FIVE SMOOTH STONES - The Five Ascension Gifts in the Heavenly Shepherds Bag

FIVE SMOOTH STONES — The Five Ascension Gifts in the Heavenly Shepherd’s Bag

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. 27 "So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into dis- repute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship. " 28 Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" 29 So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul's travel companions. 30 And when Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not allow him. 31 Then some of the officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent to him pleading that he would not venture into the theater. 32 Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly(ekklesia) was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together.” We must take note that the Holy Spirit intentionally did not call the about twelve disciples at the beginning of the chapter an ekklesia, but purposely did call this gathering of rabble rousers an ekklesia, a Church assembly. Why? As a matter of fact, as if to try to make an even greater impact on the reader, the Spirit through Luke referred to this group as a Church assembly two more times before the end of the chapter (vs. 39, 41). It may be more difficult to see in a translation, but is quite clear in the original language. What was it that this group of silversmiths had which qualified them as a Church, but not the group of disciples? The first point which is quite obvious is that the disciples had no leader before the apostle Paul came and began to impact and organize them. Not so with the silversmiths, they clearly had a leader in Demetrius, and they followed his leadership. Secondly, there is no clear vison or direction that the disciples were following at the beginning of the record. The assembled silversmiths had a clear vison that they were implementing, to worship the goddess Dianna, and to thereby promote their trade. After the apostle Paul came to Ephesus, the group of disciples was transformed into a Church. The effect of this transformation was felt throughout the region and for centuries to come. While the transformation is recorded in this chapter, the first time the word ekklesia is used concerning the saints in Ephesus is in the next chapter. Acts 20:17 “ From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the Church [ekklesia].”

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