back in Acts chapter 19 verse 21 it says after these things were
ended Paul purposed in the spirit when he had passed through Macedonia
and Achaia to go to Jerusalem saying after I have been there
I must also see Rome And that's where Paul ended up. That's where
he was imprisoned. So he sent into Macedonia two
of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus, but
he himself stayed in Asia for a season. And the same time there
arose no small stir about that way. It was a big stir. It was not a small stir. There
arose a very big stir about that way. It was the same way that
we saw in verse 9. Diverse were hardened and believed
not, but they spake evil of that way. It was the same way that
Saul of Tarsus hated Paul. Absolutely hated. If he found
any of this way, he bound them and he brought them to Jerusalem. What way is it? the one and only,
Christ himself. He said, I am the way. Not living right, not obeying
the law, not turning over a new leaf, the blood of Christ alone
is the only way. The only way. He said, no man
comes to the Father but by me, and the flesh hates that. They
hate that way. Verse 23, the same time there
arose no small stir about that way for a certain man named Demetrius,
a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana. Diana was
their goddess, their idol. And this man Demetrius, he was
a silversmith. And he made these little idols,
these little shrines for Diana, and he sold them. He was in the
religion business. He was in the religion business.
Verse 24, a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which
made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the
craftsman. It wasn't a small gain, he brought
a large gain. They made a lot of money. They
made a lot of money. These craftsmen would carve these
things out of wood. And then he would take them and
he would overlay them with silver. And the religion business was
good. I mean, it was good. If you want to make money, get
into religion. I knew that in the music business.
If you want to sell a big sound system, you go to that big church
over there. They'll buy a $200,000 system
from you. The religion business is good. Very good. Made a lot of money. Verse 24,
a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver
shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsman.
whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation
and said, Sirs, you know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover, you see and hear that
not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul
hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they
be no gods which are made with hands. So that not only this
our craft is in danger to be said it not, but also that the
temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised and her magnificence
should be destroyed with all Asia, whom all Asia and the world
worshipeth." He said, fellas, we're about to lose our cash
cow. We're about to lose it all. This man Paul is going all over
the place telling people that these idols that we're making
with our hands are no gods at all. And he's turning people
away from the goddess Diana to who he calls the true and living
God. Verse 28, And when they heard
these sayings, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying,
Great is Diana of the Ephesians! And the whole city was filled
with confusion. And having caught Gaius and Aristarchus,
men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel, they rushed with one
accord into the theater. Any time that they had a public
gathering, they held it in these theaters. Whether it was to dispute
something or whether it was for entertainment, they always rushed
into this public theater. Verse 29, and when Paul would
have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.
And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent
unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into
the theater. They did not want him going into
that theater. They loved him. They loved him. They didn't want to see any harm
come to him. They did not want him to be killed. And his time
was not yet come. He had to go to Rome. There's
a reason he had to go to Rome. He had to be put in prison so
he could have nothing but time on his hands to get out a pen
and a piece of paper and start writing letters to the churches.
So he had to go to Rome and he didn't go in. Verse 32, some
therefore cried one thing and some another for the assembly
was confused And the more part knew not wherefore they were
come together." What that's saying is most of them had no idea why
they were there in the first place. It was just a big confusion,
a big uproar, a big religious uproar. That's kind of what religion
produces, a big confusing uproar. People don't even know what's
going on anyway. Verse 33, and they drew Alexander out of the
multitude. the Jews putting him forward.
They wanted to hear what this man had to say. And Alexander
beckoned with the hand and would have made his defense unto the
people. But when they knew that he was
a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours, cried
out, great is Diana of the Ephesians. And when the town clerk had appeased
the people. He said, You men of Ephesus,
what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the
Ephesians is a worshiper of the great goddess Diana, and of the
image which fell down from Jerusalem, from Jupiter? He said, Everybody
knows. Everybody knows that the Ephesians
worship Diana. We worship Diana, the goddess
which fell down from Jupiter. Verse 36, seeing then that these
things cannot be spoken against, you ought to be quiet and to
do nothing rashly. For you have brought hither these
men which are neither robbers of churches nor yet blasphemers
of your goddess. They haven't entered into our
temple and torn down our temple and they have not blasphemed
your goddess. Now, here's a side note in this
message. As you can tell, we're moving
quickly. Here's a little side note in this message, and I wrote
to the side of it. I'm calling this preacher's class,
all right, for me. I'll give myself a little preacher's
class. Paul didn't go in preaching against their idolatry. He didn't go in preaching against
their idolatry. He went in preaching Christ. That's what he did. Over in Jude,
you can look at the book of Jude or just listen to it either way
just before Revelation. Jude verse 9 says, Yet Michael
the archangel When contending with the devil, he disputed about
the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation,
but said, The Lord rebuke thee. He kept all the focus on Christ,
every bit of it. Right before I moved here, Literally,
right before I moved here, we were coming back and forth, and
we were bringing some things, and right before I moved here,
Brother Henry told me, when you get down there, do not preach what you don't
believe. He said, do not stand up behind
that pulpit and preach to those people in Kingsport what you
don't believe. He said, you stand up and preach
what you do believe. I didn't fully understand that
when he said it to me, but I think I'm starting to. We don't have to spend our precious
time disproving error. We just don't have to do that.
All we have to do is preach Christ. That's all we have to do. Our Lord said you shall know
the truth and the truth will make you free. When God calls
a man to preach, He does not call him to hold up this crooked
stick and cry to everybody, this is what a crooked stick looks
like. He calls him to hold up the straight
stick. Give everybody a good look at
the straight stick And then it'll be obvious when a stick is crooked.
It'll be absolutely obvious. Paul did not go in there preaching
against their idolatry. He went in preaching Christ. He didn't even do that at Athens.
Turn with me to Acts 17. We were just here not too long
ago. In Acts 17, look at verse 16. Now while Paul waited for them
at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly
given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the
synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons, and in the
market daily with them that met with him. What did he say in
his disputings? Verse 18. Then certain philosophers
of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him, and some
said, What will this babbler say? Other some, He seemeth to
be a setter forth of strange gods, because he preached unto
them Jesus and the resurrection." That's what he did. Verse 22,
Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, Ye men
of Athens, I perceive that in all things you're too superstitious.
For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar
with this inscription, To the unknown God, whom therefore you
ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you. Him declare I unto
you." He did not stand up and say, let me go into great detail
as to why this idol is false. He didn't say, let me give a
long series of messages on why this idol over here is false.
Let me go on a big crusade against this idol. I'm going to make
this my platform. I'm going to crush this idol.
He didn't do that. He said, Him declare I unto you. Him. If a man will preach Christ
and stay on Christ, it will tear down every idol that this flesh
can produce. It will tear down every single
one. In preaching Christ, Paul did tear down their idols. He
did. But he made the sum and substance
of his message Christ alone. He said, I'm determined to know
nothing except for Jesus Christ and him crucified. Now back over
in Acts chapter 19, this town clerk said in verse 38, wherefore
if Demetrius and the craftsmen which are with him have a matter
against any man, the law is open. and there our deputies let them
implead one another or sue 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 what do we make of all of
that? That's a lot, isn't it? What
do we make of all of that? The idol worship, the wickedness
of filthy lucre, the harlotry of religion, making
merchandise of men's souls. How does all of that point us
to Christ? Look at verse 26. You see and hear that not alone
at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded
and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods which
are made with hands. Now, do you have a marginal reference
in your Bible next to they be no gods? Mine says Psalm 115. Turn with me to Psalm 115. Psalm 115 verse 1 says, Not unto
us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for
thy mercy and for thy truth's sake." This is not about us. That's what Paul was going through
there telling everybody. This is not about us. This is all
about Him. That's true worship. This is all about you. Verse
2 says, Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their
God? The heathen, they say, we're
going to make ourselves a bunch of little gods because we can't
see their god. That's why they make these little
idols. It's because they say we can't see their gods. Where
is he? Verse 3 says, Our God is in the
heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Is that not the truth about our
God? Where is our God? He's in the heavens. And He has done whatsoever He's
pleased. From eternity to eternity. Everything that has happened,
everything that does happen, and everything that will happen,
is happening as He pleases. He's doing whatever He pleases.
Our God is in the heavens. And Psalm 2 says He laughs, doesn't
He? Isn't that what it says? He laughs.
And all these little idols that men make, whether they're in
this form, whether they're in that form, or whether I have
made an idol out of myself, which is what most people do, I'm worshiping
me. The God is in the heavens. And
He is going to do whatsoever He pleases. That's what we have
to say about it. What do we have to say about
them worshiping all their little idols and making all this uproar
and causing all this commotion? Here's what we have to say about
it. Our God is in the heavens. And He's done whatsoever He pleases.
Verse 4 says, Their idols are silver and gold, the work of
men's hands. Their gods are made by man. Our God made man. Verse 5 says, they have mouths
but they speak not. They don't say anything. They
can't. No voice comes out of their mouth
at all. Let me show you our God. Hold your place and look at Psalm
29. Psalm 29 verse 4 says, The voice
of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full
of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaketh
the cedars. Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars
of Lebanon. Verse 7 says, The voice of the
LORD divideth the flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shaketh
the wilderness. The LORD shaketh the wilderness
of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD makes the
hinds to calve. Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD. Let the earth hear His voice. Can you imagine what it must
have sounded like when God the Father spoke out loud and said,
I have glorified it and I will glorify it again. That's our
God. The voice of the Lord is great
and mighty. And when Elijah said, I'm all
alone. When Elijah told the Lord, I'm
all alone. And the Lord said, no, I've reserved 7,000. It says
that our Lord spoke to him in a still, small voice. A loving, small, kind voice. Everything that comes out of
his mouth is wonderful. Everything. He said, I'll never
leave you. I'll never forsake you. He said,
Fear not, I will help thee. Listen to this one. Come. Doesn't he say that? He said
it to me. Come unto me. I have redeemed thy life from
destruction. Deliver him from going down to
the pit. I found a ransom. Go back to
Psalm 115, verse 5 says, They have mouths, but they speak not.
Eyes have they, but they see not. They don't see anything.
But our God said, listen to what He said, When I passed by thee,
and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee,
Live. When I saw you, mine eye looked
on you. Verse 6 says, They have ears,
but they hear not. You know what our God said? He
said, Before you call, I will answer. And while you are yet
speaking, I will hear. That's what our God said. Verse
six, they have ears, but they hear not. Noses have they, but
they smell not. Does our God smell? When Christ gave himself for
us, when he offered himself up, a sacrifice to God for our sin,
Ephesians 5 says, it was a sweet smelling savor to God. Verse seven says, they have hands,
but they handle not. What about our God? The Lord
Jesus Christ Himself said, this is your place of safety. You
are in my hand. I am in my Father's hand and
no man is able to pluck you out of my Father's hand. Verse 7 says, They have hands,
but they handle not. Feet have they, but they walk
not. Neither speak they through their
throat. They that make them are like unto them. So is everyone
that trusteth in them, dead, blind, mute, dumb. Brother Walter Groover tells
a story, used to tell a story, about a young man, maybe even
a, maybe we can say a boy, a teenager or something, I don't know how
old he was, but he was young. And the Lord saved him. The Lord
opened his heart to the gospel, came to know the truth. And his
parents were idol worshipers. They literally had about seven
or eight idols that they lined up in their house on their mantel
or something. And they worshipped these idols. And this boy kept
telling his parents, these are no gods. These are not gods. We need to be worshipping the
true and living God. And his dad just wouldn't hear
it. One day his dad was at work and this boy went and got a hammer.
And he smashed every idol except for one of them. If there was
eight, he smashed seven of them. And he took that hammer and he
laid it next to the one he didn't smash. And when his dad came
home, he was furious. And he looked at this boy and
he said, who did this? And that boy said, he did it. He did it. This man was putting his all,
his hope, and everything in gods that cannot save. Gods that cannot
save. They don't have hands. They don't
have feet. There is only one God that is to be worshipped. One God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now I need to show you this. I'm going to be very quick. Turn
with me to 1 Samuel 5. 1st Samuel chapter 5. 1st Samuel 5 verse 1 says, The
Philistines took the ark of God, the ark of the covenant, and
brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. When the Philistines
took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and
set it by Dagon. Dagon was an idol. He was their
little g God. And Dagon was in the form of
a fish. His name means the fish God,
which, you know, I'm going to just set forth Christ and not
spend my time asking people, why are they sticking fishes
on their cars? But he was the fish god. All right, verse 3. When they of Ashdod arose early
on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the
earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon and set him
in his place again. This poor little wooden idol
was face down in the dirt right before the ark of the Lord. Verse
4. And when they arose early on
the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the
ground before the ark of the Lord. And the head of Dagon and
both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold. Only
the stump of Dagon was left to him. God cut his head off, his
hands off, and threw him at the threshold of the door. Verse
5, Therefore neither the priest of Dagon nor any that come into
Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this
day. But the hand of the Lord was
heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them and smote them
with emrods. You know what those are? Hemorrhoids. And they didn't just say, I think
I might have hemorrhoids. John Gill went into detail that
I'm not willing to repeat. They smote them with emrods,
even Ashdod and the coast thereof. Verse 7, And when the men of
Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel
shall not abide with us, for his hand is sore upon us and
upon Dagon our God. They sent, therefore, and gathered
all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall
we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered,
Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And
they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither. And
it was so that after they had carried it about, the hand of
the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction.
And he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they
had emrods in their secret parts. They that worship foolish idols
are fools themselves. Why did they not bow to the true
and living God? They knew it was Him. Get Him
out of here. Why would they not bow to the
true and living God? Look very quickly back at Psalm
115 and I'll close. Verse 9 says, Who is Israel? Jacob, the sinner. Let the true sinner, the one
that knows he's a sinner, O Israel, trust thou in the Lord. He is
their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the
Lord. He is their help and their shield.
Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help
and their shield. He is our help. He's our shield. All that stuff. Forget about
all that mess. He is our help. He is our shield. Verse 12 says, The Lord hath
been mindful of us. David said, How precious also
are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. More in number than the sand.
What's he thinking? What are his thoughts toward us? He said,
thoughts of peace. in Christ. They're all thoughts
of peace. Verse 12, the Lord hath been mindful of us. He will
bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron.
He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great. The Lord shall increase you more
and more, you and your children. You are blessed of the Lord,
which made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens,
are the Lord's. But the earth hath he given to
the children of men. This world might be worshiping
idols, and they are, in some form or fashion. And they might
not be bowing to the true and living God. They're not. This
whole world might be given over to idolatry. Verse 17 says, the
dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence,
but we, but we, by God's grace, by God's grace, by His mercy,
by His doing, by His hand, by His work, by His love, by His
blood, we will bless the Lord. from this time forth and forevermore. Praise ye the Lord. All right,
let's stand together.