(AN: Originally going to be two chapters, it started out rather peaked, so I thought I should combine into two. Also, since the last part of chapter 20 is a farewell to those in Ephesus, we might see the third journey summed up in just one chapter.)

(Also, let me point something out, which has been a topic of much debate, especially back east, among those who do not hold with the Sabbath. The meeting mentioned here was done because Paul was going to leave the next day, not because it had any special spiritual relevance.)

(As Greek is being used, I won't use Torah or Ruach HaKodesh, except until...well, the chapter after next [or next chapter]).

Artemis and Eutychus

Several years passed and at last, whispers began to echo among the brotherhood of kristianos that Paul had returned from Antioch. In the weeks and months that followed, the population of kristianos in Ephesus grew and many more were added to their number.

One day, while Paul was leaving the synagogues, a group of twelve men approached him.

"Rabbi," one greeted. "Are you the One that John spoke of?"

Paul came to a halt in the middle of them.

"No," Paul replied. "See, if I remember correctly, the Baptizer said that the One who came after him baptizes with the Spirit of Holiness."

"We have not received this baptism," another said. "We don't even know if there is such a spirit as you say."

"But how were you baptized?"

"By John the Baptist." the response came.

"And did not John say to believe on the One who was to come?" They nodded or murmured 'yes' in agreement. "I tell you all, the One to come has already come in the person of the Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God!"

"What, then, must we do?"

"Believe on Jesus the Christ and you shall be saved."

Two years passed and many more of the disciples of John became kristianos. Paul was now deeply entrenched among the brotherhood, but as the days passed, something in him changed. Yea, he did not even have to meet the sick people: the Spirit of Holiness was so great upon him that friends of the sick or possessed need only bring pieces of cloth that Paul had touched and the afflicted were healed.

One day, Paul was on his way from the house of John, where he had been staying. A group of men were following after him, fellow believers of the Way: among them John and several elders of the city, who were neither kristianos nor Jews.

"Where are you going?" John asked.

"To the theater," he replied. "This riot is my fault, I have to see it out to the end."

"Please, Paul," John returned. "It's insanity!"

"He's right," a Greek official said. "They will tear you apart! These silversmiths aren't to be trifled with."

"I need to say something."

"What else can you say?" John asked. "You know the Torah, it speaks out against graven images."

"Your presence won't do any good," the official added.

"Where is Timothy?" a young man named Demas, who had joined the brotherhood recently, asked. "Maybe we should send him."

"He went with Erastus to Macedonia ahead of me," Paul said.

"Is that where we'll go next?" Demas queried eagerly.

"Yes," Paul said, with a strange finality in his voice. "Afterward..."

"Afterward, then what?" John asked.

"Rome."

Dead silence followed, with some of the others gasping in fear or whispering prayers to God, pleading that this was not happening. Others were too shocked to even make a response.

"You can't go to Rome!" the official stated. "If this is the kind of trouble that follows you, none of the gods could save you from what will happen if you go to Rome."

"What trouble is there exactly?" Demas asked.

"The Guild of Silversmiths," the official began. "Craft effigies of Artemis for the worship at the temple. Your movement has caused their business to implode."

"Why?" Demas queried.

"Are you blind, man? Artemis relieves diseases, especially from women. Your movement attracts quite a lot of women, and with all of your miraculous healing going about, not only is the Guild in danger, but the temples are threatened."

As they walked on, the roar of a crowd chanting over and over: "Artemis! Artemis! Artemis!" resounded even louder as they came near to the theater. It sounded like a sea was raging in violent fury, frothing against the rocks in anger.

"They'll tear you apart if you go in there," he said to Paul.

Just then, to the shock of all of them, seven men, Jewish by reason of their circumcisions, came staggering out into the dust of the street. All of them were naked, with bloody scratches and bruises all over their bodies. Some of the women in Paul's company turned their faces while the men kept their eyes above the waist. Paul approached them carefully.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Paul!" one of the men cried out, throwing himself down at Paul's feet. "Help us!"

"I know you," Paul replied. "You're the sons of Scheva, the rabbi of the synagogues in the Jewish quarter. What have you done?"

"We were performing an exorcism," he said. "As we have often done."

"We've heard the things that happen when you cast out demons," another said. "So we thought we'd invoke the name of this Jesus as well."

"But when we tried, the demon turned and attacked us!"

"Tell me everything that happened." Paul said.

"Well," the first one said. "We came to the house, all seven of us, raised our hands over the victim and cried out: 'In the name of Jesus the Christ, whom Paul preached, I command you to come out.' Then..." The man cowered as he remembered what happened next.

"The demon looked at us all in turn," another spoke, fear in his voice. "Then said: 'Jesus we know and Paul we know, but who are you?' Then it...it attacked us!"

"You don't know what you almost brought upon yourselves!" Paul shouted with equal concern in his voice. "The demon might have entered you in turn!"

"But why? Why couldn't we cast the demon out?"

"Two reasons, my sons," Paul replied. "One, and possibly the greatest harm done, was that your desire was for fame, and not for the glory of God."

"But we called on His name!"

"And you didn't believe in Him anymore than your father did," Paul replied. "When he chased me out of your synagogue. Where is he now, publicly slandering the brotherhood?"

"No, he's with rabbi Alexander at the theater."

Paul sighed. "It seems the whole world awaits at the theater."

"But you can't go there, Paul!" John urged. "You'll be killed!" At this, the other gathered around and repeated the same admonition to Paul, until that was all they were saying: even the unclad sons of Scheva now joined in.

"Very well."

Over the next several weeks, Paul departed from Ephesus and did a short tour of the city-states in Greece, where he had visited before and some new places as well. During his travels, especially in an impromptu visit to Corinth, he realized that the Jews who had been evicted from Rome had returned. With the news of a new emperor, who allowed the Roman Jews to live in Italy, Paul was almost jubilant. The time was right: the world was moving in concert with the will of the Spirit of Holiness. In very short time, he would be in Rome.

He left Corinth and continued on his tour of Greece, reminding the Corinthians that he would write as soon as possible. Around the time of Passover, Paul visited Philippi, where he was warmly received by Scamander, Lydia, Harmonia and their friends, as well as the other believers of Macedonia. Lucas, they found, was also at Philippi and greeted them warmly. Paul seemed to be on top of the world.

Since he purposed to return to Jerusalem before going to Rome, Paul planned that he would not spend too much time on the continent, since his main goal was to reach Jerusalem before the Shavuot.

"You have to visit Troy, though," Lucas urged. "The others you sent ahead will be waiting for you there."

Paul agreed reluctantly to this arrangement and, after five days, it was decided that Paul would only spend a week in Troy before island-hopping his way back to Jerusalem. So it was with a tearful farewell and the promise to write that Paul and Lucas bade farewell to Lydia, Harmonia, Scamander and all the other friends as they took a ship, as they had so many years ago, across the Aegean Sea to the land of Illium.

On the other side, Paul found Timothy, Sopater of Berea, Tychius and Trophimus, Secundus and Aristarchus and good old Gaius. Here they stayed for a week, while Paul spoke to practically everyone there. However, even that seemed to be not enough time. On Rishon, on the very eve of their departure, Paul was asked to speak one last time. So he asked around and found a believer who had been a wealthy merchant with a very large house. With his permission, Paul and his companions invited the others to the house, until it was so full that it seemed to be nigh on bursting at the seams.

Once everyone was ready, with as much food as they could carry brought with them, Paul walked among them and began to speak. He preached to them of Jesus the Christ, using the Torah and plain reason as his weapons to approving the faith. He continued on, until it was well past midnight and the servants went about lighting lamps to keep those awake.

"My friends," Paul continued. "Tonight is our last night together. I would, if I may, share with you some words from this letter that I and Tertius wrote to our friends recently returned to Rome." The crowd, who listened intently to every word he said, agreed and Paul turned to old Lucas, who brought the letter forth.

"I have begun my argument that, whether Jew or Gentile, we are not safe from the judgment that God shall bring down upon the people. 'Therefore, how is the Jew better than the Gentile, and how is his circumcision profitable? Very much so, for to the Jews were first committed the oracles of God. But what if some did not believe? Does their unbelief nullify the faith of God? Never! Let God alone be true and every man a liar, as David the King said: "Against Thee alone, LORD, have I sinned, that Thy words be justified and clear in Thy judgment."

"'Let me speak now as carnal men do. Does our unrighteousness, that of we who call upon the name of the LORD, demonstrate the righteousness of God? And, if so, does that mean that God is unjust for afflicting us with His wrath? No, for how then does God judge the world? Furthermore, as others have slandered our brotherhood concerning, why can't we just sin as much as we want, since our unrighteousness only increases the goodness of God? Why, then, are we considered sinful if our lies increase the truth of God? Does this mean the Gentiles are better than the Jews? By no means, for, as David the King and the prophet Isaias have said: "There is no one who does good, not even one. There is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks after God of his own nature: they all turn aside, each to their own ways, corrupting themselves. Their throats are open tombs, with their tongues they deceive by flattery, the poison of asps is under their lips. His mouth is full of cursing, deceit and oppression. Their feet run to evil, and they are quick to shed innocent blood. Destruction and misery are in their paths, for they know not the way of peace. There is no fear of God before their eyes."

"'Now we know that whatever this Law says, it is to those who are under its jurisdiction: that all mouths may be silenced and the guilty world brought before the justice of God. Therefore, by the works of the Law, no man living shall be made right in the sight of God. But, aside from the Law, the righteousness of God is revealed, which has been witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, through faith in Jesus the Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, then, between Jew and Gentile: for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But we are all justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption that is in Jesus our Christ, whom God sent forth as an atonement by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness. Who, then, can boast? No one can boast, for boasting is excluded. By what law is it excluded? By the Law of faith. Therefore, aside from deeds of the Law, we conclude that a man is justified by faith. Do we then make void the Law through faith? On the contrary! We establish the Law through faith.

"'Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our LORD, Jesus the Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. Yea, and we also rejoice in our tribulations, knowing that tribulations work perseverance, and perseverance works character, and character builds hope, and hope never disappoints, for the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the gift of the Spirit of Holiness.

"'For, in our weakness, Jesus the Christ died in due time for the ungodly. Surely, almost no one would want to die for the sake of a righteous man, and many would even dare to die to save a good man. But in this is the love of God demonstrated: while we were still sinners, the Christ died for us. Therefore our salvation is great due to His sacrifice: for if He would reconcile us to His Father, even though we were His enemies by reason of sin, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.

"'There is now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus the Christ, as far as we walk according to the Spirit and not after the flesh. For, by reason of our own sinful nature, the Law could do nothing more than remind us of our sin, therefore the Law, through our own flesh, was weak. But God sent His own Son in the likeness of the flesh, that the requirements of the Law might be fulfilled in us. Therefore we are indebted, but not to live after the flesh: for you shall surely die if you continue to live after the flesh. But the Spirit of Holiness killed the deeds of sinful flesh within you, and those who are led by the Spirit are called the sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit of bondage and fear, but of adoption, that you may call the Almighty God your Father. Even the Spirit bears witness that we are children of God, and therefore heirs of God and of Christ...and His suffering.'"

Murmurs echoed through the crowd, some stifling yawns as they tried to keep their eyes open for these words.

"Yes, my friends," Paul continued. "'For I am convinced that the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared to even a little of the glory to be revealed to us. For even as nature is in pain of birth, so we who are born again are pained, eagerly awaiting the redemption of our bodies. In this hope we are saved, but it is not a hope that we can see: for who hopes for what he can see? Nay, but we hope for what we do not see, waiting it eagerly with perseverance.

"'What shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who gave us His only Son as a ransom for us all, how shall He not give freely to him who asks? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's people? It shall be God, the One who justified us. Who shall condemn us? The Christ who has died, risen again, and sits at the right hand of God, making intercession for us. And what shall separate us from the love of God?'"

Suddenly, he realized the loudness of his own voice, which surprised even him. His hands were shaking with the truth of what he said as he now walked among them, speaking even as the Spirit was telling him to speak.

"'Can anything separate us from the love of God? Persecution, distress, famine, nakedness, peril or the sword: shall that separate us from God? Yea, David the King said: "For Thy sake, O LORD, we are killed all day long, accounted as nothing more than sheep sent to the slaughter." Therefore do our enemies think that, by killing us, by reviling us, they may think to separate us from the love of God.

"'Nay! In all of these things, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us! Surely, I am persuaded that nothing - not life or death, or angels or demons, or things present or to come, nor height nor depth, nor anything - can separate us from the love of God, that is in our LORD, Jesus the..."

Suddenly, there was a cry from the back end of the room. Paul immediately ran towards where the noise came, and found several people gathered around the body of a young man, lying face up with glassy eyes.

"He's dead!" someone cried. "He must have fallen from the third story window."

"No, no, don't be afraid," Paul said, as he picked the young man up in his arms. He squeezed him tightly, then released him and, to everyone's amazement, the young man stirred.

"He is alive." Paul announced.

(AN: I think we can wrap that one up)

(As you can see, this part of the story is coming swiftly to a conclusion.)