Now, this chapter in Acts 19
has been one full of instruction for us. The Apostle Paul, he
purposed to go in spirit to the churches, revisit the churches,
then go on to Rome. And then this riot breaks out.
The same time that he determined to go, this riot begins. We're reminded, we saw several
lessons in this, we're reminded of the sinfulness of natural
man. Demetrius and the craftsmen loved
their idolatry and their form of religion so much so that they
would rather defend it and slay a fellow man. And that's us by
nature. We're reminded that the gospel
of God's free grace is the only message that unites sinners and
makes us of one mind. They all went in there and they
were all crying out, great is Diana of the Ephesians, and everybody
was confused and nobody knew why they were there. But by Paul's
preaching, he turned The Lord turned many from that way and
made them of one mind and separated them from that former idolatry. We were reminded of the faithfulness
of Paul and his brethren, contrasted with Alexander who, under this
pressure, who turned from the grace of God. We can't stand
for the truth or stand against Satan apart from God's grace
and His power keeping us. And then we were reminded that
it's the Lord that separates the wheat from the chaff. Our
Lord is a refining fire, Scripture says. He's like Fuller's soap.
When He was at Calvary, He separated our sins from us by being made
sin for us and bearing the wrath of God on our behalf. And in
time, sending forth the Holy Spirit, He separates us from
unbelief to faith in Him, He separates us from our former
companions of this world to His brethren, and He separates us
from this world into His glorious Kingdom. So, these are some things
we've seen in this trial already. It's been a profitable trial,
hasn't it? It's taught us some things all these many years later,
just as it taught Paul then. But tonight we're going to see
that our God is absolutely sovereign. Sovereign, absolutely. All-powerful. He's God Almighty. And our God
uses whom He will, how He will, when He will, to do what He will,
to glorify His name and for the good of His people. The title
of the message is, Our King's Use of Enemies. Our King's Use
of Enemies. First of all, God our Savior,
and when I'm saying God our Savior, I mean God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit who dwells in fullness in Christ
Jesus our King. Our King Jesus uses idolaters
for His glory and for His good, for our good. Look here in Acts
19.23. Acts 19.23, and the same time there arose no small stir
about that way for a certain man named Demetrius. You've seen
me point out to you several times that when you find in Scripture
that word certain man, it means this person, this one is chosen
of God. It means he's chosen of God and
he is a servant of God. That's true of Demetrius. He
wasn't one of God's elect. He wasn't chosen unto salvation
in Christ, but he's God's servant to bring about this riot. Proverbs
16, turn there with me. Proverbs chapter 16. I want you to see this verse, and
then we're going to come back to Proverbs, so you hold your
place there. Look at this verse in Proverbs
16. Proverbs 16, verse 4, The Lord
hath made all for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of
evil. We've seen, and hold your places
there in Proverbs 16, we'll be back, but we've seen our Lord
stir up the Assyrians the Assyrian king and used that whole nation
to chasten his children in Judah, his elect. And then when that
king of Assyria thought he had done something and got all full
of himself, the Lord raised up the Babylonians to come in and
take care of the king of Assyria. And then when the king of Babylon
thought he had done something, the Lord stirred up the Medes
and the Persians to come in and take care of the king of Babylon.
And we read in Isaiah 13, 3, he said, I have commanded my
sanctified ones. That means ones I set apart.
I've also called my mighty ones for mine anger, to execute my
anger. Behold, I will stir up the Medes
against Babylon. That's God speaking. He said
in Jeremiah, it says, the Lord hath raised up the spirit of
the kings of the Medes for his device is against Babylon to
destroy it. Why does he use men and nations
like pawns? Why does he do that? That he
might make his power known. that He might bring glory to
His name, that He might work all things for the good of His
people that He's called. In Psalm 105.25, it says that
He turned the heart of the Egyptians to hate His people, to deal subtly
with His servants. And He told Abraham over 400
years before that He was going to do that and bring Abraham's
children into captivity in Egypt. God told him he would do that
400 years before it came to pass. And then he destroyed Pharaoh
and he delivered his people from the Egyptians. Now look, I want
you to see this in Romans 9. Romans 9. And this is why he
said he did that. Look at Romans 9. Verse 17. For the Scripture saith
unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up,
that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might
be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy
on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt
say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault for who hath resisted
his will? Is that what we ask? Who has
not resisted His will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay Of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honour And another unto dishonour? You see, evil men
Satan himself can do nothing but what God stirs them up to
do or gives them divine permission to do. Christ Jesus is the sovereign,
majestic, king, almighty over all. His name shall be called
the mighty God. The man, Christ Jesus. His name
shall be called the mighty God. The government is on His shoulder. He said, I am, to a bunch of
armed soldiers. And they fell back on their back,
just at His word. Pilate said, speakest thou unto
me, knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee and have
power to release thee? And Jesus answered him and said,
thou couldst have no power against me. except it were given thee
from above. He said before he ascended, all
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. God put the government
of maintaining His holy name, His universe, the world, and
His church on the shoulder of His Son, Christ Jesus. Now that's
a lot of responsibility. That's the government of everything
it was put on his shoulder. And Christ our King glorified
God's holy name in declaring God just and justifier of all
who believe. That was his first reason for
coming was to show on Calvary's tree that God saves in a holy,
just, and righteous manner. He loves in a holy, just, and
righteous love. He shows mercy in a holy, just,
and righteous way. He made Him who knew no sin,
sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He will not pass over iniquity. He will not pass over those who
are guilty. He will not. He will punish the
sins. Every sin of every one of his
elect must be punished. And Christ answered every one. And in the process of that, he
declared, God's just. And because he's God, he declared,
God's the justifier. He's the one who does the justifying.
And then Christ, our King, He made us unblameable, unapprovable
in His sight, calling us out, bringing us into this glorious
liberty we have in Him through the Holy Spirit, through the
Word of His Gospel, through the messengers that He sent, through
His power. He did that. And God the Father
is so satisfied with His Son for what He did at Calvary. When
He raised Him to the right hand, Scripture says He raised Him
far above. all principality, and all power,
and all dominion, and every name that's named in this earth and
in the world to come. That means He's not just above
everything, He's far above everything. And God gave Him to be the head
over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness
of Him, the fullness of this King who fills all in all. That's who this king is. And
the government's still on his shoulder. The government's still
on his shoulder. He's sending forth those messengers.
He's sending forth that gospel in truth and in spirit. And he
comes through the spirit and he takes up dominion and rule
in the hearts of his people. making them willing to submit
to Him, willing to hear His voice, willing to follow His instruction,
willing to be led of Him continually. And that's why sin shall not
have dominion over you, because you're not under the law, you're
under grace. You're under the gracious rule
of Christ Jesus, our King and our Savior. The Scripture says,
you were the servants of sin unto death. That's what you were. You were Satan's servant. You
were the servants of sin unto death. But being now made free
from sin and become servants to God. He's servants because
he's king. You know that word servant means
he's king, you're servant, you're in subjection to, willing bond
servant. And now you have your fruit unto holiness and the end
everlasting life. And this means that our King
subdues all our enemies, protects our persons, our properties,
our rights, our liberties, and supplies us with everything necessary. That's who our King is. Demetrius
here was a certain man set apart by God that through him our King
Jesus might manifest His glory as He saves His people in the
face of God-haters. That's the purpose He served. Now here's the second thing.
Look here in Acts 19. Our God uses idolaters to provide
safety for you who believe Him. Acts 19 verse 30, and when Paul
would have entered in unto the people, look down at verse 31,
certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent
unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into
the theater. These were priests of Asia, these
chief men of Asia. They presided over the games
in the theater. Their responsibilities was to
manage the lions and the beasts and such, and to take care of
feeding them and keeping their plenty of hay and all that kind
of stuff, you know, to take care of them. And when it came to
Demetrius and those craftsmen, the Lord allowed them to vent
their hatred and to stir up all this host against Paul and the
brethren. But with these governors of the
theater, the Lord gave them a heart to like Paul, and He used them
to encourage Paul not to go into the theater. He uses idolaters,
unbelievers, God-haters, any way He pleases. Here's the third
thing. The Lord used an idolater to
stop this trial. Look in verse 35. And notice
here how this town clerk defends Paul and scolds the Ephesians. Look in Acts 19.35. And when the town clerk had appeased
the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that
knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper
of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down
from Jupiter? Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken
against..." See, he don't know God. He don't know those things
can be spoken against. He don't know the Lord. But watch
what he does. He says, "...Ye ought to be quiet,
and to do nothing rashly. For ye have brought hither these
men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess."
He's defending Paul and the brethren. Wherefore, if Demetrius and the
craftsmen which are with him have a matter against any man,
the law is open. They are deputies. Let them implead
one another. But if you inquire anything concerning
other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly. For we
are in danger to be called in question for this day's uproar,
there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this
concourse. And when he had thus spoken,
he dismissed the assembly. Now, I want you to see something
else under this. God may or may not use you and
me and still edify his people and still glorify his name. Paul
says in verse 30, he would have entered in unto the people. The
disciples suffered him not and those chief priests suffered
him not. In many other cases, Paul was
the one the Lord used mightily. But in this case, the Lord wasn't
going to use Paul. Wasn't going to use Paul. I think
the reason He didn't use Paul here is probably before Paul
sets out on this adventure, on this next journey, to go to the
places he's going, he's teaching Paul, Paul, I'm using you, but
I don't have to use you. That man will be useful that
knows that God will use him, but God don't have to use him.
That man will be of use to God. He really will. And what was
it that made Paul? What was it that made him stop
and not insist and not say, no, I'm going in. I'm going into
this theater. My friends have been taken. I'm
going in. What made him stop? Look over at Proverbs. I'm sorry, look at 2 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians chapter 1. 2 Corinthians 1 verse 8. For we
would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which
came to us in Asia. He's talking about this right.
That we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that
we despaired even of life. But we had the sentence of death
in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in
God, which raiseth the dead, who delivered us from so great
a death, and doth deliver us in whom we trust, that he will
yet deliver us." That's why Paul didn't go in there. Paul knew
who to trust, and he trusted God. Now let me make a few observations
here with you from this. Let's look over now at Proverbs
16. Proverbs 16. First of all, I want you to get
this. When you behold men around you,
whether they're for you or against you, whatever the case may be,
remember this. Look at Proverbs 16.1. The preparations
of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord."
Do you see that? The preparations of the heart
in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. You
think about this. Before God exercised His power
in you, there is absolutely no way that you could make yourself
believe on the true and living God, on the Lord Jesus Christ
of these Scriptures. You couldn't make yourself believe
on Him. But when He exercised His power
and His grace, you couldn't stop believing on Him, could you?
You couldn't help but believe on Him, could you? You see, the
preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue
is from the Lord. Now look down at verse 9. A man's
heart deviseth his way. See that? Proverbs 16, 9. Proverbs
16, 9. A man's heart deviseth his way. You think of what you'll do.
Paul thought, I'm going to go into this theater. But the Lord
directed his steps. Proverbs 21.1 says, The king's
heart is in the hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turneth
it whithersoever he will. Now, when you behold the Lord,
our Savior, our King and our Savior, so sovereign in the hearts
of all men, so sovereign in your own life, in my own life, does
it make you stop and ask the question and say, well then,
how can I understand which way to go? How do I know which way to go?
Well, in Proverbs 20 verse 24, the Spirit of God asks us that
through Solomon. And here's what he said, Man's
goings are of the Lord. How can a man then understand
his own way? You see where I got that question.
The Lord said, Man's goings are of the Lord. How then can a man
understand his own way? The answer is we cannot know
what lies ahead in our way. We can't. And we don't know what
comes to pass, what's going to come to pass in the next 10 minutes. We have no way of knowing. We can't know what tomorrow holds
and what the outcome's going to be. We have no way of knowing
that. Somebody said, We don't know
what tomorrow holds, but our peace is knowing who holds tomorrow. Now look back at Proverbs 16,
3. So what do we say to that? What's the answer to that then?
How does a man get any peace from this and understand his
own way? Look at verse 3. Commit thy works
unto the Lord. and thy thoughts shall be established. Isn't that simple? Isn't that
simple? Look back at Proverbs chapter
3. Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 6. Verse five, trust in the Lord
with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths. Now, secondly, I want you to
turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. And I want you to remember that
our God really does work all things together, good and evil. for good according to His divine
purpose for those that He has called by His grace. He does
that. In 2 Corinthians 4.15, Paul is
speaking to these brethren and he says, For all things are for
your sakes, that the abundant grace might, through the thanksgiving
of many, redound to the glory of God. God's abundant grace
puts you in Christ in eternity. His abundant grace redeemed you
at Calvary. His abundant grace sought you
out and gave you life and knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord, made
you complete in Him. His abundant grace made you willing
to promote and proclaim the gospel of His Son. And through His Gospel,
as He abundantly gives grace to more and more of those sinners
which He everlastingly loved, He causes them to cry out in
thanksgiving to God and to glorify God. And when you know, when
He makes you to know that all things are for you and for the
sake of those that He's calling out and ministering unto, knowing
His abundant grace, knowing He's bringing sinners to glorify Him. When you know that, no matter
what we face in this world, no matter what, look at the next
verse, verse 16, for which cause we faint not. But though our
outward man perish, And it's perishing every moment of every
hour. It's perishing. Our bodies are. It's weak. It's frail. It's sinful. Our flesh is a hindrance to us. It's not a help to us. That old
man. Yet the inward is renewed day
by day. Now watch what he says. For our
light affliction That's what that trial was he went through
at Ephesus, a light affliction. When he said, I was beaten, I
was left for dead, I was stoned, I was shipwrecked, I suffered
hunger, I suffered thirst, all those things, light affliction,
which is but for a moment. just for a moment, but here's
what it does. Here's what it does. It worketh
for us a far more exceeding eternal weight of glory. It's light,
it works a great weight for us. It's for a moment, but it directs
us to something that's eternal. The affliction is light and it's
for a moment, but it turns us to a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory. Look at chapter 5, verse 1. Here's
what it reminds us of. For we know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building. of God, a
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Now that's what the Lord taught
Paul. And I want you to look back at
Acts 19. And what he did by that, look down, I'm sorry, Acts 20
verse 1. And after the uproar was ceased,
Look what it made the brethren do. Paul called unto him the
disciples and he embraced them. It brought them together. It
brought them together. And when the Lord had finished
teaching him these things that we've been seeing here, he let
him go. And it says, and he departed
then for to go into Macedonia. But the Lord in His sovereign
purpose, before He'd let him do that, before He purposed to
do that from the beginning, but the Lord stopped him and said,
Paul, I'm going to give you a light affliction. It's just going to
be for a moment. But I'm going to teach you something that's
exceedingly great, an eternal way to glory. If you're on your
way on this trip, and this earthly house is dissolved, you've got
a house eternal in the heavens, made by God. You will never perish. I'll tell
you, that'll make a man, that'll make a man get up and load the
ship and get on the boat and set sail and go do what the Lord's
got for him to do, won't it? Knowing he's going to direct
my path every step of the way. All right.