No small diturbance

Good morning. We're going to be stepping our way through this very pivotal passage here that Jim just read for us, Acts 19, 21 through 27. And as we have titled here, Coming Riot Up is the riot in Ephesus, and it's going to be substantial, and it's also going to be really pivotal.

Have you ever had one of those times in life, and maybe you'll say yes, maybe you'll say no, when everything goes smoothly, Have you ever had one of those? Or at least the ripples are pretty small. I can handle that. Have you ever had those? Or have you ever had those times in life where it seems like what's going on is way over the top? As a matter of fact, what's going on right next to it and right at the same time is way over the top, way, way, way, way over the top. Have you ever had those? Well, if you've had those kinds of times, then you have some idea what the Apostle Paul was going through here.

His time in Ephesus up to this point had been fairly tranquil since the time when he had presented the gospel to the Jews in the synagogue. And it came to a point where the Jews are becoming very resistive. And he came to a point, he says, that's it. I'm out of here. I'm going to the Gentiles and I'm not spending more time with you. At that point, he went to the lecture hall of Tyrannus and spent a couple of years there.

And that was one of those times at the lecture hall when things, relatively speaking, were fairly calm. right now here in this passage we're going to see things working up to a time when they're nowhere near as calm as a matter of fact anything but calm he's getting ready here for this riot may not even know that that's what's coming up exactly but it's going to be a riotous and rough time So anyway, we'll be kind of looking at that and just looking right behind us here in the passage, in passages before, and then into this passage where he's working up to a riot, as we say, coming riot up, right? And that'll be next week's passage here. We have this is the larger map that we've been using. It's not on your handout as such this week, but it's the larger map we've been using, laying out the path for Paul on his third missionary journey.

This is where he begins in Antioch and will end up in Jerusalem. But at this point, he's been spending some time in Ephesus, and that's by God's intent. And so Ephesus being what we would now call on the west end of Turkey, Ephesus that is in the area that was at that time called Asia. It would be the capital of that part of the Roman Empire called Asia. And it would be at that time one of the larger cities in the Roman Empire. Certainly a prominent city in that portion of the Roman Empire.

So we'll shift to this quadrant, this quarter of the map, which you do have on your handout. And it shows the path that the Apostle Paul has taken coming into Ephesus and then will follow as he makes a trip that will take him through the churches that he has established previously, Philippi and Thessalonica and Berea. on down to Athens and Corinth. It gets just rather summarized in this passage here rather than giving us a lot of detail this time around. Here's an aerial view of Ephesus.

We'll be taking a closer look at it next time as we get there because it is right in the middle of this that we see Demetrius, as Jim was reading for us, begin his pep talk, his motivational speech to get people stirred up. And we're going to see right nearby and in the middle of this oblique aerial view, the theater where there is a gathering of people. The theater has a capacity of about 25,000. It doesn't sound like there's quite that many, but still a substantial crowd and a crowd that got way out of control.

And so we'll be looking at that. One of the things to take a look at as we examine this is here is the Apostle Paul. He has, as we mentioned, been coming up to this point and things have been relatively smooth and we've seen a lot of progress in the gospel. This riot, as we're going to see, is going to be a turning point in the Apostle Paul's ministry there.

And it's also going to be a major turning point. He's been on his first and second and third missionary journeys. This is in the middle and towards the end of his third missionary journey. And it is going to be a turning point that sets him towards. And we're going to see the beginnings of it in this passage. sets him towards Jerusalem and ultimately towards Rome.

So we read in Acts 19.21, now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, after I had been there I must also see Rome. So what you see here is a couple of things. One, in his thought and intent, his plan and his purpose, he is heading towards Jerusalem and then towards Rome.

He is going in the meanwhile through Macedonia and Achaia. That'll put him through Philippi and Thessalonica and Berea and through Athens and Corinth. Those are key places that he has been before in his second missionary journey. The churches are established there.

He is going to go through them, but we just get the quick summary this time around. His focus from here forward in the book of Acts, and this goes into Acts 28 when he actually gets to Rome, his focus from here forward is going to reflect in great part that he's headed first to Jerusalem and then to Rome.

It's important we get the perspective here, because Paul purposed in the Spirit. This word purpose is used in the New Testament in interesting ways. It is purposed as something that Paul does here. It is something that Christ does in the Gospels. He purposes to do certain things. It is even a word that is used of God-purposing. And that word purposed has two significant points about it. One, it is plan. and it is intent.

So Paul to go to Jerusalem is a theme that continues through the rest of the book of Acts all the way into Acts 28 when he arrives in Rome. It is also, as we'll soon see in Paul's letter to the Romans, it is even reflected in 1 Corinthians in chapter 9. So, He's going to head to Rome.

Ultimately, he knows that he is going to do that. He is doing so with intent. And as we're going to see, this is not his willful intent, but it is, in fact, his intent to be following the lead of the Holy Spirit as he goes. He is even going to say that he is constrained by the Holy Spirit to do these things. Paul planned and intended to go to Jerusalem. That's what it means when he says he purposed in the Spirit. It meant that it wasn't his personal motivation and insistence that did this. It was instead the Holy Spirit's work in his heart and constraining and directing him to do this.

So let's take a look at, there's a few passages I'd like for us to look at. We'll be looking at more, but these are pivotal. It's also one of the reasons I'm excited for the Romans elective, because in chapter 1, verses 8 through 15 of Rome, he first talks about, I'm going to go to see you guys in Rome via Jerusalem. Here, he gives a larger context and more explanation about it. And while I've given you a lot of passage, I'm going to focus on the part that's here underlined in your handout and in blue. It says, but now, he says in 1525, but now I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. So what is he going to Jerusalem for? to serve the Saints. That's the key thing.

He's not going there just because he's willfully insistent. He's not going there to go and follow the law explicitly as if he were under the law. He is instead, as it's spelled out in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, he's going there when he does follow the law, he does so to be a Jew to the Jews, right? As a missionary and evangelistic opportunity. not so that he can be holy and righteous and good by obeying the law.

And then he gives again in verse 29, I know that when I come to you, these are the believers in Rome, I will come to you in the fullness of the blessing in Christ. Is he going to go to Rome because he messed up in Jerusalem and he ended up in Rome? No, he is going to Rome. He's going to end up there in the fullness and the blessing of Christ.

Next, he says in verse 30, Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. verses 31 and 32, that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea. These are the Jews in Judea who will have him imprisoned and even try to kill him. And that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints. What's he going to Jerusalem for?

For service to the saints. Next, verse 32, So that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company. He's going to come to him in what? By the will of God. That's his desire that his coming to them would be in the fullness of the blessing of Christ and be in the will of God. That is his heart's desire and his intent in purposing and his planning and intent to go to Rome.

Let's take a look. Here is something that lays the groundwork. This is early chapter, Acts chapter nine. This is when Paul turns from unbeliever to believer, right? By the Lord's intent. And I won't go through the full story, although you're welcome to read it on your own. The bottom line is this. Ananias, and this isn't the Ananias and Sapphira account. This is a different one.

This is the Ananias that the Lord selected to be the one that would first come to the Apostle Paul back when he was Saul. And so the Lord Jesus appears to Ananias. And my guess is that didn't happen all the time. Can you imagine? Here's the Lord Jesus comes to Ananias and says, Ananias, I want you to go to Paul. And Ananias is thinking, whoa, wait a minute, this guy is a Christian killer. And so here's Ananias, and the Lord says, don't worry about it.

Paraphrasing, of course. It says, go for he is a chosen instrument of mine. This is mind boggling. To bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel. And verse 16 is pivotal. Really big. It's one of the bigger, small words in the New Testament. for I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake. That word show means two things. This is a special word show. It isn't the word usually used in the New Testament for show. It means two things. Number one, it means to warn in advance.

In Matthew 3.7, Luke 3.7, John the Baptist is baptizing people, and the Jewish leaders come down to get baptized. And what does he say? I will baptize those who believe, but he tells them, who warned you of the wrath to come?

Matthew 3.7, Luke 3.7, same word, show, hear. I will warn him in advance of how much he must suffer for my name. I'm going to tell him ahead of time.

Now, how many of you would sign up for a ministry where the Lord's going to tell you ahead of time when you're going to have trouble? Would you like that? Would you like to know ahead of time, not only that you're going to have trouble, but what the trouble is? Any volunteers?

Now, here's one other thing. We suffer for various things. Sometimes we suffer just because we live in a fallen world and that's the way it happens. For us who believe, however, we have some very special things we can count upon. God is going to use the hassles and trials and troubles in our lives on purpose, and it's either for discipline, you can look up that in Hebrews 12, It's either for discipline or it is used as a trial for growth. Anybody had those? This is different.

What is the suffering for? How much he must suffer for my name's sake. Anybody suffered for his name's sake? I'm going to tell this guy Paul, in advance that he is going to suffer for my name's sake. And as we're going to see, he's going to know where he's going to suffer in advance. He is going to have an idea of what kind of suffering he's going to go through in advance. And he's going to go there anyway. How many of you would like to do that?

Nancy and I, as many of you know, took a trip this last week over to Nevada and California. While we were there, we met, talked with a man who had become a believer just fairly recently, as a young believer. And his wife is asking him for a divorce, as a matter of fact, demanding it, because he's become a believer. Their 13-year-old son got so agitated that he came after his father with a knife. This man, right now, he's suffering for Christ's namesake. A real world modern example.

The Apostle Paul went through that again and again and again and was told in advance that it would happen, where it would happen, and even what kind of hassle he was about to get into. Can you imagine that? Yet he went anyway. Here is in Acts 20, which is the very next chapter. We're going to be studying this passage in more detail. But Acts 20, 22 through 24, and it says, And now, behold, bound by the Spirit that is constrained by the Holy Spirit of God, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.

Are they? Yup. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself." Now, so, if you knew that a specific place was going to have some high-level hassles, would you go there? Knowing in advance the place, and it says bonds and afflictions, is that what happened? Yep. Would you say, ah, I'm still going there? He did. Still go in there.

So that I may finish my course in the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. So is his going there a selfish thing? Is his going there willfully insistent? His going there to Jerusalem where he knows he's headed for trouble? He has an idea what that includes, bonds and afflictions. He says, I don't consider my life of any account. Why? His heart's desire is to finish the course God has set before him. He received it from the Lord Jesus. He's going to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God, even knowing in advance what's in his path in front of him.

Acts 1922 and having sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. So seeing this, here's Macedonia. where he sends Timothy and Erastus. Macedonia, this includes Philippi and Thessalonica and Berea and that collection of churches. There may have been others in there whose names we don't have and likely was. But he sent them there. And so one thing that we see is repeatedly throughout the book of Acts, and especially towards the second and third missionary journey, the Apostle Paul does not just go in and evangelize and then leave people.

You know, fend for yourself, not that you're believers. Sometimes Christians can get the idea that, hey, we just want a lot of people to get saved. We don't care what happens outside of that. It's almost as if the hospital is just a maternity ward. And all we're about is having babies.

But here he says, no, we want to send in Timothy and Erastus. One more thing to take a look at here. So here they are, they're going into this area of Macedonia that you see on the map there on page two. He's going to remain at Ephesus for the time. And then, so here's the area where he has been and has sent Timothy and Erastus into that area.

New Testament tells more about Timothy, as we brought up, and the background upbringing and training of Timothy for service than just about any other person in the New Testament. Even most of the Apostles do not get the coverage that Timothy does. Timothy starts in Acts chapter 16 and his name is included in most of the Apostle Paul's letters. either as one of the co-authors or in the body of the letter. Most of the letters, Timothy shows up as well in the last chapter of the book of Hebrews. So Timothy gets a lot of press.

Why? Because we have in him an example of someone who is trained up biblically. We see how he starts out. By the way, did Timothy start out with an ideal beginning? No. Greek father, Jewish mother, Greek father didn't give a hoot whether he was raised up as a Jew or not. He had not been circumcised on the eighth day, which would have been a fundamental for a Jew. Even though it was just his mother and his grandmother that taught him the Old Testament scriptures, Here God trained up Timothy, discipled Timothy over time.

That's a model for us as church leaders. That is a model for parents to look at the life of Timothy. And here's one of the ways in which Timothy gets used of the Lord and by the Apostle Paul as he gets sent in after earlier training, where he's watching, here's how it's done, where he is carrying these things out with the assistance of the Apostle Paul and others, and now being sent along into Macedonia. So here is Timothy, a prime example, and this is a key stepping stone in Timothy's spiritual training and growth.

Now Erastus, on the other hand, was likely the treasurer who's measured here, we get Romans again, Romans 16.23, The city treasurer, or some would say a city director of public works, same man that Paul wrote about in 2 Timothy 4.20. So Erastus is only mentioned those three times in Scripture.

The indication, especially from 2 Timothy 4.20, is that he was a faithful man. And what's also interesting is this inscription that you see here, and you also have on your handout, appears to be the Erastus of the Bible. And it was his name put on some public works, and that's exactly what he was responsible for and his position. So an interesting archaeological confirmation of the reality of this man.

Acts 19.23, about that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning the way.

Here's where we begin the workup to the riot. So Luke uses a figure of speech that he in fact uses a few different times. Instead of saying something is really big, he says no small, right? So you exaggerate it the other way and then put a negative in front of it. No small disturbance, no small city, etc. And he uses that expression several times. It seems largely Dr. Luke's figure of speech, and that's one of the ways he expresses it here. No small disturbance, which meant a really big disturbance.

It's about to take place in Ephesus, having to do with the way. The way starting in chapter 9 and continuing on through this chapter, and we'll see it again twice in chapter 24. is an expression for the church, the body of Christ. So it's the way, these are the brethren, these are the disciples, different terms. The church, all those expressions are used to describe the believers. So here several times, I think it's about five, in Acts you'll find this term, the way, used to describe the believers.

So what Dr. Luke's going to tell us about this Here is this man, Demetrius, who was a silversmith. He's going to stir up a substantial crowd of people to protest the spiritual impact of the Apostle Paul. And what we're going to see is some very upside down language in what this fellow Demetrius uses to stir up these people and to get them riled and roused. So here we look at it, Acts 19, 24 and 25. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsman.

These he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, Man, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business, business of selling idols and amulets and trinkets and little things in writing and things inscribed and things large and small and all sizes, right? Some of them were very impressive works and some were the sorts of things you'd carry on a necklace around your neck or on a purse or a pocket or something of that sort, but they sold all of it. What would you like? We sell all of it, right? their prosperity depends upon this business.

The evidence that we have is that people would come from all over the Roman Empire to this temple of Artemis, this one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. So in this aerial view of Ephesus here you see, so here's the place and we see that Artemis was within that place a big moneymaker. About a quarter million people living there in Ephesus and the big attraction was this temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was a huge draw. People came from all over to come to this temple.

Here's Acts 19.26, you see in here that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all.

Now, let's kind of analyze the language here. Paul, as we've already been told, he has had an impact bringing the gospel into all of Asia. That's already been stated. These guys who have no interest in the gospel, as a matter of fact their interest is the opposite, have said he's having this huge impact. Almost all of Asia? Yep. This Paul, so Paul's the problem, right? This Paul is a really big problem.

It's centered on this one guy. persuaded and turned away. By the way, this word persuaded, that's the word that he used when he went in the synagogues. He said he persuaded people, so that's exactly what he did. But turned away, that's a word turned upside down. Did he turn away a considerable number of people from Artemis? Yes. He turned them toward Christ and the gospel. saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all. So here's an interesting thing. In the Old Testament and into the New, Paul's letter to the Corinthians being an example, the idols are often said to be really the physical embodiment made by human hands of demons.

But in fact, these idols are rather powerless. If you were to take a summary statement of Isaiah chapters 40-48, it would come out like this. Infinite and eternal God versus stupid idols. That's what Isaiah 40-48 can be summarized as. The idols are stupid.

You guys make it with your hands. You carry it around. You put all kinds of work into them, but they're just people made. That's all they are. There are no gods at all. So his quote of Paul is probably correct, probably right on. There had been a considerable number of people.

We've heard that all Asia had heard the gospel, that was Acts 19.10, earlier in this very same chapter.

I've heard that 50,000 drachmas worth of magical documents were burned by those who believed. So somebody summed up the amount. They burned it because they said, we've paid a lot of money for this, but it is of no value and we certainly don't want to turn it over to somebody else as if it had value and mislead them. So they burned it and got rid of it, even though it was worth quite a bit of money. the impact of the gospel on the pagan world had begun to be felt. Imagine, here's Paul. This is where it's really cool. We've got this Ephesians elective. The things you see in there, that really shows why he was having an impact. You've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

How many pagan gods blessed the people? None. How many pagan gods loved the people? Doesn't happen, right? In Ephesians, more than once, it talks about, in chapter 1 and chapter 2, God's kindness. How many of the pagan gods were really all that kind?

Not so much. A huge contrast. It was making a decline in the sale of all these things related to Artemis. Acts 19.27, not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence. Isn't that great? So, there's a danger the trade of ours would fall into disrepute. That's wonderful! But also, the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. That's great! That's fantastic! And that she of whom all of Asia and the world worship, Why would you do that? You know? Will even be dethroned for her magnificence.

And as they saw already in the Ephesians elective, Jesus is the name above all names, including this one. Including this one. Artemis ought to be an item of history. Jesus not. Demetrius here was the motivational speaker. He painted a picture of this devastating economic impact to these people, right? From all the things that were sold, large and small, of every kind, one that you would have to work to take with you on down to the one you could carry anywhere you went. All those that honored Artemis. For all those who made these items and made their living from them, this would be a horrible, horrible trend.

Here is an Ephesus Artemis coin. So they would market using coins even. So here's Ephesia, the Latin form of Ephesus, right? And there's Artemis engraved right there on the coin. Here is an Artemis statue from Ephesus depicting her power over the spiritual realm of zodiac and fertility.

So they have on each side of her head, ultimately 10 of these ghoulish spiritual creatures, and she has power over those. She has, and you can't quite see all the detail, but she's got the zodiac engraved around her neck. I mean, she has power over the stars. I mean, she is really imbued with a great deal of power.

And then those things underneath, the experts debate whether that represents breasts or bull's testicles. I don't mean to be crude there, but that's what they debate. And I don't know whether she needs a bra or a jockstrap, but I don't know how you get this, right?

So nonetheless, Nonetheless, they also show on her arms lions, lions representing great power, right? And on the front of her, and I cut it off because it's just not worth looking at, more lions to show greater and greater power. So they have all these symbols of power and influence and the things that she impacts.

And so this would be one that they would spend quite a bit of time carving out. And this was not silver, was it? So this would be something that would be carved out of stone, they'd have other things made out of silver, they'd have other things made out of wood, they'd have them at different sizes. This one has a fair amount of complexity to it. And so you see lots of different instances here of all the different powers that Artemis was supposedly to have. Now here is the theater at Ephesus, which we'll see next week. about this riot. I hope we don't have to do it, and I hope the Lord comes today. Wouldn't it be great if Father's Day is the last day? Oh, that would be so cool. Anyway, I hope the Lord comes today.

This is the way the theater at Ephesus did look before it was degraded over time. A pretty fancy place, a gathering for 25,000 people, up to 25,000. And so this is where the riots about to occur. Here is the temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. And as a grand crescendo of glory, here's how it looks now.

I decided not to include the picture that shows a couple of cows eating the grass, right? So just anyway. So the outcome here in likely Demetrius intended outcome was that a lengthy and noisy rally followed that was not on the theater schedule. It's been called a riot and it risked Roman suppression. Ephesus was a place that was ruled by local officials who were elected. If they failed to keep things in hand, there was a Roman governor there and he had 3,000 Roman soldiers to keep things in order, and they did so with swords and spears, right? So if the Roman governor came in and set things right, that was not a good thing. There was going to be blood and gore all over the place.

Instead, what we see here is God resolves it another way. As we come up to this point here, right coming up to the riot in Ephesus, A few things for us to take a look at. One is to look at, we've been seeing that all along God has used circumstances. And some of those circumstances have been constraining.

I've got to get out of here because I have to get out of this city. So God guided Paul using rather extreme circumstances. You've got to get out of Thessalonica to save your life. Other cases, he said, well, I'm no longer going to testify among the Jews. Instead, I'm going to stop working with the Jews. I'm going to work with the Gentiles.

So that was also a matter of circumstantial evidence. Reason we bring that up is God will use circumstances not as the only means, but one of the means of providing guidance. We need to be careful we don't look at that entirely. and only, but God will use circumstances.

Another key point that we've seen so far, and it's going to show up here, is where there is spiritual receptivity, that's where we need to continue to put more time, focus, and emphasis. Where there is less receptivity, that's not the place to spend a lot of time and emphasis. So another principle of guidance that is even a big point for fathers, mothers and fathers and husbands and wives and parents and all of us to consider, what is the long-term spiritual impact of what I'm planning to do next? What's the long-term spiritual impact of what I'm planning to do next or thinking about doing next?

Another very important point to look at here is, we talked about earlier, we go sometimes through times that seem fairly smooth, not too much going on. Other times where it seems like way too much is going on and it's all way over the top. We go through both of those kinds of times, don't we? We experience both and are both of those God's will? Yeah, you need what's happening to you, right? We need what's happening. But let's ask one other thing.

Does God intend that we abide in Christ through both of those kinds of times? Does God intend that we depend and rely upon Him whether things are really smooth and going well? and when things are getting rough and way over the top. Does God intend that we walk in the Spirit both when everything is going just fine and when things are really, really over the top rough? Does God intend that we fellowship with Christ in the midst of really smooth times and really rough times. There are a number of Christian songs that will say, okay, I go on and I do this and that and whatnot, and when things get really rough, then I call upon the Lord. Is that what the Lord has in mind?

No. His desire and His design is that we walk in fellowship with Him, abide with Him, that we walk in the Spirit, that we walk in dependence on him that we behold Christ all the time whether it's really really smooth or whether it's really really rough all the time we abide in Christ we depend upon him because that's exactly what he has in mind for every single one of us all the time let's pray Thank you, Lord, for what you've revealed here regarding the Apostle Paul.

And we've seen that, at least at the very start, he's headed for a rough time. He knows he's headed for a rough time. He knows that some very dangerous circumstances are coming up, and yet he is focused upon what you have for him. And perhaps we don't always get the same kind of warnings that he did. and that we'll see as we continue through Acts.

But we know that you have an intent for us, that as we walk in fellowship with you and dependence upon you, that we abide in our Lord Jesus Christ and Christ in us every moment, all the time, every day. Draw and call our hearts to that. Help us to see that your purpose is being carried out when things are really smooth, as well as when things get really rough, maybe even way over the top. We pray these things Lord in Jesus name, Amen.