Sermon
notes from Sunday 30 August 2015 pm
Acts
19 verses 23 – chapter 20 verse 1
The
Devil’s agents
The devil’s agents are placed very strategically in the right
places just to be brought forth at the right time. When the enemy seeks to disturb a meeting, to
hinder men and women coming to Christ.
We might think we have to go into the dens of iniquity, the night clubs,
those selling drugs to young people.
Quite rightly so. The angels of
the devil himself are posted right away in these meetings. The parable of the sower – the sower goes
forth to sow seed. The seed fell on hard
ground, the birds would come down and pick it up. It was likened to man preaching the gospel of
saving grace. Those who do not take it
seriously, then cometh the devil and he lifts away the good seed of the word of
God lest men and women be saved. That is
the situation you are in today. As you
are hear the word of God and fail to respond to it, to repent of your sin and
be gloriously saved, the devil comes down and takes that seed out of your
heart. There is a tremendous battle for
souls tonight. When Paul presented the
gospel in all its fullness he alone had his agents there. Here we have Demetrius who made silver
shrines to the goddess Diana.
The worship that
was performed. There was a religious
atmosphere in this city. In the Garden
of Eden when man was first created by God he became a living soul. Satan brought man down to a place of sin
through one situation. That one act all
those years ago has affected our lives ever since. You and I are cut off from God, not on our
way to heaven. Naturally speaking we are
on our way to a Christless hell. God in
his mercy sent his son to die for us that we might be saved, that we might be
brought back into communion with God. There
is one way to heaven and home, to be reconciled to God, to have the barrier of
sin taken away and that is through Christ alone. He is the mediator between God and man. In Revelation 13 we are introduced to the beast
and the false prophet. There is coming a
time when Jesus will come back and take the church. Something will happen on this old earth, if
we are not saved there is a likelihood we will be on this earth when the
anti-Christ will appear. It goes on to
say in Revelation 13 that they worshipped the dragon. Why?
Because it was he who gave the beast power. In other words the dragon was Satan
himself. Here in Ephesus they worshipped
the image Diana because it had fallen down from Jupiter. In verses 1 and 2 the preachers began to
preach in the synagogue. In verse 8 we
read they began to preach and turned men away from idols. Let me tell you about the one who came into
the world to save you. At 33 years of
age they took him out and placed him on the middle cross, they nailed his hands
and feet. He gave his life for you. That is the one who Paul preached about in
Ephesus. People turned and gave their
lives to Christ. Thessalonica was
another city who turned to God from idols.
There is something in your heart and mind that has taken complete
control of your life, that to you is your god.
The work this man
Demetrius was involved in. He made
silver shrines to the goddess Diana and he sold them. He promoted the religion. Paul instead promoted a Saviour not a
religion nor a denomination. If you are
not saved there is a Saviour you can depend on.
He will take you to heaven and to home if you will trust in him. These people would come to Demetrius, placed
their order for these silver pieces, laid their money down and placed their faith
in these images. When it came to the day
they would close their eyes in death, Diana could do nothing for them. If you are not trusting in Christ nothing can
be done for you on that day. Take your
eyes off everything else and put them on Christ who gave his life for you. These people in Ephesus would buy these
images, set them in places where they gave them a false peace. There are many like that today. They believe in church, give their money in,
hear the message of the gospel and leave with a sense of peace but it is a
false peace. Diana was the goddess of
fertility. Farmers would come to
Demetrius for an image and place them near their flocks and herds. Just having the idol there made them believe
everything would go well with their animals.
Remember Esau who gave away his birthright for a bowl of meat. What are you giving up for a relationship
with Jesus Christ? Is there something
more important in your life that you cannot set aside, cannot give up?
The witness this
man saw. He was happy in his work. He was about to be confronted with the word
of God. He was making and selling these shines. He was going into the temple and worshipping
Diana. His life was about to be
challenged and his life would never be the same again. This man witnessed the preachers coming. He heard them opening up the word of
God. Miracle after miracle was being
wrought at the hands of Paul – verse 12.
This man knew there was power there.
Something happened. Many sick
were healed. A tremendous power. The evil spirit though questioned who Paul was
– verse 15. Demetrius saw all that was
happening – verses 18 and 19 “So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.” Maybe there is no blessing in your life
because you are not prepared to let something go. It is holding you back and going on with God,
stopping you from getting saved. God
wants you to have done with it. He wants
you to come to the cross, trust him as Saviour and Lord. When these people did all that “mightly grew
the word of God.” Maybe there is a believer
and there is something in that life of yours that is not pleasing to God. Are you prepared to bring it to God? Once you do that there will be a blessing. This man witnessed so much in this city.
The wrath that was
displayed. This man Demetrius brings report
to the people, he saw the work of God in his own power. Here was a man who had a little bit of
religion and a little bit of prosperity.
Here was an agent of the devil, doing his best to turn the city away
from the gospel. We read in chapter 20
verse 1 that Paul left there and went to Macedonia. Set your mind on getting saved, do not allow
anything to stop you from getting away from Christ himself, trust him as your
Saviour and Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment