Introduction
to Ephesians
Sunday
Morning Bible Study
November 20, 2005
Introduction
This morning we’re going to take a journey through time and space … and no,
it’s not to the Twilight Zone. Today we
start our journey through the book of Ephesus.
The little letter of Paul to the Ephesians may seem like a small book of
the Bible, but it’s really quite an important part. I’ve come to realize that we know more about
the church at Ephesus than any
other church in the New Testament. We
have a history from its earliest beginnings right on through to the last book
of the Bible.
And so this morning we’re going to go through a journey of time, trying to
lay the groundwork to understanding this most important of Biblical books.
Background of the city
Ephesus was a city located on
the western coast of what was known as “Asia Minor”, or
modern day Turkey.
The city was founded around 1,000 BC. It
was a port city located at the mouth of a river and became an important trade
center between Asia and the west. You can tell how
important it was by how many people conquered it. It was ruled over by the Cimmerians, then the
Lydians, Persians, Greeks, and finally the Romans in Paul’s day.
Show
maps of Ephesus… (2
slides)
The city was eventually abandoned in the 14th century when its
harbor became filled with silt and was unusable. Since 1863, there have been many excavations
at Ephesus, uncovering many ancient
buildings including the Temple of Artemis,
the amphitheater, and various sculptures.
A history of Ephesus
…
1,000 BC Ephesus is
founded. (1 slide)
In ancient times, the most famous thing about Ephesus
was the Temple of Artemis
(also known as Diana), built in the 6th century BC. The legend was that Artemis had fallen from
heaven at Ephesus, and that’s why
the Temple was built. In its day, it was the largest structure in
the world, and was the seventh of the seven wonders of the world.
Archaeologists have also uncovered a theater that held 25,000 people.
Show
pictures of ancient Ephesus, temples,
etc. … (4 slides)
At some point, a large colony of Jews developed in the city of Ephesus.
AD 30 Jesus’ Resurrection
33 Paul’s Conversion
45 Paul’s 1st Journey (Acts 13)
50 Paul’s 2nd Journey (Acts 15:36)
52 Paul briefly visits Ephesus
for 1st time (Acts 18:19)
As Paul leaves some of his friends behind in Ephesus,
a church begins to develop …
(Acts 18:19-28 NKJV) And he came to Ephesus, and left them there (his
friends Aquila and Priscilla); but he himself
entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. {20} When they asked him to
stay a longer time with them, he did not consent, {21} but took leave of them,
saying, "I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I
will return again to you, God willing." And he sailed from Ephesus. {22} And when he had
landed at Caesarea,
and gone up and greeted the church, he went down to Antioch. {23} After he had
spent some time there, he departed and went over the region of Galatia
and Phrygia
in order, strengthening all the disciples. {24} Now a certain Jew named
Apollos, born at Alexandria,
an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. {25} This man had
been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke
and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism
of John. {26} So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him
aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. {27} And when he
desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to
receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed
through grace; {28} for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from
the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.
And so a small group has developed in Ephesus,
being led by Aquila, Priscilla, and Apollos.
53 Paul’s 3rd Journey (Acts 18:23)
Show
map of Paul’s main cities …
53 Paul’s main ministry in Ephesus
(Acts 19)
It’s at this point, that Paul settles down for awhile. He will stay in Ephesus
for a period of three years (Acts 20:31). He will take the small group that has been
meeting in Ephesus and disciple
them.
(Acts 19 NKJV) And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having
passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some
disciples {2} he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you
believed?" So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether
there is a Holy Spirit." {3} And he said to them, "Into what then
were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's baptism." {4}
Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying
to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that
is, on Christ Jesus." {5} When they heard this, they were baptized in the
name of the Lord Jesus. {6} And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy
Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. {7} Now the
men were about twelve in all.
Jesus told His disciples that they needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit
before they could be effective witnesses.
Paul knows that these disciples need the same thing.
{8} And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three
months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God.
{9} But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way
before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples,
reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. {10} And this continued for two
years, so that all who dwelt in Asia
heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. {11} Now God worked
unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, {12} so that even handkerchiefs or
aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and
the evil spirits went out of them. {13} Then some of the itinerant Jewish
exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those
who had evil spirits, saying, "We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul
preaches." {14} Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest,
who did so. {15} And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and
Paul I know; but who are you?" {16} Then the man in whom the evil spirit
was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they
fled out of that house naked and wounded. {17} This became known both to all
Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus;
and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. {18}
And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. {19} Also,
many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned
them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled
fifty thousand pieces of silver. {20} So the word of the Lord grew mightily and
prevailed.
Jesus did some pretty amazing things in the life of Paul. Ephesus
will serve as a “home base” for Paul as the gospel is spread throughout Asia
Minor.
54 Nero becomes emperor of Rome
56 Paul writes 1Cor. from Ephesus
{Acts 19:21
NKJV} When these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in
the Spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia
and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem,
saying, "After I have been there, I must also see Rome."
In Acts 19:22-20:1, we have the account of how Paul actually left the city
of Ephesus. Luke describes how one of the silversmiths
who made little trinkets for the Temple
of Artemis was all upset because
Paul had been ruining his business.
There were so many people in Ephesus
getting saved that nobody bought his little silver “Artemis-bobble-head-dolls”. He stirred up the city and almost caused a
riot. And before he could get killed,
Paul was persuaded by the church to go ahead and take his trip to Macedonia…
56 Paul leaves Ephesus for Macedonia
(Acts 20:1)
56 Paul visits with the Ephesian elders at Miletus
(Acts 20:17) on his way back to Jerusalem.
(Acts 20:17-38
NKJV) From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the
elders of the church. {18} And when they had come to him, he said to them:
"You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always
lived among you, {19} "serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears
and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; {20} "how I
kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you
publicly and from house to house, {21} "testifying to Jews, and also to
Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
You get a summary of Paul’s ministry – living “among” the people, serving
with humility, tears, trials, keeping back nothing that was helpful, and
encouraging people to repent and to trust Jesus.
{22} "And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not
knowing the things that will happen to me there, {23} "except that the
Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await
me. {24} "But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to
myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I
received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. {25}
"And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the
kingdom of God,
will see my face no more. {26} "Therefore I testify to you this day that I
am innocent of the blood of all men. {27} "For I have not shunned to
declare to you the whole counsel of God. {28} "Therefore take heed to
yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He
purchased with His own blood. {29} "For I know this, that after my
departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. {30}
"Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to
draw away the disciples after themselves.
Serious warnings.
{31} "Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did
not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. {32} "So now,
brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to
build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
{33} "I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. {34} "Yes,
you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for
those who were with me. {35} "I have shown you in every way, by laboring
like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord
Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
Some preachers use this verse to take an offering. Paul used it so remind them that he had been
giving and not receiving…
{36} And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed
with them all. {37} Then they all wept freely, and fell on Paul's neck and
kissed him, {38} sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they
would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.
Do you get the idea that Paul loved these people?
56 Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem
(Acts 21:27)
60 Paul arrives in Rome under
arrest
Paul will write several letters during this period of imprisonment from Rome. He will write Ephesians, Colossians,
Philippians, and Philemon.
60 Paul writes “Ephesians” from Rome.
It’s been five years since Paul has been in Ephesus.
The church is about ten years old.
As you’ve seen, the church has experienced quite a lot. They’ve seen the moving of the Holy
Spirit. They’ve seen miracles. They’ve seen people won to Jesus and turn
from their wicked lifestyles. They’ve
seen the gospel spread through their entire area. We might think that they’ve grown a lot as a
church, but they’ve still got lots of growing to do.
And so Paul writes them a letter about what’s important for their growth.
Here’s your homework for this week – read the letter to the Ephesians.
Key words: As you’re reading, look for and circle two
key words found throughout the book.
The first word is “grace”, a
word we usually connect to Ephesus. Grace is what God has done for us, the gifts
He has given to us, things He has done freely and without our deserving it. We
are saved by grace. We are saved because
Jesus died on a cross to pay for our sins, even though we didn’t deserve it.
The second word is “love”. I was surprised to find that this word is
found even more times in Ephesians than “grace”. I believe it is one of the keys to seeing how
this letter fits together.
The Outline: Sit – Walk – Stand
This is the classic way of looking at the book of Ephesians, made famous by
the Chinese theologian Watchman Nee. The
words follow the order of the book:
Sit: Chapters 1-3 talk about our relationship with
Christ. We are to learn to “sit” in the
heavenlies.
Walk: Chapters 4-5 talk about our “walk”, how we
are to follow Christ. This involves
learning how to get along with one another with instructions for family life,
work, and all kinds of relationships.
Stand: Chapter 6 talks about how we are to “stand”
against the devil and the attacks he brings.
This is a common order in many of Paul’s epistles. There is a reason for this order. This is the order of grace.
Some people want to start out learning to “stand” against the devil. But when they haven’t gotten the connection
with Jesus correct, they will find themselves fighting Satan by themselves, and
that never works.
Others want to jump into the “walk” and learn how to relate to others. But learning to “submit” to others isn’t a
fun or easy thing to do. We need to
learn how to first “submit” to Jesus first, and then our relationships with
others get much easier.
And so the order in our lives is to sit-walk-stand.
We need to learn first to “sit” down and understand our magnificent Jesus
and the relationship we have with Him.
Then we learn to “walk”, to follow Him and live like Him.
Which leads us to successfully be able to “stand” against the devil in the
time of difficulty.
Illustration
There is a story about two people who wanted to immigrate to America.
They scraped up all their money to buy two tickets on an ocean liner headed for
New York. With their last bit of money, they were able
to buy enough bread and cheese to live on for the two week journey across the
ocean. For the first couple of days, the
bread and cheese were okay. But by the
tenth day, the bread was getting pretty hard and the cheese was starting to
mould.
Every day they would take walks out on the deck and wander by the dining
room where they would watch the other passengers lining up and the huge buffet
tables filled with all sorts of incredible foods.
Finally, they approached one of the cabin stewards and begged if there was
any way they could perhaps work to earn enough to buy maybe one meal up in the
dining room. But to their surprise, they
found out that all their meals were paid for with the price of their
tickets. If they had paid attention when
they bought their tickets, they could have spent the entire trip in the dining
room feasting on roast beef instead of cheese and crackers.
As we work through the book of Ephesians, we’re going to start by learning
to “sit”, by learning about all the things that came with that ticket to heaven
we’re holding in our hands.
But this isn’t where the story about the Ephesians ends. In a way, it’s only halfway complete. There’s much more ahead …
64 Nero burns Rome and blames
the Christians
65? Timothy becomes pastor at Ephesus
It is thought that Paul makes one last trip to Ephesus, makes Timothy
pastor of church in Ephesus, then from Rome writes 1Timothy to this young
pastor at Ephesus, letters about how to pastor the church at Ephesus.
67 Paul writes a second letter to Timothy at Ephesus.
If you want extra credit, read 1&2Timothy.
67 Paul martyred
68 Nero dies
70 Jerusalem destroyed
85 John writes his gospel while in Ephesus
By this time John the apostle has settled down in Ephesus.
90 John writes his letters, 1-3John from Ephesus
95 John writes Revelation
John has been exiled to the island
of Patmos, about 45 miles west of Ephesus. Jesus shows up and not only tells John about
the future, but includes seven letters, including one especially for the church
at Ephesus.
97 Timothy dies
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs tells us that
Timothy died after being beaten with clubs by a crowd in Ephesus.
100 John dies at Ephesus
It is told that in his last years, John was confined to a cot, and whenever
he would have visitors, his common phrase he would repeat over and over was:
“My little children, love one another”.
You see it in his last letters:
(1 John 4:7 NKJV) Beloved,
let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of
God and knows God.
Show
map of Patmos …
Perhaps one of the last things written to the church at Ephesus
was that letter that Jesus dictated to John on the island
of Patmos in the book of Revelation,
written 30 years after Paul had written his letter to the Ephesians…
(Rev 2:1-7 NKJV) "To the angel of the church of Ephesus
write, 'These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who
walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: {2} "I know your works,
your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you
have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them
liars; {3} "and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for
My name's sake and have not become weary.
They were a good church. They did
good things. They kept serving the Lord.
Paul had warned the Ephesian elders about false teachers (Acts 20), and it
seems they had taken his warning seriously.
{4} "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left
your first love.
Isn’t this interesting, considering how John had been making it a point to
tell folks in the last years of his life, “My little children, love one
another”? I believe John was very clued
in to what the people needed. They had
lost their passion for God and for one another.
It’s kind of sad when you realize that Paul had also been trying to teach
them about the importance of love. In
all of Paul’s letters, he uses forms of the word “love” (Greek, agape) 107 times. Yet 19 of them are in this little six chapter
letter.
Back in the 70’s a phrase you’d hear Christians say was that they had “lost
their first love”. But Jesus doesn’t say
they had “lost” their first love, He says they had “left” their first
love. If you “lose” something, you don’t
know where it is or how to get it back.
But if you’ve “left” something, you know right where it is. You have the ability to get it back. And Jesus tells us how to get it back.
{5} "Remember
therefore from where you have fallen; repent
and do the first works, or else I
will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place; unless you
repent. {6} "But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the
Nicolaitans, which I also hate. {7} "He who has an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from
the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."'
Have you experienced that dangerous place where you don’t love the Lord as
much as you once did? Have you come to
the place where it is no longer exciting to sit and talk with someone about who
Jesus is and what He’s doing in your life?
The most important thing that you can I can do in our life is to love God
(Mat. 22:36-38).
Do you believe that?
Jesus tells the church to do three things:
remember
Do you remember what it was like to be so in love with Jesus?
repent
If there are things in your life that have caused you to walk away from
Jesus, things in your life that have crowded out your time with the Lord, then
it’s time to turn around.
(Lam 3:40
NKJV) Let us search out and examine our
ways, And turn back to the LORD;
do (or, “re-do”) the first works
Seek Him. Trust Him. Serve Him.
What kinds of things did you used to do back when you loved Him so
much? Go back and start doing those
things again.
The supremacy of love
Whether you are a new Christian, one in the middle, or one near the end,
you can’t escape it. You shouldn’t
escape it.