Idols & Riots

July 30th 2023

Series: Courageous Faith

Sermon Title: Idols & Riots

Topic: Journey through the book of Acts.

Key Passages: Acts 19: 21-41

Sermon Blurb: In today’s message we will see Paul continue to try and lead people toward Jesus; but it not going well. We will see as people’s income streams are threatened by the growth of the church begin to riot to try and stop what God is doing.

Sermon:

Hello Family Church!

Family Moment

PAUSE

Now as we jump right into this passage today it will stress the importance of what we talk about a LOT around here at Family Church…

Being at church weekly….

Because the start of this passage is predicated on knowing what happened prior in the book of Acts.

Acts 19:21 says….

Acts 19:21 After all this had happened,

Stop there…

All this….is all that we talked about last week!

That is why it is so important to come to church every week so you don’t miss out!

Plus when you are not here….we miss you!!!

PAUSE

But since I know we have some guests today….

Let me catch up anyone that is new to Family Church.

Last week we walked through the first half of Acts 19.

In that section we saw some really amazing things happen, and honestly some crazy things happen.

We saw Paul help some people learn about the need of the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit, to live inside them and then help make that happen.

We saw Paul preaching BOLDLY for Jesus and some people choosing to follow Jesus and others now.

We saw Paul do extraordinary miracles that pointed people toward Jesus!

We saw people that were a part of cults, give their lives to Jesus, and then burn their holy relics publicly.

Now….I didn’t say this last week….but let me point something out….

Let’s put Acts 19:19 back on the screens.

Acts 19:19 a number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.

Now it is SO easy to read things like that in the Bible and skim right past….

But what it says right there is a BIG DEAL!

A drachmas was worth an entire day’s wage.

So these people who came to know Jesus through Paul’s teaching…

BURNED up 50,000 DAY’S worth of wages!

AKA 137 YEARS worth of wages!

OR many scholars would say about 4 MILLION dollars in value went up in SMOKE!!!!

PAUSE

That is amazing!

You want to know if God has a hold of your heart….

One great place to look is at your wallet…

For real….

A great test of if God has your heart is to look at you’re spending habits.

I mean if Jesus really is your savior you will tithe and give God 10% like God told his followers to do.

Do you tithe?

Or do you tip God when you feel like it?

I mean if Jesus really is your savior and you realize you have some things in your home that are actually things that God does NOT approve of….

That you won’t SELL those things but you will destroy those things because they are bad for everyone!

PAUSE

These people in Ephesus demonstrated a genuine heart change for Jesus to the point that they destroyed 4 MILLION dollars worth of things they could have SOLD….

Because that was the right thing to do…

As defined by God…

NOT as defined by man…

And that genuine heart change led to this….Acts 20….

20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

Let’s read that again!!!!

In this way…..

In what way???

What does that mean?

I would guess it means in this CRAZY WAY

In this RADICAL WAY

That people were going ALL IN for Jesus….

That led to:

the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

PAUSE

So let’s pose two question here because that will help you as we walk through the rest of this chapter today….

Am I ALL IN for Jesus?

Repeat

Really….

I want you to think about your life….

Are you really ALL IN for Jesus?

Or around certain friends you kinda live for the world.

Or around certain co-workers you let your guard down and just have fun.

Or when you boss, or teacher, who you know HATES Jesus is around do you kinda not act like a Christian should….

Are you really ALL IN!

All in also meaning you give the BEST of your time to Jesus?

Or are you too busy at work, or school, or with sports to give ANY time to serve at church?

The BEST of your talent to Jesus?

Or do you give the best of your talent to your work…but if the church wants your help with those skills they need to pay for it..

The BEST of your treasure to Jesus?

Do you actually tithe and give 10% to Jesus?

Which by the way is SUPER easy to see….just look at your taxes if you are not sure!!!!

Are we all in like we see here in the Bible?

PAUSE

And the second question is this…write this down as well…

Will I destroy ANYTHING un-Godly in my life?

Repeat

Key word in there is destroy.

Not put in your next garage sale.

Not list of Facebook marketplace.…

Not give to someone else…

Destroy…

Will you be the type of follower of Jesus who will literally get rid of things in your life that keep you from growing closer to Jesus….

If your computer causes you to stumble and look at things you should not…get rid of it!

If an APP on your phone causes you to stumble by comparing your life to others delete it!

If a friendship causes you to gossip…find a new friend!

If a car, boat, or whatever payment makes you think you cannot tithe…sell it and thithe!

PAUSE

Because see church….

When we live this radical life focused on Jesus…

It leads people to Jesus!

We see that right here in the Bible….

But we also see if in our church!

I cannot tell you have many people are blown away when they come to Family Church and experience the generosity here….

Because generosity is NOT normal in our culture anymore!

I cannot tell you how many of the people who have given their lives to Jesus here over the years have said it was because of the way one of you lived your lives and they watched you!

Church hear me….

The way you and I live our lives matters so much!

People who do NOT believe in Jesus yet watch you…

Just like we see they did thousands of years ago….

PAUSE

So with that background…..

Now let’s jump into the rest of the chapter…..

And we are going to see some crazy shifts…

Because remember….

There is a REAL enemy of God who wants to stop God’s church and people….

PAUSE

Acts 19:21-41 After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.”

22 He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.

Now let’s pause here for a second just to make sure no one is lost on what is going on…

Paul was sent out by the church in Jerusalem to plant churches and win people to Jesus.

He traveled all over their know world at that time to do that.

But deep down….Paul has wanted to go to Rome…

Because Rome was the center of the known world…

The most powerful government in the world…

And Paul wanted to try and lead the Roman emperor to Jesus!

BIG goals!!!

PAUSE

But Paul sends off two of the young men he is investing in to be like him to Mass-Ah-Dough-Knee-Ah.

Timothy, we have met before in the book of Acts…we preached a whole message on who he was because he is an important guy in the Bible…

Ear-Ass-Tuss, we have not met before….and honestly, we know very little about him.

But what do we know?

Well Romans 16:23 tells us he was from Corinth and he was a city official!

He led the city’s director of Public Works!

AKA he was the Zeeland Board of Public Works leader or Holland BPW leader!

Pretty cool!

We have some government officials in our church which is awesome!

But note governmental leaders….he was living for Jesus at work and even traveling around to lead other people to Jesus!

Here is the question for all of you….

In your job/school are you actively trying to lead people toward Jesus?

Repeat

Timothy was a young man that mama got Paul to take along to help him grow!

Ear-Ass-Tuss was a city official living for Jesus.

Two TOTALLY different people….

BOTH doing what they could to influence people for Jesus…

Are you doing what you can to lead people toward Jesus?

PAUSE

And one other cool side note here….

Archaeologists working on an excavation of a first-century road uncovered a stone with the inscription:

"Erastus, Commissioner of Public Works"

Pretty cool!!!

PAUSE

Let’s keep reading…verse 23….

A riot is about to break out!

The Riot in Ephesus 23 About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.

Pause here just for a second…

What is the Way….

Is it this video….Grogu saying the way

Any Star Wars fans out there!!!!

This is the way, the way of the Mandalorian….

Which I find so interesting that the people that follow the Way in George Lucas’s world…

Were people that lived to a HIGHER code of conduct and life.

People that lived unlike anyone else in the galaxy….

Interesting right….

But here….

The Way…

The first Way…

Had nothing to do with Star Wars and had everything to do with following the Way of Jesus…

Maybe we need to make some shirts that say, “This is the way” Family Church!

Back in the day there was no “Christianity” there way only following the “way” the way of Jesus…

But remember following the way of Jesus led people to destroying 4 Million dollars worth of idols and that is going to make things get dicey…

Verse 24….

24 A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. 25 He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business.

26 And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all.

27 There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

Now pause there and let’s point out some things…

A silversmith…

A guy who makes silver things for shrines and makes lots of money off his trade gets mad at Paul….

Why?

Because Paul is teaching them that the stuff people like him make is made by human hands and therefore CANNOT be a god!

And so this guy tries to stir people up against Paul because Paul is threatening his lively hood.

AND Paul is threatening his religious beliefs…

Two things most people do NOT like messed with….

And so….verse 28….

28 When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 Soon the whole city was in an uproar.

The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together.

30 Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31 Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.

Pause there just for a second..

Why would they not let Paul go there?

Well….

Paul was almost killed 2 times recently and they did not want to find out if the third time was going to be a charm!

They wanted to protect Paul from what a mob all worked up into a riot could do.

We all remember the summer of 2020 and what mobs can do.

Mobs…riots…all led to bad things…..

Church…can I encourage you all to be careful what kinds of events you participate in….

Be careful what kind of organizations your support…

Be careful what kind of rallies you go to…

Think about mobs and riots…

Have you ever heard of one going and doing great things like….

LET’S riot this neighborhood and plant flowers everywhere!

Or let’s protest this neighborhood by cleaning it up!

NO…

Mobs and riots are all about destroying things….and if you are a person who believes in the Bible…..

Who is the one in the Bible who is for death and destruction??

Who church….

Yes… satan…

Church…be careful what kinds of events you participate in….

Be careful what kind of organizations your support…

Be careful what kind of rallies you go to…

Be careful you are not supporting the team who is against God.

PAUSE

Let’s keep reading….verse 32…

32 The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there.

Love that sentence…

Most did not even know why they were there!

33 The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people.

34 But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

35 The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?

36 Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. 37 You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess.

38 If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges.

39 If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly.

40 As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.” 41 After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.

Thus ends chapter 19….

Let’s walk through this because there is some great wisdom here from someone who is not a follower of Jesus….

Go back to verse 35….

35 The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?

So, this city official….

He is not like Ear-Ass-Tuss who was a city official who believed in Jesus.

This city official believed in Artemis.

He believed the statue of Artemis was NOT carved by people but fell from heaven into their city.

Here is a picture of what he said fell from heaven into their city.

That was excavated in Ephesus.

This was their God.

But understand church what he is talking about is still one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world!!!

This is what the whole temple looked like back in the day.

Ephesus made an incredible temple to worship their god.

PAUSE

But before we get judgmental on how ridiculous this is to believe….

We believe God sent his son from heaven into the womb of a woman on earth.

We build temple mounts like this during this same time periods that look very similar…

So, before we judge other people we need to bear in mind that what we believe sounds just as ridiculous to those outside our faith….

Which is why today it does not do any good to tell an atheist they are stupid for not believing in God because the math and science falls more on our side than theirs…

Which is why we all need to take time to get to know people and why they believe what they believe BEFORE we start pushing our beliefs on them.

That is the same thing Paul did…

He would go into towns and start with common ground with people BEFORE he started talking about Jesus….

But Paul was not afraid to speak truth….

Even into a culture that considered God’s truth as hate speech.

Look at verse 27….put it on the screens…

27 There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

Paul’s hateful speech…as defined by these people….

Was going to destroy jobs….

Destroy lives…

Destroy their goddess…

Destroy the way of life in all of Asia…

It was going to rob the people of so much!!!

PAUSE

What Paul said to bring them LIFE and FREEDOM…

Culture said would bring them the opposite…

Sounds a lot like things today does it not?

Our culture who says abortion brings women freedom and life.

God says, it actually brings them bondage and hurt in a way that they cannot imagine until after they do it…so do not do it…

And to say that truth is called hate speech today….

But it is still true….

And if you are here today and considering abortion can I encourage you to please let me help you talk with a woman from our church who has done that and can share with you the damage it causes you in ways you cannot imagine…

Today our culture teaches us we can define our gender and identity any way we want…

A man can be a woman.

A woman can be a man.

A man or woman can be a dog or cat.

God says, he creates us a man or woman.

God says, he gives us identity.

That identity found outside him is all false and wrong.

And that today is hateful speech….but it is still true…

PAUSE

And back then people did not being called out…just like we do not today!

So they said….in verse 36

Therefore, since these facts are undeniable,

The fact their god came from heaven to earth as a statute is undeniable…

It is a fact….

36 Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. 37 You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess.

38 If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. 39 If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly.

That is all WISE counsel!

He says…

Everyone…..simmer down!

You all believe and know you are right.

So clam down.

Don’t do anything rash…

We all know these guys did NOT steal anything.

These guys did NOT blaspheme our goddess.

So…. if you have an issue with them do we what do in America!

Sue them!

Let the courts and facts presented settle it.

Sadly….the practice back then….and today….

Let the lawyers and judges figure it out.

And then he tells everyone to go home….

Which I am about to do with all of you as well….

PAUSE

But before I do let me give you the Life Application today.

For those of you who are newer to Family Church we love to give you something to take home each week to ponder…

Talk about with a friend, family member, neighbor or co-worker…

Something to help you continue to connect the Bible with your life this week….

Our Life Application today says….

Life Application: Paul and his friends strove to lead people toward Jesus. They did not back down when things got hard. How could I do the same in my life? As a result of today’s message, I will ______________________________.

a

Let’s Pray…..