Acts 19:21-40 Making Room for Spiritual Growth

Intro: Massive Backyard Oak Tree

If you’ve been in our backyard you immediately notice the massive oak tree that provides a canopy over my backyard.

Oak trees don’t lose their leaves in the fall, they lose them all year round

They will Mast, which means they drop thousands of acorns

Old leaves fall when new growth happens

The new leaves push the old ones off of the branch to make room for more growth

When a Christian starts to grow in their faith a similar thing happens

It starts to push the old, dead stuff out of life so that room can be made for new growth

We see that in today’s passage

The Holy Spirit is moving, the Gospel is being preached and in response people are being convicted

They are getting rid of the things that don’t glorify God

In Ephesus that meant people were burning magic books and not buying idols

This begins to have an impact on those who made a living off of those idols

There

Proposition: I want to show you three results of spiritual growth

Read Acts 19:21-25

Interesting Facts

One lesson that history teaches is the paradoxical truth that the church thrives under persecution.

Effectiveness and persecution usually go hand in hand, since an effective church is a bold church, and a bold church is often a church made strong through suffering.

The Lord Jesus Christ called His church to be salt and light in the world (Matt. 5:13–14); salt stings when rubbed in wounds, and light reveals the evil deeds done in darkness.

Both can provoke a hostile reaction.

The early church faced persecution from its inception.

In Antioch, it stemmed from prejudice and envy

In Philippi, it was the reaction to Paul casting out a demon of a little girl

In Ephesus came from idols makers losing business

Satan incited the guild of silversmiths to stage a public protest against Paul and the Gospel.

As you grow and God uses the church you have to expect disruptions but you can also expect God to give you peace and provide a way

I. Expect Disruptions vs. 21-28

Explanation

Prior to the fresh growth of the church, the local artisans had a good thing going—big business

The economy of Ephesus was dependent upon the industry of idolatry.

Artemis, or Diana, was the Greek God of Ephesus

They had erected a huge temple to her which brought thousands of pilgrims each year

The had a great festival each year where many of the local tradesmen made most of their money

The church’s explosive growth was putting a damper on this

Enter Demetrius, local Silversmith and, thanks to him, persecution!

Demetrius was a clever antagonist.

He gathers the workmen from several trades

In his speech he mentioned the economic implications, but he was careful to couch his attack in pious terms about how poor Artemis would be defamed

He quotes Paul who had said that gods made with hands are not gods

On top of that Artemis may be counted as nothing

Demetrius’ friends began a ritual chant, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” and soon multitudes poured into the Arcadian Way, the magnificent boulevard that ran straight through the city, connecting the harbor with the great 24,000-seat amphitheater

Illustration

Disruptions happen in all sorts of ways

Someone gets serious about their faith and starts to attend church more regularly

This disrupts the normal flow of what the family did on the weekends and can cause animosity between the spouses and with the children

The Spirit starts to make changes in a persons heart and they don’t act like they use too. This makes their friends uncomfortable

Application

Paul and the Ephesian church were assaulted because dead leaves were giving way to new life and repentance, and consequently people’s approach to life changed, even the way they spent their money

If the professing Christian church today were to undergo the repentance and new life experienced by the Ephesian church and faithfully live out the implications of such faith, the wrath of this world would soon fall upon it.

Why? True Christianity calls for a spirit of sacrifice, even financially, but our pleasure-seeking, hedonistic economy rests on a hoped-for profit margin, even if it is only a single percentage point.

Monetary gain is seen as the highest good, and when that is threatened by commitment to Christ

Today the Christian church is clothed with dead leaves of materialism and sensuality

it is impossible to be filled with the Spirit and set our minds on things below. It is impossible to be filled with the Spirit and live for the dollar. It is impossible to be filled with the Spirit and watch a drama that feeds the base appetites of the flesh.

These men and women were so full of love for Christ that they repented and thus brought on themselves persecution.

Rev 9:20 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,

II. Expect Peace & Care vs. 29-34

Explanation

The city is filled with confusion

Some scholars believe the festival to Artemis was going on so its streets were swelled and people were already amped

There was a main street in the city called the Acadian way

It stretched from the ports to a 24,000 seat amphitheater

I’ve stood in that amphitheater and seen where they used to hold the lions that they would release on the Christians

It was packed with people yelling “Great is Artemis!” for two hours

Two of Paul’s followers Gaius and Aristarchus were drug before the mob

Paul wanted to go in but the disciples wouldn’t let him, among them were Asiarchs, who were government officials

The funny thing is that most of the crowd had no idea why they came

Remind you of anything today

There are a few stirring up a mob and the mob just wants to be violent

It wasn’t till they realized that Paul was a jew where they got united

Through the midst of it Paul had incredible peace

Illustration

You can have peace in the midst of chaos

When every one else is confused or angry you can have an inner calm

My wife and have watched the events of 2020 unfurl with a certain amount of peace

It was almost this detachment from reality

Application

Why don’t people have peace?

The gospel makes people angry because it confronts them with their false religion and their sin and forces them to recognize the inadequacy of their world view, exposing the emptiness of their lifestyle

That stands in contrast to the peace that God gives us

In Lystra after Paul was revived following his stoning, he got up and started walking right back into the city.

In Philippi he was so miserable after his beating that he began to sing!

Now here in Ephesus he was like an immovable rock in a stormy sea—peace in the midst of hateful turmoil

How did Paul and his friends display such amazing peace?

Their hearts were pure and their consciences clean.

Inward purity is the key to power and peace amidst spiritual conflict. When there are no walls between you and God, you can rest assured that God is standing with you. They also had peace because they trusted in God.

Some of God’s people, though they hear much great preaching and read the Scriptures often, are worriers.

But anxiety makes for poor company. They need to reclaim their God-given peace and just trust in him.

III. Expect God to Provide a Way vs. 35-41

Explanation

While all the shouting was going on, God was moving the local officials like checkers.

At the perfect psychological moment, when the crowd had shouted itself out, a pagan city official, a stickler for law and order, brought the mob to its senses.

A simple accomplishment if you are God!

Illustration

Application

Our amazing God was in control all the time! He would have been in control even if Paul and his friends had perished.