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The Word Prevails (Acts 19) · Prodigal Hope

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SPEAKER_00: Acts 19 is actually a chapter I've been circling for a while.
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SPEAKER_00: Actually,
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SPEAKER_00: as Pastor Eric can attest,
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SPEAKER_00: we've had conversations about this chapter for several weeks going back into
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SPEAKER_00: when we were going through Exodus.
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SPEAKER_00: And I've kind of been just waiting, letting this chapter stew for a while.
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SPEAKER_00: And now we're here this morning and I'm excited to hopefully share what
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SPEAKER_00: the Lord has laid on my heart about this particular passage.
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SPEAKER_00: It's one I've been waiting on for a while.
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SPEAKER_00: And by the way, I'm going to...
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SPEAKER_00: Originally, I was just going to focus on what Pastor Eric read.
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SPEAKER_00: But I wanted that to be our scripture reading because actually what we're going
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SPEAKER_00: to try and do is cover the whole thing.
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SPEAKER_00: The whole chapter,
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SPEAKER_00: which of course wasn't my original intention,
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SPEAKER_00: but you know, Holy Spirit and all that kind of stuff.
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SPEAKER_00: But we're going to cover the whole thing.
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SPEAKER_00: And don't worry, if it goes a little long, we got lunch provided for you.
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SPEAKER_00: So don't worry about that.
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SPEAKER_00: But anyways, here we are this morning, Acts 19.
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SPEAKER_00: And I want you to notice...
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SPEAKER_00: To begin,
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SPEAKER_00: I want you to notice the statement that Demetrius,
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SPEAKER_00: who we will call the rabble-rousing silversmith,
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SPEAKER_00: notice the statement he makes regarding the Apostle Paul and his ministry,
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SPEAKER_00: verse number 26.
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SPEAKER_00: Let me get there as well.
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SPEAKER_00: Verse number 26.
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SPEAKER_00: He says, you,
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SPEAKER_00: talking to a bunch of other silversmiths and craftsmen,
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SPEAKER_00: he says,
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SPEAKER_00: you see and you hear that not only in Ephesus,
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SPEAKER_00: so not only in our hometown,
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SPEAKER_00: not only in our local neighborhoods,
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SPEAKER_00: but in almost all of Asia,
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SPEAKER_00: this Paul, this Paul fella has persuaded and turned away a great many people.
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SPEAKER_00: Just pause there for a second because I think it's so fascinating
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SPEAKER_00: to note how even Demetrius is noticing how well known it was that Paul,
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SPEAKER_00: a preacher of Jesus, what is commonly referred to in the book of Acts.
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SPEAKER_00: That's what Christianity was called.
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SPEAKER_00: That Paul had set up a little shop, so to speak, in Ephesus.
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SPEAKER_00: From where he was preaching and convincing people that Jesus
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SPEAKER_00: of Nazareth had actually raised from the dead.
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SPEAKER_00: Demetrius was aware of this.
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SPEAKER_00: But notice, Demetrius' outlook on this is entirely negative.
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SPEAKER_00: Again, notice what he says.
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SPEAKER_00: You see, he's persuaded people.
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SPEAKER_00: And notice...
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SPEAKER_00: Turn people away.
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SPEAKER_00: A great many people away.
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SPEAKER_00: So even this unbeliever is noticing the spread,
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SPEAKER_00: the widespread furtherance in advance of the gospel.
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SPEAKER_00: But in his eyes, Paul's ministry was only successful in turning folks away.
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SPEAKER_00: But the question is, away from what?
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SPEAKER_00: Well, verse 27, he gives us the answer.
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SPEAKER_00: There is danger, he says.
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SPEAKER_00: Not only that this trade, silversmiths of ours, may come into disrepute.
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SPEAKER_00: But also the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing.
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SPEAKER_00: And that she may even be deposed.
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SPEAKER_00: That her magnificence is going to be ruined.
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SPEAKER_00: She, whom all Asia in the world worshipped.
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SPEAKER_00: I find this little moment so incredibly fascinating.
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SPEAKER_00: So you have Demetrius,
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SPEAKER_00: this unbeliever,
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SPEAKER_00: he's talking to other guys and they're getting mad and we're going to explain that
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SPEAKER_00: in a minute.
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SPEAKER_00: They're mad at the move of the gospel,
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SPEAKER_00: but even they have to recognize that it's moving,
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SPEAKER_00: that something is going on in Ephesus and not just Ephesus.
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SPEAKER_00: But the whole region, he says, something's happening.
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SPEAKER_00: The word of the Lord, he wouldn't use those words, but we can know it.
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SPEAKER_00: That's what's going on.
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SPEAKER_00: The word of the Lord is on the move.
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SPEAKER_00: And it's so undeniable that something is happening
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SPEAKER_00: that even this unbelieving silversmith is noticing it.
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SPEAKER_00: Now from the beginning of the book of Acts,
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SPEAKER_00: which is written by Luke,
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SPEAKER_00: the same guy who wrote the gospel known as Luke,
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SPEAKER_00: this has sort of been his whole sort of jive.
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SPEAKER_00: This has been his whole sort of thing.
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SPEAKER_00: Luke has been reporting.
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SPEAKER_00: Basically,
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SPEAKER_00: he's a historian,
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SPEAKER_00: he's a physician,
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SPEAKER_00: he's very meticulous,
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SPEAKER_00: he's very detailed,
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SPEAKER_00: and he's basically been reporting on how this gospel,
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SPEAKER_00: this news,
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SPEAKER_00: this good news that Jesus of Nazareth,
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SPEAKER_00: he's not dead,
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SPEAKER_00: he's actually risen, he's been reporting on how that has been spreading.
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SPEAKER_00: And if you read the end of Luke and then you jump into the beginning of Acts,
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SPEAKER_00: it's really fascinating to notice that sequence.
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SPEAKER_00: Because what started out Christianity,
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SPEAKER_00: the way,
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SPEAKER_00: those who followed Jesus,
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SPEAKER_00: what started out was sort of this fringe group of disciples who were making claims
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SPEAKER_00: that their rabbi had actually risen from the dead after being so rich.
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SPEAKER_00: Paul was shamelessly crucified.
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SPEAKER_00: Now, if you jump all the way to chapter number 19 where we are this morning,
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SPEAKER_00: now this was a full-blown movement that was reaching all across not just Israel
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SPEAKER_00: and Jerusalem and Judea, all the way up into Asia Minor.
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SPEAKER_00: And, by the way, by this time Paul even has bigger ambitions than just that.
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SPEAKER_00: If you look at verse 21...
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SPEAKER_00: What does he say?
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SPEAKER_00: Now after these events Paul resolved in the spirit to pass through Macedonia
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SPEAKER_00: and Achaia to go to Jerusalem saying after I've been there I must see Rome.
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SPEAKER_00: And if you read his letter to the Romans what does he say in that?
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SPEAKER_00: He wants to go to Spain.
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SPEAKER_00: This of course is what Acts is all about.
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SPEAKER_00: What does Jesus tell his followers in the very first chapter?
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SPEAKER_00: What?
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SPEAKER_00: That they were going to be his witnesses in Jerusalem,
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SPEAKER_00: in Judea, in Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
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SPEAKER_00: Which is, by that time, what's kind of Spain represented.
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SPEAKER_00: And I think that commission of Jesus,
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SPEAKER_00: if you read Acts chapter 1 verse 8,
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SPEAKER_00: sort of serves as a really good lens to understand this whole book of Acts as
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SPEAKER_00: a whole.
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SPEAKER_00: Because that's what it's about.
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SPEAKER_00: It's about the gospel expanding.
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SPEAKER_00: You can kind of think about it as like, you know, concentric circles.
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SPEAKER_00: They just keep getting wider and they keep getting wider.
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SPEAKER_00: The ring of influence of the gospel keeps getting bigger.
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SPEAKER_00: From Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth.
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SPEAKER_00: You're watching that happen in real time.
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SPEAKER_00: And another sort of theme that is happening the whole time is Luke is telling us
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SPEAKER_00: from Acts 1 all the way through.
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SPEAKER_00: How individuals and communities and even entire cities are changed.
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SPEAKER_00: How are they changed?
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SPEAKER_00: How are they saved?
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SPEAKER_00: Well, by bold preaching of the gospel.
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SPEAKER_00: What does Demetrius say?
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SPEAKER_00: Verse 26.
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SPEAKER_00: He's heard how Paul has persuaded.
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SPEAKER_00: How he's convinced people.
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SPEAKER_00: We've heard how he, through his ministry, his preaching ministry, has convinced people.
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SPEAKER_00: That Jesus is not dead.
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SPEAKER_00: He's not rotting in some tomb.
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SPEAKER_00: He's alive.
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SPEAKER_00: And what you're going to consistently find,
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SPEAKER_00: here especially,
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SPEAKER_00: as we're going to get to,
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SPEAKER_00: but throughout the rest of the book of Acts,
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SPEAKER_00: is that the preaching of the gospel,
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SPEAKER_00: that Jesus is risen, all that stuff, is consistently met with resistance.
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SPEAKER_00: Consistently.
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SPEAKER_00: It's resisted.
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SPEAKER_00: You preach, it's going to be resisted by some.
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SPEAKER_00: But it advances anyways.
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SPEAKER_00: Resistance, yes, it comes at the sound of the name of Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: But despite that resistance, the gospel moves forward anyways.
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SPEAKER_00: The word of God prevails anyways.
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SPEAKER_00: No matter the obstacles,
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SPEAKER_00: no matter the interference,
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SPEAKER_00: no matter the distractions,
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SPEAKER_00: no matter the hindrances that rise up,
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SPEAKER_00: God's gospel always goes forth and does what he promises,
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SPEAKER_00: which is change sinners into saints and bring them from darkness to light.
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SPEAKER_00: That's always what happens.
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SPEAKER_00: Despite all of the other stuff.
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SPEAKER_00: And the earliest voices of the church were very aware of this commission that Jesus gave them.
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SPEAKER_00: Be my witnesses.
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SPEAKER_00: This wasn't just maybe their primary calling amongst several others.
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SPEAKER_00: No, this was their prevailing purpose.
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SPEAKER_00: We are showing the way that sinners are taken from darkness and into light.
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SPEAKER_00: You know,
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SPEAKER_00: when Paul writes Corinthians,
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SPEAKER_00: the first book of Corinthians that we have in our Bibles.
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SPEAKER_00: A letter, by the way, which he wrote from Ephesus.
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SPEAKER_00: And remember when he tells them in chapter 2 of 1 Corinthians that he wanted
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SPEAKER_00: to know nothing except Christ and him crucified.
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SPEAKER_00: Remember he says that to them?
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SPEAKER_00: I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
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SPEAKER_00: Paul's not reducing his message.
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SPEAKER_00: He's not abbreviating the gospel to something that he's like shorting his own self.
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SPEAKER_00: No, what is he doing?
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SPEAKER_00: He's giving the Corinthians what he had already given the Ephesians.
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SPEAKER_00: Go back with me.
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SPEAKER_00: Look at verse number eight.
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SPEAKER_00: Paul gets to Ephesus and he begins preaching as he normally does.
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SPEAKER_00: Look at what happens.
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SPEAKER_00: And he entered, Paul entered the synagogue and for three months spoke.
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SPEAKER_00: He's preaching boldly, reasoning and persuading them about what?
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SPEAKER_00: The kingdom of God.
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SPEAKER_00: Verse 10,
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SPEAKER_00: and this continued for two years so that all the residents heard the word of
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SPEAKER_00: the Lord, both the Jews and Greeks.
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SPEAKER_00: You see,
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SPEAKER_00: God's word,
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SPEAKER_00: the word of the Lord that he's preaching,
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SPEAKER_00: and also the message about the kingdom, they're both centered on the same thing.
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SPEAKER_00: It's both sort of different ways of saying the same thing.
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SPEAKER_00: Paul is preaching about Jesus, right?
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SPEAKER_00: The kingdom of God is all about Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: The word of God is all about Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul is preaching about.
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SPEAKER_00: He's preaching and persuading all of these Ephesian sinners to believe in what?
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SPEAKER_00: That the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is true.
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SPEAKER_00: And that is the first sort of in-breaking of the kingdom of heaven into this realm
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SPEAKER_00: of sin and darkness.
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SPEAKER_00: That's the hinge upon which everything else turns.
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SPEAKER_00: And almost as soon as Paul is preaching that message in the synagogue, what happens?
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SPEAKER_00: He's met with resistance.
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SPEAKER_00: Verse number nine, we skipped it, but watch.
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SPEAKER_00: He's preaching about the kingdom.
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SPEAKER_00: He's there for a couple months, but,
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SPEAKER_00: verse nine,
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SPEAKER_00: when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief,
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SPEAKER_00: speaking evil of the way before the congregation, he, Paul,
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SPEAKER_00: withdrew from them and took the disciples with him,
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SPEAKER_00: reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.
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SPEAKER_00: So what happens?
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SPEAKER_00: Paul is preaching.
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SPEAKER_00: He's there for a couple months.
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SPEAKER_00: Some people don't like that, though.
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SPEAKER_00: Some of these hard-hearted hearers, they're refusing to go along with what Paul is saying.
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SPEAKER_00: But they're not satisfied with just mere disagreement.
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SPEAKER_00: They don't want to just say,
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SPEAKER_00: oh, that's nice for you, Paul, but we're going to believe something else.
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SPEAKER_00: No, instead,
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SPEAKER_00: that unbelief boils over,
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SPEAKER_00: and now they're speaking evil of the way, loudly, publicly,
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SPEAKER_00: They want to make everyone who follows Paul feel really bad for following Paul.
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SPEAKER_00: And this lets us know another thing.
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SPEAKER_00: That it's always been true.
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SPEAKER_00: This is not something that's just now.
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SPEAKER_00: It's always been true that the gospel of Jesus has either been embraced in faith
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SPEAKER_00: or hated in unbelief.
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SPEAKER_00: This has always been the case.
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SPEAKER_00: There's not always a lot of middle ground when the gospel goes forth.
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SPEAKER_00: When you start preaching that Jesus of Nazareth,
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SPEAKER_00: he went to the cross to save you and that he rose from the dead in validation
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SPEAKER_00: that he is the son of God and God and very incarnate.
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SPEAKER_00: That message is not often just like, oh, maybe it's usually yes or no.
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SPEAKER_00: I don't believe that at all.
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SPEAKER_00: And I think this stems from Jesus's own words.
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SPEAKER_00: You don't have to go there,
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SPEAKER_00: but remember in the Gospels in Matthew chapter 10,
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SPEAKER_00: Jesus comes and he says something so surprising.
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SPEAKER_00: He says to a crowd of people that he hasn't come.
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SPEAKER_00: He has not come to bring peace,
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SPEAKER_00: but a sword,
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SPEAKER_00: which is Jesus thought you were just like this nice fluffy rabbi that calls people
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SPEAKER_00: to you.
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SPEAKER_00: But he says, no, I haven't come to bring peace.
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SPEAKER_00: I've come to bring a sword.
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SPEAKER_00: And what does he mean by that?
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SPEAKER_00: Well, no, he's not coming to unsee the sword and start swinging at people and start wars.
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SPEAKER_00: That's not what he's talking about.
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SPEAKER_00: What he means is,
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SPEAKER_00: he means that folks,
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SPEAKER_00: people, families, houses are going to be divided because of him.
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SPEAKER_00: He says in the next verse,
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SPEAKER_00: this is Matthew 10, 35,
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SPEAKER_00: that he came to set man against his father,
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SPEAKER_00: a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
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SPEAKER_00: Why does he say that?
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SPEAKER_00: Well, it's not because he hates families.
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SPEAKER_00: It's because it all has to do with what he had come to accomplish.
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SPEAKER_00: Die and rise again.
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SPEAKER_00: And some folks are going to believe that.
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SPEAKER_00: And others are not.
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SPEAKER_00: And that's the dividing line.
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SPEAKER_00: Faith versus unfaith.
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SPEAKER_00: Belief versus unbelief and resistance.
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SPEAKER_00: When Paul arrives, this is exactly what he's met with.
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SPEAKER_00: Go back, Matthew 19, look at verse 1.
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SPEAKER_00: Watch what happens.
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SPEAKER_00: Paul arrives in Ephesus and he finds a very confused, misguided group of disciples.
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SPEAKER_00: Verse 1.
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SPEAKER_00: And it happened that while Apollos was in Corinth,
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SPEAKER_00: Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus.
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SPEAKER_00: And there he found some disciples.
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SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?
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SPEAKER_00: And they said, no, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.
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SPEAKER_00: That should be alarming.
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SPEAKER_00: And he said, into what then were you baptized?
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SPEAKER_00: And they said, into John's baptism.
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SPEAKER_00: So Paul comes,
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SPEAKER_00: he arrives in Ephesus,
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SPEAKER_00: and he finds these guys, and they're disciples, but they're disciples of who?
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SPEAKER_00: John the Baptist.
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SPEAKER_00: They're a little confused.
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SPEAKER_00: They had not really heard about the Holy Spirit, about Pentecost.
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SPEAKER_00: Or they hadn't really heard that the guy who was crucified just a couple months ago,
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SPEAKER_00: a couple years ago,
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SPEAKER_00: that that guy, Jesus, was actually the guy that John was always pointing to.
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SPEAKER_00: These guys were still disciples of John the Baptist.
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SPEAKER_00: So what does Paul do?
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SPEAKER_00: Well, he immediately starts telling them all about Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: Who had fulfilled everything that John the Baptist was always teaching,
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SPEAKER_00: was always pointing to, and preaching.
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SPEAKER_00: And when they heard that, notice what happens.
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SPEAKER_00: They were profoundly changed.
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SPEAKER_00: Verse 3 again.
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SPEAKER_00: Into what then were you baptized?
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SPEAKER_00: And they said, into John's baptism.
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SPEAKER_00: Verse 4.
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SPEAKER_00: And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance.
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SPEAKER_00: Telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him.
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SPEAKER_00: That is Jesus Christ.
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SPEAKER_00: And on hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: And when Paul had laid his hands on them,
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SPEAKER_00: the Holy Spirit came on them and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.
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SPEAKER_00: And they were about 12 men in all.
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SPEAKER_00: They hear the word about Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: They believe the word about Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: And then another mini Pentecost happens, just like in Acts 2.
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SPEAKER_00: Letting everyone know that this was legit.
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SPEAKER_00: This is a legit move of the Holy Spirit.
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SPEAKER_00: He is coming and he's indwelling these people who are now repenting and believing in Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: And that's when,
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SPEAKER_00: after that, verse 8, that's when he goes into the synagogue and he starts preaching.
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SPEAKER_00: This is always Paul's habit.
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SPEAKER_00: When he goes into a new town,
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SPEAKER_00: a new region,
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SPEAKER_00: he finds a synagogue,
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SPEAKER_00: a local place of assembly for worship, and he begins preaching.
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SPEAKER_00: And what is he preaching?
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SPEAKER_00: The same thing that he told these disciples of John.
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SPEAKER_00: About the kingdom of God.
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SPEAKER_00: And how he had come into this world through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: But instead of being met with that welcome embrace of faith like these disciples of John.
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SPEAKER_00: What is he met with?
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SPEAKER_00: Unbelief.
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SPEAKER_00: Resistance.
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SPEAKER_00: Verse 9.
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SPEAKER_00: But when some became stubborn and continued unbelief, they spoke evil of the way.
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SPEAKER_00: Apparently...
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SPEAKER_00: Those in the synagogue, of course, were mostly Jewish.
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SPEAKER_00: These Jewish ears weren't eager.
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SPEAKER_00: They weren't super excited about hearing that their long sought
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SPEAKER_00: after Messiah was actually the one that was crucified on a cross.
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SPEAKER_00: And so...
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SPEAKER_00: They dug their heels in.
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SPEAKER_00: That's what stubborn means.
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SPEAKER_00: They were digging their heels in in unbelief.
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SPEAKER_00: And more than that now,
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SPEAKER_00: they're going around all throughout Ephesus hurling curses and insults at Paul
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SPEAKER_00: and anyone else who would follow him.
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SPEAKER_00: How dare you go along with that message?
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SPEAKER_00: You see, we've mentioned this.
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SPEAKER_00: This is what the gospel does.
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SPEAKER_00: The gospel preached.
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SPEAKER_00: Jesus, it reconciles sinners to God.
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SPEAKER_00: Yes, amen.
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SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord.
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SPEAKER_00: But also, the gospel puts us into the categories of those who believe and those who don't.
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SPEAKER_00: Faith and unfaith.
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SPEAKER_00: And this is exactly what Paul talks about in his second letter to the Corinthians.
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SPEAKER_00: If you remember, in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, what does he say?
17:24
SPEAKER_00: That the gospel of Christ has become a fragrance from death to death to some.
17:32
SPEAKER_00: And to others, a fragrance from life to life.
17:35
SPEAKER_00: Some people are going to hear the gospel.
17:37
SPEAKER_00: It's going to smell like death.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: There's going to be odors.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: There's going to be putrid.
17:41
SPEAKER_00: It's going to be foul.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: And they're going to dig their heels in an unbelief.
17:44
SPEAKER_00: Others are going to hear the gospel.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: And the move of the spirit is going to bring them to life.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: But the point is, it's the same gospel in both ears.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: And I think one of the points that we can strive to make here is that the church
18:00
SPEAKER_00: and those who are in it,
18:01
SPEAKER_00: those who belong to it, We don't have to make up ways to make the gospel offensive.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: The gospel does that on its own.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to seek out ways to make what you believe offensive to your friends
18:18
SPEAKER_00: and to your neighbors.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: You just got to tell it to them.
18:21
SPEAKER_00: The gospel does that on its own.
18:23
SPEAKER_00: How?
18:25
SPEAKER_00: How?
18:25
SPEAKER_00: Well, just think about what the gospel says to people.
18:27
SPEAKER_00: What does the gospel say?
18:29
SPEAKER_00: The gospel says that your best efforts, they're not enough.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: They can't earn your place in the afterlife, in paradise, in heaven.
18:37
SPEAKER_00: You can't earn your way there.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: You can't save yourself by yourself.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: Is there anything more offensive to modern American ears than that?
18:45
SPEAKER_00: That you can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps?
18:51
SPEAKER_00: No, just say that.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: You can't save yourself.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: But guess what?
18:53
SPEAKER_00: I can tell you about someone who did.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: I can tell you about Jesus.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: I can tell you about how Jesus came and obeyed in your place and he died
19:01
SPEAKER_00: in your place and he rose again for you.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: And if you put your trust in him,
19:04
SPEAKER_00: all your sins have been forgiven under the blood that he shed there.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: That's what makes the gospel offensive.
19:09
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to make it offensive.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: There's a huge difference between the gospel offending people as it goes out
19:18
SPEAKER_00: and those who preach it being offensive.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: And too often I see the things,
19:25
SPEAKER_00: you probably see the things sometimes,
19:26
SPEAKER_00: too often I see that line getting a little bit blurred.
19:31
SPEAKER_00: You see some preachers and they start,
19:34
SPEAKER_00: you know, putting in some off-color language in their sermons or profanities.
19:40
SPEAKER_00: They start even twisting,
19:41
SPEAKER_00: being outraged about this,
19:43
SPEAKER_00: that, and the other thing as if that's what counts as faithful preaching.
19:46
SPEAKER_00: As if yelling at people is going to be what brings them to Jesus.
19:53
SPEAKER_00: Too many preachers, I think, today are preaching sermons to see what they can get away with.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: Did you hear what I just said?
20:00
SPEAKER_00: I bet you didn't come to church thinking I would say that, but here I am, I'm saying that.
20:04
SPEAKER_00: That's not faithful preaching.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: The gospel doesn't need you to be offensive to be powerful or effective.
20:11
SPEAKER_00: The gospel is offensive enough on its own.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: Our calling is just to share it faithfully.
20:18
SPEAKER_00: When Paul's message was resisted,
20:21
SPEAKER_00: What did he do when it was slandered by those who are saying,
20:24
SPEAKER_00: can you believe what he's saying right now?
20:27
SPEAKER_00: What did he do?
20:27
SPEAKER_00: How did he respond?
20:31
SPEAKER_00: Well, he rented out a Greek lecture hall and he started preaching from there.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'll go over here and I'll start preaching from here.
20:39
SPEAKER_00: And he was there for two years.
20:42
SPEAKER_00: And he preached there, reasoning as it says, carrying on with the same message as before.
20:49
SPEAKER_00: Giving the gospel of Jesus to Jews and to Gentiles alike.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: As it says there, daily.
20:54
SPEAKER_00: Did you catch that?
20:55
SPEAKER_00: Verse number nine of the same chapter.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: He withdrew.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: So Paul, he goes away from the city of God.
21:01
SPEAKER_00: He goes away from that place.
21:02
SPEAKER_00: And he took the disciples with him.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: Some of those who had believed.
21:05
SPEAKER_00: And then he is now, it says, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.
21:12
SPEAKER_00: A Greek lecture hall.
21:15
SPEAKER_00: And through the course of thousands of sermons.
21:20
SPEAKER_00: Lives started to change.
21:23
SPEAKER_00: The word of God is spreading.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: Remember those concentric circles?
21:27
SPEAKER_00: It's gaining an influence.
21:30
SPEAKER_00: A change is starting to take place.
21:32
SPEAKER_00: Lives are being changed.
21:34
SPEAKER_00: Folks are flocking to hear this ex-Pharisee talk about Christ.
21:39
SPEAKER_00: No matter the resistance or the obstacles that threaten the word of God,
21:45
SPEAKER_00: the word of God always prevails.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: God's gospel always goes forth and does what it has always done.
21:51
SPEAKER_00: Changing lives and bringing them from darkness to light.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: That's what it does.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: And the same is true, by the way, of the very next sequence.
21:59
SPEAKER_00: A very bizarre sequence.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: This is just so fascinating that this is in the Bible.
22:05
SPEAKER_00: Read verse 11 and watch with me.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: And God...
22:08
SPEAKER_00: And God was adoing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: So that,
22:13
SPEAKER_00: catch this,
22:14
SPEAKER_00: so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his, Paul's,
22:19
SPEAKER_00: skin were carried away to the sick and their diseases left them
22:23
SPEAKER_00: and evil spirits came out of them.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: Jesus over those who had evil spirits saying, I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.
22:37
SPEAKER_00: Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: So Paul's ministry, remember he's in that Greek lecture hall, is flourishing.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: He's preaching daily.
22:47
SPEAKER_00: People are coming.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: Lives are changing.
22:49
SPEAKER_00: Converts, amazing.
22:51
SPEAKER_00: And it's flourishing so much that God has decided to do some,
22:55
SPEAKER_00: as it says there, extraordinary, the word is special.
22:58
SPEAKER_00: These are very unique miracles happening through him.
23:02
SPEAKER_00: Performing long distance exorcisms is not always a normal thing that happens.
23:08
SPEAKER_00: But through this moment it was.
23:10
SPEAKER_00: Showing a couple of things.
23:12
SPEAKER_00: Showing one, the influence of sin.
23:14
SPEAKER_00: Showing two, the stranglehold of Satan in that region.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: But also three, showing how much God cares about his gospel.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: That he's pairing it with these very extraordinary signs.
23:29
SPEAKER_00: And of course, the miracles aren't the point.
23:34
SPEAKER_00: But they help corroborate the point, which is Jesus.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: He's risen.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: His spirit is with us.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: It's very telling.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it very telling?
23:42
SPEAKER_00: Maybe some of you have not really heard this little scene before.
23:47
SPEAKER_00: How a handkerchief touches Paul and he's putting it in the mail
23:51
SPEAKER_00: and he's exercising demons from miles away.
23:57
SPEAKER_00: And I think it's very telling that Paul never talks about this.
24:02
SPEAKER_00: Paul, if you read his letters, he never once mentions this.
24:06
SPEAKER_00: You know,
24:07
SPEAKER_00: you know that if a preacher today were doing this,
24:10
SPEAKER_00: he would have book tours, he would have conferences, he would have podcasts.
24:15
SPEAKER_00: Come and watch.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: Let me touch your handkerchief and you can go home and you can cleanse your...
24:20
SPEAKER_00: It would be all over the place.
24:22
SPEAKER_00: Paul never mentions it.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: Why?
24:25
SPEAKER_00: Why?
24:26
SPEAKER_00: Because there was something more important and imperative for Paul.
24:31
SPEAKER_00: Yes, this is important, but there's something that this is pointing to.
24:35
SPEAKER_00: Don't get distracted by this.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: This is good.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: God is doing this.
24:38
SPEAKER_00: But we need to focus on this.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: This is what's important.
24:41
SPEAKER_00: And while all of this is going on, what happens?
24:46
SPEAKER_00: A group of, as it says, traveling Jewish exorcists.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: These guys who are going around trying to do the same thing that Paul is doing.
24:56
SPEAKER_00: They get wind of what's happening with Paul.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, man, I want in on that.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: Give me some of that action, Paul.
25:03
SPEAKER_00: And so they start adding Jesus's name to their traveling slideshow of spiritual parlor tricks.
25:10
SPEAKER_00: And now when they encounter a demon, watch this is so, this is stunning, but also hilarious.
25:16
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 15 because they encounter this demon possessed man and they're like,
25:20
SPEAKER_00: now's our chance.
25:20
SPEAKER_00: Let's invoke the name of Jesus.
25:22
SPEAKER_00: And it does not go well.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: Needless to say, Verse 15.
25:28
SPEAKER_00: So these guys were doing this, the seven sons of Sceva.
25:30
SPEAKER_00: Verse 15.
25:33
SPEAKER_00: But the evil spirit answered them, Jesus, I know.
25:39
SPEAKER_00: And Paul, I recognize, but who are you?
25:43
SPEAKER_00: Fascinating that this demon is speaking through this man.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: I've heard about Jesus.
25:47
SPEAKER_00: I've heard about Paul.
25:48
SPEAKER_00: I don't know who you guys are.
25:51
SPEAKER_00: And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them,
25:56
SPEAKER_00: mastered them all,
25:58
SPEAKER_00: and overpowered them so that these seven guys flee out of that house naked
26:04
SPEAKER_00: and wounded.
26:05
SPEAKER_00: Whoa.
26:07
SPEAKER_00: Not how they intended that to go, I'm sure.
26:09
SPEAKER_00: It's an embarrassing failure.
26:14
SPEAKER_00: And this failed exorcism becomes news.
26:19
SPEAKER_00: As it likely would, it becomes news.
26:22
SPEAKER_00: News about this travels far and wide.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: And what do you think happens?
26:27
SPEAKER_00: Imagine what would happen.
26:28
SPEAKER_00: These guys,
26:29
SPEAKER_00: they tried to call out demons in the name of Jesus and it didn't work and they had
26:33
SPEAKER_00: to run out and it was so embarrassing.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: Did you hear that about those guys?
26:38
SPEAKER_00: The rumor mill is going.
26:40
SPEAKER_00: It is active.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: And despite the rumors,
26:44
SPEAKER_00: despite the distraction that this moment might have caused,
26:49
SPEAKER_00: the gospel of Jesus is so powerful that even a failed exorcism leads to revival.
26:57
SPEAKER_00: It leads to a massive outpouring of repentance and confession.
27:03
SPEAKER_00: Watch.
27:03
SPEAKER_00: Watch.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: Verse 17, and this became known as news to all the residents of Ephesus.
27:09
SPEAKER_00: Both Jews and Greeks and fear fell upon them all.
27:14
SPEAKER_00: And the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled.
27:16
SPEAKER_00: That is magnified.
27:17
SPEAKER_00: It was praised.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: Also, many of those who are now believers came confessing and divulging their practices.
27:26
SPEAKER_00: And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together
27:29
SPEAKER_00: and burned them in the sight of all.
27:32
SPEAKER_00: And they counted the value of them and found it came to 50,000 pieces of silver.
27:39
SPEAKER_00: So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
27:43
SPEAKER_00: Do you see what happens?
27:46
SPEAKER_00: Ephesus is changed.
27:50
SPEAKER_00: Prompted by faith in Jesus and the change that comes by way of the Holy Spirit.
27:56
SPEAKER_00: Folks are turning to Jesus and not just half-heartedly.
28:00
SPEAKER_00: No, they're turning and they're burning their incantation books and the fire
28:05
SPEAKER_00: at great cost to them.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: They're confessing all of their past and they're trusting in Jesus.
28:10
SPEAKER_00: The word of the Lord prevails.
28:16
SPEAKER_00: And there's even this awesome play on words here.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: Because you notice in verse 15,
28:22
SPEAKER_00: or verse 16,
28:23
SPEAKER_00: where it says that those seven sons of Sceva,
28:25
SPEAKER_00: it says that they were overpowered by the evil spirit.
28:31
SPEAKER_00: Just as those false professors were overpowered, God's preached word, the gospel preached.
28:39
SPEAKER_00: It too overpowers.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: Notice verse 20.
28:41
SPEAKER_00: So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: Same word.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: Overpowered.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: Verse 16.
28:49
SPEAKER_00: Prevail mightily.
28:50
SPEAKER_00: Verse 20.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: Same word.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: God is not going to be mocked.
28:55
SPEAKER_00: When preachers who are charlatans.
29:00
SPEAKER_00: Use his words for their own benefit.
29:03
SPEAKER_00: When they try to exploit his name for their own personal gain.
29:07
SPEAKER_00: That's not going to change anything.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: What actually changes hearts.
29:12
SPEAKER_00: What actually brings whole change even to whole cities is what?
29:17
SPEAKER_00: Preaching the word that prevails.
29:20
SPEAKER_00: The gospel.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: That makes disciples.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: Despite the resistance.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: The slander, the abuse, the false accusations, even the satanic distractions.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: God's word prevails.
29:36
SPEAKER_00: And what is invariably true is that this type
29:40
SPEAKER_00: of faithful gospel ministry will always have a target on its back.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: Which brings us all the way back to Demetrius, the silversmith.
29:50
SPEAKER_00: Because we've gotten into this chapter and what have we found?
29:52
SPEAKER_00: Two solid years of preaching.
29:54
SPEAKER_00: Lots have gone on.
29:57
SPEAKER_00: There's lots of ministry,
29:58
SPEAKER_00: lots of converts, and Paul is eager to see this gospel taken elsewhere.
30:03
SPEAKER_00: He eyes Rome and beyond,
30:05
SPEAKER_00: and he's making plans for that next chapter of ministry,
30:09
SPEAKER_00: and that's when Demetrius starts a ruckus in that city.
30:12
SPEAKER_00: Verse 23,
30:14
SPEAKER_00: about that time,
30:15
SPEAKER_00: the same time as all of this other stuff is going on,
30:19
SPEAKER_00: about that time there arose no little,
30:22
SPEAKER_00: so that means big, not a little, a big disturbance.
30:27
SPEAKER_00: Concerning the way, concerning the news of Jesus, Christianity.
30:32
SPEAKER_00: For a man named Demetrius a silversmith who had made silver strides
30:35
SPEAKER_00: of Artemis brought no little, so lots of business to the craftsmen.
30:41
SPEAKER_00: These he gathered together with the workmen in similar trades and said,
30:45
SPEAKER_00: Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: This is where we make a living.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: And you see and hear that only in Ephesus,
30:55
SPEAKER_00: but in almost all of Asia,
30:57
SPEAKER_00: this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people saying that gods made
31:03
SPEAKER_00: with hands are not gods.
31:07
SPEAKER_00: And there's danger,
31:08
SPEAKER_00: not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute,
31:11
SPEAKER_00: but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing and
31:15
SPEAKER_00: that she may even be deposed from her magnificence.
31:19
SPEAKER_00: She, whom all the world in Asia,
31:24
SPEAKER_00: Ephesus,
31:25
SPEAKER_00: as you might know,
31:27
SPEAKER_00: was home to this temple of Artemis,
31:30
SPEAKER_00: or depending if you're Greek or Roman, the temple of Diana.
31:34
SPEAKER_00: This was a massive, incredible structure.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
31:41
SPEAKER_00: And Ephesus was also a hub to a lot of religious life, religious pluralism.
31:47
SPEAKER_00: It was rampant in that region.
31:49
SPEAKER_00: Lots of pagan cults.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: They were nearly everywhere.
31:52
SPEAKER_00: And the cult of Artemis was the predominant one.
31:56
SPEAKER_00: And the worship of her was very sordid, very debased, very debauched.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: She is known as the goddess of fertility and nature and all kinds of other stuff.
32:07
SPEAKER_00: But as we find out here from Demetrius himself,
32:10
SPEAKER_00: this Artemis cult didn't just have a lot of religious infiltration.
32:15
SPEAKER_00: They were also very key for Ephesus' economy.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: This is how the Ephesian economy is running.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: As he says, we bring no small business through this forging of idols.
32:29
SPEAKER_00: These trinkets, these shrines, these articles for worship.
32:32
SPEAKER_00: This is how we make a living.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: And so, Paul, what's he doing?
32:39
SPEAKER_00: Paul preaching the gospel is posing a serious threat to their income streams.
32:48
SPEAKER_00: Of course,
32:48
SPEAKER_00: that didn't sit well with Demetrius at all,
32:50
SPEAKER_00: so he rallies all of these Ephesian contractors,
32:53
SPEAKER_00: these craftsmen, and he plays on their emotions.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: If you read it, did you catch on what he's doing?
32:58
SPEAKER_00: Can you believe this Paul fella?
33:00
SPEAKER_00: Can you believe what he's doing?
33:02
SPEAKER_00: He's turning people away from Artemis.
33:04
SPEAKER_00: He's daring to claim that gods made with hands aren't real gods.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: Can you believe that he said that?
33:11
SPEAKER_00: And now,
33:12
SPEAKER_00: not just our businesses,
33:13
SPEAKER_00: they're not just in danger, but Artemis, she's the important one.
33:17
SPEAKER_00: Artemis, she is going to be defamed and she's going to lose her glory.
33:22
SPEAKER_00: We can't let that happen, can we?
33:23
SPEAKER_00: No.
33:25
SPEAKER_00: So now fear for their livelihoods, dressed up as religious zeal, leads to a riot, a commotion.
33:34
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 28.
33:36
SPEAKER_00: And when they heard this, they were enraged.
33:40
SPEAKER_00: And were crying out, Gray is Artemis of the Ephesians.
33:45
SPEAKER_00: And so the city was filled with confusion.
33:47
SPEAKER_00: And they rushed together into the theater,
33:49
SPEAKER_00: dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus,
33:52
SPEAKER_00: Macedonians, who were Paul's companions in travel.
33:55
SPEAKER_00: But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, disciples would not let him.
34:00
SPEAKER_00: And even some of the Asiarchs,
34:01
SPEAKER_00: who were friends of his,
34:03
SPEAKER_00: sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater.
34:07
SPEAKER_00: This is just fascinating.
34:09
SPEAKER_00: Mass chaos.
34:10
SPEAKER_00: Literally the word is,
34:11
SPEAKER_00: when it says in verse 29 that they rushed together,
34:13
SPEAKER_00: literally that is they stampeded.
34:16
SPEAKER_00: That's what that word literally means.
34:18
SPEAKER_00: This was a mob of people, this mob of people stampeding this public venue.
34:25
SPEAKER_00: And they're dragging with them two of Paul's traveling mates.
34:28
SPEAKER_00: No one's quite sure why, but they're there.
34:30
SPEAKER_00: We don't know.
34:31
SPEAKER_00: Let's bring them with us.
34:32
SPEAKER_00: And in fact, I think it's one of the most hilarious verses in this whole narrative is verse 32.
34:37
SPEAKER_00: Because...
34:38
SPEAKER_00: Luke observes that most of the rioters, even they didn't know why they were there.
34:44
SPEAKER_00: Verse 32.
34:45
SPEAKER_00: Now some cried one thing, some another.
34:48
SPEAKER_00: For the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.
34:55
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
34:55
SPEAKER_00: We're just here.
34:56
SPEAKER_00: I was following these people, and we're singing out, chanting great.
34:59
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what we're doing.
35:01
SPEAKER_00: Just a hilarious observation to me.
35:04
SPEAKER_00: Mob mentality hasn't changed.
35:07
SPEAKER_00: It's not just unique to the 2020s.
35:10
SPEAKER_00: It's been around for a long time.
35:11
SPEAKER_00: This is human nature.
35:14
SPEAKER_00: And now the whole place.
35:16
SPEAKER_00: This whole theater in Ephesus was just a place of hysteria and confusion.
35:23
SPEAKER_00: At one point, as we're going to read, they find out that this Jew named Alexander was there.
35:28
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, yeah, let's get him up.
35:29
SPEAKER_00: Let's have him say something.
35:30
SPEAKER_00: And then when they find out he's a Jew, they're like, no, let's not have him say something.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: And they start chanting over him for two hours.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: Verse 33.
35:37
SPEAKER_00: And some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward.
35:41
SPEAKER_00: And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd.
35:45
SPEAKER_00: But when they recognized that he was a Jew for about two hours,
35:48
SPEAKER_00: they all cried out with one voice, Great as the arguments of the Ephesians!
35:53
SPEAKER_00: This is a very efficient crowd.
35:56
SPEAKER_00: They're getting lots of accomplice, can you tell?
35:59
SPEAKER_00: We don't know what Alexander was going to say.
36:02
SPEAKER_00: Probably that he's distancing himself from Paul, that's sort of the insinuation.
36:06
SPEAKER_00: But eventually,
36:08
SPEAKER_00: a town clerk arrives, who is essentially, we can think of him like the mayor, right?
36:11
SPEAKER_00: The mayor comes down, he gets involved, and as soon as he arrives, everyone gets quiet.
36:16
SPEAKER_00: Why?
36:16
SPEAKER_00: Because they know that he can go back to Rome and get all of them in trouble.
36:21
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 35.
36:22
SPEAKER_00: And when the town clerk, the mayor, had quieted the crowd, he said to them.
36:26
SPEAKER_00: Notice this mayor's words.
36:28
SPEAKER_00: Just amazing to me.
36:29
SPEAKER_00: Men of Ephesus,
36:31
SPEAKER_00: who is there that does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of
36:36
SPEAKER_00: the great Artemis and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky?
36:41
SPEAKER_00: Seeing that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash.
36:47
SPEAKER_00: For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers
36:52
SPEAKER_00: of our goddess.
36:53
SPEAKER_00: If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone,
36:57
SPEAKER_00: the courts are open and there are proconsuls.
37:01
SPEAKER_00: Let them bring charges against one another.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly.
37:08
SPEAKER_00: For we really,
37:09
SPEAKER_00: notice this phrase, for we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today.
37:15
SPEAKER_00: Since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion, this disturbance.
37:21
SPEAKER_00: And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.
37:25
SPEAKER_00: The mayor's words.
37:27
SPEAKER_00: He's not defending Paul.
37:28
SPEAKER_00: He's not defending what Paul was preaching.
37:30
SPEAKER_00: He's just trying to defend and keep civic order.
37:34
SPEAKER_00: And the irony of all of this is that he's letting them know that this mob of people,
37:39
SPEAKER_00: they were actually guilty of what they're claiming Paul to be guilty of.
37:43
SPEAKER_00: He's turning our city upside down.
37:47
SPEAKER_00: But actually they were.
37:49
SPEAKER_00: They're the ones who are causing the disturbance.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: They are the ones who are causing the commotion.
37:53
SPEAKER_00: Paul's just preaching it.
37:56
SPEAKER_00: And so the mob disperses.
37:59
SPEAKER_00: And Paul spends nearly a whole other year preaching the gospel.
38:05
SPEAKER_00: He ends up staying at Ephesus almost longer than any other place.
38:09
SPEAKER_00: And all of his New Testament travels.
38:10
SPEAKER_00: You can have to read all of chapter 20 for that very long emotional goodbye
38:14
SPEAKER_00: that he says to the Ephesian elders.
38:16
SPEAKER_00: This whole sequence of events.
38:20
SPEAKER_00: Put something so critical to remember and it puts it front and center, especially in our day.
38:26
SPEAKER_00: Let me ask you this question.
38:29
SPEAKER_00: How was Ephesus changed?
38:34
SPEAKER_00: How were whole neighborhoods changed?
38:36
SPEAKER_00: Changed and cleansed of occult practices.
38:40
SPEAKER_00: How were lives changed,
38:42
SPEAKER_00: being drawn from superstition in the occult of Artemis to believing in Jesus to
38:48
SPEAKER_00: the point where they're burning all of that stuff,
38:50
SPEAKER_00: making a very demonstrable public change in their lives.
38:53
SPEAKER_00: How were homes rid of that filth and filled with faith?
38:59
SPEAKER_00: How did it happen?
39:01
SPEAKER_00: Did Paul... Did Paul organize...
39:06
SPEAKER_00: A protest?
39:08
SPEAKER_00: To march on the temple of Artemis?
39:11
SPEAKER_00: Did Paul lobby the local governor to outlaw that worship?
39:18
SPEAKER_00: What did Paul do?
39:20
SPEAKER_00: What was Paul's focus?
39:22
SPEAKER_00: From start to finish, Paul's ministry in Ephesus was about one thing.
39:28
SPEAKER_00: Preaching Jesus.
39:31
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you think that's too simplistic.
39:33
SPEAKER_00: Oh, Pastor Brad, you're being too simplistic.
39:36
SPEAKER_00: But Paul didn't think that's too simplistic.
39:40
SPEAKER_00: He knew.
39:41
SPEAKER_00: What did he know?
39:41
SPEAKER_00: He knows, as he says in Romans chapter 10, that what?
39:44
SPEAKER_00: Faith comes by hearing.
39:46
SPEAKER_00: And hearing through what?
39:48
SPEAKER_00: The word of Christ.
39:52
SPEAKER_00: Paul, and this is what convicts me, Paul seemed to know.
39:57
SPEAKER_00: He was convinced that the way to change individuals,
40:02
SPEAKER_00: whole communities, cities, was to preach Jesus.
40:09
SPEAKER_00: If you want to form Christian communities,
40:12
SPEAKER_00: the way to form Christian communities is to make more Christians.
40:14
SPEAKER_00: And to make more Christians, we have to have the gospel go forth boldly, faithfully.
40:22
SPEAKER_00: And this doesn't mean that Christians should withdraw from public life.
40:26
SPEAKER_00: No, don't mistake what I'm saying.
40:27
SPEAKER_00: But it does mean that we should not confuse public influence with gospel power.
40:34
SPEAKER_00: With the power of the Holy Spirit to actually change lives.
40:40
SPEAKER_00: That's where it comes from.
40:41
SPEAKER_00: It comes from the gospel of God's word going out,
40:45
SPEAKER_00: which is all about Jesus,
40:46
SPEAKER_00: which tells people that they have a new life for them because of what Jesus did
40:51
SPEAKER_00: on their behalf.
40:52
SPEAKER_00: That's where power comes from.
40:55
SPEAKER_00: No matter who's on the city council,
40:58
SPEAKER_00: no matter who's in the Senate,
41:00
SPEAKER_00: no matter who's in Washington, It comes from God's gospel going out.
41:06
SPEAKER_00: What does all this mean for us and central Pennsylvania?
41:13
SPEAKER_00: Well, I know because I've heard them.
41:15
SPEAKER_00: There's plenty of voices that are going to tell you.
41:17
SPEAKER_00: There's voices online, TikTok and all those kinds of things.
41:20
SPEAKER_00: There's lots of pastors that you can listen to.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: And sure, that's fine.
41:23
SPEAKER_00: Listen to them.
41:24
SPEAKER_00: It's fine.
41:24
SPEAKER_00: But be discerning because there's plenty of voices that are going to tell you that
41:28
SPEAKER_00: the church needs.
41:29
SPEAKER_00: We need a better strategy to engage and save our culture.
41:35
SPEAKER_00: But I think if this narrative teaches us anything,
41:39
SPEAKER_00: it's this,
41:40
SPEAKER_00: that God's gospel always goes forth and does what God has always promised it to do.
41:46
SPEAKER_00: It changes lives and it draws them from darkness and brings them to life.
41:51
SPEAKER_00: We, God's people, the church, we are not called to manufacture cultural transformation.
41:56
SPEAKER_00: No, what are we called to do?
41:57
SPEAKER_00: We are called to make disciples by preaching the word that prevails.
42:02
SPEAKER_00: That's our calling.
42:04
SPEAKER_00: That's our mission, if you will.
42:06
SPEAKER_00: A long time ago, Charles Spurgeon, preacher over in London.
42:11
SPEAKER_00: He's called the Prince of Preachers.
42:12
SPEAKER_00: He preached at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London for countless decades.
42:18
SPEAKER_00: One of the most famous preachers of all time.
42:19
SPEAKER_00: And he says this amazing, amazing quote in one of his later lectures, later sermons.
42:25
SPEAKER_00: He says, quote, The Word of God can take care of itself.
42:31
SPEAKER_00: And will do so if we preach it and cease defending it.
42:36
SPEAKER_00: Which I take to mean cease making excuses for it.
42:39
SPEAKER_00: He continues.
42:40
SPEAKER_00: Let the pure gospel go forth in all its lion-like majesty.
42:46
SPEAKER_00: And it will soon clear its own way and ease itself of its adversaries.
42:54
SPEAKER_00: We don't need to make the gospel of Jesus more palatable or make the church more impressive.
42:59
SPEAKER_00: We don't need to seize political influence or manufacture outrage.
43:04
SPEAKER_00: Jesus has given the church its mission.
43:07
SPEAKER_00: You want to know what it is?
43:09
SPEAKER_00: Make disciples and baptize them and teach them to observe everything he's commanded.
43:15
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 28.
43:17
SPEAKER_00: That's the mission of the church.
43:18
SPEAKER_00: That's the mission right now.
43:20
SPEAKER_00: That's the mission 10 years ago and 10 years from now.
43:25
SPEAKER_00: And I've thought a lot about this.
43:27
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to preach to myself as much as I'm going to say this to you.
43:32
SPEAKER_00: If you want to see the gospel advance in your corner of the world,
43:37
SPEAKER_00: we all have different pockets,
43:38
SPEAKER_00: different places where we live, different spheres of influence.
43:41
SPEAKER_00: If you want to see the gospel prevail there,
43:43
SPEAKER_00: when was the last time you shared Christ with your neighbor?
43:48
SPEAKER_00: And that convicts me.
43:49
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not just like, hey, I go to church.
43:51
SPEAKER_00: When was the last time you told them that Jesus died for their sins?
43:55
SPEAKER_00: And if they don't believe that, unfortunately, they are not going to have an eternity of rest.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: It's going to be eternity of torment.
44:02
SPEAKER_00: But instead, there's a way.
44:03
SPEAKER_00: There's a beautiful way.
44:04
SPEAKER_00: There's a life-giving way.
44:06
SPEAKER_00: And the way is Jesus.
44:07
SPEAKER_00: When was the last time you told someone that?
44:12
SPEAKER_00: See, the gospel didn't prevail in Ephesus.
44:14
SPEAKER_00: Because Paul overpowered Demetrius in a battle of wits.
44:20
SPEAKER_00: It prevailed.
44:21
SPEAKER_00: Because God's word went forth.
44:23
SPEAKER_00: And that's what God's word does.
44:24
SPEAKER_00: It accomplishes what he intends.
44:27
SPEAKER_00: Even with all of the resistance, the distraction, all of the assaults.
44:31
SPEAKER_00: Everything that comes to those who believe in this.
44:34
SPEAKER_00: Everything that's marshaled against it.
44:36
SPEAKER_00: The gospel always prevails.
44:41
SPEAKER_00: And so taking Spurgeon as our cue, what is our calling?
44:44
SPEAKER_00: Let the gospel out.
44:48
SPEAKER_00: Love God, love people, preach Jesus and trust him for whatever is going to come next.
44:55
SPEAKER_00: That's our calling card as believers,
44:57
SPEAKER_00: as Christians, as people who belong to a New Testament church.
45:00
SPEAKER_00: The word that prevailed in Ephesus, that changed whole city streets and whole neighborhoods.
45:07
SPEAKER_00: The same word that prevailed them is the same word now.
45:12
SPEAKER_00: It's the word about Jesus.
45:15
SPEAKER_00: It's the word that Jesus Christ crucified and risen for us.
45:20
SPEAKER_00: He is the reigning Lord.
45:22
SPEAKER_00: He's on high.
45:23
SPEAKER_00: He's ascended onto his throne and he is reigning right now.
45:27
SPEAKER_00: And that word that prevailed them that is prevailing now is the same word
45:31
SPEAKER_00: that tells every sinner that we come into contact with.
45:33
SPEAKER_00: What message?
45:34
SPEAKER_00: That Christ is for you.
45:37
SPEAKER_00: No matter what they have,
45:39
SPEAKER_00: no matter what their baggage is,
45:40
SPEAKER_00: no matter what they have with them,
45:41
SPEAKER_00: no matter what their past is, no matter what their particular beliefs or views are.
45:45
SPEAKER_00: No, this is a message.
45:46
SPEAKER_00: Christ is for you.
45:48
SPEAKER_00: And he's so for you that he died for you.
45:51
SPEAKER_00: That's the message that's going to change the world.
45:55
SPEAKER_00: And it starts right around us.
45:58
SPEAKER_00: How did the apostles,
45:59
SPEAKER_00: when it says a couple of chapters ago in Acts chapter 17, they get accused of what?
46:03
SPEAKER_00: Of turning the world upside down.
46:07
SPEAKER_00: Why?
46:09
SPEAKER_00: Because they're preaching about Jesus.
46:11
SPEAKER_00: You know what I would love?
46:14
SPEAKER_00: I would love for people to associate Stonington Baptist with that.
46:18
SPEAKER_00: That we are turning the world upside down.
46:20
SPEAKER_00: Not because we're so mad all the time.
46:22
SPEAKER_00: Not because we're so agitated about this and that and that.
46:25
SPEAKER_00: We are turning the world upside down because we can't stop talking about Jesus.
46:31
SPEAKER_00: We can't stop.
46:32
SPEAKER_00: We can't even be held back.
46:35
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus is all we know, Jesus is all we have, and Jesus is all we want to give.
46:42
SPEAKER_00: That's the word that prevails.
46:43
SPEAKER_00: The same word that prevailed then can prevail now.
46:47
SPEAKER_00: It's the word of Christ.
46:48
SPEAKER_00: Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.
46:54
SPEAKER_00: May he be magnified.
46:55
SPEAKER_00: Let us pray.