Some things are simply dead weight, or a thing that holds us back, or something that's sucking the life out of us. The disciples in Ephesus recognized the things they once relied upon were dead weight. It would suck the life out of them, and no matter the material value they spent and the years they practiced what they knew, they had to get rid of the books. If we estimated the value of these rare and one-of-a-kind books (all handwritten, before the printing press), they could cost up to or over $6,000,000 in today's money. 50,000 pieces of silver at $100 ($36,500 annually) a day is $5,000,000. A piece of silver was about a day's wage. So multiply $120 ($43,200 annually) by 50,000, and what do you get? That's a big number and a lot of books, especially for a time when there were no mass-copied books. Which also speaks of the long-term traditions and darkness of the city. But no matter the dollar value of these books, the disciples knew that they were absolutely useless for a new creature in Christ (Jeremiah 16:19-21). And they would be of no value to anyone else either, so instead of selling or giving them away, they burned the dead weight and walked away knowing no one else could be touched by their lies and falsehood. WOW… what an indelible mark that Jesus makes on those who have been delivered out of darkness. The good news of His redeeming grace teaches us to say NO to ungodliness and worldliness and YES to Jesus and His righteous ways in every age and generation (Titus 2:11-14). The only cultural application is the reality that this is the distinguishing mark of the culture of His redeeming grace when He interrupts and invades a life and group o
Featuring a sermon puts it on the front page of the site and is the most effective way to bring this sermon to the attention of thousands including all mobile platforms + newsletter.
Text-Featuring a sermon is a less expensive way to bring this sermon to the attention of thousands on the right bar with optional newsletter inclusion. As low as $30/day.
