The Gospel Continues To Advance Series

Introduction

Have you heard of the Welsh Revival of 1904-1905, a movement profoundly impacting Wales and beyond?

The central figure in the Welsh Revival was a man named Evan Roberts.

He was born in Loughor, Wales, in a devout Christian family.

Roberts developed a deep commitment to Scripture and prayer.

As a young man, he worked as a coal miner, often carrying his Bible underground.

The Welsh Revival began with Roberts’ fervent prayers for spiritual awakening.

When Roberts became a preacher, he emphasized four key principles in his ministry:

• Confess all known sin,

• Remove anything doubtful from your life,

• Fully obey the Holy Spirit, and

• Publicly confess Christ.

These simple, yet profound truths resonated deeply with people, sparking widespread repentance and revival.

Roberts’ preaching was marked by heartfelt prayer, spontaneous singing, and testimonies of transformed lives.

Entire communities experienced change.

Crime rates dropped.

Taverns emptied.

Relationships were restored.

Coal production stopped for a while.

The reason is that the donkeys were used to harsh treatment and profanity, but when the miners were converted, they stopped using profanity and treating the animals harshly. The donkeys did not know how to respond to kindness!

Over 100,000 people came to faith in Jesus in one year alone!

Ever since Jesus's resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the gospel has changed lives and transformed communities.

While on his third missionary journey, the gospel continued to advance through the ministry of the Apostle Paul.

Today, we will learn how the gospel continues to advance.

Scripture

Let’s read Acts 19:1-20:

1 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

Lesson

Acts 19:1-20 shows us several core truths that take place when the gospel advances.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. True Faith Comes from the Holy Spirit (19:1-7)

2. God’s Kingdom Grows Through Bold Proclamation (19:8-10)

3. Jesus Defeats Spiritual Darkness (19:11-16)

4. Repentance Brings Real Change (19:17-20)

I. True Faith Comes from the Holy Spirit (19:1-7)

First, true faith comes from the Holy Spirit when the gospel advances.

On his way to Syrian Antioch, Paul stopped off briefly at Ephesus.