 Last week we talked about the riot in Ephesus where the crowd chanted against the Gospel for two straight hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!!” The crowd was rowdy. They were violent. They were angry. In fact, the situation was so dangerous that Paul’s friends wouldn’t even let him appear before the crowd in order to defend himself.
You might have expected that to end in tragedy. It didn’t. The crowd quieted. They went home. Paul was safe. But the Christians didn’t think it would be wise to keep Paul in Ephesus. So, after two years pastoring in Ephesus, Paul left. Acts 20:1 says, “He said goodbye and set out for Macedonia. He traveled throughout that area speaking many words of encouragement to the people.” It means Paul headed east. He crossed the sea and began revisiting the churches that he had started. He went back to Philippi. He went back to Thessalonica. He went back to Berea. He went back to Apollonia, Amphipolis, and Corinth. Finally, he arrived in Greece where he stayed for three months. (v.3) While there he most likely revisited Corinth. Maybe even Athens. After those three months (most likely winter months where sailing is discouraged), Paul was about to sail for Syria, but because some Jews had plotted against him, he decided to go back through Macedonia. (v.3) Whether they were plotting to throw him overboard, sink the ship, or get him really drunk on rum in order to convince him to walk the plank, Paul found out and was kept safe. Again, tragedy avoided. In fact, Paul safely returns through all those cities to Philippi and from there he crosses the sea back to the Middle East and gets to Troas. It’s not far now. It’s should be a smooth journey, right? Home is just around the corner. And it’s there that tragedy strikes. Today we’re going to learn about that tragedy that hit close to home. Then, we’ll learn how Jesus helps us through tragedy. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. A Tragedy The lesson starts in verse 7. It says, “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.” Slow down. Read that again. The disciples came together on the first day of the week. That’s a Sunday. It’s neat to note that Christians are gathering together, not on a Saturday like they did in the Old Testament, but on a Sunday. The same day of the week that Jesus rose from the dead. It’s also shortly after Passover. Just it was shortly after Passover that Jesus rose from the dead. As they gathered, they were planning to break bread. That’s a reference to a fellowship meal. A 1st century potluck. Complete with Mazza balls, lamb casserole and (if it’s anything like our potlucks) about 17 different kinds of dessert. But before they could get to the meal, Paul began preaching. Since it was the dinner hour, that the gathering probably started happening somewhere around 6pm. During that first hour, people greeted each other, the fellowship team arranged the meal, and the musicians warmed up on their instruments. That means Paul would have began his sermon about an hour later, around 7pm. Five hours later? He’s still talking. Insert joke about sermon length here. One person there that evening was a young man named Eutychus. That’s impressive. Because most young people in Troas would be focused on other things in the evening: Spending their money at local establishments. Getting home to their families. Going out to eat with a young woman so that he might one day have a family. But Eutychus was at church. In the evening. Since it was their version of Monday, he was probably tired and ready for a nap at home. But he didn’t want to miss seeing the Apostle Paul one last time before he left so… Eutychus attended the gathering. He greeted other church members. He let his elders have the seats in the front. He let the women with children have seats in the back. He stood near the back, excited to listen to what Paul had to say. And that’s what he did. For fifteen minutes. Thirty minutes. An hour. An hour fifteen minutes, an hour thirty minutes, two hours. Eutychus started fanning himself: Why is it so hot in here? Probably all those lamps. I mean…it makes it easier to see at night, but they are torches. It’s like there’s fifteen mini bonfires in this room. Eutychus made his way over to the breeze of the nearest open window. Two hours and two and a half hours. Three hours. Three hours, forty-five minutes. My legs are started to get tired. I’ve been up on them all day at work. It’ll be ok. I’ll just sit on this window ledge right here. Four hours. Four and a half hours. Five hours. Suddenly, Eutychus started to get rather sleepy. Paul’s words sounded so far away. He was sure if he had just mentioned the Gospel or the Blospel… Maybe, he’d close his eyes. Just for a second. He could still listen to his words. He could still hear his sermon. He could still… ZZZZZ. And then… THUD. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story… (v.9) And suddenly, there was a commotion. What was that? I think someone fell. From on the ground. Nope from the window. Who was it? I don’t know. I didn’t see. It’s Eutychus! That’s where he was sitting. And they rushed down the stairs. And they rushed out the building. And they rushed to his body. And they tried CPR. And they felt for a pulse. Meanwhile, Paul was up in the front of the room where he had been preaching. His heart was racing. And then he heard it: He’s dead! Eutychus is dead! Paul rushed to the door. He ran to the steps. He looked at Eutychus’ now limp body. Oh God! This is a tragedy. Oh God this is… Oh God? That’s it. Now I don’t know exactly what happened next. Did Paul speak any words? Did Paul say prayer? I don’t know exactly what Paul did next. But… We do know what Eutychus did next: Sat up. “Don’t be alarmed,” Paul said. “He’s alive! (v.10) II. Dealing with Skeptics This account is amazing! A young man falls to his death in the middle of worship. But when Paul gets down to the body without performing CPR, without a defibrillator, without hitting his chest repeatedly in desperation…Eutychus lives! It’s a miracle. Granted. You might be skeptical about this. If you tried this with a dead ant out on your driveway, it wouldn’t work. In fact, a Google search for Eutychus, will lead to some scholarly articles that propose an alternative. They write that: (1) Eutychus never died. He just got knocked out. (2) Paul simply got him out of his stupor, because someone dying and coming back to life is IMOPSSIBLE. But there are quite a few things in the text that defend against that interpretation: (1) The Number of Witnesses Back to the mapwork section. In verse 4, there’s an interesting list. It’s a list of all the different people who are now accompanying Paul on his missionary journey. This list is interesting because it’s a where’s where of places Paul has shared the Gospel: Sopater…from Berea, the place where the people studiously God’s Word. Secundus from Thessalonica, the place where persecution was quite intense. Gaius from Derbe who along with Aristarchus had been dragged through the streets of Ephesus during the riot. Timothy from Lystra who joined Paul all the way back at the beginning of the second missionary journey. Tychichus and Trophimus from the province of Asia…representing the various churches of the Galatians. That’s seven men in all who present in that upper room. Add in Eutychus for eight. Then, verse 7 says that Paul was speaking to “the people”. If it would have been just these seven guys, the writer would have said the disciples. By choosing the word “people”, the writer reflects the fact that there were more than these eight. In fact, there were so many that Eutychus had to sit on the ledge of the window. Here’s the point: Fooling the whole crowd into thinking that Eutychus had resurrected when he never really died in the first place would have been very challenging with so many present. Especially since, the crowd got there first. (2) Logistics of a Lecture Notice how our church is setup. The pastor is in the front. You all are facing me. The doors to exit the place are closest to you, the audience. I am the farthest from the common exits. It’s the same in most churches and lecture halls. Why? So, it is easy for someone to slip out without causing much of a disturbance. If a mom is quieting a child or someone needs to use the restroom, leaving from the back is so much easier than having to leave through the front and walking right by the pastor in the middle of the sermon. Can you imagine reversing it? (Leaving worship would soon be the “walk of shame.”) It would have been the same way for Paul’s speech. Even though the room may not have been any kind of lecture hall, they still would have setup the room so that Paul was farthest from the door so that the people could easily come and go if needed. Why is this important? Because Paul was not the first to get to Eutychus. The people were. He couldn’t trick them into thinking Eutychus was dead, when he really wasn’t. In fact, some get to Eutychus and pick him up “dead” in verse 9 and it isn’t until verse 10 that Paul “goes down” to see him. Paul couldn’t have tricked them. Eutychus died. And that really solidifies when you consider one more thing (3) The Presence of Dr. Luke Back to the group of missionaries with Paul. I left one out. It’s subtle, but it’s there. Verse 6 says, “We sailed…to Troas.” The “we”? That’s a reference to the man who wrote down the book of Acts. It wasn’t Paul, but a man named Luke. Luke had joined Paul’s missionary crew in Mysia. He travelled with Paul throughout missionary journey two and three. Paul even references Luke in some of the letters that he writes to the various churches. Look at what he reveals about Luke in Colossians: Our dear friend Luke, the doctor…” (v.4:14) Did you catch that? Do you see the significance? Luke knew how to look for a pulse. Luke knew how to check for breathing. Luke knew how to identify a dead person. I guarantee that Luke was one of the first people down to check on Eutychus. And he was one of the first people to say: “There’s nothing we can do. He’s dead.” “Time of death: 12:16am” In fact, when Paul had stones thrown at him Lystra on his first missionary journey, the crowd left when they saw him fall to the ground in a clump. Luke wrote that Paul was dragged out of the city and that the Jews were “supposing that he was dead” (Acts 14:19). Here’s the point: if Luke wanted to present the idea that the believers in Troas merely “supposed” that Eutychus was dead, he could have written that. But he didn’t. Because he was dead. Until he wasn’t. Because of Jesus. Stop being skeptical. The miracle was real. III. Transforming Tragedy Jesus really transformed the situation. He really transformed the tragedy. (1) Jesus Transforms Tragedy into Celebration. Look at what happens next: Then Paul went upstairs again. He broke bread and ate. (v.11a) Which...praise the Lord, the potluck food is finally being eaten. At least by Paul, probably by anyone else who didn’t want to be rude and hadn’t eaten while Paul was speaking. After the tragedy of falling out a window, people aren’t sobbing and crying tears, but laughing and eating some potluck eclairs! Jesus transformed the situation so that now they’re having a dinner party. Jesus still transforms tragedy into celebration even today. Because Jesus said that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (Jn. 3:16) Just to prove his power to make that promise, Jesus brought people like Eutychus back to life. But better than that: Jesus brought himself back to life. He died on the cross. Hundreds of people watching his bloody, lifeless body taken down from the cross. No one! Not a single person stopping to say: “Wait, he’s just knocked out.” Nope. He was dead, dead. Dead, dead, dead. Dead enough to be wrapped up in clothes and placed in a grave. But… Three days later, Jesus came back to life. He breathed. He moved. He walked. Jesus has power over life and death. He provides believers with eternal life even when they die. It’s why at the last funeral that we had here at Gethsemane. And people were feeling sad. And people were thinking it was a tragedy. But then, we read the Gospel. Then, we heard about Jesus promises. Then, we remembered that our dear brother was in heaven above residing in eternal life. And suddenly, people are in the fellowship hall, talking, laughing, swapping stories and in general, celebrating! Because Jesus transformed tragedy into celebration. (2) Jesus Enables ministry to Keep Going…Even when Tragedy Strikes. Because sometimes when tragedy happens, life comes to a stand-still. Even during lesser tragedies! Like Spiderman. This past week Sony Pictures and Marvel/Disney ended their deal working together. As of right now, Spiderman cannot appear in the MCU anymore. And…tragedy. People are on social media like HOW CAN I MOVE ON!?! The same is true for bigger tragedies. People stop. They’re shocked. They need a moment to process. And to be fair, for a moment that evening in Troas, Paul stopped his sermon. The people stopped listening. Everyone needed to process. But once Jesus brought Eutychus back to life, Paul grabbed some food and continued doing ministry. He kept talking until morning. (v.10b) Then, he set off for the next stop on the missionary journey. Jesus enables ministry to keep going even during tragedy. He gives us comfort. He gives us joy. He keeps us uplifted and implores us to keep sharing the Gospel. In fact, the fact that tragedy happens doesn’t decrease the need for ministry; It increases the need for ministry. Because awful things happen in this sin filled world. Terrorism. Racial hate crimes. Hurricanes, car accidents, and horrific illness. Somewhere something horrible happens every day. That doesn’t mean we should run and hide. But we need run and tell. About the God who saw the sadness of tragedy. About the God who saw the tragedies of this world. About the God who saw the tragedies in your life. And didn’t run from it. But to it. He came into this tragic world and died on the cross. To rescue us from the tragedy of death. To transform tragedy into celebration. Through your message of the Gospel, he transforms the tragedies of others into celebration. That’s our job. That’s your job. Whether it’s your child, your spouse, your friend, your neighbor, your coworker, or your followers on social media. Because tragedy exists, God calls you to increase your ministry and share the message of Jesus. Because… (3) Jesus brings GREAT Comfort That’s the final verse of the account. It says that after Paul left, “The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.” (v.12) Because that evening, they heard about God’s grace for sinners and saw his power over death. That message of Jesus still brings great comfort even today. Even amid horrific tragedy. This past week Monday I was on social media, because sometimes as a pastor of a small medium sized church you’re in charge of social media. So, I was sitting there trying to plan (what kind of posts should we have this week) when I came across a post from a friend’s account that shocked me. It was from a former Precious Lambs’ parent. One that had been a part of our preschool family a while back. We had ministered to her. Talked with her. Shared the Gospel with her. The kid sang in worship. The parent attended, even got their phone out to record his dancing while he was singing. I enjoyed them. On Monday, I saw a Facebook post that said she had passed away. Young mom. Son of around 3rd grade. She passed away. Tragedy. But… When I looked closer at the post, I had seen that the one posting was her son. He was writing from her account. He had posted a picture of him and his mom and he had written this: “I’m sorry to say that my mom is gone. But she is in heaven now. Thank you, Jesus.” Are you kidding me? I’m tearing up as I’m reading about the tragedy. I’m tearing up as I’m thinking about the tragedy. This young man? He’s found comfort. Great comfort. Great comfort in his Savior. May Jesus be the one who gives you great comfort, too. Amen.
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 Last we left the Apostle Paul, he was in the city of Ephesus preaching the message that Jesus is the Savior. He stayed there for two years. During that time frame, a congregation had developed in Ephesus. A decent crowd of people would gather together each week to hear Paul’s sermons, sing hymns, say prayers, and high-five each other in the fellowship hall.
But this church crowd wasn’t the only kind of crowd that developed in Ephesus. Today we’re going to learn about a crowd that developed in direct opposition to the Gospel. Our goal is get some guidance about the dangers of crowd-following in 2019 Raleigh. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. A Crowd Forms The lesson comes from Acts 19. It says, “There arose a great disturbance about the Way. A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there.” (v.23) A couple of notes: Demetrius is a Greek name. It means, “servant of Demeter.” Demeter was the Greek goddess in charge of crops. She made sure that the grains grew. She made sure the oats grew. She made sure the corn grew. She made sure that they were golden and delicious. She made sure that they were a part of a daily balanced breakfast. (Something tells me that Demeter looked something like a breakfast food character). But Demetrius wasn’t only worshipping deities around the food pyramid. He worked for the temple of Artemis. Artemis was the Greek goddess of hunting (meat). The story was that you could call on her and give gifts at her temple to increase your likelihood of bagging a quail on the morning hunt. In Ephesus was the Temple to Artemis. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The temple was 425 feet long by 200 feet wide. It was tall and ornate with beautiful marble columns. People came from across the ancient world in order to visit this incredible wonder. And while the tourists were visiting the temple, they could pick up a souvenir! That’s where Demetrius came into play. He was a silversmith. His job was to build replica temples and replica statues of Artemis that he would sell on the corner right outside the monument. The little silver statue would become a keepsake or a household idol that people would pray to and hold close for protection. But business had been down recently. It wasn’t related to the economy. It wasn’t related to a lack of work. It wasn’t due to the weather keeping people from going outside. It was because of Paul. Paul had been preaching against idols. Paul had been telling people that Artemis wasn’t a real god. Paul had been telling people that Jesus was the only real God. People were believing him and subsequently buying fewer idols. So…Demetrius called together a meeting of all the people involved with the temple. Silversmiths, store owners, gift shop employees, temple janitors, even Amazon Prime drivers who delivered the statues across town… Demetrius gathered together everyone involved with the trade and said: You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty. (v.25b-27) Do you see the issue? Paul is ruining Demetrius’ fine way of living. Before you know it, Demetrius might not be able to go the Angus Barn. He might not be able to afford his fancy jewelry and fine cheese. He might not be able to buy Grey Poupon at the local grocery store. Demetrius was upset because he was losing money. You can almost hear him: Sure, these people get forgiveness. They get joy. They get the promise of heaven. But I won’t be able to make my payment on the second Lexus I bought, so… Paul must be stopped! Here’s the truth: Crowds led by SINFUL HUMANS are opposed to HOLY GOD. That was Demetrius. He was a sinful human. He was leading a crowd against God’s message. But this will be true in any situation. Why? 1) Because Sin opposes God. God is good. Sin is bad. God is against sin. Sin is against God. God doesn’t say to sin: “You’re awesome.” Sin doesn’t say to God: “Let’s be best friends.” They are drastically opposed to one another. It’s like UNC and Duke. When they are playing one another in their next basketball showdown, every time one team makes a basket those points are good for one side and bad for the other. Duke can’t throw an alley-oop slam dunk and divide the points evenly among both squads. UNC can’t hit a three pointer and have it appear on the other team’s scoreboard. By the very nature of a game with opposing teams, good news for one team means bad news for the other. By the very nature of reality, when something godly happens that’s good news for God’s side and bad news for crowds led by sin. When a sinful leader is the leader of the crowd, that crowd will inevitably clash with God. 2) Because the Perspective is different. Humans live on a timeline. We are born. We grow. We live 30, 40, 50 years. Everything we do is on a timeline: I need a report in by Friday. I need to finish schooling by December. I need to make enough money for my son’s inheritance before I die. God is different. God is eternal. He is off the timeline. He is concerned with eternity. Because the temporal perspective is so different from the eternal perspective, there’s a contradiction. Case in point: God wanted people to stop worshipping idols so that they could know the Savior and have eternal life. Demetrius wanted people to stop worshipping Jesus so that he could have more money and buy himself a nice steak dinner. The perspective is different. The result? Crowds led by SINFUL HUMANS are opposed to HOLY GOD. This is still true today. In 2018 in rural Mexico, Pastor Eduardo Garcia served at local country church. One of the struggles in Mexico is drug addiction. Crystal meth has taken over in the area. It’s ruined health, finances, and family. Pastor Eduardo Garcia preached against the danger of Meth. He taught that Meth couldn’t save you; only Jesus could. He taught that Meth didn’t remove guilt; only Jesus did. He taught that Meth eventually brought death; and Jesus brought life. And a few drug addicts listened. He got them help. They got off the drugs. Great news, right? Except for the Drug Cartel. They were losing money. So… The Drug Cartel had Pastor Eduardo Garcia gunned down in the streets. Crowds led by SINFUL HUMANS are opposed to HOLY GOD. Beware. II. The Crowd Rages Back to the story. When the crowd heard Demetrius’ speech, “They were furious and began shouting: ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’ ”(v.28) They rushed into the city. They shouted. They screamed. They pumped their fists. They motioned for others to join them. People joined the crowd who agreed with their cause. People joined the crowd who loved Artemis. People joined the crowd who enjoyed shouting. People joined the crowd who didn’t want others to get mad at them for not joining the crowd. People joined the crowd because they didn’t want to miss out on whatever was about to happen. Regardless, the crowd grew in number. They grabbed two men – Gaius and Aristarchus – two church members that worked with Paul. They dragged them through the streets. Eventually, the streets were so narrow – and the crowd was so big – that they had to make their way to the local theater. It was the only building big enough to house the large crowd that had gathered. As they gathered and shouted, they threw a guy named Alexander to the front in order to explain this message of Jesus. But – thing was – Alexander wasn’t even a believer. He just looked like he might be. When he tried to explain that, the crowd got angrier. They didn’t want to listen. And then it started. Two hours. Two straight hours of shouting: Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! She’s the greatest god of all time. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! This guy named Jesus is costing us money. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! I really, really hate the Jews. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! I just drank a bunch of booze. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! I don’t know what I’m doing. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! That plane in the sky? Is that a Boeing? Two hours of screaming. Screaming from people who don’t even know why they’re screaming in the first place. Here’s the warning: Crowd following can be a MINDLESS activity. Maybe you’ve fallen victim. Peer pressure in high school, “It’s what the cool kids are doing.” Friends egging you on at a bar, “Come on. Just say it.” Your family, “Hate those people. It’s what we do.” Comments on your social media profile, “If you don’t believe this, you are despicable.” Society, “If you want to fit in, get rid of the god stuff. That’s the way the crowd is going.” It’s so easy to follow the crowd. Even mindlessly. But MINDLESS crowd following is NEEDLESLY dangerous. Jesus is loving. Jesu is our Savior. You trust him, right? He died for you. He rose for you. He loves you. There’s no one more trustworthy than Jesus, right? Look at what your trustworthy Savior said in the Gospel for today: Do not be afraid of the one who can kill the body, but be afraid of the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell. (Mark 10:28) Do you hear what Jesus is saying? Don’t fear a dislike on Facebook more than holy hellfire. Don’t fear the loss of a friend more than the loss of your God. Don’t fear society calling you a name more than your Lord calling you DAMNED. Don’t fear anything more than your God. III. The Crowd is Defeated Because no crowd can OVERPOWER God. Back to Ephesus. The shouting had been going on for a solid two hours. Finally, the city clerk, who is a high-ranking individual in Ephesians society, made his way to the front of the steps. After motioning for them to be quiet, they finally chilled. He said to them: “Calm down; don’t do anything rash.” (v.36) Guys, we need to stop. Artemis is still known around the world. We’re still rich. Tourists are still visiting. These two church members haven’t done anything illegal. The reality is that if Caesar hears about this riot – we’re the ones who did something illegal. And we’ll be the ones getting into trouble. Chill. Relax. Go home. Then, he dismissed them. And the crowd went home. Because sometimes God protects his people through people that aren’t even his people. TRUTH: No crowd can OVERPOWER God. Take one more example from Jesus. He was arrested by a crowd of angry men. They brought him to the Assembly. They shouted for hours, not ‘Great is Artemis!’, but “Crucify Him!” They dragged him through the narrow streets. They hung him on a cross…all the while jeering, mocking, and spitting. He took his last breath and it looked like the crowd had won. But… Three days later. Three days later… Jesus came back to life. And that wasn’t the only crowd against him! Because Jesus went to the cross with a crowd of your sins on his back. The sins of rebelling against his Word. The sins of bowing to peer pressure. The sins of following the crowd opposed to God. But those sins didn’t overpower Jesus. He overpowered them. Through faith in him, those sins won’t overpower you. You are forgiven. You are victorious. Christ will bring you home to heaven. Because… Christ following ALWAYS leads to ETERNAL life. No other crowd will do that. Not a crowd of your friends. Not a crowd of your coworkers. Not a crowd of social media followers. Only Jesus can. And does. Only Jesus will. IV. What Now? 1) Identify the Leader. Have you ever driven cross-country in a caravan? That’s when a bunch of cars all follow one another. If you’re going to do that, suddenly it becomes very important that you know who you’re following. Because if you don’t pay very good attention. Well… I remember one time I was following a red van. I was supposed to follow it to a place in Durham. But after it was taking awhile, I looked up at the road signs and saw that I was approaching Greenville. Turns out? I had been following a red van that wasn’t the one my friend was driving. It’s important to identify the leaders in your crowds of people. Because that will tell you where you’re going. Is the leader a sinful human? Is it a sinful human who doesn’t care about Jesus? Is it a sinful human who is led by Jesus? That’s the crowd you want. 2) Unfollow the Sinful Crowd. Unfortunately, this is a lot harder than simply going onto Facebook and hitting “UNFOLLOW.” (Although that might be part of this.) If it’s a crowd that you’ve been following for a while, you might have acquaintances, friendships, and good friends in that crowd. Those relationships, emotions, and feelings will make it hard to unfollow that crowd. But… If that crowd is leading you away from your Savior… Don’t be Demetrius. Don’t forfeit the Christ in exchange for money, for fame, for fortune, for good times, for a momentary pleasure…for stuff that doesn’t last. 3) Follow the Christ. Because Christ is not overpowered by any crowd. And if you’re following him, neither will you. Because Christ always leads to eternal life. If you’re following him, that’s where you’ll be. Check out Revelation 7. It describes a different kind of crowd. A bigger crowd. A more diverse crowd. A crowd shouting louder than that Ephesus crowd. A crowd shouting longer than that Ephesus crowd. A crowd shouting about a being greater than the Ephesus crowd was shouting about. A crowd shouting in heaven: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Friends, that’s the crowd you want to be in.  We are in the middle of our sermon series on Acts. In this series we have been to a lot of different places and learned a different lesson in each place. Today we’re getting a potpourri of lessons from one place and all on hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy comes from the Greek word “hypokrusis.” The word was used in Greek theater. It meant: “to play a part,” which, in Greek theater, often meant “wearing a mask.” It’s a part of theater still today – specifically known as the Marvel Big Screen. Chris Evans dons a mask and becomes Captain America. Chadwick Boseman dons a mask and becomes Black Panther. Evangeline Lilly dons a mask and becomes The Wasp. Hypocrisy, then, is when someone claims to be one thing, when they are not. Before we begin our study of hypocrisy, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. One Kind of Hypocrisy The lesson from Acts 19 is the first big stop on Paul’s 3rd missionary journey. Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. (19:1a) Ephesus was the Capital of the Ancient province of Asia and a bustling commercial center. Paul had briefly been there at the end of the 2nd missionary journey. Before he left, he promised to return if God allowed. Paul’s appearance in chapter 19 is a fulfillment of that promise. When Paul arrives, he finds some disciples. (v.1b) These men claimed to be followers of the Christ. Paul greets them pleasantly. (Maybe with some high fives, jokes about not having rocks thrown at him, and an invitation to go grab lunch at the local Smashburger). As they are hanging out, Paul asks them some conversational questions: What’s your favorite worship song? What do you do to serve at the church? Do you like your coffee dark or light roast? And… Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? (v.2) Some explanation: The Holy Spirit is absolutely in the heart of all believers. 1 Corinthians 12:3 says, “No one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.” It’s simple. It’s clear. If you believe in Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit, because you need the Holy Spirit in order to believe. But what Paul is talking about here is something different. Early in the history of the Christian church, during key faith-filled events, the Holy Spirit would visibly manifest his presence within a group of believers. This would serve to prove the truthfulness of the Gospel through miraculous signs. It happened at Pentecost (Acts 2) when tongues of fire appeared on the Apostles’ heads as they spoke in languages that they had never learned. It happened again in the house of the Roman Centurion Cornelius (Acts 10). In both instances, God was making it clear that this faith – and the message that this faith was placed in – was a very real and very divine message. Paul’s question was about whether that had happened with them. Did you get to speak in tongues? Did fire appear on your heads? Did you open your mouth and rainbows started shooting out? The answer was a bit surprising: “We hadn’t heard there was a Holy Spirit…” (v.3) Paul responded, “Wait. What!?! You don’t know the Holy Spirit? He’s a key part of our teachings. He’s the one who brings us to faith. He’s the one who came down on Jesus like a dove. And Baptism! Haven’t you been baptized? Into whose name were you baptized? Because as far as I know…believers are baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the HOLY SPIRIT.” The men responded, “We were baptized into John’s Baptism, into the name of the Christ who is going to come in the future.” “OK… The Christ. Good. Did you know he has already come? Did you know he already did his Christ work? Did you know his name?” And the men looked on at another, shrugged, and replied, “I don’t know…maybe…Bob?” Divine forehead slap. Here’s the truth: Sometimes hypocrisy comes from IGNORANCE. It’s like the time I was at Buffalo Wild Wings and a lady near me was decked out in Tarheel gear as she watched them battle on the football field. A while later, the Tarheels had their quarterback sacked in the end zone. The woman stood up, clapped, and shouted, “Great job! Way to go.” Until, her friends (also in Tarheel gear) motioned for her to sit down: “Stop cheering. That was a safety. That means its two points for the other team.” Sometimes hypocrisy comes from IGNORANCE. Yes, I’m a believer in Jesus…and I believe you can sleep with whomever you want. Does the Bible say differently? Yes, my social profile says: “Christian”; I like all kinds of quotes from the Bible. Also quotes from the KKK. Is there something wrong? Yes, I’m a Christian. I’ve been my whole life. But what do you mean when you are talking about salvation by grace? Never heard of it? I thought I’d get to heaven, simply because I was good enough…. Before you say, “But if someone doesn’t know, it’s no big deal.” Remember that ignorant hypocrisy is still hypocrisy. It’s still wrong. If your son winds up and punches your little daughter in the face, you don’t say, “It’s ok. He didn’t know. Let him be.” No! You course correct immediately! In the same way, it’s still wrong when we say we are followers of Jesus, but then do the opposite of followers of Jesus, even if we simply didn’t know followers of Jesus don’t do that. There’s a simple cure for this kind of hypocrisy. It’s called knowledge. That’s what Paul gave these men. He said to them in verse 4, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” Jesus is the Christ. He lived perfectly when you couldn’t. He died innocently in your place. He rose triumphantly for the forgiveness of your sins. I saw it with my own eyes! And the group believes. They are baptized into Jesus’ name. And that Holy Spirit that they didn’t know about? He makes himself visibly known. They began to speak in tongues, and they prophesied. (v.6) Visual proof of the invisible truth that their faith in Jesus wasn’t fake; it was real. The same is true for you. Repent of your any hypocrisy of ignorance. To do that, look at the truth. The truth may be that what you’ve been doing is sin. But the truth also is that you have a Savior. And in Jesus, you are forgiven. II. Another Kind of Hypocrisy But not all hypocrisy is caused by ignorance. Next Paul entered the synagogue, a place where they studied God’s Word. He went and spoke boldly there for three months. (v.9a) You would expect this to produce real believers. These people wore religious jewelry. They went to worship. They knew lots of the Bible. They knew all the words to all their favorite religious songs. They knew prayers. They knew religious logos. They knew God’s Word. And yet…when Paul was done speaking… Some of them were obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. (v.9b) And think about the hypocrisy of it all: They studied God’s Word. They knew God’s Word. Then, they refused to believe God’s Word. And even openly mocked God’s Word. Only to sit around congratulating each other for following that Word that they were mocking. It’s would be like sitting in the Fellowship Hall after worship and gossiping about another believer not being a very good believer and then congratulating yourselves on being such good believers even though you’re doing things that believers aren’t supposed to do. Take note: Sometimes hypocrisy comes from ignorance; but sometimes hypocrisy comes from obstinance. In fact, the Greek word there means “hardened.” Tough, rough, impenetrable. Like a rock. There’s nothing getting through the exterior into the heart of the rock. Try it. You can punch the rock. You can hit the rock with a blow dart. You could try karate chopping the rock. Nothing. Even if you took a hammer to it - that rock isn’t splitting. The same can happen with people’s hearts. Even the hearts of long-time Christians. I know racism is wrong. God is for all people. You should go tell it to those people over there. They’re the racist ones. In fact, that’s how all people like them are! I know it says that sex outside of marriage is wrong. And I haven’t had it! Look at my purity ring! Now excuse me…the adult film. I uploaded on my iPhone is coming after it’s done buffering. I know it! Pride is wrong. Preach it pastor! Especially at that guy over there. But don’t you preach it at humble me. There’s nobody humbler than I am. And God’s Word connects with the heart. And the heart hardens. And hypocrisy ensues. Take warning. If you are a long-time church goer, take extra warning! Don’t harden your heart to God’s Word. And then sit around congratulating yourself for following God’s Word. Instead of hardening your heart, look at God’s heart. Because God’s heart was not hard. His heart was filled with compassion. His heart was filled with love for you…even when you repeatedly hardened your heart against him. His heart was not hardened like a rock. Want proof? When he hung on that cross… Bleeding… Dying… For you… The soldiers reached up with a spear. They plunged it into his him. Blood. Not hardened. But softened with love for you. Even now. Even if you’ve hardened your heart before, listen to his heart for you. Repent of your hypocrisy. And do it quickly. III. All Kinds of Hypocrisy As Paul continued his ministry, God continued to bless Paul. In fact, look at the amazing things that God did through Paul: Even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched Paul were taken to the sick and their illnesses were cured, and the evil spirits left them. (v.12) That’s amazing! Paul’s handkerchiefs cured from the flu and his aprons drove out evil spirits. But look at what happened, “Seven sons of Sceva (Which…Listen to the name. It sounds shady. Almost like an evil muppet or something) they went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” (v.12-13) To be fair, this doesn’t look hypocritical. It looks like they are trying to help. They aren’t ignorant of Jesus’ name. They use it. They aren’t obstinately opposed to Jesus. God is against demons, too. Yet, look at what happened. One day an evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. (v.15) Do you see the problem? I can’t. But God could. Maybe they weren’t doing this out of love for Jesus. But out of love for power. Maybe they weren’t doing this out of love for others. But out of love for themselves. They were hypocrites. Good ones too! It was hard to tell that they were doing anything wrong. But here’s the truth: Sometimes hypocrisy comes from ignorance. Sometimes hypocrisy comes from obstinance. But hypocrisy is always exposed. A family member finds out. A pastor discovers the truth. Your spouse learns about what you were trying to hide. Always hypocrisy is exposed. Even if you successfully hide it from all other human beings, God knows. God knows and he will expose it. At the end of time, you won’t be able to hide it. And he won’t be able to hide his displeasure. He’ll simply say: Jesus, I know… And Paul I know… But…You? Who are you? IV. What Now? Therefore, God calls us to repent. To turn from hypocrisy. To turn to our Savior. And the way to do that is to: (1). Switch Your Mask We said that hypocrisy is putting on a mask. Covering up our sins with a nice looking, “Christian” façade. Make me think of Halloween. That’s a time for masks. There’s a wide variety of them at Precious Lambs. I remember there was one kid who made his own mask. It was made of string and paper. The paper covered up…one of his eyebrows. He said: “You don’t know who I am.” And I said: “Uh-huh.” Hypocrisy? That’s like hiding behind the paper eyebrow mask. We think it hides our sinfulness from God. It doesn’t. Instead, check out Galatians 3:27 All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Christ’s clothing? It’s righteousness. It’s purity. It’s impenetrable. Just like a full-fledged mask, it fully and completely covers up all your sins. Jesus covers up your obstinance. Jesus covers up your ignorance. Jesus covers up your sin so much so that when God looks at you, He only sees – His child. That’s comforting. That’s empowering. So much so that God calls us to our second WHAT NOW: (2). Go Public Look at the reaction of the people to what had occurred. Many who believed came and openly confessed what they had done. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. (v.18) Think about that: Believers gathered in the middle of the city with their arms filled of books that they had been storing in their homes. Books that weren’t about the Bible. Books that were about Satan, witchcraft, and sexual immorality. It’d be like someone coming to the front of church and making a pile of a raunchy racist DVDs, two illegal drug baggies, and an iPhone loaded with pornographic content. That’s take courage to do in front of everyone, right? But they had the courage. Why? Because Jesus. Because they were covered in Christ’s righteousness. Because they knew they were God’s children. Because they knew God’s children were serious about getting rid of sin. Because they knew God’s other children wouldn’t ridicule them, but support them. And so… They went public with it. Do the same. Examine your heart. Find your hypocrisy And Go public with it. Go public with a friend, a pastor, or a family member! And if someone trusts you enough to publicly confess a secret sin to you, don’t say: “Just a second while I share what you did on social media.” Nope. Help them. Share the Gospel. Remind them of Christ’s mask. Help them incinerate whatever it is they are struggling with! Because in that, God’s Word is spread. Conclusion: In fact, look at the last verse: In this way, the word of the Lord spread widely. (v.20) Because when God’s Word gets us to stop being hypocrites and start being real, then God’s Word really spreads. If we’re real -- real with God and real with each other -- then the community will notice.  Last week we continued to follow the apostle Paul as he left Athens and went alone on to Corinth. It seemed an impossible task, one man against a city of very devoted sinners. Of course, it wasn’t the first time God sent a man alone against unbelief like that, but it was an intimidating prospect, nonetheless.
But Paul did not stay alone for long. He reached out on common ground, met like-minded people, and before long a small congregation was blossoming. In fact, this pattern repeated most places he went. Even where he was forcibly driven out, he left behind a contingent of the faithful who continued the work after he departed. Though he made his rounds, sharing Jesus, strengthening churches, and moving on, each place he worked carried on the work without him. Today, it is that effect in particular that we want to look at. That from the efforts of one, many can come to faith by God’s power. And each one of those many can reach out to just as many more. Let’s begin by taking a look at our reading for today, from Acts 18: Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch. After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah. One hates to talk numbers when discussing the church. God wants all people to be saved. He does not measure success in numerical terms. The effectiveness of the Gospel or a congregation should not be measured in numerical growth. It’s a slippery slope to talk numbers. That being said. Foregoing issues of doctrinal divide and incorrect teachings, the number of people in the world with saving faith in Jesus could probably be estimated in the hundreds of millions. The number of people who have passed to heaven in the faith in the last 2000 years makes that number significantly higher. Imagine what that number would look like though, if Paul had been the only one teaching people about Jesus. If everyone who had come to faith by his efforts simply took that faith home and enjoyed it for themselves and that was that? God is all-powerful, but humanly speaking – how fast can one person share the faith with the world? In fact, even Jesus himself said the task was too great. He said the workers were too few and to ask for more workers. He turned to his disciples, told them to pray for more workers that the lost and helpless sheep might get what they so desperately need. And we’ve seen through the book of Acts how desperately people need Jesus. And people haven’t changed much since our time. As we look at the people in Acts who need Jesus, we don’t just see the same people in our world, we even see ourselves. We see either what we once were or struggle every day not to turn into. We saw the group that loved just indulging in everything life had to offer in order to try to find happiness on any given day. Do you know that person? Have you tried it yourself? Or even given into it a little bit? The rush of whatever is great… but at the end you have to face reality. And it’s never the same the second time. You have to go bigger and better. And you get caught in an endless loop of one-upping everything that went before. Doesn’t even have to be a sinful vice. Could just be a hobby or vacation or something. You’re working towards that one thing that you say, “when I get here, I’ll be happy and content and everything will be good.” But it’s a hamster wheel. It doesn’t work. And you just have to do it all over again. It’s a hollow chasing of the wind. We saw the group that preferred to work for satisfaction. That’s just as deceptive a trap. Either you work really hard and end up with a false sense of security from how great you are… or you more likely stumble and make mistakes and end up utterly discouraged that you just can’t seem to get it right. It’s just as bad as chasing those hollow pleasures to think that somehow my life, my worth, my joy has to come from how good I am at something. I can’t stop moving and working because if I do, I’ll realize how empty it really is and it’ll all come crashing down. And the less said about the town of Corinth and their worship of Aphrodite, the better. Sexual sin is some of the most prevalent in our world. We all know someone caught up in it and we’d be utterly foolish to think that as Christian believers we are above it or immune to it. All of these people in our world are people chasing empty lives, knowing on some level that something is missing but unable to fill it. And before we look down our nose, they are exactly what you and I would be except for God’s grace in saving us. They need someone to save them. They need a God who died to make these things right. To give them joy and comfort that lasts, water they can drink and never be thirsty again. They need Jesus to fill that void and calm their desperate pursuits. Just like we needed Jesus to do the same for us. And to help us daily that we don’t go back to those ways. We’re here to plant Jesus in the heart of North Raleigh and beyond…because North Raleigh is full of hurting people who desperately need it. But this is not a job that one man can do. It’s not even a job that a small team of called workers can do. It is the calling of every Christian to multiply the faith wherever you go. Jesus told the disciples to pray for workers and then what happened next? He made his disciples workers and sent them out to work. Paul made friends of Priscilla and Aquilla and before long they were travelling with Paul and teaching other believers And what about that list of people Paul sent greetings to in Rome? You know, at the point Paul wrote that letter, Paul himself had never even been to Rome? And yet he had a laundry list of people he personally knew who had gone there to carry out ministry for Jesus. The mission of the church can be summed up simply in two words: Grow and Go. We are to grow the faith of existing believers and we are to go with that faith to share it with others. If you look at Jesus’ great commission that is exactly the directive you’ll find him giving. But the great way about how God works is that each person the Holy Spirit works on and brings to faith is another person to carry out that same mission. One reaches many, the many reach many more, and on and on it goes. We are a congregation. A gathering. We are very different, with different backgrounds, different attitudes and quirks and foibles. But we are united as a gathering of believers in Christ to carry out his mission. This is not a passive club that we show up to, put our dues in the offering plate and go home with a little bit of salvation. The believers are the church and the church is the believers. Yes, to guide our path we call a man specially trained to lead and shepherd us. Yes, we call teachers to bring up our children. Yes, we appoint leaders to help keep the chaos a bit organized. But you are still the church. And the ministry of the church is more than Pastor Kiecker can do alone. It’s more than the preschool teachers can do alone. It’s more than the church council can even do alone. It’s up to all of us. Every believer working together to accomplish that mission to multiply the church, to share the gospel message, give the Holy Spirit his moment to work and bring others to the faith you know and treasure. We’ve talked about the people who are hurting, we know how badly they need it. We know that could just as easily be you or me. And yes, maybe they’ll reject it. God doesn’t hold us accountable for that. He does hold us accountable if we never speak up. If we never do anything. How can anyone believe if they don’t hear and how can they hear if we don’t speak? Now, I know we’re not all equally equipped. That’s part of the reason we have different roles in the church. We are not all here to do exactly the same things. But we all have gifts that can be used to carry out this ministry. Use them! Maybe it’s not a direct outreach effort, but it’s still work that supports that outreach. Whether it’s helping worship run smoothly for the visitor or keeping our facility beautiful to glorify God or taking some task off another’s plate so they can focus on larger priorities – we all talents and gifts to contribute to the ministry. And let me just backpedal for a second and point out that ministry is not all about outreach, either. Remember I said the mission of the church is to Grow and Go. Becoming a believer means we are saved, 100%. But it’s also not the end of our earthly walk with God. Faith needs to be fed, nurtured, and grown. The ministry to strengthen faith right here in our own midst through regular worship and study and devotion is just as vital as the ministry to reach outside of our congregation. Look at Priscilla, Aquilla, and Apollos strengthening each other through instruction and study of God’s word prior to really tackling the task of reaching out. What are you doing to grow? Are you making a point to attend Sunday bible study or one of the mid-week groups? Do you have a devotional habit to dig into scripture regularly on your own? Do you have someone you can reach out to for help when you wrestle with a difficult section of the Bible? If you don’t feel up to the task of reaching out, then start by reaching in – grow your faith in the Word here and help others do the same. And, if you’re not sure where to start – which is super common, then ask. Ask Pastor Kiecker, ask me, ask the leadership. Any of us can point you in the right direction and give you resources to get started. Brothers and sisters, we are the church. We are the gathering of believers called to do his work. Study his word, learn from him regularly, build yourself up in that truth and then share it out there with those who so desperately need it. Ultimately the work of salvation is up to the Holy Spirit. He is the one who changes hearts and brings people to faith. The success of our mission is in his hands, not ours. But he has chosen to rely on us for the opportunity. Study the gospel, share the gospel, that more can know Jesus, that more can share Jesus, that the most can be saved. Amen.  Throughout our study of ACTS, maybe you’ve noticed something: The Gospel is unstoppable.
It’s like a locomotive. It keeps going. It keeps moving. (Don’t get in its way). You can’t stop it. It’s like a Boeing jet. It keeps going. It keeps moving. (It travels long distances). You can’t stop it. It’s like a toddler after a bunch of fruit snacks. It keeps going. It keeps moving. (It doesn’t even crash after the sugar rush). You can’t stop it. Will the run of the Gospel continue? Before we study God’s Word, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. When Workers are Few… The lesson comes from Acts 18. Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. (18:1) Corinth was located about 45 miles east of Athens. The best way to get there was a long dirt road. That’s how Paul got there. He walked on his own down a long dirt road by himself. As he approached, he would have seen a grand city. Corinth had one of the largest populations of the ancient world. It contained a large marketplace where all kinds of merchants gathered to sell their goods. It was money driven. People liked the finer goods of life. They were always busy buying and selling. Corinth was also the location of the temple to Aphrodite. She was the goddess of love and sex. Just as the worship of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, influenced the philosophy and wisdom of Athens, the worship of Aphrodite, the goddess of sex, influenced the city of Corinth. People were very loose with their sexuality. In fact, it is recorded that once a week, the one thousand priestesses of Aphrodite would come down from the temple. They’d enter the city and “ply their wares.” They’d sleep with men. They’d sleep with women. They’d sleep with a bunch of men and women. If preaching the Gospel in Athens was like talking amongst a large group of philosophy professors, preaching the Gospel in Corinth was like catching a group of porn actors on their smoke break. Put yourself in Paul’s sandals. As he walked towards the city. By himself. On a dirt road. 45 miles. Seeing the city in the distance. He might have thought: So… How am I going to do this? I’m by myself, God! This Corinth? It has over 1,000 temple prostitutes. And you teach that sex is a special gift for one and one woman in marriage. These people? They sleep with one man and one woman before the morning coffee break! (It’s embedded in their culture.) And…how am I going to get throughout the entire city? It’s huge. Markets and merchants everywhere. Where am I even going to stay? The only hotel rooms come with a voluptuous roommate and a red light special? God, is this the end of Gospel ministry? But if Paul had those concerns, God answered Paul. Not with words. With actions: Paul met a Jew named Aquila…and his wife Priscilla. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. (v.2,3) Tentmaking was an important ancient trade. Because people walked from city to city, tents were brought along in case you had to set up shelter and spend the night along the roadway. These tents were generally made from animal skins. Over time, those skins would wear and tear in the wind and grit. A tent maker would prepare the skin for being a shelter, sew it together, and fix up any tears in it. Paul had training in this skillset. Granted, he had been busy preaching the Gospel. He hadn’t used these skills for a while. But as he walked around Corinth, unsure of where to go and what to do, the tentmaking shop felt familiar. Hey guys! I’m a tentmaker, too. I was trained up at Tentmaker Tech in Jerusalem. You? How long have you been in the business? Is that a Craftsman skinning knife in your hands? I love those. Do you have a favorite animal skin? I’m especially fond of North African camel myself. Eventually the tentmaking conversation leads to a job. The job leads to housing. The housing leads to Paul telling them about Jesus. Before you know it, Paul has friends. He has supporters. He has funding. He has a place to stay. He has fellow believers and partners in his Gospel ministry. And the Gospel doesn’t stop. Instead, it spread. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. (v.4) TRUTH: When WORKERS are few, God provides MORE. This is something that we’ve seen in the history of Gethsemane church. Gethsemane church started about 47 years ago when a group of people started worship services in their living room. They’d gather the family around one of those big old TV sets, turn off the TV, and put a cross on top. Instant altar. Then, they’d listen to worship cassettes (do you remember cassettes?) of neighboring church services that they had received in the mail. All the while -- they had the hope that God would provide a pastor to help them Plant Jesus in the Heart of North Raleigh. And God did. A guy named Pastor Paul Schmiege who moved to Raleigh and helped plant the very church building that we are blessed to set foot inside of. God provided More workers. And God has kept doing that. When we’ve needed musicians? God provided. When we’ve needed someone who’s good with finances? God provided. When we needed someone who’s good with technology? God provided. When we needed an architect, a construction manager, and data analysts to help build the new facility to reach others with the Gospel? God provided. Really recently – we needed someone to help teach PreK 4 students about Jesus. We sent a request to our church body’s worker training school. Get this -- there were hundreds of requests and only about 1/3 of them would be filled. I even received a phone call from our District President that said “Be prepared. We might not have anyone for you.” And yet – God provided. He gifted us a new teacher (some of you met her last week). The same is true in your personal Gospel ministry. If you’re the only believer… …at work. …in your family. …at the gym. Remember: When workers are few, God provides more. And maybe. Just maybe… You’re the MORE. II. When Some Reject God kept providing more. Weeks later, reinforcements arrived. Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, so Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. (v.5) This was Paul’s normal plan. He’d go to a city. He’d spend time in the local synagogue. He’d meet with the Jews: people who believed in Biblically defined marriage, who read the Old Testament Scriptures, and who were familiar with the concept of the Messiah. This seems like a good plan. Until… It wasn’t. The Jews opposed Paul and became abusive. (v.6) Ok. Enough lecturing us on sin. Why don’t you go out into the world and tell those Corinthians about sin? Stop telling us about a Savior. Have you seen what’s happening out there in sex-crazed Corinth? Get out of our face. We don’t need you. We don’t need the Gospel. And Paul listened to them. He turned around. He shook out his robe. (Just to get the stench of unbelief off it). He walked out the exit. He walked down the dirt path. He turned right. He walked up the entry path to the house next door. In fact, Scripture says this: Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. Notice it doesn’t call Titius Justus (let’s call him “TJ”) a Jew. Luke, the author of this book, usually records if someone is a Jew. He doesn’t here. It means TJ wasn’t a part of the Jewish synagogue. In fact, his name is Latin. He’s a Corinthian! And just like most Corinthians, TJ probably had his own sexual history. It could have been: Sleeping with his boss’ daughter. Experimenting with the guy at the bar. Those Saturday nights with all the booze and all the wrong choices. All of it left him feeling unclean. Unworthy. Like there were these awful areas of his life that he couldn’t scrub off his soul. Can you relate? And even though he lived next door to a religious place like the synagogue, they hadn’t let him become a part of it. He wasn’t worthy. He didn’t belong. Until… Paul walked right up to his door. Paul told him about Jesus. About how Jesus lived perfectly, died innocently and rose triumphantly. About how Jesus cleans us from the inside out. About how Jesus transforms people… From unclean to pure. From just a body to an eternal soul. From nothing more than a cheap thrill to a blood bought soul. From sexual sinner to forgiven. Get this: TJ doesn’t just become a believer. He becomes an active partner in the ministry: The Bible says: Crispus, whose name always makes me think of cereal, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized. (v7-8) TRUTH: When the Gospel is THROWN OUT, it just goes NEXT DOOR. That means if someone’s sharing the Gospel with you, don’t reject it. Don’t try to stop it. Don’t throw it out the door. Because you won’t be able to stop it. It’ll just move next door. So will the promises of forgiveness, eternal life, and transformation. But if you hold onto it. No matter your past. No matter your sexual past. In Jesus you become pure, eternal and forgiven. If someone’s sharing the Gospel with you, don’t reject it. Cling to it. And if you’re sharing the Gospel and someone rejects it, don’t quit. Just…go next door. A while back, I was walking around the neighborhood, sharing information about our church and inviting them to learn about Jesus. I had been to a couple of doors where they said things like: “I don’t need your religion.” “I don’t have time.” And “Get off my porch step.” After many rejections, I knocked on one more door. It was opened by a large middle Eastern man with some big muscles. He had just moved from Iraq. In fact, he had fought in the Iraqi army. I remember thinking: “This is probably not going to go well.” But…God. So, I invited him to worship. Years later? He’s a baptized member of our congregation. If you’re sharing the Gospel and someone rejects it, don’t stop sharing the Gospel. Just do what Paul did. Turn around. Shake your clothes out. And move next door. To the next cubicle. To the next Facebook friend. To the next, next door neighbor. Keep sharing the Unstoppable Gospel Message. III. When Persecution Happens But for Paul, it all seemed too familiar. He’d had this happen before. He preaches the Gospel in the synagogue. Some believe. Some reject the message. He preaches until… …A riot. …An arrest. …A plot against his life. None of this had happened yet, but based on his experiences, Paul may have been thinking of an escape route. One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” (v.9-10) So, he stuck around. His haters stood in the background glaring, whispering, and folding their arms angrily, but Paul kept preaching. Until one day, The Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment. “This man,” they said, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.” You do know the Roman law, Roman governor? New religions are illegal. Greek mythology? That’s cool. Roman mythology? Fine. Thanks to your gracious ruling, Judaism is fine as well. But this guy preaches new stuff! It’s illegal. He should be fined and arrested. Maybe killed? As they spoke, I know what I would have been thinking. I would have started wracking my brain about a good defense: How this really wasn’t a new religion. How the Gospel was the real message of the Old Testament. How Jesus was your Savior too, Your Eminency. But before Paul could speak. Gallio frowned. “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law – settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” (v.14-15) And with that – he threw the case out. Coincidence? No. It’s exactly like God said. And here’s the thing. That declaration of Gallio set a precedent. Paul was now free to continue to preach the Gospel in Corinth and there’s nothing anyone could do to stop it. TRUTH: The Gospel is unstoppable because…it’s God. Think about it: God is the content of the Gospel. God is the power of the Gospel. God is the will of the Gospel. God is the promise of the Gospel. God is the deliverer of the Gospel. God is in control of the Gospel. God is the one that makes sure that his Gospel NEVER stops. Because God doesn’t stop. Even when some angry men arrested God. Beat God up. And nailed God hand and foot to the cross. That didn’t stop God. Three days later, he came back to life. And the Gospel spread. If death can’t stop the Gospel message, then nothing will. In fact, look at the concluding verse to the Corinthian account: Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the proconsul; and Gallio showed no concern whatever. (Acts 18:17) The Jews were upset that Sosthenes – the leader of their revolt against the Gospel – did not do his job. Paul wasn’t convicted. The Gospel kept going. Years later, Paul writes a letter to the congregation at Corinth. Years later, He writes to believers to tell them about Jesus’ love for them. Years later, in the very first verse, Paul writes this: Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes. (1 Corinthians 1:1) Did you see that? Sosthenes isn’t a very common name. And in Corinth? The Gospel did it again. An enemy of the Gospel. Not only becoming a believer in the Gospel. But joining the movement and becoming a partner in the Gospel. The Gospel doesn’t stop. Join the movement. Hop on the unstoppable train. Amen.  ACTS, All Powerful, Atheism, Attitude, Authority, Believe, Christian Living, Church, Comfort, Education, Faith, False Teachings, Impossible, North Raleigh, Raleigh, Repentance, Seriousness, Sin, True Heart, Urgency
Today we are continuing our walk through the second missionary journey of the Apostle Paul. Before we study God’s Words, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. About Athens Last we left Paul, he had been in Thessalonica sharing the Gospel and he was run out of the city by a mob of people that had a volatile reaction to the message of Jesus. From there he went to Berea, where the people were of noble character and examined the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:1-11) But after Paul was in Berea for a while, Acts 17:13 says: When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the Word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. They found out where Paul would be preaching. They marched around shouting “Down with Paul.” They held signs that had a picture of Paul’s face with a mustache drawn on it. In response, the mission team split up. Since the believers and church in Berea were still young in faith, Silas, Timothy, and Luke stayed behind to teach them, meanwhile, Paul, the main guy the crowds were protesting, went to the next city by himself. The next city was called Athens. A bit about Athens: Athens had been a key city state in that Greek empire. It was a place for thinkers and movers. It was the birthplace of democracy. It was the home of Plato, Aristotle and many other philosophers. It had been important to Alexander the Great and it was still important under the Roman empire. It was artsy. It was academic. It was scholarly. And… It was filled with idols. While Paul was waiting…in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. (v.16) Idols in the temples. Idols on the street corners. Idols at work. Idols at home. Idols at lunch. Idols at breakfast. Idols at dinner. Idols at the local restaurant. Idols at the museum. Idols at the sports arena, the fishing harbor and the laundromat. It almost sounds like Dr. Seuss: Idols, idols in a box. Idols, idols with a fox. Idols, idols here and there. Idols, idols everywhere! For Paul, this was strange. Athens was supposed to be a place of wisdom. Yet, here were all these wise people bowing down to worship tiny, stone statues. So, Paul spoke: He reasoned in the synagogue and in the marketplace. (v.17) He told them about Jesus. He told them about the Savior. While Paul was there two different groups of people heard him speak: One group was Epicurean. The Epicureans followed the philosophy of Epicurus who lived from 341-270 B.C. His philosophy was that there was no afterlife. The gods existed but didn’t really care what humans did. They were too busy with the own affairs to care. Their slogan: “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!” The other group was Stoic. The Stoics followed the philosophy of Zero who lived from 340-265 B.C. He had the perspective that you had to do more than waste your life away. The gods put people here for a reason and that reason was to work. It was the highest form of pleasure to work (and to do so every day). Their slogan was a bit different: “Eat, Drink, and do work, for tomorrow…we do more work.” These two philosophies were common opponents. It was blue-collar worker versus free thinking hippie. It was the constant busyness of Wall Street versus the laid-back jazz of Bourbon Street. It was “Whatever man” versus “Get to work, man.” They were common opponents. But when Paul came to town, these common opponents had a common enemy: What do you mean there’s more to life than pleasure? What do you mean there’s more to life than work? They asked: “What is this babbler trying to say?”…And they took Paul to the Areopagus. (v.19) The Areopagus was the place for new ideas. It was named after the god of war: “Ares.” His name literally meant: “Hill of the war god.” It was an appropriate name for the place where people would go to battle for their new ideas against some of the brightest minds of the ancient world. That is the reason that they brought Paul to the Areopagus. They wanted him to battle for his new idea. They wanted him to go to war for Jesus. And Paul did. II. About the Unknown God Paul began his sermon: Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. (v.22) You have gods for everything. A god of the sun. A god for the moon. A god for the sea; a god for the land. A god for love; a god for war. You even have a god for beer! In fact, as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I…found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. (v.23) You covered your bases. Just in case you missed some god, you made him an altar. But… Here’s the thing: What you worship as unknown… …I am going to proclaim to you… (v.23) For starters, the Unknown God is not in HUMAN BUILT DWELLINGS. He doesn’t reside in some epic stone arena. He doesn’t kick up his feet in some tiny, jewel studded mausoleum. You won’t find him down on 71st and Elm at a corner apartment with a jacuzzi and a view of the city. He isn’t like Athena. The goddess for whom you built your city and for whom you built that gigantic Parthenon. With its impressive columns. And marble grandeur. The Unknown God? He doesn’t need that. The Unknown God… He made the world and everything in it does not live in temples built by hands. (v.24) And he isn’t IN NEED OF SERVICE. I’ve seen how ya’ll run about. If things don’t go well for you. Maybe you lost your job. Here’s what you do: You go to the marketplace, buy a couple of apples, you run to the temple of Athena and place them on a silver bowl. Maybe you lost your job because Athena was hungry. The Unknown God isn’t like that. He is not some pet that you need to feed. He doesn’t need to be taken for a walk. He doesn’t need you to scratch him behind the ears so that he’ll be pleased with you. The Unknown God is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all people life and breath and everything else. (v.25) He’s all powerful. He’s divine. He’s Almighty. But he isn’t ALOOF. He’s not like Zeus, King of the gods. He isn’t up on Mount Olympus having a banquet with fine wines and beautiful goddesses, throwing grapes down his throat and afterwards gathering with Ares and Poseidon for a couple of rounds of Wii Bowling. He doesn’t say: “Eat, drink…I don’t care if you’re passed out in a ditch tomorrow morning.” Nor does he say: “Work; work…I don’t care if you’re stressed out all week long.” The Unknown God is not aloof. Because listen to this: He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. (v.26) Did you hear that? He made you. He cared about you. He placed you here. He placed you now. He determined your steps to take you to this exact moment. Why? Because he is not WANTING TO REMAIN UNKNOWN. That’s why he did this. That’s why you’re all gathered here in the Areopagus. God brought you here. God brought you now. That you might seek him and perhaps reach out to him and find him, though he is not far from each of us. (v.27) Finding God is what you want, isn’t it? You’re here to find God. It’s why you discuss the latest ideas. It’s why you reason out the latest thoughts. It’s why you talk about the latest meditations and popular trends for fasting. It’s why you have been doing this day after day after day… All in hopes that you will find God. That desire to find God? It comes from God. That mind for finding God? It comes from God. Do you know what else comes from God? My message. And pay attention. Because this message is important. The Unknown God is NOT PATIENT FOREVER. For a long time, God has been. Think about it: You’ve been worshiping rocks. You’ve been bowing down to stone. You’ve been shouting the praises of pieces of paper covered in glitter. All the while the Lord is the one who created you, made you, sustains you, and nourishes you. But yet… You’re giving thanks to a pet rock? God has been patient. Very patient. He’s hasn’t struck you down yet. Yet. In the past, God has overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. (v.30-31a) Again… You won’t be judged by some stone. You won’t be judged by some rock. You won’t be judged by some imperfect Mount Olympian with questionable morals who’s in a romantic relationship with some half-man, half-horse. You will be judged by the Universe Creating, Almighty, Eternal, invested in your life, knowing everything about your life, God himself. He will judge you. All your sins. God will judge you. And he’s got Holy Fire in his eyes. How do you think you’ll be judged if you’ve been worshiping rocks? And you want proof? This is not UNPROVEN. Because that man that will judge the world for God? He’s his Son. He’s a guy named Jesus. And God has given proof that Jesus will judge. What kind of proof? He did the one thing that Zeus couldn’t do. He did the one thing that Aphrodite couldn’t do. He did the one thing that your dear Athena couldn’t do. He did the one thing that you and all your wisdom could never figure out how to do. He raised Jesus from the dead. (v.31b) III. WHAT NOW? And it was right about that time, that the people stopped Paul from speaking. They said, “We’ll have to see more about this some other time.” They let him go. They didn’t throw him in prison. They “tolerated” his message. But…they didn’t believe it. Don’t just tolerate the message of Jesus. Believe it. (1) Stop Searching The other day I was down near the capitol building and I hear some music. On the north side near the street was a group of people. They were dressed in full religious garb. They had on jewels and bangles. They were playing tambourines and acoustic guitars. And as they were dancing, they were chanting a phrase: “Hare Krishna.” Have you heard of it? It’s a stranger type of religion made popular by John Lennon. The tenet is that the best way to connect with God is through music. Specifically – through playing the music to and chanting the words “Hare Krishna.” Through singing and chanting, you become centered in God. You become one with God. You find God…. (And the Beatles make some money as you buy their album). Whether it’s musical chant. Nature retreats. Meditation. Constant study. Doing good work after good work after good work. People are in search of God. And maybe you are, too. But you know what? You can stop searching. God’s right here. God is Jesus. That’s one of the reasons the resurrection happened! It’s like one of those nighttime cyclists who is wearing neon green with flashing lights on his vest. He’s bright. He’s colored. He’s put his outfit together in such a way so that you don’t miss him! The resurrection is like that. It’s the Unknown God’s way of saying to you: Here I am! Don’t miss me. I have made myself known. I am Jesus. I am your Savior. I am your Redeemer. And my message is this: (2) Repent Repent means “to turn.” To turn from sin. To turn to God. Whether you are a first-time hearer of this message or a long-time listener. We are sinners who need to hear this message from God. REPENT! Turn from that sin. You know the one I’m talking about. Turn from that sin. God knows the one I’m talking about. Turn from that sin. God isn’t stone who couldn’t possibly know… Turn from that sin. God is the Unknown God who knows you so deeply. Turn from sin. And turn to God to be saved. Because when you turn to the Unknown God… When you turn to Jesus… Something else becomes unknown… Your sins. God, who KNOWS all of your sins, says your sins are now UNKNOWN, because he KNEW the cross and you KNOW his resurrection from the grave that the God who was formerly UNKNOWN is now KNOWN by you and who says: I KNOW you. You are… FORGIVEN. Amen.  Last we left Paul, he was sharing the Gospel of Jesus in the city of Philippi. A time in his mission work that is filled with amazing stories:
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April 2021
Pastor Phil Kiecker
and his wife, Julianna love serving the community of North Raleigh.
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