118. THE TRUTH COMES TO EPHESUS

"They be no gods, which are made with hands"

Aim

To show the power of Paul's teaching at Ephesus and how a riot was started by Gentiles who were afraid of losing their source of wealth.

Paul arrived in Ephesus with Aquila and Priscilla and although the Jews there would listen, he was anxious to return to Jerusalem, before setting out on another long journey. So he left Priscilla and Aquila with the Ephesians to carry on the work.

Acts 19

PAUL RETURNS TO EPHESUS (vv. 1-10)

It was on Paul's third and longest preaching campaign that he at last came to stay at Ephesus, a thriving seaport town which lay on the shores of the Aegean Sea. Ephesus was a wealthy city of pleasure-loving people, and their pride was centred on the magnificent Temple of Diana, once described as the First Wonder of the Ancient World.

In this city, given over to sin and idolatry, it seemed unlikely that the Truth would prosper. Yet with God's help and the tireless efforts of Paul with Aquila and Priscilla the work of spreading the Gospel was blessed. Paul spoke to the Jews in their synagogue for three months, but those who hardened their hearts spoke evil of the Gospel to the people. Therefore Paul thought it wise to separate those who did believe and teach them somewhere else. He hired the schoolroom of Tyrannus and continued there for two years. "All they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks" (v. 10).

THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL (vv. 11-20)

Paul had the power of the Holy Spirit to perform "special miracles", to prove that what he taught was the truth of God's Word. Even "handkerchiefs and aprons" that touched Paul's body were used to cure people (v. 12).

Some Jews thought they could copy these miracles simply by using the name of Jesus Christ. Seven sons of a chief priest pretended to heal people in this way. One day when they tried this cure on a mentally sick man he leaped at them, attacking them and causing them to flee wounded and naked. Everyone in Ephesus soon got to hear of this amazing story and they were all astonished. They could see that the Name of Jesus was to be honoured and respected. So God taught them a lesson and many of the Ephesians too began to see how wrong they were and how they must change their ways. They understood that the pagan worship of the goddess Diana was wrong and the behaviour of the temple priests and priestesses was evil. These people decided to take all their books on magic and burn them in the public square. It was a huge bonfire and the books burnt were valued at 50,000 pieces of silver, a fortune in those days! "So mightily grew the Word of God" (v. 20).

THE PUBLIC RIOT (vv. 23-34)

The silversmiths in Ephesus were furieus when they found so many people giving up the worship of Diana. These people would not buy their idols anymore! They would lose all their customers. One of them, Demetrius, called all the silversmiths together and said, "Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth." He complained that Paul had persuaded the people that idols made with hands were not gods at all. Unless Paul was stopped their trade would disappear and the temple of their great goddess Diana would be despised. The silversmiths were filled with rage and shouted out: "Great is Diana of the Ephesians" (v. 28).

The angry shouting of the silversmiths spread quickly through the city and a riot broke out. They rushed into the theatre dragging Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's travelling companions, with them. There was utter confusion, as some cried one thing and some another. In fact most of the crowd did not even know why they were there.

When Paul knew that Gaius and Aristarchus were in danger of their lives, he would have gone fearlessly into the mob, but the disciples of Ephesus persuaded him not to. One of the Jews wanted to speak to the crowd, probably to explain that they had nothing to do with the disciples. However, when the mob knew that he was a Jew, they began crying and shouting again, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians." This continued for two whole hours!

THE TOWN CLERK CALMS THE PEOPLE (vv. 35-41)

In the end the townclerk calmed the people and told them they were very foolish. He said it was well known everywhere that the people of Ephesus were worshippers of Diana. There was no need for them to cause an uproat in the city. Paul and his followers had done nothing unlawful € they "are neither robbers of temples nor yet blasphemers of your goddess" (v. 37). He knew they were likely to get into serious trouble with the Roman authorities for the riot and so he sent them all away.

After this uproar, Paul called the disciples together, embraced them and continued on his journey.

LESSON FOR US

What a difference between the brethren of the Lord Jesus Christ and the worshippers of the pagan goddess Diana. The brethren were prepared to burn in public their books of magic and turn from idolatry to worship the one true God. The idol makers were more interested in their own wealth than the goddess - money was their god. So it is today for most people. Let us not love the things of this world, which pass away but the Truth, which lasts forever. Paul wrote to Timothy, "The love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Tim. 6:6-10) but "godliness with contentment is great gain".

Like Paul we should be fearless in standing for Christ and help others learn the true riches of the Gospel of salvation.

QUESTIONS

Short Answers

1. What sort of people were the Ephesians?

2. What did the people worship in Ephesus?

3. Where did Paul preach in Ephesus when he left the synagogue?

4. How long did Paul preach there?

5. What special miracles did God do by Paul?

6. What did some Jews do when they saw Paul's miracles at Ephesus?

7. What did the people do with their books of magic when the believed Paul?

8. Why was Demetrius angry?

9. What did all the people shout out?

Detailed Answers

10. Some men tried to copy the miracles Paul did.

1. Tell what happened to them.

2. What did many of the people do when they heard about this?

11. Demetrius called a meeting of the silversmiths.

1. What did he say?

2. Tell what happened after that.