Ephesus: The Forgetful Church Series

A. Revelation 2:1 (READ)

1. Today we begin to take a look at the individual churches that make up the SEVEN CHURCHES of Asia Minor that the GLORIFIED Christ is addressing through the Apostle John, beginning with the church

of Ephesus.

COMMENT:

One thing had DRAWN these churches into a COMMON AREA was the fact that they were all LIVING in a PAGAN WORLD and were under extreme PRESSURE of PERSECUTION because of their BELIEF in the ONE God who was LORD of all.

2. The Apostle John was under the same PRESSURE, and because of His preaching of Jesus as the Son of

God who is the King of kings and Lord of lords, he was EXILED to the PRISON ISLAND of Patmos.

COMMENT:

It is there that the MAJESTIC & ALL-POWERFUL GLORIFIED Christ appeared to John and tells him to write to the CHURCHES of Asia what “he has seen, what is now and what will take place later”- Revelation 1:19.

B. BACKGROUND OF THE CITY: Ephesus was a COASTAL CITY—the GATEWAY into Asia Minor,

which is modern-day Turkey.

1. It was the fourth largest CITY in the Roman Empire—with 250,000 people. Much of the city’s structures are still STANDING, and you can VISIT the RUINS of the city TODAY.

2. It was a CITY steeped in IDOLATRY and was the home of the Temple of Artemis (Greek goddess)

also known as Diana (Roman goddess)—the goddess of the HUNT and NATURE.

a. The RUINS of the TEMPLE still stand today.

COMMENT:

It was a magnificent STRUCTURE that was known as one of the SEVEN WONDERS of the ANCIENT WORLD along with the GREAT PYRAMIDS and the HANGING GARDENS of Babylon.

b. SLIDE: Artist’s depiction of what the Temple of Artemis/Diana may have looked like based on

the structure of the RUINS.

COMMENT:

You may recall in Acts 19 where the “Apostle Paul had a run-in with a silversmith named Demetrius who made a living selling little SILVER SHRINES of Artemis, when his business dropped

off because so many people were turning away from idolatry and giving their lives to Jesus Christ.”

In fact, this caused such a disturbance in the CITY that a RIOT broke out putting Paul’s life in DANGER.

C. BACKGROUND OF THE CHURCH: It was on Paul’s third missionary journey that he FIRMLY

ESTABLISHED the church of Ephesus (Acts 19), although he had been to Ephesus earlier for a brief time.

1. Paul remained in the city of Ephesus for three-years teaching and preaching the gospel.

a. Acts 19:10 states that during that time “all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia

heard the Word of the Lord.”

b. The church of Ephesus became a LARGE thriving church, which many scholars believe numbered in the thousands. From this church, many other churches were established throughout Asia Minor.

2. The Ephesian church was blessed with many INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE who had a PART in its

ESTABLISHMENT and/or GROWTH.

a. Pricilla and Aquila

b. Apollos

c. Paul

d. Timothy

e. Tychicus, whom Paul described as a “faithful minister and fellow servant”- Colossians 4:7.

COMMENT:

The church of Ephesus had a STRONG BEGINNING, but the GLORIFIED Christ who WALKS among the CHURCHES said that something CHANGED.

MESSAGE:

I. THE COMMENDATION OF CHRIST- vv. 2-3, 6 (READ)

A. Christ begins by saying, “I know your deeds…”- v. 2.

1. Have you ever had an IMPORTANT person in your life—your Dad or Mom, your High School Teacher, your Boss, your Husband or Wife—come to you and say, “I know what you’ve been up

to!”?

COMMENT:

Your MIND pauses everything around you and goes into INSTANT REPLAY over the PLACES you’ve been, THINGS you’ve done, WORDS you’ve said and WHO you said them to. . . . You’re not quite sure what you’ve “been up to” . . . but, HE or SHE knows.

2. The One who MOVES among the churches . . . KNOWS. He knew THEN and He knows NOW.

COMMENT:

“I know your deeds, church. I have been watching—I see everything. I’ve sat in your meetings. I’ve observed your worship—your enthusiasm or the lack thereof. I’ve listened to your conversations out in the parking lot—your words of encouragement and your words of gossip. I see how some of you serve, and some of you don’t. I KNOW YOUR DEEDS.”

B. Knowing both the POSITIVE and NEGATIVE DEEDS of the Ephesian Church, Christ begins by

COMMENDING them for the GOOD that He has OBSERVED from His HEAVENLY THRONE.

1. “HARD WORK AND PERSEVERANCE”- v. 2

a. The Greek word used here for “hard work” describes the kind of LABOR and TOIL that takes

everything that a person has to offer in either MIND or MUSCLE in the SERVICE of God.

COMMENT:

WHEREVER God placed the MEMBERS of the Ephesian church in His SERVICE, they put their BLOOD, SWEAT, & TEARS into that WORK and PERSEVERED even when it got TOUGH and they felt like QUITTING.