Reaching a City (Part 1 of 2)

The Gospel has an impact on every aspect of our lives. When we become followers of Jesus, that transforms what we value, what we think of as important, including how we spend our time and our money, and as a result, not everyone sees the Gospel as good news.

Today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg examines the mixed responses to the apostle Paul's preaching of the Gospel in Ephesus. I invite you to turn, if you would, to the portion of Scripture that was read earlier from Acts chapter 19. Now, before we look at the Bible together, before we turn to the Word of the Lord, we turn to the Lord of the Word. O Lord, you have given us your Word as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We pray now that by the Holy Spirit the light may shine out in such a way that we both understand and heed what it says. We are entirely dependent upon you for this, and it is to you alone that we look. And we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. Well, we've set ourselves the task of following Paul on the tail end of his missionary journey, a journey that is going to take him by the time we get to the final verses of Acts to the city of Rome itself, and it will be there that he takes his leave of us. We have been looking at chapter 19 and have discovered that what we have here is, if you like, a synopsis of a tremendous amount of time and a great deal of material. Paul spent longer in Ephesus than he did in any other city, at least as Luke records it for us. And indeed, much of what he refers to in 1 and 2 Corinthians concerning his imprisonment and various factors in his life probably took place during his time in Ephesus. But what Luke does for us in chapter 19 is essentially provide a series of four pictures with, if you like, comments that are interwoven between them. And I like to think in terms of pictures, as you know, and some of you do too, and the first picture that he has essentially provided for us, which we saw a couple of weeks ago, was a picture of about twelve men there in verse 7, twelve individuals who were simply, apparently, almost Christians.

And from that, he would have given us a picture of him in the lecture hall of Tyrannus as he engaged in these daily discussions over a period of some months and indeed years. Then the picture of the seven sons of Seva, who was a Jewish chief priest by his own designation. Actually, he probably had very little attachment to that, but he and his sons were involved in all kinds of magic, hocus-pocus, and when they tried to employ the name of Jesus, it backfired on them, and they became the seven streakers of Seva, as we saw in verse 16. And then, into this final section, he provides us with a picture of what is a large group scene, which becomes a mob scene, which in point of fact eventually becomes simply a riot. Now, it is with this great disturbance that he refers to in verse 23, a great disturbance about the way—the way being another way of referring to Christianity—about that time, Luke says, there arose a great disturbance about the way. And then he proceeds to tell us what had happened, why it ensued, and provide for us not simply a record of what Paul did on that occasion, but also essentially provide for us something of a strategy, if you like, for how men and women in any generation may seek to make an impact for the gospel in the cities and urban centers of their day. Now, in order to help us through what is a fairly large section of verses, I'd like for us simply to pay attention to the various characters or groups of characters as we are introduced to them. And we are initially introduced to a character in verse 24, representative of a group of craftsmen. And you will see there that the craftspeople who were directly involved in the construction of silver shrines, along with related craftsmen in verse 25, were brought together under the leadership of a silversmith by the name of Demetrius.

Demetrius was greatly concerned as a result of a number of things. He identifies them. He says, you can see in verse 26, and you can actually hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people, not only here in Ephesus but practically the whole province of Asia. Why, what is it that he's saying that is causing such a disruption? Well, he's saying that man-made gods are no gods at all. Well, that's a bit of a problem if you earn your living by creating little man-made gods.

It would be one thing if it was simply a philosophical discussion, are man-made gods real or are they not real? But when you got up in the morning with a big box of man-made gods and put them on a table somewhere in the city, and you put food on the table for your family on a daily basis on the strength of your sale of these things, for somebody to walk into the city and begin to declare that these things were superstitious relics and were largely irrelevant, is to be confronted by a great and pressing problem. And so, in these few verses, 25 and 26 and 27, he provides his concerns. He says, you know, if this man is able to continue this, then our trade will lose its good name. The prestige of this great temple will be discredited.

You see that there in verse 27. And indeed, Artemus herself, the one who is worshiped, he says, throughout the province of Asia and the world, she is going to be robbed of her divine majesty. Now, we should just step back for a moment and remind ourselves of what we may have learned—namely, that this particular temple, which was about a mile and a half outside of Ephesus, dominated the skyline. It didn't simply dominate the skyline, but it dominated the whole city. It had been constructed to replace a temple that had been destroyed by fire in the fourth century BC—356 BC, to be exact. And this temple was of gargantuan proportions. It was four times the size of the Parthenon in Athens.

It was built on a hundred and twenty-seven columns, each of which were sixty feet in height and of a significant girth as well, as you can imagine, to hold up such a vast superstructure. Within the framework of this temple sat the defining presence of Artemus, also known as Diana. And she became the focal point of the trade that emerged in the construction of these little shrines. And people had made these shrines. Some of them were in terracotta. Archaeologists have discovered some of those. But the ones that are mentioned here were made of silver.

No archaeologist has discovered any of them to this point. They probably melted down and stashed away by some entrepreneur. But the little shrines were the epitome of the structure of the temple, and they contained a little effigy, if you like, of Artemus herself. And what people did was they came into Ephesus, they bought these little shrines, then they took them up to the temple, and in the temple they had somebody bless them, and then as a result of the little blessing that they had, they were able to take them home and put them in a place of significance and attach great attention to them. In other words, what was happening in Ephesus is the same thing that was happening yesterday when we were in Washington, D.C. People were out in the souvenir trade, applying their wares, offering things to men and women so that they could have a little representation of the Capitol building or the Washington Monument, or perhaps of the White House itself. Lots of signs saying, Three T-shirts for ten dollars. And if you saw the T-shirts, you'd understand why they were as inexpensive as they were. But eventually, crowds of people just wander in the city, bearing testimony to the fact that they have found significance in their purchases.

Most of that is largely innocuous. Where it becomes significant is when people are making purchases and attaching to them religious significance and attaching to them the kind of allegiance and devotion that is due only to the living God. Demetrius became a rabble-rouser. He was obviously concerned for the well-being of himself and his colleagues, and he was concerned that people were being led astray. Paul is coming here suggesting something that clearly isn't true, he said to them, and if we're not careful, all kinds of people are going to be led astray.

He says—again, notice verse 26c—he says that man-made gods are no gods at all. Now you get the picture clearly. The religious devotion and their economic receipts were being impinged upon by the visit of Paul and his friends. This was the prevalent way in which the story of Jesus was showing its face in the city of Ephesus. It wasn't because there were a lot of people walking around with banners or with signs.

It was identified as a result of the drop-off in economic activity. You should know that for just a moment. Especially when we think, Well, how would it become apparent that the gospel message was making an impact in Cleveland? Well, of course, we may not be able even to answer that accurately.

But it is a good question to ask. I wonder if the gospel really began to impinge upon the structures of authority and of government and of economics in the city of Cleveland, where and how would it be obvious to men and women? Because this is quite a striking thing, isn't it? What we're discovering here in Ephesus is not that the people in Ephesus began to recognize that Paul was a terrific preacher, began to recognize that Paul and his companions were saying significant things. That was happening. But the way in which the gospel got out, if you like, the way in which it made an impact, was in an entirely different way. And people began to look at their receipts at the end of the day and say, What is happening in Ephesus that people are not buying these little shrines in the quantities that they were?

Something must have happened to change their minds or change their convictions. And Demetrius said, It's that character Paul. That stuff that he's saying in the synagogues, and when he gossips it around in the marketplace, and that material that he was offering in the lecture hall of Tyrannus, that is subversive material. And he got the crowd so pumped up that in verse 28, the crowd scene is quite spectacular. When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting. Began shouting. What did they shout?

Great is Artemus of the Ephesians! And as the little group began to shout, it begins to build. Verse 29, Soon the whole city was in an uproar. Now, there's no sense in which this is orchestrated particularly.

It's just the overspill of people's fervent reaction to what they've discovered. The gospel has hit their pocketbook. The gospel has hit their bottom line. The gospel has challenged their religious devotion.

There's no way in which they can simply sideline this. There's no way in which Paul has simply entered Ephesus and said, You know, I know that Ephesus is largely in control of Artemus. I know you have a big temple here. I'm just a little converted Jewish man. I don't want to make a fuss.

I don't really want to influence anybody unduly, but I wonder if I could have a little table here in the market square. I just like to put out some literature about Jesus of Nazareth. No, he doesn't do that. He walks into town, and he says, Jesus is Lord. Therefore, Jesus is the living God and King. Therefore, man-made gods are no gods at all. Of course, he'd done the same in Ephesus, hadn't he? He spoke to the folks in Ephesus, and he said, The God who made the world and everything in it does not live in temples made by hands. In other words, he challenged the thought forms of his day.

He spoke with absolute certainty. The current issue of Time magazine has an article by Charles Krauthammer, a Jewish gentleman, entitled In Defense of Certainty. I commend it to you.

You can find it in the magazine racks. It will be worth a read. I won't read it to you all, but it makes a point that is necessary and applicable here. He begins, Things come in waves, of course, but waves need to be resisted.

The new wave is fashionable doubt. Doubt is in, certainty is out. And then he goes on to say, Do you remember 9-11? Do you remember how you felt, the moral clarity of that day and the days thereafter? Just days after 9-11, on this very page, Lance Morrow wrote a brilliant, searing affirmation of right against wrong, good against evil. A few years of that near-papal certainty is more than any self-respecting intelligentsia can take. The overwhelmingly secular intellectuals are embarrassed that they once nodded in assent to moral-like certainty, an affront to their self-flattering pose as skeptics.

Enough. A new day. A new wave. Time again for nuance, doubt, and the comforts of relativism.

It is not just the restless search for novelty, the artist's holy grail. It is weariness with the responsibilities and the nightmares that come with clarity, and the demands that moral certainty make on us as individuals and as a nation. Certainty causes men and women to take sides. Certainty causes men and women to make decisions. Certainty forces a response. But the waves of uncertainty and the waves of doubt which are prevalent in our culture make it such that anyone who then speaks with certainty or speaks with clarity is regarded as immediately being suspect.

Paul, within the framework of the pluralism of a Greek or Roman world, remains certain. He says when he writes to the Corinthians, the love of Christ compels me. On another occasion, he says, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. No shilly-shallying.

Why? Because he is convinced of the eternal validity of the truth that he has been made a bearer of. And again, in our contemporary culture, the challenge of speaking with certainty is more than mitigated by the concerns of men and women who want simply to shout down the convinced. And that's all this group does. Their only response to the clarity of Paul from the crowd is the shouting of themselves hoarse. And in the uprising that ensues, we're told that they seize a couple of Paul's companions, Gaius and Aristarchus. They march them as one man into the theater.

If you've been to Ephesus, you've seen the theater. It's an immensely wonderful thing to stand in the midst of all of that and realize you're standing essentially within the framework where the apostles and others stood. In contemporary terms, it would be that a great uprising took place. People came out into the streets.

They began to chant against the declaration that the gospel was making. They began to move in a surging crowd, eventually going down into the city and arriving at the Brown Stadium. And there in the Brown Stadium, gathered into a great arena and conflagration of fervor for Artemus, they chanted and chanted and chanted. And in the midst of that, as one man, they picked up a couple of unsuspecting characters who are identified here, and they rushed them in to use them as illustrations. So you have, then, the craftsmen, and then you have the crowd, and then we're introduced to the city clerk.

Well, actually, we're not really immediately introduced to the city clerk, because in verses 33 and 34, we have a couple of important insights. First of all, that the assembly was in confusion. Some were shouting one thing, some were shouting another thing, and most of the people didn't even know why they were there. It's almost humorous, isn't it?

I think it probably is. I think this is one of the little insights into Luke's humor. Some shouted one thing, some shouted another thing, and if you ask the majority of the people, they didn't even know why they were shouting at all. Now, in the midst of that confused crowd, the Jews, wishing verse 33 to distinguish themselves from Paul and his colleagues, choose a poor, unsuspecting fellow Alexander, and they push him to the front. And eventually, he manages to motion for silence. You see him standing there in front of the vast crowd, putting up his hands for silence. Then he just turns around and walks back to his place, because as a result of his request for silence, when they realized he was a Jew, they shouted in unison for about two hours. But the city clerk, the liaison officer between the civic government and the Roman provincial administration, he knew how to do it. He was a politician. He understood it, and he was able to do what Alexander was unable to do, namely silence the crowd.

Verse 35, the city clerk quietened the crowd. This fellow is polished. He's intelligent. He knows the ropes. He has influence. And he, in a masterful way, brings a measure of clarity and sanity to these riotous proceedings. And look at what he does. He just says four things.

I'll point them out to you. First of all, he says, Men of Ephesus, doesn't all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemus and of her image, which fell from heaven? Now, the immediate impact on that, of course, once he's got quiet, is for people to begin to say, Well, that's interesting, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, that's good. Uh-huh.

Yeah. Secondly, he says, you need to realize that since these facts are undeniable, you should just be quiet and not do anything rash. This fellow's a pragmatist.

He's a good politician. Then in verse 37, he says, And furthermore, you need to realize that these men that you've brought here, they're innocent. I mean, they haven't been robbing temples.

They haven't been blaspheming our goddess. I mean, we've got no legitimate charge against them. So thirdly, if you folks know something I don't know, if Demetrius and his friends has a concern that is a legitimate concern, then they can use the normal legal channels, the proconsuls are around, they can be approached, and they can get a verdict on the strength of the structures of our time. Fourthly, if we're not careful, he says, we as a city are in danger of being charged with civil disorder. And if it was to get back to Rome—then, of course, there's a measure of self-preservation in this, presumably. He's the liaison officer.

He's supposed to look after things. If it was to get back to Rome that there's a commotion that is ensued, then we wouldn't be able to give an account for the commotion at the end of verse 40 there. Why? Because there's no reason for it. Now, I want you to note that because this is very, very important as we come to our final point. Here is the testimony of, if you like, an objective bystander. Here is the testimony of someone who takes the political route, takes the pragmatic journey, stands on the side, and looks at things but is honest enough to report it as is. There's no reason for all the shouting. The two characters that you've dragged in here are innocent.

There are normal legal channels if someone has a beef. And fourthly, frankly, we ought to get home to our beds as soon as possible, because if this commotion reaches Rome and they come to investigate, neither myself nor anyone else is going to give any reasonable explanation for what is going on, because there is no reason for it. And then verse 41, after he said this, he dismissed the assembly. We go to chapter 20 next time, when the uproar had ended, so it came to a conclusion. You're listening to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life with a message titled, Reaching a City.

We'll hear the conclusion on Monday. If you're enjoying this study in the book of Acts, you'll want to request the book we are recommending today. It's called Saved, Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Acts, and it's packed with dramatic accounts of how the Holy Spirit worked to bring salvation to thousands of followers of Christ and how he transformed their lives. This is an easy-to-follow guide to the book of Acts. The author, Nancy Guthrie, points out key events and important themes that are woven through the text. At the back of the book, she provides a timeline of the events recorded in this New Testament narrative. As you read this book, you'll find yourself immersed in the conversion stories of thousands of people, both Jews and Gentiles, throughout Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and throughout the Roman Empire. You'll read about the Spirit-empowered preaching of the apostles. This book will help you draw a connection between the saving power of God evidenced in the early church and this same saving power at work in our lives today. Request your copy of the book Saved when you donate today to support the Ministry of Truth for Life.

You can use our mobile app or you can give online at truthforlife.org slash donate. Thanks for joining us this week. Hope you have a great weekend and are able to worship with your local church. On Monday, we'll consider how Paul responded to opposition. Should the sins of those who oppose us impact the way we share the Gospel? I hope you'll join us to explore the answer. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life where the Learning is for Living.