About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the way for a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsman. These he gathered together with the workmen in similar trades and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger, not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”
– Acts 19:23–27
Yes, is that not an awesome passage?
Acts 19:23–27 Narrates How Paul’s Preaching Impacted Whole Cities
Demetrius, the silversmith, is mad along with the other craftsmen who make money off of idolatry. And Paul, “This Paul,” he says, “has persuaded and turned away a great many people to the one true God saying that all these gods that we’re making are not Gods.” And here’s the big danger, “Not only are we losing our money, but the great goddess Artemis might be counted as nothing. She might be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”
Don’t we long for this? Don’t we long for the proclamation of the gospel to put a dent in idolatrous practices? To put an end to them? An end to people making money off of idolatry? To put an end to gods and goddesses who are being worshiped instead of the one true God? You start to think, what would this look like in the culture? In the context where you live? Where I live? What would it look like for idols to fall? For the marketplace to be affected by people coming to know Jesus?
Acts 19:23–27 Encourages Us to Stand Up for the Gospel in Our Culture
Just imagine what that would look like, and let’s pray for it. God, we want to see Acts 19:23–27 where we live. We want to see gods fall. We want to see people who are making money off of idolatry, who are making money off of leading people away from you to see their wealth dry up. So God, please help us to boldly proclaim, share the gospel today toward that end. That you, the one true God, might be exalted where we live. And that all other gods would be shown as the empty idols they are.
And God, even as we’re praying, I think about Demetrius. I think about his concern for the glory of Artemis. God, we pray that you would give us as your people far greater concern than we see in Demetrius here. But forgive us, God. Forgive us for not being zealous for your glory over the idols of this world in ways that we haven’t spoken up. And we haven’t acted when you have called us to.
God, help us to live with zeal for the glory of your name, knowing you need no defender. You are the one true God. Yet we have been given the privilege as your sons and daughters, as your children, as citizens of your kingdom, to proclaim your greatness as King, as Father, as Lord. As capital G, God over all the little G gods and goddesses of this world. And God, we pray for this around the world.
Praying for the Ahar People
We pray for this specifically today among the Ahar people of India and Nepal. 1.7 million of them Hindus, no known followers of Jesus. They’re worshiping literally hundreds of millions of gods and goddesses along with a billion other Hindu men, women, children in the world. God, help us to live for your glory as the one true God among all the Hindu people groups of the world, including the Ahar.
Lord, we pray that they would know Jesus is God. That they would know that salvation is found in no one else. That there is no other name under heaven whereby they can be saved. God, we pray for the salvation of the Ahar and hundreds of millions of other Hindu men and women, and children who are worshiping all kinds of false gods. May they all be shown like Artemis to be empty and may you receive all their glory. God, help us to live for your glory among all the people groups of the world. And help us to spread your glory today by proclaiming your gospel with power, with the power to totally transform not just lives, but trade and economies and cultures for your glory. May it be so we pray according to your word in Acts 19, in Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
