A Riot In Ephesus

ii. There’s lots of wild things going on in Ephesus. The local tradesmen get stirred up about the church and we are going to look at why that was a little later on.

iii. We also see that the church had spread to all levels of society in Ephesus. A few leading officials and persons in authority had become Christians there in Ephesus.

iv. I’ve broken our study today down into five points so that we can look at each one more effectively. There’s a place to take notes in your bulletin. We’re going to look at the Sending Out, The Silversmiths, the Seething Crowd, the Spectacle, and last Settling the Matter. We’ll look at all of this as we finish up Acts chapter 19.

v. In the first few verses, we see Paul making plans for what is to come after he leaves Ephesus.

b. The Sending Out (Acts 19:21 – 22)

i. We read in verse 21 – 21 When these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in the Spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, "After I have been there, I must also see Rome."

ii. When these things were accomplished… What was accomplished? Well, the ministry that Paul was doing there in Ephesus. That was accomplished.

iii. We are reading here what Paul had planned to do when he left Ephesus in verse 21. He had been there two years, and had seen God do a number of miraculous things there.

iv. People were healed and set free from demonic possession. Everyone in the church renounced their witchcraft and burned all of their magic scrolls in the huge bonfire in Ephesus.

v. But most importantly, God brought a great number of people to salvation through the ministry of Paul, and the church had been established there on a firm foundation.

vi. We saw last week, where in verse 10 we are told that all who dwelt in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. This all sprang out of the ministry that God had Paul doing there in Ephesus.

vii. So after seeing all of this, Paul begins to feel like he had done all that God had called him to do there in Ephesus. So, he prays, and he feels led of the Holy Spirit – notice the capitol S here in verse 21. He feels led of the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, after passing through Macedonia and Achaia.

viii. This was because he wanted to collect funds to help the church at Jerusalem from the various churches in Macedonia and Achaia. Along the way, he could stop and teach at each of the churches, all the while making his way to Jerusalem.

ix. But, after delivering the gift from the churches he felt led to go to the church at Rome. The church at Rome had sprung up without someone going there specifically to start it.

x. In Proverbs chapter 16, verse 1 we read this - 1 The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

xi. In other words, man proposes, and God disposes. God is what makes our plans happen. Paul’s plans happened to line up with God’s, so we will see in the following weeks that this is what happens to Paul.

xii. Many times, we make plans, and they don’t seem to turn out the way we want them to. It’s not because you are a bad person, or that God hates you. Things unfold the way they do because that’s what God wants for you. That is what God has for you to experience during this time in your life.