Have you ever been in a ruckus? Some of you might be thinking, “I’m not even sure what a ruckus is.”
A ruckus is a disturbance or commotion.
Sometimes, you might come into a room where your kids are supposed to be playing together nicely, and instead, there might be a ruckus.
Sometimes, you might be at a professional sporting event, some folks have had too many drinks, and there’s a ruckus.
Perhaps you’ve even been in a church business meeting sometime, and there was a ruckus.
Well, we’re back in the Book of Acts, and we’re going to see that there was a ruckus in the city of Ephesus.
You may recall that Paul is in the middle of his third missionary journey. He has traveled a lot.
Now, Paul is in Ephesus, and he’s been there for a while doing ministry.
In the earlier part of Acts 19 Paul spoke to followers of John the Baptizer, then some became hardened against Paul’s preaching, so he moved to the lecture hall of Tyrannus, and then demons were active against the seven sons of Sceva.
So, a lot has happened in Ephesus. Paul has had successful ministry in Ephesus, which is an important part of understanding the ruckus that takes place.
So, let’s learn about the ruckus and then learn what God might be teaching us.
First, let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.
(prayer)
Ok, look with me now at Acts 19:21–41:
21 After these events, Paul resolved by the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. “After I’ve been there,” he said, “It is necessary for me to see Rome as well.” 22 After sending to Macedonia two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
23 About that time there was a major disturbance about the Way. 24 For a person named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, provided a great deal of business for the craftsmen. 25 When he had assembled them, as well as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said, “Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this business. 26 You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods. 27 Not only do we run a risk that our business may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin—the very one all of Asia and the world worship.”
28 When they had heard this, they were filled with rage and began to cry out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 So the city was filled with confusion, and they rushed all together into the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions. 30 Although Paul wanted to go in before the people, the disciples did not let him. 31 Even some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent word to him, pleading with him not to venture into the amphitheater. 32 Some were shouting one thing and some another, because the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 Some Jews in the crowd gave instructions to Alexander after they pushed him to the front. Motioning with his hand, Alexander wanted to make his defense to the people. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 When the city clerk had calmed the crowd down, he said, “People of Ephesus! What person is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell from heaven? 36 Therefore, since these things are undeniable, you must keep calm and not do anything rash. 37 For you have brought these men here who are not temple robbers or blasphemers of our goddess. 38 So if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a case against anyone, the courts are in session, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you seek anything further, it must be decided in a legal assembly. 40 In fact, we run a risk of being charged with rioting for what happened today, since there is no justification that we can give as a reason for this disturbance.” 41 After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.
Ok, let’s dive a little deeper into this passage. Pay attention to three occurences we see in this passage.
First, notice . . .
I. A resolution.
Look again at verse 21. It says, “After these events, Paul resolved by the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem.”
Did you catch that? Paul was resolved. This is our first resolution that we see in the passage.
You see, it’s likely that Paul felt in his spirit that the Holy Spirit was leading him to continue his missionary journey by passing through Macedonia and Achaia, then going back to Jerusalem.
By the way, Jerusalem was where Paul’s ministry started.
So, Paul wants to go back to Jerusalem, then on to Rome.
Paul is resolved to do this. He is convicted to make this journey. He is committed to seeing this through.
Think about this for a moment: What are you resolved to do in your life?
Do you feel a leading by the Holy Spirit of God that God wants to use you to do something for the mission and glory of God?
A New Year’s resolution is a purposeful commitment to something for that year.
What about a life resolution? What are you purposeful and committed to in your life?
Think about that question as we continue on in this sermon.
First, we have a resolution. Then, we see . . .
II. A ruckus.
Verse 23 sets the context for the ruckus. It says, “About that time there was a major disturbance about the Way.”
Don’t forget, “The Way” referred to followers of Jesus. It referred to the movement of Christianity starting in Jerusalem and spreading all throughout the ancient world.
A disturbance arose. You see, a disturbance is sort of like a mild ruckus. It’s not a full-blown ruckus yet.
What happened is that this man, Demetrius, was manufacturing these idols that were dedicated to false gods.
Well, as people in Ephesus were turning away from false gods and turning to the one true God, they didn’t need their idols any longer, which means that the idol makers weren’t getting as much money any longer.
In verse 26, these men who were getting angry identified the person who was responsible for the loss of business.
They say, “You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods.”
You see, we humans like to look for someone to blame, and they found their guy: Paul! Paul was the reason people were turning away from false gods! Paul was to blame for their loss of business!
Just as a side note: Wouldn’t it be awesome to be blamed for people coming to Jesus? Man, I would love for First Baptist Church Bartow to be blamed for people turning to Jesus!
Notice also in verse 27 that Demetrius is not only mentioning the financial part, he’s also bringing in the spiritual part.
He says, “the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin—the very one all of Asia and the world worship.”
You see, the false goddess, Artemis, had a home base there in Ephesus and there was a magnificent temple dedicated to her.
Demetrius said that little ol’ Paul may bring ruin to the name of mighty Artemis.
There’s some irony there that these people worship someone who could be brought down by one human man. More on that later.
Notice how things start to escalate in verse 28:
It says, “When they had heard this, they were filled with rage and began to cry out, ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’”
Luke, the author of Acts, says they were filled with rage. Listen, when rage comes into the picture, the ruckus is not far away.
Verse 29 says they will filled with confusion and rushed into the amphitheater.
While in the amphitheatre, they drug in Gaius and Aristarchus, companions of Paul.
Paul wanted to go in and explain himself, but his friends wouldn’t let him go.
A man named Alexander tried to bring some clarity, but when the crowd found out that he was Jewish, the ruckus grew even stronger.
Listen to how wild things got. In verse 34, we hear that they yelled for two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.”
Do you know how long that is? Two hours is a long time. That’s crazy!
This was quite the ruckus.
Here’s a video from the spot where the ruckus took place.
Well, the ruckus didn’t last forever. Finally, someone was able to calm them down.
Let us see . . .
III. A resolution.
We already had one resolution, but this is a different resolution and a different type of resolution. This resolution is when we see a problem get fixed or resolved.
We notice in verse 35 that the city clerk came into the scene and calmed down the crowd.
By the way, this title city clerk really doesn’t explain what his role was according to our modern understanding. He was more like the official over the city. He was responsible, among other things, for keeping peace in the city.
The city clerk affirmed their admiration of Artemis, spoke of the greatness of her temple, then encouraged those who had concerns to use the rule of law to deal with their concerns.
So, God worked through this moment by working through an Ephesian city official to spare a further ruckus that may have brought harm to Paul and his companions.
So, in verse 41, we read, “After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.”
The ruckus is resolved.
By the way, there’s no indication that this city clerk wanted to protect Paul. His motivation was probably more about protecting the reputation of the City of Ephesus. Nevertheless, God worked through this moment to protect Paul and continue Paul’s ministry.
Things got a little shaky, but Paul continued his ministry and the gospel continued to flourish.
That takes us nicely to our bottom line:
Bottom Line: The gospel may shake the world, but the world will never shake the gospel.
Paul’s proclamation of the gospel in Ephesus really shook things up. However, the mission of the gospel would not be shaken and would not be stopped.
I want you to catch something in this passage. Look again at verses 35 and 36.
It says, “People of Ephesus! What person is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell from heaven? Therefore, since these things are undeniable, you must keep calm and not do anything rash.”
You see, Artemis was believed to be a goddess. She had a mighty temple dedicated to her (Here’s what it may have looked like).
That Artemis and her temple were great was well accepted by the Ephesians. The city clerk said, “these things are undeniable.”
Yet, do you want to know what the temple of Artemis looks like today? It looks like this.
You see, brothers and sisters: The Temple of Artemis did not survive. The city of Ephesus did not survive as it once did. Yet, the gospel is alive and well.
The gospel may shake the world, but the world will never shake the gospel.
Church, remember the words of Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes . . . ”
The gospel will not be shaken, and it will not be stopped.
It endured through the ruckus in Ephesus. It endured through the Roman Empire. It endured through the tyrannical reign of Emperor Nero. It endured through multiple generations of heresies. It endured through the scandals of the Roman Catholic Church during the time of the Reformation. It endured through the persecutions of ancient rulers. It endured through the legalistic teachings of the Fundamentalist movement. It endured through the liberal teachings of the Modernist movement. It endured through the anti-miracle teachings of the Rationalist movement. It endured through the COVID-19 pandemic. It is currently enduring through the Islamic oppression of Iran. It is currently enduring through the Communism of China. It is currently enduring through the persecution of a dictator in North Korea. It is currently enduring through radical jihad in Nigeria. It is currently enduring through war-torn Ukraine. It is currently enduring through through the false prosperity gospel. It is currently enduring through the scandals of abuse in churches. It is currently enduring through the shrinking of American congregations. It is currently enduring through a softening of the Bible in many churches. It is currently enduring through the confusion of so-called Christian Nationalism. It has endured. It is enduring. It will endure. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. It can not be shaken, and it cannot be stopped.
The gospel may shake the world, but the world will never shake the gospel.
Church, challenge yourself this week in the following ways:
Weekly Challenge #1 – Consider what made Paul so resolute.
Why did Paul just keep going and going and going, like the Energizer Bunny?
Take some time to think about why Paul was so resolute.
Weekly Challenge #2 – Consider what would cause you to stop living on mission.
What would it take for you not to live on mission? Perhaps it wouldn’t take much. Perhaps you’re not living on mission now. Perhaps nothing would stop you.
Take some time and consider what would stop you.
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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