"Watching the Bottom Line" Sermon: Acts 19:21-41

“Watching the Bottom Line”
[Acts 19:21-41]
October 3, 2010 Second Reformed Church

This morning we conclude Paul’s two-year ministry in Ephesus: he had returned to the city to minister among the people who had come to faith in Jesus Alone for their salvation, and when he arrived, he found that there were still people who knew of Jesus, but who didn’t believe in Him Alone for salvation. So he preached to them and explained the Resurrection, and they believed and the Holy Spirit indwelt them and caused them to bear fruit.

God worked miracles through Paul and his clothing, as well. And the non-Christians – seven exorcists in particular – tried to use Jesus’ Name – without believing in Him – to cast out demons – resulting in them being rebuked, beaten, stripped, and chased away by the demon-possessed man. So, we saw that there are angels and demons, and to use Jesus’ Name when a person doesn’t believe in Him is using the Lord’s Name in vain.

However, the Christians of the city who had not gotten rid of all the things which are incompatible with the Christian faith – their practice of magic, for example – responded to the exorcists’ beating by repenting and burning their books – worth two hundred and fifty years salary. And we saw that sanctification – becoming holy – is a process that God works out in and through us.

After all these things occurred, Paul decided to return to Greece to minister among the Christians there. And then he said he wanted to finally make it to Rome – where there were already Christians, as we saw in the meeting of Priscilla and Aquila. But first, he had some things to tie up, so he sent Timothy and Erastus on ahead of him.

Suddenly a disturbance arose – nearly a riot – due to the Way – due to the life that the Christians were living in Ephesus and what that meant for the rest of the community. And a man named Demetrius, “a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis [also known as Diana], brought no little business to the craftsmen” –he gathered the craftsmen of the city together:

“Men of Ephesus, you know that our wealth comes from selling the statues of Artemis and her temple. We make our living off of selling these silver shrines. You are also aware of Paul and how he has persuaded a great many people in most of Asia to believe that the gods are not gods – that Jesus Alone is God. The upshot of this is that our sales have plummeted. We are losing money hand over fist, and if we don’t watch the bottom line, we will be bankrupt and out of business very soon.

“And, it may come that the great goddess Artemis will also be counted as nothing, and she will be deposed – her magnificence lost – the great goddess whom all of Asia now worships.”

Demetrius may not have been a theologian, but he knew how to protect his business – he saw his profits falling because people weren’t buying the statues and shrines, so he called the craftsmens’ guild together and stirred them up – pointed out that they would all be out of business soon if something wasn’t done. Oh, and Artemis might also lose her rank as goddess.

Let us understand, first, then, that Jesus and His Salvation are worth more than anything and everything else in all of Creation. The person who believes savingly in Jesus will be willing to lose everything for Jesus’ sake, because He is of greater value.

Paul wrote to the Philippians against some false apostles, who called themselves, “super apostles,” “I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness, under the law blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from of the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:4-11, ESV).

Paul said, “If you want to talk about pedigree, I have the perfect Jewish pedigree. If you want to talk about obedience to the Law, I have been obedient. But pedigree and obedience – good works – cannot save – I am still a sinner, damned to Hell and the reception of the Wrath of God – unless... Unless Jesus gives me faith. Unless Jesus gives me His Righteousness. Unless Jesus saves me from the Wrath of God. And because Jesus has done that for me, everything else – compared with Jesus and His Salvation – is nothing – because it cannot save me from my sin and the penalty for it.”

That’s what the Ephesian Christians believed. That’s why they burned their magic books. That’s why they stopped buying the silver gods and temples. They were not only worthless, but they were contrary to the Truth of Jesus.

But the craftsmen were watching the bottom line. More than truth, they were concerned about their business failing. And there is an extent to which we can understand that. But if we think about it for a moment – they could have made and sold other things out of silver. Yet, there was devotion to Artemis – to Diana. And so, Demetrius gathered the craftsmen.

His words were persuasive, and the craftsmen became enraged – about the loss of their businesses – and began chanting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians ” “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians ” “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians ”

A riot started, and when the people saw two of Paul’s companions, Gaius and Aristarchus, they grabbed them and brought them into the theater – when court was held.

Paul found out what had happened and tried to force his way into the theater, but the disciples would not let him go in – it was too dangerous – the crowd was out of control. Even some of the Asiarchs – the leading officials of Ephesus – who had become Paul’s friends – warned him not to try to enter the theater.

And the crowd continued to cry out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians ” “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians ” “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians ” And others cried out other slogans. You see, Luke tells us that the craftsmens’ guild had grown into a large mob – and most of the people had no idea why they were there – they just got caught up in the frenzy of being in a mob and yelling – and they went along for the ride.

And then Alexander, a Jew, stood up before the crowd, wanting to make sure that they did not associate Christians with Jews – because most people understood Christianity to be a sect of Judaism at that time. But as soon as they heard him say he was a Jew, they drown him out screaming, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians ” “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians ” “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians ”

Luke records that for two hours the crowd cried out: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians ” “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians ” “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians ” Can you imagine?

At that point, the town clerk – something like the mayor – stood up and quieted the people: “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky?” “Good citizens, of course Artemis is great. The whole world knows that her temple – the grandest temple in the world – is here in Ephesus. And in it we have the sacred stone which fell from the sky. Everyone knows and believes this. There is no reason to get in such an uproar. No one has doubted that this is true.”

“Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess.” “Since these things are true, don’t do anything you’ll be sorry for. These men have not said anything against Artemis or used her name in vain. They have not defaced her temple.”

“If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” “However, if there are any legal grounds to prosecute these men, Demetrius and all you of the craftsmens’ guild, you know we are civilized people – there is a court system and people to pass judgement. You know very well how to file a claim and see that a trial commences. But what is happening here is nearing a riot. Do you really want the government to come in to stop us from rioting? Especially when we have no cause to riot?”

“And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.”

We see, then, that the town clerk ruled in favor of the Christians in this case, because they had not actually done anything wrong. It was the craftsmen who were causing a riot and not following proper legal procedure, which was wrong.

So, let us understand, secondly, that if we are following God and doing what is right, ultimately, we have nothing to fear from the government.– or authority in general.

We may remember what Paul wrote to the Romans: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed” (Romans 13:1-7, ESV).

How then ought we respond to the near riot of the Ephesian craftsmen?

Let us follow the laws of our towns and countries, so long as they do not cause us to sin. Let us respect, assist, and encourage the leaders that God has given us in whatever way we are able. Let us pray for them. Let us vote and take part in other peaceful political and social gatherings as we are able and have something worthwhile to contribute. (Let’s not just join the crowd because there’s a crowd).

Let us not be antagonistic or rude or derogatory towards those who believe differently from us. We ought to do everything we can to have people see us in a good light for the sake of the Gospel. We do wrong to antagonize people such that they will not listen to the Gospel. Let us be humble and speak the Truth in love – not being willing to back down from our convictions, but stating what is true clearly, strongly, and politely.

And, most importantly, let us reflect and consider what we have been given in Salvation through Jesus Christ Alone. Let us consider what Jesus did in coming to earth, living, dying, rising, and ascending back to His Throne. Let us be in awe and wonder of all that Jesus did to the Glory of the Father and for our salvation – not because we deserved it, but because it pleased Him to save us.

Let us understand then that our life, our joy, our purpose, our goal is to be found in knowing Jesus and His Salvation. This is the Greatest, and our lives are fulfilled in glorifying Jesus – and a life of serving Him in thanksgiving is worth more than all the privileges and honors and cars and houses and money you and I could ever have.

Do you believe that?

If you do, then you will be joyful to know that the God Who gave His Own Son for us has met with us here this morning in worship, and He is continuing to meet with us as we soon receive the bread and the cup. And as we receive these elements, we will be given grace to help us be and do all that God has planned for us. In worship, we not only glorify our God and Savior, we receive more blessings from Him.

Great is Jesus of Heaven and earth Great is Jesus of Heaven and earth Great is Jesus of Heaven and earth

Let us pray:
Almighty God and Savior, we thank You for the life You have given us and for the blessings that You continue to give us as Your people, in worship and throughout our lives, that we might serve You better and with greater joy. Help us to lead lives of thanksgiving that are pleasing to You and show the Glory of the Gospel to all those around us. And may Jesus’ Name be praised. For it is in His Name we pray, Amen.