Acts 19  Paul goes back to Ephesus again. This time he comes across 12 men who were disciples of John and leads them to Jesus.  He prays for the Holy Spirit to come upon them, and He does.  Paul ends up spending over 2 years there, preaching the Gospel and teaching the Word.  Paul was anointed by the Holy Spirit so that he was used by God to perform many miracles in Ephesus.  Eventually the ministry was so successful that "all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks." ( v10)

Something important began to take place in Ephesus.  Paul's ministry included the casting out of evil spirits.  Some Jewish "exorcists" thought they would also use the name of Jesus to cast our evil spirits, but the problem was.. they didn't know Jesus!  The evil spirit in one man overpowered these 7 brothers and left them wounded and naked!   As this became known,  "fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified."  This led to a great movement of God in the hearts of many believers, who.. " kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices."  Many had been involved in magic.. so much so that when they brought all their books together to burn.. they found it was 50.000 pieces of silver worth !  If one coin was equivalent to a days labor.. this was a vast sum of money.  The Lord blessed this action and " the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing".  

Paul was beginning to think about moving on.  He wanted to go to Jerusalem and back to Macedonia.  He was also longing to go to Rome.  The Lord was preparing his heart for what was ahead of him.
Meanwhile he was sending Timothy and another follower, Erastus, into Macedonia to work there.

A problem cropped up in Ephesus .  A silversmith named Demetrius started a campaign against the church and Paul specifically.  Ephesus was the site of the shrine of Artemis (also associated with  the Roman goddess - Diana).
The city of Ephesus was one of the largest in that day.  The temple of Artemis was one of the Seven wonders of the World.  Artemis was supposed to be the daughter of Zeus and Leto.  She was the goddess of fertility.  She was the patron deity of wild animals.... protecting them from mistreatment.
She was portrayed as a young virgin in a  tunic with her hair pulled back.. or as a mature woman with multiple breasts- a symbol for her gift of fertility.  Ephesus was the center of worship for Artemis.
Demetrius was upset that his business was being affected by the reformation of those who now believed in Jesus and no longer worshiped Artemis.  The message that ".. gods made with hands are no gods at all.." was clearly preached by the church in Ephesus and this angered Demetrius.  He stirred up the business men who crafted the statues and such using his silver.  He stirred up the whole town until a mob formed and in the confusion they all rushed into the theater .. dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, some of Paul's companions . This theater still exists.. it was huge, seating 24,000.
Imagine a mob of that size shouting and pushing and in utter confusion!

The Jews tried to make Alexander address the crowd, but the people were stirred up, crying out
 "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians"!  They quieted down only when the town clerk calmly explained that they needed to go through the proper legal channels with their complaints and that this "disorderly gathering"  would get them all in trouble! With that the crowd dispersed.

This led Paul to make his way from Ephesus to Macedonia once again.

The world will always look to its own interests and be angered with the Truth.  We may not have temples to the goddess Artemis.. but we have idols in our day just the same.  In this chapter of Acts there are two areas of "business" that were affected by the transformation of the lives of believers in Jesus Christ - the magic - or occult business; and the silver/craftsmen's business.  What businesses are affected in our world when men and women of God turn away from satan's strongholds?  Where is sorcery and false religion prevalent?  The media comes to my mind.. and just listen to the rants of Hollywood's finest.. They are often the most vocal when it comes to the ways of the Lord and to the lives of Christians.   Their anger and hatred are palpable.  Another angry group are those in political positions.. they promote their liberal agendas, hoping to win over those who make money from those sinful practices.  So, like Demetrius, they stir up businesses and they stir up the mobs.. and many are so confused they don't even know why they are gathering!

We as Christians can learn and follow the example of the Christians of Ephesus who confessed and disclosed the evil practices that we have been hiding.  We need to open our whole lives to the Lord and surrender every and all idols.. even if it costs us..

Father in heaven,  we come once more to bow before You and declare that You alone are Lord!  You alone are God and we will serve no other.  Renew our spirits and refresh our hearts that we might be faithful and good servants of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  Be glorified, magnified, and exalted in Your Church and may the Word of the Lord prevail in our city!  In the Name of the Mighty Lord, Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!