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Read (and listen!) through the amazing story of Luke and Acts!
Immerse: Luke and Acts is part of Immerse: The Reading Bible, which takes you on a new and unique journey through the books of Luke and Acts in the New Testament. This fresh arrangement of the books highlights the depth of the New Testament’s fourfold witness to Jesus the Messiah. The Son of God, who fulfills all the longings and promises of the collected Scriptures. The goal of Bible reading is to understand the sacred writings in depth so we can learn to live with them. Using the text of the New Living Translation (NLT) from Tyndale Publishing, now you can experience Luke and Acts the same way the original readers did and be fully immersed in the most amazing story of all time!
Oliver: Welcome to Immerse
Luke and Acts, Day 34, Week 7
..
Afterward, Paul felt compelled by
the Spirit to go over to Macedonia
and Achaia before going to Jerusalem.
And after that, he said,
I must go on to Rome.
He sent his two assistants,
Timothy and Erastus, ahead to
Macedonia, while he stayed a while
longer in the province of Asia.
About that time, serious trouble
developed in Ephesus concerning the Way.
It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who
had a large business manufacturing silver
shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis.
He kept many craftsmen busy.
He called them together, along with
others employed in similar trades.
And address them as follows.
Gentlemen, you know that our
wealth comes from this business.
But as you have seen and heard, this
man Paul has persuaded many people that
handmade gods aren't really gods at all.
And he's done this not
only here in Ephesus, but
throughout the entire province.
Of course, I'm not just talking about the
loss of public respect for our business.
I'm also concerned that the
temple of the great goddess
Artemis will lose its influence.
And that Artemis, this magnificent
goddess, worshipped throughout the
province of Asia and all around the world,
will be robbed of her great prestige.
At this their anger boiled,
and they began shouting, Great
is Artemis of the Ephesians.
Soon the whole city was
filled with confusion.
Everyone rushed to the amphitheater,
dragging along Gaius and
Aristarchus, who were Paul's
traveling companions from Macedonia.
Paul wanted to go in too, but
the believers wouldn't let him.
Some of the officials of the province,
friends of Paul, also sent a message
to him begging him not to risk his
life by entering the amphitheater.
Inside, the people were all shouting,
some one thing and some another.
Everything was in confusion.
In fact, most of them didn't
even know why they were there.
The Jews in the crowd pushed
Alexander forward and told
him to explain the situation.
He motioned for silence
and tried to speak.
But when the crowd realized he was
a Jew, they started shouting again
and kept it up for about two hours.
Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!
Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!
At last, the mayor was able to
quiet them down enough to speak.
Citizens of Ephesus, he said,
everyone knows that Ephesus is the
official guardian of the temple
of the great Artemis, whose image
fell down to us from heaven.
Since this is an undeniable fact, you
should stay calm and not do anything rash.
You have brought these men here, but
they have stolen nothing from the temple
and have not spoken against our goddess.
If Demetrius and the craftsmen
have a case against them, The
courts are in session and the
officials can hear the case at once.
Let them make formal charges, and if
there are complaints about other matters,
they can be settled in a legal assembly.
I am afraid we are in danger of
being charged with rioting by the
Roman government, since there is
no cause for all this commotion.
And if Rome demands an explanation,
we won't know what to say.
Then he dismissed them,
and they dispersed.
When the uproar was over, Paul sent
for the believers and encouraged them.
Then he said goodbye
and left for Macedonia.
While there, he encouraged the believers
in all the towns he passed through.
Then he traveled down to Greece,
where he stayed for three months.
He was preparing to sail back to
Syria when he discovered a plot by
some Jews against his life, so he
decided to return through Macedonia.
Several men were traveling with him.
They were Sopater, son of Pyrrhus
from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus
from Thessalonica, Gaius from
Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and
Trophimus from the province of Asia.
They went on ahead and
waited for us at Troas.
After the Passover ended, we boarded
a ship at Philippi in Macedonia, and
five days later joined them in Troas.
where we stayed a week.
On the first day of the week, we
gathered with the local believers
to share in the Lord's Supper.
Paul was preaching to them, and
since he was leaving the next day,
he kept talking until midnight.
The upstairs room where we met was
lighted with many flickering lamps.
As Paul spoke on and on, a young
man named Eutychus, sitting on the
windowsill, became very drowsy.
Finally, he fell sound asleep and
dropped three stories to his death below.
Paul went down, bent over him,
and took him into his arms.
Don't worry, he said, he's alive.
Then they all went back upstairs, shared
in the Lord's supper, and ate together.
Paul continued talking to them
until dawn, and then he left.
Meanwhile, the young man was
taken home alive and well, and
everyone was greatly relieved.
Paul went by land to Asos, where
he had arranged for us to join
him while we traveled by ship.
He joined us there, and we
sailed together to Mytilene.
The next day we sailed
past the island of Chios.
The following day we crossed to
the island of Samos, and a day
later we arrived at Miletus.
Paul had decided to sail on past
Ephesus, for he didn't want to spend
any more time in the province of Asia.
He was hurrying to get to
Jerusalem, if possible, in time
for the festival of Pentecost.
But when we landed at Miletus,
he sent a message to the elders
of the church at Ephesus.
Asking them to come and meet him.
When they arrived, he declared, you
know that from the day I set foot in
the province of Asia, until now, I
have done the Lord's work humbly and
with many tears, I have endured the
trials that came to me from the plots
of the Jews, I never shrank back from
telling you what you needed to hear
either publicly or in your homes.
I have had one message for Jews
and Greeks alike, the necessity of
repenting from sin and turning to God,
and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.
And now I am bound by the
Spirit to go to Jerusalem.
I don't know what awaits me, except that
the Holy Spirit tells me in city after
city that jail and suffering lie ahead.
But my life is worth nothing to me
unless I use it for finishing the
work assigned me by the Lord Jesus.
The work of telling others the good
news about the wonderful grace of God.
And now I know that none of
you to whom I have preached the
kingdom will ever see me again.
I declare today that I have been faithful.
If anyone suffers eternal death, it's
not my fault, for I didn't shrink from
declaring all that God wants you to know.
So guard yourselves, and God's people.
Feed and shepherd God's flock.
His church, purchased with His own blood.
Over which the Holy Spirit
has appointed you as leaders.
I know that false teachers, like
vicious wolves, will come in among you
after I leave, not sparing the flock.
Even some men from your own group
will rise up and distort the truth
in order to draw a following.
Watch out.
Remember the three years I was with
you, my constant watch and care over you
night and day, and my many tears for you.
And now I entrust you to God and the
message of His grace that is able to build
you up and give you an inheritance with
all those He has set apart for Himself.
I have never coveted anyone's
silver or gold or fine clothes.
You know that these hands of mine have
worked to supply my own needs, and even
the needs of those who were with me.
And I have been a constant
example of how you can help
those in need by working hard.
You should remember the words
of the Lord Jesus, It is more
blessed to give than to receive.
When he had finished speaking,
he knelt and prayed with them.
They all cried as they embraced
and kissed him goodbye.
They were sad most of all because he had
said that they would never see him again.
Then they escorted him down to the ship.
This concludes today's
Immerse Reading Experience.
Thank you for joining us.