed GREAT knowledge. They have a library of books about magic of great value (50,000 drachmas - a drachma is a day's wage for the average worker - about $3,000,000 if we assume an 8 hour day and use he current minimum wage for comparison). But these people, after listening to Paul, have come to understand that they have invested in the wrong knowledge. So, they burn this great library, and turn to learning about the new life instead.

As Christians, we should never assume we have "learned it all" or even "learned enough." We should recognize like the Ephesian believers that we need to be looking for the truths we have not learned, we need to recognize unlike the seven sons of Sceva that we may need to learn more before we try to be a superstar, and like the former sorcerers we need to make sure what we are learning is beneficial in an eternal sense, or else let it go.

Questions to Consider
- What can you do to ensure you are always looking for more knowledge of God and His gospel?
- What is a task you have ahead of you that you need to ensure you truly have the right amount of knowledge and experience about, before you try to do it?
- What is one bit of knowledge or interest that you might need to leave behind in order to follow Christ?

Bible.Org Outline for Acts 19
3. In Ephesus (19:1-19)
a. With Twelve Disciples of John (19:1-7)
b. In the Synagogue of the Jews (19:8-9a)
c. In the Lecture Hall of Tyrannus (19:9b-10)
d. In Conflict with the Occult (19:11-19)
H. Conclusion of Book Six (19:20)
VII. Book Seven: The Extension of the Church to Rome (19:21–28:31)
A. The Plan Announced (19:21-22)
B. The Riot in Ephesus (19:22-41)
1. The Accusations by the Silversmiths (19:22-27)
2. The Demonstration in the Theater (19:28-34)
3. The Quieting of the Mob by the Town Clerk (19:35-41)