Sermon Tone Analysis

Not a God made with human hands

Gods made with our hands…

Why is idol worship such a powerful temptation?

Ultimately, the answer to this question is “sin.”

It is the sin nature of man that causes us to worship modern idols, all of which are, in reality, are forms of self-worship.

The temptation to worship ourselves in various ways is a powerful temptation indeed.

In fact, it is so powerful that only those who belong to Christ and have the Holy Spirit within them can possibly hope to resist the temptation of idolatry.

Even then, resisting the worship of idols is a lifelong battle in the Christian life.

, “Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the LORD your God.”

, The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

When we hear the word idol, we often think of statues and objects reminiscent of those worshipped by pagans in ancient cultures.

However, the idols of the 21st century often bear no resemblance to the artifacts used thousands of years ago.

Today, many have replaced the “golden calf” with a gold American Express card, or our insatiable drive for money or prestige or "success" in the eyes of the world.

Some pursue the high regard of others as their ultimate goal.

Some seek after comfort or a myriad of other passionate, yet empty, pursuits.

These are our modern- day idols!

In the end, however, it doesn’t matter what empty pleasure we chase after or what idol or which false god we bow down to; the result is the same—separation from the one true and living God.

Understanding our lust for contemporary idols can help us to understand why they prove to be such a powerful temptation.

An idol is anything we place ahead of God in our lives, anything that takes God’s place in our hearts!

Such as possessions, careers, relationships, hobbies, sports, entertainment, goals, greed, addictions to alcohol/drugs/gambling/pornography, etc.

Some of the things we idolize are clearly sinful.

But many of the things we idolize can be very good, such as relationships or careers.

Yet Scripture tells us that, whatever we do, we are to “do it all for the glory of God” () and that we are to serve God only (; ).

Unfortunately, God is often shoved out of the way as we zealously pursue our idols.

Worse yet, the significant amount of time we often spend in these idolatrous pursuits leaves us with little or no time to spend with the Lord.

We sometimes also turn to idols seeking solace from the hardships of life and the turmoil present in our world.

Addictive behaviors such as drug or alcohol use, or even something like excessive television viewing, may be used as a means of temporarily “escaping” a difficult situation or the rigors of daily life.

The psalmist, however, tells us that those who place their trust in this behavior will, essentially, become spiritually useless ().

We need to place our trust in the Lord “who will keep [us] from all harm” () and who has promised to supply all of our needs when we trust in Him.

We also need to remember the words of Paul, who teaches us not to be anxious about anything, but rather to pray about everything so the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and our minds ().

There is another form of idolatry prevalent today.

Its growth is fostered by cultures that continue to drift away from sound biblical teaching, just as the apostle Paul warned us, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine”

().

This is the idolatry of the ears, those itching ears that long to be scratched by the hearing of self-esteem messages, prosperity messages, messages that make easy believers and not blood brought believers.

In these pluralistic, liberal times, that we live in many cultures have, to a large degree, redefined God.

We have forsaken the God revealed to us in Scripture and have recast Him to comply with our own inclinations and desires—a “kinder and gentler” god.

This kinder and gentler god is infinitely more tolerant than the One revealed in Scripture.

He is less demanding and less judgmental and who will tolerate many lifestyles without placing guilt on anyone’s shoulders.

We find ourselves right now in the middle of a month set aside to honor a pervert lifestyle choice, my friends this is idolatry.

The same sex lifestyle places their preferences over God’s principles, don’t get it twisted!

Around the world many congregants believe they are worshipping the one, true God.

However, when we create our own gods built upon our preferences over God’s principles we are worshipping idols.

Worshipping a god of one’s own making is particularly tempting for many whose habits and lifestyles and whose drives and desires are not in harmony with Scripture.

But as true believers we do no worship a God made with human hands.

But a God who provides for our needs through His hands, a God who purposely exposes false gods and a God that patiently requires disputes to be handed justly.

Let us pray…

(1) Our God is not made with human hands, but He provides us our needs through His hands.

Though Paul does not appear in this passage until vv.

30–31, Luke is giving his final illustration of the impact that Paul’s ministry had in Asia.

Even when Paul is not on the scene, the impact of His teaching is clearly seen.

In this passage the text shows us unprecedented opposition and it undoubtedly prepares us for the events to come later in Jerusalem (21:27–40).

This is by far the longest narrative in the Ephesian section, showing its importance.

The disturbance described here is about ‘the Way’, which is Christianity, but Paul is unquestionably the main source of contention and confrontation.

Even though Demetrius does not make his case before the city officials, his role is similar to that of Paul’s accusers in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth.

Angry protests against Paul and his travel companions follow the claim that his preaching has had a profound economic and religious effect ‘on practically the whole province of Asia’.

21a After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia.

It was God who had ‘resolved in Paul’s Spirit to travel there.

There is a parallel statement in , And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

Here is where Paul speaks about being ‘compelled by the Spirit’ to go to Jerusalem, indicating that he was driven by more than a human resolution but directed by God’s Holy Spirit.

Here we see the same passion God placed on his heart at the beginning of Paul’s first missionary journey.

When the Spirit of God directed him to Troas, where a vision revealed the need for him to go to Macedonia.

Here also is an echo of the Gospel narratives in which Jesus is shown to be under a divine necessity to go to Jerusalem to suffer.

, saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles.

And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him.

And after three days he will rise.”

Luke mentions nothing of the troubled situation in Corinth, which necessitated a further visit from Paul; he simply says that he wanted him to travel through Macedonia and Achaia.

, ‘I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go.

For I do not want to see you now just in passing.

I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.

But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.’

Listen to me; if you do not have adversaries, then you are not advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul later changed his mind, planning to visit Corinth, then Macedonia, and then Corinth again.

This pattern of revisiting churches founded on a previous missionary campaign was already well established, but a journey to Rome implied the beginning of a totally new sphere of ministry.

The last decision is presented in a solemn fashion.

21b ‘After I have been there,’ he said, ‘I must also see Rome’, suggesting that there was a divine necessity about visiting Rome as well.

This current visit is the climax of the narrative of Acts, even though Paul arrives in an unexpected way!

The purpose of a final visit to Jerusalem is not explained, though we know from Paul’s letters that it involved the presentation of financial gifts from the Gentile churches for the relief of poor Christians in Jerusalem Acts mentions this collection only in passing.

, ‘Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings.’

Even though it was personally and theologically so important to Paul himself.

Luke mentions it only in passing.

Going back to the text.

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

Once again we are reminded that the Pauline mission was a team effort.

Priscilla and Aquila played a special role in Corinth and Ephesus, and Gaius and Aristarchus are soon to be mentioned as travelling companions from Macedonia, who were arrested in Ephesus.

Timothy and Erastus are described as two of his helpers who served him.

These personal assistants had important pastoral and practical responsibilities.

Paul gathered such associates as he travelled, and used their gifts to enrich the church in other places.

These colleagues acted with a measure of independence, standing in for Paul in some contexts, so that, ‘for all his heroic stature in Acts, Paul does not stand alone’.

But when Paul choses people to stand in for him, he always choses people who have the same heart as him and the same passion for Jesus and the gospel.

They are never teaching anything different from what Paul taught, they are not using the time Paul has allowed them to minister to seek their own agenda.

They are always on the same page, submitting to Paul’s leadership, understanding, there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Our text countiunes…

23 About that time…—when Paul was already making plans for the next stage of his missionary work—there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way.

This phrase “the Way” speaks to the fact that true Christianity itself was the cause of this large disturbance.

Though it also hones in on the fact that Paul as the one who was chiefly responsible for bringing this new teaching to Asia and was clearly the target of their anger.

The Way re-emerges here as a term used to describe the distinctive beliefs and practices of Christians Its appearance twice in this context suggests that Christians in Ephesus were being clearly identified as ‘constituting a socially cohesive movement, a movement arising out of and grounded in their shared faith in Jesus’.

We as Christian right now are called to be part of a movement, in fact leading a movement in this culture; leading them to the culture of Christ.

When we are answering the call to serve Christ we will also have to deal with opposition.

Paul’s main opponent is now introduced as a silversmith named Demetrius.

24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen.