Book of Ephesians
Ephesians Introduction
Ephasus the City.
Ephesus was a port and a key area for trade between east west, north and south.
It was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, 3 kilometres southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey.
Ephesus was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital, by Attic and Ionian Greek colonist.
One of 12 cities in the Ionian League, it was a centre of commerce and finance, with a theatre that held 24,000 people.
Ephesus was a cosmopolitan city with peoples of all races and religions.
The people took part in every kind of religion and activity.
It had the most enormous pagan temple, which was 420 ft long.
The temple was dedicated to a large, black meteorite that fell out of the sky and landed in Ephesus.
The temple was built around it and dedicated to the goddess Diana for the people to worship.
People were able to buy silver replicas of the meteorite.
The Christian Church
More is known about the church in Ephesus, than about any other church in the New Testament.
· Ephesus is mentioned in Acts in chapter 18.
· The letter to Timothy is also about Ephesus.
· In revelation, chapter 2, there is a letter to the church in Ephesus.
· The first and second and third letters from John were written in Ephesus.
· John’s gospel was written in Ephesus.
· Mary, the mother of Jesus, was buried in Ephesus and it is almost certain that John was also buried there.
· It was a key town in the early church.
Ephesus was set up by Paul in AD 53 on his way home to Jerusalem.
Paul stayed in the city on two occasions for a total of two years, during which time the church grew.
The faith became so popular and the response to the claims of Jesus so immediate that the trade in Diana trinkets suffered.
So many Diana worshippers switched to the true God that Paul faced trouble from the silversmiths. The trade in silver meteorite statues virtually disappeared.
The Letter to the Ephesians
It was written by Paul who was under house arrest at the time in Rome.
House arrest meant being chained to a soldier for 8 hours at a time.
As each soldier came to complete his shift Paul would convert him to Christianity.
Each guard came as a soldier and left as a Christian.
The “church age” was born in Jerusalem and the church spread rapidly through the ministry of the apostles and the early believers.
Fanned by persecution, the gospel flame then spread to other cities and nations.
On three journeys, Paul and his associates established local assemblies in scores of Gentile cities.
One of the most prominent of those churches was at Ephesus.
Paul wrote a letter to the Ephesians in AD 60 from Rome during his imprisonment there. At the same time, he also wrote to Philemon and to the Colossians.
The Contents of the Letter to the Ephesians
The letter contains 6 chapters
The first 3 chapters are about our relationship with God and God’s purpose and power.
These chapters talk about us being right and getting right with God.
They are about what we do inside church.
These first 3 chapters almost mirror a church service.
· First of all we praise God.
· Then we pray.
· Then a talk or sermon takes place.
· We pray again.
· Then we praise God.
The last 3 chapters are about getting things right in our lives.
· This is what we do outside church.
· God wants us to be unified as Christians.
· He wants us to be mature and know about the teachings of Jesus and the message of Jesus.
· We should be charitable to one another and be pure in heart, filled with the holy spirit.
· Christians have a responsibility to follow the teachings of Jesus and remain steadfast in our beliefs.
It needs to be done in this order, first three chapters first second three chapters later.
This is because every other religion in the world says that you must do good before you will be accepted by God.
Christianity says God has accepted you now, go and do something good.
In other words, you need to be saved before you lead a Christian life, not the other way around.
You have not been saved by good works but for good works.
There is an excerpt from the Book of Ephesians which is taken from Ephesians 6 about the armour of God with an explanation of how the book was written. This is shown below.
Ephesians 6:10-18 New International Version
The Armour of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11 Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
13 Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
The Shield of Faith
What is a shield?
A shield is simply a method of defence or protection.
You may put your hands up to defend yourself against a strong wind. Use an umbrella to stop getting wet. An oven glove to stop burning your hand.
Paul compares the armour of God to physical armour, and he uses the analogy of the armour used by a Roman soldier.
Example of a Roman shield
The Roman shield, or scutum, was a central part of the soldier’s defence. The scutum of the first century was rectangular in shape and rounded on the ends. It was typically made from two sheets of soft wood that were glued together, then covered with canvas and leather. The canvas and leather could be doused with water to protect against flaming arrows.
The shield weighed about 22 pounds and was roughly 40 inches high and 30 inches across.
A metal piece ran across the centre of the shield, so it could also be used as a weapon to punch or push forward.
Roman soldiers would use the shield to defend themselves against flaming arrows that would be used at the start of a conflict.
The army would lock shields together to defend the whole army. A line of soldiers could stretch for a mile or more.
The importance of this story about the shield is that the shield was very effective at protecting the soldier.
When the shield was not there the soldier was very vulnerable. This is even with the other armour in place.
The enemy is highly organised and very well trained.
An archer would spend 6 years in training.
What is a spiritual shield?
We are attacked spiritually by things being put into our mind which are designed to make us feel bad or take us away from God.
A spiritual attack can affect both our physical and mental health.
Our spiritual shield is our relationship with God. It becomes stronger as our relationship with God becomes stronger.
The constant contact we have with God. Our prayers and the thanks we give to God develop our spiritual shield.
A shield, whether it be physical or spiritual, can only be effective when it is raised. This requires an ongoing state of preparedness and patience on our part.
The apostle Paul spoke of the need for the Body of Christ to be joined together, helping each other, much like a band of soldiers who raise their shields to defend each other.
What is faith in God?
A Firm Conviction
The foundation of faith is a firm conviction regarding three things about God—his perfect love, wisdom and power.
Like a three-legged stool, no combination of two will do. There must be all three for faith to stand.
· A strong faith believes that God wills only what is best for us (his love),
· that he knows what is best for us (his wisdom),
· and that he is able to do what is best for us (his power).
· To develop our faith we need to continually improve our relationship with God through prayer, studying the bible and seeking God’s guidance in all things.
God is in Control
The world we live in is often chaotic, violent and seems to be out of control.
The chaos of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine rising prices and stories of worse to come.
These all test our confidence and faith in our leaders.
The good news is God is in control.
We do not need to have faith in our leaders when we have faith in God.
If we keep our eyes on God and make our decisions based on Gods word and guidance then we can’t go wrong.
“without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
Christians will be attacked spiritually in many ways.
What are the spiritual darts fired at us that Paul wants to shield us from?
Here are some examples.
When the devil attacks us with doubts The Shield of Faith turns aside the blow.
Fear
The pessimism that comes from living a life fearful of daily events that stays with you
So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
Lies
You will be told lies that will affect your life
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Lack of forgiveness
The need for revenge that comes from lack of forgiveness
Jeremiah 31: 34 “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
Envy
The jealousy that comes from wanting what other people have and comparing yourself with others
1 Corinthians 13:4; "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud."
Exodus 20:17; "Do not covet your neighbor’s house.
Worry
The depression that comes from worrying about things that we cannot change or things that may not happen
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Disappointment in ourselves or others
The bitterness of disappointment or the mood of cynicism that can happen.
Success
The pride that comes of success and the vanity and self-conceit
James 4:10 Humble yourself before the Lord and he will lift you up.
Wealth
The materialism that comes from wealth
Distraction
Our own interests and desires being put before God.
What can we do?
It is most dangerous to be a weak Christian
You need to be strong and have faith in God.
God wants strong Christians.
Roman soldiers never retreated.
When they landed on the shores of England the first thing they did was burn their boats.
We need to stand firm in the face of the enemy.
The real enemy is unseen.
People can make life difficult but they are not our real enemies.