Today’s message title comes from verse 23. “The way” refers to Christianity. In Hebrews 10:20 it is called “the new living way”. Christians are those who walk in the way. There are times when Christians walk on the way and an unthinkable disturbance occurs, but still they need to continue walking in the way. Not only do they just continue walking on the way, but by doing so they show the world that the way is the only living way and is a way of overflowing power and blessings. Today let’s look at 3 aspects of living by the way.
I. A great disturbance (vs. 21-23)
Whenever Christians strive to walk in the way, they almost always run into problems. In this passage, Paul’s ministry in Ephesus is coming to an end. For 3 years Paul never stopped preaching the Gospel “night and day with tears” in Ephesus. (20:31) When the ministry was slowing to a close, the Holy Spirit led him to go to Jerusalem through Macedonia and Achaia. Paul went through Macedonia and Achaia because of the friction in the Corinthian church. He heard that there were many problems in the Corinthian church. He tried to solve the problem by sending letters to the church, but they didn’t solve the problems well. Therefore, Paul thought of not only going to Corinth to help solve the problems there, but to also encourage the church face to face. However, his plan didn’t end there. He thought of going from there to Jerusalem and then from there on to Rome. Like the 2nd missions trip this was to report to the Jerusalem church about the 3rd mission trip and also to give the offerings from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia.
Paul’s reason for wanting to go to Rome was not only that Rome was the center of the world, but because at that time Rome was considered to be the “ends of the earth”. Paul knew that bringing the Gospel to the “ends of the earth” was the will of God.
Acts 1:8
In order for this promise to be fulfilled, it was necessary that the word of God be spread to “the ends of the earth”, Rome. This was the will of God. However when Paul wanted to follow the Holy Spirit and go through Macedonia and Achaia to Jerusalem and Rome, the Bible tells us that he ran into a problem. First Timothy and Epaphras were sent to Macedonia and Achaia. Paul was planning to go later, but was going to stay in Ephesus for a short time. However at that time a great disturbance occurred. There was a silversmith name Demetrius who made a good living by making silver idols of Artemis. Lot’s of people were making decisions for Christ so it was putting him and the other craftsmen out of business so they caused a great disturbance. Paul’s good plans of going to Jerusalem and then on to Rome by way of Macedonia and Achaia were being blocked. Whenever we are moving forward with the Gospel and tackling the spread of the Kingdom of God problems occur which puts an obstacle in the way.
The time has come for the Nishiyama family to leave for their evangelistic missionary field. However, a problem occurred. The papers they needed from the language school in order to get a student visa didn’t come. When they contacted the school they found out that the documents that the school had sent had gotten lost. The school told them come on a traveling visa and later change the visa status to student. Therefore, they are planning to go. Whenever, we start to move forward for the Kingdom of God, things like this happen.
About 445 B.C. Nehemiah who had returned to Jerusalem started to build the temple walls again and the same thing happened. People objected to the work. When Sanballat and Tobiah, an Ammonite, heard that the wall was being repaired, they got mad, and fought against it. Tobiah said, “What they are building-if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!” (Neh. 4:3) They got even madder when the Israelites continued to work on the wall regardless of his threat. They plotted together to put an obstacle in the way of building and “stir up trouble against it.” (Neh. 4:8). Therefore the Israelites continued working on the wall by working with one hand and holding a weapon in their other hand. They were able to complete the wall within 52 days. God didn’t allow the wall to be built without any obstacles in the way. Rather, He led them to overcome the obstacles and to complete the wall. We are the same.
I Timothy 3:12
Paul was persecuted so much! When we are tackling the spread of the King of God, some kind of obstacle always occurs. However no matter what kind of obstacle it is, a really victorious person will overcome it. How do we overcome these obstacles? Let’s next look at how Paul overcame them.
II. The power of the Gospel (vs. 24-32)
Paul’s evangelism became a trigger for a great disturbance that occurred in Ephesus. This was because Demetrius and the other silversmiths were making a good living on making silver idols of Artemis. However, Paul said that things made by hands were not gods so their business went bad. Therefore, Demetrius caused a huge ruckus. Artemis was originally one of the Olympus gods known as a goddess of the hunt, the forest, and wildlife. In the area of Ephesus from old times Artemis became tied with the fertility gods. Therefore, Artemis was a woman with many breasts and was worshiped as a god of many births. The shrine where Artemis was worshiped, the Shrine of Artemis, was a gorgeous beautiful shrine. It greatly influenced Ephesus religion and economy. It was said that the festivals and customs related to this shrine built up Ephesus. When there were festivals many worshipers and tourists came and had a great influence on the economy of Ephesus. Around the temple were many store booths and there were many which sold the silver idols of Artemis and was one of the major items sold there. Therefore, many people’s livelihood in Ephesus was connected to Artemis.
The other day when Dr. Gessley came we took him and his wife to Nikko Toshogun Temple. Nikko is the same. There are many souvenir shops and restaurants there. The people of Nikko depend upon the temple for their livelihood. If it disappeared they would have a difficult time. This is what happened in Ephesus. Paul came and said that that these things made by hands are not gods. Therefore, many people turned to the real God so Artemis and the temple were no longer necessary for them. Demetrius’ sales went way down so he gathered together the other people of the same profession and accused Paul. Probably he was like the head of an union.
The accusation against Paul consisted of 3 points.
1. They receive a good income because of the work they do.
2. Because Paul was saying that the idols made by human hands were not gods the great Artemis temple was not only discredited, but she “will be robbed of her divine majesty.” (27)
3. As a result they were in danger of loosing their jobs and their reputation. In other words, what Demetrius is giving as the problem is that their lifestyle is at stake. At a short glance it looks like they are worried about Artemis’ glory, but in reality that is not what they see as the problem. In reality they are worried about the danger of their business not being able to stand. This was the cause of the disturbance. This is the same as when Paul evangelized in Philippi. When Paul cast the evil spirit out of the slave that was possessed with an evil spirit, her owner brought Paul before the magistrates. It was for the same reason; they were making money off of her. They had lost their income so they brought Paul before the magistrates.
Jesus had the same thing happen when he went to Gerasenes. Jesus drove evil spirits out of the man. The evil spirits “went into pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.” (Mark 5:13) Therefore, the owners of the pigs went and told everyone about it and all the people pleaded “with Jesus to leave their region.” (17) A lot of people think of the worship of God as a means of profit. Demetrius was such a person. He said, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.” (28) However, at the same time in his heart he was only thinking about his own wallet. Unfortunately as a result the disturbance escalated. “Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and rushed as one man into the theater.” It had developed into a riot. Lots of people didn’t even know why they were there. The crowd had become hysteric. It was out of control.
When you think about it the riot was the result of Paul preaching the Gospel. The Gospel that Paul preached changed the Ephesians’ hearts. It changed the hearts of worshippers throughout Asia. Those who received the Gospel that Paul was preaching no longer needed the Great goddess Artemis. They were changed into people who didn’t need the temple. The Gospel has that much power!
II Cor. 5:17
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. It is the power to change people from being in a state of death to return to the living God. This is one of the reasons that the Roman empire began to persecute Christians so heavily. Christianity may not do anything, but by preaching the Gospel, it has the power to make the businesses of those who support other religious temples, and who make their livelihood by selling things go down. It has the power to change people’s lifestyles and hobbies. This is the way. This is what caused the disturbance. It is natural for this kind of disturbance to take place because their livelihood depended upon their sales. However, what is more important than you own lifestyle is what the truth is that leads people to salvation. If the road you have been walking on up until now is wrong, even if in may effect your lifestyle, it is necessary to return to the right road. Then the Lord will take care of us.
The God that we believe in is the true God. This God has the power to make us into totally new people. We are made anew by the Gospel. When we preach the Gospel, we have many struggles, but at the same time this is showing the power of the Gospel. No matter how big of a problem it causes, there is no need to be afraid. We need only to believe in the power of the Gospel to save and stand strongly upon the Gospel.
III. Trusting in the Living God (vs.33-41)
“The assembly was in confusion and no one knew what they were doing. Then “the Jews pushed Alexander to the front, and some of the crowd shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence for in order to make a defense before the people. But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’” (33,34) There was no solution to the problem. It was the city clerk who finally quieted the crowd. He said “Men of Ephesus, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to be quiet and not do anything rash.” (35,36) After saying this he said about the Christians they had brought, “they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess.” (37) In other words he pronounced them “not guilty”. Then he gives his advice to Demetrius in verses 38 and 39.
The city clerk’s words were successful in calming down the crowds. We don’t know if he believed in Artemis or not. His only concern was that the riot calm down before they were “charged with rioting” (40) In other words he was afraid of his life. Therefore, he was no different than Demetrius.
You will notice that Paul says nothing during this time. This is because Paul wasn’t there. Paul wanted to go there, “but the disciples would not let him.” In other words neither Paul nor anyone else gave a defense or a message. The riot just started and stopped on its own. Luke was probably writing this to show through this riot who the real true God is. In other words, the shallowness of idols made by human hands, people who use religion for their own livelihood.
The real God is not made by human hands. His divine majesty is not robbed. The real God does not have to cause a riot against other faiths in order that the real God’s faith will stand. The real God gives peace and meaning. He gives the only answer for death. He forgives sin. Without saying anything, He calms down rioting. There are people who use religion for their profit. The real god is whom we need to trust. When we try to walk on the way of truth many obstacles appear, but we need to trust in the real God. We need to put our faith in the true God and worship Him. We need to pray and read the Bible and trust in God. This is the key to overcoming obstacles put in our path.
Matt. 6:31-34
The problem is what we are putting first in our lives. Our lives are full of problems that we can worry about. However, God wants us to trust in him instead of worrying. That’s because our God is real. He is awesome. He will give us all things. This is what the riot in Ephesus is teaching us.