The Power of the Spirit in Paul - Acts 19

⁸ Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. ⁹ 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 and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. ¹⁰ This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

From his experiences at Corinth, Paul is very willing to leave the synagogues and find new places to preach and teach.  This is the new dimension of his ministry.  There is a sense where Paul has crossed over the need to be in the synagogues at all.  At first, he was zealous for all of his kinsmen, fellow Jews, to be saved and he would preach fervently to them to the point of their violence against him.  He would preach first to the Jews then to the Gentiles.  But now, when the Jews get “obstinate” and purposely oppose him, he is quick to move out of their location and preach to the Gentiles primarily and do it in a non-Jewish location. 

He preached for two years.  “All the Jews and Greeks … heard the Word of the Lord.”  This is an incredible statement.  Paul was very effective at getting the message of the gospel out in Ephesus.  The church at Colossae was most likely formed at this time from his time in Ephesus.

¹¹ God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, ¹² so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

Paul is obviously full of the Holy Spirit during this time.  God is with Him in a powerful and great way.  Like Peter, Paul is experiencing miracles being done through him by Jesus that only Jesus had previously performed.  This is further proof of how every one in the area had heard the gospel message.  Paul was such a light as the messenger for Jesus that the news spread and people heard.

When have you heard of someone's sweaty handkerchiefs and aprons being used to heal people?  Paul was a tent maker and they didn't have air conditioning at that time.  People so believed in him as the messenger of God that they believed if they could touch a garment of his they would be healed, and they were healed.  Towards the end of the movie, "Hacksaw Ridge", the captain tells Desmond Doss, "Most of the men don't believe the same way you do, but they believe so much in how much you believe."  In other words, they might not believe in the God he believes in, but they believe in how much he believed in God and they needed him to pray for them and be with them.  This is an incredible testimony.  This is the essence of the healing in these rags of Paul's.  The people so believe in Paul's belief in God that if they can only touch something of his, then Paul's God will heal them.  They have faith in Paul's God because of Paul's intense unwavering faith.

Where are the people today who are full of the Holy Spirit?  People who are so full that they stand out even when they aren’t trying to do so.  Where is the Mother Teresa or Billy Graham of our time?  Those people who are so full of the Spirit that even a society that opposes Jesus gives them respect and honor.  When will we see such persons and who will they be?  

A better question is this: Where are the people who have intense and unwavering faith?  So much faith that even those who don't believe in God, believe in the person who believes in God in this manner - with their whole heart and fullness of their character.  Where are these people?  Why aren't I that person?  Why aren't you that person?