Ephesian Church Part 1

Paul Planted a Church

WHAT IS A CHURCH?

Matthew 16:18: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

continuity of the people of God

Deuteronomy 4:10: “Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.”

Acts 7:38: “This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:”

Hebrews 12:22-24: “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”

We as believers think of Abel, Abraham, Isaac, Gideon— that great cloud of witnesses in Heaven

the coalescing of the people of God

Matthew 16:16-18: “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Matthew 28:18-20: “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Ephesians 2:14: “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;”

Look at language of Ephesians 2-

children of disobedience

dead

aliens

strangers

no hope

BUT GOD!

the cross and the people of God

Acts 20:28: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”

Jesus loved the church, Eph 5:25, and gave Himself for it; He redeemed the church by means of the cross!

SO WHEN I SAY CHURCH, I’M REFERRING TO A CALLED-OUT ASSEMBLY. And regardless where you think this body began, it’s still a group of saved individuals who regularly meet together to worship, pray, sing, preach, break bread, keep the ordinances, and fulfil the Great Commission.

19:7-

20:31-

What did the starting of this church do?

addressed sinful issues in the culture

19:21- idolatry

Corinthians- temple prostitutes

Colossae- academic philosophies opposed to Christ

Romans- meat offered to idols

William Carey- sati-

“. . . As I was returning from Calcutta, I saw the Sahamoron, or a woman burning herself with the corpse of her husband, for the first time in my life. We were near the village of Noya Serai; (Rennell, in his Chart of the Hoogly river, spells it Niaserai.) As it was evening, we got out of the boat to walk, when we saw a number of people assembled on the river side. I asked them, for what they were met? and they told me, to burn the body of a dead man. I enquired, whether his wife would die with him? they answered, yes; and pointed to the woman. She was standing by the pile, which was made of large billets of wood; about two and a-half feet high, four feet long, and two wide; on the top of which lay the dead body of her husband. Her nearest relation stood by her, and near her was a small basket of sweet-meats called kivy. I asked them, if this were the woman’s choice, or whether she were brought to it by any improper influence? They answered that it was perfectly voluntary. I talked till reasoning was of no use, and then began to exclaim with all my might against what they were doing, telling them that it was a shocking murder They told me it was a great act of holiness, and added in a very surly manner, that if I did not like to see it, I might go further off, and desired me to go.

I told them that I would not go; that I was determined to stay and see the murder, and that I should certainly bear witness of it at the tribunal of God. I exhorted the woman not to throw away her life, to fear nothing, for no evil would follow her refusal to burn. But she in the calmest manner mounted the pile, and danced on it, with her hands extended, as if in the utmost tranquility of spirit. Previous to her mounting the pile, the relation whose office it was to set fire to it, led her six times round it, at two intervals; that is, thrice at each circumambulation.

As she went round, she scattered the sweet-meats above mentioned among the people, who picked them up, and ate them as very holy things. This being ended, and she having mounted the pile and danced as above mentioned, (which appeared only designed to shew us her contempt of death, and to prove to us that her dying was voluntary) she then lay down by the corpse, and put one arm under its neck, and the other over it; when a quantity of dry cocoa leaves and other substances, were heaped over them to a considerable height; and then ghee, or melted, preserved butter, poured on the top. Two bamboos were then put over them, and held fast down, and fire put to the pile, which immediately blazed very fiercely, owing to the dry and combustible materials of which it was composed.

No sooner was the fire kindled, than all the people set up a great shout, “Hurree Bol, Hurree Bol!” which is a common shout of joy, and an invocation of Hurree, the wife of Hur or Seeb. It was impossible to have heard the woman, had she groaned, or even cried aloud, on account of the mad noise of the people, and it was impossible for her to stir or struggle, on account of the bamboos which were held down on them like the levers of a press. We made much objection to their using these bamboos, and insisted that it was using force to prevent the woman getting up when the fire burnt her. But they declared that it was only done to keep the pile from falling down. We could not bear to see more, but left them, exclaiming loudly against the murder, and full of horror at what we had seen.” (Crockett, 2017)

Carey, Ward, and Raja Rammohun Roy petitioned the government on the following legal grounds: (1) [suttee] was revolting to the feelings of human nature; (2) it was not at present considered an imperative by Hindu religionists; (3) the practice was not universal throughout the country of India, but rather many widows enjoyed a long and prosperous life; (4) many instances of suttee were criminal in nature, featuring the cold-blooded murder of unwilling widows; (5) many Hindus were shocked by its practice, seeing that it was neither geographically nor nationally universally-applied. (Crockett, 2017

2. it addressed false teachings that led to damnation

Acts 19:1–7 KJV 1900

And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve.

they were called disciples, not of Christ

they knew nothing of the resurrection/miracles

they had taken the first step (repentance) but not the second step (faith)

They had full hearts but did not have full minds.

The Church was a Place to Grow Believersw

Two Examples-

Apollos:

Acts 18:24-26: “And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.”

King James Version Chapter 1

1 Corinthians 1:12

12 Now this I say, that zevery one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of aApollos; and I of bCephas; and I of Christ.

1 Corinthians 3:4

4 For iwhile one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of jApollos; are ye not carnal?

1 Corinthians 3:5

5 Who then is Paul, and who is jApollos, but kministers by whom lye believed, meven as the Lord gave to every man?

1 Corinthians 3:6

6 nI have planted, joApollos watered; pbut God gave the increase.

1 Corinthians 3:22

22 Whether Paul, or uApollos, or uCephas, or the world, or life, or death, or xthings present, or things to come; all are yours;

Apollos was a gift to the church— he was planted there by God. But we might note that he was PLANTED THERE BY GOD for his own benefit.

-a church exists to preach Christ and to make men whole

Ephesians 4:12: “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:”

-a church exists to connect the dots & to give the full picture of the Lord Jesus

RICHARD BOLT- I was told you don’t have to be baptized

Robert

Jack

James

Q/A sessions-

-a church exists to connect people to one another

Paul-Priscilla and Aquilla-Apollos

Ephesians Part 2— “To the Faithful”

NOTES ABOUT FAITHFULNESS:

Paul taught the faithful

consistently

The church at Ephesus was established 15-20 years after the death of Jesus Christ. Paul visited the city on his second missionary journey through the ancient world (Acts 18:19). After planting the church in Ephesus, Paul put a couple named Pricilla and Aquila in charge of the church. Later, a man named Apollos joined the leadership team as the main teacher of the local churches in Ephesus. Years later, Paul returned to the city of Ephesus on his third missionary journey and stayed in the city for three years, which was the longest time Paul spent with any of his church plants (Acts 19:8-10).

for three years

Acts 19:8-10: “And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.”

Paul’s longest pastorate

all the counsel of God

While Galatians offers instructions particularly important for those churches overrun with legalism, Ephesians deals with topics at the very core of what it means to be a Christian—both in faith and in practice—regardless of any particular problem in the community.

the grace of God for all men

the love of Jesus Christ

love to elect them to salvation (1:3-4)

love to purchase their salvation (5:25; Acts 20:28)

love to complete their salvation (2:10)

the relationship between the Jew and Gentile

the efficacy of the blood of Jesus Christ (1:7)

the nature and work of spiritual/grace gifts (ch 4)

the position of the believer (2:6)

before salvation- estranged/alienated/darkened/without hope (2:1-4)

after salvation- saved/seated/sealed/

the doctrine of the church

church both Jews and Gentiles

loved, purchased, and prepared as a Bride for her husband

fitly framed together and functional completely for divine purposes in this world

He taught these people that they were weaponized to attack the strongholds of Satan and to fight the good fight of salvation

marriage and the divine design for order

husbands- love

wives- submit

children- obey

fathers- provoke not

GOVERNING ALL THIS:

we are to be Spirit-filled

AND AS SPIRIT-FILLED

singing

thanking God

submitting ourselves to God

knowing His will

walking circumspectly

Acts 20:27: “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.”

II Timothy 3:10-12: “But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”

MANNER OF THE RABBI

It was hard for a Jew to wisely and sometimes unwisely separate this idea

it was wise to understand the the rabbinical relationship was healthy as the rabbi followed God

I Corinthians 11:1: “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”

it was unwise to make the traditions of the rabbis the truths of God— infallible

Midrash

Talmud

Paul was praying for the faithful

paul’s precepts

led to paul’s prayers

Paul’s precepts and prayers were designed to lead them to godly practice in their lives

Eph 1:15-

4:13

Paul was Dependent on the Faithful

NOTES ABOUT TYCHICUS