Disrupting The Status quo

Introduction

Video: The Power of the Gospel

“The Gospel Has the Power To Change The World”. We know this, but do we really know it? Certainly we can grow in our understanding of it, even seeing the many different ways in which it reaches into our lives and brings out these kinds of wonderful things. That the gift of Jesus Christ brings us

Forgiveness, Freedom, the Way to be right with God again through Jesus because He has defeated Sin and Satan. It is powerful stuff and the more we grow in our relationship with God the more we can see of this. How powerful it is to be forgiven and set free, not to go back to be a slave again to sin but to live a life that honors our creator God in sweet communion with all He has made His World to be. Powerful stuff and it can, does and will change you…if you truly trust in it.

If you have been “born again” as Jesus told Nicodemus, or the more theological term is “regenerated” but the idea is the same. It is to begin in a whole new way of living. It is to become something new and it by it’s very nature…will…change…us. It has to. No person can truly be born again and it not change them.

The Gospel message does not just tweak us so we become a little better version of what we were before. He calls us to put to death our old self and our completely new life in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Tension

When people are born again, regenerated by the truths of the Gospel their life radically changes. Their values change. Their interests change. The way they talk changes. The way they do community changes. The way they do business changes. Everything changes. And when many people experience this for the first time in a community or people group some sort it brings big changes…changes that everyone in that community have to deal with. For some these changes are welcomed and celebrated because they are experiencing grace, mercy, forgiveness, freedom and a new life…but for those who are not experiencing these things all they see are changes that threaten all the things that they still are. Because they are not new, so they don’t think that the new news is good news. All they see is unwelcomed changes.

Because when we operate just in a human state, just in the flesh, then we are naturally wired to protect the status quo. If it ain’t broke - don’t fix it…and if someone else says it’s broke - ignore them…for as long as you can.

As we continue in our series called “Ekklessia: The Unstoppable Movement of God” we will see how this is exactly what has happened. The Gospel, the Good News of Jesus did as it must change the lives of many people. Not all the people, but enough people that it was changing things in many of the cities that the Apostle Paul traveled to.

His MO looked like this:

Travel to a new city

Preach Jesus as the long awaited Messiah in the synagogue - See some believe and some reject

Those who believed had their lives powerfully changed- so they were kicked out of the synagogue

Preach Jesus as the Savior of the World in the marketplace - see some believe and some reject

Those who believed had their lives powerfully changed - so they were punished and kicked out of the city

Travel to a new city…and it would start again but what had begun in the previous city did not die out. Quite the opposite. That is the nature of the unstoppable movement of God, it just kept spreading and spreading because it is a movement from God not the message of mere men and it was dangerous to confuse the two.

We have to look at the beginning of Acts chapter 19 - The Holy Spirit’s powerful display through Paul to see how this went down.

Acts 19:10 ESV

10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Acts 19:11–12 ESV

11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

Sons of Sceva tried to use the “magic words” but they didn’t have the Holy Spirit so it didn’t work!

Acts 19:15 ESV

15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?”

Truth

Things were going very well in Ephesus, as many people where turning from their false gods and worshipping the one true God. Paul and the Christians were “victims of their own success”. Too often we think that we are successful when we have no quarrels or issues with anyone - that is not always the case. It depends on what they are desiring and how it lines up with what God says.

1. When we take the Word of God into the marketplace, some people will falsely accuse us of wrongdoing (Acts 19:21–27).

Acts 19:21–27 (ESV)

21 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.” 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

23 About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth.

26 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. 27 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.”

• Because The Bible is God’s Word, its’ message spread rapidly and upset those who profited from the worship of the god Artemis (vv. 21–23).

• Demetrius, one of the silversmiths, called the other tradesmen together to try to protect the worship of the goddess as well as their profits (vv. 24–27).

Illustration: “Marketplace Evangelism” has become the key phrase for taking God’s Word into the places we work, shop, and visit daily. Paul practiced this concept, using every opportunity for sharing the news of Jesus with those he came into contact with—even to the point of making others angry.

Luke 14:26 (ESV)

26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

In comparison to how much your love Jesus and follow Him you will been seen as hating others. “You hate gays.” “You hate women”. “You hate those who don’t agree with you...” The Disciples did not hate the Ephesians, they loved them enough to tell them the truth.

2. When we speak the truth of the Bible, we may face persecution (Acts 19:28–34).

• Demetrius’ accusations incited a riot, and the mob seized Paul’s associates Aristarchus and Gaius and dragged them into the theater (vv. 28–29).

• Paul wanted to enter the theater and address the mob, but the Ephesian converts as well as some of the officials warned Paul not to (vv. 30–31).

• When some of the crowd pushed Alexander, a Jew, to the front to make a defense of the men, the mob broke into chants about the power of Artemis that lasted for two hours (vv. 32–34).

Illustration: On page 236 of the Ekklesia journal, Gene Wilkes points out the irony of Demetrius’ accusations: “He . . . played to their loyalty and worship of the false goddess by implying that if Paul was allowed to continue to preach this message, then the temple of Artemis would be ‘discredited’ and the goddess herself would be ‘robbed of her divine majesty.’” As Paul had told his listeners in Athens, God does not live in a temple built by man or need to be served “by human hands” (Acts 17:24–25).

3. When we teach God’s Word and honor the laws of our communities, we receive protection from God and others (Acts 19:35–41).

• The city clerk hushed the crowd and reminded them that since they were known throughout the world as guardians of Artemis’ temple, they should be reasonable against these men who were innocent of criminal charges (vv. 35–37).

• The city clerk challenged Demetrius to bring any legal charges before the court (vv. 38–39).

• Even though the clerk was ultimately concerned about the dangers from Rome for an unlawful gathering, his words calmed the crowd and protected the men (vv. 40–41)

Interactive Question: The city clerk was able to quiet the angry crowd and challenged them with the validity and possible consequences of the gathering. Have you experienced God providing protection in the form of an unlikely person? Conclusion: The Word of God had such a big impact in Ephesus that it impacted the economy. God’s Word is powerful and can shake the foundations of a city when it is faithfully proclaimed.

Gospel Landing

Matthew 16:24–25 ESV

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

This is the essence of following Jesus and the mark of someone who has truly been “born again”. There is a popular message out there that says that you can “follow Jesus” without it changing our lifestyle but that is just not true. Jesus calls us to lay our lives down and pursue Him rather than our own agenda. That is such a radically different approach to what we know to be the dominant world view of today.

My Happiness is the Ultimate Goal

My Feelings are the Ultimate Guide

Judgement is the ultimate Sin

God is the ultimate Guess

Understand that when we stand up for Jesus we are saying that threatening the way that most people live their lives!