The Impact of the Gospel
“Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands.” - (Acts 19:26)
The city of Ephesus plays a prominent part in the New Testament church, especially in the life and ministry of the apostle Paul. He spent two years in this city.
Ephesus was a center of worship for the false goddess known as Artemis, or Diana. The residents of Ephesus made money selling artifacts of the goddess, and it was very profitable for them. Everything was going along fine until the apostle Paul showed up and began to preach the gospel. As God began to work, people were being healed.
In Acts 19, we find the account of a demon-possessed man and some exorcists who tried to cast the demon out of him in the name of “the Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
The response was, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” (verse 15). Then the man attacked them, and they ran away, wounded.
Then verse 17 says, “This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.” As a result, the people brought out their parchments with their writings about false gods and occultism and burned them. The city was impacted by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Because all this was bad for the idol-making business, one of the craftsmen stood up and said, “Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands” (Acts 19:25–26). This stirred up a riot, which spilled into the massive stadium that still stands today.
That is the power and the impact of the gospel.
Summary sentence: Do you know firsthand the power of the gospel message?
Tags: gospel, impact, Ephesus
Copyright © 2012 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
and
Listen to Greg Laurie's daily broadcast on OnePlace.com.
Watch Greg Laurie's weekly television broadcast on LightSource.com.
SPECIAL OFFER
Your gift today, whatever the size, will bring the gospel to people through Harvest America and the outreach efforts of Harvest.
Come with Pastor Greg on a virtual tour of Israel and the Mediterranean in this new DVD resource, the Land of Jesus / Footsteps of Paul. See in a whole new light the lands where the gospel took root and flourished—places like Jerusalem, Capernaum, Galilee, Ephesus, Corinth, Rome, and more.
This DVD will be sent to you in appreciation for your generous gift to Harvest Ministries today.
