Acts 19 Round Two: The Gospel is Offensive

A city proud of its gods does not change quietly. We walk the streets of Ephesus where spiritual hunger, civic pride, and booming commerce collide—and watch what happens when Paul’s preaching lifts Jesus above every idol. From a small group of disciples discovering the Holy Spirit’s power to a public bonfire of sorcery books, the story surges toward a riot that exposes the real stakes when faith confronts profit and prestige.

We unpack the difference between copying spiritual language and living under Christ’s authority through the unforgettable moment with the seven sons of Sceva. Their failure isn’t a party trick gone wrong; it’s a warning that the name of Jesus carries weight only where there’s surrender to the Lord himself. As news spreads, many turn from occult practices and count the cost, showing that repentance is not sentimental—it is concrete, costly, and freeing. God uses even “unusual miracles” to draw attention to Jesus, not to superstition, and the word reaches across Asia through steady, daily teaching.

Then the pressure shifts. Demetrius the silversmith rallies a crowd by blending piety with profit anxiety, and Ephesus erupts. We trace how economic systems can shield cultural idols, why the gospel often feels offensive to hardened hearts, and how courage and prudence meet when Paul is held back from the amphitheater for his safety. The city clerk’s cool intervention reminds us that God can work through civic structures to preserve space for witness. Along the way, we ask hard questions: Which “Artemis industries” shape our lives today? Where are we tempted to use Jesus’ name without walking in his way?

If you’re hungry for a faith that changes not just feelings but neighborhoods, wallets, and public squares, this conversation will fuel your courage. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves Acts, and leave a review to help more people find the show. What idol is the gospel challenging in your world right now?

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Today’s Big Idea
• 0:20 Setting The Scene In Ephesus
• 2:27 Disciples Receive The Holy Spirit
• 3:45 Synagogue Pushback And Daily Teaching
• 4:18 Unusual Miracles And True Authority
• 5:24 Repentance And Bonfire Of Sorcery
• 6:15 Paul’s Travel Plans Take Shape
• 6:16 Demetrius Sparks A Citywide Riot
• 7:29 Chaos In The Amphitheater
• 8:17 The Mayor Restores Order
• 9:07 Courage, Good News, And Prayer
• 10:43 Closing Blessing And Next Chapter Tease

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. Every day, we take one chapter of the Bible, dig deeper, and discover that the more we dig, the more we find. You can find out more at the BibleBreakdown.com. Now let's grow in God's Word together. Well, hello, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today, Acts chapter 19. And the simple title of this is The Gospel is Offensive. For people who are just dead set to not receive Jesus, the gospel is offensive. And we're going to see what people are willing to do in order to kick up a riot, kick up public opinion to be against Jesus when it fits their narrative. And we're going to get to that just a moment. But as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share, and subscribe. The YouTube video, make sure that you are leaving us a five-star review. And then make sure you're going to the Bible breakdown discussion. Man, it's really growing in engagement with one another. I love the idea of us learning from one another. And what we're going to learn from today is about a city that Paul just loves. God used him to plant a church here, and it is one of the central cities and central churches, very strong church at one time. Eventually, he is going to send Timothy, his protege, the guy he's raised up. We've already heard about him. He's going to send him to the city Ephesus, we're going to talk about today, to pastor this church. And he loves this church. And this is like the main hub in the area. But the city of Ephesus is also very spiritually aware. And it is the center of the world for the goddess that they're going to talk about today. People would come from all over the world to see the eighth wonder of the world, the temple that was made to this goddess you're going to hear about. And so it was big business everywhere that they would go. Just like if you were to go to Rome and you would go to uh the Vatican in Rome, Catholicism there, and I don't mean this disrespectfully, it's big business there. You have a lot of things that you could buy and a lot of things you could do. Well, imagine somebody went there from a different religion and started saying, none of this is real. Well, that's not going to fly too well, right? That's exactly what starts to happen in this. Yes, except that that's where that's where it ends. Okay, I'm not against Catholicism here, but but this paganistic worship that's going on over there, man, it really, really, really is a big deal to them. And so when G when Paul comes in talking about Jesus, they're not too excited about this. And so watch what happens, and let's see what we can learn about this together. So get your Bibles out with me. Acts chapter 19, starting with verse 1 and our new living translation. Let's read together. While Paulos, Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus on the coast, where he found several believers. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? They asked. No, we haven't even heard that there is a Holy Spirit. Well then, what baptism did you receive? They replied, The baptism of John. Well, Paul said, John's baptism called for repentance of sin, but John himself told people to believe in the one that would come later, meaning Jesus. And as soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of Jesus. And when they laid when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with other tongues and prophesied. And there were twelve men in all. So notice what happened. They had received the baptism of John to repentance. But it's when we receive Jesus that we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and the gifts of the Spirit begin to flow through us. And we don't know what gift the Holy Spirit may use, because the g the the whatever the gift is is not the gift. He is the gift. Then he flows through us in various different ways. In this context, it was other languages and in prophecy. Now let's look at what happens because uh a riot is about to happen. Because of course, Paul's involved, so a riot is going to happen. Here we go, verse 8. Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some became stubborn, rejecting the message and publicly speaking against the way. That's Christianity. So Paul left the synagogue and took the believers with him, and they held daily discussions at the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for the next two years, so that people throughout the province of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord. God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. When handkerchiefs or aprons had merely touched his skin, were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled. That's amazing. Verse 13 A group of Jews were traveling from town to town, casting out evil spirits. This is hilarious. You gotta listen to this. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out. Seven sons of Skeva, a leading priest, were doing this. But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit turned around and said, Um, I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who is you? Like, who are you? Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house naked and battered. So it's important is not to just use the name, but to have a relationship with that name and to know the power of that name. That's where the power comes from. Verse 17. The story of what happened spread quickly throughout all of Ephesus to Jews and Greeks alike. A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored. See? Verse 18. Many who became believers confessed their sin, sinful practices. A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them publicly at a public bonfire. The value of the books was seven million dollars. So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect. Afterward, Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go over to Macedonia and Achaia before going to Jerusalem. After that, he said, I must go on to Rome. For he for he sent his two assistants, Timothy and Estherus, ahead to Macedonia while he stayed a little while longer in the province of Asia. Now, here comes the riot. About that time, serious trouble developed in Ephesus concerning the way. It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. That's the main goddess that they worshipped. He kept many craftsmen busy. He called them together along with other others employed in similar trades and addressed them as follows. Gentlemen, you know that our wealth comes from this business, but as you know, we have seen and heard that this man Paul has persuaded many people that the handmade gods aren't actually gods at all. He's done this not only here in Ephesus, but throughout the entire province. Of course, I'm not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I'm also concerned about the temple of the great goddess Artemis, and that she will lose its influence, and that Artemis, this magnificent goddess worshipped throughout the province of Asia and all around the world, will be robbed of her great prestige. At this their anger boiled, and they began shouting, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. Soon the whole city was filled with confusion. Everyone rushed to the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Artisus, who were Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia. Paul wanted to go in too, but the believers wouldn't let him. Some of the officials of the prophets, friends of Paul, also sent messages to him, begging him not to risk his life by entering the amphitheater. Inside, the people were all shouting, some one thing and some another. Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn't even know why they were there. The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward and told him to explain the situation. He motioned for silence and tried to speak. But then, but when the crowd realized he was a Jew, they started shouting again and kept it up for two long hours. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians, great is Artemis of the Ephesians. At last the mayor was able to quiet them down enough to speak. Citizens of Ephesus, he said, everyone knows that Ephesus is the official guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, whose image fell down to us from heaven. Since this is an undeniable fact, you should stay calm and don't do anything rash. You have brought these men here, but they have stolen nothing from the temple and have not spoken against our goddess. If Demetrius and the craftsmen have a case against them, the courts are in session, and the officials can hear the case at once. Let them make formal charges. If there are any complaints about other matters, they can be settled in the legal assembly. I'm afraid that we are in danger of being charged by with rioting by the Roman government, since there is no cause for all this commotion. And if Rome demands an explanation, we will know what to say. And he dismissed them, and they dispersed. So what we have here is we have this interesting situation where Paul starts a third missionary journey, and he is starting to minister to the people at Ephesus, and things are going well until opposition arises. And what we will see here is first of all, don't ever travel with Paul because he is always going to stir something up. And you know why? Because he's not ashamed of the gospel. He understands that it is the power of salvation. Like, why wouldn't I share the gospel? Notice they had to stop him from going into this amphitheater filled with thousands of people who hated him. Not because he was like mad or whatever. It's like, but it's the gospel. It's salvation. It's good news. Why wouldn't I want to share this? What would it look like in our life if we were so convinced that the good news was good news? What would it do? How would it change how you related to people? Would you become one of those Christian fanatics who is always talking about the good news of the gospel? My goodness, I hope so. I hope that one day we get to the place where we truly understand the power of the good news, the power of the fact that we were born into sin, but man, we don't have to stay that way. Because of what Jesus did, we're willing to walk into an amphitheater full of a hostile crowd and say, Listen, you might be mad at me, but I am not mad at you. I love you. I got good news to share because I too was once lost, but now I'm found, and I want nothing better for you. Let's think about that today as we go through our day to not be ashamed of the gospel because it is good news. It is life and not death. Let's pray together. God, thank you so much for today. Thank you that it is good news. It is life and not death. I pray, God, that we will grab onto that life and it will change us, it will change our conversation, it will change how we carry ourselves, and we will live in the light of your goodness every day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. What did Jesus say in Acts chapter 1, verse 8? He said, say it with me. You will receive power when? When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. My prayer today is that you will receive that power of the Holy Spirit, and then you will be witnesses of what you have experienced and everywhere you go. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Acts chapter 20.