I. PRAYER
II. Introduction
a. I recently read an article by a man who compared a baby monitor to the Holy Spirit. You see, one day while trying out the new baby monitor in his infant’s room, he whispered into it “Can you hear me?”
b. His house was like most others with a mother and a newborn, in that the baby monitor was turned up so much that you could literally hear a pin drop in the baby’s room.
c. So, when he whispered “Can you hear me?” Into the monitor, his teenage son was scared out of his wits and dove behind the couch, not knowing where the voice was coming from. He thought that this was a great thing, and told his teenager to clean up his room. But then, his teenager decided to turn the receiver off.
d. The idea is that we are the receivers to the Holy Spirit. He is constantly directing us. Sometimes, the volume is turned way up, and the slightest whisper is amplified into a booming voice.
e. Other times, the volume is lower, and it takes a time of prayer and devotion to listen to Him. And if we are honest with ourselves, sometimes, we turn the receiver off.
f. If we all had our receivers turned on, then maybe the world would be a better place to live. It would be pleasant to drive on the freeways, divorce lawyers would have to find other jobs, and we would no longer have a jail overcrowding issue.
g. The Apostle Paul was a man that was being constantly guided by the Holy Spirit. We have seen this as we have seen him on his journeys throughout the book of Acts, and we will look at him being guided by the Holy Spirit again today, as we continue our weekly study through the Book of Acts.
III. Background
a. Last week we were looking at the Apostle Paul as he was ministering in the city of Ephesus. This period of Paul’s ministry was one that was marked by God’s power. It was really the high point of Paul’s ministry in terms of fruit. The seven churches of Asia we see in Revelation were all birthed out of this church at Ephesus.
b. The miracles that had taken place in the two short years that Paul was in Ephesus were nothing less than extraordinary. People were healed and set free from demon possession by simply them touching the sweatbands and aprons that Paul wore as he made tents during the day.
c. We aren’t told that Paul endorsed this, and I would even suspect that Paul didn’t know this was going on. The people of Ephesus were into objects, and they believed that power resided in certain objects, and God’s grace extended out to the people of Ephesus through these objects.
d. Now, remember that Ephesus was the religious center of the Roman Empire. There were three temples there for the worship of Caesar. But, these three temples weren’t the focus of the people of Ephesus.
e. No, the focus of the people of Ephesus centered on the temple of Artemis, or as the Romans called her, Diana. Diana was the Roman goddess of hunting and fertility. The temple of Diana in Ephesus was a huge structure.
f. It had been torn down and rebuilt several time down through the years, due to various wars and natural disasters that struck Ephesus. The main temple area had 127 pillars, each sixty feet high, and was adorned with great sculptures.
g. One of the great finds of modern archaeology was the unearthing of this temple in 1869. The main altar area was discovered in 1965. This temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
h. The Temple of Artemis was also a major treasury and bank of the ancient world, where merchants, kings, and even cities made deposits, and where their money could be kept safe under the protection of deity. (Longenecker)
i. So, this is the setting of our story as it unfolds today, and I hope that this kind of gives us a background, and a little more insight into the events as they unfold, as we close out chapter 19 in our continuous study through the book of Acts. We pick up in Acts chapter 19, starting at verse 21. Acts is just before Romans and right after John in the New Testament.
IV. Study
a. Intro
i. 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." 22 So he sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a time. 23 And about that time there arose a great commotion about the Way. 24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen. 25 He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: "Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. 26 Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands. 27 So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship." 28 Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" 29 So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s travel companions. 30 And when Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not allow him. 31 Then some of the officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent to him pleading that he would not venture into the theater. 32 Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander motioned with his hand, and wanted to make his defense to the people. 34 But when they found out that he was a Jew, all with one voice cried out for about two hours, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" 35 And when the city clerk had quieted the crowd, he said: "Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple guardian of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Zeus? 36 Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly. 37 For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess. 38 Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a case against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you have any other inquiry to make, it shall be determined in the lawful assembly. 40 For we are in danger of being called in question for today’s uproar, there being no reason which we may give to account for this disorderly gathering." 41 And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.
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.
xiii. I talk to people who are disappointed because things don’t unfold like they want them to. I fall into that trap myself sometimes. But, I find that as I learn to rejoice in what God has for me, things get easier. Not because things around me change so much as my attitude towards those things change.
xiv. So, we know that this is what Paul plans here in Ephesus, and like I said, these things did happen, but the manner in which things unfolded were, I would venture to say, not Paul’s idea on how they would unfold.
xv. Paul didn’t go to Rome in the way that he thought he would go. He would make the trip through Macedonia and Achaia, and down to Jerusalem.
xvi. While at Jerusalem though, we know that Paul is arrested and put into prison on charges of rebellion and treason, which were capital crimes, punishable by death.
xvii. After spending several years in prison in Jerusalem and Caesarea, he appeals to Caesar, and is transported to Rome, to stand trial in front of Caesar for his life.
xviii. In the few years that he is under house arrest at Rome, he was chained on either side by Roman guards, and he is brought before Roman court officials often and the end result as we are told is that many in the house of Caesar come to Christ.
xix. I would think that many guards came to Christ this way. When you are chained up to the Apostle Paul, I would imagine that you would be presented with the gospel.
xx. Paul would later write to the Phillipians from his imprisonment in Rome this - 12 But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, 13 so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; 14 and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
xxi. You see, Paul figured out the secret. That regardless of circumstance, it was all just varying was in which he could present the gospel to others. In verse 22, we see him sending Timothy and Erastus into Macedonia, presumably ahead of him in preparation for his journey. Verse 22 reads -
xxii. 22 So he sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a time.
xxiii. So as Paul is finishing up here Ephesus, Timothy and Erastus are teaching in Macedonia. It would be a little while before he would have to leave Ephesus, and we are introduced to the man who would be the cause of Paul leaving Ephesus in verse 23 -
c. The Silversmith (Acts 19:23 – 27 )
i. 23 And about that time there arose a great commotion about the Way.
ii. The Way is Luke’s description of the church in the book of Acts.
iii. 24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen.
iv. Demetrius as a silversmith in Ephesus made small votive shrines in honor of the goddess Diana. There have been excavations in recent history in which these small shrines have been uncovered. They have been found all over the Roman world, as far north as France and England, on the northern frontier of the empire, and as far south as Egypt, on the southern border.
v. These small votives were replicas of the temple there in Ephesus. Most were made out of gold or silver, and priced accordingly. These little model temples would have a little replica of the statue of Diana sitting in the back, just like the real temple in Ephesus.
vi. The local myth was that the gold adorned statue in the temple at this time had fallen from the sky. Diana was the goddess of fertility, and her statue was a female with a torso covered with breasts. We immediately think that this was a sexual thing, but it wasn’t.
vii. In reality, the cult of Diana was into prosperity and productivity. The idea was that if you made offerings to her, your fields and vineyards would be prosperous, and your livestock would have many offspring.
viii. The Romans, as conquerors of the city, would combine the worship of the emperor with the local deity, in this case, it was Diana. That’s why there were three temples there devoted to the emperor.
ix. But, a local tradition that the Romans let go on was the tradition that one month out of every year would be given over to the worship of Diana.
x. It was during this time that there would be thousands of people from all over the empire there to watch athletic games, and to worship the goddess there in the temple.
xi. There would be parades, and festivals, as well as lots of alcohol to drink and lots of sexual immorality going on. So, basically, the place was like New Orleans during Mardi gras.
xii. Demetrius made a good living by making these little votives, and people would buy these while in Ephesus for the month. Then they could leave the city, and still pray towards it and worship it, and remember the good times they had in Ephesus that month.
xiii. When the church started to spread in Ephesus, people stopped buying into all of this. They began to live a life of faith and obedience towards God.
xiv. They no longer needed these little trinkets, because their hearts were filled with the love of God. One thing we need to realize is that when we see people living these lives of indulgence, it is because of a deep inner hunger of their soul.
xv. That’s why people fill those voids in their life with drugs, or alcohol, or sex – it’s because they are looking for something, but they don’t know what. It is so neat to see one of these folks turned on to Jesus though, because they’re like a sponge, they can’t get enough fellowship and reading the Word, because they have discovered what it takes to fill that void in their life.
xvi. It in this city and during these times of great immorality that the gospel shone in Ephesus. The first thing that is noted by this outpouring of God’s Spirit is that the local tradesmen began to lose money from the operation of the temple there in Ephesus.
xvii. So, Demetrius comes up with a plan to defeat the gospel. It may seem kind of haphazard and awkward, but we see Demetrius’ plan begin to be laid out in verse 25.
xviii. 25 He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: "Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade.
xix. Guys, this is a union meeting in the Bible. These guys were losing money, and they were upset by it. So, they band together in order to do something about it.
xx. 26 Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands.
xxi. Their anger is leveled at Paul, because as we saw back in verse 10, the gospel was spread throughout the province of Asia, and six other churches that we know of sprang out of the church formed there at Ephesus.
xxii. But, he had something wrong. It wasn’t Paul that was persuading people to turn away from worshipping idols. No, that was the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the people in Asia at that time.
xxiii. 27 So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship."
xxiv. The good reputation held by the silversmiths and trinket makers in Ephesus was being damaged by the gospel. This is a tribute to the effectiveness of the ministry that Paul had there in Ephesus.
xxv. Their fear is spelled out here in verse 27 – that the fame of the temple of Diana would be tarnished, and that people would no longer come to Ephesus to worship and to buy their trinkets.
xxvi. In two hundred years, his words would ring true. The gospel would so infiltrate every province in the Roman Empire, that the worshipping of idols would stop around 300 AD, with even the emperor coming under the influence of the church during this time.
xxvii. The temple of Artemis no longer stands. The one we see in this passage was built after the death of Alexander the Great, about 320 B.C. It would be destroyed by the Goths around 500 A.D.
xxviii. No, these weren’t the kids you see at the mall dressed in black. The Goths were a Germanic people, who swept across Europe and across into Asia Minor.
xxix. The last thing I want us to realize before we move on though is that Demetrius was an opportunist. He planned this uprising at the exact time when the sentiments in the city for the goddess Diana were at their highest – during the festival. He whips the revelers into a frenzy, as we see in the next verses.
d. The Seething Crowd (Acts 19:28 - 32)
i. 28 Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!"
ii. So, at the conclusion of Demetrius’ speech, all of the tradesmen are stirred up to taking their message to the streets. Demetrius appealed to three things – their greed, their pride, and their fears. These are three things that Satan often uses to attack us.
iii. They get upset. They begin shouting “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”, and running around all angry.
iv. Some people see this, and they didn’t have anything better to do, they didn’t have TV in those days, so they join in, and a few more and a few more, until a large crowd had gathered at the instigation of Demetrius and the other tradesmen.
v. 29 So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s travel companions.
vi. The crowd, in their frenzy, grabs up a couple of Paul’s companions since they could not find Paul. One of these guys was Aristarchus. Aristarchus was the first pastor of the church at Thessalonica, and was one of the first martyrs under Nero.
vii. 30 And when Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not allow him. 31 Then some of the officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent to him pleading that he would not venture into the theater.
viii. So, Paul wants to go down and face the charges directly, but as we see, the disciples there in Ephesus would not let Paul do that. They took Gaius and Aristarchus and carried them down to the local coliseum, where the athletic games were held.
ix. We see that some officials sent word to Paul not to come down to the theater. The word there in the original language is the word Asiarchs. What these were was a group of rich men who were appointed by the proconsul to govern Ephesus, and put opn these games.
x. Now, some of these guys had either become Christians, or at least had made friends with Paul, because they warn him not to come down, because the place was a mess. Verse 32 reads -
xi. 32 Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together.
xii. Keep in mind this. This was during the festival, and many of these people were drunk, and had no idea what they were doing there, except that they joined in with a bunch of other folks to go down to the coliseum.
xiii. In the midst of all this confusion, one man tries to step forward to speak, and we see him in the next verse.
e. The Spectacle (Acts 19:33 - 34)
i. 33 And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander motioned with his hand, and wanted to make his defense to the people.
ii. This man Alexander, who was a Jew wanted to speak to the crowd. It is likely that Alexander wanted to make a distinction between the Christians and the Jews, because he didn’t want there to be a persecution of the Jews in Ephesus.
iii. The thought is that since Paul was a Jew, the crowd would think that all Jews were Christians, but this was not the case. So, Alexander gets up to address the crowd, and he is shouted down.
iv. 34 But when they found out that he was a Jew, all with one voice cried out for about two hours, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!"
v. So, then for two hours, the crowd yells out in unison “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” The noise from this must have been deafening. I think about an Aggie game I went to back in 1992, when we beat Texas at Kyle Field. The noise there was unbelieveable. It was so loud that the Texas quarterback couldn’t even snap the ball.
vi. They went on and on like this for two hours, everyone in the city would have heard the commotion and would have wandered over to the coliseum to check out what was going on.
vii. One of these people wandering over would finally quiet the crowd. We see this in verse 35.
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f. Settling the Matter (Acts 19:35 - 41)
i. 35 And when the city clerk had quieted the crowd, he said: "Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple guardian of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Zeus? 36 Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly.
ii. The city clerk would have been like the mayor of the city. He would have been the person who would have run day to day operations in the city.
iii. His basic reasoning was that there was no need for the people to carry on like this. He does this by playing on their sympathies, saying that “everyone knows the temple of Diana is in Ephesus, and that the statue came down from Zeus.”
iv. He states these things rather matter-of-factly, and then makes the case for the crowd settling down. He goes on to say in verse 37 -
v. 37 For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess.
vi. So, his outlook on the situation at hand is that since the Christians weren’t robbing the temple – remember that the temple acted kind of like a bank in those days. Also, that they weren’t blaspheming the goddess.
vii. But, since they didn’t rob the temple or blaspheme, they weren’t breaking any laws. He goes on by saying -
viii. 38 Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a case against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you have any other inquiry to make, it shall be determined in the lawful assembly.
ix. He says that this is not the forum for bringing charges against the Christians. You see, Demetrius wanted to put Christianity on trial, but he knew he couldn’t use the courts, because, in reality, Christians become better citizens after their conversion.
x. So, he wanted this mob rule kind of a thing to happen, and it backfires in his face, as we see in verse 40.
xi. 40 For we are in danger of being called in question for today’s uproar, there being no reason which we may give to account for this disorderly gathering."
xii. Here in verse 40, we see the real reason for the city clerk’s intervention. He says that they were in danger of rioting or unlawful assembly, because of all the commotion that had gone on for the past two or three hours.
xiii. This concerned him because Ephesus was a free city in the Roman Empire, and what that meant was that they were self-governing for the most part.
xiv. As long as they paid their taxes to Rome, and as long as they didn’t riot and rebel against the empire, Rome was fine with whatever they did.
xv. That’s why men like Herod the Great were allowed to rule in those days. Even though he was a wicked, evil man, who killed thousands of children as we are told in the gospels, Rome let him rule Israel because he got lots of tax money for Rome, and he kept the people from rioting and rebelling.
xvi. The greatest fear for the ruler of one of these free cities was a riot. If it got back to Rome that they could not keep control of the people, Rome would send the army to come in and set up a military government for the place.
xvii. This reasoning is what really led the people to quiet down. They realized that if the Romans came in, then everyone’s way of life would be threatened, not just the silversmith’s union.
xviii. 41 And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.
xix. So, the crowd disperses peacefully, and Gaius and Aristarchus were let go. It was at this point though, that Paul realizes that it was time to leave Ephesus.
xx. God spoke to Paul through the events that had just played out, and he realized that his staying in Ephesus was more of a hinderance rather than a help to the church there.
xxi. To kind of wrap all of this up, I’d like to make one point. One thing I want us to take away from this passage and apply to our lives.
g. Conclusion
i. It is that we need to realize the inevitability of persecution as we serve Christ. Paul was seen as a person who would hurt the lives of people by Demitrius and his buddies.
ii. Paul would later write to Timothy in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 - all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Why is that?
iii. Well, we get an answer in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians in chapter 2- 16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.
iv. What he is saying there is that when Christ is preached, some people will see the Christian life as death to everything that they have been living for up to that point. Which is true.
v. Paul wrote to the Galatians in chapter 2 verse 20 - I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
vi. That’s how something that is so wonderful as salvation can be rejected by some people. They will reject the message and they will reject you as well, and you will come under persecution because of that rejection.
vii. Peter would write this in 1st Peter chapter 4, starting at verse 12 - 12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
viii. So I want to encourage you to share the gospel with your friends and loved ones. I know people that have lost a job, or some other bad thing because they shared the gospel, but we are told to go ahead and do it anyway, and that we need to rejoice when these bad things happen to us.
ix. Maybe you’re here this morning and you haven’t accepted Jesus as your Savior. Well, right now, we are going to pray to give you that opportunity.
