Scripture referenced 6 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Acts 19:21 Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go to Macedonia and Achaia before Jerusalem
21 Now after these things had ended, Paul determined 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.”
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Keep this verse
Acts 19:23-41
the narrative of the riot in the theater at Ephesus concerning the Way
23 About that time there arose no small stir concerning the Way.
24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen,
25 whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, “Sirs, you know that by this business we have our wealth.
26 You see and hear, that not at Ephesus alone, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are no gods, that are made with hands.
27 Not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be counted as nothing, and her majesty destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worships.”
28 When they heard this they were filled with anger, and cried out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
29 The whole city was filled with confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel.
30 When Paul wanted to enter in to the people, the disciples didn’t allow him.
31 Certain also of the Asiarchs, being his friends, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater.
32 Some therefore cried one thing, and some another, for the assembly was in confusion. Most of them didn’t know why they had come together.
33 They brought Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. Alexander beckoned with his hand, and would have made a defense to the people.
34 But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice for a time of about two hours cried out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 When the town clerk had quieted the multitude, he said, “You men of Ephesus, what man is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great goddess Artemis, and of the image which fell down from Zeus?
36 Seeing then that these things can’t be denied, you ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash.
37 For you have brought these men here, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess.
38 If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a matter against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them press charges against one another.
39 But if you seek anything about other matters, it will be settled in the regular assembly.
40 For indeed we are in danger of being accused concerning today’s riot, there being no cause. Concerning it, we wouldn’t be able to give an account of this commotion.”
41 When he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.
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Philippians 4:19
quoted as first principle of giving: God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus
19 My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
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Matthew 6:21
quoted as second principle of giving: where your treasure is, there your heart will be also
21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
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Matthew 28:19
the Great Commission referenced in the context of baptism: go therefore making disciples, teaching and baptizing
19 Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
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Acts 1:8
Jesus telling Christians they will be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
The pastor walked through Acts 19:21-41, the account of the riot in the theater at Ephesus, using it to ask what the "undeniable facts" of our own society look like and whether the way Christians live their lives quietly challenges them. The sermon was more narrative and historical than the previous two weeks, and he said plainly that he intended it that way.
What was said
Paul, still in Ephesus after years of daily proclamation in the synagogue and the hall of Tyrannus, felt compelled by the Spirit to move on toward Macedonia, Achaia, and eventually Jerusalem. The pastor paused on the Greek word translated "I must" when Paul says he must also go to Rome, noting that the word carries the idea of divine necessity, the same word used when Jesus said the Son of Man must suffer and die. He did not preach that sermon at length, but he wanted the congregation to sit with it.
The trouble in Ephesus started not with a theological debate but with a business complaint. Demetrius, a silversmith who made miniature silver shrines of the goddess Artemis, gathered his guild and told them Paul was costing them money. The pastor showed images of the actual sculptures of Artemis of the Ephesians, a figure covered in layered symbols drawn from multiple religious traditions, and noted that the mixing of religious imagery into one thing is not hard to find in Jackson either.
Demetrius's real argument, though, was ad populum logic: everybody knows this is true, everybody knows Ephesus is the guardian of the great goddess, everybody knows this is the biggest and best. The crowd in the theater, many of whom did not even know why they were there, chanted "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians" for two hours straight. The pastor compared it to a stadium chant, the kind of thing that works precisely because it does not require anyone to think.
The city official who finally quieted the crowd did so by appealing to the same undeniable facts: the meteorite, the temple, Ephesus's civic identity. He had no real answer to what Paul was teaching. He just wanted the riot to stop before Rome noticed. The pastor pointed out that this is at least the third or fourth time in Acts that Luke, writing to a Roman official, makes the point that Christianity poses no threat to the civil order.
The pastor then named what he sees as the undeniable facts of American society now: the big bang as the only explanation worth taking seriously, evolution as settled, the idea that this life is all there is, and the idea that everybody is doing it so the question of right and wrong does not apply. He was not dismissive of the questions, but he said the Genesis account is at least as reasonable an argument, and that a God who speaks things into being can make things however He wants.
He closed by showing what is left of the great Temple of Artemis. Archaeologists in the 1800s knew where it had stood but could not find it. The builders had constructed it on marshy ground to protect against earthquakes, and it sank. One column was excavated and re-erected. That is all that remains. Nobody in the world worships Artemis of the Ephesians anymore. The firm foundation, the pastor said, is Jesus, and of His kingdom there will be no end.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- The pastor talked about Paul feeling 'compelled by the spirit' and then saying 'I must go to Rome,' describing it as a divine necessity. What is something you sense God compelling you toward, and what makes it hard to say yes to that?
- Demetrius was not wrong that Paul's preaching was costing him business. When has living out your faith cost you something, and how did you handle that?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 6,646 words
0:00
Good morning. Glad that y'all are here this morning. Welcome to First B. Have a few announcements. Actually, I'm gonna go through the week, this week.
0:10
I'm just gonna go through it. We're gonna kinda get in the pattern. I probably won't be announcing these every week but this is what our week looks like. This little bit better. In order of appearance.
0:23
Monday nights. Actually, the connect hour is between services. So, after this service and before the next, down the hall in the fellowship hall, there will be coffee and juice and donuts and who knows what kind of sweets and goodness down there and people just looking for other people to connect inside First B. So, Monday nights at First B will happen tomorrow night at 06:15. You can always count on meal, a meal, music, and a message.
0:49
It's simple, tried and true format. We love it. Oh, there we go. The connect hour. Again, it's down the hall between services today from tenish until elevenish.
1:00
If the preacher would hush, it would be a little bit before ten. Last week, it would have been a long time after ten. Middle schoolers, this evening at 06:30 is the Solid Rock Student Ministry. So, middle schoolers come here. Renzy will be here looking for you and y'all will have a good time.
1:16
I think y'all eat at that too, don't you, Renzi? Every time. Every time Renzi gets together, there's a theme. January 26 is a congregational meeting. So, mark your calendars for January 26.
1:30
That's the last Sunday in January. Awana is meeting at the same time, exactly the same time as Monday nights at First B and they meet just a little bit before. So, you can drop the kids off. If you're having them, come on down the hall. Have your meal music and a message while they're filled up with a spiritual meal.
1:49
Lots of scripture pouring into their little hearts and minds. Men's fraternity happens Wednesday mornings at 6AM. We said last week, something wrong. This is right. 6AM is when it starts.
2:03
That's early. 6AM for men's fraternity on Wednesday mornings. Following that at 07:30, this is not, you don't have to come to everyone of these. For crying out loud, if you did, you'd run yourself ragged. Wednesday mornings, we do have a prayer time though that meets in my office and that's at 07:30 and immediately after that, there's a women's gathering at 09:30 in the morning.
2:25
So Wednesday mornings at 09:30. That group also meets on Tuesday nights. Not the same. Well, that study meets on Tuesday nights for different people. This is confusing me.
2:36
The same study happens on Tuesday nights as happens on Wednesday morning. Seven to nine on Tuesday nights, Wednesday morning at 09:30. High school. High schoolers, your student rock solid rock student ministry starts at 07:30AM. It's breakfast here at the church down the...
2:54
In the Fellowship Hall. And we are glad that you're here. I think that that's all of them. They didn't come up in the order of appearance at all. But I can never tell about those things.
3:04
If you would, and well, I tell you what, I'm gonna ask that the Bringles would come up, all of them, all four of em. We're gonna do a baptism this morning and then get back into song but before we baptize, I wanted to just say, Amanda and Jason have been here in this Valley for some time now and what, five, five years? And Amanda has been the head of the Turning Point Pregnancy Resource Center for the last three and a half years. And they'll be moving soon. They've already had going away parties because everybody loves them.
3:43
But they'll be having more, I'm sure. And we'll be saying goodbye over the next few weeks. But I just wanted to give you all a chance to show a little bit of love for Amanda and for Jason. He's been working with the Parks Service and going to... You wanna tell them?
3:57
No. I know you don't. Of course. Would you tell them the Forest Service? You go ahead.
4:02
Oh, okay. We're moving to Hot Springs, South Dakota, and Jason is moving to the Forest Service, and he is a supervisory range management specialist. Is that the title? So working in the grasslands over there.
4:17
So So forest service and grasslands always confuse me, but I I wanted to give you all a chance because just as we welcome new people into the body, I wanna send them off with a blessing. And the best way that I can think of how the girls have given me the blessing of my obedience. Y'all remember the great commission where it says, go you therefore, making disciples. Teaching and baptizing. It's an act of obedience for me to do the baptism but it's an act of obedience for them to be baptized when he said, repent, believe the gospel, repent, and be baptized.
4:53
So, they're doing that out of a step of obedience to their lord and savior and so am I and I'm just gonna jump in here. Band, y'all can come on back up. Y'all start playing as soon as we get through But as soon... Actually, as soon as we get through the baptism, would y'all just stand up and greet one another? The band will crank back up after that.
5:09
But we're gonna step over into the pool. Bridger first. Okay?
5:13
Lord, we give you thanks this morning, and we just want to to say once again that we trust you and that you truly are our cornerstone. You are unshakable. And, Lord, when when we live in in times just of uncertainty and when we are, just in in so many different directions and and our lives can sometimes just feel flustered and things like that. I I thank you that you are constant and that you are loving and you're graceful and you're kind. And so God, you're...
5:49
You lead us to trust us. You lead us to repent. Thank you God for your righteousness. Not our own, but for your righteousness. Amen.
5:59
There's two principles that relate very strongly to our giving. The first is is, and my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. God has provided for us. God has provided for us richly. A second principle is, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
6:21
So because of God's provision and because he wants our heart, not necessarily our money, our giving is simply a reflection of our heart condition and his provision. Let's pray. Lord, thank you so much for all that you've given to us. We give back to you as simply a reflection of how kind and gracious and generous you've been with us. Thank you for knowing that we we need sustenance, place to live.
6:55
Thank you so much for wanting our hearts. In Jesus name, amen. Well, I am
7:03
I'm excited about being still in the book of Acts. Peak, hey, children's ministry is dismissed. Would y'all stand up and head out? Surprises me every week. It's good to see so many of em.
7:12
It's like an army back there. Coming down the stairs. I didn't mention Amanda and Jason. I thank you very much for that. It was a blessing for me to be able to do that and I was going to say too, if y'all have not heard yet, Amanda, so she's, they're moving to South Dakota.
7:35
She's stepping down as the executive director at Turning Point But Judy Basie is stepping in as executive director at Turning Point. So thank you for all that you've done. It's been great leadership. Really, really appreciate it. So, back in Acts, every week, we're back in Acts.
7:55
This is great. This story this week is not so much like it was last week. Last week, we had we had so many miraculous things going on that were uncommon miracles, Luke says. It was primarily teaching and preaching, proclaiming the gospel that was the secret to the effectiveness of Paul's ministry. Now, there were things that were happening that were unexplainable.
8:20
There were some crazy stuff going on but primarily, what he kept on doing over and over was proclaiming daily in the hall of Tyrannus, proclaiming daily in the in the synagogue before that. He kept on proclaiming Jesus and the cross and the redemption that's available through Christ and as he did that with these 12 disciples that he met literally on the beach when he first got there, the word grew so that he could say that everybody in Asia had heard. This week, it's more or less an incidental sideline type story. It doesn't have Paul as its central figure, doesn't have Peter involved at all. It's rioting in the theater.
8:58
Rioting in the theater. This sounds crazy. Have you ever been in a foreign country? If you've ever studied abroad, maybe that was the time that I remember. I'd never considered being involved in a riot.
9:08
I was in a town. I grew up in a town of four ninety two people. I remember when they changed the sign because a cousin was born. There were no riots going on in Shiloh, Georgia. It just was not bound to happen.
9:20
The first time I ever went anywhere, Tanya and I got married one day and the next day, we flew to Rome. Moved to Italy and when we got there, we were in a studies abroad program and the people stood up and they said, if you ever see a crowd forming and people starting to cheer and go one way or the other, go the opposite direction. Do whatever you can to get out of that. You don't want to be in the middle of a riot. You don't want to get hung up in that.
9:48
So, rioting in the theater is what this week's lesson is about. We start off last week by Paul Landon in Ephesus and that's where he is where the big red star is right there. That's Ephesus and if we start, it was a huge city at the time. It was very very we saw last week spiritually active, a spiritually fertile place. People were very interested in spiritual things.
10:12
Is Jackson a fertile spiritual place? Oh my goodness. I don't know that I've seen its equal. It is very very spiritually active. Have you seen the Teton Spirit Magazine?
10:22
Not saying it's all good. I'm just saying it's there there is a very heightened awareness here to spiritual things. As there was in Ephesus. This is Ephesus today. So this is the Agora, the marketplace, tons and tons of columns.
10:40
It must have been a very grand city. You can see it from the scope of things. You can do full door... Full day tours there. I've never been there.
10:47
Some of y'all probably have. It's in modern day Turkey. It was a huge, huge city. But we start off our text today in Acts nineteen twenty one. It says, afterward, that's after all of that stuff that had been going on last week that we're talking about.
11:04
Afterward, Paul felt compelled by the spirit to go over to Macedonia. Now, had he been to Macedonia before? Yes. Philippi is in Macedonia. He had been there on the second missionary journey and so, he figured on continuing this third one up probably through Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, like he had before.
11:23
He compelled by the spirit to go to Macedonia and Achaia which is where Corinth is, which is where Apollos is now preaching. Before going to Jerusalem. Now, Jerusalem is all the way off of this map. It's about 100 miles up towards Philippi from Ephesus. It's about 100 miles down to Corinth, maybe a little more and it's approximately 800 miles from Corinth down to Jerusalem.
11:47
I say this because some of y'all geography people. I'm not so much. I love geography. I love traveling. Love covering distance but if you don't have any frame or reference for 800 miles, Paul is traveling either by ship or on foot, right?
11:59
800 miles is like from Jackson to Hays, Kansas. There's a billboard in Hays, Kansas that says, Hays has jobs. It's for all the people that are on the way to Jackson not knowing whether there are jobs. So, if you want to, you can go back. It's eight forty miles to Hays, Kansas.
12:18
Afterward, Paul felt compelled by the spirit. Underline that. He felt a compelling. Last week, the end application of the messages helped me to say yes. A prayer to God to help me say yes.
12:31
He felt compelled by the spirit to go over to Macedonia and Ikea before going to Jerusalem. He felt compelled by the spirit and after that, he said, I must go on to Rome. He sent his two assistants, Timothy and Erastus ahead to Macedonia while he stayed a while longer in the province of Asia. When I saw this, I must last night, I must admit, I have to tell you that I I was tempted to just stop right here and preach this sermon on that one word, day. The word day in Greek signifies necessity.
13:06
It's the divine necessity. I must, meaning, it is what I have to do. It is what I'm compelled to do. He'd already said that he was compelled by the spirit to do the other but then he said, I must go to Rome. He knew it was part of his destiny.
13:21
God had revealed to him that he had to get there. Jesus said, I must suffer. The son of man must suffer and die and be in the grave for three days and then be raised again. He knew and it was a significant thing about divine necessity. I'm not going to do that sermon, but that's what it's about.
13:39
I might come back to it. Acts nineteen twenty three to 41. It's a narrative. This is like a news report. That's why I had the newspaper on the front slide there.
13:51
It's a narrative about this and we're just going to go through it. About that time, serious trouble developed in Ephesus concerning the way. Was it serious trouble for the people who are following the way? Probably incidentally but they're following the way. They're going to be alright.
14:06
They're Christians. They're going to be alright eternally but serious trouble developed in Ephesus around town concerning the way. It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis, otherwise known as Diana. He kept many craftsmen busy, had a guild. He called them together along with others employed in similar trades and addressed them as follows.
14:38
Well, let me tell you about Diana quickly. If you look in the Greek mythology, Diana is the goddess of the hunt and she has been known for fertility and different things like that. Typically, an art because I'm an art guy. Typically, an art if you see the Greek goddess Diana or Artemis, she will be with a little stag like a little deer. She's bigger than the deer.
15:00
It's not a huge deer. It's not sports of field or Sportsman's Magazine. It's usually a little deer and she's kinda got her hand on it saying she's the goddess of the hunt. And she'll usually have a quiver of arrows with her or something too. That's her iconography.
15:15
Around this time, this is a coin from this time since he's a silversmith, I thought I'd throw in this silver coin and this Diane of Ephesus. And this is the Temple of Diana or Artemis at Ephesus. So, it feels like art history. This is what I was going to do. If I was not going to be a preacher, this was my plan for my life, to preach art history.
15:36
Gentlemen, this is his address. He addressed them as follows. He's talking to the guild similarly minded businessman and all of his craftsman that work for him. He says, gentlemen, you know that our wealth comes from this business. But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren't really gods at all.
15:56
Ain't that funny? We're making these things and he's done this not only here in Ephesus but throughout the entire province. First of all, he was saying, this guy is threatening our livelihood. Have you, do you all know what these are? They're enormous.
16:15
I've never seen them blown up this big. These, see this little heart with the stuff coming out of the top of it. Most of these actually happen to be hearts. They could be anything. A lot of times you see in their arms or legs or absolutely anything.
16:29
In Mexico, these are silver so made me think of these. Milagros, Milagros, the word Milagros means miracles. And whenever you go on a little pilgrimage to any little city and you visit the cathedral there, there will be somebody selling outside of the cathedral these things. Milagros, selling miracles. So I've seen this firsthand.
16:53
Y'all seen this firsthand too that people still kind of act this way. It's a normal human thing to want to have something that you can hold on to or love or rub to think about propel. It's a normal human thing. I'm not saying it's not sinful. It's wrong.
17:07
We were made to worship. People were made to worship God and there's so many things that can get in the way of that. So, Demetrius goes on. Of course, I'm not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. He's saying that Paul's pulling back the curtain on the Wizard of Oz.
17:27
He's pulling back this curtain and showing that handmade gods are not gods. We're losing market share here. We're losing business but I'm not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I'm also concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence. This is one of those things that I studied in art class too.
17:48
This is artist rendering of the great Temple Of Artemis at Ephesus. That's a pretty grand place. That is bigger than a football field. Now, know we have buildings today that are bigger than a football field. They're called football stadiums.
18:02
They're big enough to hold a football field. This one had a wooden roof on top of all of this marble. These columns are over 60 of of the the columns. They were 60 feet high. That's a mock up miniature.
18:17
It's actually not big at all, but it looks like it the way they've placed it there. You can see the scale. That's a person right there. So this is a great building. It is a huge building.
18:30
For that time, the the architect of this building was said to have spent years wanting to commit suicide. Took a hundred and twenty years to complete the building. His son finished it. Of course, I'm not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I'm also concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence and that Artemis or Diana, this magnificent goddess worship throughout the province of Asia and all around the world will be robbed of her great prestige.
19:01
He's grandstanding. He's grandstanding for Diana. This is Diana, one of of Artemis of the Ephesians and he'll he'll point that difference out in just a minute. Now, she's missing a nose and she looks a little bit like the emperor on the Star Wars movies. This is another rendering of her.
19:21
If you look at this one, she's lost her nose. If you look at this one, she's lost her nose. If you look at this one, she's lost her nose. Noses are the hardest things to keep on marble statues. That small little appendage over the years after it's been moved around from person to person's place, they knocked the nose off.
19:39
I mentioned that she's supposed to be a goddess of fertility in Greek mythology. They took that to the extreme in Ephesus. Artemis of the Ephesians, if you notice on all of these, has this stylized multiple breast. She is known as the nurturer of everything that is. That's what they gave her credit for.
20:09
Anything that was living was said to have come from this goddess. After her nose was knocked off so many times, I think they decided to make her out of bronze. Her face and hands are made out of bronze. Fingers and noses, you know, they fall off. It's like frostbite.
20:24
This is Diana and up close, she definitely has a Greek stylized look. She's had to get this classical look and bronze and she has the Palumastis here and if you look up here, they're winged horses or winged figures that are supposedly to waft people off to the to the everlasting afterlife. There are lions crawling on our shoulders, symbols of the zodiac. There are all these things. It's a mixing of all different kinds of religion together.
20:54
Do we see that in Jackson? Yeah. Oh my. Yes. We do all the time.
21:00
And so he's saying, great is this temple. This is our livelihood. This is the way. This is the one. Ephesus is the bomb.
21:07
This is the greatest place in the world and our goddess is the greatest. Look at her. She's wonderful. There are bees right here because bees don't need anybody else. They create their own food source.
21:20
That's kind of a weird thing but that's there are all kinds of little symbols, all of these, all over her. At this, so this is the guild. They're already on his side. He's preaching to the choir and he says, it says, at this, their anger boiled and they began shouting, great is Artemis of the Ephesians. Kind of a chant that arose.
21:40
Soon, the whole city was filled with confusion. Yeah, the temple's there. It's been there. They do that. A lot of people do it.
21:47
I will go couple times a year but when they started people getting up in arms about it, no, this is great. It's Artemis of the Ephesians. Well, it's always been there. Why the ruckus now? So, everyone rushed to the amphitheater.
22:00
This is the amphitheater today. It's hard to get pictures of it then. The amphitheater seated 25,000 people. So that's big for a city in the ancient Near East. That's pretty pretty pretty big.
22:14
25,000 seats and they would have shows and whatever they're not like a gladiatorial thing in the coliseum usually. It would not normally be somewhere where they would, you know, at this time, they wouldn't have been sacrificing Christians to the Lions or anything but it was a place for the public to come out and speak. It was a public forum. At this, their anger boiled and they began shouting, great is the Artemis of the Ephesians. Soon, the whole city was filled with confusion and everyone rushed to the amphitheater dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus who were Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia.
22:50
Now, wherever Paul goes, he's been picking up guys along the way and they're traveling and teaching and helping. Paul wanted to go in too but the believers wouldn't let him. Some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, also sent a message to him begging him not to risk his life. When people are whipped into a frenzy, this is Aurelia Getzi was the lady who told us this. Aurelia Getzi said, do not go into a mob ever.
23:19
Don't ever go into a mob. Just my, you know, tall white face in the middle of a tiny little Italian mob would not be good. You will be put in jail. No doubt. They might not get all of them but they will get you.
23:33
So, here it is. The crowd is gathering and they're coming to see what's going on and they're hearing the chants and they're hearing people yelling. Everyone's in confusion. In fact, this is the next part we're going into. Inside, the people are all shouting.
23:47
Someone thing and some another. You can imagine someone were like, yeah, my business has gone down 40%. They're taking our jobs. Have you heard that one before? Yes.
23:58
Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn't even know why they were there. Ain't that true? The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward. You can see him kind of huddling up and going, no, you go.
24:12
You go. You go. Alexander, you're the best speaker. You're the best one. That maybe this is our chance.
24:16
They're fussing about Paul anyway. You can give our side. Go. Alexander, go. Go.
24:23
So, they pushed Alexander forward, told him to explain the situation, and he motioned for silence and tried to speak. You can see him doing this. Come on. Calm down. Everybody calm down.
24:33
But when the crowd realized he was a Jew, was this a Jewish stronghold? No. It was not a Jewish city at all. When the crowd realized that he was a Jew, they started shouting again and it sounds like from the way that it's phrased in the Greek, it sounds like they started shouting again in one accord. They came together and they started shouting for two hours, a chant.
24:56
Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. I'm looking at Paul, my brother-in-law and I'm I'm imagining the Chargers football stadium when the whole San Diego Supercharger. When they start doing that or go dog. Sick em. You know what I'm saying?
25:13
Or war eagle or roll tide or wherever you're from. That's something that we recognize because people can get around a chant. Oh my goodness. In the in the nineties, when the braves, when you do this, the chop and we stole it from somebody else. Yeah, oh, we we did all that, you know?
25:28
It's a way of rallying people together and it it it works. Great is Artemis of Ephesians. Great is Artemis of Ephesians. We're building intensity. What they were doing to Alexander is this, we don't want to hear what you have to say.
25:42
We don't want to hear Gaius and Aristarchus. We want to have it the way we had it. We want for things to stay the way they were because we're making money and everything was fine. You're interrupting our life. No.
25:52
No. No. No. No. At last, the mayor was able to quiet them down enough to speak and he said, citizens of Ephesus, you can imagine he's mayor, Mark Barron, stands up and says, alright, alright, everybody.
26:07
You've all got your sides. We know that. Now, that I've got the amplifier and the, they didn't have an amplifier. He's yelling this to the crowd. We don't know how many capacity of 25,000.
26:17
Citizens of Ephesus, everyone knows that Ephesus is the official guardian of the Temple Of The Great Artemis. Everyone knows this. Hometown crowd. He's not having a whole lot of people dispute this fact. Everyone knows that the Georgia Bulldogs are the best team.
26:38
In Athens, Georgia, you can say that. You say that in Tuscaloosa and there's liable to be a riot. Everyone knows that at Ephesus is the official guardian of the temple of the great armies whose image fell down to us from heaven and he states that as if it were fact. In fact, there was a meteorite that came down and hit Ephesus and that was something that they were famous for. Some sources say that it was sent down from Zeus on a bolt of lightning, Paul.
27:06
Since this is an undeniable fact, you should stay calm and not do anything rash. It's an undeniable fact. You should stay calm and not do anything rash. This is the mayor speaking. To the guild and to those who are gathered who don't know why they're there and to the Jews and to at least two Christians probably more.
27:27
You have brought these men here but they have stolen nothing from the temple and they have not spoken against our goddess. Hurting your business is not the same thing as stealing. They weren't stealing their product. They weren't stopping production. They weren't boycotting necessarily.
27:43
They just weren't buying it. They weren't buying it anymore. They haven't stolen and they haven't spoken against our goddess which they probably have but he didn't know that. Undeniable facts. When he said that undeniable facts, I just thought of what are the undeniable facts in our society?
28:02
Now, I put it in quotes. They're not facts but they are the undeniable facts of American society right now. If you mention it on a university campus, they will say these things as if they are fact. Big bang. Sure thing.
28:15
No doubt about it. The big bang had to be the way that it worked. For certain. I agree that God could have made a big bang at the beginning. He could have but he tells us what we need to know about it and he tells us the way that he did it the way he wants us to understand it in Genesis but big bang is one of those undeniable facts.
28:33
Evolution is an undeniable fact. Well, you can see this. Well, you can look at it and the evidence that you're looking at, if you want to make a correlation, you can make a correlation but it's just as reasonable an argument to present it the way God does in Genesis. This is a mighty God and he can create things from speaking them into being. He can make em however he wants to.
28:56
That's just as reasonable an argument. They're both equally and and the public square, they're equally valid. I think one of em is true but these are the undeniable facts of our society. This is all there is which a lot of things follow that this is all there is. There's no afterlife.
29:17
There's no nothing else. People long for it at a funeral for of their loved one but they also want to live like there's nothing else. There's there are no repercussions for the way we live our lives. If you go with evolution and that's just we're just matter that happened to be, then this kind of follows that this is all there is. And then this follows.
29:37
Everybody's doing it. Actually, that's what Demetrius. I started to say, Mike. That's what Demetrius was basing his argument on was the fallacy of ad populum logic. Everybody, everybody knows this.
29:55
Everybody knows that Artemis is the best. Everybody knows that we're the the guardians of this thing that has fallen down from heaven. Everybody knows that our building is the best. It's the biggest building in the world at the time. Everybody knows that.
30:10
So, if you're looking at this as a a contemporary unmarried person, You might be tempted into thinking by the world from watching television that everybody's doing it. Meaning, sex. Everybody's doing this and you must too or you can. You don't have to worry about it. There's nothing else after this.
30:27
It's no big deal. Do what you feel. That's the the undeniable facts of our society in quotes. I don't think those are facts. Do we attribute God like status to anyone other than God?
30:42
Do we in our society? Oh my goodness. Celebrities are gods and little g gods in The US. I saw this picture that night. I actually called Todd Lampitt to explain it to me.
31:00
That's a Broncos picture right there. We sacrificed a saint. Tim Tebow was the quarterback there. Everybody knew he was a Christian and he got a bum rush. He got sent on down the line and then she says, we sacrificed a saint for a god.
31:16
Peyton, man. That's pretty upfront. That was in Sports Illustrated. Do we sell cheap junk and trinkets? Yes.
31:28
Do we sell it in Jackson? Oh my goodness. Yes. Bumper stickers and patches and everything else. It's something...
31:34
Are we proud of it? Yes. Every one of them says Jackson Hole. Is there anything wrong with that? We're not worshiping him.
31:39
No. It's it's something to hold on to souvenir but it's still something that happens. Even in the Christian world Sorry, I just couldn't resist. So, the mayor is still speaking, city official or the mayor is still speaking. He says, if Demetrius and the craftsman have a case against them, the courts are in session and the officials can hear the case at once.
32:13
Let them make formal charges and if there are complaints about other matters, they can be settled in a legal assembly. I'm afraid though, we are in danger of being charged with writing by the Roman government. Since there's no cause for all this commotion. Half of them are wondering why they're there anymore. He was wanting to disperse the crowd.
32:32
He did not want the big riot in his town. Actually, the Temple Of Artemis had been burned by this point. It had already been burned once and rebuilt. Can you imagine building something for one hundred and twenty years and then have it burned down, have to build it back? He didn't want that kind of thing to happen again.
32:48
And if Rome demands an explanation, we won't know what to say. Then he dismissed them and they dispersed. As we're looking at Luke and he's telling the story of the Holy Spirit really but he's told told the story of Peter. He's telling the story of Paul. He mentions again, this is the third or fourth time that he said Christianity is innocent before the state.
33:10
He's writing the Theophilus, a Roman. He's writing to the Theophilus and he's showing him, listen, there's it's two different things. It's church and state. It's not something that is threatening to you or your way of life. In fact, it is the only thing good for you and your way of life is the gospel.
33:30
I feel like this is more of an art history lesson today in a lot of ways but it is a narrative section. I think you all need a break. We've had a couple of weeks where we've just been intense. I pounded you with sin the week before last and I pounded you with doing what God wants you to do this week. I'm going to get back to that.
33:46
I want to look at this. You see how this is sunk in and it's lower than everything that's around it and this is raised up. In the eighteen hundreds, they knew where the Temple Of Artemis was. Everybody knew where it was but they wondered, why don't we see anything of this great edifice? You can't just haul these things off and take em home.
34:03
Use em for coffee table. Where is all this stuff? And so they dug and dug and dug and they found this, one column and they stood it up. That is one of the columns of that great Temple Of Artemis. The foundation of the floor for all you engineers was 20 feet.
34:21
They built it on marshy land because they understood that rigid structures on rigid land during in an earthquake prone zone would fall down. They built it on marshy land, sinking sand, and it literally sunk. The Great Temple Of Artemis is no more. It sunk 20 something feet down into the marsh and when they stood this up, this is the only thing remaining of that great Temple Of Artemis. When's the last time you heard of anybody worshiping the goddess Diana?
34:53
Nobody in the world still worships the great Artemis of the Ephesians. Nobody. Not even art historians. I mean, I like the sculpture and everything but she's not a god. That's it.
35:05
That's the end of this story. The undeniable facts of the society that are around you... Come come on up, Carl, if you would. The undeniable facts of the society around you need to be questioned, but they need to be questioned by the way that we live our lives. The way that we spend our money.
35:21
I'm not saying don't buy Denver Broncos cheap trinkets or San Diego Superchargers sweatshirts. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is, if we live our lives in accordance with what it is that we believe, then, it should cause a change in us that society notices. Y'all with me? You agree?
35:43
The the bars should not be as active. At least from our business. The one of the things that the Romans notice is that prostitution was not practiced. I did not get into that into great detail but being that she's a fertility goddess, that was something that kept people addicted and hooked on that religion and the Christians wouldn't do that. Temple prostitution.
36:09
That kept people coming back for more and more more. I didn't get into that about our society. Y'all know how sex soaked society is. There is one firm foundation. I'm not standing up saying, greatest artmus of Ephesians, my job is dependent upon this.
36:24
I will do carpentry. I'll do something else. If it weren't that God compels me, the must that I was talking about. Is that up there? No.
36:34
The must that I was talking about at the beginning, the I must go to Rome. The day, the divine necessity. I want for you to think about that and see what is it that God has put in your heart that says, I must do this. Is it I must go back to Kenya and see how the school is doing? Is it I must do this?
36:49
Whatever that is that God is compelling you to do. I want you to grab on to that but the firm foundation for all of that is Jesus. So, let's sing this. Would you stand with us as we sing? For those of you who are here today that don't know why you're here because there were those in that crowd that day and heaven knows.
37:07
If you heard that message, you might not know why you're here. The firm foundation at the end is Jesus. When Jesus said, you will be my witnesses who's speaking to Christians and he says, and you're going to tell others in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the uttermost parts. You're going to tell him about my perfect life and my perfect death, my perfect sacrifice for them and for their lives. If you're here today and you don't know why you're here, it's either that you are to show others and tell others or that you are one somebody has told about Jesus' perfect life, his perfect death, his perfect sacrifice.
37:49
Of my kingdom, there will be no end. The whole Old Testament prophesies to that. Jesus stated it. The whole New Testament tells and all the people, most all the people that are in this room know it to be true and it's from a firm firm foundation that his kingdom will have no end and it will grow. Diana, Artemis of Ephesians, zero worshipers.
38:12
I've had a lot of game references today. This wins. Okay? So go and tell it. Cheer your team.
38:20
Bring more on. Amen.
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