Disrupt the Darkness

LOOK! Up in the sky! It’s a bird… it’s a plane… No… IT’S SUPERMAN!

Do we have any Superman fans in the house? I mean who doesn’t like the man of steel, the guy who is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap the tallest building in single bound? This guy stood for truth, justice, and the American way! Or… at least that is what the TV show opener used to say.

Superman was always known for doing good… but imagine what might happen if he did something… bad! In Superman Three (With Christopher Reeve as the actor) Superman gets a bit grumpy and while flying around the world… he does a few things that catch the attention of the world.

One of those things he does… is take the lean out of the leaning tower of Pisa. He makes it stand tall. And while this might seem like no big deal… it was a big deal to open particular guy - the street vendor who was selling souvenirs. When he saw what happened, he began to break his small replicas of the tower… that were leaning.

Then, when superman makes it right at the end of the movie… the guys is upset again! Why? Because his new inventory featured a non-leaning tower of Pisa… but Superman just made it lean again! This merchant was having a rough go at it!

People can get a bit grumpy when you start messing with their livelihood. Take for instance a guy by the name of Demetrius. When learn about this guy in Acts 19. Demetrius is a silversmith and his work is quite unique.

This merchant is located in Ephesus, the region where Paul and others have been doing a work for the Lord. Remember God was moving powerfully through Paul and the name of Jesus was becoming known by many.

Demetrius was in a trade that was greatly impacted by the work that Paul was doing.

This silversmith was known for making shrines of the goddess Artemis. Ephesus is where the temple for this goddess was found.

As the name of Jesus became known… business began to dwindle. The silversmith found himself with plenty of inventory with no customers to sell to. And this made him upset.

Now mind you… his disgust had little to do with the worship of Artemis… his anger was fueled by his greed. His trade took a hit as the gospel message was spreading. He was selling shrines of a false goddess that no one believed in anymore.

Acts 19:25-27 gives us details regarding his actions.

Acts 19:25–27 NIV

He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

Here’s the truth of the matter… this merchant… dealing in things of darkness… was upset at the impact that the light of Christ was having upon his trade. His greed had come up against the gospel.

Now… as a person reads this story, it might come off a bit on the negative side. But let’s stop and consider what was happening here. God was moving so powerfully that it was disrupting businesses dealing in darkness.

Let’s consider what that might look like today.

Imagine for a moment… if the porn industry began to lose money because people were no longer interested in that immorality. Imagine if the magazines came off the shelves, the movies came off the air, and the images came off the web. How incredible would it be to see this multi-billion dollar industry come tumbling down because people were coming to know Jesus?

Imagine for a moment… if the music artists that talk about sex, drugs, violence, etc in their songs suddenly found themselves without an audience to perform to? They book a tour and open to an empty house… Incredible? Too far fetched to ever be true?

Imagine for a moment… if it didn’t matter how much funding Planned Parenthood received… because no one was walking through their doors anymore. Imagine if life was valued at conception and abortion clinics had to close… not because of new laws… but because of a supernatural move of God throughout the land.

Imagine for a moment… if drugs and other life-controlling substances were suddenly no longer sought after. Imagine if the dealers had no one to sell to. Imagine if things like overdoses or drunk driving just didn’t happen anymore. Imagine if the liquor stores had to close because the only “spirit” people allowed within their body was the Holy Spirit!

Too far fetched? Too much fantasy? Too fictional like to the man of steel taking the lean out of the Leaning Tower of Pisa?

Listen church, we know that Superman is a fictional character found in comic books and on movie screens. But GOD is a very real God who can be known through His Word and relationship and found in the hearts of those who believe.

Ephesians 3:20 describes God as One who is able...

Ephesians 3:20 NIV

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

The passage in Acts 19 shows us how God is able to disrupt the darkness so much that the merchants will begin to cry out!

Now… I do not want to see people struggle… but if their trade is in sin… they are selling the wrong stuff. Yes… the presentation of the gospel will have an impact on such industries and yes… it is a cause for celebration today.

God, May Your Light Disrupt the Darkness

This is our prayer tonight. This is our focus this evening. This is the direction God led me to go. And we are going to start in an area you might not expect.

So far… we have been talking about the confrontation of the gospel with the greed of merchants who deal in the things not of God. But I believe God is wanting to confront some things in this room tonight.

Before we can ask God to disrupt the darkness out there… we need to look inward and make sure we are not harboring any darkness within our own hearts.

Going back to Acts, I find something to be extraordinary regarding Paul’s response. A riot breaks loose. These merchants begin to shout and cause major issues. People join them even though verse 32 says it was confusing and most of the people in the assembly had no idea why they were there.

Now… common sense would tell Paul to steer clear of this situation. They were blaming him for what took place and for their loss of profit but verse 30 tells us Paul wanted to go and appear before the crowd.

Paul remained pure. Paul’s heart was harboring no darkness whatsoever. He desired to enter the scene even though his disciples would not let him go. He was not angry, he was not resentful, he simply wanted to be the light to a darkened community.

We know Paul’s story… God had previously disrupted the darkness in his heart through an encounter with Christ. Paul was passionately on the path to put a stop to the growth and development of the church… until God lovingly changed his passion and direction.

Before God moved through Paul to disrupt the darkness in Ephesus… God moved IN Paul to disrupt the darkness in his heart.

God desires to use each of us in incredible ways… in ways that go FAR beyond anything we can imagine. But before that can happen, all must be given over to the Lord.

I want us to see something… greed, defined, is intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food. In Acts 19, the financial greed of the merchant came into direct confrontation with the gospel.

This evening… I want us to ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and to look for and expose any “greed” that might be causing us to hold on to things, ideas, behaviors, practices, attitudes that are contrary to the move of God.

I pray our hearts will say to the Lord, “God, I want… I desire what you want and desire.” And if we find areas that need to be disrupted in our hearts… I pray we will allow the Holy Spirit to disrupt and remove those things.

Secondly, I want us to pray for God to move so powerfully that we would begin to see a natural disruption of darkness take place because of God’s supernatural move in the hearts of people.

Think of it this way… we need to pray against the industries that would lure people with sin. However, imagine if God had the hearts of those the industries were trying to lure in? If there is no customer base… there is no industry.

I desire for God to disrupt the darkness so radically that the merchants of sin begin to cry out… that those whose trade is immorality have no one to sell to. I pray that the hearts of the people would be transformed so that they would no longer crave or desire such things.

Can God do this? Absolutely He can! And the key to such a move is God moving through those who will be moved by Him.

The riot in Ephesus was a result of the revival taking place in the hearts of the people. The riot was the response of those who did not like the disruption of the darkness. Their voices were loud, but they could not compete with what God was doing in the region.

I want us to pray for God to disrupt the darkness through revival. I pray the effects of a move of God would be felt everywhere… and for those who would reject His move… I pray that somehow God would get a hold of their hearts.

Lighthouse Lanes - a bowling alley in Springfield, MO is a great example of how God can radically disrupt darkness with His light.

The owner gave his heart to Jesus at a church service and experienced a powerful move of God. That same night, he went to his bowling alley, ripped out the bar and began to remodel the business.

he played nothing but Christian music, no drinking was allowed, and he radically changed the atmosphere of the building.

His business prospered as he now operated under the anointing instead of selfish desire.

The question is NOT is God can move… the question is if we desire to see God move and if we are willing to allow God to move in us and through us.

That is our prayer points.

Point One: God, move IN us. Disrupt any darkness that might be in our hearts - selfish greed that would lure us away from Your plan.

Point Two: God, move THROUGH us. Fill us with your Spirit that we might be agents of your light. Disrupt the darkness in our community through our witness and stance for Your love and truth.