Acts 19

The 1980s philosopher Phil Collins once wrote, you always need to hear both sides of the story.

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The first explanation is about people, people that God used to persuade you, to speak to you about the gospel.

The second explanation of how you became a follower of the Lord Jesus is about the grace of God and God's total undeserved kindness.

Both those things are true.

People come to faith because of the work of other people and because of the work of God.

At the end of the day they're the same thing, aren't they?

And in actual fact that reflects a reality that is true all the way through this book of Acts.

What I'm going to call two stories.

There's the story of what the early church and the early Christians were doing.

But there's also the story of what Jesus was doing by his spirit.

Acts is rightly called, isn't it, the Acts of the Apostles.

But it could also be called the Acts of God.

Both those stories are important.

And they are inextricably linked.

You always need to hear both sides of the story.

And so as we come to this chapter in Acts 19, what I want to do is I want to really talk you through the chapter in kind of four different headings.

And then I want to go back over the story and give you four things that God is doing.

So really there's eight points.

But I didn't want to tell you that.

Four really.

Versus one to seven.

Can you look it down?

It's Paul and the disciples with John.

Paul and the disciples of John.

He's been in Ephesus chapter 18.

You might remember that.

And the Ephesians have gone to him and said, Paul, can't you stay a little bit longer?

Paul has declined.

Nevertheless, he told them, I will come back if God allowed him to.

And so here is Paul and the return of Paul to Ephesus.

And when he gets there, the first people that he meets are disciples of John the Baptist.

And they obviously see themselves as believers.

But for some reason, Paul is not sure they've got the same picture.

So he asks them, have you received the Holy Spirit?

They say, received the Holy Spirit?

We haven't even heard of the Holy Spirit.

And so Paul asks them about their baptism.

And they admit, well, we received the baptism for the forgiveness of sins of John the Baptist.

So Paul helps them to understand, doesn't he, things more fully.

The first thing he does is, he says, you need to know that John's ministry, I was pointing forward.

It was pointing to the one who came after him.

So look again at verse 4 of the chapter.

Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance.

Telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him.

That is Jesus.

And so Paul baptizes them again.

And he baptizes them into the name of Jesus.

Paul places his hands upon them.

And the Holy Spirit came to them.

They speak in tongues.

And prophesied.

Again, it is a picture, isn't it, of a mini Pentecost.

That is the point.

What is happening here is unique.

It is quite unique.

Because you and I, when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, the moment that we believe in him, we receive the Holy Spirit.

People don't, ordinarily, break into tongues or prophecy.

This is an unusual time in the history of the church.

The Old Testament era has come to an end in many ways.

John the Baptist is the era's final prophet.

And the New Testament era has arrived with the coming of Jesus and the coming of the Spirit.

So this is, in the book of Acts, a transitional time.

And here we find people who have not made the switch on that day of Pentecost.

The speaking of tongues and prophecy were a sign given to the early church of this new era's arrival.

We mustn't expect what went on in the early church, in that foundational period, to be mirrored exactly today.

And that's why elements of Pentecost are again seen in Acts chapter 19.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

These people must know Christ and they must have his Spirit.

And so Paul is seeking a servant at the end.

That's the first section.

The second section, and Paul preaches publicly.

8 to 11.

Paul, usual strategy, where does he go?

First of all, first stop in town, you go to the synagogue.

To the Jew first.

The Jews, many Jews, as per normal, refused to believe,

despite Paul spending three months there arguing.

And very persuasively, many had hard hearts.

They're described in verse 19, aren't they?

As stubborn, as obstinate.

They publicly criticise the Christian faith.

They refer to it as the way.

That's what the Christian faith was first known as.

The way.

I think it's referring back to Jesus saying,

I am the way.

The truth and the life.

And so as a result, Paul leaves the synagogue and goes elsewhere.

And he chooses to rent a lecture hall, a town hall,

where he's able to hold a lunchtime service.

With people who wanted to come.

People who wanted to engage.

Amazingly, he preached at lunchtimes for two years.

And the outcome, according, well, it's remarkable.

Listen, look at verse 10.

It continued for two years, Paul speaking in this lecture hall,

so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord,

both Jews and Greeks.

That is an astonishing statement.

All the Jews and all the Greeks.

Well, that is kind of everyone, isn't it?

Presumably, that doesn't mean that everyone came and visited the lecture hall in Tyrannus

and heard Paul speak.

But I think it's trying to suggest to you and I that those who heard Paul in that lecture hall

and maybe debated with him,

they went back to their towns and their villages all over Asia

and they talked about that message

so that the news about Jesus spread everywhere.

The reach of Paul's ministry in this way is incredible.

And I guess that's another reminder to you, isn't it?

That obstinate opposition and public criticism

cannot stop the gospel of the Lord Jesus.

Thirdly, and we turn to verses 11 to 22,

and we see there the power of God at work.

Verse 11 and 12 tell us about these miracles

that Paul was able to perform.

Verse 11, God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,

so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin

were carried away to the sick

and their diseases left him

and the evil spirits came out of them.

This is unique, isn't it?

Other people in Ephesus, I'm hearing about this,

they saw this, they thought it's very, very exciting

and suddenly they want a slice of the action.

I was telling somebody this week who was my age

and we were talking about when you were in school.

Do you remember on a Monday or a Tuesday of the week,

somebody would come into school with a yo-yo?

Do you know what a yo-yo is?

And by Friday, everyone in the school had a yo-yo.

It was this astonishing thing, wasn't it?

Do you children know what a yo-yo is?

You don't know what it is, do you?

Ask your parents about what a yo-yo is.

But it was this astonishing craze, wasn't it?

Everyone had a yo-yo.

If you didn't have a yo-yo by the end of the week,

you were badgering the amount of time.

You felt terribly left out.

Well, something similar is happening in verses 11 and 12.

I told these seven sons of Sceva, they're magicians.

They look at what Paul is doing

and they think we've got to get a piece of this action.

But the name of Jesus is not some talisman for these people.

It's gone, pear-shaped.

Verse 16, you have this extraordinary incident.

The evil spirit answered them,

Jesus I know, Paul I recognize, but who are you?

And the man in whom was the evil spirit leapt on them,

mastered all of them, overpowered them.

So they fled out the house naked and wounded.

But God is at work even in this, isn't he?

People of Ephesus, as a result of this,

came to realize that what Paul was doing was not magic.

He really did have the power of God.

Listen to what verse 17 says.

When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus,

they were all seized with fear.

And the name of the Lord Jesus was held high in honor.

But if you read on, people weren't just awed,

they were also repentant.

Verse 18 and 19 tells us that they came and they confessed to what they'd done.

They confessed their sin.

Sorcerers, these magic men,

came and publicly burnt their sorcerer's scrolls

at huge personal cost, we're told.

People were turning from darkness to light,

from the occult to the gospel,

turning from their sins in repentance to the Lord.

And Paul summarizes it, doesn't he, in verse 20,

the word of the Lord, we've seen it before,

spread widely, grew in power.

The last section, verses 23 to 41, is the big uproar.

The big uproar.

A big uproar was caused by the ministry of the gospel in Ephesus.

Verse 23 calls it

a great disturbance.

No little disturbance.

It starts with a guy called Demetrius, he's a silversmith.

And he stirs up his fellow silversmiths in Ephesus,

all of whom made a lot of money

out of creating shrines to the local goddess of the time, Artemis.

And these guys have a bit of an economic problem,

because as people hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus,

they're starting to repent and turn away from their idolatry.

And as a result, there's less work for these guys to do,

and there's less trade for these guys to sell.

And the Artemis idol industry is suffering.

They can see their monthly bank balances getting smaller,

and the Christian church across the road getting bigger.

And when Demetrius tries to convince the other silversmiths

to do something about it,

he doesn't make it sound like his motive is money, does he?

He makes it sound that he's very concerned for the goddess Artemis,

and her worship.

Listen to what he says in verse 27.

And there is a danger that not only this trade of ours

may come into disrepute,

but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis

may be counted as nothing,

and she may even be deposed from her magnificence,

she whom all Asia and the world worship.

The little speech is very effective.

All the tradesmen that have got together to listen,

and Demetrius,

they are roused by this speech,

and they start shouting,

Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!

Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!

And before you know it,

the whole city is up in arms.

There's an angry mob.

And they're looking for a scapegoat,

and so they lay their hands on a couple of Paul's colleagues,

Gaius and Aristarchus,

and they take them to the theatre.

Paul wants to go and speak in their defence,

but his friends talk him out of the commotion.

And so verse 32,

most of the crowd are in such an uproar,

they don't even know why they're there.

They're just swept up in the moment.

A Jewish man, Alexander, at that point,

stands up,

and he speaks to the crowd,

but he's shouted down,

Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!

Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!

Well, in the end,

the authorities get wind of it,

the city clerk turns up,

and he manages to settle the whole thing down.

And he urges the people,

don't get so worked up.

As if the great god Artemis

needs you to defend her.

He reminds the crowd that Gaius and Aristarchus,

they're not guilty of any crime.

And he says that if Demetrius and his mates

want to make a complaint,

go to the courts,

and he sends them all home.

I guess it's a little reminder to you and I,

that God sometimes will use

secular officials to provide justice

and to protect his people

as they speak about his word.

It won't always be like that,

but sometimes it will be like that, isn't it?

That's what we're praying

with the Assisted Suicide Bill,

that even those who don't want anything

to do with the gospel,

that God would cause them to vote

to protect life.

Well, that's a quick summary of Acts 19.

At least from one side of the story.

It's what Paul and his colleagues are doing

and how people are responding to them.

But what I want to do now is to look at the other side of the story

in Acts 19,

the story of God's work.

Four observations.

One from each of the sections.

Number one,

the necessary spirit of God.

It's the most obvious observation of all

to make in Paul's interactions

with the disciples of John.

In verses 1 to 7,

Paul believed that they must have the Holy Spirit.

Paul was not content to leave them as they were.

He thought it was imperative

that they know more about Jesus

and they receive his spirit.

So much so that he baptized them again.

And that reminds you and I

that the spirit of God

is absolutely necessary

for the Christian life.

If you want to know

and follow Jesus,

the receiving of the spirit

is not a secondary matter.

It is essential.

The Holy Spirit is not

an optional extra.

we need the Holy Spirit

to help us to see

who Jesus really is.

We need the Holy Spirit

to help us to grow

in the likeness of the Lord Jesus.

We need the Holy Spirit

to enable us to serve Jesus.

And it is for those reasons

that the New Testament

talks often about the Holy Spirit

and what he does in the life of the Christian

and what he does in

the Christian church.

We need the Holy Spirit

like we need the Lord Jesus.

We depend on him

like we depend upon God

our Father in heaven.

And it ought to be

a source of great rejoicing

for people like us

in the fact that God

gives his Holy Spirit

to people so generously.

And what we see here

calls for gratitude.

And this is what God does

all the time, isn't it?

He knows what we need

before ourselves.

And he supplies what we need

with generous grace.

And that is definitely true

when it comes to the Holy Spirit.

If you are a Christian this morning

if you are a follower

of the Lord Jesus

then the Bible says

that you have

God's Holy Spirit

living inside you.

What does he do?

He assures you

of God's love for you.

He points you

to our future in heaven.

He teaches you

about the Lord Jesus.

He shows you your need.

He grows you

in the character

of the Lord Jesus.

He brings about

the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Love, joy, peace,

patience, kindness,

goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness,

self-control.

The Holy Spirit

has given you gifts

that you might build up

the body of Jesus

as you serve.

And God has given us

all of that

by giving us himself

his spirit.

And we ought to be

very, very grateful.

The second thing we see

about God's story

in this passage

is the irrepressible

word of God.

The unstoppable

word of God.

That's the section,

second section, isn't it?

Paul is preaching

in the synagogue,

in the lecture hall,

and there's great obstinance,

great stubbornness

on the part of his hearers.

But the word goes out

so much that we read

in verse 10

that all the residents

of Asia

heard the word of the Lord,

both Jews and Greeks.

And that is astounding.

And not only that,

in the next section,

there are people out there

trying to muscle in

on Paul's gig.

Trying to reproduce

his miracles

only to discover

that Jesus is not

a genie in a lamp.

Jesus is not at the disposal

of anyone

who just uses his name.

But even that incident

causes people

to fear

God

and to honour

Christ's name.

People repent

of their sins

and that familiar phrase

that we read

in Acts 6,

do you remember it?

The word of the Lord

spread widely

and grew in power.

And if only that

were true

in our day,

in our city,

if only people

in Ealing

and the surrounding area

would hold

the name of Jesus

in high honour,

as verse 17 says,

if only

the Lord's word

would spread

and grow in power,

as verse 20 says,

if only

everyone

who lived in Ealing

might hear

the word of the Lord,

verse 10.

And I trust

that,

like me,

you are praying

for those things.

You are asking God

to make them happen

on your street.

And of course,

we can have

very real confidence,

can't we,

that this is a prayer

that God wants to answer.

Because the word of God

is irrepressible.

opposition

cannot hold it back.

Imposters

cannot knock it

off course.

Circumstances

cannot derail it.

It's one of the

great themes

in the book of Acts,

isn't it?

God's word

is uncontainable.

You cannot stop it

no matter what you do.

God's work

does its work.

And as we talked

about last week,

I think the book of Acts

has been written

for us as a church

to grow expectancy

in our hearts.

To make us

confident of this.

I don't know about you

but I don't know

who you're thinking

of inviting

to Hope Explored.

There's two neighbours

who live over the road.

I have great fun

with them

and I'm terrified

of asking them.

I was speaking

this week

and I nearly

asked them

and I didn't.

I bottled it.

But the book of Acts,

isn't it,

it must give us

confidence

as we think

of the people

that we want

to come and hear

the gospel

that the word

of God

is unstoppable,

uncontainable.

Of course,

there will be days

when there will be

opposition,

there will be neighbours

that say no to us.

And there are times

when opposition

to the gospel

seems very great

and it looks like

nobody wants to listen.

But there will be days,

there are days,

when people hear

the gospel

and respond with joy.

When they welcome

God's message.

When they say to us,

I'd love to come,

I'd love to hear.

And they repent

of their sins

because God's word

is powerful to do that.

Do you believe that?

Because God's word

is powerful to do that.

Do you believe that?

Very enthusiastic.

And we ought to trust

him confidently

to do it.

Number three,

the transforming

power of God.

That's the thing

we see in the third section,

isn't it?

We saw how God's word

changes people's lives.

We see how it

draws them

into costly repentance,

costly turning away

from their sin

and their idolatry

and walking towards God.

And in that moment

of repentance,

the Ephesians,

the Ephesian believers,

they set an example

for you and I,

for all who would

come after us.

So,

for me

and for you,

one of the implications

of this chapter

is to ask ourselves

some pretty hard questions

about repentance.

Is God's word

transforming our lives

like it did here?

Or are we

resistant to it?

And I guess

that is one of the

most striking things,

isn't it,

about the repentance

of these Ephesian

sorcerers.

Verse 19,

they are willing

to give up something

that was very,

very valuable

to them

because they saw

that Jesus

is worth

far more

than what they

previously valued.

And so they were

willing to give up

their sin.

If you're here

this morning

and you're somebody

that wouldn't

describe themselves

as a Christian

or you're not sure

that you are,

I think this raises

a fundamental question.

Could it be

that the very thing

that is stopping you

from becoming

a Christian,

living for the Lord

Jesus,

is deep down

you know

that you would

have to give up

some things?

Probably one thing.

Maybe you're

a young person

here and

you've been taught

the truth of the

gospel,

you've been taught

to know and love

the Lord Jesus,

you can never

remember a time

when you weren't

prayed for,

you can never

remember a time

when your mum

and dad didn't

tell you

about the Lord

Jesus.

But there's

something stopping

you following

him.

And there's

something stopping

you living for

him.

And do you

know what it

is?

Let me tell you

what it is.

it is that

deep down

you know

that you

would have

to give

up something.

Maybe it's

some secrets

and maybe

it's not that.

Maybe it's

being in the

in crowd.

Maybe it's

one of those

kind of things.

But you're

hanging on to

it and you

will not

give it up.

And the

Ephesians

tell us,

they tell you

this,

give it up,

it's worth

it.

It is so,

so worth

it.

Give it up

for Jesus.

They would

say what

you gain

in Jesus

is infinitely

more than

60,000 pieces

of silver

or however

many it

is.

Jesus is

far,

far more

worthy.

Will you

turn away

from your

sins and

start living

for Jesus?

Of course

you might

say,

well,

I need

to know

more,

I'm not

ready to

make that

decision.

Well,

come to

Hope

Explored.

Come again

to it,

sign up to

it,

talk to

someone

about it

after the

service.

But Acts

19 also

raises

questions,

doesn't it,

for those

of us who

already are

Christians.

Because

repentance

is not

just how

the Christian

life begins,

is it?

It's how

the Christian

life continues.

And being

honest with

ourselves and

with God

about our

failures,

and honest

with others

and confessing

our sin and

turning away

from them,

it's costly.

Repentance

is still

costly for

the Christian,

isn't it?

It may be

this morning

that you've

been a

Christian for

many years,

and it's

still possible

for you to

find yourself

in a situation

a bit like

these Ephesian

sorcerers,

that you're

doing something

that you know

is not

right.

And as you

think about it

now,

you feel the

heat of it

and your

conscience

burns within

you.

And to

repent of

it would be

very embarrassing

perhaps and

confronting,

but these

verses ask

us whether

we're ready

to do

that.

and they

ask us to

see Christ

clearly,

to see

who Jesus

is clearly

and so also

to see that

what we're

hanging on

to is

actually not

very much

at all

compared to

Jesus,

compared to

Jesus and

the forgiveness

that he

offers.

And Acts

19 provokes

you and I

to think

hard this

morning about

where we see

the transforming

power of God

in our lives.

And are there

things this

morning we've

just got to

let go of?

The final

thing from

God's side

of the story

is this

passage invites

us to see

something about

the divine

majesty of

God.

The divine

majesty of

God.

I choose

that phrase

carefully because

it's used

in the

passage,

but you'll

have noticed

it was used

about Artemis,

the false

God.

Verse 27,

Demetrius expresses

this anxiety

that he feels

if more and

more people

turn to

Jesus,

then their

goddess is

going to be

robbed of

her divine

majesty.

And we may

wonder,

mightn't we,

whether a

God who can

be robbed of

her divine

majesty is

actually very

majestic at all,

or very

divine.

And then you

see the crowds

chanting,

great is

Artemis of

the Ephesians,

great is

Artemis of

the Ephesians.

And it's

hard not to

think,

isn't it,

they're

trying to

talk

themselves

into it.

Don't

misunderstand me,

the one

true God

doesn't need

anyone to

protect him.

God's

divinity and

his majesty

can never be

stolen from

him.

You cannot

rob God of

that.

He doesn't

need people

to declare

his greatness

in order to

be great.

God has

demonstrated

his unique

power and

wisdom in

the world

and in

human history

from the

very beginning

until now,

supremely in

the death

and resurrection

of his

son,

the Lord

Jesus.

And those

who worship

God,

we do not

need to

whip ourselves

up into

a frenzy,

do we?

Because we

have a

settled and

a quiet

assurance in

our hearts

that God

is who

he says

he is.

And that

Jesus,

God's

son,

is to

be held

high in

honor.

God's

God.

The people

here in

Acts 19

are desperate

to shore

up Artemis'

image and

future.

And while

many in

Ephesus are

chanting

Artemis'

name,

great is

Artemis

the Ephesians,

the one

true God

goes about

his work

really quietly,

making his

word known

by his

spirit,

transforming

his people's

lives.

love

and he

is the

one we

worship

and the

only one

who deserves

to be

worshipped.

And so

once again,

can I make

sure this

morning that

you see

that?

you see the

divine majesty

of God.

And I want

to encourage

you to keep

worshipping him

today,

now and

always.

Grateful for

his spirit who

is with you,

confident in

his irrepressible

word that

cannot be

stopped,

and continually

repentant

because of

his power.

May the

story of

God's work

in Ephesus

be the

story of

his work

here in

us and

amongst us

that we

may know

as a

church the

word of

the Lord

spreading

and growing

in power

to the

high honour

of Jesus.

Amen.

Let's pray.