handkerchiefs and aprons carried from Paul healing the sick and driving out evil spirits
12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out.
Jewish exorcists attempting to use the name of the Lord Jesus
13 But some of the itinerant Jews, exorcists, took on themselves to invoke over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
the seven sons of Sceva overpowered by the evil spirit who said 'I recognize Jesus and I know of Paul, but who are you'
14 There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did this.
15 The evil spirit answered, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?”
16 The man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
believers confessing practices and those who practiced magic burning their books worth fifty thousand pieces of silver
18 Many also of those who had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds.
19 Many of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. They counted their price, and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.
Paul resolved in the spirit to go to Jerusalem by way of Macedonia, then Rome, sending Timothy and Erastus ahead
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.”
22 Having sent into Macedonia two of those who served him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
Demetrius the silversmith stirring up craftsmen, warning that Paul's preaching threatened their trade and the temple of Artemis
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.”
crowd filled with rage shouting 'Great is Artemis of the Ephesians' and rushing into the theater
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.
Alexander put forward by the Jews but shouted down for two hours when the crowd recognized he was a Jew
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!”
the town clerk quieting the crowd and dismissing the assembly, warning against riot
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.
summary statement: word of God spreading and disciples increasing greatly in Jerusalem
7 The word of God increased and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly. A great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Jesus telling disciples they would be 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.”
summary statement: church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoying peace and increasing
31 So the assemblies throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, and were built up. They were multiplied, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message walked through Acts 19:11-20:1, covering the extraordinary miracles surrounding Paul in Ephesus, a disastrous attempted exorcism by seven men who knew about Jesus but did not know Him, the public burning of magic books worth a small fortune, and a near-riot stirred up by a silversmith whose trade was threatened by the gospel. Pastor Mark used the whole passage to press one simple question: are you someone who has been transformed by the name of Jesus, or just someone who has heard it?
What was said
The passage opens with God performing extraordinary miracles through Paul in Ephesus, including healing through handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched Paul. Pastor Mark was honest that this is strange territory, but he kept returning to the point that miracles in Acts always authenticate the message being preached. The strangeness of the method does not change what it points to.
The seven sons of Sceva tried to borrow that power. They invoked "Jesus whom Paul preaches" over a man with an evil spirit, and the spirit responded by asking who they were, then beating all seven of them so badly they fled the house naked and wounded. The story is almost comic, Pastor Mark said, unless you are one of the seven. The point is serious though: it is possible to know about Jesus and not know Jesus, and co-opting His name without a real relationship with Him has consequences.
The fear that fell over Ephesus after that episode was a holy fear, and it produced real fruit. People who had believed came forward confessing things they had been holding back, and those who practiced magic brought their books and burned them publicly. The value of those books came to somewhere between a few thousand and several million dollars by modern estimates, depending on how you calculate the conversion. The summary statement that closes this section, "the word of the Lord was growing and prevailing mightily," is one of several such summaries in Acts, and Pastor Mark traced them across the book to show a deliberate, unstoppable expansion of the gospel.
Demetrius the silversmith then gathered his fellow craftsmen and made a speech that was partly true and entirely self-interested. He was right that Paul was preaching that gods made by human hands are not gods at all. He was also whipping people into a frenzy because the gospel was cutting into his income. Pastor Mark noted that when your livelihood depends on promoting a lie, the truth will feel like an attack.
The crowd flooded into the theater chanting "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians" for two hours. Most of the people there, the text says, did not even know why they had come together. A Jewish man named Alexander tried to speak and was shouted down the moment they recognized he was a Jew. The town clerk finally quieted the crowd by pointing out that the accused men had not stolen from the temple or blasphemed the goddess, that the courts existed for legitimate complaints, and that they were all dangerously close to a riot charge under Roman law. He dismissed the assembly and that was the end of it.
Pastor Mark drew two threads together at the close. The sons of Sceva represent the danger of co-opting Christianity, attaching yourself to the name without being changed by it. Demetrius and the crowd represent the danger of defending something that is false because your comfort and identity are tied up in it. For anyone in the crowd who genuinely did not know what was going on, and the text says that was most of them, the invitation is the same one the gospel has always carried: humble yourself, admit you do not have it figured out, and turn your eyes toward Jesus.
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 described the sons of Sceva as people who knew about Jesus but did not know Jesus. What is the difference between the two, and where do you see that distinction showing up in your own life or in the people around you?
The craftsmen burning their magic books represented a costly and public break from their old practices. What has following Christ cost you, or what have you had to walk away from, that others could see?
Speaker 1Think Judy saw Oh, the first service went a little went a little long, so we're gonna start this one on time. So here we here we go. Would y'all stand with me? And we're gonna sing, I think when we all get to heaven. Let's see if that comes up on the screen.
There it. There we are. Hymn number seven seventy two. Actually, are hymnals up here in the front. If you want em, you're welcome to em but we'll just sing off the wall.
If you know the tune, sing loud and we'll teach everybody who done. But the church is one foundation. The church is one foundation. Is Jesus Christ our lord? Amen.
Y'all can have a seat. I have a few announcements. First of all, the first b camp out. So there's that looks like a lot of people out there that could be camping out. Their camp out is gonna be July 18 through the twentieth at Palisades Lake down in Alpine.
So if you need any more information, the instigator out here, Brian McCooey, is the instigator for this, so is Mike Demetrius, our youth guy. So if you want to know more about it, you can call McCooey at that number and he'll tell you more. They will choose a spot and then they'll relay it to anybody interested because I think that depending on conditions of the lake, they have two or three different choices. So stay tuned, but that's next weekend. So eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth, Palisades Lake.
For more information, talk to McCooey. Also, McCooey's have a lot going on these days. This is a gathering out behind the airport. It's for anybody in their twenties. So seeking truth in your twenties.
Last week, they had a panel discussion and they invited some folks outside of their a little older than that. But Seeking Truth in Your Twenties college group, Sunday nights up in the Tetons, behind the airport, off of Zenith, and they are having chicken fajitas tonight, they said. And so food, fun, games, and fellowship mainly. Free entry. If you know of a 20 person that is looking for authentic discussion and learning truth about Jesus, this is a good place and the turnout has been fantastic.
So anybody in your twenties. Engine Room. This is Engine Room. My Engine Room is where I rebuild engines, but that looks like a graphic that I really like right there. But the Sunday morning prayer group, it's praying for our Sunday services.
It meets at 08:30 in downstairs, the middle room downstairs, the purple room downstairs. That room is called by lots of names, but it is the one in the middle downstairs. So that's the engine room, they're calling it. Sunday morning prayer group, praying for Sunday services and all that would happen here. And in the first service, there's an overflow down the hall.
That's not an issue right now, so I'll skip on through that. First BBQs happen in these times. The next one today was one of them. That's what you walk through if you're visiting and you wondered if we're having a second service. That happened between services.
First BBQ is going to happen again on August 3 and September 7, weather permitting, and that's the plan. If there's anything else that you're wondering about what else is going on, there is a lot. Jackson in the summertime is one of the busiest places I've ever been. There's a lot going on. But if you wanna, you can go with a QR code there.
You can just look it up. First b Jackson dot org and that'll tell you everything. Oh, there's one more, Nick. I knew there was one I forgot this Church at the fair. When we have Teton County fair, they've invited us to come back and do church at the fair again under the big top.
So that's happening and it's not far off. It's like the twenty seventh. It's the last weekend in July. So that's happening in two weeks. I should have communicated that a little better, but it's happening.
It is happening. If you get here and there's a sign on the door, just come over and join us. It's only a few blocks. You probably have better parking here than anywhere else. And I think that's it.
Is there anything that I've that I need to change? Apologize for anything? No. Alright. Would you all stand up and we're gonna sing something?
You don't have to apologize for. Great is the Lord. He is holy and just. By his power, we trust and his love. Watch the timing on this one.
Speaker 2He is holy and just by his power we
Speaker 1Amen. He is indeed great. And even in our foibles, he's still great. Alright. How about this?
We had two or three things going on there. What if it were today? Lord, help us.
Speaker 2Jesus will come
Speaker 1Y'all can have a seat. Let me invite the ushers to come forward and this is the worship through giving time or the operatory time of the service. And would you pray with me? Lord, in the the morning this morning, what a glorious day. What a beautiful day to have our lungs filled with breath, Lord.
But there were distractions. And so Lord, as our heart turns to look at the things of earth and turns to look at some of the absolutely devastating tragedy around us, may we look to you when our finite minds boggle and we don't understand how things can be or are the way that they are. Lord, I pray that you would center us on you to know that every tear will be wiped away, that those who have complete knowledge and understanding and yet they're without sorrow. That when we all get to heaven portions of scripture, Lord, always point that direction, but we are earthbound creatures. Sometimes we get stuck in this mud.
And so Lord, I pray that you would free us and free our minds today to rise above that, that we would experience you in a new and and maybe a different way, Lord. Would you renew the joy of your salvation that you've offered? In Jesus name, I ask a blessing on all present and all the families they represent and all the connection points. In Jesus name, amen. No.
Still no? There it is. Alright. Well, in the scripture, we're up to Acts nineteen eleven. We left off with 10 last week.
So, we're going to start there but I have where we are is the only note I have on this piece of paper. I had a meeting with somebody earlier that usually comes to this service. Thank you. Thank you, please. I lost my glasses.
And during that song service, that was all on me. I couldn't see squat. I can see the up there, but I can't see right here what I'm supposed to be doing. If I don't know the tune to something, I usually just read it and y'all never know the difference, but couldn't read it today. Thank you.
But thank you, Diane. So acts nineteen eleven is where we're gonna start. But I have a note right here. It says, where we are, question mark, exclamation point. That's terrible grammar.
But it is for me to to say to y'all where we are in the associate pastor search, that sort of stuff. So what's happening? Carl's not around anymore. He's been gone a couple of weeks, and so we still haven't heard anything. Sorry that you haven't heard anything.
We've been very very active and looking for, and we believe that we found the pastoral role, the associate pastor role, and we think we found the musical role too, two different people. When Renzi left, we split his job into two, maybe three people years ago, and when Carl left, we knew that it needed to probably be two different folks. And so we have the musical direction has, we think, been settled, and we also have a person in mind. We had three great candidates, don't have any drawbacks to any of them, but we settled on one that is near here, like here already. And so we'll let you know before long.
We're trying to extend the grace to him and his family. They have an impending hospice care situation, and we're trying to let that situation resolve respectfully and lovely before putting the burden of pastor. We feel fine. I don't feel like usually sunshine and not many people have nearly as many pastoral problems when in the summertime. Go figure.
Don't know why. But that's just the way that it is. And so we're doing alright and where we are, I think we're in a pretty good place. Glad to have Florine back. He'll probably play something pretty at some point soon.
What's that? That's Next right. Next Sunday for sure. But I was just saying, he is back and you'll you'll be hearing from him before too terribly long. While Judy is here, Judy is always, always, always our go to.
Yes. But you'll hear you'll hear from him some. I I had a couple of people say, are we gonna hear anything from him? I'm like, yes. Yes.
Yes. You will. But that's common too. So did that cover where we are? It was at least a head nod to say yes.
We kinda know where we are. Alright. Good. Well, then we'll get to the scripture. Acts nineteen eleven starts off like this.
It's very acts like. Now last week, I told you it feels like sometimes acts as a travelogue from where we went last week up to 1910. It's Paul going here and doing this and then going away and then coming back and it just feels like he's telling where he's been. But the point last week was everywhere we go, everything we do, how long we stay, who will see, what we'll say, what they'll hear, all of that is the things of life. That's kind of the betweens of stuff.
This is pretty magnificent. What happened before was pretty magnificent, but you gotta get from one place to another. Hills and valleys. Hills and valleys. That's what it's all about.
So here we are. God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul. That sounds very much like acts to see miracles happening, but I want to remind you that in the gospels and in acts, when we see miracles, they are always authenticating the message. They always are authenticating the message and this will be more obvious as we go in the text today, but God's performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul. He is not in a heavily saturated Jewish area.
He has been to the synagogue and he presented in the synagogue the case for Christ from the Old Testament and the growth of the church and the growth of the way for a while and then when they rejected him, some accepted. There were some disciples that went with him and he took 12 disciples. He started meeting in the Hall Of Tyrannus. That was the last thing we said last week. In the Hall Of Tyrannus, he stayed for two years and he was speaking daily the message of the gospel.
And so, during that time, not in the synagogue, but in just this philosophy hall, the Hall Of Tyrannus where the crowd is gathered, the disciples are there, the 12 from Ephesus Synagogue that go with Paul into the Hall Of Tyrannus. Now, God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, authenticating the gospel message in such a way that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick and the diseases left those people and the evil spirits went out. Now, is that weird to you? It's very weird to me. This is abnormal behavior to me.
But I will say this, as fame grows, as your sphere of kind of knowledge, sphere of influence grows, fame is something that people lean towards. Do you remember like all the old Beatles clips where this the Beatles come out and they start singing and then people just, oh, fainting. They reach out and touch one of the beetles and I'm never washing this hand again. There's something human about that, that's like there's a connection point there, but this says that it actually was the case that handkerchiefs and aprons that were used by Paul were then went forward and they were carried out and they had diseases go out and evil spirits go out from people. That's weird to me.
I'll just admit it, but it was an extraordinary time and the miracles were authenticating the message and if somebody said, hey, this is something that that belonged to Paul and I don't really know what's going on, but this is what's going on. And and you get that sense of that's weird. I don't like it. I get that same sense too. But also some of the Jewish exorcist.
Now, when you think of exorcism, do you think of Jewishness? No. It's almost always if you think of exorcist as Catholic. Every time in the movies, it's always Catholic. Right?
Always. And there's certain things that they do and there's holy water and there's all this stuff. Well, exorcism recognizes that evil spirits exist. Judaism recognizes that evil spirits exist. And these Jewish exorcists who went out from place to place, that was their deal, was they went out to perform exorcisms.
And it says that some of these attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus. So on the one side, there's Paul sweat rags are being used to heal sickness. Don't like that. And on the other side, people are saying this. They attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had the evil spirit saying, I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches.
That sounds like a bit too far. The sweat rags were working. I don't I don't understand it, but it was it's true. It's included. I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches.
Now, I said it last week and I've it a lot before. It's possible to know about Jesus and not know Jesus. So they recognize that Jesus is a figure that Paul presented. He'd been doing it for two years. It said one of the last things we said last week, everybody in Asia, Jews and Greeks had heard the message that Paul was presenting.
And so, these Jewish exorcist recognized the power in the name. I order you evil spirit in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches. Now, there were seven sons of Sceva, Sceva, Sceva, who was a Jewish chief priest at the time and they were doing this very thing. The seven of them, can you imagine that? To somebody in your family has an evil spirit and you recognize it, and then these seven Jewish exorcists show up, and what they're proclaiming is Jesus that Paul preaches.
I don't know him, but I know about him. The next thing, but the evil spirit the evil spirit responded and said to them, I recognize Jesus. James says that the demons recognize and shudder. And in Legion, we see they knew who Jesus was. And we see various times throughout scripture that they recognize you.
The demons recognize Jesus and the supremacy of God, Jesus. I recognize Jesus, and I know of Paul. Heard him. Who are you? And the man in whom was the evil spirit pounced on them.
Seven guys. One guy in the middle possessed by an evil spirit, and this evil spirit knows recognizes Jesus and knows of Paul, but who are you? The man in whom was the evil spirit was not delivered from that spirit. The spirit whipped them all, subdued all of them, and overpowered them such that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. That's comic relief unless you're one of the seven sons of Skeva.
The story is profound though. They're presenting a power that they really know nothing about. They've not been transformed by his power. They're just going about their normal practice. And when they say, ah, well well, let's see.
That didn't work. That didn't work. Let's go with this. In the name of Jesus that Paul preaches. Oh, I recognize Jesus and I recognize Paul, but who are you?
It's possible to know about Jesus and not know Jesus. Now, this became known to all who lived in Ephesus. I wanna say one more thing right here. We I was talking with somebody earlier this week and I mentioned this passage as an odd one to be presenting, but this is where we are. We're gonna present it.
And he said, you know, MMA fighting is pretty brutal and karate is not quite as brutal as jujitsu, but mostly what we do to judge fights in our modern time is it's on points. Even boxing is on points. Yes, it's brutal, but it's on points. But if somebody leaves naked and wounded, they lost that fight. This became known to all who lived in Ephesus.
I imagine it did. Both Jews and Greeks heard about this. There's power in the name of Jesus. Transformative power, but if you have not been transformed by it, don't co opt it. Humble yourselves before God except the way that he has made.
Don't co opt it. Fear fell upon them all it says. Holy reverence. It is Phobos. It's actually where we get phobia, fear.
A fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. So even in the seven sons of Sceva trying to co opt the name of Jesus, his name ends up being magnified by the demon, by the evil spirit. Jesus name is magnified and a fear fell over them all and it was a holy fear because the next thing says, also many of those who had believed, they kept on coming to the Hall Of Tyrannus. They kept on coming and they began confessing and disclosing all of their practices. And practices can be a euphemism for their stuff that they've been holding back, their sins or their practices.
In fact, it's probably magic practices because it goes on from there and many of those who practice magic brought their books together, all of their spells and incantations, all of their, you know, revered text. They brought them together and they began burning them in the sight of everyone. I want to have nothing to do with this. Now, that kind of points to that might have been the way that the seven sons of Sceva were doing things, maybe. But many of those who practice magic brought in their books together, began burning the sight of everyone.
They added up the price of the books and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver. Now, I looked up how much is that today and many millions of dollars is on one end of the spectrum and 9,300 is on the other end. I think it's probably, let's say more than a million. 50,000 pieces of silver, drachmas. And then there's this summary statement.
So the word of the Lord was growing and it was prevailing mightily. I like that because it kind of gives you a a stopping point and to say, wow, that's a weird story and the word of the Lord was going forward. They're on a mission from God. It's not going to be stopped. It will not be thwarted.
It will not be co opted. It's going to go and it's gonna prevail mightily. Actually, this is just another summary statement. We've seen several in acts. We see them actually, there are seven of them that I can think of off the top of my head because it's written on the screen right there.
Acts two forty seven says, and this is after the day of Pentecost and the settling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It said the people were praising God and having favor with all the people. The disciples were praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord was adding to their number daily, day by day, those who were being saved. That's Acts two forty seven in Jerusalem. Acts six seven, also in Jerusalem and the word of God kept on spreading and the number of disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem.
Now Jesus had said in acts one eight, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and even the uttermost parts. So they're still in Jerusalem in acts six, not to be spread out after the stoning of Stephen. The number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith. Amen. Acts nine and so the church throughout Judea and Galilee, that's beyond Samaria and Samaria enjoyed peace.
As it was being built up and as it continued in the fear, Phobos, holy reverence of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. It kept on increasing. Do you see that there's a mission of God aspect where it's gonna happen? It's rolling forward. That one was Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and Galilee even.
Then acts 12, but the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied. Acts 16. So the churches were being strengthened in the faith and they were increasing in number daily. There is an expansion, an exponential expansion that's happening within this region and through the whole world. This is the one for today and there's one that's still nine chapters away.
We'll get to that when we get to it. Okay. So the word of the Lord was growing and prevailing mightily. Lord God almighty, may we allow for your word to go deep into our hearts and lord, may we be humbling ourself before you so that it finds fallow ground. It finds good ground.
Lord God Almighty, I pray that you will plant that word deep and it will prevail mightily in our own life, in our quiet hearts, in our heads, and in our actions, in our families, and in our communities, but Lord that you would keep on building up the body of Christ in just that. May it prevail mightily. Amen. Now, after these things were finished, after the seven sons of Sceva and after the people started, you know, a million dollars worth of magic books burned because there's no power there. They recognize the supremacy of Christ.
Now, after all these things were finished, Paul resolved in the spirit to go to Jerusalem. Okay. He's feeling led of the spirit to get back to Jerusalem by way of Macedonia. After he passed through Macedonia and Ichaeus saying, after I've been there, I must also see Rome. Now, this is a map of the area.
This is Mediterranean Sea and we've got Jerusalem down here. That's where he's headed to, but it says, Ephesus by way of Macedonia and Achaia and then Jerusalem, and then he wants to see Rome. That's a big deal for a first century guy. That's a lot of ground to cover and a lot of sea to cover even today. And it's a little bit of foreshadowing there.
He senses in the spirit, he must go to Jerusalem. We'll hear more about that later. And he's gonna get to Rome. Yes, he will. But it's not gonna be in the way he probably envisioned right here in Acts 19.
After he had sent into and after he sent into Macedonia, two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus. Timothy, we've heard of quite a bit. By this point, we hear of him in Galatians, we hear of him in Timothy, we hear of him quite a bit throughout scripture. Erastus, this is the first time we've heard of him. It's funny to me how different regions pick up on names and when Carl and Tanya and Pascal and I went to Africa in 2019, our driver, the guy who was sent ahead of us to take care of things before we got there was Erastus.
Erastus. Ain't that neat? Yeah. I I don't even I don't even know anybody named Erastus except for that guy, but it's cool. Timothy and Erastus, go ahead.
And he himself stayed back in Asia for a while. If you think about his history, he'd had been hindered from going into Asia and then when he got to Ephesus, finally got to Ephesus, he only stayed a day or so and then came back and he was there for two years in the Hall Of Tyrannus and it actually says he stayed in Asia for a while. We find out later it was three whole years pretty much he spent in Asia. It's the longest he spent anywhere on any of the missionary journeys. He himself stayed in Asia for a while.
Now about that time, there's a major disturbance that occurred in regard to the way. The way is what Christians were first called. It was before they were called Christians. At Antioch, they were just called followers of the way. So this is something that happened and it was a major disturbance.
For a man named Demetrius, this is in Ephesus. This is where Paul still back in Asia, which Ephesus is in Asia. For a man named Demetrius, and I know what you're thinking. Actually, it cannot be that guy, first of all, because of time and space, but can't be that guy because Demetrius has a u in it and Demetrius, this is Mike Demetrius with just no u. I know a bunch of you call him Mike Demetrius or Demetrius, but his name is Mike Demetrius.
And I will get it confused as I'm going through this text over and over because I know that's his name, so I might pronounce the other guy's name wrong. But that's Mike Demetrius. He's our youth leader for y'all visitors from out of town. He's a good guy. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith.
Okay? So someone who works with his hands, who made silver shrines of Artemis. And what I envision with this is a little tourist trinket sort of when people make the pilgrimage to come to the goddess Artemis' shrine in Ephesus. This is a take home tour tourist piece of thing. But it doesn't say that in the text.
He could be the guy who's making the shrines that are a little bigger that go out into the plaza or into the way. I don't know. It's a man named Demetrius. He's a worker of silver who made silver shrines of Artemis. Now, he And was bringing considerable business to other craftsmen.
So not only is he guy who does this, but he has other people that work with him to help make these little shrines and there are other craftsmen, presumably other silversmiths or maybe people who work the wood before they put silver over it. He gathered these men, craftsmen, together with the workmen of similar trades. So he's building a coalition, he's pulling people together and he's saying, men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business. It's about the economy. You know that our prosperity depends on this business.
Now, you see and you hear that not only in Ephesus but almost all of Asia and we've had this affirmed that it said everyone in Asia had heard the message of the gospel through Paul, both Jews and Greeks. And so, Demetrius is not overstating it. He's saying, you see and you hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul, which Asia was a province at the time, it's not the whole continent. Okay. Not the whole continent like we think of Asia.
Asia was Asia, Phreesia, there are lots of other small ones, but it's a Roman thing. It's why we call Asia Asia, but but in almost all of Asia, this Paul, and you can just hear him want to spit on the ground when he says this guy. Who believed this guy? This Paul. This Paul is persuaded and he's turned away a considerable number of people.
He is killing our business. He is saying that gods made by hands are not gods at all. That's exactly what Paul is saying. Paul is saying that in agreement with Isaiah. Remember Isaiah who said, why is it that people take a piece of wood, they chop down a tree, they bring it to a craftsman, they let him carve it all up, and then they have to slip a shim up under it so that it won't topple over, and then they bow down to that thing.
We even see actual representations of the foreign gods of Dagon that God keeps knocking over in the temple and they keep setting him back up. What's happened to Dagon? He's not a god. He's just a thing saying that God's made by hands are not gods at all. I was a sculpture major.
I've made a few graven images but not to be worshiped though. God's made by hands are not gods at all. That is in line with what Paul is preaching. He actually in on Mars Hill a couple of chapters back, he says that the God, capital g, who made the world and everything in it, creator God, supreme God Almighty, he is the Lord of heaven and earth and he does not dwell in temples made by hands. He's not served by human hands as though he needed anything.
He doesn't need anything since he himself gives though to all people life and breath and all things. God's made by hands are not gods at all. Not only is there danger that this trade of ours will fall into disrepute, he's exposing us for being trinketors, unnecessary. Not only is there danger that our our trade will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be regarded as worthless. Paul was preaching God.
He's preaching Christ as God. He's preaching by the power of the Holy Spirit and he was pointing away from the goddess Artemis, most definitely. So Demetrius is telling the truth kinda. He's also fear mongering and he's catastrophizing and he's doing it to great effect. Here we go.
Not only is there danger this trade of ours will fall into dispute, but also the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be regarded as worthless and that she, Artemis, whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence. He's bringing our team down. Now, when they heard this, they were filled with rage because he was whipping them into a froth. That's what he was trying to do. He had the intention of getting the crowd on his side and he wanted to do that and he was doing it.
When they heard this, they were filled with rage and they began shouting, great is Artemis of the Ephesians. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. Now, does this sound like a pep rally? It does sound like a pep rally. He's hooray for our side.
Hooray for our team and this is the local team. This is Artemis of the Ephesians specifically. Their belief was that the goddess Artemis had sent to Earth an image, an image of Artemis and it landed at Ephesus. Now, the city was filled with confusion and they rushed together into the theater. It's the best place.
Actually, if you go to Ephesus today, that long straight street leads right to that theater and it's still there. It's still there. It's hard to move a theater. That's where this happened. I love it when it connects to like the real world.
That's Google Earth. You can see that. You can go there today and see that. And when Paul wanted to go into the assembly, ain't that just like Paul? There's a bunch of confusion.
People are chanting for a God that's not a God at all and Paul is chomping at the bit. That's the best place to be heard by the most people. He wants to go when Paul wanted to go into the assembly, disciples would not let him. Also, some of the Asiarchs who were friends of his sent word to him and repeated letters, please, Paul, do not go in there. Please, it's not a good time.
Trust us. When people, I told y'all a few It's been several weeks now. When Tanya and I originally went to, Italy, Aurelia Getsi was the lady in charge and we had an orientation when we got there. She said, welcome to Rome, the eternal city. If you see a mob forming, go the other direction.
You have no idea what's going on. And she was right. That's pretty good advice. Some of the Asiarchs who are friends of his sent word to him and repeatedly urged him not to venture into the theater. So then, some were shouting one thing and some were shouting another because it said the city was filled with confusion.
For the assembly was in confusion, it reiterates, and the majority did not even know for what reason they had come together. The majority. Just walking along. I don't know. I'm not sure what this is, but I'm gonna be a part of it.
Some of the crowd concluded it was Alexander. Who was Alexander? This is the only place he's mentioned. It's not Alexander the Great, it's just a guy named Alexander. Alexander, since the Jews put him forward, in all the confusion where more than half the people don't have any idea what's going on, some of them are screaming, great is Artemis of the Ephesians.
The Jews are, God is one people. They don't believe in Artemis anyway. Right? So, they might have been a voice in the crowd. Since the Jews put Alexander forward and having motioned with his hand, Alexander says, was intending to make a defense to the assembly, this Jewish guy.
But when they recognize that he was a Jew, they already knew where the Jews stood on Artemis. And so when they recognize that this guy who stood forward motion with his arm is a Jew, they're like, oh, not hearing from him, let's drown him out. When they recognized he was a Jew, a single outcry arose from them as they all shouted for about two hours. Can you imagine it? Two hours, great is Artemis of the Ephesians.
Great is Artemis It probably sounded better in Greek or Latin. Greatest Artemis of the Ephesians. Two hours of that. Now, after quieting the crowd, after quieting the crowd, can you imagine the town clerk, Come on, calm down, calm down, be seated. We need to do this in an orderly fashion.
Think about it. It's the Pax Romana. The Roman peace was propelled by the Roman sword and the Roman army, and the Roman peace demanded that you stay calm and that you not riot. Riots lead to revolutions. When you see a mob go the other direction, calm that down.
So after quieting the crowd, the town clerk not named, but the town clerk says, if you ever read in the New American Standard, you see an asterisk. The asterisk in the New American Standard version is a historical present. It's translated as past because it happened in the past, but it's a says instead of said. Okay? So you can read that.
After quieting the crowd, town clerk says it's a storytelling device that's used to bring you into the scene. After quieting the crowd, the town clerk says, men of Ephesus, what person is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians, our great Ephesus, is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis? It was. And of the image which fell down from the sky. Everybody knows this.
We're the best and everybody knows it. So since these are undeniable facts, y'all ought to keep calm. Don't do anything rash. Don't go nuts. For you have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers.
They didn't steal anything. They're not temple robbers nor are they blasphemers of our goddess. They may be Jewish. They may believe in one God, but that's alright. According to the Roman law, it's fine for you to believe whatever you believe, but they're not blaspheming our goddess.
If they say there's just one, that's fine. 're not demanding that that and they're not going out of their way to blaspheme Artemis. It's part of what he preaches. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. But come on, small potatoes. So then, if Demetrius and the craftsman who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are in session, the proconsuls are available, have them bring their charges against one another. This is going to happen in an orderly fashion. If you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in a lawful assembly, and you all are dangerously close to being unlawful.
You're dangerously close to getting me in trouble, and we're not going have that. For indeed, we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today's events. I don't care what started it, basically, is what the town clerk is saying. Since there's no real reason for this shenanigans going on and in this connection, we would be unable to account for this disorderly gathering. There will be no riot here today.
After saying this, he dismissed the assembly. Go home. Go back to your houses. Move along. Nothing to see here.
That's the way it goes. He's trying to say, this does not rise to the level of of a revolution. It doesn't rise to the level of mob violence. We're not going to do this here today. Go home.
Go back to your houses. So, one of chapter 20 starts. After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for his disciples. He when he had encouraged them and taken his leave of them, he left to go to Macedonia. Here we go back to the travel log again somewhere else.
But in Ephesus, that major riot, you know, we're going to see another riot in in Acts that is not going to end quite as favorably for Paul. But basically, cooler heads prevailed. Calm down. Calm down. I do wanna say though that we're gonna go to communion here in just a second.
I do wanna say that the two major events that happened, the seven sons of Sceva proclaiming Jesus that Paul preaches that they didn't even know. They were co opting Christ, and may I say that it's we're in danger of co opting Christianity if we're not careful. The the lesson there is the evil spirit was really did some damage when you're not really on Christ's side, when you've got other objectives. On the second event is it's messing with business. It's messing with the way we make our livelihood and the truth of the matter is, if your livelihood is made by promoting a lie or by promoting something extra biblical, something outside of Christianity, whether it's a philosophy or a way of life.
Theirs was pure economy. Demetrius was upset because it was cutting into the prophets and so he was not interested in the truth. What he was interested in was that his side not be diminished. Now, in the perspective of almighty God, people who had been under people who had been under confusion and had been deluded and were deluded by this team. He was calling them out of that and into the body of Christ.
So we are all called out of something to come into the body of Christ from every tribe, tongue, and nation, from every affiliation, from every people group. And so I'd say that second message is, if you're part of the majority that doesn't have any idea what all the confusion is about, turn your eyes on Jesus. Humble yourself and admit that you don't know what all the confusion is about and see how he'll direct your life from there. We're gonna go to this time. I'm gonna invite the ushers to come forward and we practice an open table here.
So open table meaning that if you have ever put your faith in Christ, if you put your faith in Jesus, this table is for you. We have a little cracker as a representation of the body of Christ. We have a little cup plastic cup of grape juice that is symbolic of his shed blood. And so I know some of you are from different all of us are from different denominational backgrounds and Catholic, Protestant, all of that. If you've put your faith in Christ and you wanna partake in this, it is an open table.
So, would you pray with me? Lord God almighty, I pray that if there be division among us that you would bring it down. Lord, that unity in the body of Christ as we consume this together, lord, that we would be drawn inextricably closer to one another. May we continue going forward sharing your witness, sharing your gospel, and Lord, I pray that you continue to do mighty miracles that it would prevail mightily. But as we are asking for your blessing on this little oyster cracker, representative of the body of Christ, I pray that we'd remember your example, that we would follow it in humility by the will of the father and the power of the spirit.
Would you direct us, lord? In Jesus name, we ask your blessing on this communion. Amen.
Speaker 2This guilty son and to become the lamb of God. Oh, lamb of God, sweet lamb of God,
Speaker 1On the same night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread after supper and after he had given thanks, he said to his disciples over there, take of this bread. This is my body which is given for you. Take this, eat of it, and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Thank you Jesus for that wonderful example, that life that was lived in complete submission and humility to the father's will by way of his direction of the spirit empowered by the Holy Spirit. Thank you for emptying yourself of all of your divine rights and coming and walking it out and showing us, Lord, how you fulfilled the law and we can follow in your footsteps.
Thank you that it is by your blood, precious and innocent blood voluntarily sacrificially given that we have access to God, that you are the one mediator between God and man. Jesus, thank you. Would you bless this, lord? Bless this little representation of the blood of Christ, this plastic cup of grape juice that we as we drink it together, lord, that we would be drawn into the unity of the body of Christ so that we may continue your good work. We ask your blessing.
Amen.
Speaker 2I should have died, but you have brought me to your side to be led by your staff and rod
Speaker 1We are replenishing our resources. I'm gonna sing this if you wanna sing with us and you know it, please do. How about? Amen. In the same manner that he had taken the bread, he also took the cup after supper.
Common cup for them, not for us exactly, but we are here, we're together in this. He said to them, he still says to us, this is the new covenant in my blood. Take this, take it in, drink it in, and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Amen. Paul says that as often as we do this, we proclaim his death until he comes again, and I love the line.
We we we sang several songs. We could have gotten to this one. It says, Lord, let this be of sin, the double cure. Save us from wrath, but also make us pure. It's an ongoing thing that his death and resurrection matter every day, not just for our salvation but for our sanctification.
Would you stand with me? I think we're gonna sing the doxology. Judy, is that fine with you? Can you give me a g?
Speaker 2Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavenly host. Praise father, son, and holy ghost.
Speaker 1Amen. And now, whatever it is that you find to do this week, whether it's in word or indeed, I pray that you would be doing it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to him through the father. Amen. Amen.
