Acts 19:24-41 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain to the craftsmen;… The meeting which Demetrius now addressed was a very remarkable one. It gives us an insight into — 1. The perversion of human handicraft. Here is an assembly of men whose inventive genius and skilful labour were employed in the manufacturing of things offensive to Heaven and debasing to souls. Much of the industry of the world is employed in fabricating that which is bad — beverages which brutalise the reason, arts which inflame the lusts, and horrid implements of torture and death. So men build up fortunes by selling the productions of wickedness. 2. The force of the mercantile spirit. What brought these men together, and inspired Demetrius to arrest the progress of the truth was cupidity. Preach of human liberty to slaveholders; peace to those who get their living in providing weapons for battle; spiritual independency to men who derive their revenue and influence by arrogating dominion over men's faith; and you will have the mercenary spirit rising in full tide against you. 3. The revolutionary power of the gospel Demetrius felt that the very foundations of idolatry were being sappped by the doctrines of the apostle (ver. 26). The triumphs of the gospel at Ephesus, according to Demetrius — I. INVOLVED A RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION. Such a change is always — 1. The most radical. The god of the soul, whatever it is, is in all cases the object of the soul's supreme affection, and the very root of man's life. Change this in a man, and you change the whole current of his existence; you reverse the action of the machinery of his being. The man becomes a "new creation," a "new man." 2. The most difficult. The strongest attachments are the religious. Men have ever been ready to give their property, their wives, their children, their very lives for their gods. Add to this that the old religions had a grand history, a gorgeous aspect, and a worldwide popularity, which gave them an immense influence over their devotees. II. WERE UNDENIABLE FACTS. He suggests three kinds of evidence — 1. Personal observation — "Ye see," etc. They had seen with their own eyes the change which the gospel had wrought. Such ocular evidence most men in Christendom are privileged to possess. Who has not known the drunkard, the blasphemer, the licentious, and the selfish, become, by the power of the gospel, temperate, reverent, chaste, and generous? 2. General testimony — "Ye hear," doubtless from their own townsmen, whom they were bound to believe. Such evidence is nearly as conclusive as the former, and is often available where the former is not. What we have seen is but a fraction compared with what we have heard. "We have heard with our ears," etc. From the testimony of Paul we are assured that in Colosse, Ephesus, Rome, and Corinth, wonderful religious revolutions had been effected by the gospel he had preached. Clement confirms, in a letter which he wrote thirty years after, this testimony. 3. Avowed enemies. Could Demetrius have denied, or ignored its effects, he would have done so. The revolutions which Christianity has effected are so manifest, that hostile historians, such as Gibbon, are bound to chronicle them as the fountains of striking epochs. III. WERE CONFINED TO NO PARTICULAR TYPE OF MEN. "Not alone at Ephesus, etc." IV. WERE ACHIEVED BY THE AGENCY OF MAN AS MAN. "This Paul"; not these angels; not these magistrates backed by victorious legions. How did he do it? By wielding civil authority? No. All political power was against him. By miraculous instrumentality? He was, it is true, endowed with this power, but the great moral results of his ministry are not ascribed to this. Here is the agency he employs — He "hath persuaded." This is the noblest of works. He who wins one soul achieves a conquest that throws the victories of the Caesars, Alexanders, and Napoleons into contempt. Conclusion: There is much in connection with the agency of Paul at Ephesus which impresses us with Divine power. 1. In his daring to enter such a place. 2. In what, by his simple agency, he accomplished there. (D. Thomas, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; |
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