My faith has found a resting place, not in device or creed. I trust the ever-living One. His wounds for me shall plead. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me. Enough for me that Jesus saves. This ends my fear and doubt. A sinful soul, I come to Him. He'll never cast me out. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me. My great Physician heals the sick; the lost He came to save. For me, His precious blood He shed. For me, His life He gave. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me. My heart is leaning on the Word, the written Word of God. Salvation by my Savior's name; salvation through His blood. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me.

Thank you for that good song, that good message. It is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me, and we're leaning on the written Word of God. That's why we're here every Sunday, to work through the Word, to learn, to grow, to understand, to believe, to obey God and His Word.

Good morning to everyone. It's not raining, so that's good. We'll take that. Nice, cool morning. We're going to be looking at Acts 19, verses 21 to 41 this morning. 

I want to start this morning with 1 John 5, 19. This is a verse you know. It says, we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. We know this verse, but I wonder if we'd really thought about its implications. The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. The entirety of the world system, its philosophies, its businesses, its education systems, its religions, its culture, its entertainment, the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. This is the way of the world. This is a system of Satan carefully designed to lead men away from Christ and away from the truth. This is the darkness of the world, the depravity of man. 

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10 that behind all false gods, behind all of man's religions, are demonic forces. We see in Daniel that demons influence and control governments and politics. Satan is at work in this world, and he has designed a system that works effectively on the nature of the lost man and Adam to lead him into all kinds of sin and wickedness. And man is very happy in this system. There are ways of doing things, surviving, thriving, accepted norms in business and culture and religion. The whole world lies in the sway of the wicked one, the liar. He was a liar from the beginning. He's the father of lies. 

And into this darkness, into this debauchery, into this world of lies and corruption, comes light, comes truth, comes the gospel and Christianity. And what we see in our text today, the lesson for us from this historical account in the life and ministry of Paul, is that when the truth comes into the midst of this system, when God transforms men by the power of the gospel, when the light permeates the darkness, it causes a commotion. The system does not give in easily. Satan fights in any way he can and every way he can to stem the tide of the prevailing and powerful Word of God. That's what our text is about today.

Look at Acts 19 with me at verse 21. It says, "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.' So he sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a time." 

And about that time there arose a great commotion about the way. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen. He called them together with the workers of similar occupation and said, “Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. 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. 

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.” Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” 

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. And when Paul wanted to go into the people, the disciples would not allow him. Then some of the officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent to him pleading that he would not venture into the theater. 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. 

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. 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!” 

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 the image which fell down from Zeus? Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly. For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess. 

Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a case against anyone, the courts are open and there are procouncils. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you have any other inquiry to make, it shall be determined in the lawful assembly. 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.” When he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

I've given you four points on your outline. First, commotion about the way. Second, cash on the line. Third, confusion. Fourth, calm. 

You'll remember in our text last week, we saw God working mightily through the apostle Paul. Paul had made his way back to Ephesus after his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and he was now settled in teaching and preaching the Word of God to the believers there to ground them, to build them up in the truth. 

Look back at verse 9 of Acts 19. It says, "He had gone to the Jews, but when some of them were hardened and did not believe but spoke evil of the way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks." 

He reasoned with the disciples. Remember, this word means to say thoroughly, to discuss. He was teaching the whole counsel of God, saying thoroughly, discussing, teaching the word to the disciples. And he did this for two years, night and day. Paul was absolutely fixed on taking those that he led to Christ through the simple preaching of the gospel and teaching them the depth of the Word of God so that they might become discerning, might grow and be fruitful and multiply. 

You see, this is the method that God has ordained for the church and for evangelism in the world, the principle of multiplication. Jesus chose 12 men. He taught them. He grounded them. He empowered them. And then he sent them out into the world to preach the gospel to every creature. Paul was following this example, this pattern, to go into a city, preach the gospel, lead men to faith in Jesus. 

Then take them and teach them the Word of God continually, faithfully, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book, as it were, to strengthen the brethren, to encourage and grow, and ultimately to produce the fruit of new believers everywhere they went. This was the pattern of the early church. It's God's way, and it must be our way and no other way. The Word of God must be at the center of everything that we do. 

So Paul taught the disciples. He built them up. And what we see is that the result was that the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. Remember last week we saw that there was true faith and repentance, abundant fruit in that city from those who believed. Look at verse 18 again. It says, “And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all, and they counted up the value of them, and it totaled 50,000 pieces of silver.” 

So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. What does this mean? It means that the gospel was winning. It was so impacting this place that it was bringing real change, real conversion, and a real challenge to the system, the world that lies under the sway of the wicked one. This was a pagan city. It was the home of the great temple goddess, the temple of the goddess Diana or Artemis. This was one of the most widely venerated goddesses throughout the world at that time. You saw that Demetrius said she's worshipped by the whole world. 

The Ephesians were considered temple guardians of Diana, and this was some temple, my friends. It actually was the third temple built here to honor Artemis. The first dated back to the 7th century B.C., but it had been burned once and destroyed another time and rebuilt now a third time by the Ephesians themselves and was one of Antipater of Sidon's seven wonders of the world. 

He wrote concerning this temple, "I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the Colossus of the sun, and the huge labor of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus. But when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, Lo, apart from Olympus the sun never looked on aught so grand." 

The temple to Diana was no small thing, no insignificant place of worship. It was 377 feet long and 180 feet wide, with 127 columns, each 60 feet high, and it was made entirely of marble. This was the center of Ephesus, this place where the gospel was growing mightily and prevailing. 

And the men of this world, the mighty religions of the world, the demonic forces behind the goddess Diana and the god of this world, the devil, was not just going to sit back and let this go continue unhindered. And we see that the men of Ephesus caused no small commotion. 

Look at verse 21 in our text. "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.' So he sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, but he himself stayed in Asia for a time.” 

Paul had accomplished so much in Ephesus in his nearly three years there, and the church was established, and there was leadership now, and things were moving along nicely, and Paul's beginning to think about going on to new cities, to Achaia, even to Rome, perhaps on to Spain. 

So he sends a couple of his men ahead to prepare for the evangelism opportunities that awaited him, and he stayed a while here in Ephesus about the time when trouble started brewing because the way that made such an impact on Satan's city, this place of worship, was now going to be resisted, was going to be dealt with. 

And notice that the commotion arose about the way. That's important to see. The commotion did not arise over social issues and politics and activism and protest. In fact, we will see quite the opposite later in our text. The commotion arose about the way, about Christianity, about the gospel, about Jesus, the way, and the impact it was having in Ephesus. 

It's in changing, infringing on this world system by leading individuals to Christ. We saw already that the people there who believed, and there must have been a lot of them, came out confessing their sins and burning their magic books, and you remember this totaled seven million dollars' worth. 

We saw already that the people there who believed were being changed. They were producing fruit. They were true conversions. There was an impact on this city. There was a commotion, and it was about the way. And we see next that because the system was threatened, because the pagan worship and religious system was being challenged, there was cash on the line. 

Think of verse 23. About that time there arose a great commotion about the way for a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen. He called them together with the workers of similar occupation and said, “Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade.” 

He said, “We're making our money, we're getting rich, we're having a living by making these little silver idols.” And he goes on to say that this Paul, this Paul is messing our deal up with his crazy talk about how things made with hands are not gods. Paul must be dealt with because he's bringing truth to bear on what was going on in the pagan worship. 

You see, religion was big business, even in the first century. I looked up the wealth of the religions of our time just out of curiosity. Which religious organization do you think holds the most wealth in our world today? Well, I was surprised to learn that while the Roman Catholic Church has an estimated worth of $130 plus billion, the Mormon Church is worth in excess of $200 billion. 

Religion, man's religion, is big business, my friends. Remember back in Acts 3 where Peter said to the crippled man, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 

It's recorded that Thomas Aquinas once called on Pope Innocent II when the latter was counting out a large sum of money and he said, “You see, Thomas,” said the Pope, “the church can no longer say, silver and gold, I have none.” Thomas Aquinas replied, “True Holy Father, neither can she now say, rise and walk.” 

There's a lot of money in religion, but there's no power. Peter said they will make merchandise of you, that they are in it for the filthy lucre, and this certainly was the case in our text today. Demetrius was like a union steward. He was an organizer who represented the tradesmen, and in making them wealthy made himself very wealthy and powerful. 

And it's interesting because though many things change, some things remain the same. They had this amazing temple where they conducted their pagan worship of Artemis, and they had a big business selling idols like silver replicas of the temple, little idols of Diana. 

I remember when I went off to college, I had a silver Saint Christopher's medal around my neck on a chain, and my mother went down to the Notre Dame bookstore and bought a little silver Saint Christopher idol with a clip on the back, and she clipped it on the visor of my truck to keep me safe in my travels. If you wanted to sell your house, you went down to the Catholic bookstore and bought a statue of Saint Joseph, and you buried him upside down in your yard to sell your house. Common practice. 

We had statues that rode on the dashes of our cars, and we had a concrete Mary in our yard. The one that Pat Reese in fourth grade took a baseball bat and knocked the head off of on a field trip to our farm. The priest dealt severely with that poor boy. I remember my dad used some sort of construction glue to glue her head back on, and it ran in streaks from the break in her neck, looked like she was bleeding. Idols. The people of this world still spend billions on them today. 

When I was in India, there were house idols everywhere, gods, and goddesses. You'll remember the story about Guy Folsom flying on the plane, and the young woman beside him pulled out a bar of soap. She'd been to a class learning how to carve a Buddha out of a bar of soap. And Guy, being the old Jack Pine savage that he is, said, “What are you going to do with that, take a shower now?” And she gasped in horror and said, “No, you worship it.” Idols. Crazy for sure, but big business. 

And what we see in our text in Ephesus is that the gospel, the truth, the Word of God shown into this dark place was having a great impact on the local economy concerning magic books and idols made by the silversmiths. And the real issue was that there was cash on the line. “Men, you know everywhere, or you know that our prosperity is made by this trade. 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. So that not only this trade of ours is 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.” 

Demetrius instigated all the men by appealing to their trade, their source of income, by appealing to their religion and their cultural identity. He got them all stirred up, and we see that the result is wrath. They were filled with wrath. They were controlled by wrath because the truth of the gospel, salvation in Jesus Christ, was infringing on their system that made them wealthy and powerful. 

There was not only wrath, but there was confusion. Look at verse 28. “Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out saying, 'Great is Diana of the Ephesians!' 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. And when Paul wanted to go into the people, the disciples would not allow him. And some of the officials of Asia who were his friends sent to him pleading that he would not venture into the theater.” 

These are some interesting guys. They were put in charge by Rome in the region of Asia to keep the peace. They were government officials, and apparently, Paul had had some dealing with them somewhere along the line, which is not so surprising, I guess, for Paul. But they were pleading with him, don't go in there because they knew if he went in there, there was going to be more trouble. 

Verse 32, “Some therefore cried one thing, some another, for the assembly was confused. And most of them did not know why they had come together.” This was a crazy riot, and it was possibly very dangerous for Paul and the believers there. They pled with Paul not to go in. They did not allow him to go in because you know that he wanted to go in. Even Alexander was not allowed to speak when they found out that he was a Jew. They screamed for two hours when they found out he was a Jew. “Great is the goddess Diana.” 

A mob, out of control, out of their minds, Luke says. As is typical for most mobs, most of them didn't even know why they were there. Why is it that men are against Christ? Why is it that they hate his people, his followers? I've often wondered this about the hatred for the Jewish people in this world. I've known several people, especially of the older generation, who just go on and on about how rotten the Jews are and how they're the source of all the world's problems. I know that some of them don't even know a Jew, have never met a Jew. 

Why was it that these people are so riled up? Why were they so filled with passion, with hate? They didn't even know what was going on, why they were there, what they were doing. And yet for two solid hours they stood and chanted, yelled. How exhausting. But why? Because they are of this world. They are men in Adam, and their father is the devil. This is true of every lost man, every false religion. 

Jesus said to the Pharisees in John 8, “You are of your father the devil, and his works you wish to do.” This is why, my friends, lost men hate Jesus. This is why they hate the Jews and why they hate Christians, because they are part of this world system, sons of Adam and sons of Satan. And the only thing that can change this truth, that can change a man, that can take him out of Adam and put him into Christ, that can make him a new creation with a new heart and a new nature, is the gospel preached, heard, and believed in the saving grace of God by faith in Jesus Christ. 

This is the only way. And this is the focus of Paul in the early church as we see in the book of Acts. This is what they were doing. This is what they were about. This is what we heard from Stephen last Sunday, so encouraged by Stephen's words. He was so excited that we're just doing the same thing he's doing over there. 

I loved what he said. If you're wondering if you're in the right place, you're in the right place. Because we just believe in teaching through the Word of God and going out into our communities and preaching the gospel so that men might be saved. 

So we see a commotion about the way. We see cash on the line. We see confusion among the people, the crowd, and finally, we see calm. Verse 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? Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly. For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess. 

Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a case against anyone, the courts are open and there are procouncils. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you have any other inquiry to make, it shall be determined in the lawful assembly. 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.'” When he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly. 

Well, there was one guy that could get this situation under control. He was the man in charge of the city. He was set in authority by the Roman government. You see, Ephesus was a free city, meaning they were allowed to govern their own affairs. And this man here, called a clerk, was like the mayor, one in charge. He presided over the city government and he called the assembly together to meet, and he saw to keeping order; this was his responsibility. 

And that's what he does here. He calms things down, returns order to the city because he knew that this was not a good situation. This was the type of thing that would draw attention from Rome, and they could suffer some real consequences for such a riot. So he appeals to them, telling them to look at the temple, the goddess. No one could dispute the great goddess Diana. There was no real threat here to the established religion of the world. Calm down, don't worry about these things. 

And I want you to notice what he says about Paul and his friends, the Christians as well in verse 37. He says, “For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess.” He says, "Listen, these Christians, they're not thieves, they've not robbed temples, and look at this, neither are they blasphemers of your goddess." 

You see, my brothers and sisters, Paul and the early church was not on a social crusade. They were not rebellious in their spirits. They were not thieves. They were not rabble-rousers. They lived a holy life. And they were not out to fix all the ills of the world by fighting, to protest, or to blaspheme or to legislate. They were fixed on preaching the gospel and appealing to men to believe, and in this way they were seeing men changed. 

Verse 40 says, “We are in danger of being called in question for today's uproar, look, there being no reason which we may give to account for this disorderly conduct, disorderly gathering.” There was no charge against Paul or the others that could stick. They were not acting in sedition against the government or trying to change the status quo; they were interested in individuals' souls, in men being saved. 

Paul taught in several places that we should obey the authorities over us, up to the point where they forbid us to do something that God commands or command us to do something that God forbids. Turn over to 1 Timothy 2 with me, please. I just think it's profound that this pagan man, this leader of the city, stood up and made these comments concerning Paul and his friends, concerning the Christians. 

First Timothy 2:1, Paul says, "'Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.'” 

Paul ties together a quiet and peaceful life in reverence and obedience to authority to all men being saved and coming to the knowledge of the truth. In 1 Thessalonians 4, 9 he says, "'But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. And indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia, but we urge you, brethren, to increase all the more. And that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, to work with your hands as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.'" 

It matters that we lead a quiet and peaceable life, that we obey the government, that we work with our hands, that we be productive members of society, good citizens because this is part of our witness, my friends. We are not to be rebellious people; we are not here to fix the problems of this world, to gain power and influence to rule over this world or to make this world Christian. That is not our calling. This world lies under the sway of the wicked one. 

Our calling is to preach the gospel, to lead men to faith in Jesus, to change hearts and souls one person at a time. This system, this world, is Satan's, the God, the ruler of this age. We are to stand for what is right. We are to preach the truth into the darkness, but we are not to offend and cause trouble to make a nuisance of ourselves, being busybodies in other people's business where it is not necessary for the furtherance of the gospel. 

You see, my brothers and sisters, the gospel of Jesus Christ is offensive. It is trouble. It is confrontational to the thinking and ways and very nature of the men of this world. We will offend by truth, by holiness, by the gospel. We will confront men and present them with a choice. But this is the proper place to offend. This is the proper place to confront. 

It's at the point of truth of man's sin of need and his personal inability to save himself through religion or any other means. And we are here to present the only answer to his need, the only way for him to be saved from the wrath of God to come, and that is through the grace of God manifest at the cross, shown through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and only by faith in Him. 

My brothers and sisters, it is important that the people of this world have no charge against us morally, personally, to charge us as thieves or drunkards or adulterers or rabble-rousers or busybodies. It matters that we live a quiet and peaceable life, and work with our hands, and seek the good of all men, loving all men as Jesus loves them, even as He gave Himself for them. 

This is the example of the early church. Paul caused a riot. The whole place went berserk. They wanted to kill him. And yet the leader of the city stood up and said, “Hey, these guys aren't bad people. They aren't thieves and robbers, blasphemers.” 

Paul said over and over, when we came to you, we made our own way. We worked with our hands. We didn't take from you. We didn't cause trouble. We don't see any rebellious nature of Paul but we see him unwilling to compromise the truth. 

I believe it is profound that we see here from the words of this pagan leader in the city of Ephesus, after all that had happened there, after Paul had come and turned the place upside down just by preaching, just by the gospel, by the Word of God spoken and taught thoroughly, the myriads who had been saved, who had repented of their ways of magic and paganism, burning their books, casting away their idols. For almost three years now, this had been going on. 

Surely the mayor of the city was aware of all of this, and there were certainly those of his constituents, powerful men, who did not like all of this, but he could stand up before them, even in the midst of this tumult, and say, “You have nothing to charge these men with. They've done nothing wrong.” And if you think you have a complaint, then take it to the courts. Go to law. Settle this orderly. We're a place of order, he says. 

If it's not a legal matter, wait for the next assembly. Three times a month he gathered the assembly to meet concerning matters of the city. He says, because you have no reason to give to the Roman government why you should have brought this crowd together and whipped them into a fervor and stood here and yelled and screamed for two hours, now go home. 

What a testimony, my friends. Was Paul willing to offend? Was he willing to do the hard things, confront the Jews in the synagogue and show them that the religion was not going to get them to heaven, that Jesus is the only way? Was he willing to go on the street corner and preach the sin and inability of man and the salvation that's found only in Jesus Christ? 

Was he willing to set the city into an uproar over him when the power of the gospel took hold? Yes. A thousand times yes. Clear, powerful preaching and teaching and equipping of the brethren by the Word of God so that they could go out and do the same. 

But in all of this, he did not attack and blaspheme and seek to challenge the governing authorities. He did not live a life of sin and debauchery. He was careful to lead a quiet and peaceable life, to show himself a good citizen, to be productive and helpful to men, and to show the love of Christ that had been poured into his heart. 

He was a fiery preacher, clear, set on truth, unwavering, uncompromising, but they could lay no legal or social charge against him other than that he preached Jesus as the way. That's the lesson here in our text for us this morning, my friends, in the context of our church, our ministries, our witness in this perverse and dark and sinful world in which we live. 

This is how we should live and this, the gospel, Jesus preaching and teaching the truth should be our focus and our purpose so that men might be saved, that God might be glorified in the church, and that we might grow together into one to become mature, perfect men, to be discerning, not tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine and that we might be able to go out into this world equipped to bring the good news to lost men. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we thank You again for Paul's testimony. We thank You again for his witness in these pages of the book of Acts that You've recorded for us. Thank You for the lessons we can learn from him, and thank You for the Word of God that grew mightily and prevailed. We pray that You would work that way in our lives, in our church, in our communities for Your glory in Jesus' name.