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Rightly Dividing
the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15)
Established
November 2008 Published Weekly on Friday
This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Savior, who desires all men (and women) to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1Timothy 2:3-4)
Ephesians Introduction
Welcome to HBS and
to the beginning of our verse-by-verse study of Paul’s letter to the Believers
at Ephesus.
Introduction
to Ephesians
During
the first century A.D., the city of Ephesus was the capital of the Roman
province of Asia. It was well-known for
its art, science, and trade but it was especially renowned for its Temple of
Diana (Greek Artemis), which was
considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was a building of Ionic architecture, four
hundred and twenty-five feet long and two hundred and twenty feet wide. It was supported by one hundred and
twenty-seven marble columns that were sixty feet high. Thirty-two of these were beautifully
carved. Some of the stones from this
temple are on exhibit in the British Museum today. You can still visit the site today, but the
temple is in ruin, as is the city, and yet it is regarded as the best preserved
places of antiquity in Asia Minor.
Ephesus
was located near the Aegean Sea. The city
itself was made near the Cayster River that was scoured into a full harbor emptying
in to the Mediterranean making it a significant seaport. Three important roads met at Ephesus. One brought trade from the east via Colossae
and Laodicea. One came from Galatia via
Sardis and brought trade from Asia Minor.
The third important road was to the north. This system of roads, coupled with the important
seaport, made Ephesus the fourth greatest city in the Roman Empire (after Rome,
Alexandria, and Antioch).
The
Origin of the Ephesian Church
About
49–50 A.D., our Apostle Paul began his Second Missionary Journey “to strengthen the churches” (Acts 15:36
to 18:22). Barnabas had been Paul’s main
companion and fellow laborer during his First Missionary Journey. He chose Silas for that role on this trip. Paul had wanted it to be Barnabas, again, but
they had a disagreement about taking John Mark with them. John had quit the first missionary journey
early (Acts 13:13) and Paul was greatly disappointed with his decision. To resolve the matter, Barnabas took John
Mark with him and they sailed to Cyprus, and Paul took Silas with him, and they
started north over land.
As
they passed through the regions of Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the
word in Asia (Acts 16:6). The Bible
does not say why. But clearly the door of opportunity for preaching the gospel in Asia was not open
yet. God had decided the door was
opening in Europe instead, and Paul was guided there by the Holy Spirit. Paul didn’t make it to Ephesus until 53 A.D. At that time he was accompanied by his
faithful helpers Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:18-21). As usual, Paul entered the Jewish synagogue there
and reasoned with them using the O.T. scriptures (v19), but nothing is said
about them being influenced by his preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Nevertheless, they wanted Paul to stay awhile longer with them, but,
pressed for time, he was not able to do so (v20), although he did promise to
return to them, God willing (v21).
This
book says Aquila and Priscilla remained in Ephesus (Acts 18:18-19) and became
leaders in the only house church there.
Sometime after Paul left the city, Apollos, an Alexandrian Jew, who had
been instructed in “the way of the Lord,”
but only knew the “baptism of John,”
(18:25) encountered Aquila and Priscilla.
They took him under their wing, so to speak, as his knowledge was incomplete,
and explained to him the “way of God”
more accurately (18:26). Apollos was
extremely grateful after this and desired to cross over to Achaia and “the brethren (at Ephesus) wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive
him” (18:27). The use of the word “brethren” here is telling. It indicates there are others at Ephesus who
are now Believers besides Aquila and Priscilla.
But we don’t know who these folks are and we don’t know their number. We can assume this house church remains small
because it’s still meeting at the home of Aquila and Priscilla.
Getting
back to Paul, in 54 A.D. after he began his 3rd Missionary Journey,
he returned to Ephesus (Acts 19). Upon
his arrival he found some converts who had not yet been baptized into Christ;
they hadn’t even heard of the Holy Spirit.
They only knew “the baptism of
John.” I find this strange as did Paul,
so “Paul baptized them in the name of
the Lord Jesus” and “they were
immediately filled with the Holy Spirit…” (19:2-6).
Paul
then goes into the synagogue and speaks boldly for three months; “reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God” (Acts
19:8). But strong opposition to his
teaching arose, so he withdrew the Believers to the school of Tyrannus. He devotes the next two years of his life to teaching
the gospel from there (Acts 19:9-10).
Altogether,
Paul spent about three years at
Ephesus with great success (Acts 20:31).
This success can be attributed to the power of the Holy Spirit in men and to the city of Ephesus’
excellent location. It was ideally
suited for the spread of the gospel. Acts 19:10 says: all
who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. The spread of the gospel was accomplished because of the great number of people
passing through the city. They heard the word of truth and carried this “good news” back to their homes located
throughout Asia. This is remarkable
since Ephesus and Asia, in general, were full of charms, magic, superstition,
and things pertaining to the occult.
This is why, I’m reasoning, God permitted “extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even
handkerchiefs or aprons were carried
from his body to the sick, and the
diseases left them and the evil spirits went out (of them)” (Acts
19:11-12).
But also some of
the Jewish exorcists who went from place to place, attempted to name over those
who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus
whom Paul preaches” (Acts
19:13). But they were confounded by the
same evil spirits they were trying to exercise:
And the evil spirit answered and
said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” (19:15-16).
Paul’s
ministry there brought about a change of
heart in many pagan Gentiles: Many
also of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of
everyone (19:19a). The word of the Lord was spreading and
grew mightily and prevailed (19:17b-20).
According
to 19:22, Timothy and Erastus also spent some time with Paul in Ephesus, but he
eventually sent them into Macedonia, while he remained in Asia. Not too soon after this, there occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way
(19:23). A silversmith named Demetrius
who made shrines of Artemis gathered together with the workmen of similar
trades and said, “Men, you know that our
prosperity depends upon this business.
You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia,
this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying
that gods made with hands are no gods at
all. Not only is there danger that
this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great
goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the
world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence (19:25b-27).
This
news upset the people greatly. Paul’s
travel companions, Gaius and Aristarchus
from Macedonia were seized and dragged into the theater (19:28-29). It’s clear from this account they weren’t taken
there for a lecture on proper business practices. Their very lives were in danger. Our Apostle Paul wanted to go into the assembly but
the disciples would not let him (19:30-31). They feared the worst if Paul dared to appear
before that unruly mob (19:32).
Alexander was recognized by
the Jews, apparently in an attempt to defend them from “the guilt by association” assumption currently in play. They clearly didn’t want to be linked with
the renegade Jews (i.e., Believers who followed Christ) and “this fellow Paul” whom Gaius and Aristarchus helped. Chaos ensued for two hours 19:34).
The
city clerk eventually established order from disorder in the theater and
dismissed the crowd. Then Paul called the disciples together, embraced them,
and departed for Macedonia (Acts 20:1). He
sailed to Macedonia and then traveled to Greece where he stayed for three
months. Then, he, with his eight travel
companions (Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Timothy, Tychicus,
Trophimus, and Luke), returned to
Asia via Macedonia, stopping over at Troas. Sailing on to Miletus, about 30 miles from
Ephesus, he called for and met with the
elders of the Ephesian church (Acts 20:17-38).
Timothy,
a native of Lystra, was probably converted on Paul's First Missionary Journey
(Acts 14:6-23). By the time of Paul's Second
Missionary Journey, he was well spoken of by the brethren at Lystra and Iconium
(Acts 16:1-2). He was with Paul in
Ephesus on the Third Missionary Journey, but was sent to Macedonia just prior
to the disturbance over the goddess Diana (Acts 16:3, 19:21-22). After Paul's release from his first Roman
imprisonment, he left Timothy at Ephesus (I Timothy 1:3). While in Ephesus, Timothy received the letters
from Paul known to us as First and Second Timothy.
The
Time and Place of Writing
Paul
undoubtedly wrote this letter from Rome during his first Roman imprisonment,
which was for two years (Acts 28:30). This
would make the date of this letter somewhere around A.D. 62. It was hand delivered by Tychicus (Ephesians 6:21).
The
Purpose for Writing This Letter
Paul
does not write this letter to the Ephesians to rebuke them for their conduct,
like he does the Corinthians, nor for perverting the gospel, as he does the
Galatians. This letter speaks of joyous
praise for God's eternal purpose.
In
chapters 1-3, Paul shows the church was preordained
by God, that it has been redeemed,
and that Jew and Gentile have been made one
in Christ. In chapters 4-6, Paul follows
up on the practical application of the truth stated in the first three
chapters. He writes of unity, love, newness of life, walking in
the strength of the Lord, and the need to put on the armor of God. Thus, there is a clear-cut division in this
letter between the explanation found in the first three chapters and the
exhortation found in chapters 4-6. In chapters 1-3, the truth is stated;
in chapters 4-6, the truth is applied.
********
The
State of the Church in America
While
in Ephesus, our Apostle Paul learned about the numerous problems that arose in
the newly formed church in Corinth, Greece.
He wrote I & II Corinthians for the purpose of rebuking them which means:
to criticize sharply, to
reprimand; to turn back or keep down; to straighten out (to encourage
repentance). Here are a few reasons why
Paul rebuked the carnal Corinthians:
The
members of this church were disunited because they were pledging allegiance to
human leaders rather than God (1 Corinthians 1:10-12).
They
not only tolerated an extreme form of sexual immorality in their midst but became arrogant (1 Corinthians 5:1-5).
They
disagreed with establish church doctrine (1 Corinthians 8:1-2).
These
proud Believers were suing one another in civil court (1 Corinthians 6:1-11).
They
were associating with temple prostitutes (1 Corinthians 6:16).
They
were not only critical of Paul they denied his apostolic authority (2
Corinthians 6:11-13).
They
were also abusing the Lord’s Supper, their spiritual gifts and each other… I
could go on pointing out their misdeeds and mistakes, however, the point I’m
making is the church today is repeating their mistakes.
If
you asked the question “Is America a Christian
nation,” the majority of people would say, “Yes.” But here’s the thing, the facts reveal the
truth. “Christianity is declining. Americans have given up on God, and the
‘Nones’ – those who have no religious-ties are on the rise. It is indeed true that parts of the Christian
Church in America are struggling, while a growing number of Americans are far
from God.”
Ed Stetzer, EMQ, September
12 2016.
Pew
Research studies show there is a consistent and noteworthy decline in those who
identified themselves as Christians. In 2007, eight in ten people said they were Christians. In 2014 that number dropped to 7 in 10, a
statistically significant change in a relatively short period of time. Right now only 46.5% of Americans identify as
Protestants (non-Catholic) for the first time in American history. What’s significant is that number continues
to decline.
What’s
Going On?
Research
groups have picked up on some of the reasons for this course change. The primary reason
for these declining numbers can be
attributed to a complete breakdown in communication between God and Christians.
They have discovered the majority of American Christians do not read their Bible or pray. You may assume since these folks aren’t
reading their Bible, they are not studying their Bible. Therefore they are not maturing in the faith
just like the Corinthians. Instead of
drawing their wisdom from God (His Word), their knowledge is obtained from the world’s systems, i.e. philosophies,
education, and commerce. The thoughts,
ideas, speculations, and false religions of the world are under Satan’s control which means every one of them has
been corrupted (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Research
reveals the sad truth only about 3% of Christians
are aware of what the Bible actually says.
I’ll use the Christmas story as an example, since it’s most recent:
The
vast majority of Christians believe
Jesus was born in a stable
They
think Mary traveled to Bethlehem on a donkey
They
believe angels appeared “singing” to the shepherds in the field
They think Jesus was born on December 25th,
i.e. Christmas Day
And
three wise men visited Jesus a few days later, bringing Him gifts
None
of these things are mentioned in the Bible.
The
Bible does not say how Mary got to Bethlehem.
The
Bible does not give us the date of Jesus’ birth. The date we celebrate Christmas comes from
the pagan Roman festival Saturnalia.
Even
though Hallmark thinks Jesus was born in a stable, the Bible doesn’t say this.
The
angels did not appear “singing” they appeared “praising God and saying…”
And
there were more than three wise men; the Bible doesn’t give us the exact number.
This book says “magi from the east
arrived in Jerusalem…” This enormous
caravan suddenly appearing in Herod’s city asking for directions to the newly
born King of the Jews is what greatly troubled Herod. And Jesus was approximately two years old
when the magi arrived to pay Him
homage.
In
2013, the Barna Group reported if Christians
do read their Bible, 57% of those polled said it was four times a year or
less. Only 26% of Americans said they
read their Bible regularly (which amounted to 4 or more times per week and
we’re talking about a few Bible verses here and there) these folks were not
involved in a verse-by-verse Bible study or in a program to read through the
Bible in one year. Let’s be clear;
reading a few Bible verses before heading out the door in the morning or before
retiring at night is not studying your Bible.
I
read an article just recently from a pastor who wrote a stinging letter to his
church stating he was cancelling every one of the adult programs, including
adult education (Bible study) in their church.
Why? The church was investing
time, effort, and money in these programs because they believed the attendees
would be spiritually rewarded, but
no one was showing up. When he asked churchgoers
why they didn’t make it to Bible study, again, most often the response was, “I wanted to come last Wednesday night, but I
have too much going on in my life.”
He
decided to “Dig Deeper” into this church controversy and discovered “too much” meant they used what precious
free time they had for the things they really cared about; those things that
brought immediate “reward or gratification.”
Reading between the lines, this means the churchgoers didn’t care too much about their church or God’s
Word. Some cared about adult continuing
education classes because a few of them had signed up and were attending
classes on Wednesday night. One individual
was working for a civil rights organization promoting the rights of the LGBT
agenda (that’s strange). A couple of the
other people were volunteering at a local homeless shelter; others were volunteering
on a food line downtown helping to feed the hungry. But the others he spoke to didn’t have an
excuse, unless “I forgot” counted as one.
People
are not reading this book, obviously, but if they did they would discover God
has commanded every Believer to study
His Word: Study to shew thyself approved unto (who) God, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy
2:15 - KJV).
The
ultimate goal of the true Believer should be to please God in all they do,
since all they are and all they have is credited to God (Romans 11:33-36). We are merely stewards of God’s resources (1 Corinthians 9:17; Galatians 4:1-2;
Philippians 4:13). Certainly, for the
Believer, a critical part of walking in
newness of life is their rightly
dividing and understanding of the Bible.
Since
we’re all commanded to study this book, I would think one of the questions
we’re going to have to answer at The Judgment Seat (Bema) of Christ is, “What
did you do with My Word? Did you share
it with others, or did you bury it?” (2
Corinthians 5:11-21). Will you hang your head in shame or will you instead show
yourself approved to God, as one who properly handled (rightly divided) the
word of truth?
We
learned in our study of Galatians what we do and why we do it matters to
God. Certainly included in this is
knowing what we believe and why we believe it!
This should not be a revelation to anyone. God is keeping a “running account” of our
lives. Maybe it’s all on video; I
wouldn’t be surprised. But we make
hundreds of choices each day and with each decision we’re either sowing in the field called the flesh or the field called the Spirit. Each decision we make is literally a
“building block” in the life we are making; and these choices have eternal ramifications.
God
Wants to Communicate
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we
saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and
truth (John
1:14).
When
all is said and done the real purpose of communication is understanding. To that end, God has given us the Bible and
through it He communicates who He is, how much He loves us, how we can come to
know Him, the blessings He gives us, and how we are to live our lives as His
children. But as great as the Bible is,
it is not His highest form of communication.
The ultimate form of communication from God is His personal revelation
through His Son, Jesus Christ:
God, after He spoke long ago the fathers in the
prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to
us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He
made the world, And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact
representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His
power. When He had made purification of
sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:1-3).
God
communicated His love toward us by becoming “one of us,” sharing our humanity,
our pain, our sorrows, our trials, and taking our sin upon Himself, forgiving
them all. He then made a place for us
all at His Father’s side (John 14:1-6). The
very name of Jesus communicates God’s love for us: the name Jesus means “God is salvation.” And another name for Jesus is “Immanuel,”
which means “God with us.”
God
has taken the initiative for all mankind to come to know Him, and He invites us
to communicate with personally through reading and studying the Scriptures,
through personal prayer, and through fellowship with others who have a personal
relationship with Him. But for this to
work the lines of communication have to be open. The Bible remains a best-seller
year-after-year. Statistics reveal the
majority of Americans have purchased a Bible.
It’s in their home, somewhere. But
it’s of no use unless people make use of it.
Your word I have
treasured in my heart, That I might not sin against You (Psalm 119:11).
Instead
of exposing our heart and mind to God’s Word regularly and treasuring it, we’re exposing them daily to a constant barrage of ungodly
words, music, and images. God’s being
“shut out.” So to combat this we’re to
take responsibility for our life. We’re
to fill our heart and mind with God’s Word instead. When we do this, we create a defense against
the evil that exists in this world
(Ephesians 6:10-18).
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is
honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely; whatever is
of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise,
dwell on these things (Philippians 4:8).
(To be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
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