THE EPHESIAN RIOT

1. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Acts 19:21-41

2. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Many who study this lesson wonder why did Luke include the account of a riot in the Book of Acts? How does this text guide our actions and our lives as we seek to live for Christ and His Kingdom?

3. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Perhaps The answers lies in what we can learn from the motives of those mentioned in the account Can we find guidance for our own lives through looking at peoples’ motives? Let’s look at the text

4. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Paul In the first part of Acts 19, Paul’s teaching and the miracles he performed had a dramatic effect, and we are told “the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily”. (Acts 19:20) Acts continues with “after all this happened” (verse 21), Paul decided he wants to go to Jerusalem, but then says something interesting, “I must visit Rome also.”

5. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Paul Look at the word “must” – it was not an option Paul was driven by the Spirit, and that is what he felt compelled by God to do Is it not good to look at the life of another and understand that one’s motives are driven by God?

6. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Paul However, it is dangerous to assume what someone’s motives are We can not know what someone else is thinking, so we do not know why they do the things they do This can cause us to think better or worse of someone than they deserve

7. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Paul Paul again serves as an example We just said that he was driven by the Spirit, but not everything he did was because God told him to Luke wrote that Paul resolved to go to Jerusalem Who told him to go? Paul did So, we do not always know why people do the things they do – only God does

8. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Demetrius With the thought in mind that we can not always tell why someone does what they do, what can we discern from the motives of people in this passage? As we look at Demetrius, a silver smith, the most obvious motive we see is that of profit He “brought no little business for the craftsmen”, (Acts 19:24) so he called them together, saying that all their profits are threatened – not hard to see the motive was profit

9. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Demetrius But he and others were also driven by their religious beliefs, as he did not stop with just money He continued “The temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout Asia and the world will be robbed of her divine majesty.” (Acts 19:27) These men thought that their goddess’s place came from their worship

10. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Demetrius Is it not good to worship the one true God who is on His throne, whether we place Him there or not? What we must do is obey God and not worry about what happens next because He is in charge despite all our failures and weaknesses

11. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Demetrius There is another lesson in this text Because people around us see their faith as fragile, we must be sensitive to the beliefs around us You will notice at the end of the passage the reason that the clerk is able to dismiss the crowd is because the Christians had not done anything harmful or disrespectful to the temples and religions around them

12. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Demetrius If we want people to hear the truth we must share, we can not attack them We must love them and share with them when they are ready to hear Notice in the text that the church here was called the Way It did not sound like a religion for that time period because it was not supposed to

13. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Demetrius It is a subtle difference, but their goal was not to attack the religions around them, it was to teach the truth of Christ to those who wanted to hear That did not mean they did not debate (Paul’s usual practice) What it meant was that the debate was not the goal – sharing the truth was Your motives determine how you will ultimately act

14. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Demetrius The situation was further complicated – we have a matter of civic pride The temple of Artemis was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World It was larger than a football field, with pillars 60 feet high – largest building in the Greek world What God was doing through Paul and others in this city was a threat on multiple levels

15. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Demetrius So, he calls the people together – the ones most likely to feel like him – the ones he has influence over He explains the three reasons that they should stop what is happening His motives now become clear – he just wants to shut Paul up by whatever means are necessary

16. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Demetrius So they begin to shout, get the whole city into an uproar and they head to the theater collecting more angry people and a couple of victims along the way When they can not find Paul, they grab a couple of his traveling companions – not because they are a threat – but the message that they had was a threat

17. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Paul As the mob forms, we are also given a chance to see the motives of Paul As the mob was forming, grabbing people, and chanting worship to their false goddess, we are told that Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him They had to beg him not to go, but he still wanted to go – WHY?

18. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Paul Despite the danger, Paul wanted the opportunity to address the crowd Paul’s attention was so focused by the cause of Christ, sharing had come to dominate his mindset so much that he did not see the mob or the danger – he just saw the opportunity He was sure that if he shared, God would do something

19. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Paul Sometimes we do have to temper those things, but we also need to have them We need to see the person next to us who may not only need help, but the need to hear about Jesus Sometimes we never know that good can be done, or the door that can be opened, when you simply pray with someone

20. THE EPHESIAN RIOT The Church We also see the motives of the church and the love that they had for Paul That is why they stopped him from going and speaking We are told that some of them were civic leaders who sent him a note – risking dignity, perhaps their position That is the love the church needs for those willing to sacrifice for others

21. THE EPHESIAN RIOT The Mob This is perhaps the saddest part of the story Some people just wanted to be mad (Acts 19:32) “for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together” Do we see this today – in others - in ourselves? – preferring something to complain about?

22. THE EPHESIAN RIOT The Town Clerk He was able to quiet the crowd and speak They listen to him because what affects the temple is going to affect him He urges them to calm down and appeals to the things they believe in to get them to do so Why? Not because he want to defend their rights or consider their arguments – he does so because he is afraid of what will happen if the mob does not disburse

23. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Fear – A motivator Fear is a powerful motivator Despite the reasons that Demetrius listed in his speech, when you look at the actions that he was calling for and the results of what happened The real motive of Demetrius was FEAR He was afraid of what would happen to him, his way of life, and all that he held dear if everyone became a Christian – he was afraid of change

24. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Fear – of Christianity When people think about Christianity it does make them afraid They fear change because change is the unknown When it comes to God this is somewhat justified, because when you accept Him, He calls you to change your life But we do not have to fear that change, because our hopes and dreams in Him will be better

25. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Our Takeaway Our mission is to help people see that our hope and their hope is in Christ It is not just about receiving Christ as Savior, but about living for Him and growing to be like Him everyday The best way that people can learn - is when they see what we do and know why we do it If your hope is in Christ, it will show in what you do and why you do it

26. THE EPHESIAN RIOT Do your motives show that your hope is in Christ?