Ephesus Church in Revelation<\/p>\n
Date written: March 7th, 2004<\/p>\n
Scripture ref: Revelation 2:1-7<\/p>\n
SUBJECT: Church<\/p>\n
TITLE: Seven Churches of Revelation — Ephesus<\/p>\n
PROPOSITION: In this lesson we will discuss the church at Ephesus.<\/p>\n
OBJECTIVES: Each hearer should be more familiar with the church in that city.<\/p>\n
AIM: To exhort the church that is sound in doctrine, but weak in their first love to return to those efforts.<\/p>\n
INTRODUCTION:<\/p>\n
1. Read: Rev. 2:1-7<\/p>\n
2. About the Text:<\/p>\n
1) These are the last words we find in the Bible addressed to the church at Ephesus.<\/p>\n
2) What history is behind these words?<\/p>\n
3) What can we learn from the life of a church?<\/p>\n
4) Let’s examine what we know about the church at Ephesus for a few minutes tonight.<\/p>\n
3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.<\/p>\n
DISCUSSION:<\/p>\n
I. History<\/p>\n
1. The city of Ephesus was Rome’s capital city in the province of Asia.<\/p>\n
1) Conquered by Rome in 190 B.C.<\/p>\n
2) Much trade.<\/p>\n
3) Place of government.<\/p>\n
2. City of Ephesus was home to the temple of Diana\/Artemis (Acts 19:34).<\/p>\n
1) One of the seven wonders of the ancient world.<\/p>\n
2) Built about 400 B.C. then rebuilt after a fire a few hundred years later.<\/p>\n
3) The statue of the goddess inside of the temple was said to have fallen from the sky.<\/p>\n
4) People came from all over the known world to worship at this temple.<\/p>\n
5) More visitors than any other ancient edifice.<\/p>\n
6) Place of harbor for criminals.<\/p>\n
3. Jewish Influence<\/p>\n
1) The Jews who lived in Ephesus had a synagogue there.<\/p>\n
2) There were some who had settled there due to Roman persecution (Acts 18:2).<\/p>\n
3) Among them were Aquila and Priscilla.<\/p>\n
II. The Church<\/p>\n
1. Establishment (Acts 18:24-19:7) 56, 57 A.D.?.<\/p>\n
1) We have the history of the establishment of the church in Ephesus in Acts 18:24ff.<\/p>\n
2) Apollos taught mightily in the synagogue there.<\/p>\n
3) Aquila and Priscilla taught him the way of the Lord more perfectly.<\/p>\n
4) Gained several disciples (12 men).<\/p>\n
5) Paul came and they had not received the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n
6) They were all baptized again with Christ’s baptism.<\/p>\n
2. Paul worked with the church for two years.<\/p>\n
1) Paul taught in the synagogue for three months. (Acts 19:8).<\/p>\n
2) He finally had to separate the disciples from the Jews because they would no longer give him an audience. (Acts 19:9).<\/p>\n
3) Paul taught in the school of Tyranus there for two years working with the church.<\/p>\n
4) God worked special miracles in this city (Acts 19:11).<\/p>\n
5) Some of the Jews tried to cast out demons there, but were unsuccessful (Acts 19:13-17).<\/p>\n
6) This resulted in the growth of the church (vs.17).<\/p>\n
7) Those who practiced the magical arts burned their books as a sign of their repentance (Acts 19:19).<\/p>\n
8) Paul’s time with the church ended there partly as the result of an uproar from the silversmith’s trade (Acts 19:23-20:1).<\/p>\n
9) The church had elders (Acts 20:17).<\/p>\n
10) Paul met with them one last time before his journey to Rome.<\/p>\n
11) He prophesied of wolves that would come to take over the flock (Acts 20:29).<\/p>\n
3. The epistle to the church.<\/p>\n
1) Epistle written 58 A.D?<\/p>\n
2) He wrote of their salvation through Christ. (Eph. 1:7).<\/p>\n
3) Church was made up of several gentiles (Eph. 2:13-22).<\/p>\n
4) Exhorted to unity (Eph. 4:1-5).<\/p>\n
5) Given instruction for Christian living (Eph. 4, 5).<\/p>\n
6) Instructed regarding the relationship of Christ to the church (Eph. 5:21ff).<\/p>\n
7) Exhorted to take up the whole armor of God (Eph. 6:10-18).<\/p>\n
8) They were well prepared to face the oncoming threat from within.<\/p>\n
III. Jesus’ Message to the Church (Revelation 2:1-8).<\/p>\n
1. The good things about Ephesus.<\/p>\n
1) Jesus knew their works, labour, and patience (vs.2, 4).<\/p>\n
2) Jesus knew their opposition to evil and false apostles (vs.3).<\/p>\n
3) They hated the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which Jesus also hated (vs.6).<\/p>\n
2. The bad things about Ephesus.<\/p>\n
1) Left their first love (vs.4).<\/p>\n
2) They were to repent and do the first works (vs.5).<\/p>\n
IV. Lessons from the church at Ephesus<\/p>\n
1. Wicked cities are good places to plant churches-they need the gospel the most.<\/p>\n
2. The establishment of a church does not depend just upon one man.<\/p>\n
1) Aquila and Priscilla.<\/p>\n
2) Apollos<\/p>\n
3) Paul<\/p>\n
4) All had a hand in starting the church at Ephesus.<\/p>\n
3. The church can grow even in the midst of opposition.<\/p>\n
1) Jews opposed.<\/p>\n
2) Gentiles opposed.<\/p>\n
3) The church at Ephesus knew controversy.<\/p>\n
4. The church needs godly elders to function.<\/p>\n
5. The church needs spiritual instruction to maintain unity and growth.<\/p>\n
6. It is good to oppose false teaching and we must do this.<\/p>\n
7. We must not, however, lose sight of the fundamentals of the faith-the first works.<\/p>\n
CONCLUSION:<\/p>\n
1. Consider this church of Asia.<\/p>\n
1) Born out of ungodliness, tribulation, and incomplete instruction.<\/p>\n
2) Grew despite opposition of both Jews and Gentiles.<\/p>\n
3) Exhorted by the Holy Spirit to unity based upon truth.<\/p>\n
4) Challenged by Jesus to be completely and perfectly pure.<\/p>\n
2. Invitation<\/p>\n
1) If you are a Christian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ephesus Church in Revelation Date written: March 7th, 2004 Scripture ref: Revelation 2:1-7 SUBJECT: Church TITLE: Seven Churches of Revelation — Ephesus PROPOSITION: In this lesson we will discuss the church at Ephesus. OBJECTIVES: Each hearer should be more familiar with the church in that city. AIM: To exhort the church that is sound in … Continue reading “Ephesus – Church in Revelation – Bible Outlines”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43945\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}