WE have here a little picture of the site of the once noble city of Ephesus, and of its theatre. There, according to the custom of the times of the early Christians, men were made to fight with each other to the death, or with wild beasts, in order to render amusement to the people who assembled to see the cruel sight. We note in our picture the circles of rows of seats where the spectators sat, and the open space at the bottom of the building where the shows used to take place.
It was, it is believed, into this building that the crowd rushed, and then shouted for about the space of two hours, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” —when Demetrius, the silversmith, vexed with the apostle Paul’s preaching that idols are no gods, stirred up his fellow-craftsmen, who made shrines for Diana, with the cry, “Our craft is in danger.” This ruined theatre is reckoned to have held over fifty thousand persons.
The site of the temple of the goddess Diana is not now visible; the trade of the silversmith of Ephesus is gone, and the shoutings of the poor heathen in favour of their trade, and in honour of their goddess, has not been heard for centuries, but the word: which the apostle Paul preached lives and abides forever. Jesus, of whom he spake, is seated upon the throne of God, and the angels in heaven see a Man glorified and exalted to the highest place in heaven. All power is His, and He has sent His Spirit down to this earth to give power to men to contend against and to overcome the power of Satan. The word of truth has delivered thousands from the worship of idols, and it has made thousands happy in the know-ledge of the forgiveness of their sins, and of their place and home being with Jesus in heaven.
If you will read through the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians you will find that the believer is spoken of at the commencement of it as being seated in the heavenly places in Christ, and that at the close of it he is exhorted to stand as a good soldier, fighting against the power of Satan. It would be a happy thing, indeed, for each of you to learn these lessons—your place in Christ in heaven being rest above the strife, and confusion, and sin of the world—your place for Christ on earth being standing for Him, strong in Him, and in the power of His might, like good soldiers.
In the Epistle to the Ephesians the people of God are said to be a habitation of God through His Spirit, and a holy temple in the Lord, which figures seem to receive greater force in the mind as we consider the magnificent glory of the heathen temple which all the world could see, and which was filled with idolatry.