Who Are You

July 13, 2025 · Acts

Series · Acts · Week 96 of 120

Scripture referenced 9 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Psalm 147:1 read aloud before the opening song as an invitation to worship

1 Praise Yah, for it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant and fitting to praise him.

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Acts 1:8

cited to show Jesus foretelling the geographic spread of witness from Jerusalem outward

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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Acts 2:47

quoted as the first of several programmatic summary statements about the word spreading

47 praising God, and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved.

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Acts 6 (summary statement)

quoted as a summary statement about the word of God spreading and disciples increasing in Jerusalem

1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, a complaint arose from the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily service.

2 The twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not appropriate for us to forsake the word of God and serve tables.

3 Therefore select from among you, brothers, seven men of good report, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

4 But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.”

5 These words pleased the whole multitude. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch;

6 whom they set before the apostles. When they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

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.

8 Stephen, full of faith and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.

9 But some of those who were of the synagogue called “The Libertines”, and of the Cyrenians, of the Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and Asia arose, disputing with Stephen.

10 They weren’t able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

12 They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and came against him and seized him, and brought him in to the council,

13 and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law.

14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us.”

15 All who sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face like it was the face of an angel.

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Acts 9:31

quoted as a summary statement about the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria growing in fear of the Lord

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.

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Acts 12 (summary statement)

quoted as a summary statement about the word of the Lord continuing to grow and multiply

1 Now about that time, King Herod stretched out his hands to oppress some of the assembly.

2 He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.

3 When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This was during the days of unleavened bread.

4 When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.

5 Peter therefore was kept in the prison, but constant prayer was made by the assembly to God for him.

6 The same night when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. Guards in front of the door kept the prison.

7 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side, and woke him up, saying, “Stand up quickly!” His chains fell off from his hands.

8 The angel said to him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” He did so. He said to him, “Put on your cloak, and follow me.”

9 And he went out and followed him. He didn’t know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he saw a vision.

10 When they were past the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went out, and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

11 When Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I truly know that the Lord has sent out his angel and delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from everything the Jewish people were expecting.”

12 Thinking about that, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.

13 When Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer.

14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she didn’t open the gate for joy, but ran in, and reported that Peter was standing in front of the gate.

15 They said to her, “You are crazy!” But she insisted that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.”

16 But Peter continued knocking. When they had opened, they saw him, and were amazed.

17 But he, beckoning to them with his hand to be silent, declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He said, “Tell these things to James, and to the brothers.” Then he departed, and went to another place.

18 Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter.

19 When Herod had sought for him, and didn’t find him, he examined the guards, and commanded that they should be put to death. He went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.

20 Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus, the king’s personal aide, their friend, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king’s country for food.

21 On an appointed day, Herod dressed himself in royal clothing, sat on the throne, and gave a speech to them.

22 The people shouted, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!”

23 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he didn’t give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.

24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.

25 Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their service, also taking with them John who was called Mark.

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Acts 16 (summary statement)

quoted as a summary statement about churches being strengthened and increasing in number daily

1 He came to Derbe and Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess who believed; but his father was a Greek.

2 The brothers who were at Lystra and Iconium gave a good testimony about him.

3 Paul wanted to have him go out with him, and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts; for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

4 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered the decrees to them to keep which had been ordained by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem.

5 So the assemblies were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.

6 When they had gone through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

7 When they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit didn’t allow them.

8 Passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.

9 A vision appeared to Paul in the night. There was a man of Macedonia standing, begging him, and saying, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.”

10 When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go out to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the Good News to them.

11 Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis;

12 and from there to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the foremost of the district, a Roman colony. We were staying some days in this city.

13 On the Sabbath day we went outside of the city by a riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down, and spoke to the women who had come together.

14 A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one who worshiped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul.

15 When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and stay.” So she persuaded us.

16 As we were going to prayer, a certain girl having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by fortune telling.

17 Following Paul and us, she cried out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us a way of salvation!”

18 She was doing this for many days. But Paul, becoming greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” It came out that very hour.

19 But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

20 When they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men, being Jews, are agitating our city,

21 and advocate customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.”

22 The multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore their clothes from them, and commanded them to be beaten with rods.

23 When they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely,

24 who, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison, and secured their feet in the stocks.

25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were loosened.

27 The jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, “Don’t harm yourself, for we are all here!”

29 He called for lights, sprang in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas,

30 brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house.

33 He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household.

34 He brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in God.

35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, “Let those men go.”

36 The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go; now therefore come out, and go in peace.”

37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, without a trial, men who are Romans, and have cast us into prison! Do they now release us secretly? No, most certainly, but let them come themselves and bring us out!”

38 The sergeants reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans,

39 and they came and begged them. When they had brought them out, they asked them to depart from the city.

40 They went out of the prison, and entered into Lydia’s house. When they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them, and departed.

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Acts 19:11-41

the main passage preached, covering miracles through Paul, the sons of Sceva, the burning of magic books, and the riot of Demetrius

11 God worked special miracles by the hands of Paul,

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.

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.”

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.

17 This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived at Ephesus. Fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

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.

20 So the word of the Lord was growing and becoming mighty.

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.

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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Isaiah (unnamed passage)

referenced to parallel Paul's argument that idols made by human hands are not gods

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

This message came from Acts 19:11-41, and it moved through three connected scenes in Ephesus: a failed exorcism that backfired badly, a bonfire of magic books, and a riot stirred up by a silversmith who was losing business. Pastor Nick used all three to press on a single question: what does it mean to actually belong to Jesus rather than just use his name?

What was said

The passage opens with God doing extraordinary things through Paul in Ephesus, including people carrying items that had touched Paul to the sick and seeing them healed. Pastor Nick noted that in Acts, miracles consistently authenticate the message being preached. Paul was presenting the gospel straight from scripture, and the signs accompanied that.

Then come the seven sons of Sceva, Jewish exorcists who were not followers of the Way. They tried to command an evil spirit "in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches," and the spirit answered them directly: I recognize Jesus, and I know of Paul, but who are you? The man with the evil spirit beat all seven of them badly enough that they ran out naked and wounded. Pastor Nick drew a straight line: the demons knew the difference between someone who actually belongs to Jesus and someone who is just borrowing his name for their own purposes.

That incident spread through Ephesus and produced fear and reverence. People who had already believed started coming forward and disclosing things they had been holding on to. Many who practiced magic brought their books and burned them publicly. The price of those books added up to fifty thousand pieces of silver, a very large sum. The text then offers one of its summary statements: "the word of the Lord was growing and prevailing mightily." Pastor Nick read several similar summary statements from earlier in Acts, tracing the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem outward, and pointed to this one as belonging to the same pattern.

The trouble that follows is economic, not spiritual. A silversmith named Demetrius made silver shrines of the goddess Artemis, and he gathered other craftsmen to warn them that Paul's preaching was costing them customers. He added a layer of civic pride, reminding them that Artemis of the Ephesians was known throughout Asia. That combination of financial fear and team spirit worked. The crowd filled the theater, dragged along two of Paul's traveling companions, and chanted "great is Artemis of the Ephesians" for roughly two hours. The majority, the text says, did not even know why they had gathered.

The town clerk finally quieted the crowd, and his reasoning was practical: under Roman rule, riots had consequences, and there was no legal charge to bring against Paul's companions anyway. If Demetrius had a complaint, the courts were open. He dismissed the assembly, and the scene ended not with a dramatic confrontation but with bureaucratic common sense.

Pastor Nick drew the two threads together. The sons of Sceva represent what happens when someone uses the name of Christ without actually knowing him. The Demetrius riot represents what happens when the gospel starts costing people something and they respond with noise and momentum rather than honest engagement. He said the word of the Lord carries the same power it always has, and that laying down the things we try to hold alongside it, the pet sins, the magic books in whatever form they take, is what allows it to do its work.

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.

Pastor Nick pointed out that the seven sons of Sceva knew about Jesus but did not know Jesus personally. What is the difference, and how does a person move from one to the other?
When the people of Ephesus recognized real spiritual power, they came forward and burned their magic books at considerable financial cost. What things in your own life are hardest to lay down when you take seriously that God's power is real?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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Find in this transcript

Which is, like, totally fine. And then I think it's different too because when I was seeing you and Carl, we took three part. Yeah. And so now it's, like, I have

to think about yeah. Like, what's the best?

Yeah. And, like, easy for them to follow along with. So yeah.

Well, I think it's time. And we have two, two thumbs up in the back, so we're good. Welcome to First Bee in Jackson, Wyoming. We are glad you are here, and we're gonna we're gonna worship God together. First, before we, before we start, I just thought I'd read a read a verse.

Psalm one forty seven one says, how good to sing praises to our God, how delightful, and how fitting. So if you would stand up and we'll sing.

Creatures of our God

Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I've got a couple announcements, a few maybe. Let's see what they are together. Hey.

Oh, the church camp out. If it's sneaking up on us, it's sneaking up on all of us. It's it's happening. July eighteenth through the twentieth down at Palisades. If you want more information, you can talk to Brian McCooey or Mike Demetrius probably too.

July eighteenth through twentieth. So that's like next weekend. Okay? Next weekend for the First Baptist Church camp out down at Palisades. More information on exactly where to come.

Seeking truth in your twenties is a get together on Sunday evening, 06:30 out at the McCooey's place in behind the airport sort of towards the park behind the airport is seeking truth in your twenties college group, fun time, good fellowship, food, games, music, all of that together. So this is a good thing that's happening. 20 seeking truth in your twenties for young folks. Engine room. Oh, man.

This is just my kind of graphic up there. Engine room, Sunday morning prayer group. Praying for our Sunday services, meeting at 08:30 in the downstairs middle room, the youth room in the basement. It's been called lots of stuff, the middle room, the youth room, the purple room, it's the one in the middle downstairs. And that's a prayer group starting at 08:30 for Sunday services.

And if you're looking for an easy way to serve, we have started providing like overflow room down the hall. And so if you want to go down there, there's a table you can write your notes on. That's what one person said. It was really helpful to be able to sit and write notes. Okay.

But if you want to, that's available down there and that's gonna be rolling. Thank you for that. It's an easy way to serve. If you're one of our regular folks that are here every single week and you wanna make a little bit of space, you can head down the hall. And if you want to, when we stand up here in just a minute, if y'all can just scoot towards the middle and make some space, that'd be great.

Leave the aisle seats open for somebody else to come in. And today is first BBQ. You probably walked through it on the way here. There's a bunch of tables set up out there. So between services today, after this service, after communion, there'll be sort of breakfast available out there.

Food, fun, games. I saw games were set up this time too. So that's good. Games, food, and fun fellowship. We do a lot of that.

Anybody have anything I've skipped, forgotten? Additions, deletions, suggestions, anything? No? Would you stand up then? Everything else you need to know is probably gonna be on the website, and that's the

little QR code to get you there.

Why don't you guys say say hi to each other? We'll bring you back with a song.

Perfect. Thank you. And we'll tune up.

Praise God.

Let's pray. God, we thank you for this day that you've given us, and we pray that you would be with us during this worship service. Lord, help us to get out of the way and help us to to just come before you and remember your mercy and your grace on our lives and the peace that you give us. And it's in your name we pray. Amen.

Christ is my firm foundation the rock on which I stand when everything around me

You can have a seat. We're gonna be entering the the time of

An open interchange. Heart to heart, if you're bringing something to mind that's causing us to feel anxious or confused, I pray, Lord, that you would allow us the grace of just getting past that and getting over that to be able to turn our eyes on you where the distractions fade away. Lord God, thank you. There's so much coming at us from all angles all the time, Lord. Would you allow us the peace that comes from center centering ourselves individually and collectively on you.

Lord, we want to do your will and we want to do it in your way. We don't want to be a part of the problem. We wanna be a part of your solution. In Jesus name, amen.

I know who I am

because I know who you are.

Amen. Y'all can oh, y'all already sitting down. What's going on here? Alright. Y'all can sit down.

How about that? The band. Thank you very much. And it's time for children's church. Children's church is happening on the days we do first.

Actually, children's church is happening today, and then we're gonna start back up again in August. So let's start back up next month. Anyway, I'm glad you all are here but skedaddle. Alright. Get the hints.

Alright. It's time for children's church. Good. Nick, the clicky clicker is not clicking yet. Yep.

We're having a moment. There you go. Alright. There we are. That's where we're gonna be in scripture.

I have one note. Somebody came in to visit this week and said, where we are? Where He said, can you just let us know where we are? And I wrote down the question is, where we are? Question mark exclamation point.

That's my only note from that meeting. And it was about associate pastor search. So we have sort of settled on. We had three really really good candidates and we settled on one of those good candidates. We're giving him the grace of handling some family stuff.

It would you be praying for him? And I think that's far enough to say where we are. I think. It's good. All is well.

We're not lacking for anything that we know of, but we are We're right there. The elders, search committee, nominate, all of that sort of stuff will happen. If you'll be keeping up for the next few weeks, we'll see that start to come into more full focus. But all is well, there's not not any kind of qualms about anything going forward. Where we are is in a good place, I think.

So and Carlito sends his love to all of you. He he is now leading there in Alabama and it's a little different. And so he he and I have the Sunday morning Sunday afternoon check-in about three ish o'clock. We've been doing this for years and years and years, and we still are doing that. So it's going well.

All is well there too. So acts nineteen eleven through 41 is where we're gonna be today. And I told you last week that it was kind of a travelogue, and we get to some interesting stuff next week. And a lot of you all said, that was thoroughly interesting. All of the travelogue is not the details.

It's the everyday mundane stuff of life moving from one place. How are you gonna how long where are you gonna go? How long are gonna stay? What you're gonna do while you're there? But here in acts nineteen eleven, it's looking like a very act passage right here.

God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul. In the New Testament where we see miracles, miracles are authenticating the message and we know Paul's message. He starts in the synagogue each time that he goes to a new place and he gives them the chance because they should know the scriptures. And oftentimes, there are some Well, every time there's some people who believe and there's some who reject. Some will say, I'll hear you more later like they did on Mars Hill, but oftentimes it's a acceptance or rejection is very common in the synagogues and it doesn't have a lot of middle ground there.

So God performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul. We didn't usually see that in the synagogues. He he approached them on a text based presentation and gave them a chance of seeing what they already know and seeing if that fit this paradigm, the new covenant and the fulfillment in Jesus. Jesus. But here we are in Ephesus, not a Jewish stronghold, let's say.

Ephesus in Asia, he'd been hindered one time from going there. He'd been there for a day or so, and now he's back. He's been there a long time, two years it says at this point. Now God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul. When he did that through Jesus and when he did it through his disciples and when he did it through the 70, it was always authenticating the message.

So you can take it with all that we've seen before this that that's what's happening. So that Now this is weird. Such that even the handkerchiefs or aprons that were even carried from his body were carried to the sick and diseases left them and evil spirits went out. Does that sound weird to you all? It's weird.

But you know, fame grows. Right? And if you look into it it it happens forever. I think of probably my age. The Beatles, Liberace, anybody that's had anything associated with this little cloth, this little napkin.

Well, who was that guy? Tom Jones? No. That's not a good example. That had little pieces of cloth that people just like, oh, I'm never gonna wash this hand.

I shook It's it's a little bit of that going on. But it it does say that they took them to heal people with. Now that's that's weird to me. I'll just say straight up. That's an a very acts like thing.

Miracles authenticate the message. So Paul's presenting the gospel straight up, the sacrifice of Christ as a ransom for many and you can accept it or you can reject it. And along with that message, he is performing these miracles or God's doing it through him. But also, some of the Jewish exorcists. When I think of Judaism, don't usually think of exorcists.

That's in the movies, always Catholic. Right? You don't see Baptist exorcists very often. I did have one visit the seminary where I was there. The spiritual realm exists.

We don't want to neglect it. We don't want to deny that it exists. But also, some of the Jewish exorcist who went out from place to place, They attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus. Now, the fact that he presents them as Jewish exorcist says that they're not followers of the way. In Luke's gospel and in acts, he makes a fairly clear distinction.

If he says the Jewish many of the Jewish priests were accepting, then you know that they're accepting and they're coming into the way. But this since he calls them Jewish exorcist, they attempted to use the name of Lord Jesus over those who had the evil spirits and they were saying, I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches. Does that sound like an extension there? They don't know him. They don't know the Lord.

They know of him. And I said last week, it's easy to know about Jesus and not know Jesus. So they know of him and they're attempting to use the power that they have seen in Paul and maybe others in order to get the results that they want. I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches. Now there were seven sons of Siva or Sceva, a Jewish chief priest that were doing this.

That's a lot of people. Seven folks that are out using this Jesus whom Paul preaches. But the evil spirit responded and said to them, I recognize Jesus. They always recognize Jesus. The demons, the evil spirits, oh, they recognize Jesus in the gospels.

The evil spirit responds to him and says, I recognize Jesus and I know of Paul. But who are you? This is comic relief except for if you're one of the seven sons of Skiva. Oh my goodness. They are attempting to do something in the name of Jesus that they're not carrying the name of Jesus.

They don't know Jesus. They don't belong to Jesus, and they're trying to use Christ to do something that they have no association with him, and the demons recognize that. The demons recognize and shudder, but the demons didn't shudder at all at the seven sons of Sceva. And the man in whom was the evil spirit pounced on them and subdued all of them, seven people, and overpowered them all so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. That's what it says.

Had somebody I was talking to somebody earlier this week, and he was talking about kind of the brutality of MMA and the different fighting that you see. And he said that in a fight, usually their points, karate it's points, wrestling it's points, all these different points. And he said, doesn't matter how many points you gained. If you leave the ring naked and wounded, you lost that fight. They lost that fight because they didn't know Jesus.

This became known to all who lived in Ephesus. It'd be hard to keep up your Jewish exorcisms if that's your reputation. It became known to all who lived in Ephesus. I bet that story was told and told and told. Both the Jews and the Greeks and fear reverence, fear fell fear fell upon them all and the name of Jesus was magnified.

That's cool. Even when someone tries to co opt the name of Jesus, he still is magnified. Fear fell upon them all. There's a certain reverence that comes from recognizing actual power. Right?

And even if you don't know what it is, you're a little more hesitant to try to use it for your own benefit. Right? Fear fell upon them all and the name of Lord Jesus was being magnified. Also, many of those who had believed kept coming. Amen.

And they were confessing and they were disclosing their practices. This is a vulnerability that comes from the fear of God. And many of those who had believed kept on coming and they were confessing and disclosing their practices. Was this in the Hall Of Tyrannus? Probably, that's that was the immediate preceding.

Paul had left the synagogue behind because of their rejection and he had taught daily in this the Hall Of Tyrannus, a philosophy hall. And people were coming in and it was growing. And then when the spiritual situation that happened with the seven sons of Sceva and the fear that that created, people were like, I can't just play with this thing. I need to really be all in. And so the pet sins and the things that they've been holding on to disclosing their practice actually, goes on to say, many of those who practice magic, that was pretty common in the area.

Many of those who practice magic brought in their books. They brought in their books together and they began burning them right in the sight of everyone like, I've had enough of this. I'm not doing this anymore. I'm not trying to use some sort of incantation or spell to get the results that I want. I am done with this.

For me, from here, it's Jesus. I really want to be his. I wanna belong to him. So they came in, brought their magic books, burn them in front of everyone, and they added up the price of those books and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver. Now, have heard wildly different estimation.

Millions of dollars probably or 9,300 depending on one weird internet site. But it's it's probably close to millions of dollars. Today's money. Right? 50,000 pieces of silver.

The value of their things, they did not care about anymore. Okay. So how much is that today? Well, that's when I started looking about Between 9,300 and many millions. And then there's this summary statement.

Another summary statement. So the summary statement says, so the word of the Lord was growing and it was prevailing mightily. Oh, can that be said today? Can that be said in our spheres of influence? Can you see the word of the Lord growing and prevailing mightily?

It still has the same kind of power that it had then. Rejecting the secret stuff, the pet stuff, the weird stuff, rejecting that helps this to happen. All humility, instead of thinking in pride, I can handle this. I can handle this myself. I can deal with this.

So the word of the Lord was growing and prevailing my life. There are a bunch of summary statements actually. They're programmatic statements in the text. I'm gonna read them because I just think they're great. Acts two forty seven after the day of Pentecost, praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who are being saved.

Acts six. Now the word of the Lord or the word of God kept spreading and the number of disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith. That's cool. So where did Jesus say in Acts one eight? Where did he say that they were gonna go from there?

You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts. And so these first two had to do with the word spreading in Jerusalem. 09/31, so the church gathered throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. So the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace as it was being built up and it As it continued in the fear, the reverence, the holy favos, fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. It kept on increasing, but the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

The vast and unchronicled witness, people it's been said that Christianity is like one beggar telling another beggar where bread can be found. Once you found it, you spread the word to other people. So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, Acts 16, and they were increasing in number daily. And then this one, so the word of the Lord was growing and prevailing mightily. There's actually one more.

We'll get to it in nine more chapters. So the word of the Lord was growing and prevailing mightily. Now, after these things were finished, seven sons of Sceva, bringing of all the magical books in, burning them, the fear of the Lord, really listening to the message of the gospel, and all of the proofs from the old testament. Now after all these things are finished, Paul resolved in the spirit to go to Jerusalem. If you've read the rest of the book, there's a lot between here and there.

Paul resolved in the spirit, I gotta get to Jerusalem. After he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia saying, after I've been there, I must also see Rome. Okay. So that's the greater area you can see. Sorry, my little pins are very small, but Ephesus to Jerusalem is no small distance.

But Israel I mean, Jerusalem after going from Ephesus to Macedonia to Achaia and back to Jerusalem was his plan. And after he sent into Macedonia, two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus. This is the first time we meet Erastus. We know about Timothy. We've seen him.

He was his running buddy for some time, and still an emissary that goes ahead and prepares the way in Erastus. Actually, Erastus was our was when Carl and Tanya and Pascal and I went to Africa a few years ago. Erastus was our driver and I love that he was going ahead of us, preparing stuff for us. Paul himself stayed in Asia for a while. He hung back.

Three years in Ephesus is the longest we see him stay anywhere with any detail. About that time, a major disturbance occurred in regard to the way. What could be a major disturbance to Christianity? For a man named Demetrius. Oh, I know what you're thinking, but that's not him.

Mike Demetrius, it can't be this guy. First of all, he's a twenty first century guy. But this is Mike Demetrius. If you try to write him a little nice little note, leave the u out of it. Alright?

Mike Demetrius is his name. But Demetrius was a silversmith who made little silver shrines of art. Maybe not. Maybe they're not little. It doesn't say little.

A silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis. Artemis is a goddess. They had all kinds of they had all kinds of beliefs about Artemis. I won't go into you right now because it's a small g God. Okay?

For a man named Demetrius, the silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, tourist trinkets is what I see it as, could have been an actual shrine but I doubt it, was bringing considerable business to the craftsman. Okay. So now, it's not just him being a silversmith, he's a silversmith businessman who brings considerable business to other craftsman that work silver. He gathered those folks together with the workmen of similar trades and he said, man, you all know that our prosperity depends upon this business. We don't have a life if we don't do this.

This is what we know. This is our trade and if we don't do this, our prosperity is gone. So you see and you hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia. How many times have we heard in all of Asia, they knew about Jesus. In all of Asia, the word was growing.

It was prevailing mightily and now that's causing an economic upset for Demetrius, not Mike Demetrius, Demetrius and his band or his guild. You see and you hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia. This Paul, you can almost hear the venom when he calls him this Paul, this guy. He's persuaded. He's turned away a considerable number of people.

When people convert to Christ, when people come to Christ, they go away from something else. You are called into the body of Christ. You're called out of whatever else. You don't you don't ride both horses. Paul this Paul is saying that small g, gods made by hands are not gods at all.

Doesn't it maybe it's just my mindset from being in the now. And I was a sculpture major, like I made some graven images. You know, I did that. But I never thought to worship one of them. I never even considered it.

Never that's I made that thing. In Isaiah, it says, how you work so hard to get the money and then you pay somebody to carve out something that you have to slip a sham up under it to keep it from toppling over and then you bow down and worship that thing. Does that make sense to you? Isaiah says. Paul is saying the same thing Isaiah is saying.

That's not a God. That's something somebody made. God's made by hands not gods at all. Actually, Paul had said just recently two chapters ago on Mars Hill that God doesn't even dwell in temples made by human hands. God doesn't capital g, the God.

He's the Lord of heaven and earth. He's not served by human hands. He doesn't need anything. All of that making stuff is not what he needs. Not only is there danger that this trade of ours will fall into disrepute, he's messing with our livelihood.

Not only are we gonna have the PR damage of this goddess that we're making over and over and over and over and over and over and over again is not gonna be popular anymore. But also the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be regarded as worthless. And the temple of the great goddess of Artemis was in Ephesus. And so now, he's They're appealing to their civic pride, to their city pride, to their rah rah high school spirit pride. We don't want for Artemis to become worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship because that's what it feels like when that's your goddess, that's your team, that's your sacred cow.

She whom all of Asia, the whole world worships Artemis. Does anybody worship Artemis today? It's pretty scant. She whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence. If she's not a god, she should be.

If she's not a god or goddess, she should be dethroned from her magnificence. Now when they heard this, they were filled with rage because Demetrius was Demetrius was fear mongering. This is the worst thing. This is this is awful. This is terrible.

It's the worst thing that could happen. Absolutely terrible. He could come on. Come with me. Now, they're filled with rage with Demetrius and Demetrius.

Golly, that's hard. That's why I put it up there. They began shouting, great is Artemis of the Ephesians. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. Great is Art.

There she's worshiped in the Greco Roman Roman world, but Ephesus is our stronghold. And so appealing to the civic pride, appealing to their team spirit, Demetrius gets some hyped up to into a froth of rage. Greatest armaments of the Ephesians. The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater. Actually, if you're looking at Ephesus today, this is a Google Earth whatever picture of it.

That's the theater. It was right there. That's where it happened. And it says, they rushed together into the theater and they were dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's Macedonian traveling companion. So he's gathering a band everywhere he goes.

He's picking up folks. And Gaius and Aristarchus, this is the first time I think that we hear of them. They're from Macedonia. They're his traveling companions and dragged into the situation. And when Paul wanted to go into the assembly, the disciples wouldn't let him.

Like, come on. It's a it's a mob. You know what you do. When you see a mob forming, what do you do? Go the other way as fast as you can because there's no way to overestimate the stupidity of people in large numbers.

Underestimate, overestimate, whatever. When Paul wanted to go into the assembly, the disciples would not let him. Also, some of the Asiarchs who were friends of his sent word to him and repeatedly urged him, don't go in there. Please don't go in there. Paul, I know it's a great place.

The theater there is amazing. You can almost whisper on stage and be heard in the back room, in the back row. Please don't go in there. I know that it's a lot of people, but there's too much confusion right now. And so then, some were shouting and one thing and some were shouting another.

We know that one of the chants was great as Artemis of the Ephesians and that'll come back and say it was again, but the assembly itself was in chaos and confusion and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together. I love that. The majority had no idea why we're even here. Some of the crowd concluded that it was Alexander. Who's Alexander?

It's the only place we hear of him. Since the Jews had put him forward. Get out there, Alexander. This is our chance. God is one.

Hero Israel, God is one. And it's our chance. Artemis is about to topple, and we want that to happen. So Alexander, Alexander, what am I doing? Why am I put forth?

And having motioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the assembly. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, we know where the Jews stand on this. We know that they believe God is one. They don't believe in Artemis already. So when they heard out that heard that he was a Jew, a single outcry, unity arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours.

Greatest Artemis of the Ephesians for two hours. Good grief. Now after quieting the crowd, can you imagine two hours of greatest Artemis of the Ephesians in the town clerk is going, come on, settle down, settle down, like banging the gavel. After quieting the crowd, the town clerk says, that little asterisk, if you have a New American Standard Bible, that little asterisk is a historical present. It's a storytelling device.

It is a present tense verb, but it's kind of meant to just bring you into the scene. So after quieting the crowd, the town clerk says, men of Ephesus, person is there after all who doesn't know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from the sky. That's one of their beliefs. Everybody knows this. He is the town clerk after all and the civic pride that he has, he's like, come on.

Everybody knows that Artemis is awesome. Especially Artemis of the Ephesians, this is where the image fell to the earth. So since these are all undeniable facts, you ought to just keep calm. Don't do anything weird. Don't do anything rash.

Calm down. Now, why might the town clerk say that? Because this is under Roman rule. And Roman rule, the Pac Romana or the Roman peace endures how long? It endures for a pretty good while.

The way that they do it is by the sword. And if there's a riot, we saw this at Passover time with the crucifixion. The local governors are supposed to take care of riots before they ever get going. And so town clerk is aware of that and saying, keep calm and carry on people. Move along.

So since these are undeniable facts, ought to just keep calm and don't do anything rash for you have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers, that would be bad, nor are they blasphemers of our goddess. Paul, in their eyes, what Paul has been teaching is just Judaism. God is one. So that's not although they would consider it blasphemy in general, that's not he's not specifically talking about Artemis anyway. Just chill.

There are ups and downs in life. So then, if Demetrius and the craftsman who are with him have a complaint against anyone, then we'll handle this the legal way. The courts are in session, the proconsuls are available, have them bring their charges against one another. If they want to sue them, sue them. Let it happen in court.

We'll see you in court. But if you want anything beyond this, it's gonna be settled in lawful assembly. We're not having a riot here today. For indeed, we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today's offense since there's no real reason for it. And in the connect and in this connection, we'll be unable to account for this disorderly gathering.

This has become a mob, and it's not gonna become a riot. I'm putting the kibosh on this. There will not be a riot here today, town clerk says. Now after saying this, he dismissed the assembly. Move along.

Nothing to see here. We see a couple of other riots and acts. We see a lot of people whipped into a froth. This is the last verse that I wanted to cover cover today, but to me the parallels in life in general are pretty stark. So the majority does not know what's going on.

It seems to resonate with me. There are two sides right now. There are at least two sides. There are two sides right now that are screaming, screaming, screaming, screaming, and their chance is like a high school gym where it's like, we've got spirit. Yes, we do.

We've got spirit. How about you? And the majority these days is more, we've got ambivalence. Yes. We do.

We don't really know. How about you? And then the business. So there's to begin with, the sons of Skeva thing. If you recognize the power of God, there's a holy fear that sets in and you want to lay down your magic books.

Addiction. You want to lay down your extraneous things that you think you can hold on to and still be okay. You want to. If you recognize that there's real power there. And if you're just using Christianity or Christ or Jesus or whatever, if you're just using that because you know that people listen to it, then you're in danger of setting free some evil spirits.

Not setting them free. Yes. Setting free the spirits to do the the evil spirits work, not setting free the people. Does that make sense to you? So the seven sons of Sceva.

We wanna present the Jesus that Paul preaches. We don't know him. We know he's powerful. We really don't wanna step away from what we're doing here though, and then they get beaten up by the evil spirits themselves. After all of these things coming forward, business.

It's about business. I I've had a couple of instances in the past week or so. Had somebody call me and say, hey, we're trying to we're trying to set up something and there's considerable resistance. And honestly, I wish I had said no to setting this thing up. It was church stuff like bylaws, constitutional, that sort of stuff.

And I said, pare down. Get rid of everything that happened because of some problem in the past. You can tell what happened on the mission agency and you could tell what happened in the church by reading over their bylaws and thinking, oh boy, they're really hedging against that happening again. Oh boy. But it's not necessarily biblical.

You have to breathe thee. And he says, but that's hard. I said, it is. Just allowing the word to do the work is hard, but just let it do its work. It's good.

It's really really good. Don't get whipped into a froth over something that you don't really understand or confused by. Turn your eyes on Jesus and the things of earth will go strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. And what fills your heart, the grace of God, the mercy of God will start coming out in your life and you'll be more gracious, you'll be more merciful, you'll be more loving. I think that's all the application I can get.

'21 next week is after the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples. And when he had encouraged them and he had taken his leave of them, he left to go to Macedonia. That was the last scene we see in Ephesus for now. So we're gonna go into a time of communion right now. And before this, I will invite the elders to come forward and we're distribute.

First of all, we'll do the bread. It's cracker that is representative of the body of Christ, and then we'll do a second pass through with a little plastic cup of grape juice. We practice an open table so that it does not matter your denominational background. If you have given your life, you've trusted in Jesus, you've given your life to him, then we want for you to enjoy this celebration of the Lord's Supper with us. Before we got started today, my mind was darting and kept on and kept on and kept on and kept on with all these distractions.

If any of those distractions for you are sin or you're thinking about yourself and going, I haven't laid down my magic book. I haven't done that and I have been pulled to one side or another. I wanna give you just a second during this prayer to say, God, forgive me for that. Here it is. I want you to have my whole heart.

Lord, that's my prayer. I want you to have my whole heart. I don't wanna think about past sins, and I don't wanna think about anything but anything but you and your will for me. I'm praying, Lord, right now for you to show me what your will is, fill me with your power to walk it out. In Jesus name, I ask your blessing over this little representation of the body of Christ as it is presented to the ongoing body of Christ.

For anyone who is gonna partake, Lord, I pray that this would be a blessing. And for anyone in the room who knows they haven't trusted in Jesus and lets this plate pass up. I pray Lord that you will work in their lives through these other folks to bring them into the family of God. In Jesus name, amen. Same night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread after supper and after he had given thanks, he said to his disciples there and he's say it still to us.

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. Thank you for your humble submission to the father's will, powered by the spirit, directed by him accomplishing all that was necessary to fulfill the law on behalf of everyone who believe. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for walking it out, for being our example, and so much more.

Our redeemer, this blood, this juice represents his redemption, the new covenant. Thank you, Jesus, for your voluntary and sacrificial death on our behalf. In Jesus' name, I ask that you'd bless this little cup of grape juice for everyone who would partake. In Jesus name, amen. In the same manner that he had taken the bread, he also took the cup and he said to them that this is the new covenant in my blood.

Willing, voluntary, sacrificial death. This is the new covenant in my blood. Take this, drink it in, do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Amen. Paul says that as often as we do this, we remind the world actually.

We proclaim his death until he comes again. And like the old song says, may that death be of sin, the double cure, save from wrath and also make us pure. Today is about that. Would you stand with us? We're gonna close with one song with the band.

Amen. And now may the Lord bless and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and whatever you do, whether in word or indeed, be doing it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Amen.

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Acts 19 False Religion Laying Down Sin Mob Mentality Spiritual Authority Using Jesus'S Name

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