The Disturbing Gospel

Intro: Theme/Topic (What’s the problem, the question, etc.)

If you’ve ever read The Lord of the Rings or seen the films, you know the character Gollum—this frail, haunted creature clutching the Ring — calling it his “precious.” The Ring promises him power, identity, and control. It whispers that he needs it, that he can’t live without it. And the longer he listens, the more it consumes him.

And things get real interesting whenever anyone threatens to take it away! Gollum becomes frantic. Defensive. Even violent. His whole world is shaken because the one thing he believes gives him life is suddenly being threatened. And tragically, the thing he thinks he can’t live without is the very thing that is destroying him.

Gollum may be a fantasy character, but his experience is very real. We all have things we believe we need—things that define us, comfort us, give us a sense of worth or security. And when something threatens those things, we feel it. Our hearts panic. We defend. We cling. We resist. We fight.

Which brings us to this big question: What do you do when the gospel threatens the very things you think you can’t live without?

Because in Acts 19, that’s exactly what happens. The gospel begins to unsettle the “precious” idols of a whole city—its economy, its identity, its sense of meaning—and everything erupts.

Let’s see this for ourselves now as we go to God’s Word together.

Scripture

So grab your Bibles and turn with me to Acts 19:21-41. If you need to use a pew Bible, you’ll find today’s text on page 1103. Once you’re there, please stand with me if you are able and follow along with me as I read...

Acts 19:21–41 ESV

Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And 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.” When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s companions in travel. But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. 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. Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 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.” And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

This God’s Word!

Prayer

Father, Your Word is living and active — shaper than any two-edged sword, may it be used by Your Spirit now as a master surgeon to open our hearts to convict, challenge, and teach us, that we may delight even more in knowing your Son Jesus!

Intro: Formal (give context to passage, setting the scene, big idea)

As we pick up Luke’s narrative in Acts 19, it’s helpful to remember where we are. Paul is near the end of his third missionary journey, traveling with a clear sense of the Spirit’s guidance. On the journey so far, we’ve seen the gospel radically transform lives. Just before this passage, we saw people steeped in the darkness of magic arts in Ephesus—people who had practiced sorcery —turning to Jesus, and publicly burning their expensive magic books, declaring that Jesus is Lord. They did this because they knew that Jesus and their old ways could not coexist in their hearts — And knowing that Jesus was the greater treasure, they left their old life behind in an ash heap!

But today’s text shows us a very different response—because sometimes the gospel disturbs in order to break the chains that idols have wrapped around our hearts.

But at other times it disturbs and hearts clinch desperately to whatever people think they can’t live without. When the gospel threatens the idols people cling to—the response is often anger, fear, or resistance.

Things brings us back to the question I asked earlier: What do you do when the gospel threatens the very things you think you can’t live without?

Here is the answer God gives us in His Word: Let the gospel disturb you so it can free you, expose your idols, and reveal the Savior you can’t live without.

Today, we’ll see this played out in three ways:

The Gospel Disturbs the Idols We Fight to Protect 

The Gospel Exposes the Chaos Our Idols Create 

The Gospel Reveals the Savior We Can’t Live Without 

As we step into this first point, let’s consider how the gospel first confronts the idols we fight to protect. Just as Gollum clung to his “precious,” the people of Ephesus clung to what they thought gave them life. Let’s see what happens when God begins to disturb what we treasure most.

The Gospel Disturbs the Idols We Fight to Protect

The gospel has been spreading like wildfire in Ephesus. Paul has taught daily for two years in the Hall of Tyrannus so that, as Luke tells us, “all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord.” And right before today’s passage, we saw the power of gospel on display when those steeped in magic arts publicly burned their books and declared Jesus as Lord. Verse 20 captures the movement:

Acts 19:20 ESV

So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

Now in a polytheistic culture, this is fine—as long as Jesus stays in His lane. Most people have no problem adding Jesus to their shelf of gods—so long as He doesn’t replace any of them. But that all changes the moment we meet Demetrius in verse 24.

Demetrius, a silversmith who makes shrines to Artemis, hears Paul’s message (probably second-hand)—yet he grasps the heart of it perfectly. Look at his summary in verse 26:

Acts 19:26 ESV

This Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.

Demetrius probably never met Paul. He’s only heard the gospel from a distance. Yet the message still rings crystal clear, because this was not a side-note in Paul’s preaching—it was central: You cannot follow Jesus plus anything else. There is only one true God. Everything else we worship is a cheap imitation—no god at all.

Paul was echoing Isaiah 44, where God Himself thunders:

Isaiah 44:8 ESV

Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.”

And the more the gospel spreads, the more it threatens what Demetrius treasures. The magic books have been burned—what’s next? The silver shrines he sells? His livelihood? His comfort? His security?

So Demetrius exposes his true idol: money. “When the gospel threatens his income,” he says, “we’ve got a problem.”

But when he wants to recruit others to his cause, he touches a different idol.

He stokes their civic pride. Their patriotism as Ephesians. Their identity as guardians of Artemis’ magnificent temple—one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World! “Paul isn’t just threatening our profits,” he argues, “he’s threatening what it means to be an Ephesian!”

And nothing has changed today, has it?

We may not bow to Artemis, but the human heart hasn’t evolved one inch. Idolatry is not just doing bad things; idolatry is taking good things and making them ultimate things. Any good gift—

Family can be a very powerful idol.

Your kids’ performance

Your parents’ approval.

Your friend’s approval

Your grades.

Your career

Your competence at a certain skill

Your looks

A romantic relationship

A political or social cause

Even pride in your moral decency

Or even your religious commitments and practices

All of these are good things that can become a “precious” idol we cling to for identity, security, or worth.

Now understand that if you take away a good thing, a person gets sad or angry. But threaten an ultimate thing— the thing that gives them meaning, stability, and hope— and they will go ballistic!!!

This is why the gospel disturbs us. It threatens the things we think we can’t live without.

Do you want to know what your idols are? Search your heart and look for those things that would cause you to go ballistic if they were taken from you — the things you think you can’t live without.

Now when you push someone’s idol, their idol will push back. Hard. That’s exactly what happens here. In Ephesus, Paul has kicked a hornet’s nest. And verses 28–34 show the explosion:

An enraged mob,

Confusion spreading through the city,

Two of Paul’s companions seized and dragged into the massive Ephesian theater.

Paul himself tries to intervene, but some disciples stop him—fearing the mob will tear him apart!

A Jew named Alexander tries to calm things, but he’s shouted down by two hours of chanting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” — Pure chaos!

The gospel didn’t create this chaos—their idols did. Which leads us directly into the second movement of this story.

The first thing the gospel does is disturb the idols we fight to protect. But once those idols are threatened, their true nature becomes impossible to hide.

And that’s exactly what we see next.

The Gospel Exposes the Chaos Our Idols Create

In verses 35-41 we see something really interesting and unique. Most scenes like this would end with Paul or another believer giving a sermon — but that’s not what we see here. Instead, a pagan town clerk, becomes the voice of reason. He is the one who calms the riot and rebukes the angry mob. And it ends not with a revival like earlier in the chapter. This story ends with the crowd just dispersing… “Nothing more to see here folks.”

But I want us to look at this speech because these words from the town clerk are dripping with irony that exposes the true character of our idols.

First, notice in verses 35, the clerk begins by reassuring the mob by defending the greatness of Artemis. Essentially, saying, “What are you worried about? Everyone knows that we’re the keeper of the great temple and we even have a sacred stone from the sky! Everyone knows this. These things cannot be denied.”

Now what this reveals is that if Artemis was truly great — Why are they rioting? Why the panic and fury?

I’ll tell you why. Because for those enslaved by idols, there is a real fear of losing that idol when it is threatened. So, people are quick to fight for and defend them.

Now contrast this with the God of the Bible.

He never asks His people to storm the streets to defend His honor. He never commands us to fight in panic or rage.

Instead, He says in Psalm. 46:10…

Psalm 46:10 ESV

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

The God of heaven does not need hype men. He doesn’t need a mob to enforce His glory. He doesn’t need us to protect Him.

So, when we encounter chaos in this life, the gospel produces peace not panic!

Next, notice where the clerk lies the blame for this entire situation. In verse 37 he says these Christians have done nothing wrong. If you have a complaint, then bring it to the civil courts.

Then in verse 40 he tells them they are the ones in danger of being charged with the crime of rioting. And this was a serious offense because Rome did not tolerate civil unrest and would not hesitate to make an example of them — striking fear into the rest of the empire!

So, the clerk is telling them, “You blame these Christians for creating civil unrest but you are the ones who are actually to blame.”

And this is the principle we see here: Idols promised peace and stability, but when pushed they produce the opposite. Idols always produce the opposite of what they promise!

They promise peace… yet create anxiety. They promise freedom… yet enslave. They promise control… yet unleash chaos.

This is still true today.

I was reading Tim Keller last week and he tells of a creative writer, named Benjamin Nugent, who wrote an opinion piece for a New York Times blog. In it Nugent tells how for so long, all he wanted was to be a great writer but he began to realize that this drive was sabotaging his happiness. He writes:

“When good writing was my only goal, I made the quality of my work the measure of my worth. For this reason, I wasn’t able to read my own writing well. I couldn’t tell whether something I had just written was good or bad, because I needed it to be good in order to feel sane. I lost the ability to cheerfully interrogate how much I liked what I had written, to see what was on the page rather than what I wanted to see or what I feared to see.”

Do you see his idol? If he was a successful writer, then he would know that he’s worth something. And this idol — like all idols was merciless because if you fail it, it will crush you.

Many professional athletes learn this when a career ending injury causes them to lose their sense of worth and value.

We see this in parents who crush their children with pressure to perform. And they are crushed by their children when they don’t!

This is because whenever you rely on a person’s love more than God’s love, you will always end up crushing the other person under the weight of your expectations and they will crush you under the weight of their imperfections!

Even good things like marriage, work, school, and even ministry—become tyrants when we make them ultimate.

Idols always take more than they give.

In the movie Les Misérables, Inspector Javert lives by one absolute and unbending conviction: THE LAW IS EVERYTHING! This defines his identity and gives him a sense of righteousness, order, and purpose.

For Javert, people don’t change — a criminal is always a criminal. Justice must always be enforced. And mercy is never an option.

Throughout the movie, Javert pursues a former criminal named Jean Valjean and in the end, Valjean has the opportunity to kill Javert but instead Valjean let’s him go free. He shows Javert mercy — and this act of grace sends Javert into a tragic downward spiral.

Valjean is a criminal… yet he acted as a righteous man.

He showed him grace he knows he hasn’t earned.

He does not know how to live in a world where mercy triumphs over justice.

This conflict eventually becomes unbearable for Javert and he makes the tragic choice to end his life by jumping off a bridge…

Because he would rather die than live in a world where his idol — law, order, and self-righteousness — is not ultimate.

This shows us that idols don’t just disappoint us — they demand everything from us. And just like Demetrius and the angry mob in Ephesus — Our idols promise stability—but they produce confusion. They promise control—but they unleash chaos.

The gospel is disruptive — and when it threatens our idols, there’s only two ways to respond…

Cling to the idol and be crushed by it.

Yield to Christ and be set free.

Because the Gospel shows us a Savior we can’t live without that empowers us to let go of our idols that are only cheap imitations! This is what we’ll look at now in our final point.

The Gospel Reveals the Savior We Can’t Live Without

The pinnacle of irony in the town clerk’s speech actually points us away from idols and toward Christ—the true Savior we can’t live without.

Look again at the end of verse 35. The clerk reassures the crowd that Artemis needs no defending because Ephesus possesses a sacred stone that “fell from the sky.” In other words: “Relax! Our goddess is secure—after all, we’ve got a meteor!”

But here’s the irony: Christianity is a movement from heaven. Not a stone fallen from the sky—but the Son sent from the Father in Heaven. Not a rock of superstition, but a Cornerstone of salvation.

Peter makes this clear when he quotes Isaiah in 1 Peter 2:6

1 Peter 2:6 ESV

For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Christ is the true Sacred Stone come down from heaven—not a dead rock, but a living Savior.

But How does this Cornerstone actually save us?

To understand this, we need to lean into how the Old Testament describes idolatry. Again and again—especially in prophets like Hosea and Ezekiel—God compares His covenant with His people to the relationship of a faithful husband with an unfaithful wife.

When Israel chased after idols, God called it what it really was: spiritual adultery. Hosea 9:1 says:

Hosea 9:1 ESV

For you have played the whore, forsaking your God.

Now here’s where the tension rises: God declares through the prophets, that He is “divorcing” His people. But if you read on, you will see that promised to one day bring them back.

Now if you know the Old Testament law, you know something’s off—because in the Old Testament, the penalty for adultery was not divorce… It was death…

Leviticus 20:10 ESV

“The adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

So how can God both judge spiritual adultery and promise restoration? Only one answer makes the pieces fit:

The New Testament unlocks this mystery by revealing that Jesus died the adulterer’s death in our place.

He took the covenant curse we earned. He bore the shame we created. He absorbed the wrath of God we provoked. He died the death of the unfaithful—so the unfaithful could be welcomed home.

That’s why Peter boldly proclaims in Acts 4:11–12:

Acts 4:11–12 ESV

This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

There is salvation in no one else…

There is no other stone. There is no other Savior. No idol can remove your shame, cleanse your guilt, or reconcile you to God. Every idol you cling to will eventually break you. Only Christ was broken to save you.

———————————

Maybe today you’ve seen your idol for what it truly is. Maybe you’ve realized that some good thing good has become an ultimate thing…and now it controls you and defines you.

If this describes you, hear this:

Jesus invites you to come to Him. Come to the Cornerstone who will not crumble beneath your weight of your sin. Come to the Savior who took your shame on Himself. Come to the One who died your death and rose to give you life.

Stop clinging to an idol that cannot save you. You can cling to a Savior who cannot fail you.

Let go of your idol and trust Christ to save you today. He will forgive you, restore you, and make you new.

———————————

But church—this isn’t only for unbelievers. Christians can confess Jesus with the mouth but cling to idols with the heart. We can relapse into trusting our success, our comfort, our relationships, our abilities, or our reputation to give us what only Christ can give.

So, ask yourself today:

Where am I looking for stability outside of Christ?

What am I terrified to lose?

What secretly shapes my decisions and my priorities?

The gospel doesn’t simply forgive idolaters—it frees them. Jesus doesn’t just save you from your idols—He saves you to Himself.

So, the more you rest on Christ the true Cornerstone, the more stable and joyful you become. Because the gospel doesn’t just expose the idols you can’t keep—it reveals the Savior you can’t live without.

Conclusion/Response (Gospel & Repent/Believe)

When we started this morning, we met a frail creature named Gollum clutching his “precious”—so convinced that this one thing would give him life that he was willing to lose everything to keep it. And that isn’t just Gollum’s story. That’s our story. Because every human heart clings to something—something we believe we must have to be whole, safe, or valuable.

And with that in mind, we asked this big question:

What do you do when the gospel threatens the very things you think you can’t live without?

Acts 19 has shown us the answer.

Let the gospel disturb you so it can free you, expose your idols, and reveal the Savior you can’t live without.

Because remember…

The gospel disturbs the idols we fight to protect. Just like Demetrius and the crafts­men, we panic, defend, and grasp when what we treasure most is threatened by the gospel.

The gospel exposes the chaos our idols create. Like the riot in Ephesus, idols always promise stability—but they deliver confusion, fear, and unrest. They cannot save us.

And finally, the gospel reveals the Savior we can’t live without. A Savior who doesn’t demand we destroy ourselves for Him—but One who laid down His life to pay our debt, forgive our sin, remove our shame, and set us free.

And so the gospel presses a choice into our hands: Cling to our idols and be crushed by them… or cling to Christ and be set free.

Which brings us back to that image of Gollum clutching his “precious” in the dark.

What are you clutching today?

What is the thing you defend, the thing you fear losing, the thing you believe you can’t live without?

Is it you career? Your reputation? A relationship? Your performance? Some person’s approval? What is your “precious”?

And more importantly—what is it costing you?

Because here is the hope of the gospel: You don’t have to keep clutching the thing that’s destroying you. You don’t have to be enslaved to what cannot satisfy. You don’t have to live in the panic, fear, and chaos that idols create.

There is a Savior you cannot live without— and His name is Jesus.

He is the Rock Demetrius couldn’t manufacture. He is the Lord Artemis could never dethrone. He is the Treasure worth losing everything to gain.

And when you open your heart to Him— you gain the only One who will never fail you, never forsake you, never demand your life as the price of His love… because He has already given His life as the price for yours.

So today, hear the loving disturbance of the gospel. Let it unsettle your idols. Let it break the chains around your heart. Let it lead you to the Savior you cannot live without.

That’s the invitation before you today. Will you cling to your “precious”— or will you cling to Christ?

Prayer

Closing Song: Lord, You Give the Great Commission

Benediction

Church, before we go, let me speak to a few groups here today.

First, if you’re here this morning and you’ve never trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior—if you’re realizing today that you’ve been clinging to something that cannot save you—then your first step of faith is simply this: Trust Jesus Christ to forgive you and save you. Christ died and rose again so you can be forgiven, restored, and made new. If you want to talk or pray with someone about what it means to follow Jesus, there will be some people up front here who would love to talk and pray with you.

Second, if you’ve already trusted Christ but you know He’s calling you to a next step—maybe baptism… maybe church membership… maybe joining a discipleship group or serving in a ministry—let me encourage you to take that step today. You can fill out one of our orange Next Steps cards and drop it off at the welcome counter in the foyer. That’s an easy way to let us know how we can help you grow in Christ.

And finally, church family, we have just sung that our Lord gives the Great Commission. So as you go, remember: the God who has called you is the God who sends you. Wherever you live, work, and serve this week, you go as Christ’s ambassadors—carrying the power of the gospel to set people free.

Now receive this benediction to close our service…

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” — AMEN