All right, then 19:1-6 is the great cloverleaf at the interstate crossover, where everybody sails off and breaks their neck. And 19:1-6 has probably messed up more Christians in this town than any other passage in the Bible outside of Acts 2:38.

And it goes like this:

19:1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,

2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism.

4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

7 And all the men were about twelve.

“And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth,...” that Dave Wilkerson and Captain Kullaman and the pastor of Liberty Baptist Church found certain Baptist Christians, and they said to these Baptists, “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?”

And these Southern Baptists said, “We have not so heard as much whether there be any Holy Ghost.”

And they said, “Then in what were you baptized?”

And they said, “We were baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”

Then said Paul, “John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, but you should believe on Christ.”

When these saved Baptists heard this, they were baptized according to Acts 2:38, and when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them, and they spoke in a blabber-blabber.

Now, that’s how it’s given out.

All right, now we’ll try it in truth.

Nineteen:1: “And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth.” Apollos! The Jew! Knowing only the baptism of John! People will not take the context.

“Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples.” They weren’t saved Christians. If they’re following Apollos, all they had was John’s baptism. That’s perfectly evident from what follows.

In plainer words, this — “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?” — is not even the question that you should ask a Christian. And if you did ask it to him, he’ll tell you to go fly a kite, because it’s got nothing to do with what you’re talking about.

That’s a question you ask a man who’s had John’s water baptism.

All right, he said, “He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.” That couldn’t refer to any saved Baptist. There isn’t a Baptist in America who wasn’t baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.

How could you say you hadn’t heard whether there be any Holy Ghost or not?

Under what then were you baptized, if you hadn’t heard that there be any Holy Ghost?

“And they said.” You’d think a fellow could read, wouldn’t you? “Unto John’s baptism.” There it is! That’s got no reference to anybody in Pensacola. That isn’t a reference to Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Florida or New Mexico.

QUESTION: That would apply to them, wouldn’t it?

That would apply to who?

QUESTION: The Pentecostals?

Yeah, yeah, probably, yeah. They’re talking about the baptism of the Holy Ghost and the fire of John; they’re trying to get to Heaven by works under the law.

“And they said, Unto John’s baptism.” Then that isn’t a legitimate question you ask a born-again believer.

And he said he hadn’t heard whether there’s any Holy Ghost or not. If you’ve been baptized, what did the fellow say when he baptized you? If he didn’t baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, what was the deal?

“And they said, Unto John’s baptism.” Then he knows all they have is Old Testament truth up to Matthew 3. So in Acts 19 you have an unusual case popping up real late in your Bible. You have a holdover from Acts 2. You have a bunch of Jewish proselytes showing up here. When these guys show up, all they have is partial. They had what the Jews had in Acts 2. They had the revelation of John’s baptism. They didn’t know that Christ died, was buried, rose again the third day from the dead.

So Paul obviously preaches to them, because verse 4 said, “John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Now, obviously, all the words Paul tells them is not there, but the content of the message is there, to believe on Christ.

“When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Which implies they’re Jewish disciples. And Apollos is a Jew. And they’re not baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost — Gentile baptism. They’re baptized “in the name of the Lord Jesus,” like Acts 2:38. That is, they’ve come across there just like the ones in Acts 2, except they weren’t there.

QUESTION: So when a Jewish person comes to the Lord, you could baptize like that?

You could do it that way. I wouldn’t hesitate to do it. If I baptized a saved Jew, I wouldn’t hesitate to baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

QUESTION: What was said in John’s baptism? Like, he baptized them in the name of Jesus, or what was John’s baptism?

John’s baptism was in his own name; he’s called John the Baptist. They said, all men to come to him, to John the Baptist. They said about John, they said, “This fellow baptizes, and all men to come to him. What have you got to say about that?” The idea is the man who does the baptizing is baptizing in his own name. Paul said, “I thank God that I baptized none of you, lest you should say that,” you know, baptize in your own name.

All right, verse 6: “And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and —” one: “— they spake with tongues.” That’s a sign. All right, it’s a sign to a Jew. Why is it given here? Verse 8: They “went into the” what? “The synagogue.”

QUESTION: So these Paul that Paul preaches to in verse 4, he’s preaching to a Jewish proselyte as Peter is, but with salvation by grace?

That’s right. Of course, it’s a mixed up thing, isn’t it? Boy, if a guy get the plan of salvation in Acts 2 and Acts 19 and Acts 8 and Acts 9 and Acts 10 and Acts 16, he’d have almost five different ways. If they get messed up, they get messed up in Matthew, Acts, and Hebrews.

QUESTION: Aren’t those ones in the synagogue, don’t they speak the same language as these?

In tongues?

QUESTION: No, I mean, before they got tongues. Didn’t they speak the same language? They lived in the same place.

I don’t know. Maybe they’re speaking to them in Hebrew. Yeah, and you’ve got Jews right here in this town that don’t know Hebrew at all.

All right, verse 8. No, verse 6. One more thing. “They spake with tongues.” There’s the sign to the unbeliever. “And prophesied.” There’s the sign to the believer. The guy who believes that’s present is Paul; let the fellow know he did the right thing.

“And all the men were about twelve.” A picture of Israel.

19:8 And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.

9 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.

10 And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:

12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

“And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers —” different ones “— were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.” Now we don’t know who Tyrannus was. But notice it’s a dispute. That’s verse 9, or verse 7. That isn’t just good positive preaching; a dispute’s an argument. He’s dealing with him; he isn’t going to get this thing just by sweet positive preaching.

Now, I don’t know who Tyrannus was. He had a school. And don’t you know the devil would make sure he never got any publicity. You hear about the school of the Stoics and the Epicureans. You don’t hear about Tyrannus. But Tyrannus must have had some school, because verse 10 says, by the time that thing went on two years, everybody in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus — both Jews and Greeks. So that thing there had a hearing, whatever that thing was.

Now, you read the commentaries on it, you don’t get much more light than you do right hear. But it looks like a heathen philosopher has a school, and he lets Paul come in every day and talk to students for two or three hours a day, because he’s an open-minded heathen, and he’s a philosopher probably, and he lets him go ahead and talk — and, boy, the word gets out!

That shows you a great thing about the Bible. The Bible is always emphasizing what the world ignores, and the world is always emphasizing what God ignores. You want to get used to that.

You fellows studying Bible archeology, you notice how the Bible emphasizes Moses’ law, and not Hammurabi’s law? Do you notice how you can’t find a record of Joseph anywhere in archeology as such? And yet he was second to Pharaoh; you can’t find a record of him? But you can find all those Pharaoh monarchs ruling back there for fifteen dynasties?

The world always emphasizes what God ignores, and vice versa.

Did you know there isn’t one secular account of the life of Jesus Christ by anybody but a disciple? There’s a little place in Josephus’ Antiquities about that big — and Josephus didn’t write it. It was stuck in later.

Did you ever stop to think about that when you study history? You see, the devil wants to have you think that history is real, and this isn’t real. So, what he does, he always emphasizes stuff out there that God ignores, and then when you come to this thing you say, “Hey! What’s this?”

I mean, do you realize how many chapters in your Bible deal with Abraham and Sarah? I defy you to find Abraham and Sarah in any book in the world, except the word of God — unless it was taken from the word of God. Abraham and Sarah take up Genesis 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 — two people.

Abraham and Isaac — you pick up an encyclopedia on the world’s great men and the world’s great women, you wouldn’t them mentioned except, “P.S.: There’s a woman in the Bible named Sarah, who was Abraham’s wife.” And you get a book that thick on Queen Victoria. And you get one that thick on Marie Antoinette — eight or nine of them. And you get one that thick on Marilyn Monroe. You get one that thick on Jackie Onassius, or whatever her name is. And the world always builds that stuff up, and when you get to the Bible, it makes you feel like you’re not at home, not comfortable, see.

There isn’t one account of the Jews coming out of the land of Egypt and crossing the Red Sea. And, because there’s no account, they say it was just a little old marshy piece of ground out there. But it wasn’t. It’s a type of the Rapture.

All right, you pick up a history book and read about philosophical schools — Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, Zeno, Epicureus, that bunch — where’s Tyrannus? He isn’t mentioned. He isn’t mentioned. Stood in the back alley. Everybody heard the word of God in one little old school — I don’t know how big the school was.

I used to hear Bob Jones Sr. talk, and always didn’t like him. And he’d say, he’d say {Dr. Ruckman imitating Bob Jones Sr.’s gruff voice}, “This school’s gettin’ too big.” He said, “You know, there’s a danger in bigness.” He said, “As long as you’re small, your safe. When you get big, there’s a danger!” And he said, “When Jesus started out, He had a little school; He had twelve disciples. Twelve in His school. They said, ‘What you got for your curriculum down on your school.’ He said, ‘Oh, fowl of the air. Lily of the field.’ And they said, ‘What do you require? What kind of test do they have in your school?’ And He said, ‘Get yourself a cross.’” And he said, “He had twelve disciples, and one of them a devil. I wonder how many are sittin’ here this mornin’?”

{Raucous laughter.}

Oh, he told it, boy! And yet, you know something, that little old school with twelve people went out, and took the Roman Empire, and just tore it all to pieces, until the king had to profess Christianity in order to hold the empire together! See? Twelve disciples. Little old school. Where’s the record of it in secular history? It isn’t there. The devil just made sure it’s never mentioned.

The Great Awakening came from a log cabin in a guy’s back yard. Remember, old Charlie Harrolton had his boys back there teaching Latin and Greek in the back yard log cabin. He had four students; I think three of them were his sons. And the Great Awakening came in that place right there.

That’s how the Lord does it. The Lord’s crafty.

QUESTION: The devil has his revivals too, doesn’t he?

Oh yeah. And they get plenty of publicity.

You know, there’s something about this. I mean, considering the work that Bob Jones turned out and done. It’s done a remarkable work along many lines, and had a big impression on the country in many ways. The founder wasn’t, he wasn’t head of the National Council of Churches. He was born in Skipperville, Alabama. And raised in Brannon Stand. Any of you know where Brannon Stand is? You take old what’s-his-name, J. Frank Norris. He was born in a town in Alabama near Dixie Mill so small I cannot even remember the name of it and you couldn’t find it on the map, those guys.

You take Rawlings’ big church. Today he’s running 5,000 in Sunday School and got a radio program and a weekly television program, contacts all over the country. Where is he from? He’s from a town out in Texas, you can hardly find the thing out on the map. Southwest of Tyler someplace; isn’t even on the map. See? And the Lord will reach down there and take that thing out there, and take that thing like that, and take that thing, cultivate it.

John the Baptist was unknown. He grew up in the wilderness. Then all of a sudden he stepped right out there, right out in public, and there it goes.

Now, I don’t know who Tyrannus was. But whatever he had, he had a school where philosophers and wise men, educators all over the country, came in there. When they came in there, Paul got ‘em, and Paul shook ‘em up.

Paul said in Corinthians, he said, “A great door, and effectual, was opened unto me.” Remember that thing in Corinthians? That’s the door he was talking about, right there.

Verse 10: “And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul.” So he’s getting things done that are greater than the miracles wrought by Christ.

“So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.” That’s casting out evil spirits with a handkerchief. So you hear the healer on the radio try that, you know. You ever heard that? “Send in and get this handkerchief. We’ve prayed over this tablecloth. Get this prayer rug.”

I was out between Dallas and Fort Worth, had a meeting out there last year, a fellow named Burleson out there. And I turned that radio on in my motel, listening to it for about five or six hours a day while I was painting. I never heard so much accumulated trash in all my life, man! My goodness, man! I mean, women preachers and that stuff, you know — “Send this olive leaf,” you know, “and this mustard seed, and this prayer cloth, and this rug,” you know, “with the Lord’s Supper on it, and this tablecloth.” And, “Dear Reverend Ike, I got one of your tablecloths,” you know, “it was such a blessing. I put one on the stove, and one on my pillow. And I’ve got one on the car seat,” and all that stuff, man!

All that stuff trying to reproduce this stuff here, you know, get a government.

COMMENT: You missed the greatest lesson of them all. Reverend Shambaugh today standing somewhere down in south Florida, having a big revival down there. They had a guy in the meeting that’s got a glass eye. And he can see out of it!”

Ahh! Ha ha ha ha! {Raucous laughter.}

COMMENT: He can take it out and hold it in his hand, you know, then still see out of his eye. He’s up there reading letters, and all this stuff.

Contact lenses!

OK, that’s a good place to stop there at the paragraph mark. We’ll stop there at verse 12.

19:13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.

14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.

15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?

16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

18 And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.

19 Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

20 So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.

Nineteen, verse 13. Now in this passage here Paul is in the European mainland. He’s in Corinth. And Corinth is north of Greece and around Greece. And this is talking about something that happened while he was there. And then it says this place right here — I’d better get this straight here — this is Ephesus going on here, in the Asiatic mainland. He went through Corinth in 19:1; he’s in Ephesus now. And Ephesus is over across Dardanelles in Asia, Asia Minor. That is, the mainland of Asia again.

And then in 13: “Then certain of the vagabond Jews —” Jews of the Dispersion, wandering Jews, vagabonds.

“Exorcists.” Now that’s where the word came from. And when the King James Bible said “exorcist,” then when they made the movie called “The Exorcist,” they borrowed the King James expression. And the new bibles don’t have it. I don’t know what the new bibles call it; they don’t call it “exorcist.” And so the King James is always up to date, and always original, and always up with the age.

Now, an “exorcist” is a professional who casts out demons. Or, at least, professes to be able to do it. And the “Ex” part of it is the “out” part of it. Like “exodus” — to “come out.” “Exit” — to “go out.” And “exorcist” is somebody who measures in casting out unclean spirits.

“Took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits.” That is, to call them over to them and deal with them.

“To call over them which had evil spirits.” And to lay hands on them and call it over their head, too.

“Took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.” The “adjure” means to put you under oath. And our term “jury” comes from it. To “adjure” is to make you swear by God, they put you under oath. And they tell Christ, “We adjure thee by God to tell us whether you are the living Christ, the living God” — they’re putting Him under oath.

“We adjure you —” we put you under oath “— by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.” They don’t believe on Christ; they’re not converted; they’re just using the name because they’ve seen Paul do it.

“And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.” And, of course, a false priesthood. It’s not the priesthood of Jerusalem, and they’re not Levites evidently; they’re just phonies. And they did so. So they get ahold of this fellow, and they make him kneel, and they put the hand on him and tell him, “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”

And when they do that, verse 15: “And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?” And that brings up an interesting thing. That shows that demon-possessed people know Christ. They know Christ.

Now, the demon-possessed people in the Bible are never atheists. They’re always fundamentalists. The demon-possessed people in the Bible believe in the deity of Christ, that He’s the Son of God, that He’s the chosen of God, that He’s the Holy One of God — and they know Him. So it isn’t like, what you hear, when the charismatics put out their little books on demonology and demons, they’re always very careful to tell you a Christian cannot be demon-possessed. They say that, because they are possesssed — is why they say that. Always very careful to say that “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world,” and all this and that stuff. Well, that’s fine theory, but that has nothing to do with anything. I mean, “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world” — so what? What does that mean? I mean, what if you don’t yield to Him? What if you don’t surrender to Him? What if you don’t let Him have your body? “Glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are God’s” — that don’t mean anything. What if they are God’s? The Lord’ll turn them over to the devil. “Glorify God in your body, which is God’s.” “Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.” “Take you such a one and deliver him to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.” That doesn’t have anything to do with anything.

So these fellows there, they’re deceived. When you find these people talking about, “Well, a Christian cannot be demon-possessed,” you’re dealing with somebody who’s been falsely led by something written by somebody who is controlled by a devil.

Now, my teaching on this is, the devil cannot get your soul. And they’ll promptly say, “Well, then it’s not complete possession.” But, see, it’s a crazy kind of stupidity because there’s nowhere in the Bible where it says the devil has to have your soul to possess you. That guy who’s possessed with devils in Mark chapter 5 is just said to have an unclean spirit. That’s all it says about him. The man had a thousand demons in him, but it was called a “devil” and an “unclean spirit.” And, “the devil” — they’re used interchangeably.

Now, you take a Christian. The part the devil can get on you is your brain and your mind and your imagination and your liver and your kidney and your heart and your intestines and your body and your blood and your bones and your testimony and your character and your speech and your ears and your eyes and your thoughts. Now, what do you call that? If that isn’t possession, what is?

And somebody says, “Well, he can’t get your soul.” Well, we know that. The soul is saved. But that’s completely beside the point. You can have saved people acting like that maniac of Gadara did.

QUESTION: What about the spirit?

No, the spirit has been born-again.

QUESTION: When the charismatic is talking about “our spirit,” is there two spirits?

Yeah, there’s the Spirit of the Lord and the spirit of man.

QUESTION: Does the saved person still have the spirit of man within him?

I’d say so. Christ said He was burdened in spirit. Paul used to say, “I’m absent from you in body but present with you in spirit.”

QUESTION: So when someone astral projects, that it’s man’s spirit, right? You know what I mean by that?

Well, he’s either doing or the soul, I don’t know which. I’d guess the spirit.

QUESTION: Can a saved person astral project?

I don’t know. You did? Ha ha! I don’t know how safe it would be.

QUESTION (from female student, not very audible, something about a saved person getting grounded in the word and then messed up with speaking in tongues, is that really a saved person, and does that apply to Hebrews chapter 6).

No, that doesn’t deal with that directly, but I know what you mean. Because, well, I’ve met people who have professed to have recovered from it. But, I must confess, in all the years I’ve been in the ministry, the people I’ve dealt with, I have never been able to get anybody out of the hyperdispensational movement to ever come back on the truth after they got in it. Now, if there’s any fellow in that group that ever did, I never met him. And the same way with the charismatic movement. If there’s anybody that ever really got in that up to their neck and ever recovered, I’ve never met him.

Now, I’ve heard where they have, see. And maybe they have. But I’ve never met any.

The same way with a hyper-Calvinist. I’ve never seen a hyper-Calvinist who is really in it in the Scripture that ever recovered himself — never did.

FEMALE STUDENT: So Hebrews 6 does not apply?

Well, the trouble with Hebrews 6 is that thing there is, it is a saved person, but the trouble is, it goes on and says, “whose end is to be rejected, whose end is now a cursing, whose end is to be burned.” And then, it says, “We’re persuaded better things of you, beloved, and things that accompany salvation of thus we speak.” Implying whoever was in that passage there was not saved exactly the way we’re saved.

FEMALE STUDENT: So this person I know probably was not saved.

Probably not. Probably not.

Now, you take the saved people. Now, I’ll tell you what saved people can do. Saved people can take dope. Saved people can get hung up in homosexuality before they get saved, and get saved, and then not be able to get victory over it after they get saved. Saved people can be in liquor for ten, twenty and thirty years and be chronic alcoholics and get saved, and not be able to shake the liquor in ten or twenty years. Saved people can go berserk and cut themselves at the wrist with razors and slash themselves with bottles and jump out of running cars trying to commit suicide and try to starve themselves to death and roll off beds trying to hit their head on the radiators. They can wind up in jail, they can kidnap folks, they can murder folks, they can kill folks, and they can gamble, and they can go berserk and hit their families and tear their families and cut their families up and run around naked in the street.

Saved people!

Nothing I just said, I don’t have a person in mind with anything I just said. I mean, everything I just said, I know of an individual somewhere that’ll fit what I just said. I’ve known the cases. And a couple of them are preachers’ families, premillennial, soul-winning, missionary.

You see, people just underestimate the devil. That fellow said, “Jesus I know.” Somebody said, “Well, I know the Lord.” Well, the devil knows the Lord! Say, “I believe more than in God; I believe in Jesus.” So does the devil. All that kind of business.

QUESTION: All those problems you mentioned — is there anything demon about those problems?

Yep. No, sometimes it’s human — sometimes it’s hypoglycemia. Sometimes it’s insulin shock, see. Sometimes the thing is, it’s overlaid. Like I was preaching about a nervous breakdown Sunday night, see, sometimes it’s ten or fifteen months and no sleep, no exercise, and the wrong kind of food.

With the other, see?

In plainer words, that’s where the devil will work on you, man. You get run down physically, and then really get run down, then if there’s an opening for a demon anywhere, he’ll magnify that thing and break that thing open like a floodgate, and a whole bunch of them will pour in and tear you up.

And there are certain places where there are infestations. There’s certain places you can go out in the world where you feel accumulations of them. A newsstand is a good place. A theater is a good place.

After you’ve been saved for a good while, you just walk into a theater. Now, I’m not telling you to do wrong. But just walk in and sit down for five minutes and get up and leave. And you watch what happens when you go in that building. You just watch what happens when you walk in there and sit down. You get the wildest feeling, man! I mean, something just crawls all over you, man, the infestations.

You want to get something? Take a big church where there’s been a big revival and a lot of people saved, and go in that empty church at night — after it’s closed — and see what you feel. A bunch of people were in the building, all singing and hollering and shouting and praising the Lord, and the word of God being preached — there’s a, like this, in the air — and they all leave — WHOOSH! — come back in a vacuum. I know what I’m talking about; if any of you think I’m crazy, you try it out.

COMMENT: In Indianapolis, at Dixon’s church, they had several years ago, these meetings down in the middle of the week down at Circle Theater in downtown Indianapolis, and there was always something real peculiar about it — it wasn’t like any kind of church meeting at all. It was real weird.

We had a guy one time here at school. His name was McGraw. John McGraw. We liked to kid him. And one night over there in Brent, he went over there to study the Bible. We told him we wouldn’t dare study the Bible going into church at night. And he went over there and was sitting up in the platform reading his Bible with the light on there. And me and a guy named Spinks went over there about 11 o’clock at night. We went up to the Sunday School plant and then walked across that floor. A little while down, we thought we heard John say, “Who’s there?” We quit walking, see. And we came back down, we waited about fifteen minutes and we slammed the door. We walked around the side and looked into a window, and ol’ John was lying down flat on his face on the pulpit praying, you know. And he was still trying to study. Then he got up on his knees and sat in that pulpit and kind of looked around in the dark like that.

And I had a trick I learned from years ago at these youth camps. I’d get me a vacuum cleaner hose, and I put that thing down and go, “WWWHOHOOOOO” — like that. And you put that thing to a hose, it sounds just like a 500-pound lion, man. That thing went, “KKKKRRRRROOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW” — like that.

And, boy, that ol’ John sat up there and said, “What’s that? What’s that?” in the dark.

We could have got away with it, but we went too far. We got a trashcan. We opened that church with it and took a thirty-gallon oil drum and set it up in that window and dropped it into that building. That guy must have jumped fifteen feet. And then he knew it was somebody messing with him, you know, and the thing broke off.

Up in 15: “And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?” That shows you something else.

COMMENT: Dr. Ruckman, I wanted to ask you a question about that projection they were talking about. When somebody’s trying to project out of their body, they pick a form, or a spot, or something to get out. Now, why didn’t he pick the blood of Jesus Christ, and go like that?

I don’t know whether it would put you in any place. The blood of Jesus Christ covers the universe.

COMMENT: If you came out, you might be facing that seven-headed dragon.

It wouldn’t be very safe for a Christian, I wouldn’t think. You don’t find Paul ever practicing it.

QUESTION: But, in that place where Peter is having that vision on that roof. Isn’t that sort of —

Well, that isn’t astral projection. He doesn’t leave the roof, and he sees what he sees right on the roof, he don’t go anywhere. He doesn’t trip.

QUESTION: In 13, I can’t figure out who’s talking or what’s going on.

Thirteen? That’s the Jews talking to the demon-possessed man.

QUESTION: “Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them” — those are the exorcists, right?

Yeah.

QUESTION: It says “them” — who’s “them”?

Took upon “them”? No, it just says “certain of the Jews, or exorcists” — when it says, “took upon them,” that means they undertook to do it. They took the load on them; they took the job on them.

QUESTION: Who is that, “called over them”?

Those are the demon-possessed people, to call over them which had evil spirits. The exorcists took the job upon them to call over the ones that had the unclean spirits. They’re two different “them”s. The first one is the exorcists. The second one is the demon-possessed people.

All right, 15: “And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?” Now that’s a sarcastic thing, see. Undoubtedly the devils knew who they were, I mean at least by as much as a devil knows or demons know, and the devil knows plenty.

But the idea is, Jesus is well-known by the unclean spirits and powers, because He’s their adversary. And Paul is well-known by the unclean spirits and powers because he’s their adversary. Peter was well-known. The Lord says, “Peter, Satan has desired to have you.” Job was well-known. “Hast thou considered my servant Job?” He considered him. So certain men in the Bible are well-known in hell. They’re well-known. Fellows like Abraham and David. And Job. And Peter and Paul. They’re famous in the devil’s domain — because they’re enemies. And the question is, are you well-known? That’s the question? I mean, if the devil gave a testimony about you, would he say, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, and I know Moody and I know Bob Jones and Charlie Fuller” — but who are you?

Every Christian should be notorious. You ought to be well-known in hell.

All right, 16: “And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.” He turned them into streakers!

And there were seven of them, see? That fellow beat up seven men. That’s characteristic of some demon-possession, that unnatural power. He jumped on them and prevailed against them, so they fled out of the house naked and wounded — got the tar knocked out of them!

“And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.” Notice this is a fellow getting right after he was saved. Many believed, first, and confessed — they came and confessed, and then they showed what they were doing that was wrong — that’s real repentance.

“Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together.” Now those are books on black magic, and those curious arts are necromancy and hypnotism and palmistry and all that business.

“Curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men.” Now that’s a real Bible revival. In a real Bible revival, there’s going to be a book-burning. There’s a transformation, and things in the house change.

And Talmadge said, “All the books ought to be burned that give an untrue picture of life. All the books ought to be burned that openly attack the Bible. All the books ought to be burned that mix the good and the bad. All the books ought to be burned that are apologetic of crime. Ad all the books ought to be burned that enflame the passions.” That was preached in 1880. If you burned all those books, there wouldn’t be a college left in this country to stay open for business 24 hours.

Did you ever stop to think what would happen to a newspaper if you burned every newspaper that was apologetic of crime and that mixed good and bad? How many daily newspapers would you have left?

QUESTION: Isn’t hypnotism demonic?

Yeah, but then you have to be careful of that. A lot of doctors are using it now, see, and where it’s purely physical or purely psychosomatical or purely psychological, maybe demons aren’t there. But you still have to be careful. Because there’s no place in the Bible you’re told to surrender your will to anybody’s will — in that sense. Now, wives are told to be in subjection to their husband. But she’s not told to do it in a hyponotic trance. “The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.” You’re not even told to submit to God that way. You’re not even told, as far as God is concerned, you know, like this, then become a robot. There are no robots in the New Testament. So, once you submit yourself to the will of another to where you have no control over your will or your work, you’re in danger again.

Maybe there is some case where it works, I don’t know. Maybe it has some cures and this and that. But, when you stop and think of putting yourself in that submission to a person, that person temporarily becomes God.

Now, this is a real Bible revival here, and when you have a real Bible revival, there’s a book-burning. Now, when I got saved, I burned some books. I burned some poems that I’ve written, and I burned some pictures. I had to have a real burning; I also burned some records. I had a real bonfire going. And I took ol’ Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman and Stan Kenton and Glenn Miller and Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey and Fats Waller and Duke Ellington and Glen Gray and all that bunch, and took ‘em out there and burned ‘em. And those records wouldn’t burn, but they’d melt beautiful. I got a red-hot incincerator and put ‘em in half full, and they’d just go —— zzzozoooooop! — drop down like that, I’d throw ‘em out. They were like this, you know, when they hardened. Nobody could ever play them again; they were ruined.

The next thing I got rid of was a $300 set of Slingemon drums that would be worth about $900 now. I had them in a warehouse in Anderson, Alabama — and they stayed there. And I often thought about getting them out and selling them. Then I said to myself, “Well, if I sell ‘em, some kid will buy ‘em, and just help him on the way to hell.” So I just left them there. They’re still sitting there. And tinnebro tom-toms too, and snare and high-hat and sock-cymbal, and scissors, cowbell, woodblock — the whole works, man. That thing was left in that barn when I shipped out overseas in 1944. When I got saved in ‘49 it was still there, and I left it there. I don’t know whatever happened to it. Don’t care what happened to it.

I couldn’t find any way in the world to make a drum sound spiritual. And I tried all kinds of ways. You can make a guitar sound spiritual if you’re real good, although they’re dangerous. You can make a trumpet or trombone sound spiritual real easy, and a piano and organ already sound spiritual, and a harp. But there are certain instruments you have a rough time making sound spiritual. One of them is a saxophone. I mean, I’ve heard guys do it, but, boy, if you can make a saxophone sound spiritual, you’re an artist. That thing just kind of, you know, “BVVVVWWWWWAAAVVVWWWW, BVCVVVVVVV” — it just don’t sound like a prayer meeting. And the same thing, it’s hard to make a guitar sound spiritual.

But with the drums, there’s nothing you can do, except marches. Now, you can play marches. But I’ve been in churches where they had the set of drums up there in the platform, and they get to playing, “Washed in the Blood,” and they go, “Ahh da dum dum deh da dump da dump da da — daaa daaa daa daaa” {hand slapping several times during this} — oh, my land, man! That isn’t “Washed in the Blood” — that’s “washed in manure,” man!

So, when you get saved, there ought to be someplace there where there’s a changeover, and you get rid of some stuff. I put down you ought to burn books that elevate man, you ought to burn books that elevate an institution, and you ought to burn books that raise tradition to a place of equal authority with the word of God. And, if you burned all those books, you wouldn’t have much left. About all you’d have left is a Bible.

All right, “Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together.” When I first started a television program down in Panama City many years ago, it only went about two years, but we had “Class-A Time” three times a week. You think we didn’t have a ball, learning there every night — Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6:45, coming in there — fifteen minutes. Liked to have tore that town to pieces, man! That was back in 1956, ‘57, and ‘58. And we were trying to figure how to start the program and get a format for it, and we kept talking about how to open the show, you know, what credits to give.

And one of these characters, an old German buddy of mine named Myers down there, used car man, he had this wild idea. We was just kiddin’, you know, we got to laughing about it. He said, “Why don’t you call it ‘The Flaming Word,’” which we thought was good until he suggested what you had behind it. And what you had behind it was a big pile of ASVs and RSVs burning! Ha ha! That was ‘Flaming Word,’ and show these Bible versions going up.

Now, I don’t think so little of anybody’s book that I’d take ‘em out and burn ‘em. I’m not that mad, and I don’t take ‘em that seriously.

But in Springfield, Missouri, they burned a bunch of my books about two months ago. And took them out and burned them. And student offered to buy them, and they wouldn’t sell them to him. They burned them. They consider that stuff more dangerous literature than the literature that is put out by the Knights of Columbus. They won’t burn the Knights of Columbus literature. But they’ll burn Pete Ruckman’s books.

Strange thing, isn’t it?

Down in this little ol’ school down here, this little ol’ building.

All right, 19: “And burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.” That’s a mess of money, you know that? Fifty thousand dollars worth of books. That’s equivalent probably today of $500,000 worth of books. They had a burning.

And, I’ll tell you, you’ll have real revival with a transformation. Now, we know America hasn’t had a real revival since the days of Billy Sunday because there’s no transformation. These fellows are trying to transform society to the HEW — not through revival. And their idea now is that real Bible preaching can’t change society, it’s a failure. Therefore the way to change society is for the church to get involved in urban housing renewal, see? So, what they’re trying to do now in Congress is to pass all this stuff to give this country revival. It’ll go to hell.

God has to change society. God has to change families. God has to change people.

The way to close the liquor stores in this town is not just try to sign a petition to get them to shut up Sunday. The way to close them is get the guy saved and get the guy born again, get him to leave the dump and close it.

And the same way with liquor stores and everything.

I’ll tell you a case down in — this is really weird, but down in Orlando, Florida, I had a meeting down there with Bobby Ware. And right before I came down, they put up a pornographic shop down from the church about 300 yards called the French Boutique. And they got thing there and, you know, lesbian and homosexuality and pornography and bestiality and perversion, all this stuff, you know — “adult movies,” you know, all that stuff, you know — which is a misnomer. There’s such a thing as adultery and an adulteress and an adulterer; those things are “adult.” Did you ever stop to think about that? By derivation, “adult” is somebody who commits “adultery.”

And then went down, after they got that French Boutique going, and he got all his young people to picket the place. And they got to picketing the place and going around there, and then the police came by and limited them to three pickets. And they couldn’t stop the place. And finally, Ware had a kid come in about 19 years old, and he said, “I can shut that place down.” He had been a real worldly kid, just lived like the devil before he got saved. Been saved about a year, and said, “I can shut it down.”

And Ware said, “Now, we can’t be connected with anything you’re going to do, if you’re going to do something wild.”

He said, “I’m not going to do nothing wild. I’ll shut ‘er down.”

And Ware said, “Now, I can’t be responsible now.”

But he said, “Will you give me permission?”

“I give you permission, but don’t bring my name up in it!”

And so that guy got him a big sign, and he put down there, I mean as long as that blackboard: “Come to the French Boutique and Learn New Sex Positions.” And put that thing in that car. And that guy drove that car all over town, with that thing on it. I mean, that thing was this wide and that high. And there were people stopping and cursing him and shaking their fists at him, threatening to kill him. There were people phoning the French Boutique and said, “You dirty so-and-so, we’re gonna bomb you outta here! We’re gonna kill you! We’re gonna burn that place down!”

They finally hauled him before, the police arrested him, and one of the cops said, “You can’t carry that thing around town like that!”

He said, “I’m just giving them free advertising. They want some advertising; I’m giving them free advertising.”

So they advertised down there at the place, and they got the owner in. He said, “I don’t want that adverstising. I can’t afford that kind of advertising.”

And the kid said, “Well, it’s a free country. And I can carry a sign on my car if I want to.”

He said, “Who put you up to this anyway?”

The kid said, “Nobody.”

“I’ll bet it’s that fundamental Baptist preacher up —”

“No, he never told me nothin’!”

And he got that town tore up. I mean, the newspaper and the city commissioners met. They had ‘em a time, man!

And finally that guy in desperation came to Brother Ware, and he said, “Preacher, I’m getting threatening telephone calls all day and all night.” And he said, “I’ve had my car tires cut,” you know, “and this other guy’s been threatened with guns out the windows.” He said, “You’ve got to stop that kid!”

And Ware said, “I can’t stop him. Let him go!”

And this fellow said, “Well, there’s only one thing I’ve got to do then. I’ve got to get saved.”

And Ware led the guy to Christ in his office. And the old boy got down and got saved. When he came up after he got off kneeling, he said, “Brother,” he said, “I guess this means that I’ve got to close that shop, doesn’t it?”

And Ware said, “You got the idea!”

And that fellow closed that place down. He had a string of them in Fort Myers and Lauderdale and Miami — and shut down the whole bunch of them.

Now, you talk about being wise as a serpent, man. That kid really did it, you see? But, you know, that guy got saved. That guy shut down his store and the whole string of them. Now, that’s revival.

And, I’ll tell you another case out in L.A. Had a good one out there. Had a meeting out there with Ray Batema. And a guy out there — he was about, oh, about twenty-five years old, been saved about two months — Ray Batema went downtown, and we was going by an X-rated place, and looked in there and saw one of his members in there, running and selling magazines. A kid about twenty.

And he went in and said, “What you doin’, you backslider,” this and that, gave him a tract, preached to him.

“No, it’s all right, nothing wrong, it’s a good, legitimate business.”

“Haven’t seen you in church, you know, for about a year. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Get right with God!” Had prayer with him and left.

And ol’ Batema got so burdened about that thing, he got back in the pulpit the next Sunday and preached on lukewarm Christians, a Christian ought to be on fire for God and leave all that filth alone. And he got to preaching on “Be on fire for God, be on fire for God.”

And this guy who had been saved for about a year sat there and heard him. And, boy, he got all stirred up and he went out and bought him a two-gallon can of gasoline and some matches, and he went down to that X-rated places, and he walked in there, and he said, “I’m going to burn this place to the ground!”

Boy, everybody shrieking and screaming, leaving there. And the manager said, “You can’t do that! You can’t do that! I’ll call the police.”

“You go ahead and call the police. I’m gonna burn it!”

And he began to drop all that gasoline out around that place. And a couple guys tried to stop him; he just knocked him down until he had gasoline all over that place. And preached to them!

And that guy who owned that store said, “Call the police! Call the police!” And they got to calling the police. And then he had some matches, and lift the matches out, and tried to strike them and they were wet, wouldn’t strike. And he tried about four matches, and they wouldn’t strike, and the police came and got him. And the they put him down in jail and got him out on $18,000 bond. And Batema went down and got him out and bailed him out, and he came out crying and said, “Preacher, I know I did the wrong thing, but I just couldn’t stand that man. You know,” he said, “You’re preaching a Christian ought to be on fire for God, and I just want to be on fire for God!”

I heard folks say, “Well, what are you doing with a bunch of crazy church members like that?” Well, the guy’s is up in Tennessee Temple studying for the ministry, see?

Now, like I said, I’d rather have all zeal and no knowledge than all knowledge and no zeal. Now, you can say what you want; those two guys got the job done, man! They got the job done. You take that guy that worked down at that X-rated place, he’s out now. I’ll be you he don’t get a job in one of them again, boy! He don’t want a guy to come dumping gasoline all over the place!

COMMENT: They got a campaign like that going on up in North Carolina.

Well, if some guy’s got enough guts to do it, boy, it takes some guts to do it, man!

COMMENT: He’s got it.

I saw a guy down in Panama City driving down the street in a brand new Cadillac, and he had a bunch of lemons hanging off. He had thirty-five lemons hanging, and they’d just go BOINK-BOINK-BOINK-BOINK, driving down the street. He said, “I bought this car at So-and-So’s car lot.” It closed him down! I mean, it didn’t close him down, but he had to give the guy a new car with it. The guy took the car back, and he gave him a new car.

All right. Now, when you have real revival, you have a cleaning up, and things get right. Now, if you’re having revival in a church where you’re pastoring, then there’s going to be magazines going to get burned. And there’s going to be some films going to be burned, going to be some books going to be burned, and there’s going to be some newspapers going to be burned.

I’ve never taken a morning newspaper. My boy Pete takes one for the sports page. But I haven’t subscribed to a newspaper since I was saved in 1949. As far as I’m concerned, that’s stuff is just as filthy as any stuff you find in this world.

You ever see a movie ad page in a morning or afternoon newspaper? As far as I’m concerned, the stuff’s got no business being in the home. Boy, don’t even look at the sports page. Take that stuff and burn it, take it outside and make fertilizer out of it.

A fellow said to Hyman Appelman one time, he was talking about Texas, and he said, “Had any big revivals around here?”

And Appelman said, “Yes sir,” he said. “Texas is a great state. We have 2500 Baptist churches in this state. We have seven million Baptists and twelve Baptist schools.

That unsaved fellow smiled and said, “You got any liquor stores in Texas, preacher?”

That hurts, boy. That hurts.

You’re talking about revival. As long as you got that stuff in a town, you don’t have revival. As long as you got a place where you got filthy movies and filthy magazines and liquor, you may some religion, but you haven’t got revival. And if you have revival, they’re going to close down.

All right, 19: “And found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.” Now compare verse 20 with the beginning of verse 19. When other books are burned, what happens? Verse 20, the word of God prevails. See that? In plainer words, when you put the other books in their place, then the word of God gets the place it ought to have. And the word of God cannot prevail until the other books are put in their place. In this place here, they’re placed in the incinerator.

The Book will keep you from your sin, or sin will keep you from the Book.

I know a Christian mother in a certain town where I preached, and I forget her name or the situation it was. But she had a teen-age boy who had a bunch of Playboy and some of these magazines stuffed and cut out and pinned up in his room. You know what that mother did? She did a great big picture of Jesus Christ praying at Gethsemane and took it up there and pinned it right in the middle of them. Right in the middle of them! And she said about a week later, and she went up there and looked at that room. That guy had taken out all the pictures, and only the Lord was left on the wall.

And the moral of that lesson is, when Christ goes up, everything else has to come down.

19:21 After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.

22 So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.

23 And the same time there arose no small stir about that way.

24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen;

25 Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.

26 Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:

27 So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.

28 And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

29 And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.

30 And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.

31 And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre.

32 Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.

33 And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people.

34 But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

35 And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

36 Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.

37 For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.

38 Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another.

39 But if ye inquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.

40 For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse.

41 And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.

Twenty-one: “After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” So here’s the first indication you have of Paul planning a missionary trip to Rome — and that’s where the Lord wants him to go.

“So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season. And the same time there arose no small stir about that way. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen.” Now underline “craftsmen”; there somewhere by the thing write down “Revelation 18.” I don’t know why that word keeps cropping up in connection with Babylon the Great in the Tribulation, but “craftsmen” and the “craft” of making images is going to be a worldwide business in the Tribulation. It’s also mentioned in Daniel.

“For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands.” Which is the truth.

“So that —” one: “...not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought;...” that’s what they’re worried about.

“But —” two: “...also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised.” See how religious they are? They think about their goddess second; they think about their pocketbook first.

And he says, “Number one, our craft is in danger. Number two, the temple should be despised.” That’s how idolaters are; their god’s their belly. The love of money is the root of all evil. They’re not worried about Diana.

“And her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.” The Diana there is not a local deity. That’s not the god of the hunt, the huntress in Greece. That is the worldwide deity worshipped under a number of names. And those names are Venus — she’s sometimes called Venus — and sometimes she’s called Aphrodite. Aphrodite — A-P-H-R-O-D-I-T-E. Aphrodite. And sometimes she’s called —

COMMENT FROM CLASS: Mary.

Mary. That’s right. That’s the American name for her. And she’s called Ashtoreth in the Old Testament, in Judges chapter 2. And she’s called called Istarte in Babylon — I-S-T-A-R-T-E. And in Germany she’s called the Lorelei. L-O-R-E-L-E-I? I think so. L-O-R-E — Lorelei. L-E-I. L-E-I. Lorelei.

And in Sweden and Norway she’s called the El woman. E-L. And there are all kinds of other names in all different places.

All right, verse 28: “And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.” They didn’t get Paul.

“And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.” Afraid he’d get hurt.

“And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre.” There’s a good verse for not going to movies. Verse 31. I’ve used that. I’ve used that. Actually seen it work. Told Paul not to go into the theater.

“Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part —” the majority “— knew not wherefore they were come together.” A big mob. Everybody yelling and hollering; nobody knows what they’re hollering about.

“And they drew Alexander out of the multitude.” That always seemed to me kind of a funny way to word it. Everybody there hollering and yelling, and they drew Alexander out. Who’s Alexander? I don’t know who he is. There’s an Alexander the coppersmith mentioned in 2 Timothy, and it might be Alexander the coppersmith. And some of the commentators say that Alexander the coppersmith was making copper shrines and copper idols and underselling the craftsmen. But I don’t know whether that’s so or not, because they were making silver.

“And they drew Alexander out of the multitude —” whoever he is “— the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people.” They got the wrong man. Everything is just all tore up.

“But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” Two hours! Can’t you hear that thing? “Great is Diana of the Ephesians. Great is Diana of the Ephesians. Great is Diana of the Ephesians. Great is Diana of the Ephesians. Great is Diana —” for two hours, man!

You know, “We shall overcome,” “We shall overcome.”

“And when the townclerk had appeased the people, —” he comes out and stops the riot “— he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana,...” and underline it: “And of the image which fell down from Jupiter?” That’s the second time that thing’s popped up in the Book of Acts. It was back in Acts chapter 14. Now it pops up in Act 19.

And the Holy Spirit’s not going to put that thing twice in your Bible in connection with false gods without a purpose to it. It’s not by accident.

Don’t you know the Lord knows where Venus and Mars are? Don’t you know He knows where the moon is, and Saturn and Neptune? Now, why would He say “Jupiter” twice? And both times He said it, He said it in connection with an image coming down, and then the gods coming down — those two places.

So, if I were you and I was foolin’ with science fiction or fooling with UFOs or foolin’ with something else and getting that kind of knowledge and that kind of business, I would discard most information that dealt with Mars and Venus, and I’d deal with the information that dealt with Jupiter. The King James Bible is always right, and the rest of them are always wrong.

“Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly. For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.” Now verse 37 is a big complaint about the King James Bible and the word “churches.” The word “churches” here is normally translated “temples,” and it’s not “ekklesia”, and because of that they find fault with the King James Bible in translating this word here as “churches.” But, of course, you fellows are studying Greek now. You know that one word doesn’t have to be translated the same way every time. You fellows in advanced Greek, you found the word “urnos” was translated as “Heaven” and “sky” and what else? Didn’t he give you one other one there? “Air.” The New ASV translates “urnos” as “sky,” “air,” and “Heaven.” Now, if they can do that, the King James can take the same liberty.

And that word for “churches” there is ordinarily “temple,” but in this case “churches” is a good translation. And it’s a good translation because none of the new bibles are going translate consistently anyway.

Look at the end of verse 39. You see that last word in verse 39? See that last word? You know what that word is? “Ekklesia.” They didn’t translate that “church.”

You see, when a hypocrite begins to attack the Bible, he just reveals what he is. He’s just a fool. You say, “It has to be translated the same way every time.” Then how come they didn’t translate that last word in 39 as “church”? That’s what it is.

Now, the reason I call this to your attention is, go back to verse 37. And by saying “robbers of churches,” that would let you know that heathen, pagan people who worship the Queen of Heaven have churches. So that’s why it’s translated that way. They don’t have just temples, brother. They got churches, and you better believe it.

So that’s the Holy Spirit showing you something that’s not in the original.

Thirty-eight: “Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another.” Take it to court.

“But if ye inquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly. For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse.” A big crowd out there yelling, nobody knows why, whatever got them going. The thing that got them going was the guy who was selling the idols.

QUESTION: So when Paul and them are preaching, they don’t preach against Diana at all?

In their preaching?

QUESTION: Yeah.

No, evidently not. But what they do preach is, there are no gods made with hands. And he preaches the Lord is of Heaven and earth, and He is, like Acts 17, if you make images, it’s no good. “And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.” So they’re as much as saying that any image or any statue is of the devil.

QUESTION: So the people are aware that Diana is a god?

Yeah, they say the “great goddess Diana.” Yes sir. The only female deity in that Bible I can see, if you’re going to call it a deity, is that woman right there in Revelation 17 connected with the devil.

QUESTION: Is this where the tradition was passed on, the Catholic Church picked up the tradition of Diana?

No, it goes much back further than that. This is comparatively late. That worship of man and woman and the son as a male god and the woman as a female goddess goes clear back to before the flood, and it goes clear back to the sentence of Cain back in Genesis 4, 5, and 6. And what it probably amounts to is the deification of Adam and Eve after he fell. It’s probably the deification of a fallen man and a fallen woman.

All right, 19:41: “And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.”