Acts 19:38
Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another. Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another.
The verse belongs to the closing period of Paul's work of over three years in Ephesus, where a flourishing church had been raised up and the gospel had spread throughout Asia among both Jews and Gentiles. At that time Paul had purposed to pass through Macedonia and Achaia on his way to Jerusalem and afterward to see Rome, and he had sent Timothy and Erastus on into Macedonia while deciding himself to remain in Ephesus until after Pentecost. His departure was then hastened by a sudden event.
That event came at the yearly festival of Diana at Ephesus, when Paul's teaching had weakened confidence in the city's gods and had reduced attendance and enthusiasm for the festival. Believers faced ridicule and insult during the celebrations.
In that setting the verse directs Demetrius and the craftsmen with him, if they have a matter against any man, to take it through the open lawful courts before the deputies and proper city officials, where the parties bring charges against one another. It forbids seeking redress by mob, public tumult, riot, or the theater disorder, and the city recorder cites this available lawful remedy to show the tumult was unnecessary and to separate their complaint from the crowd's disorder.
Through this appeal to lawful proceedings the recorder and the other city officials declared Paul innocent of unlawful conduct and vindicated him. They checked and restrained the tumult and the mob and thereby preserved his life. They kept the uproar from bringing Christianity into disrepute.