Acts 19:9a,18 ... "Some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude. ... Many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices."
On his third missionary journey Paul came to Ephesus and for the span of three months preached in the Jewish synagogue where he managed to convert several of its members to the Way of Christ. Most of them, however, responded differently in the manner described in the text above. As a result of the mounting opposition it became necessary for the apostle to separate the disciples from the synagogue. Thus the church of Christ in Ephesus assumed its own identity and became visible as a religious organization separate from Judaism. For the next two years Paul continued in Ephesus. teaching daily in the School of Tyrannus, so that "all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks," (v.10). It seems that it was during this period that the seven churches of Asia in Revelation 2-3 were established, either by Paul himself or by men he trained in the School of Tyrannus and then sent out into the surrounding province to evangelize. As the months of this great spiritual activity continued, great numbers of people, mostly Gentiles, believed the gospel, confessed faith in Christ, and publicly repented of their evil deeds, especially the practice of magic, (v.19). The victory of Christianity over heathenism was so great that v.20 exults, "So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing."
The two verses juxtaposed above vividly highlight contradictory responses to the same preaching. Paul and his assistants preached the life and doctrine of Christ as God's outreach to save man from sin and its destructive course in human life. They revealed God's love, concern, and grace for those who had been unaware of His existence and of their rebellion against Him. But there were two different reactions to this wonderful good news. Some hardened their hearts, refused to believe, and spoke evil against the Way of Christ in public. Others, however, put their faith in Jesus, confessed Him as Lord, and repented of their sins to live new lives of righteousness. We are made to wonder what caused this difference, for it still occurs among people when the gospel is preached today. Why do some people see Christ as Savior and as The Way to a better life in this world and then to eternal life hereafter, and others see Christ only as a nuisance, an enemy to be resisted, and a threat to the kind of world they want to live in, (disregarding, I might add, any serious consideration of another existence beyond the present one)?
The answer has to lie in the nature of the human heart. We all know that the sun melts solid ice into easily flowing water, while it bakes wet clay into bricks so hard that houses can be built with them. The nature of a substance determines what effect the sun will have on it. In something of the same way the nature of our hearts determines what effect Christ and His gospel will have on us. The human spirit that is full of pride, self-will, arrogance, and bitterness will probably only be irritated and provoked when the gospel is proposed to it. But the human spirit, though otherwise sinful, that is not controlled by these attitudes is much more likely to be persuaded by the gospel to believe, repent, and render obedience. The next logical question is what set of factors produce these differences in our mental construction. It seems that the answer lies in the nature of our early education, when the basic constitution of human personality and character is being formed. It this be the case, it emphasizes all the more how essential it is for parents to "bring (their) children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord," (Eph. 6:4). The greatest "soul-winning" that the average Christian can do is to train young minds to be receptive to the gospel when they reach the stage of maturity to be accountable.
