Acts 18:23-19:41 Ministry in Ephesus | Kelly Keen

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LECTURE: Acts 18:23-19:41          Kelly Keen 3/11/26

VICTORY IN EPHESUS!

The enduring and powerful Word of God cannot be defeated!

1. Completes our faith: Acts 18:23-19:7

Truth #1- The Word of the Lord brings our faith to a glorious finish.

1. Conquers the darkness: Acts 19:8-20

Truth #2-The Word of the Lord conquers the strongholds in our lives.

1. Crushes idolatry: Acts 19:21-41

Truth #3- Idols lose their power when the Word of God is given its rightful place in our hearts.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Ladies, as some of you know, I got to go on a little vacation last week and I ended up going to the beach for a week and my husband just said, Can you just take everything out of your calendar for six days? Just six, just take it out. Nothing on the calendar of someplace you have to be. I said, okay, so we went. And I um without a clock tend to wake up very early in the morning, and especially there, I love to watch the sunrise. And so I wanted to show you a picture of uh one of the most beautiful ones I got that day. Isn't that just gorgeous? So if we look at that picture, I just spend like as much time as I can just staring, just accepting, just thankful. Like, you ever just thank God for eyes that can see? Like, and ears that can hear, and the feeling of being able to sit outsiding and finally before the pollen comes. And I'm just so grateful. But did you see the thousands of people in the picture? Probably not, right? But if you look, there are some buildings over there. There's a high rise, and there's a bunch of smaller, but and in those buildings is a ton of people. Did you see any more besides the buildings? Because if you zoom in and look at the picture, I never would have noticed this with my own eyes. But whenever I zoomed in and looked, I saw that there were four planes flying over the earth at that exact moment. And I thought, man, that's what at least 800 people, if not more, that are being taken care of, flying way over the earth that I never even once thought about. Didn't even notice it the day I took the picture, only noticed it later when I was zooming in looking at the beautiful colors of the sunrise. But if you look at the other picture, did you see any animals in it? We didn't. But I know they were there because I've seen them walk across the raccoons, the foxes, the deer, the gators, alligators come in the backyard there. Like, there's so much going on, the insects that we don't even see, but they're singing all along. And the birds that tell us the sun is about to rise, they're going on the whole time. Do you ever think of all these things? And I think, how much more does our father in heaven think of those things than I did when I was sitting there just thanking God for a new day? When I think about God releasing the prisoners out of jail in the book of Acts, as we've read already, I just think about all the other things, all that stuff was still going on while he was releasing prisoners out of jail. Do you ever think of that stuff? Our God loves us so much that when we consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, he takes care of them and he says he loves us even more. So if you've ever had a feeling that, where are you, God? Are you there? Are you hearing my prayer? Do you understand what I'm going through? I just want you to know that he does and he is there. And he's blessed us with a sunrise just this morning while he took care of all the other issues going on in life. So I give him our day always. With that, I'd like to bring up Kelly for our lecture.

unknown 3:04

Good morning, everyone.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

All right. You want to put up that first slide for me? All right. Did you guys get to watch the Olympics? I love the Olympics, especially the Winter Olympics. During the U.S. vs. Canada Olympic hockey game, player Jack Hughes from the New Jersey Devils took a high stick to the mouth in the third period and lost a few teeth. When he saw his teeth on the ice, he reportedly said, Here we go again, and just kept on playing. He wasn't going to let a few lost teeth stop him. He went on to score the game-winning goal in overtime, clinching the historic gold medal win for the United States. My nephew posted this on Instagram. Our lesson this morning is clearly a competition between good and evil. Paul competed for the lost souls in Ephesus and fought hard for over two years. He stayed there longer than any other Gentile city because his opponent was tough. Satan had a stronghold over the entire culture. It was permeated with sorcery, witchcraft, exorcist, superstition, prostitution, and idolatry. But nothing deterred Paul from keeping his eyes on the prize. When he faced opposition, he just kept on going. And through the powerful word of God, victory was won. Chapter 19, verse 20 says, the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. In our lesson this morning, we're going to see how the victorious word of God completes our faith, conquers the darkness, and crushes idolatry. The enduring and powerful word of God can't be defeated, can it? All right. Slide number two. This slide reviews where Paul has been and where he will go as he embarks on his third missionary journey, starting in Ephesus. His first missionary journey is recorded in Acts chapters 13 and 14. His second one is recorded in chapter 15, verse 36 through chapter 18, verse 22. And his third one is covered in Acts chapter 18, verse 23, where we're starting today, and it will end in chapter 21, verse 14. So just wanted to do a quick little review, quick little flyover. So we're up to speed and we're ready to tag along with Paul as he makes his way to Ephesus. Before he gets there, we're introduced to a dynamic man from Egypt. Look at verse 24. Now, a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus and he was proficient in the scriptures. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord and being fervent in spirit, he was accurately speaking and teaching the things about Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John, and he began speaking boldly in the synagogue. Alexandria was the second largest city in the Roman Empire, and it had a large Jewish population. It was renowned for its learning and it had over 700,000 volumes in its library. So it obviously drew a lot of scholars from all over the world. Sorry. The cool thing is that the um the Old Testament Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek there. And this is called the Septuagint. And it was instrumental in spreading the gospel to the Greek-speaking world. So being from Alexandria, it's no surprise that we find Apollos to be an exceptionally gifted man. He was a dynamic public speaker with a vast knowledge of not only the scriptures, but of literature, of history and the arts. He was bold and he was confident. But what stands out the most is his fervent spirit. The word fervent in the Greek means to boil or boiling hot. So Apollos was passionate about God and his word. He reminds us a lot of Paul, doesn't he? He was the total package. He had it all together. Almost. Something was missing. His teaching revealed that his faith was not complete. It was like an unfinished story that ends on a cliffhanger, leaving you to wonder what's going to happen next. Have you guys ever watched a series on Netflix and you get so into it and then it just abruptly ends and there's nothing after that? It's so frustrating. He only knew part of the story and he knew it well, but he didn't know the rest of the story. Apollos knew everything that John taught about Jesus and the baptism of repentance. He did not know about Christ's resurrection, ascension, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. So Apollos had a faith deficiency, but he will overcome it with a little help from his friends. Let's look at the last part of verse 26. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately to him. We learned in chapter 18 that Paul met Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth and worked with them as tent makers. They joined him on their on his second missionary journey, but when the team made their first stop in Ephesus, they stayed while Paul went ahead to Antioch. Priscilla and Aquila were a spiritual power couple. Their marriage was rooted and grounded in faith in Christ. It's interesting that they're never mentioned separately in the Bible. They're always together, serving faithfully or opening their home. What a beautiful portrait of marriage as God intends it to be. So when they heard Apollo speak, they recognized his tremendous gifts, but they also saw what was lacking in his faith. Instead of publicly correcting them or correcting him, they took him aside privately and explained what he was missing, gently filling in the gaps of his misunderstanding. There's a lot of ways this situation could have gone wrong. What if they shared their concerns openly with everyone but Apollos, saying, We heard this guy, Apollos, speak this morning and his teaching was really off? You might want to stare clear of him. What if Apollos became defensive and his knee-jerk reaction was anger or pride? He might have thought, who are these tent makers? And who do they think they are telling me about the scriptures? What if he allowed his ego to be bruised and became so discouraged that he just quit teaching altogether? But none of these things happened. Not only because the conversation was led by the Holy Spirit, but because God had begun a good work in Apollos and He is faithful to bring it to completion. His word does not return void. A conversation that could have sabotaged a ministry instead strengthened it. Let's look at verses 27 and 28. And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. And when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. For he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. There are so many valuable lessons we learned from Apollos, Priscilla, and Aquila. Here are four of them. Number one, don't let your faith cool down. We all want to be zealous like Apollos, but how do we keep our faith boiling hot? Apollos was proficient in the scriptures. This means he spent a lot of time studying and applying the word of God. When our passion for the Lord starts to cool, it's time to dig deeper into the scriptures. We can't be zealous for God when we neglect his word. Number two, don't ignore the Spirit's nudge. The Holy Spirit prompted and led Priscilla and Aquila to help Apollos understand the gospel. Sometimes the Spirit of God nudges us to do something difficult. He might want us to speak up, or he might want us to shut up. When he prompts us to lovingly and gently correct someone, it's always with the goal of building them up, not tearing them down. Number three, don't let correction crush you. See it as an opportunity, not an offense. A teachable spirit is a prerequisite to maturity. Satan wants nothing more than to sideline the faithful Christian, and discouragement is one of his most effective weapons, isn't it? And finally, don't neglect your gifts. God gives each of us a gift to be used as stewards, not owners. That means we use his gifts under his authority for his purposes. Scripture even warns us that if we don't use them, we could lose them. So Paul finally arrives in Ephesus, just as he promised, and he has a brief but a very exciting encounter with 12 men. Look with me at chapter 19, starting in verse 1. Now it happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus and found some disciples. He said to them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Man, Paul is bold, isn't he? He notices something isn't quite right with these guys. They appear to be disciples, but he doesn't assume anything. Instead of making small talk, he just cuts right to the chase. He asks them a black and white question that has a very black and white answer. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? This isn't a question that we really go around asking people, is it? We tend to take a more subtle approach when we're unsure about someone's faith. We might ask them where they go to church, and then it ends there. We may tell ourselves things like, well, she sends her kids to a Christian school, so she must be a believer. To be completely transparent, it's so much easier to back off instead of probing a bit more when we sense that something isn't quite right. We can get so comfortable in our Christian bubble that we stop pursuing people that we can share our faith with. Instead of being hungry for the opportunity, we can become hesitant. Paul's boldness is so convicting. Continuing in verse 2, the 12 men answer Paul's question. They say, on the contrary, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit. They didn't know anything about what had happened at Pentecost, which happened over like 20 years ago. They hadn't even heard of the Holy Spirit. It seemed like they were the last ones to know what was going on. I confess I often find myself in this same situation. I don't spend a lot of time on social media, so I miss out on a lot of important information about my friends. Someone's daughter is engaged, maybe somebody got a new job or they sold their house. People will say to me, You haven't heard? It's all over Facebook. It's a little embarrassing, actually. And I'm always the last one to know everything. I even have to force myself to listen to the news. So Paul probes a bit more. Look at verse three. And he said, Into what then were you baptized? And they said, into John's baptism. Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in him who was coming after him. That is Jesus. Just like Apollos, they only knew about John's baptism. But unlike Apollos, it seems as though they did not realize Jesus was the one that John was preaching about. Paul, in essence, says, Guess what, guys? I've got some really exciting news. Jesus is the one you've been waiting for. He already came. And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. There were about 12 men in all. Exciting indeed. We've learned as we've studied this year that the book of Acts is a transitional book. It covers the transition period between Christ's ascension and the completion of the New Testament scriptures. During this period, God gave sign gifts, miracles, and the Holy Spirit in unique but not random ways. His purpose is always to authenticate the gospel message. So why did God give these 12 men the gifts of tongues and prophecy? What was his reason? He gave them these gifts to equip them to help lead the church in Ephesus and carry the gospel mission. Obviously, we're no longer in the transition period. And that's important. That means the Holy Spirit works to secure our salvation in a consistent way and never deviates. We receive the Holy Spirit at the moment we put our faith in Christ without exception. Once the Holy Spirit indwells us, our salvation is secure forever. He takes up permanent residence within us and he never leaves us. If someone has not received the Holy Spirit, that means they're not saved. Romans 8 9 says, But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. Apollos and these twelve men were almost Christians, but they did not have the Holy Spirit. So the big question we must ask ourselves is obvious. Have we received the Holy Spirit? The Spirit Himself testifies with our Spirit that we are children of God. Romans 8 16. The Bible encourages us to examine ourselves to see if we're truly in the faith. 1 Corinthians 13, 5. If you believe that Jesus died and rose again to pay the penalty for your sin, and you've repented, and you trust him for your salvation, and you trust in him alone, then you are saved. You received the gift of the Holy Spirit the moment that you believed. Praise the Lord. But if you've come to the point where you're not sure, pray and ask God for clarity. He does not want us to wonder about whether or not we're truly saved. First John 5.13 says, These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. We can't rely on our feelings. Some people don't feel like they're saved and they are, and other people feel like they're saved and they're not. We can't trust our feelings. We can only trust the word of God. The takeaway for us is the word of the Lord brings our faith to a glorious finish. When God begins a good work in us, he is faithful to bring it to completion through the saving and sanctifying power of his word. And just like Aquila and Priscilla and Paul, he often uses faithful servants to accomplish the task. Who do you know that is an almost Christian? Maybe it's someone who attends church. They participate in activities, but you're not 100% sure they really understand the gospel. How will you use the word of God to help fill in the gaps of their faith? God's powerful word not only completes our faith, it conquers the darkness, as we will see in verses eight through 21. Let's first look at Paul's response to rejection and slander, starting in verse 8. And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, having discussions and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the way before the people, he withdrew from them and took the disciples away with him and had discussions daily in the school of Tyrannus. As usual, Paul starts his ministry in the synagogue. It seems he can't stop himself from preaching to the Jews. The majority of them rejected the gospel and persecuted him time and time again. But Paul never gave up on them. He knew that the gospel was first for the Jew and then for the Gentile, but he also had a deep love and a burden for his kinsmen. In Romans 9, verses 1 through 3, his sorrow and pain are so intense, he says he would willingly be accursed and cut off from Christ if it meant his fellow Jews would be saved. In the synagogue, some accepted the message and believed, and others became hardened and slandered the followers of Christ. But persistent Paul did not lose heart. Instead, he moved his ministry to a pagan schoolhouse. A typical day for a working citizen in Ephesus began at seven in the morning and it ended at 9:30 at night. But in the middle of the day, from 11 to 4, they took a five-hour siesta. I love that, don't you? So it's conceivable that Paul worked four hours in the morning, preached five hours, then went back to work for another five hours. He kept up this grueling. Schedule for at least two years. Clearly, Paul was the energizer bunny of evangelism. He was fully persuaded that the powerful word of God would conquer evil in Ephesus. He wasn't going to let a little rejection, slander, or fatigue take him out of the game. Paul was tough as nails, and his efforts were not in vain. Let's look at verse 10. This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. This is no small victory. The Jews tried to silence Paul by slandering him, but their plan backfired because the word of God spread like wildfire. God's word can't be silenced. Commentators agree that at least nine churches were planted during this time. Galatians 6 9 reminds us: do not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. Are you tired of doing good? Are you ready to give up because it doesn't seem to be making a difference? You're not seeing fruit from your efforts. Serving God isn't always easy, but the Lord Jesus is worth the effort, isn't he? His word says, hang on, the fruit will come. The victory over evil continues. Let's look at verses 11 through 12. God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits went out. These were far beyond the ordinary miracles that we're used to seeing in the book of Acts. One author asks and answers, why did God perform such strange miracles in an environment already dark with magic and superstition? Was he playing by someone else's rules? No. He did it to prove he could beat them at their own game. God will use whatever he chooses to prove his dominance over the darkness. What's even more extraordinary than the miracles themselves is God's grace in this situation. When the people believed that Paul's sweaty rags and his dirty work aprons could heal the sick, they were acting on superstition rather than on faith. And yet our compassionate, merciful God stooped to meet them in their meager belief because they were harassed and helpless against the oppressor of their souls. A bruised reed he will not break break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. Isaiah 42. Now that we have the completed scriptures, we don't pursue the Lord by superstitiously looking for signs. We pursue him through the word of God. The scene in verses 13 through 16 are really bizarre. Verse 13, but also some of the Jewish exorcists who went from place to place attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, I ordered you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches. Now there were seven sons of Siva, a Jewish priest doing this. Who were these seven sons of Siva? Nobody really knows. They don't seem to have a legitimate priestly heritage. They wandered about looking for opportunities to make a little cash off of victims possessed by the devil. Since Ephesus was a breeding ground for demonic influence, it may have been a pretty profitable business. But not today. Today, they make a critical error that will bring down their whole operation. They call on the name of Jesus. Huge mistake. Why? Because those who don't know the Lord have no power over the enemy and no protection over the enemy. Believers, on the other hand, have the full armor of God at our disposal. The only power Satan has over us is the power that we allow him to have. But when we submit to God and resist the devil, he will flee from us. But we have to submit before we can resist. Yes, we are in a spiritual battle every day of our lives. The battle is real and the battle is fierce. But it belongs to the Lord, and the victory has already been won at the cross of Jesus Christ. The sons of Siva are like those who call in the name of the Lord when they're in a crisis. It appears they have the fruit of genuine faith, but it's not fruit that lasts. When the crisis ends, so does their interest in a relationship with God. I'm sure you've all experienced this before with an unsaved friend or a family member. All of a sudden, they stop taking your phone calls. When you steer the conversation to spiritual matters, they quickly change the subject. It's so easy to become cynical and give up on them. But instead of throwing in the towel, shouldn't we be more persistent and more prayerful than ever? Shouldn't we fight harder for them and win them to Christ? In the next few verses, we see that God is jealous for his name and he will not share his glory with another. False representatives or Christ of Christ will always be exposed eventually. And in this case, they're exposed in more ways than one. Let's look at verses 15 and 16. But the evil spirit responded and said to them, I recognize Jesus and I know of Paul, but who are you? And the man in whom the evil spirit, who was the man in whom was the evil spirit, pounced on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of the house, naked and wounded. What's so striking about this scene is the demons' ability to discern authentic faith from counterfeit faith. The demons know who their real enemies are. These guys aren't a threat. They're like little boys who put on capes, believing that they have superpowers. But Paul, Paul was a formidable foe. They know who he is. But let's ask ourselves: are we living so boldly for Christ that our enemy knows us by name? Do we threaten him at all? This is quite the scene. The sons of Siva are sent streaking through the streets. Word gets out, and the response is a revival, starting in verse 17. This became known to all who live in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. Also, many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. New believers came under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and publicly confessed their sin of witchcraft.

unknown 29:40

Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 29:41

It seems shocking to us that believers had not already forsaken these sinful practices. But it also makes it clear how much evil permeated the culture of Ephesus until now. But it gets even better. Verse 19, and many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone. And they added up the prices of the books and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver. That is a full-blown revival with a bonfire. What truths in this passage help us to gain victory over our sin? Well, for starters, open confession breaks the power of secret strongholds. One commentator points out that people in ancient times believed that magical secrets lost their power when they were made public. We can certainly apply this truth to the power of sin in our own lives. Sin loses its power when we expose it. Confessing our sins to a trusted sister in Christ or a biblical counselor invites accountability, which is something that we all need in our lives. James 5.16 says, therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. We need each other's prayers, don't we? When we confess our sins to one another, it shows that we mean business and we need help. Al Moller writes, when self-preservation is replaced by humble transparency, real change can occur. Here's another truth. True repentance means casting our sins into the fire. This was an expensive bonfire. The value of the books totaled more than several million dollars by today's economy. Not only did they torch their valuable magic books, but they watched their careers go up in smoke. Sorcery was most likely their source of income. How were they able to just quit their jobs and walk away from it all? Because they made a decision to deal radically with their sin. In Matthew 5:30, Jesus says, and if your right hand is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you. For it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. Here's a third truth. Fear of the Lord gives us the right perspective on sin. After the people witnessed the humiliation and terror that the demon inflicted on the sons of Siva, verse 17 says, Fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord was being magnified. They had a reverential fear for the Lord. They witnessed his power and authority over the denomin the demonic, and they feared his discipline. The same is true of us. If we fear God like we should, it will have a dramatic impact on the way that we view our sin. And the last truth we can apply is God brings beauty from ashes, from the ashes of surrendered sin. When we surrender our sin to God, he takes our shame, our guilt, and our humiliation, and he replaces it with the beautiful fruit of righteousness and holiness and a transformed life. Verse 20 brings us to a victorious conclusion to this scene in Ephesus. So the word of the Lord was growing and prevailing mightily. The words of magic became an ash heap. The word of the Lord stands forever. Nothing can destroy it. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever. Isaiah 48. Here's a takeaway for us: the word of the Lord conquers the strongholds in our lives. Are you struggling to overcome a particular sin in your life? Maybe it's time to take radical action against it. We have the most powerful weapon in the world, the word of God. And it's sharper than any two-edged sword. My husband and I love to travel together. And one of the best parts I love about it is that I don't have to plan a thing. In fact, he won't even let me. He's an amazing trip planner, and I tell him he missed his calling. He should have been a travel agent. He spends months and months researching where to go, where to stay, what to see, and even where we should eat. He creates a written agenda for each day, perfectly timed and packed with activities. He's a little intense about sticking to the plan. By the time the trip is over, I am exhausted. But I'm really grateful for all the time and effort he put into planning our adventure. Paul has a travel agenda as well, but it's written by the Holy Spirit. The book of Acts repeatedly shows the Spirit directing his every move. We learn from Paul's life that the Holy Spirit isn't just a vague influence, but a personal tour guide leading us through life. What an encouragement this is. Plans often fail and life takes unexpected turns. But when we depend on the Lord, we have the assurance that he is guiding us according to his agenda for our lives. Verse 21. At this point, Paul had just spent over two years witnessing the word of God triumph over deficient faith and demonic influences. Now he sets his sight on Rome. But his trip to Ephesus isn't over yet. He's about to face an unexpected turn of events, as we will see in verses 22 through 41. The book burning revival has sparked another fire. A silver shrine maker named Demetrius gathered all the craftsmen of Ephesus together and accused Paul of starting an anti-idol worship campaign. It was not only bad for business, but it dishonored their great goddess, Artemis. The temple of Artemis was the city's claim to fame. It was the largest structure in existence at the time and one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. In the center of the temple was a meteorite that had been fashioned into the image of a fertility goddess with many breasts. This slide shows an ancient Roman copy of what the statue could have looked like. Pretty disgusting, huh? Occult practices were a profitable business in Ephesus, but so were prostitution and idolatry. The worship of Artemis involved all kinds of degrading sexual perversity. People traveled from all over the world to worship the goddess that was believed to have fallen from heaven. They even bought silver souvenirs and statues to take home with them so they could worship her from afar. No doubt, Ephesus was the epicenter of evil. But the gospel was permeating the culture. It was even affecting the economy. People had turned away from idol worship in droves, and the idol makers were taking a direct hit to their wallet. So Demetrius stirs up a full-blown riot. Paul's companions get dragged into the theater, and the people are chanting, Great is Armas is Artemis of the Ephesians, over and over again. Paul has to be held back from throwing himself in the middle of the rage. He wanted the chance to defend the gospel. I love this quote from Charles Spurgeon. The word of God is like a lion. You don't have to defend it, just turn it loose. God's powerful word was turned loose on the city of Ephesus, and it devoured the darkness in all its form. The world was changing, not because of political campaigns or reform efforts, but because the word of God proclaimed in the power of God transforms lives. The gospel of Jesus Christ changes our world one heart at a time. You and I may not have statues of idols displayed on our mantles, but what about the quiet corners of our hearts? An idol is anything we desire or depend on more than God. God's good blessings are one of the things that we need to be the most careful of. We can get so caught up in our children's and grandchildren's lives that we stop tending to our own and our spiritual disciplines take a back seat. We can get so wrapped up in our ministry or our special talent that it becomes our identity and we forget that we're just a child of God. We can become all consumed with our health and delude ourselves into thinking we have total control over our bodies. We depend on our investments, our 401ks, and our income more than we trust in God's provision. The thing about silver idols is they tarnish over time. Our bodies age, we become ill, jobs are lost, beloved children and grandchildren may go astray, relationships can be damaged. The only one worthy of our wholehearted desire, and the only one that we can depend on to meet all our needs is the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing and no one compares to him. Idols lose their power when the word of God is given its rightful place in our hearts. In verses 32 through 41, the crowd was thrown into total chaos and confusion. Most of them didn't even know why they were there. They were just following the excitement, like a herd of animals all moving together in the same direction, but not knowing where they're going. Well, many years ago, my family and I went on a mission trip to Alberta, Canada. We helped to build a Christian retreat center called Gladstone Gathering Grounds. On one occasion, some of the team went to a museum of the Blackfoot Indian culture called Head Smashed Buffalo Jump. Crazy, right? What in the world? A buffalo jump is a high, steep cliff that was used by the indigenous people to hunt and kill buffalo in one massive sweep. A guy would act as a decoy by dressing in cow hide and mimicking the sounds of a distressed animal. He would take off running, and the herd would follow him down a funnel-shaped path that they had created. Once they were close to the edge, some other guys would jump out of hiding, waving and shouting, causing the whole herd of buffalo to panic and stampede right over the cliff. Now you know why it's called head smashed buffalo jump. This is just like the crowd in Ephesus and the herd mentality of our world, isn't it? Instead of following Christ, they're following a decoy, the deceiver of their souls. And he's leading them straight over the cliff to eternal judgment. Broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. Well, the town clerk eventually calms the chaos and ends the riot. Paul sticks around briefly, then he journeys on to Macedonia. The world continuously chants and cheers for its idols. The noise can almost be deafening, but of this we can be sure. God's powerful word will crush the world's idols once and for all. His praises will resonate through the universe, and the voices of evil will be silenced forever. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, you are the King of the universe. You are almighty, and your word is powerful. As we go about our day, will you remind us of the truth of your word so that we can walk in a manner that is worthy of our calling? Father, you are so worthy. We thank you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.