Acts 19:3
And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.”
(a) John; see entry for Mark 1:4.
(b) John’s baptism of water prophetically foreshadowed the baptism of the Holy Spirit. See entry for Mark 1:8.
Acts 19:10
This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
The word of the Lord is synonymous with the word of God. The gospel of Jesus, in other words. See entry for Acts 12:24.
Acts 19:20
So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.
(a) The word of the Lord; see entry for Acts 12:24.
(b) Growing mightily. The Christians of the early church bore witness to the great fruitfulness of the gospel (Acts 12:24, 13:49, 19:10). By the time Paul wrote to the Colossians, the gospel was bearing fruit all over the world (Col. 1:6).
Acts 19:28
When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
(a) Rage. The grace of God provokes wrath among the religious and self-righteous (see entry for Luke 4:28).
(b) Great is Artemis. At the end of days there will be two kinds of people; the righteous and the enraged. Those who are cast away will not be stunned and silent, they will be defiant and wrathful. They will be gnashing their teeth and shouting things like “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.”
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