What Did The Silversmiths Of Ephesus Have Against Paul?

Tom:

Hopefully we won’t get into any controversy in this segment.People think—I think it’s a misunderstanding—that we create controversy or we try to.We don’t.We lay out what the Word of God says and all of a sudden it’s going to offend some people, it’s going to encourage some people, convict some people, and so on, so you have controversy.

Dave:

Tom, let me just address that quickly.Four times in the New Testament it says there was a division among the Jews because of Christ.Now why did He cause the controversy?Because He is the truth, He’s speaking the truth, and in John:8:44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
See All..., he says, Because I tell you the truth you believe me not.So, people will take sides because He said, You are of your father the devil.Now, I’m not accusing everybody that disagrees with us for that, but we’re only giving the Word of God.Now if you can point out that we are not following the Word of God, and that this is not the truth of God, this is not the Word of God, then, please, we would like to know that.

Tom:

Yeah.Dave, the whole purpose that we do this program, we want to encourage people to be Bereans, to search the scriptures in this segment.We want them to understand the scriptures, and then correct us if they think that we’re leading them astray, which we certainly don’t want to do, and we’ll make the correction, we’ll correct ourselves.So, we are in Acts Chapter 19, we’re going to pick up with Verse 24.I just went to Verse 20 though.“So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed.”That’s our heart’s cry,that’s what we want to see in our own hearts,our own lives, and certainly in the church.

Dave:

That’s what we’ve been talking about, Tom, and just go back for one moment—“So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed.”That must have been because he had a movie projector.Must have been because he had some things to show people, some images, and so forth.No, without that!Now, if Paul turned the world upside down, that’s what they are going to say—these who turn the world upside down and come here, and we’ve got to have movies?We’ve got to, somehow, improve the Word of God.All I’m saying is, it doesn’t make sense!The Word of God has been sufficient for thousands of years, then let’s rely upon it.

Tom:

Dave, now I have to make another qualification here.We’re not talking about the medium itself, we have a DVD on psychology, it’s imagery, and so on.What we are talking about here, folks, please understand this, we don’t believe that the scriptures, the Word of God, okay, in terms of presenting historical information, putting the Bible on film or video, we think that’s contrary to how the Word of God tells us we’re to go about preaching and teaching the Word of God.

Dave:

Amen.

Tom:

So, Verse 24 - 29:“For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands.So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at naught; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshipeth.And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.And the whole city was filled with confusion:and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theater.”

Dave:

Tom, it’s quite interesting that this passage comes right at this point, in view of the letter that you received, I guess just the other day.Well, what was the problem here?Well, the problem—do I dare say that the man who wrote this letter to you, his craft is in danger too, if what you said is true.In fact, his letter is defending his craft as a film maker.All right, we’re not giving away his identity, that was the problem here.It wasn’t a question of what is true and what is false, it wasn’t a question of, Is there a true God or isn’t there?There be no gods that are made with hands, these people say.In other words, the question isn’t, Well, is there one true God or are there many gods?These people have a business going, and they make a lot of money. People were coming from all over the—Well, I wouldn’t say all over the world, but all over Asia, all over the surrounding territories, certainly from all over Greece.People were coming from all over that area to worship the goddess Diana, and it brought money to the merchants, and so forth.So, those who he gathers together he brings together the workmen of like occupation.He says, You know by this craft we have our wealth.Now what is being threatened here?Not truth, not the eternal destiny of souls, that’s not what they are interested in, they are interested in protecting their business, and that can become a problem with Christians as well.

Tom:

Dave, let me just add something to that.We have had talks in the past with men who have headed up major ministries that evangelize around the world.Our correspondence has been primarily, well wait a minute, are you compromising with the Roman Catholic church in order to get in and to minister.What I am trying to point out here is that I’m not saying that these people are doing it for money or for greed or for anything like that, they are sincerely trying to reach people.

Dave:

Well, some are, Tom, but I’m talking about some who are—

Tom:

Are they protecting their ministry in the process, are they building their ministry, that’s really where I’m shifting here.They are sincere, but what’s the basis for it?

Dave:

Our motives are rather complicated, Tom, and that’s why I don’t go to a psychiatrist, I do what David said:Search me, O God, know my heart; try me, know my thoughts, see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.As the Bible says, the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.Now, who can know it?I, the Lord, search the heart.So I don’t go to a psychiatrist or psychologist, I say, Lord, please search my heart, please show me, you can show me through your Word.But that wasn’t the issue here, the issue was the goddess Diana.Now, these people are fanatics, they are wild, they are all screaming:Great is the goddess Diana! Great is the goddess Diana! And that’s because this is their goddess, this is their town, and this is their temple, and this is making a lot of money for them.

Tom:

Certainly true here.

Dave:

The whole city is filled with confusion.What are they going to do?They grab Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s companions in travel, and they are dragging them into this theater, and so forth, and they are going to take vengeance upon these men.Again, Tom, it’s really ridiculous!We’ve got some strangers came into town, and they are just reasoning.They’re saying, There’s no gods made with hands.Paul argues that, he’s already argued that at Mars Hill.In Isaiah he mocks them, the idolaters:It’s got eyes but it can’t see, it has ears but it can’t hear, it has a mouth but it can’t speak, and it’s got legs and feet but it can’t walk, you have to carry it around, and then you’re going to fall down and worship this?It’s pretty simple, Tom, but what it boils down to is, we want to worship the God we want to worship!I guess we’ve been talking about that this whole program. Do I want God’s way in my life?Is there one true God, is this His Word?Then let’s follow what He has said.

Tom:

Dave, just one last thing about this, you know you have ministries who are financially committed to going about it in a certain way, buying projectors, buying generators, all of this, and they believe it has been effective.How does somebody who has that kind of investment turn away from if they come under the conviction that it’s not right?

Dave:

It’s going to take the conviction of the Spirit of God and the truth of God’s Word, and the willingness to say, Well, wait a minute, Lord, no matter what it’s going to cost me, this is what you say and this is what I’m going to do.But you have to come to that conclusion based upon the facts, the truth, the Word of God.