Acts 19:21-41 Spiritual War in Ephesus

Christ’s Impact on Ephesus and the Power of the Gospel

This morning we're gonna get a chance to see the significant impact that Christ had on that major city of Ephesus in the ancient world. So in the western end of what is modern-day Turkey or Asia Minor?

There's this large city named Ephesus last week. We saw the Ephesus was a city steeped in dark spiritual practices all kinds of spiritism going on there. Demon worship idolatry all kinds of crazy stuff.

But God was with Paul and company with power there in Ephesus. And we saw that last week where the powerful acts as as the author Luke told us there were Extraordinary miracles going on there now like I said last week I mean the word extraordinary coupled with the word miracles.

That's kind of extreme right like that. Okay, extraordinary miracles like this these weren't just your run-of-the-mill ordinary miracles that were going on in Ephesus. Okay, these are extraordinary miracles, so that's what was going on last week and this week.

We're gonna see that Jesus was having so much success in the city of Ephesus that the very fabric of their culture was being challenged the actual forms and the way that they lived in the city of Ephesus the way that everybody lived in Ephesus was being impacted because Jesus had broken in.

Jesus had showed up, and it was amazing the impact that it was having. The fact is that society changes. One life at a time and what I want to point out is we don't see Paul Engaged in political activism in Ephesus.

We don't see him lobbying or pressing for legislation against stuff. But Paul proclaimed the glory of Jesus Christ, and that is what was dramatically impacting his society and his culture. He raised up the good news of the kingdom of God and that was his calling and that was his mission.

And that's what he did and that's how community and society and culture was changed. One person at a time as they come to embrace and understand Christ and it was having such a radical impact that so many people were giving their lives over to Jesus Christ in Ephesus that the Society are you getting me the culture was changing in that town?

And that's what we're gonna see in our text this morning as more people believed. Some parts of that society began to be neglected. Things like the silversmiths guild who were responsible for the production and sale of idols.

It's kind of they were starting to go out of business. Because they couldn't sell idols anymore because Christ had broken in. When Jesus when Jesus breaks into our culture there are some things that fall away, right?

When he breaks into our lives where there are some things that fell away for you some things that began to feel old school. And like I don't do that anymore because Christ is in my life. Have any of you experienced that where there are some things that fall away?

I hope you have. The sinful elements that we see inside of ourselves. The simple things that we see in our culture though. Don't just roll over and play dead do they? They don't die easy. Sometimes they kick us in the teeth causing riots in our hearts.

You know what I'm talking about anybody ever felt a riot going on inside your heart where it's like I want to do this, and I want to honor God and I but I'm so pulled and torn towards this. And there's this Battle that wages back and forth between the culture of the kingdom in our hearts and the culture of this world that is still very real in our hearts.

And we're gonna see that sometimes as we look at this text. Sometimes that battle that wages wages in the culture around us and it could even lead to a literal riot. Like we're gonna see in our text this morning.

Paul’s Plan to Go to Macedonia, Achaia, Jerusalem, and Rome

So I want you to open your Bibles, please to Acts chapter 19. We're gonna be looking at verses 21 through 41 and that's page 795 in the Bible. That's in the seat back in front of you 795. If you don't own a Bible and encourage you to take that one with you.

We want everybody here to have a Bible. But you can follow along and read these 20 verses from verse 21 down to 41. Now after these events Paul resolved in the spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and Go to Jerusalem saying after I've been there I must also see Rome and having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers Timothy and Erastus.

He himself stayed in Asia for a while. About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the way for a man named Demetrius a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis. Brought no little business to the craftsmen these he gathered together with the workmen in similar trades and said men you know that from this business we have our wealth and you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all Asia, this Paul has Persuaded and turned away a great many people saying that God's made with hands are not God's and there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may Be counted as nothing and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence.

She whom all Asia and the world worship. When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out great is Artemis of the Ephesians. So the city was filled with confusion and they rushed together into the theater dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus Macedonians who were Paul's companions and travel.

But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd the disciples would not let him and even some of the Asiarchs who were friends Of his sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. Now some cried out one thing some another for the assembly was in confusion and most of them did not know why they come together.

Some of the crowd prompted Alexander whom the Jews had put forward and Alexander motioning with his hands wanted to make a defense to the Crowd, but when they recognized that he was a Jew for about two hours they all cried out with a loud voice with one voice great is Artemis of the Ephesians and When the town clerk had quieted the crowd he said men of Ephesus who is there who does not know that the city of The Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky.

Seeing them that these things cannot be denied you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash for you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess if Therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone the courts are open and there are pro councils.

Let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything further it shall be settled in the regular assembly for we really are in danger of being charged with rioting. Today since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion and when he had said these things He dismissed the assembly.

Faithful Decision-Making and the Will of God

Let's pray Father we get an opportunity to see how radical you can transform a culture how radically you can change things and Just through the message of the good news that you have given to us. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ and one life changed at a time has a radical impact on the culture around us and so father I pray that you would help us to be faithful to the message faithful to the good news that you have given To us and father even as we an opportunity to sing these songs and bring praises and glory to you.

I.

Asked that we would do so out of hearts of gratitude Recognizing the great and awesome sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross that our hearts would be moved to joy as we sing. Regardless of where we're coming from regardless of how our week has treated us that we would lift up our voices before you Putting all of the bad crud aside even putting aside our own victories and our own selfish joys.

But father that we would turn and find our joy only in you. And I ask this in Jesus name. Thank you guys for leading us in worship. I really appreciate that. Am I on here?

All right.

Go ahead and get up get some coffee doughnuts. If you start to not off I might come and poke you and ask you to go get some coffee. If I start to not off go get me a cup of coffee. Okay, so with that said we want you to just feel comfortable here and Get up if you need to but the main point of what we're gonna do from for the next half an hour 45 minutes is Just to focus in on God's Word to take the time to hear from what God has to say in his word and then take that and apply it to our lives and let it become a part of us and As then we go out from here that obviously the point of hearing from God's Word is to apply it to actually go do it.

So I fear that sometimes we can sit and I know that I've done this. I've been guilty of this is sitting under the teaching of the word hearing God's Word and then going out and going. Oh, that was great.

That was awesome. Let's go get lunch and watch a football game and everything just kind of falls away. You ever been there? So my prayer for you this morning is that as we get engaged in God's Word that we get a glimpse a vision of who?

God is and that motivates us and that changes us to actually go out and do something with this. What we're gonna see here in the text is just kind of setting the stage. Versus 21 through 22 just those first two verses give the overall direction for the remainder of the book of Acts.

So it's almost kind of like a little a little side note there that I'm just taking with this chunk of Scripture. So it's not necessarily I moved the plot along a little bit. But it tells us that Paul resolved in the spirit to go back to Macedonia and Achaia in Greece now.

Where are those two places you might ask? Well, we've already been there once in the book of Acts. Paul's already gone there. He went over to modern-day Greece. So that's where it is. Phil the the church in Philippi that he founded is there the church of Thessalonica is there the church in Berea and the church Corinth so those are the churches that we're talking about.

So he's saying I'm gonna go back. He resolved in his spirit to go back and Visit them then he's gonna go to Jerusalem. He says it's kind of his game plan and then from that point on I he says I must go to Rome.

So he's planning on going to Rome like the the city, right? I mean you can kind of see that in Paul's plans. You can imagine from what we've learned to Paul. He got a glimpse of his the radical impact that he desires to have on his world.

Does it make sense that he wants to go to Rome? He's like I'm going to Rome. Okay now the million-dollar question in this is How did he make this decision? Right, like it says he resolved it. He resolved to do something and his resolution was in the spirit.

So the spirit was behind it like what we're talking about is discerning or finding the will of God. How many of you would love to just have a foolproof method for that process? Okay to make a decision and it's within the will of God.

Well, unfortunately the text doesn't answer that question for us. It's not here to tell us How do you find the foolproof will of God. The text isn't that life is kind of messy, right? It's kind of difficult and it's about relationship and not about rules.

How many of you know that we would end up worshiping the process if God gave us a process for discerning his will? We would just be like, okay. Well here plug these plug these into the equation and here we go and we'll just discern.

Well, but it's a little bit messier than that. It's a little bit more difficult. The fact of the matter is there are two striking things here though in his decision first. He did make a decision. Some of us become immobilized and we don't make decisions very well.

How many raise your hand if you're like a really decisive sometimes you find yourself making decisions too rashly too quickly. Some of you like me on that.

Okay.

And then some of you are like immobilized by multiple decisions and it's really really difficult. Some of you there somebody just have a really hard time stepping out and actually doing something. Okay.

Well Paul didn't struggle with that. He he did it. Okay. He just stepped right out and and Did somebody raise their hand for both of them? Pete come on now. He's really conflicted in himself this morning.

So We see that he decided to do something. So that's that's the first that's the first thing that we see in that verse. But we also see that the spirit was behind his decision. That's given us and given us in the text.

I mean he decided in the spirit the spirit was with it now. It's quite possible though that you got to put yourself in the historical context is the written document. Luke is the author not Paul. So Luke is probably writing at a vantage point after all of these events have unfolded right all of these things have come to pass so that he can look and see and he's Kind of at you know, like hindsight is 2020.

So he's able to look back and say Paul said at the time when he was in Ephesus I'm gonna go to I'm gonna go to Macedonia. I'm gonna go to Kea I'm gonna go to Jerusalem and I'm gonna go to Rome and then now he's writing from the vantage point of saying and it was Obviously in the spirit because it all came to pass.

Do you see how we can tend to? Spiritualize that and make it like oh, well, we should just know in the spirit like when everything's gonna well. This is a little written a little bit different than that.

Do you see what I'm is that making sense to you? He's writing after the fact and he's able to say yeah. It was clearly in the spirit because it worked out exactly as Paul had planned it. God was in it but scriptures much I see much less concerned with the method for determining God's will and More concerned with the worship of God while we are doing stuff.

That's what scriptures most concerned with if you want to know what the will of God is for you I can tell you you want to know worship God. That is as well. And as you are going and as you are living your life and as you are making decisions and as you are doing things Worship God above all else.

You won't go wrong.

Not gonna go wrong making decisions. If that is the primary decision-making factor is what helps me to worship God the most. Go and live life. You see what I'm saying? So that's what that's what scripture seems to point to more accurately.

So it's perfect for it's it's perfectly fine for you to make plans. Okay, that's okay. As long as they're legal and moral. Okay? Doing stuff is a good idea and doing stuff with dependence upon God is even better.

Right, so that's all that's all just verse one. We're not going to take that much time on each verse here, but that's right where we start off with Paul having resolved To go to Macedonia probably saying if the Lord wills first sends Timothy and Erastus on ahead of him.

We see that in the text. Sometimes I've been guilty of viewing Paul as like a Lone Ranger in ministry have any of you ever pictured that he's kind of out There on his own doing stuff. He's got tons of people around him.

I Think sometimes like he's a man walking the wild Roman frontier carrying his scrolls and parchment and he's probably walking with a big staff and He's got an entourage. This dude has got traveling companions.

He's friends. He's constantly mentoring others in ministry. This guy Erastus is as mentioned again later in Romans 1623 if you're taking notes, you can jot that down and look up the reference to this guy again later.

What's going to happen? Alright, he sends Erastus up to Macedonia ahead of him kind of soften up the territory and then Paul's gonna join him and then they're gonna go down to Corinth and Something about Corinth is really gonna resonate with Erastus and Erastus is gonna eventually become the city treasurer of the city of Corinth.

So this guy's a man is being mentored by Paul. He's been sent ahead in ministry and eventually he's going to become a man of high standing. So that's the kind of caliber of people that Paul was associating with there and they were coming to faith in Christ.

The Silversmiths, Idolatry, and the Gospel’s Economic Threat

But while he sends these two ahead not all is well in the city of Ephesus. Well sure the gospel continues to go forward. Many lives are being changed. Jesus has broken into as I said in my introduction the societal fabric Is being changed in radical ways.

And do we see that in our lives Jesus challenges everything? Jesus challenges everything from religious practices to commerce to the way that we do business with one another but he does so as I've suggested on a person-by-person basis and We see that the cumulative total of a bunch of people turning to the way of forgiveness through Jesus Christ Causes as the text says no little disturbance in Ephesus.

In other words a big disturbance a big commotion. There's a man there in Ephesus. He is a man of significant clout. His name is Demetrius. We meet him in the text early on. I would call him the union chief for the UIW not the UAW the UIW the United Idol Workers Union Local Ephesus branch 101 or I don't know whatever number you want to put on it he represents the silversmiths all the silversmiths of the community and History shows this to be a lucrative business in the economy of ancient Ephesus.

It's a big business there. They produce silver replicas of the Temple of Artemis. Now how many of those do you think we found in antiquity? I mean as we've done archaeology and stuff, how many of those have we uncovered?

Huh?

None because they're made out of. So what happens to silver it gets melted down? What we found is we found terra cotta like the underlayment. So the things that they were made out of were made out of pottery and then they were overlaid with Silver so we found dozens of these terra cotta images of the actual and what they were selling what they were marketing is the actual Temple itself.

So a little tiny miniature temple that you could put in your house for in-home worship. Isn't that convenient? Okay, you know and I mean you could get one and they'd throw in a little statuette for $19 .99.

You know with the extra if you I don't know if that's the way that it really works. But um, so they've got this business going and it is big business and it's working for them and they're selling these silver Replicas if you will of the temple there in Artemis.

Not a little business big business. To again demonstrate how utterly reliable the Bible is in historical accounts significantly unreasonably Reliable an inscription was found in the town of Ephesus on a big stone pillar that dates to the middle of the first century.

So we're talking about if you follow the biblical chronology and you date things according to different people's rules and and all that stuff. And when they were in office and such and such and on and on you end up getting to about 57 AD the events that we're talking about so middle of the first century AD is where we're at and We found this inscription that says that refers to a man in Ephesus named Demetrius who was a defender of the goddess.

Artemis.

What's our text going to be about a dude in the city of Ephesus named Demetrius who is a defender of?

Artemis I.

Mean, it's like it's crazy accurate that these events really took place. Demetrius is a real dude. Do you get it? That's just crazy. How accurate I mean Archaeology time and time again as we unearth this stuff.

Proves that these are real people. These are historical events that we're talking about here. It's awesome. I Love I love studying that stuff. It just gets me gets me pumped. So the Union gathers together with others in similar trade they held a citywide business meeting.

Demetrius gives a speech identifying that their wealth comes from religiously based business. Like do you think they already knew that? Okay, so they already know it, but he calls them all together. But that's not the point the point is it for him to educate them about where their money comes from.

They are pretty well aware of that right, but the point is we get all our money from religiously based business and somebody is intruding on our Trade somebody is putting down the religion that we Basically supports our livelihood says Paul has been leading people in Ephesus and almost all of Asia away from idolatry.

That'd be a significant problem. If you were an idol worker. If your trade was to produce idols, you better believe it. Now there's a couple of flash applications here that I just kind of want to draw out right from the text.

One is beware of the marriage of business and religion. Particularly in the church, but whether it's Christianity paganism Islam Hinduism or any new ism that is out there. Putting it together. Things get ugly fast when religion and business get together.

Do you know what I'm talking about now? I recognize that there are some businesses out there that are founded on Chris on Christian principles. I'm talking about the church being run like a business. You're hearing how that's a little bit different and having a business run on Christian principles.

It's not it's not a bad thing. And I know that there are some here who work at a business like that. But I'm talking about when in the church The church begins to function and move and run as a Business and that is a horrendous combination particularly because of two main things first is that the gospel is.

Free.

The gospel is free. You can't buy it. You can't earn it. You can't work enough. Now many out there in our society think that you can buy the blessings of God, right? As a matter of fact many out in our society think that that's what the church is all about.

They all they want is my pocketbook, right? All they want is to get into my wallet. Man, I want to do the best that we can here at recast to make it clear to our culture that that's not what this Is about.

You cannot buy the favor of God? You cannot buy his blessings with money. You cannot buy his blessings with good works by being good enough. None of it. So that's the first thing that makes it a problem when you wed the church and business.

The second thing that's a problem though. Is that how many of you know that too many the gospel is.

Offensive.

Just the good news itself. What is the good news? The good news is that Jesus came that we aren't good enough that that kind of maybe. Not what our culture teaches us. Okay, this is just a starting point of the gospel.

You got a problem. What do you mean? I got a problem, huh? You want a piece of this? Yeah, you know what? You know what I'm saying? I mean, how many of you like to be told you have a problem you Like that you like that when somebody tells you no, of course not and so you're looking at this thing and you're going okay.

Well, is this gonna turn to good news at some point because it's not like bad news. I've got a problem and then but the problem is resolved in that God Solved the problem by sending Jesus his son to die on the cross that if you humble yourself under him and bow the knee to him and say I Am willing to come under your authority and accept forgiveness because I couldn't do it myself.

See another problem there see another difficulty with our culture there the Part about the knee touching the ground issue the part about humbling ourselves and coming under something that kind of offensive.

Sure, that is difficult for a people who are proud Individualistic and I can do it myself. Thank you very much. You see why if we're gonna just try to appeal to our broader culture. We're gonna run into some problems with offense of the gospel and what would be our tendency then if we're running a business if you're if you run the church like a business then everybody becomes a Customer and any healthy business model any healthy business model means that we give the customer what?

They want right. Isn't that good business? Yeah, it's not a trick question and if you're anything like me There are days when the truth is Not what you want. Am I right? There are days when the truth is not what I want.

I want you to make me feel good about myself. I want to be all joy and no judgment and I think we all know that feeling we've all been there. I want to walk away with something encouraging said about me.

I feel good or whatever and So the fact of the matter is if we mark it and sell the truth, it's very very hard to keep it true. We mark it and sell the truth. It's hard to keep it true. Notice the first issue Demetrius is concerned with.

What's the primary issue? He's the great defender of Artemis. What's his bottom line about? What's his what's going on in his culture? That's causing a ruckus his income. Financially, he's concerned about the bottom line.

What are we going to do to keep the profits rolling? Great defender of Artemis, huh? There's this underlying point. However, that was the first flash application. The second is the underlying point that the movement of Christ in this city has had a dramatic impact on The business of idolatry.

I missed this the first time that I read it. I've I read this several times and I was like, well, what's the main point? What's what's really going on here? Think about this. The gospel moves in with power people give their lives to Christ and as they're giving their lives to Christ.

Do they continue in their idolatry? If they did there wouldn't be this ruckus right? No riot because they're still buying idols, but they give them up. It means very clearly that those who followed Christ were turning from their Idolatry the message of Christ does not leave room for people to add a little bit of Jesus into their life.

Into their idolatry just I'll take Jesus too. They stopped buying the idols. I met many Hindu students when I was on campus working with Western, Michigan University. Lots of Hindus. It was just an awesome time in my life of going into those going into those apartments we always called it the alphabet soup, you know, the Apartments that are all have the the alphabet there.

They're labeled according to the some of you know what I'm talking about. Some of you don't all kinds of international students in there. That was kind of the center hub. We would go into these apartments.

We would first of all we get signups. So we weren't ever doing cold calls. These are people who actually asked for us to come and study the Bible with them. Really cool all international students coming from all around the world guys from Saudi Arabia we're studying the Bible with guys from a lot from India and So we would go in and we'd have these Bible studies.

But more often than not when I went into their apartment. They would have a little a little end table set up right by their front door. And what do you think was on that any guesses? What was on that end table?

All their idols all their idols and there'd be a little a little thing of incense. There'd be a little bowl of rice or some milk there or I mean things that they're literally literally Offering these things now what was really intriguing to me is often above them on the wall.

Push pin in were these I mean, I hate to be. I'm not trying to be insulting, but they were like trading cards. I Mean they really were they were like a picture of their God and it was about the size of a trading card and it was Pushed into the wall and it had a picture of ganache or Vishnu or Hanuman or all of these Idols and they would literally worship these things.

Occasionally though I would run into someone who would proudly show me their trading card and who was it?

Jesus.

It looked at me. He looked a little he looked a little Indian. Okay, he looked a little bit like he was a Hindu. But you know, I mean every culture thinks that Jesus looks like them, right? So but they would proudly show me that Jesus was one of their idols.

They worship Jesus, too. Aren't we we're all on the same, you know. Can you imagine that that seemed far removed from where most of us live? Does it pretty far? Or maybe not as far. That was a trick question.

Consider far how far you have let Jesus break into Your personal history. How much have you let him own of you? Does he own it all is he one piece of the pie? Is he one component of your life or is he the whole ball of wax?

Or are you sharing him or is he sharing you with others? Have we added him like a trading card to our collection of idols. We as Americans can be guilty of this can't we we as Christians as Christians can be guilty of this.

He's right there on the shelf somewhere between football and self-image or right there between status and entertainment, right? Can you see it? Where do we put him? I? Would suggest that there are two ways we miss this in our culture.

We either like I've just indicated we we can add God is just one more thing as I've already said or or we may just entertain the notion that we ought to keep our options open. You know I'm talking about That notion and what I mean by keeping our options open is it can range from the very common misperception that all roads lead to God.

You have you heard that in our culture all roads lead to God and it's all just the same or even just the Though ever so popular idea that Jesus is real and true for me. Maybe not for everybody, but he's right for me.

You heard that one? Those are the ways that we get this concept wrong. If we think about this logically if we are believing that Jesus is just right for me or that all roads lead to God. It's if we bubble that down if we boil it down all the way to its basic thought we end up with Jesus going to the cross for no good reason.

Because there's other ways if there are other ways. Do you think he wanted to go to the cross? If there was any other way as a matter of fact He literally said that in a prayer to his father the night before he would be the night He was betrayed the night before he gave his life as a ransom for all of us.

He prayed fervently in the garden that night and said father if there is any other way do it that way Let's roll with that idea right. Can you hear him in the garden? Can you hear him saying that if there is any other way?

I don't want to do this. I Don't want to take the sins of the world.

It's gonna.

To to have your wrath poured out on me. God. I don't really desire that.

You see.

And what was the response from heaven. The resounding silence. That affirmed there was no.

Other.

Way, this is it and he went with resolve from that point forward. You look at the transformation that happened to Christ in the garden and he sets his face towards the cross and he pays the penalty for us the way.

The way for us to be made whole the way for us to be made right. There is no other way. The new believers in Ephesus Were steeped in historical Idolatry, but when they come to came to understand the forgiveness that they could have in Christ.

They understood Paul's preaching and They understood that to take Christ meant to say no to other things. Jesus broke into that community in such a way that the United Idol workers were losing business and If you think about how this applies to our lives We could set about and and start a program of picketing things.

Like we how many you can think of some things that we should be against as a church. Okay, two of you the rest of you need to think creatively about your culture. Okay, there are some things we should be against right.

Thank you for saying that. There are some things that we definitely should be against so that what we could do is we could go around and picket Pornography, we just pick a pick a topic picket pornography and we are going to be against it.

Okay, or we could take petitions out to get the internet free of it or whatever. Getting what I'm saying. You just pick whatever your topic is whatever your issue is in this culture and say we could Try to lobby and force legislation through and try to get it our way, right?

We could picket that stuff or instead we could preach what is right? Preach what is true? Speak into people's lives and call them to give up their idols and come to Christ. That is where freedom is found not in opposing The methods of this world but in promoting the gospel of Jesus Christ and that was Paul's method.

We're gonna see that here in a moment that there's some evidence that that's the way they moved and worked in Ephesus. Was through the proclamation of truth not through primarily a smear campaign against evil.

Are you getting what I'm saying on that? Now is there a time is there a place for us to have a voice and to speak out against things? Absolutely, but is that our primary and I'm talking about primary.

Is that what we are called primarily to do?

No.

We are called primarily to lift Christ high and as people see him as he is glorified in us and through our speech and through Our behavior and through our actions and through our fellowship and the love that we share for one another.

In Christ, he is made glorious and these other things are put down. These other things fall away and that's what we're seeing in our text. Idolatry is on hard times because Christ has been elevated. See how that works out in a culture.

That's what recast is about. That's what we're trying to accomplish here. Not political lobbying or getting the right people in offices or things like that. Should we vote? Yes, should we be active? Yes, but that's not our primary calling.