Matt:
Again, it is awesome to be here today and you know, if you've been here over the last, uh, couple of months, you know, as a church, we've been walking through the book of Acts together and watching what it says for us as individuals to walk out our faith personally. But then also the second thing that Acts has done for us every single week is it's given us a model or it's given us away as a church that we also can walk out our faith. Particularly in the last couple of weeks, we've really been drilling down into the life of the Apostle Paul. We're gonna do that in another few minutes, but his life is given us an example personally, but it's also given us an example as a church because one of his main goals and one of his ways of being able to really affect the kingdom is that he wanted to plant churches from Antioch all the way to Rome, all the way in major city centers and meaningful places for the gospel to be reached.
Now that leads me to who I have beside me. Today, I want you church to welcome one of Burnt Hickory's newest partners in the Faith. And this is Pastor Kyle Farmer. Will you guys give him a hand, uh, this morning? Yes, yes, yes. Kyle is a church planter that has recently planted a church in none other than the thriving metropolis of Rock Springs, Georgia. Now, here's a little trivia question for you. How many of you know where Rock Springs Georgia is? Raise your hand. Alright, that's like 12 in this service. That's better than the last service. Uh, rock Springs, Georgia is right at the base of Lookout Mountain at the very kind of northwest corner of Georgia. And a couple of months ago we became the official sending church and partner for the church plant with Kyle and his beautiful people at Luxe Fellowship. So Kyle, I want you just to introduce yourself to Burnt Hickory and tell 'em a little bit about yourself and just a little bit about your story and the church's story.

Kyle:
Yes, thank you Matt. Thank you for having me. Burt Hickory. Um, I'm married to my bride, Casey. And, um, my life has been defined by basically assuming that I knew what the world was called and my life would be, and the Lord completely turning me on my head every time. And so, um, when I went to college, I thought that I was gonna spend the rest of my life being a teacher, a history teacher, and a football coach. And the Lord called me into ministry. And I knew in college that I was gonna preach and teach the gospel. Had always been, uh, praying for and passionate about church planning as a sender. I always thought that's way too scary and way too dangerous. And the Lord, you, you wouldn't possibly have me, uh, play in a church or be a part of that. And so, uh, but when I say these things, the Lord has a way of changing my direction.
And so, uh, went from teaching thought I was gonna do the rest of my life was called into student ministry, uh, thought I was gonna do that the rest of my life. And then the Lord, uh, put some circumstances in our lives for me and my wife and we stepped outta ministry and thought we were gonna be done with ministry. And uh, I thought I was on my way out and my wife was actually one of the first people to actually come up to me and say, I think the Lord has called you to plant a church here in Rock Springs. Mm-hmm. And my response was <laugh>. I mean, I remember audibly laughing and saying, no, that's scary, that's dangerous and

Matt:
Better people. That's dangerous to tell your wife. And God, by the way,

Kyle:
Kyle there, it's, it's, I don't know what I was thinking. Um, but she asked, will you at least pray about it? And I said, Hmm, no. And uh, shows you the willingness to have

Matt:
Man of God right here, everyone here he is.

Kyle:
Um, but the Lord began to soften my heart over time. And other families and people that we were connected with began to reach out to me and talk about possibly planning a church. They wanted to come alongside. And at that time, the Lord also brought to me and my wife's awareness and these people's awareness that there were families that were disillusioned with church, had been outta church for years or deconstructed their faith and there was just a, a need and a desire, uh, for a church plan. I actually had lunch with a pastor and he once said, you can't tell me there's not a need for a church plan when 80% of the people are unchurched. And so slowly but surely the Lord began to draw me closer to this goal and this calling. But I remember like, it kind of ended culminated like one night where I was like, that's it.
I've been going back and forth. Uh, I think I'm done with this whole church plant business. And, uh, I at this time I began praying about it at least, you know, and I said, Lord, I'm gonna choose another job and I'm gonna serve you there and I'm gonna be comfortable. And I didn't even sense the irony of that prayer. I actually said that I went to bed and this is about as sarcastic and as audible as the Lord's ever spoken to me. But he said, right Kyle, 'cause I call my people to be comfortable <laugh>. And my eyes shot open. I turned to my wife and I said, I think he's calling us to plant this church.

Matt:
Amen. Now tell us a little bit of that journey. 'cause the church is not even a year old, uh, officially yet. Uh, but man, the Lord's already been doing some great stuff. Give us just a little insight into Luxe Fellowship.

Kyle:
Absolutely. So we did launch in March 1st of last year. And uh, we already have on an average, uh, over a hundred people consistently coming, uh, 60 members. Uh, sometimes we bump up to 150, 200 people. Come on. We've had multiple baptisms, people coming to know the Lord. And one exciting, and there's been several of these stories, but there's one in particular that stands out to me, uh, uh, about a guy that, uh, who previously not had any kinda relationship with the Lord whatsoever. I don't think he even knew much about the Bible, but he showed up at our, um, membership class, our version of Discover, and I thought he was there for the sandwiches, to be honest. I thought it's good sandwiches that day. So I, I walked over to him just a, a small talk and immediately all he wanted to talk about was Jesus. And he said, I met the Lord. I was reading the word, I'm hearing the preaching come on and I want to note like I, I want him. And it was just this like ravenous desire to, to know and be loved by Jesus. And it was amazing. And we've just had people who had no prior connection with Christianity where they had a herd experiences being brought and loved by our church family and God has just really blessed us tremendously.

Matt:
Now, on the other side of that though, what, what are just, 'cause a lot of us in here, we've never been a part of a church plant. Um, some of you, this is the only church you've ever been a part of and uh, what, what are just some of the biggest struggles that are, that are, that are there now in the church planting specifically with you guys?

Kyle:
Yes, so our church has grown. We've had people but we desire to organize a sense to learn and gain experience. So we look at a partnership with Burnt Hickory as like an older brother in the faith that who's had experience doing ministry and discipling and specifically in the area of discipleship, learning how it's done because none of us had planted churches before either. And so it can be scary and overwhelming, uh, dealing logistical issues. Uh, we don't have a permanent building right now, so if if you spill a cup of coffee here, you're probably not gonna get chastised a whole lot for it. Um, but if we spill coffee, we can get kicked out. And so, um, you know, we have uh, our student ministry <laugh> that meets in the same location. If there's silly string and there has been silly string that has manifested itself on the walls, um, we have to stay late and, and deal with that and set up early, come early to set up. And so, uh, it can be overwhelming sometimes and and discouraging because you do sometimes feel alone. And so just praying and encouraging us and then providing wealth of experience to si in areas of ministry discipleship making.

Matt:
Yeah. So Trisha, I don't know, maybe no, maybe don't. Every dollar that you give this church not only goes to support this church, uh, not only goes to support missions across the globe but also goes to exactly what we're hearing right now in partnerships to plant churches, to reach communities to resource, um, churches like Lux Fellowship. Um, a as we close Kyle, just give us maybe one or two things that all of us could write down somewhere that over these next couple of weeks we can really be praying for you and the church in what, what do you got?

Kyle:
Absolutely. So the first and foremost thing is that we just focus on what God can do and we trust and lean on him, um, especially when we have our ups and downs and that will come with a church plant. Uh, secondly just logistically learning, you know, that the Lord may bless us with a more permanent place so we don't have to worry about coffee stains and things of that nature. Um, and then thirdly, just uh, mutual encouragement just to know that you guys are behind us supporting for us prayer, right? One of the simplest things, just praying that the Lord will watch over us and guide us as we make disciples in North Georgia.

Matt:
Well church you're gonna hear more and more opportunities as we move down the road, but I just wanted to put a mental picture in your mind of another little family of faith that's out there that's kind of part of our burn Hickory family. So you can just have him in your mind. In fact, can we just do what we just talked about doing? Uh, real quick, can we just stand just for a second and pray for Kyle and pray for Luxe fellowship before we jump into the message? Lord, thank you today that king and Lord and Savior and Lord we just ask for a special blessing on Kyle, on his family, on all of his volunteers, on his team and God of luxe fellowship. God grow them for your kingdom, Lord Jesus. Lord, help us as a church to walk beside 'em and to be faithful to them and anything that we can do as well.
Jesus. And it's in your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Can you say thank you for Kyle for being here? Amen. Yes sir. Man, I can't wait to just keep walking with those guys. Well listen if you got a copy of scripture, go ahead and turn me to Acts chapter 19. Acts chapter 19. Last week we were with the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 18 in the city of Corinth, in the city of Corinth last week. This week we're moving from chapter 18 to chapter 19. It's not only the sign of the third missionary journey of Paul beginning but also Paul is stepping into the next city. And the city is the city of Ephesus, the city of Ephesus. Now if you've journeyed with us for a long time, you know what Paul has done is he's kind of jumped from city to city. He has spent little amounts of time in each of these cities.
But Ephesus is a particularly special life, uh, in the life of Paul because he settles down in Ephesus for actually almost three years now. For the first three months Paul preaches and teaches and disciples in the synagogue as he always does. And he finally gets run out of the synagogue 'cause that's kind of how the apostle Paul's life looks. But then Paul doesn't just take his toys and go home and move cities. He actually, after those first couple of months, he moves over and he begins to teach and he begins to disciple people in a place called Tyrannous Hall. Tyrannous Hall. What he does actually is he works all morning during the siesta time in this culture, the nap time of the day in the Mediterranean, the hottest part of the day, he would actually then go and teach and disciple people in this hall and then they would go back to work after that and listen for two years the Apostle Paul lives out this model in the city of Ephesus and it actually starts to gain some traction and God really begins to move in the life of people.
In fact, this meaning went so well at this place. It was so powerful in this place. Listen to what the Bible says about it in Acts chapter 19, verse 10. It says, this went on for two years so that all man, you might wanna circle that word, all the Jews and the Greeks who lived in the providence of Asia heard the word of the Lord. And verse 11 says this, and God, the extraordinary miracles through Paul, did you see this? Lemme bring you into the context. What Paul did is Paul, this kind of nobody, he moves into Ephesus, he sets up in the city, he's working his job as a tent maker down at the Agora, the marketplace. And then he lives for Jesus. He starts working, he builds relationships and then he shares Jesus with his life. And here's the do. Here's the news, church people actually respond.
People actually meet Jesus In this moment. I want you to just remind you of a couple things from this text and that is first listen, this is always the model. This is always the model, not just for the Apostle Paul, but this is always the model. All of us should live wherever we're at, whatever city we're in, whatever part of life that we're in, we should do the same thing. We should move in. We should work as if it was unto the Lord. We should build relationships for the Lord. We should teach for the Lord. We should lead people to the Lord. Also, what I want you to see here is that this is the model and the fact that usually when a movement of God like this starts, it doesn't start by somebody like me. It's not a professional, it's not a pastor, it's a tent maker, it's a teacher, it's a school person, it's an athlete.
It's a worker that just simply lives their life. For the gospel teaches the gospel lives a life that points towards the gospel and people get saved. The third thing I just want you to notice just from this one verse is this principle, and I put it in your notes this morning and that is that one person can actually make a national difference. One person. What does that mean? That means you shouldn't sell yourself short. Do you see what's happening in Paul's life here? This one guy steps into town and he makes a big difference. Lemme bring that into our context and say it like this. You can make a difference. Don't ever sell yourself short when the power of the gospel is behind you. Don't ever sell yourself short when you begin to walk in the spirit and allow God to move in you because you can make a difference.
Don't sell yourself short and don't you ever sell God short 'cause he can move in you. He can do it. Actually later on in this text, it actually verifies what's happening. Look at verse 20. It says this in this way, the word of the Lord spread wildly and grew in power. You feeling the urgency? Are you feeling the bigness of what's happening here? Even a nonbeliever later on, we'll see it in just a minute. In verse 26 it says this, and you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and and watched his perspective and let large numbers of people here in Ephesus and practically the whole providence of Asia. Man, has anybody ever said that about you? Man, Paul is making a difference. He's believing and he's living, he's teaching, he's leading and he's actually doing these miracles and people are starting to notice.
Lemme pause right there and just ask you a question. Do people notice your faith? Do people notice your faith when people see you? Do they see you as a person of belief and a person of faith and a person of power? Or do they see you as a person that just points to you? You see the apostle Paul walks into town and he's living this legacy life that he's living and he's teaching and he's pointing everything in his life to Jesus with so much power that even the pagans begin to look at him and go, wait a minute. We want some of that. Say, man, what do you mean by that? Well, next what happens in the text is actually so many people are getting healed and so many people are actually seeing God's power through the Apostle Paul. There's these guys named the sons of Skiva.
Now we don't ever get to preach this 'cause it's really just like this little nugget in the text here, but they see what's happening through God in the life of Paul and instead of following Jesus, they feel like they can go in through some kind of Jewish magical arts or witchcraft and they can go in and use Paul's model and call down the name of Jesus without believing in Jesus. And they can actually make some money off of what Paul is doing. They they do this, it's actually in the text. And so what happens is they go in and it didn't go well One day they walk into this house, they try to proclaim the name of Jesus over this guy without knowing Jesus. And the demon that is in this guy literally empowers this man to beat the pants off of these sons of skiva.
All right, the sons of Skiva, they walk in, they try this hocus pocus magic and it doesn't work. In fact, lemme read it to you. We don't got time, but we're gonna do it anyway. Let me read it to you right here in verse 15, it says this, they walk in and they try to throw out the name of Jesus without knowing Jesus and watch what happens in their lives. Verse 15, the evil spirit answered them and said this, Jesus I know and Paul I know about, but who are you? And then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them and gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. Man, I love this story. You know why? Because it teaches you an important truth. You're never gonna hear it from another pastor. And it's this.
If you have ever been in a fight that you walked into with pants on and you walk out with no pants on, you lost. There's no question. There's no like, I got a shot in maybe. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. If you went in without went in with pants and came out with pants, you lost. That's what the Bible's teaching right here. I'm just kidding us. I don't know. It's just a little point right there. A little nugget. But here's what it is teaching us is this. Here's what it is. Listen, listen, listen. These demons even recognize the power of Jesus. Next time somebody stands up and says, well, I don't even believe in Jesus. Why would I recognize the power? Even the demons believe and know what Jesus can do. That's a scary thought for some of us that are far away from God, that even the demons shudder at the name of Jesus.
Not only that, did you see what it said about Paul in the text right here? I love this. Even the demons know about the apostle Paul, how I'm not really sure, but I don't know if there was a little demon meeting one day and they were like, Hey, stay away from this guy named Paul. Right? I'm not sure, but they knew that Paul walked in the spirit. They knew the power in Paul's life. They knew what happens when there's a man that stands up in the name of Jesus that lives his life for Jesus proclaims Jesus and they saw the power that accompanies that kind of life. In fact, write this principle down 'cause this is how you do that. To walk in the power of God, we must personally do two things. Number one, we need to know Jesus, not just know him here, but know him with our lives fully.
And here's the second thing, and we need to fully submit to the spirit that lives inside of us. You see, that's what this is teaching us right here. It's teaching us that we can't prostitute the name of Jesus. We can't call the name of Jesus down in some weird religious moment. We can't just use Jesus to get what we want. If you want the power of Jesus in your life, you've gotta know him fully and an exponential salvation experience. And you've gotta walk in the spirit that empowers you to be able to do that. That's what it's showing usri. In other words, you gotta give them control of your life. You see, the power of God is not something you can fake. It's not something you can use as some for-profit business. It's not just this religious life and actually trying to walk in the power of God for your own glory only causes one of three things.
Either A, you will find B found out. B, you will tired yourself out and burn out. Or three, you will get the pants beat off of you. That's what the text teaches. But I love this 'cause Paul shows us what walking out of the in the power of God looks like and it actually shows us the anti of what that looks like through these sons of s Skiva when they show up and try to do it on their own, actually watch what happens. 'cause God wins even in this moment. Look at verse 17. It says, when this became known to the Jews and the Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear in the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Did you see that even when the demons are fighting against each other, who wins? Jesus does. God does.
Why? Because he's above all the spirits of this earth. He is more powerful than anything else on this planet. And God will be glorified, he'll be glorified. Even when Satan thinks he wins, he loses. Man, I love this 'cause people are hearing the gospel. People are submitting their lives to Jesus. People are giving over their hearts to Jesus in verse 18 through 20. Listen, today is just like the CliffNotes version. You're gonna have to study this text on your own. People are so submitting their hearts to Jesus after seeing these little sons of skiva get the pants beat off of them. People are actually coming to Paul giving their lives to Jesus and they're burning their magical evil witchcraft scrolls. It's an old fashioned book burner. Remember the nineties when you burnt your CDs right? Remember the nineties when you burnt your rated R movies at youth camp that last night, right?
That's what's happening in the text. They actually burn their scrolls. Some theologians say that up to $10 million worth of scrolls and ancient Ephesus are burnt at this point. But why do they do that? Have you ever thought about why they did it? Why write this principle down? Here's why. 'cause when the spirit of God moves deeply in our lives, it produces two things. Outward change and new affections. That's what it does in your life. You wanna know if you're walking in the spirit, you wanna know the litmus test. If you're walking in the power in the spirit of God, there is always an outward change. And then there is a new affection. There is something that draws you out of where you used to be and into the power and the presence of God. When the things that are behind you begin to go away.
So what do these brothers and sisters do? They show that this is not just some religious emotional decision. They put their money where their mouth is and they actually burned the evil that was holding onto them. Why? They have a new affection. They have a new love. And this is now the new love in them. Jesus, that in Revelation two, four it tells us that they have it at least for a little while. But what about you? Has that affection grabbed your heart? Has that devotion grabbed your heart? Has that Jesus influence and Jesus love grabbed your heart, that Jesus devotion, that Jesus sacrificed, no matter the cost, has it grabbed your heart? Or are you flirting with disaster like the sons of Skiva only pointing to you and only pointing to your life and only pointing to your stuff? Look, it's pretty clear which way wins, right?
It's pretty clear which way for now and eternity wins. It's pretty clear what it looks like when we submit all of us to all of him and we just let him move in our lives. Oh, it's such a great text. Not only because people get the pants beat off of them, but because it just shows us what happens when we try to hold on to our stuff and we try to walk out this faith in our way versus just saying, God, here I am. Use me now. Look, the text gets even better because then it goes into this event that's just absolutely epic. Absolutely. In verse 23 through verse 41, we actually get to see, speaking of idols and speaking of self advancement, we actually get to see last Paul's last act in Ephesus. And it's an act to where he actually doesn't even have to say anything.
He doesn't even have to do anything. He just stands in faithfulness and watches how God moves in his life. Lemme kind of tell you the context. There's this bunch of people that are around that love themselves, a bunch of people that love their business, that loves their idols, that loves their way of life. But in the meantime, Paul is showing God be glorified. We're seeing God be moving in all of these people's life. And Satan hates it when this is happening. And then in verse 23, it tells us this, it says about that time there arose a great disturbance about the way. Now this was kind of the nickname of Christians, which I think is a great nickname. Why? Because this showing us exactly what they did. It wasn't just like, oh, there's the Christians. It was like, no, no, no. Those are the people that follow the way.
You see, well Matt, what way are you talking about? Well, I'm glad you asked because actually the way that they are following is the way of Jesus from John 14, six, where Jesus literally says, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life and no one comes to the Father except by me. Now these Christians, they they held on to that mission. They held onto that task so greatly that actually people nicknamed them because they talked about it, because they lived it, because they displayed it in their lives so much. They actually nicknamed them. Oh, those are the people that all they do is talk about the way. Let me ask you something, Christian, has anyone ever gave you that kind of compliment before? 'cause it was stamped onto their lives. They were living the way in such a manner that God was moving and God was saving and God was delivering people at such a large pace that watch what happens in the rest of these verses. Lemme just read 'em over us. I'm just gonna make a couple of comments and then we're gonna be outta here. That's a preacher trick. It'll be a minute. Here it is. Verse 24.
It says, the silversmith named Demetrius, who is who had made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot business for the craftsman there. It's probably known that he was kind of the head of the trade association that we're about to talk about of the silversmiths. They made these little bitty statues to Artemis, these little bitty kind of gift shop items that you would come worship the Greek goddess Artemis, and then you would grab a little statue like at Disney World when you get off the ride and you would take it home and you would put it on your mantle. It was actually the chief business of all of Ephesus because that's where the temple to Artemis was. Alright? But here's the problem. So many people, they're giving their life to Jesus. Nobody's buying the idols anymore. Amen. Right? Nobody's doing it. Nobody's protesting, nobody's picketing.
The idols just so many people are living. It's changing their affections. It's changing their devotion, which exposes the idol of money in these people's lives. Watch what happens to Demetrius. He does this in verse 25. So he called them together along with all the workers and the related trades and said, you know my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. Now notice it ain't about God, right? It ain't about their even littley God. It's about their pocket books, right? A good income verse 26. And you know my friends, we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and practically in the whole providence of Asia. He says that the gods, listen to what he says about Paul. Paul says that the gods made by human hands are no Gods at all.
Amen. Right? And there is a danger that not only will our trade lose it name, but also the temple of the great goddess, Artem Emmaus and will be discredited. And the goddess herself who is worshiped throughout the providence of Asia and the world will be listen to him. Wine will be robbed of her divine majesty. Oh Christians, what if we stood this strong that even the business of evil was affected because we stood up to it. I'm not talking about stand up and riot. I'm not talking about stand up and protest. I'm talking about standup. When our affections are changed, that we quit supporting the things of evil. Therefore, the business of evil takes a hit, the cultural trash. Not to mention what would happen if we just kept winning people to Jesus and their affections started changing. We would affect culture. Now, back to the text.
'cause what happens when people turn away from their idols? What happens when people's idols are threatened? Two a thing. One of two things happens. Number one, either they give their life to Jesus or B, they just get angry. They just get mad. Am I hitting a nerve here? They just get out of control and sometimes it doesn't even make sense to 'em why? They're out of control. It's not like anything you've ever seen before. Same struggles, right? Different day. Look at verse 28. It says this, when they heard this, they were furious and they began shouting. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. Soon the whole city was in an uproar. Now, this wasn't some little bitty city over here of a couple hundred people. The theater held 25,000 people. I might add, watch this. The people, sieves, GAAS and Aus, Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia and all of them, they rushed into the theater together.
Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples, they wouldn't let 'em. Even some of the officials and the providence friends of Paul sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater. They're like, don't do it, Paul. Don't do it, Paul. These people are out of control. But watch verse 32. It says this, the assembly was in confusion. Some were shouting one thing, another were shouting another. Most of the people did not know why they were there. It's mass confusion, isn't it? But listen, listen, listen. That's exactly what Satan wants. Satan wants confusion. He wants people to be upset. He wants this group to be protesting this, this group to be mad about this, this group to be going about like this. Why? 'cause he knows human nature. And when we get riled up about something, we will all fight each other.
It's exactly what Satan wants. Lemme remind you of a principle. I put it in your notes for you. Satan has always been the author of confusion, always from the beginning of time. He's been the author. It's not God. God is not the author of confusion. In fact, Paul says later in one Corinthians 1433, for God is not a God of confusion but of peace. You ever see anything that's confusing you? Everything that see anything that's outta control? You ever see anything that is riotous? It is not from the Lord. It's not Satan's the author, it's the master of confusion. You see it Here, lemme finish it. I'll make one more point. Verse 33. Lemme just read this text. The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front. We don't know anything about Alexander other than the fact that they were like, Hey, you're it right?
And they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. But when they realized that he was a Jew, they shouted in unison for about two hours, can you put this in your head? This poor guy stands up to say something for two hours. All they hear is great is Artemis of the Ephesians, great is Artemis of the Ephesians for two hours. Verse 35, the city clerk, he steps in, Hey, the Jewish guy, we ain't gonna listen to him. So send in the official watch what he does. The city clerk quieted the crowd and said, fellow Ephesians, doesn't all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? They had this belief that this statue, they of Artemis just fell from Jupiter one day and became a God.
I mean, that's mythology. You can look it up. There it is, right? Verse 36. Therefore he says, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and don't do anything rash. You have brought these men here, listen closely. Christians, though they have neither robbed temples or blasphemed our goddess, you know when you stand up in the name of Jesus, you don't have to blaspheme other people's beliefs. All you need to do is live yours and let the gospel shine its light from there. Watch this. Verse 38. If then Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are pro councils. They can press charges. If there's anything further you wanna bring up, it must be settled in the legal assembly. Verse 40. Why is he saying all this? As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today.
In that case, we would not be able to account for this accommodation or commotion since there is no reason for it. In verse 41, watch what God does without Paul ever saying a word. 'cause this is what God does for us. After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly. Verse verse or chapter 20 verse one. Lemme just read you one verse that says this. When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and after encouraging them, said goodbye and set out for Macedonia. Lemme bring some context. It looked like it was over for Paul. It looked like 25,000 people were calling for Paul's life. It looked like this was going to be the last stand in any good western right for the Apostle Paul. But what did God do? God quieted the masses. He pointed to the gospel and 25,000 people that day went from rioting to quiet.
But yet God still got the glory. Write this last principle down. We're done. Never underestimate the power of the gospel. Never underestimate it. Why? Because just when you think God is about to hang you out to dry, he steps in. Just when you think like you have nothing else, God says, I God, you, here's the application. Keep lifting up the name of Jesus. Keep living the gospel even in a world that doesn't understand it. Same day, different demons keep telling people about the love and the salvation of Jesus. Guess what? Some people will reject it. Some people will grab hold of it and give their heart to Jesus, the only one that can give them life. And just know this. Satan always loses, he always loses. There are days it looks like he might get a little bit of a stand, but he's going to lose. He's gonna lose. So what do we do? We live in the context God has put us in. We are people of peace that lift up the name of Jesus. We point to the power and the resurrection of Jesus and what it has done in our lives, and we walk in the spirit and let God be God.