Thought from today’s Bible reading from Acts 18:19-19:41.
Paul had a very productive time in Ephesus preaching the gospel. Even with opposition that forced him to leave the synagogue, he was able to reach far beyond just the city limits of Ephesus.
“And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:8-10).
How was Paul able to have such great success in spreading the gospel that “all who lived in Asia heard the word”? First, notice what was not involved in Paul’s work:
- There was no missionary society that had sent Paul or other men to help him reach Ephesus and beyond.
- There was no sponsoring church collecting money from other churches to fund the work that was being done.
- There was no human institution that hosted a lectureship to give Paul a forum in which he could preach.
So how was the gospel able to spread so well in two years? Paul simply taught the gospel every day using a public facility that would allow others to hear him. This proved to be very effective.
Many people today have difficulty seeing how the gospel can be spread effectively without unauthorized church cooperation or unscriptural human organizations. Yet we see the success of Paul’s work. In the New Testament, all we read about are local churches acting autonomously in spreading the gospel and individual Christians working to proclaim the gospel without the aid of human institutions. We can, and must, do the same today.
Tomorrow’s reading: 1 Corinthians 1-4
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
