"11 to 4, and Evenings"

Overview

A Schedule Shaped by the Gospel: Paul in Ephesus

Returning to Ephesus as he had promised "if God wills" Acts 18:21, Paul went straight back to the synagogue and for three months "spoke out boldly and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God" Acts 19:8. The Greek tense indicates a continual boldness—the very thing the early church prayed for in Acts 4:29 and that Paul himself requested in Ephesians 6:19. When some hardened their hearts and spoke evil of "the Way," Paul followed Jesus' instruction in Matthew 10:14, withdrew with the disciples, and continued his ministry in the lecture hall of Tyrannus Acts 19:9. Rejection did not silence him; it simply relocated him.

Paul's daily rhythm in Ephesus is striking. In the mornings he worked with his own hands as a tentmaker to support himself and his companions Acts 20:34. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.—the hours when the city paused to escape the heat—he taught in Tyrannus's hall (a detail preserved in some ancient manuscripts and noted in many Bible footnotes). And in the evenings, he went house to house: "I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears" Acts 20:31. Across roughly two years, this disciplined pattern produced an astonishing result: "all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks" Acts 19:10—and Paul himself never left Ephesus. The pastor taught; the hearers carried the message into homes, workplaces, and travels. That is New Testament evangelism.

The pastoral question is sobering. The average adult speaks nearly 16,000 words a day. We long for our neighborhoods, towns, and cities to hear the gospel, yet we can spend those thousands of words and never speak of Jesus. Paul's confession in Romans 1:16—"I am not ashamed of the gospel"—and his question in Romans 10:14—"How are they to hear without someone preaching?"—press upon us. With Peter and John we should be able to say, "we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard" Acts 4:20.

Yet our speech does not begin with us. Christ keeps coming to His people with His own words: It is finished. You are forgiven. You are washed in the blood. I will never let you go. This is my body, this is my blood, given for you. Like a child learning to speak, we begin by repeating what we have first heard from Him. Your neighbor needs to hear your voice. Your neighbor needs to hear the gospel. Speak.

Transcript

Schedules, we all have them, rhythms to life. 0s

Sometimes those schedules are kept in our phones 5s

or in our daytimeers or maybe sometimes even just in our minds. 8s

But we all have the rhythms that we live by and the schedules. 14s

We're going to see today someone who had incorporated a schedule 20s

of 11 to 4 and evenings, 11 to 4 and evenings. 26s

Who was this and what exactly was he doing? 34s

Let's pray. 43s

Gracious Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for this time 44s

and your word is truth. 47s

As we open up the pages of sacred scripture, 49s

the voice that we hear is your voice. 53s

So Father, by your grace now, we submit to its authority. 57s

And ask Father that you will use this word to form us as your people. 62s

And send us forth with clarity of purpose and boldness, 68s

born of you. 75s

In the strong and holy name of Jesus the Christ we pray. 77s

Amen. 82s

Would you open your Bible's please with me to the 19th chapter of the book of Acts? 84s

You'll recall from earlier study in the 18th chapter 89s

that Paul had gone to Ephesus. 93s

In a particular he went into the synagogue to teach. 97s

Remember that's what Paul did. 100s

If there was a synagogue in town, that's the first place he went. 101s

The first place he went to teach and that's what he did in Ephesus. 105s

Look with me, please, a chapter 18 verse 21. 111s

Here he's been in the synagogue in Ephesus. 116s

And the scripture says, but on taking leave of them, 119s

he said, I will return to you if God wills. 122s

Then he said, sail from Ephesus. 129s

We study, we were in that portion of scripture. 134s

The freeing and peaceful word it is 136s

when we indeed repeat those words in our own lives. 139s

When we say, not my will but your will, Lord. 143s

There is relinquishment, there is peace, there is calm, 146s

that is born out of trust in the Lord Jesus. 149s

Paul says, I'll come back if God wills. 152s

And you know what? 157s

God wills. 160s

So when we're in the 19th chapter now, 161s

Paul has returned to Ephesus. 164s

And he's gone right back to the synagogue. 170s

Look with me, please, at verse 8 of chapter 19. 174s

He entered the synagogue and for three months, 180s

spoke out boldly and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God. 184s

Three months is the most extended period of time 192s

that Paul ever stayed in one synagogue, 196s

except for perhaps Corinth. 200s

So this is a extended stay here, 203s

an extended time of teaching, 207s

and notice what he was doing back in verse 8 again. 210s

For three months, he spoke out boldly, 214s

the tense there of the word shows, 219s

and this was a continual action on his part. 222s

There was a continual expression of boldness. 225s

I think of Acts 4th chapter, 231s

the prayer, grant to your servants to speak your word 234s

with all boldness or Paul when he writes in Ephesians 6. 237s

He says, pray also for me so that when I speak, 243s

a message may be given to me to make known with boldness 247s

the mystery of the gospel. 253s

So he goes back to Ephesus, right back in to the synagogue. 257s

It is the will of God. He's speaking with boldness. 261s

Notice how else he's described. 264s

Second part of verse 8, 267s

and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God. 270s

If you peek ahead at the very end of the book of Acts, 276s

Paul is just doing the same thing. 280s

He just keeps doing the same thing. 282s

Day after day, 283s

after day, teaching, preaching about the kingdom of God. 284s

He's speaking with all boldness. 289s

He is argumentative in the sense of entering into dialogue 292s

with people and explaining the truth of the scriptures, 297s

showing how Jesus is the Messiah prophesied. 301s

Showing how Jesus fulfilled those prophecies with all boldness. 305s

He is proclaiming the word, 312s

arguing persuasively. 315s

We go on. 320s

Verse 9, 322s

when some stubbornly refused to believe, 324s

so there's the first reaction. 332s

Notice as some, 334s

says they stubbornly refused to believe. 336s

The tense there means that this was a process. 341s

That over these three months of proclamation, 345s

there was a hardening of the heart of some of them. 348s

Second reaction, second part of verse 9, 354s

and some spoke evil of the way before the congregation. 358s

What's the way? 367s

The way was an early title for Christians. 369s

Remember what Scripture tells us, Jesus is the way and truth 372s

and the life. 377s

So an early designation for Christianity. 378s

It's a gorgeous designation. 380s

It was the fact that they belonged to this way, 383s

with the only way into salvation, 386s

to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 388s

Spawn goes back to Ephesus, 391s

goes back into the synagogue. 392s

He's boldly preaching by the grace of God, 394s

given to Him. 397s

He is persuading some, 398s

however, are not brought to faith. 400s

And there's a hardening of the heart of some. 405s

And with others, 409s

they speak evil of the way. 411s

What then does Paul do? 418s

What does he do? 423s

Next part of verse 9. 426s

He left them, 429s

taking to the disciples with Him. 431s

That act of leaving was an act of judgment. 437s

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew the 10th chapter, 441s

he said, 444s

if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, 445s

shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or down. 451s

So there came a point then. 458s

When it was met by by some, 461s

by reaction and speaking evil of the way, 462s

he simply followed the command of the Lord. 467s

He took his disciples and he left. 470s

Then what did he do? 476s

Last part of verse 9. 479s

And argued daily in the lecture hall of Tyranus. 482s

Who's Tyranus? 489s

We're not exactly sure. 492s

He was the Bible never really defines him. 494s

He's got a couple of possibilities. 498s

He could have simply been the owner of the lecture hall, 501s

or he might have been a teacher for a philosopher. 506s

Tyranus, his name means Tyrant, 511s

if he was a teacher, 514s

can he imagine what his students did with that name? 515s

What a Tyrant he is. 519s

What does Paul do? 522s

Follows the Lord's commandment. 525s

There's the rejection. 527s

It's an act of judgment upon the people. 528s

He didn't stop proclaiming. 531s

He just goes to the lecture hall now of Tyranus. 534s

Here is where the schedule comes in. 544s

Do any of you take Naps? 554s

Do any of you take Naps? 557s

I see some hands and some ready acknowledgement of that. 559s

Yeah, they say that. 564s

Take a Naps is a good thing, right? 565s

Doctors say encourage Naptaking. 567s

It's really not ingrained, however, in our culture, though, isn't. 570s

Well, you go to some countries, 575s

and it is deeply rooted in the culture. 576s

Things stop for a certain period of time, 580s

while people rest or sleep. 584s

At 11 o'clock, in Ephesus, things stop. 591s

That one author says that there were more people sleeping 598s

at 1 p.m. than 1 a.m. 604s

Through what they do. 609s

From 11 to 4, they stopped. 610s

Well, they made a lot of sense. 614s

It's a heat of the day. 615s

They don't have air conditioning, 615s

and so they just stop, and they take a break. 617s

They sleep. 622s

They rest. 624s

When would Tyranus have had his classes? 629s

Well, it wouldn't have been between 11 and 4, right? 634s

Because everything stops. 637s

We'd have been in the morning, right? 639s

As his classes in the morning, 11 o'clock comes, 641s

and it stops. 646s

Okay, what was Paul doing in the morning, 649s

while Tyranus is having classes, 652s

while the hall is being used? 655s

Well, scripture gives us the answer to that. 658s

Turn over, please, to chapter 20, please, verse 34. 660s

Chapter 20 of Acts, verse 34. 666s

Here Paul is writing about his time in Ephesus. 671s

And he says this, 675s

you know for yourselves that I worked with my own hands 677s

to support myself and my companions. 683s

So he's saying when he's in Ephesus, 687s

he worked to support himself. 690s

Well, the Bible tells us elsewhere what was the trade 692s

that Paul knew, how did he support himself? 695s

He was a tent maker, right? 697s

So he tells us right here, 700s

then while he's in Ephesus, 701s

what did he do? He supported himself. 704s

So he made tents. 706s

Well, when would Paul have made the tents? 708s

In the morning, right? 711s

So he was saying, 713s

11 to 4, what was he doing? 715s

Taking a nap? 723s

Most likely in your scriptures, 728s

you've got a footnote next to that verse, 730s

and most likely it says, 732s

some manuscripts say he taught from 11 to 4. 734s

That's a clue. 738s

That the translators are letting you know, 740s

there's a little bit of struggle that we had here. 744s

These are strongly weighted manuscripts. 747s

Some manuscripts that are weaker than other manuscripts, 751s

different sources, et cetera, 754s

different dating on it. 756s

So they're saying, 758s

these are strong manuscripts, 758s

and some of these manuscripts here are saying, 760s

that he taught from 11 to 4. 764s

But they're also making the decision not to include it in the body. 766s

So that's an interpretive decision. 771s

It's weighted, heavy, 775s

but we're deciding not to put it in. 777s

The fact that it's there, 782s

the fact that there are strongly weighted manuscripts 784s

that say he taught there in the lecture hall of Tyranus 786s

from 11 to 4. 790s

The fact that we know from history, 793s

that that was the break time from 11 to 4, 795s

it makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? 800s

Of what would he have been doing between 11 and 4, 804s

teaching in the lecture hall of Tyranus? 810s

So you got the rhythm, right? 817s

Starts his days, making his tense. 819s

11 to clock comes. 822s

Tyranus' students leave the tyrant. 825s

Paul comes in. 829s

Paul starts to teach from 11 to 4. 832s

But that's not all. 842s

What did he do in the evenings? 845s

Well, take a look with me, please. 848s

At chapter 20, verse 31, 852s

chapter 20, verse 31. 855s

Here he's writing about his time and emphasis once again. 862s

And he says, 866s

therefore be alert remembering that for three years, 866s

I did not cease night or day 871s

to warn everyone with tears. 875s

I didn't cease night or day to warn everyone with tears. 879s

So you got the rhythm here? 886s

Makes his tense in the morning? 888s

11 to 4 he teaches. 890s

And then what's he doing at night? 894s

He's going from house to house. 897s

What's he doing? 900s

Staging. 902s

I just add up some of the hours on this. 904s

Just add up the 11 to 4 rhythm that he was in. 906s

He would have taught six to seven days a week. 911s

You times that by the amount of time he tells us that he was teaching. 918s

That's 15 to 1800 hours of teaching. 921s

Just in the hole alone. 927s

And then he's teaching at night. 930s

So morning tense, 11 to 4 he teaches and that at night he teaches. 932s

There was no nap here. 938s

There was no break here. 940s

This was this constant proclamation of the word of God and notice, verse 10. 942s

This continued for two years so that all the residents of Asia both Jews and Greeks heard the word of the Lord. 952s

Ketset phrase, all the residents of Asia both Jews and Greeks heard the word of the Lord. 967s

All of Asia heard and Paul never left Ephesus. 981s

What happened? 995s

That's New Testament evangelism, isn't it? 996s

The pastor teaches. 1001s

And then the evangelists take the teaching. 1004s

And wherever their travels take them into homes, into workplaces, into neighborhoods, into travel far away, they take the message. 1009s

And they proclaim it. 1023s

All of Asia heard the gospel and Paul never left Ephesus. 1024s

Paul writes in Romans the first chapter. 1038s

He says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. 1043s

It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 1048s

Peter and John say in Acts 4, 1059s

we cannot keep from speaking about what we've seen and heard. 1062s

Paul writes in Romans the 10th chapter, 1070s

how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? 1073s

So faith comes from what is heard and what is heard comes through the Word of Christ. 1079s

The average adult speaks. 1099s

15,942 words in a day. 1108s

The average adult 15,942 words in a day. 1116s

What is the temptation? 1132s

The temptation is to say, wouldn't it be wonderful? 1137s

If all of great vine and cauliflower and south-lake and color and flower-mown and Lewisville and Arlington, 1147s

then wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone heard the gospel of Jesus Christ? 1156s

And yet at the same time, 1172s

not say a word about Jesus. 1177s

You see the longing that everyone will come to know Jesus Christ is an evangelistic hope. 1184s

But the church, when she is silent, mutes the hope, 1198s

all of Asia heard and Paul never left Ephesus. 1210s

Wouldn't it be wonderful on Sunday mornings if there were as many cars on the road as there are on a Friday night of people moving to worship? 1226s

Wouldn't it be wonderful in the church? 1240s

Stay silent. 1246s

And the 15,942 words are used on other things. 1250s

We have a pension for being silent, reserved, quiet. 1265s

But amidst our quiet food, God keeps coming and speaks words. 1288s

He keeps coming to us and He says, it is finished. 1299s

The sin debt has been a tone for the sin debt has been paid. 1309s

You are washed in the blood. 1314s

You are covered in the blood. 1316s

It is finished. 1319s

You are forgiven. 1320s

He keeps coming and declaring those words. 1322s

He keeps coming and speaking the words that we hear in the waters of baptism. 1327s

Mine, I am not letting you go. 1335s

He keeps coming and speaking the words, this is my body. 1339s

This is my blood for you. 1344s

He keeps coming and speaking the words and like a child learning a language. 1348s

The words start to form on my mouth and like a child learning language. 1359s

The word comes forth. 1370s

Friends, your neighbor needs to hear your voice. 1383s

Friends, your neighbor needs to hear the gospel. 1396s

Friends, your neighbor needs to hear the words you have to share. 1407s

Friends, your neighbor needs to hear the gospel. 1419s

Speak. 1432s

Thank you. 1462s