From
Acts to Revelation
Part
54 – Riot in Ephesus
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House
of Faith Church | www.PS127.org
| www.TruthDigest.org
INTRODUCTION
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Acts
19:23-41
23 About that time there arose a great disturbance
about the Way. 24 A silversmith named
Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for
the craftsmen there. 25 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. 26 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. 27 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.”
28 When they heard this, they were furious and
began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”29 Soon the whole city was in an
uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling
companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater
together. 30 Paul
wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let
him. 31 Even
some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message
begging him not to venture into the theater.
32 The assembly was in confusion: Some were
shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why
they were there. 33 The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and
they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make
a defense before the people. 34 But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in
unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 The city clerk quieted the crowd and said:
“Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is
the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell
from heaven? 36 Therefore,
since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything
rash. 37 You
have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor
blasphemed our goddess. 38 If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a
grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are
proconsuls. They can press charges. 39 If there is anything further
you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. 40 As it
is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened
today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since
there is no reason for it.” 41 After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
a.
It does
not take much for wickedness to hate a believer.
i.
Demetrius made statues of the goddess
Artemis (Diana)
ii.
It didn't take much for him to hate Paul's
teaching.
iii. His
main concern was not the religion of Diana...rather, his pocket.
b.
Notice
how the first concern with the evil men who turn Ephesus upside down, is not
the faith of their land, rather, their money.
c.
Their
money was based on a lie, the false goddess Diana.
i.
We may see people get angry when you preach
the truth, because their lives may be based on lies, that the Truth of
scripture destroy.
d.
Truth,
when preached, will destroy lies.
i.
Not just lies, but paradigms and beliefs,
which are rooted in ignorance and misguided.
II.
THE PLANS OF MICE AND MEN
a.
Their
anger and position was not to make things “right”, rather, make things
“profitable” again.
i.
Evil men are always revealed in the things
they say and do.
a.
"From
the overflow of the heart, the mouth will speak."
ii.
Selfishness, self-centered and for
selfish-gain, they reveal their hearts.
iii. Concerned
only with themselves, and what directly effects them, and their way of life.
Usually with no regard or concern for others, unless of course, it directly effects
them.
b.
So Demetrius
begins a disturbance with fellow idol makers, fueled by anger.
c.
People
seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia
d.
Paul
himself wanted to appear before the crowds and address them
i.
The disciples stopped him
ii.
Even friends of Paul's who were officials
in the province begged him not to go before the crowds.
iii. Paul
shows wisdom here, and is careful not to tempt God.
a.
Sometimes believer's act as if they can do
whatever they want, and God will protect them and keep them from harm.
b.
This is not true. We must live by certain
rules that have been placed on us, and in this world.
1. Do not
tempt gravity, it will hurt.
2. Do not
go without eating or drinking water, you will die.
3. Do not
stand in front of a train, you cannot stop it.
c.
What is the exception to this rule of
thumb, "do not tempt the Lord your God?"
1. If the
Lord "tells you" to walk on water, you can.
2. If God
"tells you" to part the sea, you can.
3. If the
Lord "tells you" to cast your net in, and pull out so many fish the
net begins to break, it will.
4. If the
Lord "tells you" to take your boat across the sea, and a storm comes,
you will not have to worry about getting to the other side, because the Lord
already told you that is where you are going.
d.
We must be careful not to do what
"we" want, then expect God to protect you and bless your move.
1. There
is blessings and protection within God's Will.
III. RIOTS –
MUCH ADIEU ABOUT NOTHING
a.
It does
not take much to cause a riot when things are bad.
i.
Riots in our modern history took place over
human rights and abuses.
ii.
Now we see them take place because
someone's team won a game.
iii.
We used to fear rioting when the
constitution was being ignored by government, and our God-Given rights were
being taken away.
iv.
Now people threaten rioting if they don't
receive hand-outs.
b.
The
scripture says, “The assembly was in confusion. Some shouting one thing, some
another.”
c.
“Most
of them didn't even know why they were there.”
i.
"God
is not the author of confusion, but of peace..." ~ I
Corinthians 14:33
IV. CITY
CLERK TO THE RESCUE
a.
The
Ephesus City Clerk quieted the crowd.
b.
Saying,
“Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t
all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of
the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?”
c.
“ 36 Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you
ought to calm down and not do anything rash. 37 You
have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor
blasphemed our goddess.”
d.
“ 38 If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have
a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are
proconsuls. They can press charges. 39 If
there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal
assembly.”
e.
“ 40 As it is, we are in danger of being charged with
rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to
account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.”
CONCLUSION
Evil is always looking for
“reason” to hate you because of what you represent.
The Ephesians attacked Paul and
his teachings because their money was being effected. The wizard Simon wanted
to buy the powers of the Holy Spirit from the Apostles so he could make money.
The Sadducee and Pharisees hated the
Gospel because the Temple was no longer needed, and they would no longer gather
money and gold from people needing to pay for sacrificial animals, or pay the
priests for performing the rituals needed to have ones sins covered.
Judas sold Jesus for 30 pieces
of silver.
Truth will always destroy a
lie, even when the lie is only known by a few. Those who live by that lie must
either accept the truth, or they will hate you. Those that tell the lie, will
hate you for being exposed. And the confusion that comes from lies is authored
by Satan himself, who is the author of confusion, and the father of lies.
Do not be manipulated as so
many in this country are, by thinking money is the answer to anything.
Our money comes with a warning
right on it...Take heed to it, so that you do not fall under it's spell.
Each bill says, “In God we
trust.”
Do not allow the dollar to
become your God as so many in the United States have. Otherwise, you too will
be manipulated, and beguiled by those in power who will use it to control you,
and achieve as the Ephesians attempted, to continue living the lie.
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