ON TO OTHER PLACES CORINTH AND EPHESUS: P/6

Read Part One HERE

A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS

                   PART XIX - II

I, Paul, am still in Ephesus where I recently spent three months preaching in the synagogue..... I knew that I needed to give the Jews time before they could accept my message... That is why I kept going over my message time and again to prove to them that Jesus is their Messiah.... However, even after praching to them for three months, there are some Jews who refuse to believe.... They not only refuse to believe... They have begun to publicly speak against my message.... That is when I knew it was time for a change.... So I told those who had become followers of the Lord Jesus through my preaching that I sensed we should meet at another location rather than the synagogue...They all agreed with me.... For they were very keen to keep on learning about their Messiah... We are very grateful to the Lord for having helped us find a very suitable meeting place where we could meet daily... These meetings have now been going on for two yeaars... So many people in Asia, both Jews and Gentiles have been able to hear the word of God."... Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn of Paul's decison to start meetings at the lecture hall of Tyrannus....

                   ATTACHMENT A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS

                                                           PART XIX - II

After his encounter with a group of followers of John the Baptist, we find Paul preaching in the synagogue for a three-months period as you can know from Acts 19:8

Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.

However, there where those who were opposed to his message so he ended up teaching believers in a lecture hall for a two-year period as you can know from Acts 19:9-10

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. 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.

Paul realised at some point that among those he preached were some who were unwilling to accept the Gospel message, no matter how clearly the explained the message to them from the Scriptures. In fact, they not only refused to believe his message, they began to publicly speak against his message. That is when he knew the time had come to move the meetings to another venue so he could continue to teach those who did want to know. I believe, we need to learn from this example, for we too may find ourselves at times trying to share the Gospel with people who are unwilling to accept the message. If that is the case then it may be better to move on to other people who may be more open to hear this amazing message.

Read Part Seven HERE