2023-05-21 The (Evil) Empire Strikes Back

THE (EVIL) EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (Acts 19:21-41 Date: ____________________ Read Acts 19:23-41. After the magic arts bonfire in Ephesus, Paul sends Timothy and Erastus ahead of him to Macedonia (Philippi and Thess) where he plans to go to collect money for Jerusalem. Then comes the riot! This shows us when Jesus comes in, idols have to go - and they don't go quietly. Calvin says in The Institutes that the heart of every person is a fabricum idolarum - an idol-making factory. It doesn't matter whether the idol is a gold figure, career, ambition, success, celebrity, a relationship, hobby, or riches. When Jesus comes in, idols must go. He doesn't do double occupancy. But they don't go without a fight. They fought hard in Ephesus. The Ephesian economy was driven by their spectacular temple to Artemis, and little silver statues of both temple and goddess - like Eiffel tower statue. But business has fallen off drastically as people come to Christ and no longer desire the idols. But the idols will not go quietly. They never do. So, how do idols fight back? They're inanimate. Paul knows. Behind every idol there is a very animated power. I Cor 10:19-20: "What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons." Behind the idol lurks a demon - limited by God, yes, but present and viable. That's why they don't go easily. They fight back - hard, as this real-life scenario shows. I. Idols Fight Fraudulently Demetrius, apparently the head of Silversmith Local 666, leads the charge against Paul. There were at least 33 shrines to the mother goddess, Artemis, scattered around the Roman empire, perhaps the most popular cult of all. As cult center, Ephesus hosted the Artimsion festival each April - a month of debauchery and carousing that attracted idol-makers, distributors, bankers and anyone else whose business depended on the Artemis cult. Achilles Tatius, a participant, left this description: "It was the festival of Artemis, and every place was full of drunken men, and all the market-place was full of a multitude of men through the whole night." But this year, with business down dramatically, Demetrius has no trouble getting up a crowd. He starts with the obvious: 25b) "Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth." They are on the brink of financial ruin. That gets their attention! But that's not all. Demetrius cleverly moves on. Not just money, their whole religion is under attack. If they don't do something, Artemis would be defamed. Paul is 26c) "saying that gods made with hands are not gods." Demetrius counters, "Guys, 27) There is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship. Our trade and our goddess are being trashed. We can't stand by and let Artemis take the fall." It was the old god, mother, country routine. Was Demetrius concerned with Artemis' reputation? Not nearly as much as his bank account. That was his REAL concern. But, he was willing to tell a half-truth to get a whole lie. Like Satan who told Eve in Gen 3: 5 For God knows that when you eat of [the forbidden tree] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." True? Yes. They ate; and bam! They knew! But not in the right way. Not in the way God wanted them to learn it. See, you can learn good and evil by doing good, or you can learn it by doing evil. Satan left that part out. He told a half-truth to get a whole lie, and Eve bought it. It worked for Demetrius, too. 28 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" The mob was aroused by the half-truth that Demetrius cared about Artemis when he really cared about a falling stock market. It's like the guy on KP who filled a large tub of water with a 25-pound bag of powdered eggs and began to stir. But the mess sergeant came by and threw 4 whole eggs in, shells and all. The guy said, "Why'd you do that?" Sarge, "So when they bite into a shell, they'll think they've got the real thing." Believe me, whatever idol is in your life is Satan doing exactly the same thing - using subterfuge to get you to think it's the real thing. He tells you that promotion will make you happy. He doesn't tell you it will be short-lived. He tells you leaving your marriage will enrich your life. He doesn't tell you the heartache to follow, nor that that person is looking to you for the same thing you think you'll get from them. Follow that hobby even if takes you out on Sunday morning. You deserve it; and besides you can worship out there. He doesn't tell you you've just set your kids on a course to hell. Idols constantly use half-truths to deliver whole lies. They lie fraudulently. The idols threatening your life will be no exception. II. Idols Fight Ferociously It is not easy to give up idols. They fight ferociously. Demetrius soon had the cry of "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians" ringing thru the streets of Ephesus. They rushed to the 25,000-seat amphitheater (still there) and when they couldn't find Paul, they dragged along two of his companions. Paul was prevented by his disciples and community leaders who feared for his life. They all knew the danger. Idols fight hard. Then - and now! Tim Keller tells of a guy whose girl broke up with him. He went ballistic bc he believed the old Righteous Brothers song - "Without you, baby, what good am I?" That's what idols do - convince you life isn't worth living without them. This guy went to her house and begged her to come back. She refused and closed the door. He hollered, "If you don't open up, I'm going to kill myself right here on your porch." She didn't and he did! As Keller says, "His idol ate him up; convinced him she was the only reality." Idols confuse. 32 Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together." Idols fight hard; but they don't fight fair. They convince you they are the only thing in life worthwhile. They discount everything else, including God. When Bathsheba came to David, God faded into the background. When Solomon started collecting wives, God took a backseat. When Lot gazed at Sodom, he looked away from God. And the crazy thing is - the thing that seems so pleasurable, so fun, so difficult to leave behind, it's a mirage. Yes, there is pleasure in sin - but it's never satisfying, and it's short-lived. Job 20:5: "the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment." But idols don't tell you that! But some people get it. Moses had every pleasure Egypt could offer - all the education, wealth, food, girls, anything you could want. But God reports, Heb 11:24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward." Moses viewed life thru the eyes of faith rather than the eyes of the flesh. That's wisdom. Idols fight ferociously. But they can only offer what can be seen. By faith we can see that even being mocked for Christ is better than the treasures of Egypt. You might say, "Well and good, but I need something I can see; that I can touch." May I say as kindly as I know how - "No, you do not." Know why? II Cor 4: 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." Faith says God's promises are greater than idols' pretenses! That's faith's perspective. III. Idols Fight Foolishly Idols exist to confuse. Look at the mob. 32 Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together." Most didn't even know why they were there. Mobs seldom do. But idols use them to bring out the foolishness in all of us. It may be a real mob; but more often for us, it's our culture. We take our values from TV, whatever produces "likes" on social media, the grocery store mag counter. These point us to the idols that will take us down. Idols are foolish. Modern idol worshipers say: "Well, I believe in God. But if I could only have this; if I could only achieve that; if I could only get this - then I'd really be somebody. Then I'd be happy. Then I'd be safe. Then everything would be okay." Idolatry often isn't doing bad things; it's taking good things and making them ultimate in place of God. How many people do you know who've made work or ambition their idol? Think idols aren't real? How many children are sacrificed every year on the altar of a parent's ambition? Child sacrifice is alive and well. Anything can be an idol -- career ambition, overdone recreation, treasured relationship, sports - it doesn't matter. When it becomes ultimate - when life wouldn't worthwhile without it, the idol has made a fool of us. Tim Keller is right when he says, "Christ says, 'Give me ALL. I don't want just this much of your time and this much of your money and this much of your work - so that your natural self can have the rest. I want you. Not your things. I have come not to torture your natural self . . . I will give you a new self instead. Hand over the whole natural self - ALL the desires, not just the ones you think wicked but the ones you think innocent - the whole outfit. I will give you a new self." And as Moses saw by faith - that new self will be infinitely better than whatever we give up. IV. Idols Fight Futilely God defeats idols in multiple ways. Here, He used a local official. "Town clerk" -- CEO of Ephesus. He wasn't necessarily for Paul. But he was a man of reason - one who was not swayed by the crowd. God uses him to end the riot. His is the one voice of reason, motivated by a reasonable fear of the Romans. His job is on the line if things get too far out of order. So, he first argues for Artemis' honor. Paul said gods made with hands were no gods at all. But if Artemis fell from the sky, she wasn't made with hands; she was divine and could take care of herself. Second, he noted there was no credible evidence Paul or his associates had blasphemed Artemis. Charge dropped. Third, if there was a credible legal charge, it ought to go through proper channels. Finally, if anyone is in danger of being charged, it was the crowd itself! 40 For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion." The thought of the Romans showing up and busting heads sent everyone home. God was in charge the whole time; He used a local official to provide providential protection for Paul. Paul reminds us in I Cor 10:19-20 that behind every idol is demonic activity. But: I Jn 3:8b: "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." He cast them out wherever He met them, but He sealed their eternal fate on the cross: Heb 2:14: Jesus came "that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil." The demons themselves know they are done for. When Jesus cast them out of the men in the Gadarenes, they said, "O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" (Mt 8:19b). What time? Ultimate judgment. They knew they had a limited shelf life. The cross proved it. The fate idols and is sealed. Christ is Lord of all, even them! So, however good our idol looks this morning, it's a loser. It may light up your life now, but in the end, God will win. Whatever habit, temptation, addiction, or even something good that is robbing you of best - whatever idol is in your life, it represents a losing bet. It can only take you down with it. It is futile to line up against the loving Lordship of Jesus Christ. Conc - So, how do we deal with idols? During WWI, Dr. Donald Barnhouse was a chaplain following the German retreat. One Spring morning as he examined German war material abandoned in a hasty retreat, he noticed leaves falling from nearby trees. He picked on up; it disintegrated in his hands. He couldn't understand why leaves were falling. It was not Fall, and there was no wind. Then he realized. These leaves had outlived the frost of winter, but now, they were being pushed out by the sap of a new spring. So with idols. Thomas Chalmers said, they will only give way to "the expulsive power of a new affection." A new love for Christ will crowd out the old dead affection that holds us hostage. The expulsive power of a new affection. That's the answer - whether you experience it for the first time, or confess your sin and seek a renewal of your previous commitment, the idols will go. They will not go easily, but in the end, they are powerless before the power of Jesus unleashed in lives devoted to Him. Let's pray. Done 7