Reacting to the Gospel - Acts 19:8-40

“Reacting to the Gospel”

Acts 19:8-40

©Copyright 2003 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche, October 26, 2003

I have discovered that you can never really be sure how people are going to react in a given situation. When someone gets bad news you never know whether they will cry, curse, faint, yell, become violent, or withdraw. I never know how a couple is going to react at a wedding. Sometimes the most nervous bride or groom at a rehearsal is the most composed during the ceremony. At other times the most composed person is the one who will start sobbing from joy (I hope).

In much the same way, you never know how someone is going to respond when you share the gospel with them. Some people will be polite but uninterested; some will be hostile; some will attack you personally; and some will listen. Some of those who listen will believe. In Acts 19 we read about Paul’s ministry in Ephesus. As we study the passage we will see a number of different responses to the proclamation of the gospel.

Paul spent over two years in Ephesus. For a missionary and itinerant preacher like Paul, that was a long time. Paul may have remained as long as he did because Ephesus presented a special challenge to Paul. Because Ephesus was a popular port city it was also a very rich city. Archaeologists estimate that in Paul’s day the city may have housed up to 250,000 people.

The greatest tourist attraction in Ephesus was the temple of Artemis (also known as the temple of Diana.) The temple constructed to Artemis was four times the size of the Athens Parthenon and was considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Artemis symbolized sexual fertility. The idol was actually a fairly grotesque muti-breasted female image.

PREACHING THE WORD

Paul ministered in this very secular and largely pagan city. Our text tells us,

8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them [the synagogue members] became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

Negative Results For three months Paul argued his case in the synagogue. He pointed to Jesus as the long awaited Messiah. He tried to show the Jews and god-fearers in the synagogue that Jesus was actually God become man. Since the discussion went on for three months I assume Paul was fairly successful. I suspect some of the synagogue members heard and believed.

It was this fact that upset some of the others. They saw Paul’s effectiveness and they were concerned that they would lose all their members. As a way of trying to silence Paul, they slandered the Christians and tried to assault their character. Paul and the other new believers left the synagogue. There comes a point when it is better to leave than to continue to stir up controversy.

Positive Results Paul was not discouraged. He made arrangement to have daily discussions in the hall of Tyrannus. Most likely this was a lecture hall for a teacher by the name of, oddly enough, Tyrannus. This name Tyrannus comes for the word tyrant. Several commentators wondered whether this name was given to Tyrannus by his parents or by his students!

Some Biblical manuscripts add a note that Paul taught from the hours of 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The teachers would teach in the cool of the day, early in the morning and in the evening hours. It was tradition in Ephesus for work to stop from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Some sources say there were actually more people awake in Ephesus at 1:00 a.m. than at 1:00 in the afternoon! Paul most likely was allowed to use the hall during this time of rest in the middle of the day.

Notice two things. Paul was fervent in his witness. Most likely Paul worked at tent-making during working hours and spent his free time in the hall teaching. Paul did this EVERY day. He was so committed to reaching the people with the gospel that he was eager to meet them whenever he could get them together. Paul taught five hours a day, six days a week (allowing that he may not have taught on the Sabbath). Over a year that would be over 1500 hours of teaching!! That would be more teaching than the average seminarian would receive in three years of seminary!

Second, notice that Paul was creative. When the door closed at the synagogue he looked for another meeting place. If he couldn’t teach in the cool of the day, he would teach in the heat. Paul didn’t give up just because he faced obstacles. As a result, all the Jews and Greeks in the entire province heard the gospel.

I am convicted by Paul’s example. I think I give up too easily. I wouldn’t be surprised if you do also. We met an obstacle and we figure God has closed a door and we “did our best”. When Paul saw a closed door, he knocked on other doors and looked for open windows!

The Baptist Student Ministry that Rick is involved in is a case in point. These students start the year by drawing the gospel message in chalk on the sidewalks. They offer a worship service on campus on Thursday nights. They have hosted dorm Bible Studies. At Halloween they pass out bags of candy with a couple of gospel tracts in them. They offer free Bibles and resources to anyone who requests them. They put up banners and invite all their friends to join them. As a result, this ministry has over 100 college students join them for their Thursday evening worship time. They go on mission trips, canoe trips and work hard to integrate the gospel into everything they do. Don’t you wonder what we could do in our area if we had a similar kind of devotion?

DEMONSTRATING THE WORD

Paul’s preaching was accompanied by various signs that demonstrated the power of the Word of God.

11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

Good Experiences God did amazing miracles that confirmed the authenticity of Paul’s message. We are told that people even took the sweat rags that Paul used while working and brought them to the sick, they were healed, and evil spirits left them.

Luke says these were extraordinary miracles. These miracles were unique. There is no reason to expect that these kinds of miracles were to be commonplace. There is nothing here that indicates that these miracles were the focus of Paul’s ministry. His focus was on teaching the truth. We don’t know how often these miracles took place, Paul was not engaged in a healing ministry, his was a teaching ministry.

13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. 17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.

Bad Experiences It seems to be a truth of nature: whenever something good happens, someone is going to try to copy it. If there is a good television idea, the next season there will be three similar shows on the air. If there is a good snack food that someone develops, there will be variations by other companies in a heartbeat. If a certain kind of book becomes popular, the market will soon be flooded with books on that topic.

The people of Ephesus were involved with the occult. They were used to playing in the realm of the supernatural. The seven sons of a Jewish priest saw what was happening through the Apostle Paul and they wanted a piece of the action. They boldly commanded a demon in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches. The response they received was more than they bargained for! The evil spirit overpowered the seven sons and they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

I think there are a couple of principles we can draw from these accounts of the demonstration of God’s power. First, as Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians,

our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

As the sons of Sceva learned, we are not playing games. There are very real spiritual powers that are at work in the world. We desperately need God’s wisdom, protection and strength to stand in the battle. If we take our enemy lightly we will be defeated soundly.

Second, we need to remember that miracles (by definition) are the exception rather than the rule. Does God still heal and do great things? Absolutely! What we need to remember is we have no right to “expect” a miracle. God is not in the business of removing every obstacle or annoyance from our lives. He is in the business of teaching us to live by faith in all circumstances. Sometimes miracles come our way, much of the time they do not. To think that we can produce miracles by saying some magic words or learning some key formula is to be just as foolish as the sons of Sceva.

RESPONSES TO THE WORD

The message of the gospel was getting through. Paul’s faithfulness was bearing fruit.

18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. 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.

Changed Lives The evidence that these people truly believed is found in the way they responded. They repented of their sinful lives. They turned away from their past and got rid of anything that might lead them astray again. The people who had become deeply entrenched in the occult brought all their books on magic and the occult and burned them publicly. This was no small issue. The value of all these things being burned was 50,000 drachmas. A drachma was the equivalent of a days wage. The value of that which was burned was the equivalent of a years salary for 150 men!!!

There are many people who make professions of faith. The person who truly believes is willing to repent and turn from their old way of life. It is not enough to say, “I want to go to Heaven”, we must want and be willing to follow Jesus. In order to do that, we must turn away from the direction and practices of the past.

We need to ask hard questions. Are we trying to follow Christ even as we continue to serve the Devil? Are we claiming to follow Christ even as we continue to engage in a non-Christian lifestyle? If so, we need to question the validity of our profession. The person who trusts and follows Christ is a person who turns away from the Devil.

A Dangerous Riot The last response we see was a near riot in the city. The Christian revival was having a powerful effect on the city. It was so dramatic that it was effecting the economy of Ephesus. The people who peddled Artemis memorablia were experiencing a drastic drop off in revenue.

Demetrius gathered the members of his guild. He played to their fears. He reminded them that they made a good living from Artemis memorabilia. He reported that business was down and layoffs might be coming. He pointed at Paul as the one causing all their trouble. He said Paul was threatening the entire Artemis tourist industry. If the tourist industry went under then of course all the Ephesian hotels, restaurants and entertainment spots were going to go under as well. Paul had to be stopped.

Demetrius used a tactic still very popular today. He appealed to emotions with threats and scare tactics. We see this all the time in our culture. Let me give you some examples.

· Every night on the news we are told about some poll that tells us how people feel about behaviors God condemns. Obviously, a poll says nothing about what is true, only about what people prefer. The hidden message is: if you follow the Christian way you will be an outcast in society.

· Young people are told “everyone has sex before they are married”; “there is nothing wrong with getting drunk” or “no one believes in the Bible anymore”. Or “everyone believes in evolution”. These are vague generalities designed to get you to think you are a freak if you hold to Biblical values.

· Evangelical Christians are called “fundamentalists” and “ultra conservatives” and those of the “far right”. (We would be wise to ask “far right of what?” These people are using themselves as the measure of what is the balanced view.)

· Commercials appeal to our emotions by implying that we will be sexier, more successful or more popular by using a particular product. No evidence is given, just an appeal to the emotions.

Christians must be alert to this tendency to appeal to our emotions rather than our minds. The mob action in Ephesus eventually died down when someone reasonably spoke to the crowd. This person pointed out the fact that the Christians had done nothing wrong and this mob action might very well bring down the wrath of Rome.

CONCLUSIONS

I hope you have seen several things this morning. First, God will most greatly use those who are willing to devote themselves fully to His purposes. If we, as a church, want to be greatly used of God we will have to roll up our sleeves and give ourselves to the message of the gospel. God will not work if we insist on sitting on the sidelines. No one will hear the gospel if we keep waiting to be asked.

Second, please remember that if we are going to make a difference in our society it is going to come not from our nifty programs, but from an honest, careful, and consistent proclamation of the truth. The people of Ephesus were changed because Paul opened the Word of God to them day after day. It is still the Word of God that changes lives. That is where our focus needs to be, not on gimmicks and gadgets.

Finally, when you share the message of salvation with other people, you should expect that some people are going to react negatively. People don’t want to confront their own sinfulness. They like the idea that they are in control of their lives. The feel they are doing OK. When we tell the gospel truth, some will be offended and angered.

At the risk of offending you, are you hoping to get to Heaven by your own goodness, personality, charm and service? If so, the Bible you do not understand the truth. You are headed for eternal judgment, not eternal life.

The Bible tells us that we have all sinned and fallen way short of the life God requires. In our hearts we are rebels. We profess to love God but we show by our thoughts and lives that we hate Him. There is only one way to be made right with God and that is through the forgiveness that comes through Jesus Christ.

Jesus died as a payment for our wrong-doing. He took our place. He satisfied the demands of justice. He paid our debt. God now offers you and I the chance to be made new. We must turn from our past and come to Him. We must trust Him and we must follow Him. If we will do that we will live beyond the grave.

If you have not begun your relationship with Christ, I encourage you to do so right now. Stop playing games with your faith. It’s time to face the truth. It’s time to take action.

Our society desperately needs people who will stand firmly and passionately for the truth of the gospel. We could be those people.

©Copyright 2003 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche, October 26, 2003