A. History records the successes and failures of kings, nations, ideas, and philosophies throughout the ages.
1. With the advantage of this hindsight, it is now easy for us to see who was right, who was wrong, what was wise, and what was foolish.
2. However, those who lived history did not always have such a clear understanding. Many of them lived and fought for what ultimately proved to be lies, foolishness, and error.
3. Today we see what they could not see or would not see -- that they were on the wrong side of history.
B. The history of religions is characterized in this same way.
1. Ancient writings and thousands of archaeological relics from all over the world reveal a plethora of religions, many of which no longer exist.
2. We can assume that most of those who worshiped their now-extinct gods were sincere in their beliefs and thought that their religion was right. They too were on the wrong side of history.
II. THREE EXAMPLES ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY
A. For example, consider those who worshiped Artemis of the Ephesians.
1. Artemis, or Diana to the Romans, was the Greek goddess of fertility. Ephesus was the home of the spectacular temple of Artemis, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
2. When Paul preached the gospel of Christ in Ephesus, the craftsmen who made idols around the temple were threatened by his message (Acts 19:23-41).
a. "The word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing" (Acts 19:20) in Ephesus so that many people of that city were turning away from the pagan gods and idols (Acts 19:26).
b. The craftsmen who made the idols feared for their trade and threw the city into an uproar, saying, "Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence" (Acts 19:27).
c. A riot nearly broke out in the midst of the confusion, and the people cried out for two hours, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" (Acts 19:34).
3. Today the temple of Artemis lies in ruins and her magnificence in Ephesus has been replaced by a stagnant cesspool. Moreover, the worship of Artemis is extinct.
4. Yet the message that Paul preached in Ephesus continues to be preached even now. This message and the truth it teaches will endure for eternity (1Pet. 1:25).
B. Likewise, consider the example of Pharaoh.
1. Pharaoh refused to listen to the voice of Moses when he delivered the command of Jehovah, saying, "Let My people go" (Ex. 5:1).
2. Instead, Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and besides, I will not let Israel go" (Ex. 5:2).
3. Ultimately, God delivered His people from the Egyptians through ten plagues, and Pharaoh remains humiliated in the pages of the Bible forevermore.
C. Even God's own people Israel put themselves on the wrong side of history.
1. The history of Israel in the Old Testament is a repeating cycle of faithfulness, rebellion, and punishment.
a. Before Israel entered the land of Canaan, Moses warned the people in Deuteronomy 8:19-20:
19"It shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish. 20Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the LORD your God."
b. Joshua gave them similar warnings in Joshua 23:11-16.
c. Israel did not heed these warnings, and they suffered the consequences.
i. The northern kingdom of Israel was taken away into captivity by Assyria, and they never returned (2Ki. 17:5-23).
ii. The southern kingdom of Judah likewise sinned "until there was no remedy" (2Chron. 36:16), and they were captured by Babylon. Later, there was a return of the Jews from captivity, but they were never the same as a nation.
2. This was the theme of Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin (Acts 7).
a. After recalling the tendency toward rebellion and resistance to God throughout the history of Israel, Stephen said to his accusers in Acts 7:51-53:
51"You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. 52Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; 53you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it."
b. For this, the Jews had no answer. Their only response was rage as they stoned Stephen to death.
c. The Jewish Sanhedrin and the opponents of Jesus may have won the day, but Stephen was the only one among them who is justified in history.
III. A COMMON THREAD
A. All of these examples have the common thread of men rejecting God's ways for their own.
1. They all embodied the words of Gamaliel, who said of the preachers of the gospel, "If it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God" (Acts 5:39).
2. Opposing God is the height of stupidity and puts one not only on the wrong side of history but also the wrong side of eternity.
B. These examples have another critical point in common. In each case, the people involved had sufficient evidence before them to convince them to choose the way of God. Even so, they all overlooked the evidence and chose to believe lies.
1. In Ephesus, Paul performed miracles that were known to all of the Ephesians (Acts 19:17), indicating the veracity of his message.
2. In Egypt, the signs performed by Moses and Aaron and the plagues should have revealed to Pharaoh that the power of God was with them.
3. In Israel, there were countless events that proved the righteousness of God. At the time of Stephen in the first century, the miracles of Jesus and His apostles as well as His resurrection were abundant signs that He was the Christ.
4. Therefore, all of these willfully chose to reject God and place themselves on the wrong side of history.
IV. CONCLUSION
A. These things are written for our learning (Rom. 15:4). Therefore, let us learn that modern opposition to God and His Christ will end in the same way that such opposition has always ended.
B. God will allow His opponents to choose their foolish paths, but in the end their folly will be exposed. History will show that they were always in the wrong, even when their contemporaries thought they were right.
C. Do not be swept away by any trendy, self-serving propaganda. Let us choose God's way and be right forevermore. "Let God be found true, though every man be found a liar" (Rom. 3:4).
