Ephesus: A Play With Three Acts

Review

Turn to Acts 19.

For approximately two years, Paul ministered in the needy city of Corinth. He had a fruitful ministry there but eventually he moved on to a short visit in Ephesus and then completed his missionary journey by returning to Antioch. After several years he began a third missionary journey, but Luke’s narrative brushes over that development and rather focuses on Apollos, a great teacher who was still teachable. Apollos showed us that the key to a teachable heart is humility.

Message

Acts chapter nineteen brings our attention back to Paul, where we find him in the city of Ephesus for the second time. Luke spends the entirety of this chapter telling us what happened in this city during Paul’s ministry.

Read Acts 19:1-12.

Ephesus was at the height of its glory when Paul entered its gates in the middle of the first century. Its population could have been as high as 250,000, making it one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire. It was noted for its religious fervor and for its commerce, but it was particularly known for the grandeur of its buildings.

Its temple to the goddess Artemis, also known as Diana, was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and was the architectural crown jewel of the city.

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But besides that, the city’s theater, which Luke mentions in verse 29, was noteworthy because of its size. It could seat as many as 20,000 spectators with some writers estimating as high as 25,000.

Now I’m no expert concerning theatrical performances. If someone begins talking about Shakespeare, I’m as ignorant as they come. However, this chapter is like a play with three acts. The performance all takes place in Ephesus, but there are three divisions or three acts that make up this performance.

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An act of divine approval - Acts 19:1-12.

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Paul has just travelled across Asia Minor. He comes down out of the mountainous interior to Ephesus, which was right on the shores of the Mediterranean.

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There, he found some followers of John the Baptist. We don’t know, but perhaps they had been taught by Apollos before Aquila and Priscilla taught him the doctrine of Christ. These disciples were searching for the truth. They believed that the Messiah (the Christ) was coming, but they had not heard that He had come already. Paul taught them that Jesus had come and had died to save them from their sins. They believed and immediately were baptized to show that they were now followers of Jesus.

But then something extraordinary happens. This time, Paul lays his hands on these new believers and immediately they are baptized with the Holy Spirit, just like what happened to the Jewish believers in Acts 2 and to the Gentile believers in Acts 10. This is the third and final instance of this taking place in the book of Acts. It was a supernatural work of God in fulfillment of His promise to empower the early church. After Pentecost, this work was limited to the apostles’ ministry and it ceased with their passing.

Read slowly:

But here’s the principle that I want to highlight from this text: it was an act of divine approval. God was showing that these newly converted former disciples of John were just as valuable to Him as the believing Jews of Acts 2 and the believing Gentiles of Acts 10.

The action of the Holy Spirit demonstrated that there are no second-class citizens in Christ’s church. They may have lacked knowledge; they may [have been] few in number, but once they embrace[d] the truth of the person of Christ, the Spirit [came] on them the same way He did at Pentecost. These men would form the leadership of the great church at Ephesus. - Stewart Custer, Witness To Christ, page 273

The Jews that were part of the first church back in Jerusalem and who still diligently kept the Mosiac law were not superior to the Gentiles that were continually trusting Christ as a result of Paul’s ministry.

The Gentiles that were saved under Peter’s ministry in Acts chapter ten were not superior to these disciples of John that were saved in Acts chapter nineteen.

All of them were a part of the family of God and were precious to Him! God proved this by giving the Holy Spirit to every person that places their faith in Jesus Christ, whether they are Jew or Gentile or whether they know much or little.

Application: In the kingdom of God, there are no superiors and there are no inferiors.

As a local church, we need to continually remember this because it is our nature to assign value to people based on their personality, their career, their education, their position, or their ability.

God doesn’t do that. He sees each person as they really are: a living soul. Each one is precious to Him. Christian, use your spiritual eyes so to speak and treat every person you meet as a living soul that is precious to God.

First, we see an act of divine approval. Secondly…

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An act of supreme narcissism - Acts 19:13-20.

Narcissist: an extremely self-centered person who has an exaggerated sense of self-importance

Read Acts 19:13-14.

Vagabond: traveling, looking for trouble, troublemakers

Exorcist: one who attempts to expel demons

To take upon themselves: undertake something, attempt something

This prominent Jewish man had seven sons who attempted to expel a demon from a particular man. Problem is, this time it doesn’t go too well.

Read Acts 19:15-20.

When these troublemaking Jews try to expel this demon, he replies and says,

“Jesus I know by experience and Paul I know as a fact (I recognize his name), but who are you?” The man then ith diabolic strength beat all of them up. This situation instantly became the talk of the city and as verse seventeen says, “the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.”

Luke tells us this because that is the main point of the story.

These troublemaking Jews were trying to use the name of Jesus like a cheap magic charm, but they didn’t know Jesus.

They didn’t care about Jesus.

They just wanted the power of the name of Jesus.

Here’s the problem with that:

Read slowly:

Application: God does not exist for us to use Him! We exist for Him to use us!

These seven brothers were narcissists. They were self-centered, they had an exaggerated sense of self-importance, and they had no interest in knowing Jesus personally, they just wanted to use His name to exercise some supernatural power.

That is wicked! That is taking what is holy and treating it as something cheap. That is a small view of God.

How many of you have seen the “He Gets Us” commercials on TV over the last year or so?

That ad campaign has some slick marketing. It’s true that God does understand us. The psalmist wrote that God remembers that we are made out of dust. Yes, God understands us and our imperfections and our weakness very well, but that doesn’t mean that He caters to us. He does not exist to serve us, although the Son did come and serve mankind. We exist to serve Him.

Application: Perhaps this morning you need to reset your view of God.

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I fear that some of us are Christians not so much because we want to develop a personal relationship with God, but because we want the fringe benefits of being a Christian.

You see…

By going to a good church, you get a loving community. You get a sense of belonging, a purpose, a mission.

By going to a good church, you might get an emotional high. You might leave church excited, encouraged, lifted up.

By carefully following the Scriptures, you’ll benefit in your finances, in your family, and in your relationships, and so much more.

Those are all wonderful benefits of being a Christian, a follower of Jesus, but if those benefits are the reason why you’re a Christian, you’re missing the point! You’re just as guilty as the seven sons of Sceva! You’re guilty of using God to get what you want just like these Jews were using the name of Jesus to get what they want!

A Christian that is a narcissist is the worst kind of narcissist. That is a Christian who expects all of the good gifts that God provides without truly wanting to know the Provider. It is an act of supreme narcissism! It is taking God and using Him and His blessings to get what you want!

God is not just a means to an end. He’s not a tool for you to use so you can have a more comfortable life on this planet earth. But that’s often how we use Him. That’s often how we pray for things. That’s often how we think!

Don’t be a Christian that is content with the fringe benefits! Be a Christian that is consumed with God Himself! That’s the opportunity that is opened unto you through Jesus Christ! That’s what life is all about! That why He created you and saved you from your sins! It wasn’t so you can live the American Dream! It was so that you could know Him personally!

These Jews wanted the power of Jesus’ name, but they didn’t care for Jesus Himself! If you are content with the fringe benefits of Christianity rather than finding your contentment in the fulness of God, you are not treating God any differently than these Jews treated God’s Son.

Christian, knowing God personally should be such a joy to you that if you gained nothing else, that would be more than enough.

We’ve seen an act of divine approval.

We’ve seen an act of supreme narcissism.

Thirdly…

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An act of stirred up passions - Acts 19:21-41.

What follows next is one of those stories in the book of Acts where Luke goes into great detail to tell us what happened. The producers at Sight and Sound could have an absolute heyday bringing this act to life.

Read Acts 19:21-22.

This is the first time that Paul expresses a desire to travel to Rome. God would eventually grant his request, but he would be in chains as a prisoner. So Paul continues in Ephesus a little longer, but something happens.

Read Acts 19:23-32.

Demetrius, the leader of the silversmith’s union, was mostly concerned about the money, but he made an emotional appeal to stir up their religious fervor. His plan worked and he whipped up the city into a frenzy. It would take the townclerk, equivalent to a city manager, everything he could do to calm the situation. He was worried what would happen if this reached the ears of the Roman authorities that oversaw the region.

When human passions are unbridled, chaos is the result. The sinner must be reborn as a new creature by the power of God by faith in Jesus Christ. It is then that the sinner is transformed into a saint in God’s eyes. It is then that the sinner’s passions can be restrained by submitting to the Spirit of God.

Conclusion

Ephesus: A Play With Three Acts.

God’s approval is the one that matters most. God gave the Holy Spirit to the new converts in Ephesus just like He did to the new converts in Jerusalem. They were equally precious in the sight of God. Maybe you need to humble yourself, repent of treating someone as a second class Christian, and begin seeing others as God sees them.

There’s no place for narcissism in the local church or in your life. Maybe you need to humble yourself and repent of living like God’s world revolves around you. Maybe today you need to start living life like God intended - where your #1 goal is to seek Him.

If you’re planning to get to God by living a good life, you need to realize that it won’t work. You can’t control your passions. You need to humble yourself and realize that Christ offers forgiveness of sin and the power to restrain your sin nature. I invite you to trust Christ alone as your Savior today.