Contents ▼▲
Front Matter The Story of a Beautiful Garden The First Baby in the World and His Brother The Great Ship That Saved Eight People The Tower That Was Never Finished The Story of a Long Journey How Abram's Choice Brought Blessing The Angel by the Well The Rain of Fire That Fell on a City The Boy Who Became an Archer How an Angel's Voice Saved a Boy's Life The Story of a Journey after a Wife How Jacob Stole His Brother's Blessing Jacob's Wonderful Dream A Midnight Wrestling Match The Rich Man's Son Who Was Sold as a Slave From the Prison to the Palace How Joseph's Dream Came True A Lost Brother Found From the Land of Famine to the Land of Plenty The Beautiful Baby Who Was Found in a River The Voice from the Burning Bush The River That Ran Blood The Night When a Nation Was Born How the Sea Became Dry Land and the Sky Rained Bre The Mountain That Smoked and Words That Were Spoke How Aaron Made a Golden Calf and What Became of It The Tent Where God Lived Among His People How They Worshipped God in the Tabernacle What Strong Drink Brought to Aaron's Sons The Scapegoat in the Wilderness The Cluster of Grapes from the Land of Canaan How the Long Journey of the Israelites Came to an What a Wise Man Learned from an Ass How Moses Looked upon the Promised Land The Story of Job The Story of a Scarlet Cord How the River Jordan Became Dry The Story of a Wedge of Gold How Joshua Conquered the Land of Canaan The Old Man Who Fought Against the Giants The Avenger of Blook and the Cities of Refuge The Story of an Altar Beside the River The Presnt That Ehud Brought to King Eglon How a Woman Won a Great Victory Gideon and His Brave Three Hundred Jephthah's Rash Promise and What Came from It The Strong Man: How He Lived and How He Died The Idol Temple at Dan and Its Priest How Ruth Gleaned in the Field of Boaz The Little Boy with a Linen Coat How the Idol Fell Down Before the Ark The Last of the Judges The Tall Man Who Was Chosen King How Saul Saved the Eyes of the Men of Jabesh The Brave Young Prince Saul's Great Sin and His Great Loss The Shepherd Boy of Bethlehem The Shepherd Boy's Fight with the Giant The Little Boy Looking for the Arrows Where David Found the Giant's Sword How David Spared Saul's Life The Last Days of King Saul The Shepherd Boy Becomes a King The Sound in the Treetops The Cripple at the King's Table The Prophet's Story of the Little Lamb David's Handsome Son and How He Stole the Kingdom Absalom in the Wood; David on the Throne The Angel with the Drawn Sword on Mount Moriah Solomon on This Father's Throne The Wise Young King The House of God on Mount Moriah The Last Days of Solomon's Reign The Breaking Up of a Great Kingdom The King Who Led Israel to Sin The Prophet Who Raised a Boy to Life The Prayer That Was Answered in Fire The Voice That Spoke to Elijah in the Mount The Wounded Prophet and His Story What Ahab Paid for His Vineyard The Arrow That Killed a King Elijah's Chariot of Fire A Spring Sweetened by Salt The Pot of Oil and the Pot of Poison The Little Boy at Shunem How a Little Girl Helped to Cure a Leper The Chariots of Fire around Elisha What the Lepers Found in the Camp Jehu, the Furious Driver of His Chariot Elisha and the Bow; Jonah and Nineveh How the Ten Tribes Were Lost The First Four Kings of Judah The Little Boy Who Was Crowned King Three Kings and a Great Prophet The Good King Hezekiah The Lost Book Found in the Temple The Last Four Kings of Judah and the Weeping Proph What Ezekiel Saw in the Valley The Jewish Captives in the Court of the King The Golden Image and the Fiery Furnace The Tree That Was Cut Down and Grew Again The Writing upon the Wall Daniel in the Den of Lions The Story of a Joyous Journey The New Temple on Mount Moriah The Beautiful Queen of Persia The Scribe Who Wrote the Old Testament The Nobleman Who Built the Wall of Jerusalem Ezra's Great Bible Class in Jerusalem The Angel by the Altar The Manger of Bethlehem The Star and the Wise Men The Boy in his Father's House The Prophet in the Wilderness Jesus in the Desert, and beside the River The Water Jars at the Wedding Feast The Stranger at the Well The Story of a Boy in Capernaum and a Riot A Net Full of Fishes The Leper and the Man Let Down through the Roof The Cripple at the Pool and the Withered Hand The Twelve Disciples and the Sermon on the Mount The Captain's Servant, the Widow's Son, and a Sinn Some Stories Jesus Told by the Sea "Peace, Be Still" The Little Girl Who Was Raised to Life A Dancing Girl and What Was Given Her The Feast beside the Sea and What Followed It The Answer to a Mother's Prayer The Glory of Jesus on the Mountain The Little Child in the Arms of Jesus At the Feast of Tabernacles The Man with Clay on His Face The Good Shepherd and the Good Samaritan Lazarus Raised to Life Some Parables in Perea The Poor Rich Man and the Rich Poor Man Jesus at Jericho Palm Sunday The Last Vistis of Jesus to the Temple The Parables on the Mount of Olives The Last Supper The Olive Orchard and the High Priests Hall The Crown of Thorns The Darkest Day of All the World The Brightest Day of All the World The Stranger on the Shore The Church of the First Days The Man at the Beautiful Gate The Right Way to Give, and the Wrong Way Stephen with the Shining Face The Man Reading in the Chariot The Voice That Spoke to Saul What Peter Saw by the Sea How the Iron Gate Was Opened The Earliest Missionaries The Song in the Prison Paul's Speech on the Hill Paul at Corinth Paul at Ephesus Paul's Last Journey to Jerusalem The Speech on the Stairs Two Years in Prison The Story That Paul Told to the King Paul in the Storm How Paul Came to Rome and How He Lived There The Throne of God The City of God

Story of the Bible Told for Young and Old - Jesse Hurlbut




Paul at Ephesus


The Apostle Paul did not stay long at Antioch, but soon started out for another journey among the churches already formed and into new fields. He went through Syria, the country around Antioch, and then to the region near Tarsus, which had been his early home, everywhere preaching Christ. He crossed over the mountains and entered into the heart of Asia Minor, coming to the land of Galatia. The people in this land were a warm-hearted race, eager to see and to hear new things. They listened to Paul with great joy, and believed at once in his teachings. Paul wrote afterward that they received him as an angel of God, as though he were Jesus Christ himself, and that they were ready to pluck out their own eyes and give them to him, so eager were they to have the gospel.

But soon after Paul went away some Jewish teachers came, saying to these new believers, "You must all become Jews, and take upon you the whole Jewish law, with all its rules about things to be eaten, and fasts, and feast-days, or you cannot be saved."

And the people in Galatia turned quickly away from Paul's words to follow these new teachers; for they were found of change, and were not firm in their minds. There was danger that all Paul's work among them would be undone. But as soon as news came to Paul of their sudden turning from the truth of the gospel he wrote to them a letter, "The Epistle to the Galatians." In this letter he called them back to Christ, and showed them that they were free and not slaves to the old law, and urged them to stand fast in the freedom which Christ had given them.

Paul went through Phrygia, and from that land came again to Ephesus, which he had visited before, as we read in the last Story. This time he stayed in Ephesus more than two years, preaching the gospel of Christ. At first he spoke in the synagogue of the Jews, telling the Jews that Jesus was the Anointed Christ, the King of Israel, and proving it from the prophets of the Old Testament. But when the Jews would no longer listen to him, but spoke against the way of Christ, Paul left the synagogue, and spoke every day in a school room which was opened to him. His work became so well known that almost all the people in Ephesus, and many in the lands around the city, heard the work of the Lord.

God gave to Paul at this time great powers of healing. They carried to the sick the cloths with which Paul had wiped the sweat from his face, and the aprons that he had worn while he was at work making tents, and the diseases left the sick, and evil spirits went out of men. These wonderful works drew great crowds to hear Paul, and led man more to believe in his words.

There were in that city some Jews who wandered from place to place, pretending to drive evil spirits out of men. These men saw how great was the power of the name of Jesus as spoken by Paul, and they also began to speak in Jesus' name, saying to the evil spirits in men, "I command you to come out, in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches."

And the evil spirit in one man answered two of these pretenders, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are your?"

And the man in whom the evil spirit was, leaped upon them, so that they ran out of the house naked and covered with wounds. Everybody in the city, both Jews and Greeks, heard of this, and all knew that even the evil spirits feared the name of Jesus as spoken by Paul. And many of those who had dealt with evil spirits came and confessed their deeds and turned to the Lord. And some who had books claiming to tell how to talk with spirits brought them, and burned them as bad books, although the books had cost a great sum of money. Thus the work of the Lord grew in Ephesus, a great number believed in Christ, and a large church arose.

Paul now began to feel that his work in Ephesus was nearly finished. He thought that he would go across the Ægean Sea, and visit the churches at Philippi and Thessalonica and Berea, in the land of Macedonia, and then the church at Corinth in Greece, and then go once more to Jerusalem.

"And after I have been there," said Paul, "then I must also see Rome."

So to prepare for his coming into Macedonia he sent Timothy, and another friend named Erastus, while he himself stayed in Ephesus for a time longer. But soon after this a great stir arose in that city over Paul and his preaching.

In the city of Ephesus was standing at that time an idol-temple, one of the greatest and richest in all the world. Around the temple stood a hundred and twenty great columns of white marble, each column the gift of a king. And in it was an image of the goddess Diana, which the people believed had fallen down from the sky. People came from many lands to worship the idol-image of Diana; and many took away with them little images like it, made of gold or silver. The making and selling of these little images gave work to many who wrought in gold and silver, and brought to them great riches.

Ephesus

EPHESUS


One of these workers in silver, a man named Demetrius, called together his fellow-workmen, and said to them, "You know, my friends, that by this trade we earn our living and win riches. And you can all see and hear that this man Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, not only in this city, but also throughout all these lands, by telling all men that there are no gods which are made by hands. There is danger that our trade will come to and end, and danger, too, that the temple of the great goddess Diana may be made of no account. It may be even that the goddess whom all Asia and all the world worships shall fall down from her greatness." When the workmen heard this they became very angry, and they set up a great cry, shouting out, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians! Great is Diana of the Ephesians!"

And soon the whole city was in an uproar; people were running through the streets and shouting, and a great multitude was drawn together, most of them not knowing what had caused the crowd and the noise. In the side of the hill near the city was a great open place hollowed out, having stone seats around it on three sides. It was used for public meetings, and was called "the theatre." Into this place all the people rushed, until it was thronged; while Demetrius and his fellow-workers led on the shouting, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!"

They seized two of Paul's friends who were with him in the city, Gaius and Aristarchus, and dragged them with them into the theatre. Paul wished to go in, and try to speak to the people but the disciples of Christ would not let him go; and some of the chief men of the land, who were Paul's friends, sent word to him, urging and beseeching him not to venture into the theatre.

The noise, and the shouting, and the confusion were kept up for two hours. When the throng began to grow tired, and were ready to listen, the clerk of the city came forward, and quieted the people, and said, "Ye men of Ephesus, what is the need of all this riot? Is there anyone who does not know that this city guards the temple of the great goddess Diana, and of the image that fell down from the heavens? Since these things cannot be denied, you should be quiet, and do nothing rash or foolish. You have brought here these men, who are not robbers of temples, nor have they spoken evil against our goddess. If Demetrius and the men of his trade have a charge to bring against any men, and the courts are open, and there are judges to hear their case. But if there is any other business, it must be done in a regular meeting of the people. For we are in danger for this day's riot, and may be brought to account for this gathering of a crowd."

And after the city clerk had quieted the people with these words he sent them away. When the riot was over, and all was peaceful again, Paul met the disciples of Christ and spoke to them once more. He had been in Ephesus for three years preaching; and while there he had written, besides the epistle or letter to the Galatians, that to the Romans, and two letters to the Corinthians, the believers in Christ at Corinth in Greece. He now sailed away from Ephesus, across the Ægean Sea to Macedonia, where he had preached the gospel before on his second journey.